Fortunately, Lin Wei did not like women; otherwise, this tender affection, which would make even him feel momentarily dazed, would have been too charming for someone as clueless as Fu Xiaoqing to resist. Even his mother, a strong and fierce woman, softened under Lin Wei’s gentle words.
Lin Wei was polite towards women, not one to flirt insincerely. As he said himself, this warm and tender approach was only meant to charm the men he wished to pursue.
…Hmm?
Huo Qijun’s thoughts were interrupted.
Just as she entertained a vague idea, the memory from last night, when Lin Wei made it almost explicit that he wouldn’t be interested in her, attacked her again.
It was exasperating!
With her mind in turmoil, Huo Qijun finished her breakfast distractedly, barely lifting her gaze to look at Lin Wei across the table. As soon as she was done, she rushed to the company.
Lin Wei didn’t need to go to work; Fu Xiaoqing, free of cooking duties at the moment, noticed and asked, “Can I make a video call to my brother?”
Her concern was genuine, stemming from a fear of being found out by Lady Huo.
“Of course,” Lin Wei replied with a nod. “Just don’t seek him out privately; casual video calls are fine.”
“Great!” Fu Xiaoqing exclaimed. “I was just worried he might change locations suddenly and wouldn’t have anyone familiar around him, and he would feel scared.”
When the call connected, Fu Tianlan appeared on the screen and looked relatively well. Lin Wei didn’t shy away but greeted Fu Tianlan too. He had already gotten to know Fu Tianlan during the three days he was transferred to another hospital. While Fu Tianlan was sensitive due to his prolonged illness, he was obedient and well-behaved.
Lin Wei admired Fu Xiaoqing, but he wasn’t particularly eager to get close to Fu Tianlan. Maintaining a polite affable distance was sufficient; it wasn’t prejudice, just a natural clash of personalities that made close interaction tiresome for both parties.
Perhaps sensing Lin Wei’s awkwardness, Fu Xiaoqing took her phone back to the room on the second floor after their greeting. Just as she was about to enter, she heard her brother’s disheartened voice from the phone.
“It seems Mr. Lin doesn’t like me.”
Fu Xiaoqing frowned immediately and hurriedly entered her room, closing the door before responding softly, “Why would you suddenly say that?”
It wasn’t a sudden idea; she thought it was silly to say such things!
Lin Wei had no obligation to like Fu Tianlan, and it wasn’t that he disliked him; he simply maintained a moderate distance from unfamiliar people. Fu Xiaoqing believed Lin Wei had already been exceptionally kind to both siblings.
In her view, Lin Wei’s involvement in their affairs was primarily for Huo Qijun, and while he sought to make amends for Huo Qijun, she was certain part of it stemmed from Lin Wei’s goodwill toward her, but more so from a desire to support Huo Qijun emotionally.
Fu Xiaoqing even felt that Huo Qijun didn’t deserve such a wonderful brother!
In short, within Lin Wei’s protective ‘love for her brother,’ she felt like a mere accessory, and Fu Tianlan was just an accessory of an accessory. Lin Wei didn’t need to provide emotional warmth or affection.
Just thinking about what happened earlier, Fu Xiaoqing wondered if Lin Wei downstairs had heard, and felt embarrassed for him.
Fu Tianlan seemed startled by her serious tone and after a pause, bit his lip to say, “I’m just worried about you; I’m afraid he might not treat you well.”
In his worldview, a man faced with a girlfriend who has baggage would naturally hold back, no matter how much he liked her.
Fu Xiaoqing quickly understood Fu Tianlan’s misunderstanding and hurried to explain, “We’re not in that kind of relationship! Stop thinking those ridiculous thoughts; just focus on your treatment—that’s your priority right now!”
“…Okay,” Fu Tianlan replied shakily.
Only then did Fu Xiaoqing feel relieved and found time to care about whether he was adapting well over there.
Meanwhile, Lin Wei, of course, couldn’t catch the distant sound from the mobile speaker, but the system ‘kindly’ relayed it to him, transformatively mimicking a little pink mouse in his mind, repeating, “It seems Mr. Lin doesn’t like me.”
Lin Wei thought it was probably too idle, especially since it couldn’t find another gig.
[Master! I suddenly find Huo Qijun’s unpredictable temperament quite charming!]
Although the system understood Fu Tianlan’s misunderstanding and worries were reasonable, it was still… not very pleasant.
[Shut up!] Lin Wei chuckled lightly and replied, [Even if Huo Qijun knew you said that, he wouldn’t thank you for complimenting him.]
Besides, Fu Tianlan’s sensitivity wasn’t a flaw; it was just that Lin Wei found it challenging to interact with such personalities, leading him to establish some distance.
Also, the system’s comment about being unpredictable was unfair; it was more like the temperament of a cat!
He didn’t voice this last thought aloud, but perhaps being around each other for such a long time created an unspoken understanding. After reflecting on Lin Wei’s clarification, the system sighed profoundly and said softly, [I want ice cream.]
Lin Wei was taken aback, then sighed as well.
Ice cream had been a silver tabby he encountered while performing tasks in the previous world. He shouldn’t have formed emotional attachments in a small world, but when he found the little one injured, he couldn’t leave it behind. After some coaxing from the system, he brought it home despite his reservations.
The result? He grew attached, and several times he tried to send it away but couldn’t bear to part with it. Finally, he decided to find a family to adopt it, but soon after, the mischievous ice cream returned to him, dirty and ragged.
Upon seeing him, it would fiercely scratch his arm, then curl up on him stubbornly, refusing to leave.
The system was touched to tears.
By that time, Lin Wei was almost done with his task; despite having the ability to control the flow of time between the two worlds, he couldn’t linger indefinitely.
This time, he had forced himself to stay until the ice cream reached the end of its life; this was the reason for his late arrival in this world.
Hi I just wanted to say that there are mistakes in pronouns being changed from he to her for Huo Qijun. It gets a little annoying trying to ignore it.
Hi, could you please fix the pronouns for the ML? It says ‘she’ but it should be ‘he.’ It gets really confusing while reading. Thank you