Chapter 191: Zheng Xiuyan

"Huh..."

Hearing a soft exclamation of surprise from beside him, Lin Xiuyuan instinctively turned his head to look, only to see Zheng Xiuyan also following his gaze toward the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor.

If nothing went wrong, she must have also seen that woman sitting by the window, eating.

That face... it looked exactly like her own in the mirror, yet it was not her.

Separated by a layer of glass, one was downstairs, the other on the second floor.

Two "Zheng Xiuyans" from different timelines finally confronted each other in reality in a strange way.

Before Lin Xiuyuan could speak, Zheng Xiuyan spoke first, her tone complex, "What a surprise, I didn't expect to run into her here."

She stared at that face behind the window, the expression beneath her mask impossible to fathom.

Surprise, reflection, and a trace of indescribable heaviness.

The other person was wearing a beige skirt suit, looking at the two of them with a somewhat strange expression; her tied-up hair shimmered with a cold hue in the sunlight, almost indistinguishable from her own in the mirror.

But compared to herself, that person seemed to possess an extra aura of refinement, maturity, and calmness, like a sharpness tempered by years of storms.

She had become mature, reserved, and even somewhat unfamiliar.

This was the first impression Zheng Xiuyan gained after truly facing Jessica head-on for the first time.

Seeing Zheng Xiuyan dazed for a long time, Lin Xiuyuan whispered, "Let's go, it's not a good time to meet."

"Zhiyan is waving at you, aren't you going to respond?"

At this moment, Zheng Xiuyan beneath the mask let out a laugh again, signaling Lin Xiuyuan to look at the second floor.

Lin Xiuyuan did as she expected, looked up at the second floor, and waved at Dalongzai, Li Juli, and Sunny, who were leaning out.

Then he hurriedly shook his head at them, pointed at Zheng Xiuyan beside him, and immediately made a gesture indicating they were "leaving."

Upstairs.

Seeing this scene, Dalongzai pursed her lips, "Looks like he's very busy right now."

"Who is that beside Xiuyuan? Her figure... is alright, but she looks so young." At this time, Li Juli also muttered with some curiosity.

The "not bad" that came from her mouth was not meant as a disparagement, but merely an objective comparison.

After all, she had extremely high standards for her own figure.

"A bit familiar."

"A bit familiar."

As Li Juli asked, Jessica and Sunny spoke in unison.

But because Zheng Xiuyan was wearing a mask, although the two felt she looked very familiar, they couldn't explain where the familiarity came from, giving them a strange sense of dissonance that left them feeling very frustrated.

Dalongzai raised her eyebrows, stood up with a smile, and said, "Actually, I also feel she's a bit familiar, I'll go down and take a look."

"Hey, Zhiyan, wait for me."

"Why are you all going down? Then I'm going too."

In the blink of an eye, Jessica, finding herself the only one left sitting, turned her head to look at Lin Xiuyuan downstairs once more, then stood up and followed them down.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, Lin Xiuyuan, who had originally wanted to retreat, was quickly intercepted downstairs by Dalongzai.

Dalongzai arrived at Lin Xiuyuan's side and first greeted him, "Hi, Xiuyuan, is this what you meant by having things to do?"

She then looked at Zheng Xiuyan beside him, "Hello."

Zheng Xiuyan did not speak, only nodding slightly in response.

She knew very well that any word or tone of hers at this moment could trigger uncontrollable consequences.

Subsequently, Li Juli and Sunny also came down, both casting measuring glances at this mysterious "girl."

But the closer she got to looking at this masked girl, the stronger the sense of familiarity in Sunny's eyes became, as if she were a very close friend.

Yet, looking solely at that firm skin and figure, none of her familiar friends seemed to be this young.

Seeing Zheng Xiuyan not speaking, Dalongzai didn't say anything either; her gaze was fixed only on Lin Xiuyuan, "Xiuyuan, you haven't answered me yet."

Seeing there was no other way, Lin Xiuyuan could only reply, "A Small Tavern member, I'm accompanying her to take care of some business. Why did you all run down here? Go back up and eat."

Small Tavern member!!!

Dalongzai and Li Juli, who hadn't paid much attention initially, looked at Zheng Xiuyan with significantly more seriousness after hearing the words "Small Tavern member."

Because this was the first time they had seen a member other than Kim Taeyeon and Lin Yun'er, they naturally paid extra attention.

And just at this moment, Jessica finally walked up to the group.

Zheng Xiuyan looked at Jessica from close range, her eyes flickering slightly.

She finally saw that face of her own, familiar to the point of being unable to be more familiar, only compared to herself, the other's face already had fine lines, the corners of her eyes drooping slightly, and her eyes lacked luster, filled instead with fatigue and turbidity.

Jessica was also startled by the masked girl at close range.

That sense of familiarity suddenly became incomparably strong, like looking in a mirror, yet not seeing her current self, but rather that younger, sharper "her."

This eerie sense of déjà vu sent a chill through Jessica's heart, and she couldn't help but take half a step back involuntarily.

An indescribable sense of dissonance, as if she had seen a ghost walk out from a crack in time.

Is this a ghost??

Lin Xiuyuan noticed people around them starting to cast strange looks, and sensing the situation was not good, he immediately whispered, "Alright, you all hurry back to eat. There are too many people, we'll contact each other later."

The others also noticed the situation, so they didn't pester them further, nodding one after another and returning upstairs.

Only Jessica remained standing in place, her gaze locked on the masked figure that made her feel uneasy, and she suddenly spoke, "Lin Xiuyuan, who is this? Why don't you introduce us?"

"None of your business."

After Lin Xiuyuan retorted, he pulled Zheng Xiuyan's arm directly, signaling that she could leave.

Zheng Xiuyan did not move immediately, but turned her head to look deeply at Jessica, her eyes complex and inexplicable.

A moment later, she whispered, "You've become so ugly."

Jessica froze.

It was not because of the aggressiveness of the words themselves, but because she was too familiar with the voice.

That tone, that timbre, even the intake of breath and the trailing end of the sound after finishing, were all extremely like... herself.

It was like a soul fragment buried deep in the depths of memory, awakened by a sudden impact.

She stood there in a daze, even forgetting to be angry or retort for a moment, with nothing left but a roaring question in her mind:

"Who is she?"

And just after Jessica came back to her senses, that back had already followed Lin Xiuyuan's footsteps, disappearing around the street corner along with the sunlight.

At this moment, Lin Xiuyuan, who had already walked to the next street, grinned and laughed, his expression as relaxed as if he had just won a ball game.

"Not bad, Xiuyan, your sarcasm just now hit her right in the heart. It seems Xiaozhiyan's words have become the bible of our Church; how did you all end up just like her?"

"It really has become ugly; looking at her, I've even started to feel anxious about my own future." Zheng Xiuyan walked beside Lin Xiuyuan, her tone somewhat low.

However, after saying this, she suddenly thought of something, "By the way, why did you talk to her like that, and your relationship is still very bad? I thought Xiujing had helped you smooth things over."

Facing Zheng Xiuyan's curious question, Lin Xiuyuan indicated, "Krystal did have that idea, and dragged us to have a meal together. It's just that I'm too lazy to bother with Jessica; that woman with a screw loose is full of trouble, so I'd better keep my distance."

As Lin Xiuyuan finished speaking, Zheng Xiuyan first nodded, then followed with a self-deprecating remark, "Although I know very well that you aren't talking about me, the moment I think it's myself from a future timeline, I feel a sense of powerlessness to retort."

Lin Xiuyuan smacked his lips and turned his head to look at her, "Don't project yourself onto it, okay? I wasn't scolding you."

He then raised his hand and pointed forward, "Let's go, there happens to be a 'KFC' ahead, let's go in and sit for a while."

"'KFC'?" Zheng Xiuyan was stunned.

"KFC." He turned back and smiled.

A few minutes later, Zheng Xiuyan sat in a corner.

She watched as Lin Xiuyuan returned carrying a tray, setting down the Fried Chicken and fries, along with two drinks.

Then he gently removed the lower part of his mask; the thin piece covering his nose and mouth was peeled away, revealing a fair chin and pale pink lips.

He then picked up a fry and bit into it, his expression natural.

And Lin Xiuyuan, watching this scene, couldn't help but laugh, "Sure enough, this batch of masks that Lin Xiaolu chose in Tokyo back then is still pretty good; at least each one can open its mouth to eat without having to be taken off directly."

"Mm, it's indeed quite convenient." Zheng Xiuyan chewed, her tone relaxed, "It's just stuffy after wearing it for a long time."

"Then let's leave after we finish eating; we've walked around enough anyway."

Lin Xiuyuan said it nonchalantly, but in reality, he was worried that continuing forward would lead into a densely populated commercial area; although Zheng Xiuyan's disguise was hidden, there was no guarantee she wouldn't be spotted.

"Mm, let's go for a walk outside after eating and then head back."

After walking around, Zheng Xiuyan, who had seen quite a few things, although still wanting to continue, knew that safety was paramount and that she could shop again next time.

Just like that, the two chatted while eating.

After a while, Lin Xiuyuan finished his fried wings and roasted wings and stood up, "I'm going to wash my hands."

Zheng Xiuyan watched him walk away, and at this moment, the phone at the corner of the table suddenly rang with several "ding-ding-ding" sounds.

She looked up and saw that Lin Xiuyuan's phone was vibrating with a series of messages.

This situation made Zheng Xiuyan pause for a moment, then she gently picked up the tissue she had used to wipe the corner of her mouth and covered most of Lin Xiuyuan's phone left on the table, leaving only a small corner exposed.

She did not look at the content of the popped-up messages; she still had that much sense of propriety.

Then she picked up the iced black tea from the side of the table again, took a sip, and sat quietly waiting for Lin Xiuyuan to return.

Not long after, Lin Xiuyuan returned wiping his hands, muttering while yawning, "Sigh, every time I finish eating these things that require using hands, I have to wash them; it's annoying if I'm too lazy to wash them."

"Your phone rang a few times just now, I helped you cover it." Zheng Xiuyan reminded him casually after seeing him return, her gaze very calm.

Lin Xiuyuan said "Oh," and picked up the phone casually, saying, "It's probably Dalongzai and the others; they're likely still talking about what happened downstairs just now."

Before he finished speaking, the moment he unlocked the interface, he saw the sender clearly.

It was not the few he had just mentioned, but the one he met at Incheon Airport this morning—Liu Zhimin.

And she had sent several messages, clearly carrying a sense of confusion and even some kind of questioning emotion.

Lin Xiuyuan, blinking, lifted the phone slightly toward his mouth and laughed softly, "Hiss, it's actually not the ones I guessed."

"Not them?" Zheng Xiuyan blinked, somewhat surprised, "Then who is it?"

"Liu Zhimin." Lin Xiuyuan said casually while opening the messages, "The leader of the current top girl group of SM."

As he said this, he opened the messages Liu Zhimin had sent him.

The first sentence carried a bit of boundless grievance.

Liu Zhimin: 【So Xiuyuan-xi, you are flirting with me day and night, and yet you have another girl accompanying you on a trip over there, is that it?】

Liu Zhimin: 【Xiuyuan-xi, so the Maldives you went to this time was to go be romantic with her?】

Liu Zhimin: 【Xiuyuan-xi, when will we have time to meet? It's been a long time, hasn't it?】

Lin Xiuyuan, looking at these text messages, touched his nose with some amusement.

Although the two had only met twice, both felt quite good about each other, and since both were busy, their relationship remained in a state of ambiguous limbo.

However, topics between men and women, as they chatted, gradually devolved into a mode of "mutual teasing + hormone release."

As they flirted, it even regressed to some instincts from the ape-man era.

Lin Xiuyuan and Liu Zhimin were no exception.

So after a whole month of "flirting," when Liu Zhimin met Lin Xiuyuan again at the airport and saw him holding a girl with a graceful figure, she was genuinely a bit angry on the spot.

To the point that later, from the airport back to the company, she didn't say much the whole way, only making a symbolic appearance at the company before leaving quickly.

Back at the Dormitory, her first thought was to delete this man's contact information completely, out of sight, out of mind.

But when she opened the chat history with Lin Xiuyuan and scrolled to the photo of his abs and mermaid line that he had sent not long ago, her finger unconsciously continued to slide upward, re-reading the "promotional images and text" they had exchanged during this time.

While reading, the corners of her mouth also rose unconsciously.

After finishing, the bit of annoyance in her heart dissipated a lot, and thus came the text messages of questioning with a hint of grievance above.

On the contrary, when Lin Xiuyuan saw these messages, a light smile hung on the corners of his mouth, and he had no intention of replying immediately.

He just casually covered the phone, planning to talk about it later.

Flirting and teasing with someone like Liu Zhimin is just a daily diversion in life.

If it comes to being serious, Lin Xiuyuan does not intend to invest too much effort into her.

After all, she is even more troublesome than Jessica, covered in the landmines and baggage of the entertainment industry.

But if there really is an opportunity, he naturally won't waste the "provisions."

Opposite him, Zheng Xiuyan listened to Lin Xiuyuan's explanation, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly as she said with a hint of mockery.

"Not bad, it seems you're really doing much better over here than we are over there; you've even gotten to know a popular girl group member like Liu Zhimin. No wonder you're so happy you've forgotten home."

"Yo, your Chinese has improved; your vocabulary has grown quite a bit," Lin Xiuyuan said, surprised upon hearing this.

Zheng Xiuyan rolled her eyes behind her mask, her tone carrying a hint of pride, "Duh, did you think I was joking about wanting to enter the domestic entertainment industry? I've been self-studying Chinese the whole time, and I even bought specialized courses."

"Why waste money like that? Just hire me," Lin Xiuyuan said offhandedly.

"Hire you?" Zheng Xiuyan sneered, "A busy person like you doesn't even touch base with us over there every few days, and you still want me to hire you? Hire your head."

Left speechless by Zheng Xiuyan, Lin Xiuyuan gave a sheepish laugh, then lowered his head to eat his fries.

After all, this wasn't the first time Lin Xiuyuan had been told off in this situation, but he really couldn't be blamed; the 25-year-old big sister was just too attentive, even pressing right into his arms.

After a while longer, the two of them, having rested sufficiently, got up and left the shop.

They wandered around this street casually for a while longer, and Zheng Xiuyan picked out a few Handicrafts to buy, planning to take them back as ornaments to look at.

Finally, the two of them hailed a taxi and returned to the Villa.

But when the two of them arrived at the entrance of the Villa, Lin Xiuyuan's phone rang once again. He took it out to look, and this time it wasn't Liu Zhimin, but a call from the future version of the person beside him, Jessica.

He glanced at it, then looked up and smiled at Zheng Xiuyan, "A call from Jessica."

"Why are you looking at me? If you want to answer, then answer." Zheng Xiuyan didn't feel much; regarding her first close-range contact with Jessica, there were only two words in her mind right now—maintenance.

She had to start maintaining her figure and skin from now on; she didn't want to end up like the Jessica she had just met ten-plus years later.

Lin Xiuyuan lowered his head and hung up the call, preparing to open The Gate to go back into the Villa, but Jessica on the other end was very persistent and called again.

Lin Xiuyuan hung up again, and then a third time.

At this, Zheng Xiuyan laughed, "Just answer it, otherwise you won't have time to open the door."

Helpless, Lin Xiuyuan finally answered, "Hello, what is it?"

Lin Xiuyuan asked directly, and Jessica on the other end replied just as sharply, "Lin Xiuyuan, where are you? I have something to talk to you about."

"If you have something to say, say it over the phone. I don't have time."

"..."

Jessica on the other end of the line struggled to regulate her angry breathing.

Lin Xiuyuan remained unmoved, "Speak if you have something to say; if not, I'm hanging up."

Hearing the heavy breathing on the other end of the line, he understood that the other party was angry, but... what did that have to do with him?

In the end, Jessica, unable to let go of her pride, gritted her teeth and threw out one sentence, "You just wait."

Then she hung up the phone.

Lin Xiuyuan shrugged, couldn't be bothered to care, and turned to open the door, leading Zheng Xiuyan into the Villa.

At the same time.

Jessica, who had just finished lunch with Dalongzai and the others and parted ways with them, was currently sitting alone in her car, her emotions nearly out of control as she slammed her hand against the steering wheel.

"Bastard, scumbag, son of a bitch, is it really necessary to be so petty?"

After roaring this string of profanities, she looked down at the call log that had just been hung up, gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and suppressed her anger to dial again.

There was no help for it; Jessica really needed to find Lin Xiuyuan to clarify some things.

Because just a short while ago, she had inadvertently noticed something that shocked her—a detail, a small gesture, a silhouette she could hardly believe.

That man and woman, or rather, that girl—she had to see her again to confirm it in person.

However, this time, she didn't even get the chance for the call to go through.

What came to her ears was the cold, mechanical system prompt: "The number you have dialed does not exist. Please check and dial again."

Jessica froze for an instant, her pupils slightly constricting.

This is... being blocked?

She stared blankly at the screen, only realizing a moment later that this was the first time in her life she had been directly blocked by someone.

At that moment, it was as if Jessica had been struck in the heart by a heavy hammer; anger and grievance intertwined, mixing into a sense of humiliation she had never felt before, quietly welling up in her heart.

(End of chapter)