Chapter 451: 473

473 "I know!!!" (Seeking subscriptions and monthly votes)

In her seat, Park Hyomin watched Quan Baolan, who had already lowered her head and was nimbly tapping away on her phone screen, chatting with Lin Xiuyuan; her eyes, which naturally held a hint of allure, narrowed slightly.

The movement was very light, as if she were tucking some emotion away into the depths of her eyes.

Then, saying nothing, she simply stood up, walked to a seat nearby to retrieve her phone, turned around, and headed straight for the exit of the lounge.

Park Jiyeon, who had been keeping an eye on her with her peripheral vision, immediately scurried over to Xian Enjing's side the moment she confirmed that the door had fully closed, saying quite amusedly.

"Unnie, there's a good show to watch. Hyomin Unnie can't take it anymore; oppa is in for some trouble."

As she said this, she lightly nudged Xian Enjing's arm with her elbow, as if sharing an inside joke that only the two of them could understand.

Facing this slightly mischievous remark from their youngest, Xian Enjing turned her head to look at Park Jiyeon's face—which was clearly enjoying the spectacle—and couldn't help but laughingly retort.

"Jiyeon-ah, weren't you still feeling indignant about Hyomin and Xiuyuan's situation before? How have you become so calm today, and so curious?"

When Park Jiyeon answered this question, her expression didn't really hold anything complex; her tone was very ordinary, as if she were stating a simple, everyday truth.

"Being angry for a while is enough, right? Who could stay angry forever? How would one go on living like that?"

However, after a brief pause, she felt she should add one more thing.

"Besides, Hyomin Unnie is now a member of the Church, so oppa, this piece of meat, is still stewing in our big pot after all; it hasn't been eaten by someone outside, so that's fine. Even though I'm a bit depressed, I can't stop people from eating, right?"

Having said this, her gaze fell upon Xian Enjing, carrying a hint of genuine curiosity toward her own Unnie.

"Like, if the next one were you, Unnie, then I don't think I'd even be depressed; I'd probably run over and ask how it feels, Unnie."

If someone else had spoken to Xian Enjing like this, expressing anticipation about what it would feel like for her to sleep with a man, you would see whether or not Xian Enjing would scold them back.

Although her temper was usually gentle and steady, she was definitely not someone who would be indifferent to such a topic.

But if that person was Park Jiyeon, the nature of it was completely different.

Thus, Xian Enjing just glared at Park Jiyeon with great exasperation, then brushed the stray hair from her forehead, leaving Park Jiyeon with only one calm sentence.

"Wait a bit longer; I don't have that intention for the time being."

"Unnie, are you unable to get past that psychological barrier?"

Park Jiyeon was a bit curious, so she leaned forward a little more, pressing right up against Xian Enjing.

"It's already like this, what psychological barrier could there be?" Xian Enjing said this with a hint of amusement in her tone at being teased.

So she shook her head, though not by much, "It's just that I don't have the time right now. I don't really like the on-and-off nature of long-distance relationships. At the very least, let's wait until work settles down, or until the company goes bust and can't keep going."

Facing this excuse from Xian Enjing, Park Jiyeon truly laughed out loud.

"Hahaha, Unnie, you're so direct. If the people at the company heard that, they'd cry to death."

"Stop it." Xian Enjing reached out and lightly patted Park Jiyeon's thigh, signaling her to tone it down.

Then, her gaze crossed Park Jiyeon's shoulder to look toward Quan Baolan, and she gestured lightly, "Look over there, Baolan Unnie isn't typing anymore. I guess Xiuyuan isn't replying to her. Jiyeon, what do you think is going on?"

Park Jiyeon followed the direction she pointed and looked back, then, without even needing to think, gave her own judgment, "Does this even need thinking? It must be that oppa received Hyomin Unnie's call. I really want to hear how he gets interrogated. Ah, I'm so curious."

Outside.

The person Park Jiyeon was curious about was currently leaning against the corridor wall, phone pressed to his ear, his voice carrying a clear, provocative, and sarcastic tone as he spoke to the other end of the line.

"Yo, our great master Xiuyuan has finally returned, and the first thing you do after returning is chasing girls, huh? You couldn't have possibly missed all those calls I made and those messages I sent, right? No way, no way."

The other end of the phone was quiet for a good while.

It lasted for about three or four seconds, and then Lin Xiuyuan's voice rose, traveling through the receiver into her ear, and it was that kind of amusing and shameless tone, "No way, no way, Hyomin, a woman as smart as you wouldn't know that a fish that's already taken the bait doesn't need to be fed again, right?"

"Yah, Lin Xiuyuan." Park Hyomin immediately flared up upon hearing those words.

When she spoke again, her voice was very low and full of intensity, almost squeezed out from between her teeth.

Even though the rational part of her told her that Lin Xiuyuan was just joking, and even though she knew in her heart that his use of this infuriating tone was just his personality.

But she had just come into contact with that super secret.

She hadn't even managed to steady herself from the dizziness of touching the core of the secret, and her sense of dependence on this guy Lin Xiuyuan was at its peak, so she really couldn't stand being spoken to like that.

And Lin Xiuyuan understood this, so along with her displeasure came his apology.

Seamlessly connected, as fast as if it had been rehearsed.

With less of the arrogance of bickering and more of a soft, compliant easing, "Alright, alright, my fault."

Then he continued to explain, "I really wasn't ignoring your messages; it's just that the matter with Baolan was something I had personally asked her to do. After so many days without a sound, I had to at least give a brief response first, and then I would have messaged you. Who knew you'd happen to catch me, and call within a minute? At the very least, you have to give me some time to slowly type out a reply."

When he said this, half of his tone was admitting his mistake, while the other half sounded like he was patiently explaining to Park Hyomin why he didn't step out with his left foot first when leaving the house today.

It was a bit nagging, but the nagging itself was a form of statement.

"Perfunctory, too perfunctory." Park Hyomin snorted coldly, though the corners of her mouth loosened slightly without her even realizing it.

"Then what do you suggest? See you tonight?" Lin Xiuyuan, catching the meaning, laughed.

This sentence made Park Hyomin's eyes drift, which counted as tacitly agreeing to the invitation, and then, with the end of her sentence slightly raised, she retorted, "Is that inviting me to dinner, or inviting us to dinner?"

"You guys invite me to dinner." Lin Xiuyuan didn't even think about it.

"In your dreams." Park Hyomin couldn't hold it in and laughed back.

Then, thinking about today's schedule, she reported the approximate time work would end tonight and her plans to the receiver.

"We'll probably finish around 7 PM."

"You can wait at that mall, or come over to our Dormitory."

"It might be a little late, but it definitely won't be too long."

Finally, she switched back to the tone of someone ending a call and asked that last question, "Also, are we having grilled meat or hot pot tonight?"

Two options were placed before Lin Xiuyuan, not to seek his opinion, but to grade his answer.

After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Grilled meat."

"Reason." Her eyebrows arched.

"Had hot pot last night."

After he finished speaking, a very soft mutter came from the other end of the phone, "Hmph, then it's hot pot tonight, it's settled. I'm hanging up, I'm busy."

Over at the Apartment.

Looking at the hung-up phone, Lin Xiuyuan was left between laughter and tears; forget it, forget it, hot pot it is, it's all the same.

He then lowered his head to continue messaging Quan Baolan, while not forgetting to reply to Lin Xiaolu and the others, to avoid the same problem from just now; it would be troublesome if they all ganged up on him later.

……

……

Just as Lin Xiuyuan was flirting with Park Hyomin in the year '13 and finalizing the menu for tonight.

Over here in the year '25, that married woman Park Hyomin had her hands crossed over her chest, her chin slightly tucked, and looked at the Dalongzai and Li Juli before her with resentment in her eyes.

Her gaze lingered on each of the two for a moment, then she asked softly, "So Zhiyan, you mean you can't get through to Xiuyuan's phone, so you can't find him?"

"Mm-hmm." Facing this unnie whose pretty face was already filled with annoyance, Dalongzai nodded three times in succession.

Seeing the other's expression turn cold again, she immediately added, "If you don't believe me, Unnie, I can call Xiuyuan right in front of you. He really didn't pick up; he's probably busy. It's not like this hasn't happened before, you know that too, Unnie."

While saying this, Dalongzai had already taken her phone out of her jacket pocket, her thumb hovering over the line with Lin Xiuyuan's number in her contacts, ready to press the call button at any moment to prove her innocence.

Originally, this married woman really didn't believe it.

After all, just the night before last, she had been an eyewitness on the scene, watching with her own eyes Lin Xiuyuan's calmness when ignoring other people's calls, and how quick and decisive he was when answering Lin YoonA's call.

So, at this moment, when Dalongzai told her that the guy would actually turn a blind eye to their calls too, she couldn't quite believe such a discrepancy.

In her understanding, Dalongzai and Li Juli combined should at least be able to go toe-to-toe with Lin YoonA, and they should be at roughly the same tier of treatment.

But now that she heard Dalongzai speak to this extent, the married woman didn't persist in her suspicion, just slightly averted her gaze and tacitly accepted this behavior.

Then Dalongzai really did unlock her phone in front of this Unnie, found Lin Xiuyuan's number in her contacts, and pressed the call button.

She even switched the call interface to speaker mode so that they could all hear the beeping sound.

Beep, beep, beep—it rang twelve times, then hung up automatically and went to voicemail, but Dalongzai hung up before the beep.

Then she turned the screen toward Park Hyomin, pointed at the screen with her thumb, and made a "see?" gesture.

Of course, no one answered, because that person was over in the year '13.

Looking at the situation before her, the married woman Park Hyomin still felt something was off, but if she really had to say exactly what was wrong, she couldn't organize her words to express it all at once.

It was just that her intuition told her that the two sisters in front of her definitely knew something, but just didn't intend to tell her.

Thinking of this, she could only frown and look at the two again, asking in that suspicious tone, "Did that guy not say where he went?"

"He didn't say. It was like this before too; he'd just disappear or go missing without a word, and no matter how we asked, there was no answer." Dalongzai took the situations she experienced before she became a member and applied them to the current scenario exactly as they were.

Who knew that as soon as she finished this sentence, Park Hyomin's eyes narrowed, "You aren't a member on their side? Don't take me for a fool, Zhiyan."

Dalongzai was pinned to the sofa by that look and tone, stunned for a beat.

But it was only for a beat; the next second she adjusted her strategy, shouting with a tone full of resentment, "Unnie, there's a distinction between close and distant even among members. You don't know how many women are around Xiuyuan, no matter how we fight for favor, we can't reach the front of the line. It's infuriating."

And the married woman Park Hyomin, hearing this, was truly stunned by these words.

After a moment, she asked slowly, "What do you mean? What do you mean by 'fighting for favor'? What kind of nonsense are you talking about, Zhiyan?"

"Oh, almost forgot, Unnie, you don't know the situation." When Dalongzai said this, the corners of her mouth moved subtly.

Then she waved her hand, seemingly magnanimous and yielding, but in reality, she had set the hook even deeper, "Forget it, let's just assume we aren't that important in Xiuyuan's heart."

Seeing Dalongzai still fishing, and even getting more and more into it, Li Juli beside her finally couldn't hold back, reached out, and patted her on the arm.

"Alright, Zhiyan, stop teasing Xiaomin."

After finishing, she turned around and faced the married woman Park Hyomin sitting opposite her, "Xiaomin, don't overthink it. Zhiyan is just joking with you. Xiuyuan really is busy with something; when he's done, I'll arrange for him to come out."

Who knew that the married woman was completely unwilling to take this step down; she looked up at Li Juli, her eyes filled with a calm persistence that had been stirred up.

"No, I said it already: if he doesn't come, I'll go block The Gate."

"Do you really know where he lives, Unnie?" Dalongzai asked.

This time she put away the half-true, half-false performance state from when she was fishing, and her tone carried genuine curiosity.

"I know." The married woman Park Hyomin nodded very seriously.

Facing this answer, Dalongzai and Li Juli looked at each other, seeing the genuine shock and confusion on both their faces.

It's very strange, how would she know this?

……

Far away in Lion City, Sunny was eating Hainanese chicken rice with a friend when she suddenly sneezed several times.

The friend opposite saw this and asked with concern, "Are you okay, Shun Gui?"

"I'm fine, my nose is just a little itchy. I wonder who is talking about me behind my back."

Sunny rubbed her nose without much thought, then continued to chat and eat the delicious food with her friend, but the result was...

She sneezed several more times in a row.

……