I have a great job here

Not having seen him for a few months, Lin Yu didn't seem to have changed much since winter.

Except that his skin looked slightly tanner.

Oh.

Right.

He had also dyed his hair.

Blonde?

For some reason.

She felt that this color actually suited his face quite well...

Reuniting after a long separation, Tao Yaoyao naturally felt no joy in her heart, only tension and panic.

She knew that Lin Yu had already transferred to A University in N City.

N City was a full thousand kilometers away from S City.

For him to appear in S City out of nowhere, right in front of her, he definitely had his reasons.

I just hope he isn't here to settle old scores, Tao Yaoyao silently prayed in her heart.

After all, her and Xu Mingyao's lives were already difficult enough.

While Tao Yaoyao was secretly nervous, Lin Yu's attitude was unexpectedly good.

His face lacked the anger and sarcasm Tao Yaoyao had imagined; instead, it was as if he were inviting a friend.

With a faint smile on his lips, hands in his pockets, he tilted his head and said in a cool, arrogant manner:

"Let's go?"

"I'll treat you to a meal."

Tao Yaoyao froze, unable to immediately process the huge contrast between reality and her expectations.

After snapping back to reality and thinking for a brief moment, Tao Yaoyao gave a light nod and accepted Lin Yu's invitation.

Tao Yaoyao agreed to Lin Yu for no other reason.

Only because she was very clear about her current status and position.

In front of Lin Yu, she had long lost the right to refuse.

If he wanted to control her now, it would be no different from pinching a little chick.

Or perhaps even easier.

"Then let's go."

Lin Yu stood in place with his hands in his pockets, looking at Tao Yaoyao as he spoke.

The weather in S City was great today.

At least, it looked that way.

The sun was bright and hot, and the blue sky was clear and cloudless.

On such a beautiful summer day, a seemingly not-so-beautiful scene was unfolding.

A young girl dressed in a white dress and white socks shrank her shoulders slightly in constraint. With her head bowed, hints of hesitation and reluctance flowed from her delicate features.

She looked somewhat resistant, yet she had no choice but to lift her legs and submissively walk toward the blond, tanned, and muscular man opposite her...

...

Inside the restaurant, the lighting was soft.

Special glass blocked out part of the sunlight.

Making the harsh and glaring outdoor sunlight become gentle and docile as it shone into the restaurant.

Tao Yaoyao looked at the familiar patterns on the white porcelain plate in front of her, feeling for a moment as if a lifetime had passed.

She remembered in the past, whenever Xu Mingyao was in a good mood, she would bring her here for dinner.

Her feelings toward this Western restaurant had always been complicated.

On one hand, she really liked the rich, fatty, high-end steak here, the price of which was so terrifying that it was charged by the gram.

On the other hand, she was afraid the overly abundant fat in the steak would make her gain weight and ruin the perfect figure she had always carefully maintained.

It was exactly like this back then.

Tao Yaoyao turned her head to look out the window at the beautiful scenery that took in nearly half of S City.

She would bring her to reserve a window seat, and then order a sizzling thick-cut steak.

And then happily enjoy the delicious food.

Blinking her eyes.

Tao Yaoyao withdrew her gaze, but a thought popped into her mind.

If she could pack a thick-cut steak to take back, she would probably be very happy...

"Knock, knock."

The sound of fingertips lightly tapping the solid wood table rang out. Tao Yaoyao snapped back to reality and looked up at Lin Yu across the table.

"I heard you're looking for a job recently?"

Lin Yu asked, seemingly bringing it up casually.

"Yes."

Tao Yaoyao hesitated for a moment, nodded lightly, and gave a soft hum of agreement.

"Did you find one?"

Lin Yu asked, looking very concerned.

"No."

Tao Yaoyao shook her head to answer Lin Yu's question, while looking at him with a strange expression, not quite understanding what he was trying to do by asking this.

Shouldn't you know better than me whether I've found a job or not?

While silently cursing him in her head, Tao Yaoyao suddenly remembered the interview she just had.

Something wasn't right.

How could it be such a coincidence?

Just as a company showed intentions of hiring her, Lin Yu appeared from thousands of miles away?

Somewhere deep down, Tao Yaoyao felt a sense of crisis that something terrible was about to happen.

"Sigh."

Lin Yu sighed, speaking with a rather helpless tone.

"The overall environment is bad right now, it's quite hard to find a job."

"Let alone a good job."

Saying this, Lin Yu suddenly changed the subject, looking at Tao Yaoyao with a half-smile.

"However, I happen to have a pretty good job here."

"And it seems you are quite satisfied with it."

"What job?"

Tao Yaoyao didn't immediately realize what Lin Yu was referring to and instinctively asked.

"The job you just went to interview for."

"Are you not satisfied?"

Hearing this, Tao Yaoyao froze. Although she had thought there might be some connection between Lin Yu and this job.

She never expected that this job was actually introduced by Lin Yu, and that he would say it so bluntly.

Tao Yaoyao was stunned, but Lin Yu continued speaking.

"I specifically had someone pick out that job."

"High pay, little work, and a lot of freedom."

"Plus, there's plenty of room for promotion."

"This is a high-paying position that wage-earners dream of."

"And with this job, you'll have the money to continue supporting that useless piece of trash, Xu Mingyao."

"Aren't you tempted?"

Lin Yu leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, asking with a smile.

"What do you want?"

Tao Yaoyao looked at the lazily smiling Lin Yu, knowing he wouldn't find her such a good job for nothing.

He previously wished Xu Mingyao would die, so why would he be willing to help her now?

So he definitely had an ulterior motive.

"Is there anything else on you that I need?"

Lin Yu's gaze became unrestrained. He looked up and down Tao Yaoyao's perfectly proportioned figure, his aggressive stare looking as if he wanted to strip her naked right then and there.

"Tao Yaoyao, you wouldn't want Xu Mingyao to live a life where she can't even afford to eat from now on, would you?"