Chapter 45: Shaking Off Shu Lingchen, This Sticky Plaster

Chu Lian overreacted; upon meeting Shu Lingchen's dazed gaze, she belatedly realized.

"What I mean is, the innocent need no proof, A-Chen; if you go out of your way to clarify, it just looks suspicious—like trying to hide three hundred taels of silver here."

Shu Lingchen recalled the many times rumors had sprung up about him and Chu Chu; Chu Chu would always be the first to explain it was a misunderstanding. His gaze unreadable, he persisted:

"Chu Chu, I think it'd be better if you clarified; everyone on the forum thinks you two are together."

Chu Lian grew a bit impatient with Shu Lingchen for harping on this; her tone turned sour: "I already said, no need!"

Shu Lingchen's Adam's apple bobbed; he asked incredulously: "Chu Chu, I see no hint of rejection toward the rumors with Shi Jin on your face… you… you're willing, aren't you?"

Chu Lian pressed her lips together and locked eyes with Shu Lingchen.

She thought, anyway this idiot has no value left; she didn't need to coddle him anymore.

So she said nothing, directly acquiescing.

What that meant went without saying.

The air fell silent for a few moments.

"... Chu Chu, you didn't say you only see Shi Jin as the class monitor, did you?" Shu Lingchen's voice hoarse: "You didn't say you just want to study well now and won't consider anything else, did you?"

Before Chu Lian could answer, a sarcastic female voice chimed in.

"Even if we little Lian consider things in the future, we wouldn't consider you."

It was Chu's mother.

She had just returned from the mahjong parlor, a small pouch holding her phone slung on her wrist, she walked up the steps, looked at Shu Lingchen, and gave him two dismissive glances, as if inspecting merchandise.

"Little Chen, don't blame Auntie for not giving you a chance; earlier I had you help collect debts and you refused, and now you have no money, no house—my daughter is so outstanding, how could she consider you? Would she have to drink northwest wind with you?"

"Auntie Chu, collecting debts is illegal, I can't do that; besides that, I'll work hard to earn money another way." Shu Lingchen urged earnestly: "Really, I've been trying hard to make money lately—I've already earned nearly twenty thousand!"

The words fell.

Chu's mother and Chu Lian immediately exchanged a glance.

"Really?" Chu's mother, whose face could change in a second, lit up with surprise and hurriedly asked: "How did you earn it? Where's the money? Let me see—I'll tell you, little Chen, Auntie's been wanting to get a new phone lately."

Shu Lingchen explained embarrassedly: "The money isn't with me… I… I can't get it out right now."

The money he earned from answering questions in class and reciting texts still wasn't enough to reach 200,000, so he couldn't withdraw it.

Upon hearing that, Chu's mother's joy vanished; she instantly thought Shu Lingchen was lying, her face falling: "Temporarily? You'll probably never be able to pull it out—you don't have a cent on you right now."

"……"

Indeed, Shu Lingchen only had a meal card with some money in his bag, but the card could only be used on campus; he couldn't withdraw cash from it.

"Well, that's that—stop wasting my expressions." Chu's mother pursed her lips, waved her hand: "Alright, don't just stand here; Auntie isn't keeping you for dinner—hurry home."

Having said that, Chu's mother lifted her small pouch, didn't glance at Shu Lingchen again, opened the door and went inside.

Shu Lingchen stood there, stunned.

He had never seen Chu's mother like this, nor had he ever been treated by her this way.

Auntie Chu seemed like a completely different person, her attitude doing a 180-degree turn.

"A-Chen, go home first."

After saying that, Chu Lian also walked past Shu Lingchen and went home.

The door was shut in Shu Lingchen's face.

All the lights inside were switched off, and the motion-sensor lights in the hallway dimmed as well.

Shu Lingchen stood alone, helpless, in the darkness.

After a long while.

He lowered his head, turned, and went downstairs to leave.

…

Neither mother nor daughter of the Chu family paid any attention to Shu Lingchen's feelings.

Indoors.

Chu's mother eagerly asked Chu Lian: "How's it going with that rich young master from your class?"

Chu Lian smiled with relief: "After school, we've already gone outside together twice to review our lessons."

Chu's mother: "Good, really not bad."

Then Chu Lian frowned: "But there's a problem—Shu Lingchen is still an obstacle. I'd love to get involved with Shi Jin, yet he keeps running over to clear things up for me; it's annoying."

"Someone like Shi Jin, a wealthy young master, wouldn't want to deal with a petty thug who's all tangled up."

Chu Lian opened her phone and saw Shu Lingchen had sent another message.

The message basically said he would work hard to earn money and would never let her drink northwest wind, that sort of promise.

Chu Lian couldn't be bothered to finish reading it.

Her focus now is entirely on Shi Jin; most importantly, she doesn't believe a good-for-nothing hooligan like him could ever earn any money on his own.

Chu Lian showed her phone screen to Chu's mother; at that moment, her usually pure and innocent face bore something mismatched with her age—a sort of "market vibe"—that looked oddly disjointed.

"I guess she acted too sincerely in front of Shu Lingchen before; this idiot still hasn't figured out what's going on, thinking she must have done something wrong to make us angry."

"This kid is utterly useless." Chu's mother snorted, reminding: "We can't let him mess up your affairs with Shi Jin."

Chu Lian: "Of course I know."

Now that she has Shi Jin as an option, she needs to quickly shake off Shu Lingchen, this sticky plaster, as fast as possible.

After a while, Chu Lian suddenly said: "Mom, you should have Shu Lingchen come over again tomorrow."

Chu's mother looked puzzled: "What for?"

Chu Lian's tone ambiguous: "I heard your younger sister just quit her job? Tomorrow, have her come over too."

The next day.

Shu Lingchen stubbornly squeezed out two hundred yuan from Shu Shu as an advance on the money he earned from reciting texts.

I begged Shu Shu to be understanding for a day.

Shu Shu quietly looked at the little mentally disabled child for a while, then finally agreed.

After school.

Shu Lingchen informed Shu Shu, then with his schoolbag he dashed away and disappeared.

Pei Muyin came to find Shu Shu, asking Shu Shu, "Isn't Shu Lingchen also not eating together with them today?"

"Hmm, he has something to do."

Shu Shu looked at Pei Muyin, gently pinched the girl's soft baby fat on her face, asking for opinion: "Xiao Musi, can we have dinner a little later today?"

"Okay." Pei Muyin nodded obediently; as long as she's with Musi sister, she can do anything, then she curiously asked Shu Shu the reason.

Shu Shu blinked her peach-blossom eyes, mysteriously saying: "Because, we also have something to do."

Shu Lingchen clenched the two hundred yuan given by Shu Shu, rushed straight to the supermarket, and bought two boxes of milk.

Last night.

Chu Lian sent a message to Shu Lingchen, saying her little aunt had returned, inviting him to come over for a meal together.

Shu Lingchen thought Chu Lian and Chu Mother were no longer angry, although he didn't know why they were angry.

Precisely because he heard Chu Lian's little aunt was coming, he therefore begged Shu Shu to give him two hundred yuan.

Visiting Chu Chu's relatives, going empty-handed is impolite.

Thus, Shu Lingchen carried the two boxes of milk all the way to the residential building where the Chu Family lives.

Going upstairs, knocking on the door.

"Coming."

Chu Lian came over to open the door.

Shu Lingchen, upon entering, shouted "Chu Auntie," then was about to laughingly call the woman behind Chu Mother's back: "This must be Chu Chu's little aunt, right, little aunt—"

The good word couldn't come out.

The woman turned over, revealing her face.

Shu Lingchen saw the woman who, when he was a child in the welfare orphanage, had abused him——