Lynn Chen glanced at Evan Lin and Wendy Wen standing over there, bit her lip hard, and finally turned and walked away.
"A dog just can't change its ways!"
Lynn’s eyes reddened and she couldn’t help blurting it out.
After going home last night, she barely slept a wink, her mind replaying the scene of Evan and Selina Shi together at Peiying High.
She actually knew Selina Shi too—had met her once back in Whitewood County. Early this morning, Lynn was planning to wait until class ended to have a proper talk with Evan, rein in her temper for once, and clear up some misunderstandings.
But just now, seeing Evan and Wendy Wen standing there together, plus Mason He’s words, made Lynn turn and leave without another word.
Evan lifted his head and glanced in the direction Lynn left, then walked right past Wendy Wen, who tried to stop him, determined to make Evan explain himself.
But this time, before Wendy could even get close, she found that Evan had somehow already slipped past her—she didn’t even see how he did it. When she turned around and saw Evan’s departing back, Wendy stomped her foot in frustration.
These past few days, the school forums and every QQ group have been buzzing about the soccer match and Evan Lin—he’s basically a campus celebrity now.
At school, Lynn Chen completely ignored Evan whenever they crossed paths. Wendy Wen just glared daggers at him. Even Ivy Liang, when she ran into Evan, would keep a cold face and never give him a friendly look.
Plenty of younger girls from lower grades kept coming in groups to Class 12, peeking through the windows at Evan Lin, faces full of curiosity.
A few days later, school let out for National Day—seven days off.
That afternoon, Lucy Lu pulled up at the school gate, picked up Lynn Chen first, then waited for Evan Lin. She said she wanted to treat Evan to a home-cooked meal. Evan couldn’t refuse and got in the car.
Lynn sat in the car looking serene, silent the whole way. Even when she saw Evan, she didn’t bother to spare him a glance—obviously still hung up on what happened before.
"Xiao Yi, it’s National Day—got any plans?" Lucy asked, glancing at Evan sitting in the back seat.
"Not yet."
Lucy nodded slightly at Evan’s answer. Up front, Lynn kept staring out the window, saying nothing.
Lucy drove them home, and as soon as they walked in, they saw Charles Chen bustling around in the kitchen.
Charles Chen was wearing an apron, carrying a pot of freshly made soup to the table. Seeing Evan and Lynn come in, he broke into a big smile. "Xiao Yi’s here! Come on, try my cooking."
"Bet you’ve never tasted my food before, huh?"
Charles Chen was all smiles, which earned him an eye-roll from Lucy Lu. "Give it a rest! It’s a miracle you’re even cooking for once—what’s there to brag about?"
Once the food was on the table, Lynn Chen picked at her meal quietly, eating slowly on her own.
Lucy kept piling food onto Evan’s plate: "Eat more! Seriously, wasn’t it nice living at home? Why’d you have to move out? Nothing you eat out there is as good as home-cooked."
"It’s only been a few days and you already look skinnier. If this keeps up, when you go home for break, your mom’s going to say I didn’t even feed you!"
Lucy’s gentle nagging left Evan with nothing to do but laugh it off.
Charles Chen, sitting across the table, turned to Evan: "So, Evan, got any plans for National Day?"
"Not really."
Charles nodded. "Here’s the thing—I was going to have Lynn check out the Jade Yard. Why don’t you come along too?"
"Jade Yard?"
"Yeah. I just met a few new jade dealers, and they mentioned it. I’ve got a couple business deals to handle there over the holiday, and Lucy’s coming with me. So I figured, since you and Lynn would just be bored at home, why not go see the world a bit? It’s not far from Capitalview City. The scenery’s nice too—there’s White Crane Lake right next door. Just treat it like a little vacation." Charles nodded enthusiastically.
"Besides, both Lucy and your mom love jade, right? You can pick out a few pieces—put it all on my tab. I haven’t visited your mom in ages, so consider it a little gift."
Charles nodded as he spoke.
In truth, Charles had noticed how Lynn had been coming home and locking herself in her room these past few days, sulking and withdrawn, which made him start to worry.
He’d asked Lucy to talk to Lynn a few times, but every time Lynn just clammed up, which left Charles and Lucy both anxious. They figured maybe the pressure of transferring schools was getting to her, so they wanted her to go out and relax a bit.
"That’s really not necessary," Evan said after thinking it over, shaking his head.
Evan really didn’t have any plans for National Day, but he also didn’t want to get too close to Lynn—no need to complicate things.
When Evan turned them down, Charles glanced at Lucy, who quickly spoke up: "Xiao Yi, you came all the way to Capitalview—you can’t just stay tense all the time. Besides, if Lynn goes alone, I’d really be worried."
"White Crane Lake is beautiful, and it’s only about an hour from Capitalview. It’s really close, so it won’t take up much time."
Before Lucy could finish, Lynn shot Evan a look, then slammed her chopsticks down on the table. "Mom, if he doesn’t want to go, just let him be. No need to beg him."
"Lynn!" Lucy frowned at her daughter’s words.
"Well, maybe he’s got a date for National Day. With so many girls waiting for him, right?" Lynn snorted.
"Girls?" Lucy and Charles were both taken aback.
Before they could ask anything else, there was a knock at the door.
Lucy went to open it. Outside stood Madam Han and Ryan Ren, both smiling.
Ever since Ryan Ren’s humiliating public rejection by Lynn at the Peiying High School Arts Gala, he hadn’t given up—in fact, he’d only gotten more determined. Every morning he’d wait for Lynn, hoping to walk her to school, but Lucy had been driving her every day lately, leaving him no chance at all.