After a long and difficult internal struggle, Lynn Chen finally agreed to Lucy Lu's request.
Charles Chen came home at eleven o'clock at night. He'd run a lot of business errands today, and things seemed to be going smoothly. He entered the house humming a tune.
As soon as he opened the door, Charles Chen looked at Lynn Chen and Lucy Lu sitting on the sofa and smiled, "What's going on here? Not even watching TV, just sitting on the couch zoning out?"
When he got closer, Charles Chen finally noticed Lynn Chen sitting on the sofa, her eyes red and clearly having cried. His face changed instantly, and he hurried over, full of concern: "What happened, my precious daughter? Who bullied you?"
Then, as if something suddenly occurred to him, Charles Chen was startled: "Was it that Ryan Ren next door?"
"I knew from the start he wasn't a good guy! Last time he invited you to his school to watch him play piano, I could tell. Just look at him—does he really look like someone who can play piano? I bet he'd even mess up playing cotton!"
Charles Chen slapped his thigh, jumped to his feet, and put his hands on his hips, furious: "Lynn, just wait! I'm going over there right now to have a word with him! Who does he think he is, bullying my daughter?"
"Enough, enough! This has nothing to do with Ryan Ren!"
Lucy Lu stuck out her foot and kicked Charles Chen. Charles paused, confused: "If it's not Ryan Ren, then who could it be?"
"Don't worry about who it is. Sit down and have some water—I need to talk to you about something!"
At Lucy Lu's command, Charles Chen quickly sat down, looking at her in confusion: "What's the matter? Why so mysterious? You're making me kind of nervous."
Lucy Lu told Charles Chen everything she and Lynn Chen had just discussed.
After listening, Charles Chen pondered for a moment, glanced at Lynn Chen still curled up on the sofa, then sighed, "I share some of the blame here. I really haven't treated Evan Lin properly as a kid. I was wrong too."
"Let's do as you say. Later, you should call Evan Lin—not just Lynn, but I need to apologize to him too. Then let's set up a time to talk things through properly. And also..."
As he spoke, Charles Chen paused, looking over at Lynn Chen, who grew a little nervous inside. "What is it?" she asked.
"Here's the thing—your dad, just like your mom, really likes Evan Lin. After you apologize, if you two really do end up together, I hope you'll be careful about certain things."
Charles Chen put on a serious face.
Lucy Lu and Lynn Chen both got a little nervous too.
Lynn Chen didn't argue with Charles Chen's words, instead she instinctively asked, "Careful about what?"
"You need to take proper precautions. I don't want to be a grandpa too soon."
Charles Chen finished speaking, still completely serious.
Lynn Chen was stunned for a moment before she realized what he meant. Her face instantly turned bright red. She grabbed the pillow in her arms and smacked Charles Chen on the head. "You're so inappropriate!"
Without another word, Lynn Chen ran upstairs barefoot.
"Hey! Kid, your dad was just being sincere!" Charles Chen looked aggrieved after getting hit with the pillow. He was about to seek comfort from Lucy Lu, but when he moved to sit next to her and tried to put his arm around her waist, Lucy kicked him off the sofa.
"You're so inappropriate!"
Lucy Lu rolled her eyes. Charles Chen simply sat on the floor, shaking his head. "Well, what can I say? My wife is beautiful—if anyone wants to be proper, let them!"
"Don't talk. Let me call Evan first. The sooner we clear this up, the better. It's rare that Lynn is willing to admit she's wrong!"
Lucy Lu picked up her phone.
...
After showering, Evan Lin stood by the window, letting the cold wind blow over him.
Evan Lin looked perfectly calm. From a distance, his figure still seemed a bit thin, but up close, every muscle on his body was clean, solid, and perfectly defined.
He didn't dwell on the events at White Crane Lake today; his mind was only slightly curious about Master Baiyun, the one searching for Law Seeds.
"With Earth's spiritual energy so depleted, could Master Baiyun really be capable of making magic artifacts if he wants Law Seeds?"
Evan Lin frowned slightly. Even with his current strength, he could only make some basic, small magic artifacts—and that still took a lot of effort.
If Master Baiyun was collecting Law Seeds to make magic artifacts, then his power must be formidable.
Just as Evan Lin was pondering this, his phone rang.
"Hello."
Evan Lin answered the call—it was Big Tank on the other end.
"Boss, about that clue you asked me to track down for your teacher, Lily Zhong—I found something..."
Big Tank spoke on the phone with extreme caution, afraid that one wrong word might upset Evan Lin.
Even though Evan Lin was far from Haizhou and Minghai, Big Tank knew that Master Lin—famed throughout Haizhou—could end him with the flick of a finger if he wished.
Big Tank didn't dare step out of line.
"Alright, I understand."
Evan Lin hung up, exhaled a heavy breath, and looked out indifferently at the city lights below, muttering to himself, "Wretched places breed wretched people."
Just then, his phone rang again. Evan Lin glanced at the number and picked up.
"Auntie Lu, is there something you need?"
"If it's about dinner, I probably won't have time these next few days. I'm heading out for a while—let's talk when I get back."
"Alright, Auntie Lu. Good night."
After hanging up, Evan Lin put on his jacket, slung on his backpack, opened the window, and leapt straight out—from the fifteenth floor.
"I made some mung bean porridge. Want some? It's really good."
Outside Evan Lin's door, Xu Yiran carefully held a bowl of mung bean porridge. She called out, but got no reply, so she nudged the door with her foot—only for it to swing open unexpectedly.
She saw the window open, the room empty, and the bed undisturbed. Xu Yiran paused, feeling a strange emptiness inside.
"Xiao Yi said he has to go out for a while, probably won't have time these next few days."
Just as Lucy Lu finished her call, she noticed Lynn Chen, who had gone upstairs earlier, now quietly hiding at the corner of the stairs, ears pricked, listening intently.
When Lynn Chen heard Lucy Lu's words, she froze for a moment, then hung her head, turned barefoot back to her room, closed the door, and flopped onto the bed. She pulled the covers over herself, curling up into a ball beneath the blankets.