Chapter 173 - 172: You Win

At that moment, all defenses and vigilance were withdrawn, replaced by Lu Mian’s slightly heavy footsteps.

She walked up to a position one step away from the box.

The box was an insulated food container, and after she kicked its lid off, its contents were immediately visible.

Six burgers, neatly and securely arranged.

Without guessing, she knew who made them.

Just a neighbor, yet he gave her the feeling of someone “waiting for her to come home for a meal.”

Her features, icy and guarded just a second ago, softened the next, her eyes filled with a haze and distance incomprehensible to others.

Lu Mian stood still, raising her hand to her heart.

There, slowly, a sensation trickled out, fine and itchy, sour and aching.

Wasn’t it already dead?

Why was there still sensation?

Suddenly dejected, Lu Mian let her hand fall and parted her thin lips, expressionlessly drawing out three words.

“You win.”

She admitted that, at tonight’s 20th birthday dinner for Yuanyuan, her mind had wandered seven times.

Once thinking about chopsticks, five times about those deluxe burgers, and the last time… about Xiao Qimo.

Old fox!

She cursed under her breath, biting her lip.

She walked a few slow steps, picked up the meal box lid she had kicked aside, squatted down, and replaced it.

Her lips formed a straight line as she took the meal box in hand and stood up, approaching the neighbor’s door.

Inside the room, Ye Jinwen was closely monitoring the situation outside. Upon hearing the sound of something being thrown in the corridor, he had already rushed to the security door to peek out through the peephole.

“Brother Seven, Little Mianmian is back. Aren’t you going to go out?” he said in a hushed voice while squinting one eye and gesturing towards the sofa in the living room.

Xiao Qimo was sitting with his legs crossed, as tranquil as a mountain, with the light reflecting off his glasses, obscuring the emotions in his eyes.

The man didn’t move, just slowly lowered his gaze and continued reading the financial magazine.

Ye Jinwen looked at him with contempt—he had been staring at that same page for half an hour!

“Brother Seven, Little Mianmian has already found your love burgers. Get moving!”

Xiao Qimo remained calm and even shook his head, “A man can’t always be so proactive.”

“Huh?”

Were these words coming from Xiao Qimo, the expert in love?

“If she knocks on the door, I’ll go out. If she doesn’t come, it’s not appropriate for me to disturb her further,” Xiao Qimo said indifferently.

If it was the Xiao Qimo from before, who hadn’t yet been affected by worldly emotions, Ye Jinwen would have believed him without a doubt.

But now…

This strategy of “playing hard to get” must have been learned from some couple, he suspected!

But the key was, the other party was the wealthy Lu Mian!

Every situation requires a tailored analysis!

Ye Jinwen was more anxious than an emperor in haste, keeping an eye on the peephole, pacing restlessly.

“Little Mianmian, it’s all up to you now, please come knock on the door!”

There were things Lu Mian didn’t know, but he did.

Tonight, Brother Seven had planned to celebrate Little Mianmian’s physics competition success and had hurriedly imported top-notch ingredients from abroad. Upon hearing Lu Mian’s resolute rejection and inability to make the date, the frustration in his heart turned his elegant face much darker.

The entire evening was under a gloom, not only wasting a bunch of ingredients with a cold face but also swiftly dealing with their accumulated longstanding tasks.

The bitterness in his heart was felt by him alone, alas.

Now that Little Mianmian had returned, he finally saw a glimmer of hope.

As Ye Jinwen was thinking this, he saw through the peephole Lu Mian walking towards their side.

Ah, ah, ah…

He was so excited he almost burst out the door.

“Brother Seven, Lu Mian is here!”

He tried to keep his voice down, but before he could finish, he saw Lu Mian bend over to place the meal box at the door and then turn to leave.

Leaving… she left?

“Brother Seven, Lu Mian’s gone again!”