Chapter 328

It turns out that ever since the last trip to Tokyo, after Lin Xiuyuan had deeper contact with Park Hyomin because of Goo Hara, this little classmate who had a bit of "selfishness" finally developed a strong interest in Lin Xiuyuan.

So she started to actively send messages to share her daily life and ask about this and that.

However, Lin Xiuyuan's time and schedule at that time were truly too busy, so much so that he hadn't come back to check the messages here, and hadn't even gotten his phone, so naturally, he didn't reply to the other party.

So this, in Park Hyomin's eyes, was undoubtedly a cold shoulder and alienation, which made her feel a bit uncomfortable in her heart.

As a beauty's self-esteem and pride, if Lin Xiuyuan were standing in front of her right now, she would definitely have to go up and tear him apart.

Li Juli, who was on the side, looked at Park Hyomin's puffed-up and slightly aggrieved appearance, exchanged a helpless and funny look with Xian Enjing, and was also a bit curious about Lin Xiuyuan's situation.

After all, this guy had packed almost all the members of her group by his side.

"Alright, Hyomin, Xiuyuan is really busy lately."

While Li Juli's thoughts were drifting, Xian Enjing also patted Park Hyomin's shoulder to soothe her, "He had been running outside all the time before, and only just returned to Seoul this afternoon, so don't be angry with him, I'll talk to him in a while."

"Busy, busy, busy! What is he so busy with! Is he busier than us who are running schedules?" Park Hyomin muttered, although her tone was still dissatisfied, she was clearly more willing to listen to advice.

It's just that the stuffy anger in her heart was clearly not something that could be dissipated in a few words.

Lin Xiuyuan, who was far away in a barbecue restaurant in Seoul, suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck for no reason, and subconsciously sneezed a small sneeze.

"Achoo!"

"What's wrong? Is the air conditioning too cold?" Zheng Xiuyan, who was next to him, asked with concern.

"It's alright, I guess I just caught a draft." Lin Xiuyuan rubbed his nose, and a strange feeling inexplicably rose in his heart.

Sunny, who had been observing him from across the table, after seeing this scene, suddenly came up with a sentence, "Xiuyuan-ah~ you wouldn't be too weak, right? It's not cold in this room, why did you sneeze?"

She dragged out her tone jokingly, and her eyes even scanned Lin Xiuyuan's face, as if she wanted to find some evidence.

And Lin Xiuyuan, upon hearing this provocation, was not in a hurry to refute directly.

A hint of a smirk appeared on his face, and he first slowly looked at Lin Xiaolu, who was sitting next to Sunny.

Then, under his gaze, Lin Xiaolu's pair of originally clear deer eyes immediately blinked in panic like a frightened little animal.

Her eyes dodged, not daring to look at this bastard Lin Xiuyuan, so she silently lowered her head, pretending to focus on studying the kimchi in her bowl.

This deer-like shy and guilty reaction was simply more "persuasive" than any language.

Then, Lin Xiuyuan, who was very satisfied with Lin Xiaolu's reaction, thought about pressing the attack, and with the same teasing smile, prepared to turn his head to look at Zheng Xiuyan, who was sitting on his other side.

However, just as his head turned halfway, before the words could even come out—

Under the table, a sharp pain came from the outside of his thigh!!!

"Hiss—"

"6"

It turned out that Zheng Xiuyan had sensed the crisis in advance, so the moment his gaze turned over, she very accurately extended her powerful fingers and pinched his thigh hard.

Her action was steady, accurate, ruthless, and merciless!

It hurt Lin Xiuyuan so much that he instantly gasped, bared his teeth, and almost didn't scream out.

The smirk on his face also turned into a grimace of pain.

Forget it, better not provoke this aunt.

Helplessly, Lin Xiuyuan had to restrain his thoughts, rubbing his pinched thigh, and turned to Sunny, who had an expression of watching a good show, "Whether I'm weak or not, it's useless to just say it with your mouth, Sunkyu. Only practice can produce true knowledge, understand?"

"Scoundrel~"

After complaining with a smile, Sunny wanted to continue to open her mouth to tease, but the next second, she was directly blocked back by Zheng Xiuyan, who had returned to her queen posture.

She picked up a small dish of kimchi on the table and directly "smashed" it in front of Sunny, "Eat your kimchi, Sunkyu-ah, why are you talking so much today? Like a curious baby, asking about everything! Can't you just eat properly?"

This time Sunny was also amused, looking at Zheng Xiuyan's reaction, and then looking at Lin Xiuyuan's expression of daring to be angry but not daring to speak, her eyes turned back and forth between the two of them.

Finally, she wisely didn't continue to ask anything, but followed the kimchi Zheng Xiuyan handed over and ate it.

At the same time, she cleverly changed to a relatively safe topic.

"By the way, Yoona-ah," she turned to Lin Xiaolu beside her, her tone returning to normal, "Didn't you guys say on the way over just now that you wanted to drink and relax? Why has it become just eating now? Where's the alcohol? What about the drinking you promised?"

Remembering the reason these two used to brush her off at the beginning, Sunny also spoke with a small sense of accountability.

"Drink your head!"

However, before Lin Xiaolu could answer, Kim Ruanruan immediately retorted, rolling her eyes, "There's still rehearsal tonight, if we really drink alcohol and go back with the smell of alcohol, what should we do if the manager Oppa or the teacher smells it? Do you want to be scolded to death?"

This time Sunny couldn't help but pout a bit aggrievedly, muttering in a low voice, "It was clearly you guys who said it first, and even said something about going to find Xiuyuan to drink—"

"You believe it when I say it?" Kim Ruanruan laughed angrily.

"Yeah, I believe it when you say it." Sunny nodded without hesitation, her eyes clear and sincere, looking straight at Kim Ruanruan.

That look seemed to be saying: I trust you 100%.

Looking at Sunny's gaze, which carried a bit of childish persistence, Kim Ruanruan couldn't help but soften her heart, remembering the current situation of Sunny in 25 years that was mentioned when chatting with Kim Taeyeon before.

So her tone softened unconsciously, "Got it, got it, but there's really no chance to drink tonight. Next time, next time there's a chance, I'll make it up to you, okay?"

"Drink in the dormitory? That's so boring, there's no atmosphere at all."

Sunny, who was muttering, was clearly not very satisfied with Kim Ruanruan's brushing off.

Her gaze drifted naturally toward Lin Xiuyuan, and the meaning couldn't be more obvious.

At this moment, Lin Xiuyuan finally understood the situation, so he raised his hand and made an "OK" gesture, readily agreeing, "Understood, next time whenever you have time, just come over, the alcohol is on me."

"Hehe, that's more like it." Sunny smiled satisfactorily and finally stopped struggling with this problem.

Afterwards, the waiter brought the dishes they ordered one after another.

Sizzling grilled pork belly, fragrant spicy stir-fried rice cakes, steaming stone pot bibimbap, various side dishes—all laid out on the table.

With food in front of them, everyone temporarily put down various thoughts and topics and began to focus on the feast in front of them, burying their heads in eating.

For a while, only the light sound of tableware colliding and the sound of satisfied chewing remained on the dining table.

However, just as Lin Xiuyuan was focusing on dealing with a piece of grilled pork belly that was charred and oily, his left side suddenly felt a fingertip with a probing meaning, gently poking his waist.

The touch was very light, as if afraid of being discovered.

Lin Xiuyuan, who sensed it, paused slightly.

He didn't turn his head immediately, but leaned back naturally, leaning on the back of the booth sofa, as if he was just tired of eating and wanted to rest for a while.

Then he tilted his head slightly, looking at the suspect who attacked him just now at the innermost part with the corner of his eye.

Sure enough, it was Zheng Xiujing, who was sitting at the innermost side with most of her figure blocked by Zheng Xiuyan, who was currently leaning slightly, pressing her upper body on the other's shoulder, and poking out half of her head.

Lin Xiuyuan understood, and leaned back a little more, "What's wrong?"

Zheng Xiujing asked in a low voice, "How long are you staying this time?"

She asked very concisely, but Lin Xiuyuan immediately understood her meaning, it should be referring to whether he would disappear for several days again this time.

So Lin Xiuyuan thought for a while, "I don't know, I should be here often, everyone is quite busy lately, and I don't have anything to do."

At this time, Zheng Xiuyan, who was sitting in the middle of the two, also softly participated in the topic of the two, "That's right, Zhiyan and the others went to your side for a tour, and we are also preparing to go abroad for performances, and Yoona's drama, everyone is stretched thin lately."

But as she spoke, her voice stopped without warning.

The chopsticks holding the grilled meat hung in mid-air, as if she had suddenly remembered something extremely important and unpleasant.

Then she turned her head stiffly to look at Lin Xiuyuan, who was close at hand. The expression that was slightly soft because of the food just now instantly turned gloomy, and a trace of annoyance and vigilance flashed in her beautiful eyes.

Almost biting her back molars, she said hatefully in a breathy voice, "Wait, there's an old woman with no work, she seems to have quite a lot of free time, damn it!"

Lin Xiuyuan, upon hearing this, knew who she was talking about.

It was nothing more than Jessica, who was in a semi-retired state in 25 years and had relatively free time.

And at this time, Zheng Xiuyan finally remembered what the other party said to her in the afternoon, and according to the current situation, that old woman seemed to really be able to occupy all of Lin Xiuyuan's free time.

"Then what should we do," Lin Xiuyuan endured his laughter and responded in the same breathy voice, his tone carrying a bit of helplessness and teasing, "She is in a retired state, her time freedom is very high, but—"

While speaking, he looked at Zheng Xiujing again, "But Xiujing, you should be almost done with your work too, Zhenli should be coming back from Tokyo in two days. If there are any problems, let's sit down and talk about it then."

Zheng Xiujing, upon hearing this, first swept her gaze quickly at Sunny across from her, then nodded gently at Lin Xiuyuan, and then sat up very sensibly.

As if that short exchange just now had never happened.

Sure enough, as she sat up, Sunny, who had just finished a bite of rice cake, immediately raised her head curiously and looked at Zheng Xiuyan, asking, "Xiuyan-ah, who were you scolding as an old woman just now? The resentment feels very heavy."

Her pair of smiling eyes were full of pure curiosity at this moment, "And it sounds like she's not young? 30-something? Or 40?"

When did you meet such a senior, and could make you so angry?"

Once this question was thrown out, everyone at the dining table except Lin Xiuyuan focused their gaze on Zheng Xiuyan.

Lin Xiaolu and Kim Ruanruan looked at each other, both showing a subtle expression that was a bit funny.

They naturally knew who Zheng Xiuyan was scolding, but they were also curious about how she would explain it in front of Sunny.

Zheng Xiujing also stopped her spoon, a bit curious.

Only Lin Xiuyuan felt a thump in his heart, feeling his head start to ache again, but he had to pretend to be calm on his face and continue to struggle with the barbecue.

Under everyone's gaze, Zheng Xiuyan answered clearly in a tone mixed with disdain, mockery, and contempt, "It's just an old woman who doesn't know what she's doing!"

She, who deliberately emphasized the word "old," continued to output, "She's already in her 30s, almost 40! And she still hangs around on the stage all day, wearing those clothes that don't fit her age, pretending to be young, pretending to be cute, pretending to be adorable, and she doesn't even know how to be ashamed."

At this time, Zheng Xiuyan was projecting her resentment toward Jessica onto a fictionalized outdated female idol image.

Later, she became more and more involved as she spoke, as if she were really criticizing someone she couldn't stand, "If it were me, I would have long since had no face to see people, and would have retired from the circle to retire."

"Ah—30-something, almost 40?"

Sunny, who didn't know why, after listening, naturally substituted her thinking and nodded to express her opinion, "That's indeed a bit not good, physical strength and state will decline a lot, right."

She, who analyzed everything objectively, continued to state her plan for the future, "I think if it were me, I would jump to my 30s at most, and then I would start to consider reducing it gradually. By the time I'm about 35, it's almost time to retire."

"Wait until ten years later, I'll probably retire completely, travel everywhere, play games, occasionally go on a special stage or variety show to miss my youth, that's fine. Like now, jumping continuously with high intensity, running schedules continuously, I really can't accept it, and my body can't handle it."

However, this very realistic and reasonable statement by Sunny, based on her own position, was just finished.

She suddenly discovered that Lin Xiuyuan at the dining table was lowering his head, and his shoulders seemed to be shaking slightly.

The gazes of all the remaining people were staring straight at her.

That look was not very friendly.

It seemed to be saying: Try scolding one more time.

Lin Xiaolu's eyes carried a bit of reproach and helplessness.

Kim Ruanruan's brows were slightly frowned, her eyes subtle, as if Sunny had accidentally stepped on one of her minefields.

Zheng Xiuyan's expression was even more wonderful, the expression of righteous indignation criticizing someone just now instantly stiffened on her face.

Even Zheng Xiujing, who was always cold, looked at Sunny with a hint of depression.

The atmosphere of the restaurant instantly solidified.

And Sunny, with her mouth open, still holding chopsticks in her hand, was a bit dumbfounded for a while.

She didn't understand at all how her statement suddenly caused public anger?

Did she say something wrong?

Isn't this a very normal discussion?

Only Lin Xiuyuan, who was sitting across from her, had his shoulders shaking more obviously, at this time he was desperately suppressing the burst of laughter that was about to rush out, his face almost buried in the bowl.

Because he knew too well that the future actions of everyone present, except Sunny herself, had been accurately poked into the hornet's nest by Sunny's big truth.

But soon, his instep was stepped on hard by Zheng Xiuyan next to him.

It hurt so much that he immediately closed his mouth, didn't dare to laugh anymore, and could only quietly bare his teeth and grimace on the side.

No, this wasn't what I said!!!

At the same time, Shancheng, on the car to the hot pot restaurant.

——

For this hot pot meal tonight, all Tara members finally went out.

Even Park Soyeon, who usually didn't like going out to eat because of physical reasons or a quiet personality, sat in the car.