Chapter 63: A Relationship of Mutual Need

Hearing this.

Yang Lan's cheeks turned visibly red.

"Yeman, when will you ever learn to be more restrained with your words..." Yang Lan lowered her head in shame and annoyance, her eyes darting toward Shen Huai, yet she never dared to look him directly in the eye.

Lin Yeman was being too blunt, and it had flustered her.

Compared to Yang Lan's nervousness and unease, Shen Huai's expression had actually calmed down.

After all, Shen Huai was already used to Lin Yeman's brazen, courtesan-like way of speaking.

However.

While he appeared calm on the surface, his mind was already a tangled mess.

All the previously incomprehensible doubts.

Once the identities of Yang Lan and Lin Yeman were confirmed, every question was answered in an instant.

It was just that this answer was too shocking.

It truly caught Shen Huai off guard.

Shen Huai silently looked toward the woman opposite him.

That ink-black long hair, like a pool of black waterfall, draped softly over her shoulders.

A few strands of hair scattered lightly by her temples, dancing with the breeze.

Beneath willow-leaf brows were a pair of bright, soul-snaring, seductive eyes.

Shen Huai couldn't help but take a few extra looks.

Before, he had only felt that Yang Lan's eyes were so clean they didn't seem like those of an adult, and they even gave him an illusion of familiarity.

Now it seemed that wasn't an illusion.

Yang Lan's eyes, every smile and every frown, were so similar to Lin Yeman's.

It was just that Yang Lan was seductive without knowing it, while Lin Yeman was a Medusa through and through.

"Why are you two so silent? Could it be... have you two already slept together?"

As Lin Yeman spoke, she feigned surprise and covered her mouth.

"No!"

Provoked by Lin Yeman's words, Yang Lan hurriedly shook her head to deny it, nearly jumping up.

Seeing Yang Lan's nervous little expression, so flustered she was almost incoherent, Lin Yeman let out a laugh: "Alright, big sister, I'm just teasing you. Don't I know you?"

"You've believed the rumor that you can get pregnant from kissing for so many years; how could you possibly understand this kind of thing?"

After saying this.

Lin Yeman shifted her gaze from Yang Lan back to Shen Huai, raising her eyebrows with a look full of scrutiny: "Can you show some responsibility as a man? Don't tell me you're going to make my big sister say it? Hurry up!"

Under Lin Yeman's urging.

Shen Huai sighed helplessly and slowly raised his eyes to look at Yang Lan.

Yang Lan, as a person.

Was very special.

Using the words "ex-girlfriend" to describe her wasn't quite appropriate.

To be precise, it should be considered... a relationship of mutual need?

Counting the time, he first met Yang Lan at a newly opened bar near Binjiang Road.

At that time, Shen Huai had just been unilaterally dumped by Li Xinran.

After a year and a half of dating, to get such a result, even the most carefree person would need time to move on.

This bar had just opened, with all-you-can-drink beer and half-price snacks.

So, seeing the scale of the opening promotion, Shen Huai walked in alone without hesitation.

After all, love was already gone; his wallet couldn't be empty too.

The owner said that a famous local band would be making a surprise appearance at the livehouse at 9 PM tonight.

So Shen Huai ordered a single-person set meal and chose a seat with a great view early on, planning to drink while he waited.

Unexpectedly.

The light in front of him suddenly dimmed.

A graceful figure sat down lightly across from him.

"Are you... alone?"

The girl's voice was soft, her cheeks slightly flushed, her eyes bright as she tilted her head to look at Shen Huai.

Although she looked normal enough.

The experienced Shen Huai took one faint glance at the girl and could tell she had probably already had quite a bit to drink.

"Are you okay?" Shen Huai looked around and found that no one was paying attention to them.

Everyone's eyes were drawn to the dazzling and intense DJ music on the dance floor. "I... *hic*... see you're very lonely."

The girl pointed at Shen Huai, then turned her fingertip to point at herself, "Just like... seeing myself."

"..."

Shen Huai fell silent.

He observed the surroundings once more, and after confirming that the girl was indeed alone, he spoke slowly: "You're drunk."

"Wrong, I'm not drunk. I just... think you're very pitiful."

Pitiful? Shen Huai was stunned.

Was his heartbreak aura already that overwhelming? As she spoke, the girl flicked her hand, took a bottle of beer from Shen Huai's table, and stumbled over to sit beside him: "My name is Yang Lan, 'Yang' as in the Generals of the Yang Family, 'Lan' as in waves undisturbed. What's your name?"

"... Shen Huai." Shen Huai couldn't resist Yang Lan, so he had to answer.

"This name, just like you, is good-looking and pleasant to hear."

Yang Lan said, raising her beer to clumsily tap against Shen Huai's lips: "Come, cheers to us both being poor souls!"

After saying this, Yang Lan tilted her head back and chugged half the bottle.

Because she drank too fast, Yang Lan choked several times, and the beer spilled from the corners of her mouth, soaking the collar of her shirt.

The half-wet collar clung to her chest, revealing a glimpse of spring.

It made Shen Huai's eyes go a bit blank.

"... Do you have someone you like?"

Yang Lan's train of thought shifted too quickly, and with the music being so loud, Shen Huai almost couldn't keep up, his expression stunned: "What?"

Yang Lan took a deep breath, puffed out her cheeks, leaned into Shen Huai's ear, and raised her voice an octave: "I said! Do! You! Have! A! Girl! Friend!"

Instantly.

Shen Huai felt his eardrum had almost been pierced by the shout.

He rubbed his injured ear and shook his head: "... Not anymore."

"Then have you ever been on a blind date?"

Yang Lan threw out another question.

"A blind date?" Shen Huai looked disdainful, "What era is this? Who still does blind dates!"

"Besides, once you've fallen to the point of a blind date, can you really expect to pick someone good out of it?"

Carried away by the alcohol, Shen Huai blurted it out.

Unexpectedly.

The words had barely left his mouth.

Yang Lan slammed a hand onto Shen Huai's back with such force it nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"A kindred spirit indeed!!"

Yang Lan was wearing a ladylike beige long dress, yet she sat with her legs spread, holding a beer bottle in her right hand, her posture as heroic as a rough man's.

"You understand me! I don't want to go on a blind date either, but my father insists I go see that guy..."

"Tell me, what should I do?"

After saying this, Yang Lan tilted her head back and took another gulp of alcohol.

Her big, watery eyes blinked at Shen Huai, looking extremely aggrieved.

With a beauty in distress, Shen Huai's noble virtue of being fond of playing the mentor couldn't help but well up in his heart again.

He slammed the table and said righteously: "It's the 21st century already; the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers are all feudal thinking—they won't do! You must resist to the end!"

"Resist...? Right! Why didn't I think of that!"

Yang Lan's eyes brightened for a moment, but then quickly dimmed again, "Sigh, it's impossible; my father is no ordinary person."

"No matter how I resist, I'm afraid this blind date is unavoidable."

Hearing this.

Shen Huai's unyielding personality was immediately stirred up: "Unavoidable? I don't believe there's anything in this world that can't be ruined."

"Tell me, what's the situation with the person your father is introducing to you? I'll come up with a plan for you!"

"Really?"

Yang Lan's eyes instantly brightened again: "... Hmm, I heard he's the son of a boss. I haven't seen his face, and I don't know his name either. The only thing I know is... his family is quite rich."

"Superficial! Too superficial!"

Shen Huai was certain: "Isn't your dad just selling his daughter? Is there any happiness for ordinary families marrying into wealthy ones? It's all tragedy!"

"You said you haven't seen his face, and the other party hasn't taken the initiative to send a photo of himself—what does that mean?"

"What does it mean?" Yang Lan stared intently at Shen Huai, pressing for an answer.

"It must mean the other party is feeling guilty; that son of his must be incredibly ugly!"

(End of chapter)