"What does that have to do with him?"
Autumn Zheng shook her head. As she spoke, she didn’t meet Evan Lin’s eyes. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kept walking: “I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
“Someone as busy as him doesn’t have time for these little things.”
Autumn Zheng smiled, her tone calm, but Evan Lin could still hear a faint trace of loneliness in her words.
She was waiting for Azure Dragon, but even Azure Dragon didn’t seem to know what he was waiting for.
They made their way to the track and did two laps, passing plenty of couples in full-on PDA mode.
“I called your mom a few days ago. Right now, her biggest wish is for you to hurry up and get a girlfriend—and to stop stirring up trouble all the time.”
Autumn Zheng shifted the topic to Evan Lin: “Your mom only worries about you. She just wants you to be safe and happy; nothing else matters.”
“Can’t you just slow down and live a normal life?”
Evan Lin turned his head and saw the helplessness in Autumn Zheng’s eyes. “I can’t stop. I still have unfinished business.”
“There’s always more to do,” Autumn Zheng said, sounding absolutely certain.
After a few more words, she fell silent. Autumn Zheng knew there was no convincing him.
They wandered the track for about an hour. Around five thirty, Autumn Zheng checked the time.
“That’s enough. Let’s go—dinner together tonight.”
She led the way, and together with Evan Lin, they walked to the school gate.
Outside the gate, a flashy Lamborghini was parked, turning heads like crazy. The door popped open and out stepped a tall, blond dude with blue eyes and a grin as bright as the sun.
“Autumn, you’re here! Hop in, I’ve already booked the restaurant.”
When he saw Autumn Zheng, Henderson stepped forward and opened the car door for her.
“Let me introduce—this is Henderson, my senior from Oxford. He works at an international data-trade company now.”
Autumn Zheng kept going, then nodded at Evan Lin: "This is my kid brother."
“Hello, Autumn mentions you often.”
Henderson’s Chinese was actually pretty solid—his Mandarin was spot-on. As he spoke, he reached out and gave Evan Lin a firm handshake.
“Henderson, you drive ahead. We’ll follow in a taxi.”
The Lamborghini only had two seats—clearly, Autumn Zheng wasn’t about to leave Evan Lin trailing behind on his own.
Henderson didn’t object. He nodded with a smile and got in the car.
Every guy and girl nearby was glued to the scene—half nosy, half straight-up jealous, as usual.
Getting noticed by a rich, foreign heartthrob? That’s basically every girl’s fantasy around here.
And he’s from Oxford—top of the top. That’s the kind of resume that gets instant respect.
“So tonight’s dinner—is it to introduce him to me?”
After getting into the taxi, Evan Lin asked curiously.
This really isn’t like Autumn Zheng at all.
She’d never brought any guy around to introduce to him before—never even thought about it.
Honestly, for a while, Evan even thought Autumn might have what it takes to become a nun someday.
"Just want you to check him out. In a bit, I’m thinking of bringing him home to meet the family."
Autumn nodded, her face calm, no hint of joy or sadness: "I’m not exactly young anymore. Henderson’s got a decent personality. When I first got to Oxford, he looked out for me a lot."
"He’s a good guy. I don’t actually like him, but I don’t dislike him either."
Autumn Zheng’s the kind of woman who, once she gets rational, she’s really rational.
Hearing her say that, Evan wasn’t really surprised.
At most, he just felt a little blindsided.
"If you’re cool with it, that’s all that matters. You don’t need me to vet him."
Evan shook his head. "But you’re planning to go abroad and not come back, right?"
He finally got what Autumn meant.
She didn’t actually like Henderson. Even if she wouldn’t admit it, Evan was sure: she was doing all this for Azure Dragon to see.
Autumn was still waiting for Azure Dragon to make his move.
As for just picking some random guy, that’s not really realistic.
As for Grandpa Zheng and Grandma Zheng, they’ve never talked to Evan about this, but he figured they’d probably nudge Autumn about marriage, both openly and behind the scenes.
Autumn seemed so calm and collected, but deep down, she probably felt the awkwardness of being an older single woman.
"Of course I’ll come back. I haven’t confirmed anything with him yet. We’re just eating and chatting lately, getting to know each other a bit more."
Autumn shifted in her seat, relaxing more: "I used to be so naive, thinking if you liked someone and waited long enough, they’d eventually come back. If they really liked you, sooner or later they’d return."
"But later I realized, liking someone and whether they come back are two totally different things."
"I spent my whole youth waiting for one guy—went from a young girl to an old one. I saw him at his lowest, watched him climb all the way to the top, but none of that matters anymore."
Autumn smiled gently at Evan. "What matters is, I finally found the guts to try and cut things off for good."
"Otherwise, that old guy keeps sneaking over to see me, but he’s too scared to show his face. It’s not good—it just messes up his business."
Evan just stayed silent.
It’s not really his business.
He had no clue what was going on in Azure Dragon’s head.
But everyone’s got their own thing they’re chasing.
As for Autumn calling Azure Dragon an old man, Evan could totally get behind that.
"Since I just spilled my guts to you, can you at least hear me out?"
Autumn tilted her head, watching Evan.
“Go ahead, give it a shot. Whether I listen or not, I’ll think about it.” Evan replied, straight-up.
Autumn couldn’t help but reach out to knock Evan on the forehead, but he dodged to the side just in time.
"Don’t make a girl who likes you wait forever."
Autumn’s face suddenly turned serious: "If you like her, go for it and chase her. If you don’t, then rip off the band-aid and end it. Don’t drag things out."
Evan unconsciously touched his Spatial Ring, and for some reason, Lynn Chen from Beijing popped into his mind.
Manstel Western Restaurant.
Not many people inside. The lighting was soft and yellow, and a pianist up front was playing gentle music.
Evan sat next to Autumn. Henderson took the seat right across from her.
"The steak and foie gras here are pretty good."
Henderson handed the menu to Autumn, then smiled warmly at Evan: "You’re Autumn’s kid brother, so you must be a good student too."
Evan thought, 'You got that right. Except for skipping class and not studying, and sometimes smacking the teacher’s face, I’m technically a pretty good student.'
But since Henderson was Autumn’s senior, Evan kept it polite: "Not bad."
"So, do you have any bigger ambitions for your studies?"
Henderson sounded pretty enthusiastic: "Once you graduate, I can introduce you to my mentor. He can help guide you through grad school."
"That way, after graduation, it’ll be way easier for you to land a solid, high-paying job."