Chapter 415: Chapter 197: Damn, This is Truly a Sad Story
After Cheng Yiran left, Xu Yun glanced around the room. While eating his noodles, he asked in confusion, "Strange, isn’t there another girl? How come I haven’t seen her?"
"I think she went for a morning run. She’s not back yet."
"How do you know?"
"I saw her when I went for a run this morning. We said hello."
Xu Yun laughed. "Old Lin, how about I play matchmaker for you? You should try pursuing her. She’s pretty good-looking."
Lin Wanzhou was silent.
"If you don’t say anything, I’ll take that as a yes. When she gets back, I’ll help you get her WeChat."
"Don’t mess around."
Lin Wanzhou was exasperated. "I already like someone."
"Who? Tell me about her."
Xu Yun loved gossip, so he was immediately intrigued when he heard that Lin Wanzhou liked someone.
"Why are you so nosy? You wouldn’t know her even if I told you."
"But I like hearing stories."
Xu Yun added, "Besides, I have a lot of experience with romance. I’ve had tons of girlfriends. Maybe I can even give you some advice."
Lin Wanzhou was silent.
Finally, unable to withstand Xu Yun’s pestering, he revealed the feelings he had long kept hidden.
"There’s not much to tell, really."
Lin Wanzhou said, "Her name is Wu Yu. She’s the younger sister of a comrade-in-arms from my hometown. She’s 24 this year. She works at a company during the day, and after work, she sets up a street stall to sell things."
"That’s it?"
"What else?"
"How did you two meet? Why do you like her?"
Xu Yun asked with a smile, "Does she like you? Or does she even know you like her?"
"I met her when I went to my buddy’s house with him once."
Lin Wanzhou recalled, "She was still in college back then. She was very delicate and pretty, and she had a very gentle way of speaking. When I was leaving, she gave me a Peace Pendant.
She said she’d prayed for it at a temple, that it was very potent, and that it would keep us safe if we ran into danger in the army."
"..."
Xu Yun looked at the necklace around Lin Wanzhou’s neck and asked, "That one?"
"Yeah."
Lin Wanzhou said, "It’s not worth much money, but I feel like it’s protected me through several near-death experiences."
"She only gave one to you?"
"No."
Lin Wanzhou said awkwardly, "She gave one to me and one to her brother."
Xu Yun was speechless.
’Holy crap. She probably got it for her brother, saw he was there too, and just casually gave him one as well.’
’And this guy actually took it as a token of her affection.’
Xu Yun laughed. "Does your army buddy know you have a crush on his sister?"
"He didn’t at first, but he found out later."
Lin Wanzhou suddenly said with a touch of sadness, "He was a little angry, but when he died, he made me promise to take good care of his sister."
Xu Yun was speechless.
Lin Wanzhou said self-deprecatingly, "It’s ironic, isn’t it? The Peace Pendant his sister gave me kept me safe, but it couldn’t save her own brother.
And because of that, I still haven’t dared to see her. I don’t know how I could face her."
Xu Yun was speechless.
’Damn, what a sad story!’
’I shouldn’t have asked.’
Cheng Yiran came downstairs after changing her clothes. Compared to yesterday, her outfit today was even more youthful and radiant.
She had clearly taken the time to dress up.
She smiled. "What are you two talking about?"
"Nothing."
Xu Yun asked casually, "What are your plans for today? Anywhere you want to go?"
"We’re planning to go to the Yu Long River."
Cheng Yiran asked back, "What about you guys? Are you going out today? We could tag along. The more, the merrier."
"We don’t know yet. Our tour guide hasn’t arrived. We’ll find out when she gets here."
"A tour guide?"
Cheng Yiran asked in surprise, "Aren’t you guys traveling on your own?"
"We are, but we also hired a local private guide."
Xu Yun explained, "It’s a one-on-one custom service, you could say."
"’It must be nice to be rich,’ Cheng Yiran couldn’t help but sigh."
’Staying in a huge villa, enjoying the custom services of a private tour guide... this was the vacation of her dreams.’
’To be honest, if it weren’t for Xu Yun’s kindness, she and her best friend would never have been able to stay in such a nice hotel.’
’The only reason they’d come here yesterday was that they genuinely had nowhere else to stay. So, they decided to bite the bullet and splurge on one night at a high-end hotel, figuring there would be rooms available.’
’They planned to find a new inn today.’
’They just hadn’t expected that even a hotel this nice would be fully booked.’
’But it was a good thing they came to check, otherwise they wouldn’t have met Xu Yun or had such an amazing experience.’
As the two were chatting, the other girl walked in from outside, dressed in sportswear.
Seeing the three people in the living room, she smiled shyly and said, "Good morning."
"Good morning to you, too."
Xu Yun asked, "Have you eaten breakfast? If not, have your friend make you something."
"I’ve eaten."
The girl said to Cheng Yiran, "Wait for me, I’m going to take a shower and change before we go out."
"Okay, go ahead."
Cheng Yiran turned to Xu Yun and said, "She’s pretty introverted, so she has a bit of social anxiety."
"I get it. I know a girl who’s a lot like her. She blushes whenever she talks to strangers."
"Yes, yes, yes, that’s exactly her! But once you get to know her, she’s super talkative."
Cheng Yiran said, "I call that being secretly wild."
Xu Yun teased, "Then your personalities complement each other. You’re the openly wild type."
"You’re the wild one!"
Cheng Yiran protested, "I’m just outgoing, okay?"
"Well now, it’s pretty lively in here today."
Wang Yang walked in from outside. Seeing the unexpected extra woman, she was a little surprised.
She sized up Cheng Yiran and asked Xu Yun, "President Xu, is this beauty a friend of yours?"
"Sort of."
Xu Yun said to Cheng Yiran, "Let me introduce you. This is our beautiful tour guide."
"Hello! I’m Wang Yang."
"Hi, I’m Cheng Yiran."
After the two exchanged simple greetings, she said to Xu Yun, "Let’s not go to any other scenic spots today. The forecast says there might be a heavy downpour this afternoon.
So, how about we go to a hot spring instead?"
Xu Yun was surprised. "They have hot springs here?"
"Of course. They’re great, and most people don’t know about them."
Wang Yang said, "It’s a private place, not usually open to the public. I happen to know the owner, and it took a lot of convincing, but I managed to get a reservation for you."
The implication was: I went to a lot of trouble to get you into this hot spring.
Shouldn’t you show some appreciation?
"Alright. Since you’re hyping it up so much, let’s go check it out."
Xu Yun said, "If it’s really as good as you say, whatever it cost you, I’ll pay you double."
"Thank you, President Xu! You’re so generous!"
Wang Yang smiled. "So, should we go now? Or later?"
’Hearing this, Cheng Yiran, who was standing to the side, wanted to go too. But she knew she couldn’t afford a place like that; it was bound to be ridiculously expensive.’
"Let’s wait a bit. We just ate. We should rest for a while before heading out."
The moment Xu Yun finished speaking, the other girl came down from the stairs.
Seeing yet another girl appear, Wang Yang smiled meaningfully. "President Xu, you’re a lucky man. Gaining two beautiful new friends in one night."
"Is there a problem with that?"
"Of course not."
Wang Yang asked, "Are they going too? If so, I need to let the place know in advance so they can prepare meals."
"We’re not going."
Cheng Yiran said, "We were just planning to walk around the area."
"Go ahead and join us." Xu Yun saw their awkwardness.
’It’s not that they don’t want to go; it’s that their wallets probably won’t allow it.’
"You just said it yourself, the more, the merrier."
"But, we..."
Xu Yun smiled. "Come on. Don’t worry about the money. It’s my treat."
"Alright, then. Thank you for your hospitality, President Xu!"
"President Xu."
Wang Yang said, "Since there are more people today, how about we rent a van from the hotel?
The ride will be more comfortable. My car will be a tight squeeze with five people."
"It’s fine. Since there are a lot of us, we’ll just take my car."
Xu Yun smiled. "My RV is huge. It can fit everyone easily."
Wang Yang was speechless.
Meanwhile.
The girl, who had just come downstairs and was still a bit confused, asked her best friend, "Yiran, where are we going?"
"President Xu said he’s taking us to a hot spring."
Cheng Yiran said, "From what the tour guide said, it sounds like it’s a private bath, the kind that’s not open to the public. Super clean and private."
"Huh?!" The girl’s mind immediately jumped to certain scenes she’d seen on TV.
She quickly asked, "It’s not one of those mixed-gender baths, is it?"
"I’m not sure. We’ll find out when we get there."
The girl said, looking troubled, "I don’t think I’ll go. You can go by yourself."
"Come on, it’s no fun if I go alone. Just come keep me company."
Cheng Yiran pouted. "Are we best friends or not?"
"Alright..." For the sake of their friendship, the girl could only reluctantly agree.
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