SYLM Chapter 96

Chapter 96 “Hello, I’m Li Sa, Chen Lu’s girlfriend.”

Chapter 96 “Hello, I’m Li Sa, Chen Lu’s girlfriend.”

SWEET HOME Restaurant.

It’s not meal time, and there aren’t many people in the restaurant.

After hanging up, Tang Ying returned to the restaurant. As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw the beautiful woman dressed more flamboyantly than herself, sitting at the center table, animatedly talking about something.

“Little Fu, you have no idea, when we were abroad, Lu Lu mentioned you almost every day.”

“…Ah, really…”

“She said you two grew up together and have a great relationship. I’ve always wanted to meet you. Before returning to China this time, I even asked Lu Lu if she could arrange for us to meet. Just now, on the way from the airport, I asked her where she was taking me, and she acted all mysterious. I didn’t expect she’d bring me straight to your restaurant.”

“…Is that so…”

“Hey, you look so much like that female celebrity, what’s her name… Right! Li Bingbing, you really look like Li Bingbing! Lu Lu showed me your high school photos before. Back then, your face was still chubby. Now you’ve completely transformed. You’re getting more and more beautiful!”

“Really… Thank you…”

Diagonally opposite, the teardrop-shaped jade pendant on her ear swayed with the beautiful woman’s animated narration, making Fu Yi Wen’s eyes blur.

“You’re so beautiful and successful. You must have a lot of admirers, right?”

“Ah? No, no!”

As if snapping back to reality, Fu Yi Wen, who hadn’t been reacting much, quickly shook her head in denial. As she spoke, the beautiful woman’s hand even reached in her direction, scaring Fu Yi Wen into grabbing the coffee cup in front of her, and she never let it go after that.

She’d seen talkative people, but never anyone more talkative than this.

What’s up with this woman? Where did she come from? She keeps calling Lu Lu by her nickname?

Fu Yi Wen silently tightened her grip on the coffee cup.

If this woman is very familiar with Lu Lu, then she should know something about my relationship status, right? But if this woman isn’t familiar with Lu Lu…

That’s not right. How could they not be familiar? This person keeps saying “Lu Lu,” but her Lu Lu isn’t reacting at all. She’s usually so aware of personal boundaries…

In just a few seconds, Fu Yi Wen’s mind was in a mess. She awkwardly smiled, humming and hawing in response to the words of this woman she didn’t even know, and looked for an opportunity to glance at Chen Lu, who was sitting directly across from her, trying to figure out what was going on.

But it was only after she looked that she realized Chen Lu was always turned to the side, listening attentively to the woman, seemingly completely ignoring everyone else around them.

What’s going on? Did this woman put a spell on her Lu Lu?

For a moment, Fu Yi Wen couldn’t understand why her friend had such an affectionate but strangely unsettling look in her eyes, until she saw Tang Ying, who had finished her phone call, returning from outside the restaurant. Fu Yi Wen finally found a lifeline.

Seeing someone sit down again, the beautiful woman, who had been busy “connecting” with Fu Yi Wen, smiled meaningfully, and the topic naturally shifted to Tang Ying:

“People with families are busy, unlike us unmarried people. But to be honest, if I didn’t know beforehand that Teacher Tang was already married, I would have thought you were about my age.”

“……”

Although it was the same warm attitude and tone as when she was talking to Fu Yi Wen, this time, after changing the conversation partner, there was a bit more of a crazy feeling of deliberately trying to offend everyone.

That’s right, this woman was doing it on purpose. Anyone could tell.

As soon as she said this, Tang Ying’s face turned cold, her eyes sharp. Fu Yi Wen, on the other hand, was as anxious as if her eyebrows were on fire, and her face turned red. She was certain that this strange woman knew about the things between her and Tang Ying.

But why would this person say that?

Fu Yi Wen couldn’t sit still at all. She kicked Chen Lu’s leg hard under the table, and only then did Chen Lu finally deign to look at her.

Her round eyes blinked like hazard lights. Fu Yi Wen frantically signaled with her eyes, asking Chen Lu what was going on and if the person she brought was crazy. Chen Lu shrugged her shoulders, took a sip of coffee nonchalantly, and gave her a calm look that seemed to say, “Isn’t what she’s saying true?”

Oh no, oh no, did someone take over her Lu Lu’s body…? Are these two here to cause trouble!?

While Fu Yi Wen was getting anxious to the point of near hysteria, an invisible war was officially launched.

Tang Ying coldly sized up the woman in front of her, who had a beaming smile but was clearly hostile towards her.

She was wearing a custom-made women’s suit with a dazzling sheen, and the collar and cuffs were embroidered with gold thread. Although it wasn’t a dress, it still gave people a bewitching and charming feeling, as if she were from a colorful and glamorous world.

Why was that?

Because of that face.

Thick purple eyeshadow was painted in her deep-set eye sockets, and the sharp eyeliner seemed to want to extend all the way to her temples. The bright orange-red lipstick was like a poppy blooming in the summer. Each element of her makeup, taken individually, might seem excessive or too incongruous, but on that face with its deep features, it was surprisingly harmonious, creating a striking and beautiful effect.

The other party didn’t come with good intentions.

But Tang Ying wasn’t someone to be trifled with either.

She looked at the strange woman in front of her with an air of seriousness, sneered, and her tone was filled with disdain and sarcasm:

“Young people these days really have worse and worse taste. Anyone can catch their eye.”

“……”

This was clearly subtly mocking Chen Lu.

Fu Yi Wen, caught between her friend and her lover, was practically picking the table apart. Knowing that Chen Lu hated indirectness more than she did, and fearing that her friend would get angry and leave in the next second, she was just about to smooth things over when a proud, charming, and straightforward voice steadily took over the conversation:

“Young people? Is Teacher Tang talking about Little Fu? Tsk, that can’t be. I don’t think Teacher Tang is the kind of person who would be insecure. Don’t worry, a beautiful, rich, and taken woman like you is very popular in our circle. Although you’re a bit harsh, have a bad temper, and are a bit older, there will always be someone eager to—”

“What nonsense are you talking about!”

Unable to tolerate anyone saying anything about Tang Ying, Fu Yi Wen instantly widened her eyes, slammed her hands on the table, and stood up. The beautiful woman was startled, leaned back slightly, but her smile became even more unrestrained:

“Yo, don’t get angry, Little Fu. I’m just chatting.”

“You—”

“Fu Yi Wen, come with me.”

Tang Ying coldly interrupted the conversation between the two, and pulled the someone who was as angry as a pufferfish toward the storeroom behind the restaurant.

Watching the backs of the two as they left, Chen Lu, who hadn’t said a word the whole time, put down the coffee cup in her hand, and her tone was a bit helpless:

“That’s enough, don’t go too far.”

“Too far? Where’s the line? Aren’t I just stating the facts?”

The beautiful woman raised her eyebrows with interest, grabbed her bag from behind, rummaged through it for a moment, and then put on makeup in front of the mirror:

“I’m not a little wimp like you and your friend. Just you wait and see, when that someone comes—”

“No.”

Chen Lu interrupted coldly, met the meaningful gaze of the beautiful woman, realized that she had overreacted, and immediately changed her way of speaking:

“I said, that’s enough.”

“Tsk tsk, all you ever say is ‘that’s enough, that’s enough’. How much is ‘too much’? Since you asked me to help, then don’t worry about this. Just watch my performance.”

“……”

On the other side, in the storeroom.

The moment she was pulled in, all the previous anger and dissatisfaction transformed into heartache and guilt. Fu Yi Wen grabbed Tang Ying’s wrist and hurriedly explained:

“I’m sorry, Tang Ying. I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t know who this crazy woman is. What she said just now was all nonsense. Don’t you dare—”

“What’s her relationship with Chen Lu?”

“Ah… Ah?”

Fu Yi Wen was stunned.

Tang Ying wasn’t angry because of what she had just said. She should be glad, but besides that, she felt like something was off.

Is this the time to be concerned about that question!?

Seeing that Fu Yi Wen didn’t speak, Tang Ying frowned and repeated the question:

“I’m asking you, what’s the relationship between that woman outside and Chen Lu?”

“I… I don’t know…”

Fu Yi Wen shook her head, telling the truth:

“Lu Lu brought her over ten minutes before you came to find me. It looked like she came straight from the airport. After she came, Lu Lu only said her name was Sa, I didn’t hear clearly, and then you came…”

After that, Tang Ying went out to call Gu Wan Jun to give her a heads-up before her chair had even warmed up.

A woman’s intuition is always frighteningly accurate. Tang Ying could tell that Chen Lu and that beautiful woman, whom no one had ever seen before, definitely had a close relationship.

After thinking it over, Tang Ying stared at Fu Yi Wen’s face again to confirm: “You really don’t know anything?”

Fu Yi Wen was practically ready to swear to the heavens: “Really! When have I ever lied to you! I really don’t know what kind of relationship they have!”

“Has Chen Lu ever told you about any friends she made abroad?”

“Friends?” Fu Yi Wen scratched her head, her tone a bit helpless: “Lu Lu doesn’t like making friends at all. Usually, it’s other people who pester her.”

“Then Chen Lu—”

Tang Ying was about to ask something else when a bell rang outside the storeroom. A customer had arrived.

The two looked at each other, turned around, and pushed open the storeroom door. When they came out, Gu Wan Jun, who didn’t seem to have caught her breath yet, was standing at the restaurant entrance, her bangs a bit messy.

The original half-hour drive, but from the time Tang Ying made that phone call until now, only fifteen minutes had passed, which showed how anxious Gu Wan Jun was.

Looking at the woman who suddenly appeared in the restaurant, Chen Lu didn’t react at all, as if she had expected this scene to happen. On the other hand, the beautiful woman sitting next to her narrowed her slender eyes when she saw Gu Wan Jun, as if she recognized her. She immediately stood up and greeted her with a smile:

“Oh, is that Teacher Gu Wan Jun?”

Does this person know me?

Looking at the beautiful woman walking towards her, Gu Wan Jun subconsciously glanced at Chen Lu, who was not far away. The young girl’s gaze was on the woman standing in front of her, not looking at her at all.

An ominous feeling spread silently in her heart. Gu Wan Jun pinched her fingertips, withdrew her gaze, and, clinging to the last bit of hope, added a trace of careful probing to her gentle tone: “I’m Gu Wan Jun, and you are?”

“Great, I knew I didn’t recognize the wrong person. I saw you in Lu Lu’s high school graduation photo once.”

The beautiful woman gesticulated animatedly, her tone joyful: “Before, when I was abroad, I even pestered Lu Lu to tell me about you, but she wouldn’t say anything. Later, I read something about you in her diary… Oh, look at my memory, it’s my first time meeting you, I’m a little excited, I forgot to introduce myself. Hello, I’m Li Sa, Chen Lu’s girlfriend.”

“……”