Chapter 80 - 74 I Have Someone I Like

Lu Lin indeed needed money, and once Li Qiang found out, he insisted on lending money to Lu Lin, which would make anyone hesitate. Moreover, after thinking it over, he felt that Li Qiang was indeed a very down-to-earth and kind person. Knowing that she was short of money, he took the initiative to lend it to her, and he did it without expecting anything in return.

Lu Lin thought about it for a long time and finally replied to Li Qiang, "Brother Qiang, I indeed need some money recently, but don’t worry, I will definitely pay you back once I’ve used it up."

"No worries, no worries, just use it. I’m not in a hurry for the money!"

During the twenty-some days of military training, apart from the training itself, the guys in the dorm would just chat and brag.

Of course, Zhou Yuwen did not participate in these activities, as he was busy writing novels to make money. He had no time to join such things.

The story started with Li Qiang’s first confession to Lu Lin.

At that time, Li Qiang was so eager, and Lu Lin chose to remain silent.

That night, Li Qiang couldn’t sleep, looking utterly wretched.

Chang Hao was startled when he saw this, "No way, Qiangzi, what’s wrong with you?"

Li Qiang was genuinely depressed. One day of being ignored was bearable, but after three consecutive days without a word from Lu Lin, anyone would feel gloomy.

And so, he began to complain to Chang Hao.

After reading Li Qiang’s chat history, Chang Hao felt somewhat speechless and said, "Your intention is too obvious. Even I wouldn’t bother responding to you."

"So what should I do?"

"Do you really like Lu Lin?"

"Of course!"

Chang Hao said, if you really like Lu Lin, you shouldn’t have confessed in such a hurry.

Lu Lin obviously doesn’t like you right now; you should progress gradually.

"Now that you know she’s short of money, lend it to her, and say nothing else."

Their conversation was not hidden from others, and Zhou Yuwen heard it. He felt quite embarrassed; it was supposed to be a private advice to Li Qiang, but now everyone knew.

Sigh, and from their conversation, it seemed like Lu Lin was indeed really short on cash.

Should I help her out?

Zhou Yuwen thought so, but from the tone of Chang Hao’s conversation, it seemed like they were planning to lend the money.

So Li Qiang did as Chang Hao had instructed.

The result was significant.

Lu Lin replied!

Li Qiang immediately excitedly reported this to Chang Hao, who naturally acted as if he had expected it, took a drag of his Xuanhe Clan cigarette and said, "That’s normal. Just keep chatting with her, but try not to confess, like this."

Chang Hao helped Li Qiang send a message.

It meant something like, "Lu Lin, I was too impulsive before. I’ve reflected a lot lately. You’re a good girl; I know I don’t measure up to you, but I truly like you."

"I hope you can give me a chance, even if not as your boyfriend, then at least let me be with you as a friend."

Any girl would agree to a guy willing to lend her money with no ulterior motives, and indeed, after seeing this sincere message, Lu Lin felt quite embarrassed.

So she thought it over and composed another message, "I understand what you mean, but I indeed don’t plan on dating anytime soon. Li Qiang, you’re a good person, and you’ll find a good girl."

"Damn it! Brother Hao, does this mean I don’t stand a chance? Then why the hell am I lending money?" Li Qiang panicked upon reading this.

"Stop making a fuss. Between a man and a woman, it’s all about the tug of war," Chang Hao said with furrowed brows.

"We can’t even be friends?" Chang Hao continued to help Li Qiang send messages.

"Of course, we can."

"You see, we can still be friends," Chang Hao breathed a sigh of relief.

"What the hell is the point of being friends!" Li Qiang couldn’t help but grumble.

Chang Hao said, "Are you dumb? Without friendship, what chance do you have? Would you rather she continue ignoring you or would you rather start having chats with her?"

Li Qiang thought it over and agreed.

While the two of them chatted, Lu Lin sent another message: "How about I treat you as my brother?"

Seeing this message, Chang Hao immediately laughed, "Look! I told you my method works! Now you’re being treated as a brother. I haven’t even gotten to this point with Yanyan!"

Li Qiang was stunned for a moment when he saw the message, then broke into a grin.

"No way, Qiangzi, you owe me a meal. Look how much I’ve helped you!" Chang Hao was genuinely jealous of Li Qiang. Damn, the blind cat actually caught a dead rat.

He actually got it right.

At that moment, Chang Hao took on the air of a master of romance, taking a couple puffs of his Xuanhe Clan cigarette and said, "Just chat like this, first as a sworn brother, then as a love-brother. Don’t talk about money; just stay in the ambiguous phase. I’m telling you, the last thing girls want to discuss is money; you have to be generous."

Li Qiang held his phone tightly, nodding vigorously. His own thoughts matched Chang Hao’s; now that he’s a sworn brother, there really seemed to be a chance!

And it was just as Chang Hao had said. Ever since he became her sworn brother, Lu Lin didn’t ignore Li Qiang anymore, even occasionally calling him "Brother Qiang."

Even if Lu Lin’s replies to Li Qiang were just "Yeah," or "Is that so?"

But even so, it made Li Qiang very happy.

However, this period didn’t last for long.

During the military training, Zhou Yuwen and Su Qing would often arrange to take a walk together after meals, sometimes along with Chang Hao and Zheng Yanyan.

And Li Qiang, witnessing this, was very envious and messaged Lu Lin.

"Sis, what are you up to?"

"In the dorm."

"Got it, just finished eating. Want to come out for a walk?"

After sending this message, Li Qiang’s trembling heart almost jumped out of his chest. He threw his phone aside, waiting for a reply.

And so it was.

Ten minutes,

Twenty minutes.

Li Qiang excitedly picked up his phone...

No response!?

Li Qiang was stunned for a moment.

The message was sent at six o’clock.

And only got a reply at nine.

"Ah, sorry Brother Qiang, I didn’t check my phone just now; let’s do it next time."

"Hmm, no rush, how about tomorrow?"

"Let’s talk about tomorrow when it comes."

Then the next day at six o’clock, Li Qiang sent the message on time.

Li Qiang didn’t even mention going out for a walk.

And Lu Lin simply ignored him until the evening, saying she was in the shower and didn’t see the phone.

Back and forth.

However, the expression on Li Qiang’s face was increasingly somber.

"Sis, you can’t do this. I’ve already stopped trying to pursue you. I just want to be friends with you. I’ve even lent you two thousand yuan; can’t you spend a little time sitting with me?!"

Chang Hao had once smoked a cigarette and told Li Qiang clearly not to talk about money; girls are very sensitive about that.

But sorry, Li Qiang couldn’t do it.

It was two thousand yuan, and it was a scholarship at that!

He had begged pitifully and flaunted his poverty to get a scholarship just to give it to her.

Didn’t she feel any gratitude at all?

As Li Qiang was fuming and about to settle the score with Lu Lin, after waiting for several minutes, Lu Lin suddenly sent him a message:

"If you lent me the money with a purpose, you might as well not have lent it."

?

Lu Lin’s stern reply somewhat panicked Li Qiang; he wanted to type that he didn’t mean it that way.

But it was too late, since that time, Lu Lin hadn’t paid much attention to Li Qiang. She even clearly said, "Brother Qiang, I’ve thought about it, and I feel it’s better not to. You don’t earn money easily. I did encounter some difficulties, but it’s fine, I’ll think of other ways to solve them."

"No, Linlin, that’s not what I meant!"

Li Qiang suddenly became anxious, but anxiety was of no help.

Seeing Lu Lin’s determined attitude, Li Qiang turned to Chang Hao for help again.

Chang Hao looked at him and affirmatively said, "Didn’t I tell you not to talk about money, not to bring up money at all!"

"But she has no interest in me at all; I’ve asked her out several times, and she never comes."

"Now what? Is this what you wanted?"

Li Qiang fell silent and didn’t speak.

At that time, Li Qiang and Chang Hao were having a bit of a rift, so watching Li Qiang brooding, Chang Hao felt somewhat schadenfreude and naturally did not help Li Qiang.

That period was the most torturous for Li Qiang.

He cradled his phone every day, waiting for Lu Lin to reply on the other side.

He waited like that for a whole day, even waking up from sleep at night, unable to help but check his phone, hoping his green bubble would flash, but sadly, it never did from beginning to end.

This period continued up to today because of the hamburger incident.

Li Qiang asked: "Did Zheng Yanyan return to the dorm?"

Lu Lin replied with a simple hmm.

Li Qiang could no longer contain his feelings of longing from these days: "Linlin, I beg you, please don’t torment me anymore, okay? I really like you. I never thought of blackmailing you over those two thousand yuan. I don’t care about the money at all. I could even give you the entire three-thousand-yuan scholarship! It’s a gift; I don’t want you to pay it back.

I just hope you won’t ignore me like this, okay? Even if you pity me, replying to me when you’re free would be fine. I won’t ask you to come out for a walk with me anymore. Just chat with me like this."

"I really do."

"Really like you a lot,"

"Do you know how bad I’ve been sleeping these last few days because you’ve ignored me? I’ve never liked a girl this much before."

Li Qiang’s heart overflowed with longing, sending one sincere message after another, as his affections broke through like a breached river unable to be contained.

Nonetheless, Lu Lin merely glanced at these words, her mood heavy. She didn’t even know what she had done to evoke such strong feelings from Li Qiang.

But such a confession made Lu Lin feel uncomfortable.

She even found it somewhat frightening.

Lu Lin extinguished the half-smoked cigarette.

"Linlin, I know you’re looking at your phone, right?"

Li Qiang continued to send messages.

As she looked at message after message from Li Qiang, Lu Lin felt a hint of melancholy. After some thought, she finally replied with a message.

"I have someone I like."

Those seven short words made Li Qiang startled, but he quickly replied, "Impossible, you must be lying to me, right? You said before that there are hardly any guys around you, how can you have someone you like, you’re lying to me, right?"

"Who is he!? I don’t believe it."

"Zhou Yuwen,"

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