HLnovel Chapter 105: Affection Awakens for Lu Lin
Chapter 105: Affection Awakens for Lu Lin
“?”Seeing Zhou Yuwen's message, Lu Lin was puzzled.
It had been three days since she sent him a message, and he hadn't replied, but now he was asking if she was free tomorrow?
Zhou Yuwen's side showed that he was typing.
Soon, another message popped up: "I need to go buy something tomorrow. Come with me?"
He sent a question mark, but it didn't seem like he was asking for her opinion—more like giving an order.
Lu Lin shouldn't have agreed.
After all, when she tried to chat with Zhou Yuwen before, he barely paid her any attention.
But after leaving him hanging for less than a minute, she worried he might get impatient and replied, "Okay."
Zhou Yuwen then said, "I'll pick you up at 9 AM tomorrow."
"Mm."
Their conversation was brief, and there wasn't much else to say.
By the time it was 11 PM, Zheng Yanyan still showed no signs of wanting to sleep, continuing to bother Lu Lin.
Lu Lin said, "It's almost 11. Aren't you tired?"
"I can't sleep. Lu Lin, what do you think Zhou Yuwen is up to, going to bed so early? Do you think he might be with another woman?" Zheng Yanyan was a bit paranoid. Just a while ago, she'd been happily chatting with Zhou Yuwen, but now she was starting to overthink.
"How would I know?" Lu Lin replied.
"Why don't you help me sneak into his dorm tomorrow and see what he's up to?" Zheng Yanyan suggested whimsically.
"No way," Lu Lin rejected her outright. She had no time for such nonsense.
"(Crying)(Crying)"
Since Zhou Yuwen had gone to sleep and wasn't chatting with her, Zheng Yanyan vented her longing to Lu Lin. Lu Lin couldn't quite understand why Zhou Yuwen had such a hold on her.
"I already told you, he's really something else. I've never felt so good before. I just want to be in his arms right now." Zheng Yanyan blushed as she spoke about the other night.
"When he licked one side and didn't even get to the other, it left me feeling all weird. Now I can't wait to see him again so he can finish the job." Zheng Yanyan said shyly.
Lu Lin responded with a string of ellipses, feeling that the girl was exaggerating.
Is it really that good?
"I'm going to sleep," Lu Lin finally said, not interested in the conversation anymore.
"Going to sleep so early? Do you have a date tomorrow? (Smirk)" Zheng Yanyan teased.
"Yeah, with Zhou Yuwen."
"Don't be silly. (Facepalm)" Zheng Yanyan never worried that Zhou Yuwen would be interested in Lu Lin. For one, Lu Lin smoked, which most guys couldn’t accept.
In their dorm, while no one said it out loud, they did look down on her a bit because of her smoking. After a month of living together, it was clear Lu Lin's family situation wasn’t great.
Lu Lin usually liked to be alone on the balcony and didn’t interact much with the others. Most of the conversation was between Su Qing and the other two.
Aside from Zheng Yanyan chatting with her occasionally, the only other person who talked to Lu Lin recently was Li Qiang. His conversations were simple, mostly about his part-time work.
"I earned 100 yuan today, 90 yesterday. I’ve almost made 300 yuan in the past three days! (Grin)"
"Lu Lin, do you want a gift? I can get you something (Grin)."
It was clear Li Qiang still had feelings for her. Lu Lin could tell and replied bluntly, "No need to buy me gifts. And don’t start saying you think of me as your girlfriend again. I can't handle that."
Li Qiang quickly reassured her, "I wouldn’t! You told me you like Zhou Yuwen. I’m not delusional. Didn’t you say you wanted to call me brother? I genuinely think of you as my sister, so giving you a gift is only right."
Lu Lin ignored him. At that moment, Zheng Yanyan asked if Lu Lin had any plans to go out with boys during the National Day holiday, so Lu Lin casually sent her a screenshot of the conversation with Li Qiang.
"Him?"
When Zheng Yanyan saw Li Qiang pestering Lu Lin, she burst out laughing.
"Haha! It looks like Brother Qiang is still smitten with you. Guess you’re quite charming after all!"
"(Picking nose emoji)"
"Why do you and Zhou Yuwen both like using that emoji?"
"I envy you. He’s never sent me one."
"That’s because you don’t chat with him. But that emoji is so annoying. Every time he sends it, I just want to punch him." Zheng Yanyan said, a little frustrated.
Lu Lin chatted with her for a bit longer before finally saying she was really going to sleep.
Zheng Yanyan didn’t keep bothering her after that and said goodnight.
And so, the holiday day ended on a cheerful note.
Of course, Lu Lin didn’t reply to Li Qiang's last message. She had no intention of accepting a gift from him, as it would only make him cling to her more.
The next morning, Lu Lin woke up naturally at 8 AM. She checked the time and realized that getting up now and putting on makeup would be just right since they were supposed to meet at 9. She didn’t feel like eating much, so she had a banana while playing on her phone, waiting for Zhou Yuwen to pick her up.
At 9:15, Zhou Yuwen called her.
Lu Lin saw his car from the balcony and answered, "I'll be right down."
After waiting a couple of minutes, she headed downstairs.
It was the sixth day of the holiday, so the campus was already quiet, and there wasn’t a soul in sight outside the dormitory this early in the morning.
Zhou Yuwen had just parked his car when Lu Lin walked out of the dorm.
Lu Lin was wearing her usual outfit: black flared jeans paired with white sneakers. Her legs were as long as Zheng Yanyan’s, but Zhou Yuwen preferred how Lu Lin looked in jeans—they were long and flattering. She wore a brown knit cardigan on top.
The outfit highlighted her long legs and slim waist. After stepping out of the dorm, Lu Lin naturally opened the passenger door and got in.
Zhou Yuwen teased, "Aren’t you afraid Yanyan will smack you?"
Lu Lin chuckled. "Should I sit in the back, then?"
"No need." Zhou Yuwen started the car.
They quickly drove out of the dormitory area. Lu Lin asked, "What made you suddenly think of asking me?"
"Like you said, I was bored and had no one else to go with."
"I’ve been saying that for days, and now you come looking for me?" Lu Lin spoke with a bit of resentment.
Zhou Yuwen replied, "Maybe I had company before."
"Oh."
Sometimes, Zhou Yuwen didn’t bother sweet-talking girls. No matter how Lu Lin felt about him, she didn’t seem too happy about this.
After a while, Lu Lin asked again, "So what do you need me for?"
"I’m buying furniture. It’s too boring to shop alone."
"Furniture?"
"Yeah."
The previous owner had handed over the keys, and Zhou Yuwen had already moved in. But aside from a bed, the place was empty.
That’s probably why he felt lonely—the house was big and empty, after all.
Buying furniture on his own seemed tedious, so he decided to drag Lu Lin along.
Lu Lin figured it out—he was just using her as free labor.
Zhou Yuwen said, "I won’t use you for free."
"You mean you're going to treat me to a meal?"
"That’s not treating. That’s just a fair trade," Lu Lin retorted.
Zhou Yuwen laughed. "Everything’s a transaction with you."
"Mm, we haven’t even finished our last transaction yet," Lu Lin said.
Zhou Yuwen didn’t reply. They had reached a traffic light, and Lu Lin's long legs, wrapped in flared jeans, were slightly leaning in Zhou Yuwen’s direction. They looked great.
But Zhou Yuwen just glanced at his phone while waiting for the light to turn green. He didn’t look at Lu Lin the whole time.
It was Lu Lin's first time riding in a convertible sports car. Even though she usually didn’t talk much and acted more mature than girls her age, she was still just an 18-year-old. At that age, a girl can’t help but feel a bit vain.
In the end, she couldn't resist and discreetly took out her phone to snap a few selfies in the passenger seat.
Zhou Yuwen noticed and smiled. "What are you even taking pictures of? Wait, you can drive later, and I’ll take a picture of you."
Lu Lin quickly put her phone away and said, "No need."
So, the two went to the furniture store. Zhou Yuwen didn’t have high standards for furniture—he just wanted something simple and clean, avoiding anything too fancy. He bought some essential appliances and a sofa, keeping everything minimalistic.
He brought Lu Lin along to ask, "What do you think I need for a new house?"
"What do you need? A bed, cups, towels, toothbrushes?" Lu Lin mused.
Zhou Yuwen thought for a moment and agreed. "Yeah, those are necessary."
They spent the morning at the furniture store, and in the afternoon, they visited a mall similar to Muji, buying toiletries and other everyday items.
It wasn’t until then that Lu Lin realized Zhou Yuwen hadn’t bought anything in advance and asked, "So what kind of house are you moving into?"
"That’s why I brought you along," Zhou Yuwen replied.
"Why not take Yanyan out when she gets back? You could shop with her," Lu Lin suggested.
"It’d be better to set everything up beforehand and surprise her when she returns."
Lu Lin fell silent. Although they hadn’t explicitly discussed it, she understood from Zhou Yuwen's mention of moving that he was planning to live with Zheng Yanyan and had probably rented a small apartment nearby.
With this in mind, she helped Zhou Yuwen pick out essentials and even suggested, "You should get two sets of pajamas—one for you and one for Yanyan."
At that moment, they were standing in front of two cotton pajama sets: one in sapphire blue and the other in soft pink.
Zhou Yuwen agreed and bought them both.
Lu Lin commented, "Even if you’ve rented a place, Yanyan won’t agree to live with you right away."
"That’s fine. I mainly wanted to move out for myself," Zhou Yuwen replied as they strolled through the mall.
"Must be nice to have money," Lu Lin remarked.
Zhou Yuwen chuckled. "It’s not just about money."
Lu Lin didn’t respond, but she could see that Zhou Yuwen’s financial stability was something she could lean on. She joked, "Yanyan won’t give in to you so easily. If you really want someone, why not just keep me? I’ll give you what you want. We’re about the same size, so you can just pretend I’m her. With your wealth, just give me 4,000 yuan a month for living expenses, and I’ll be yours." The innocence of an 18-year-old girl was evident.
Zhou Yuwen teased, "Didn’t we agree on 2,000 before?"
Lu Lin blushed slightly. "Two thousand seems a bit tight."
"You sure spend a lot," Zhou Yuwen commented.
They left the mall with bags full of household items. Although they joked about the idea of "keeping" someone, it was clear neither of them took it seriously. They shopped together, but the boundaries between them were still intact.
Zhou Yuwen didn’t take advantage of Lu Lin despite her owing him money or making those remarks. He didn’t disrespect her or try to cross any lines.
Seeing this, Lu Lin didn’t push the topic further. It was likely that the two of them were just bored during the holidays and ended up as shopping companions.
As they left the mall, Zhou Yuwen bought two outfits for Lu Lin. She hadn’t noticed until Zhou Yuwen handed them to her.
Lu Lin was startled and asked, "Why did you buy me clothes?"
Zhou Yuwen explained, "When we went shopping with Yanyan the other day, I saw you eyeing these clothes. I figured you liked them but didn’t have the money to buy them. You’ve been with me all day, so consider it your reward."
Lu Lin pulled the clothes out of the bag and realized they were exactly the ones she had been admiring, leaving her momentarily stunned.
By the time she came to, Zhou Yuwen was already focused on driving.
Lu Lin stared at Zhou Yuwen for a moment and said, "If shopping with you means I get clothes, feel free to call me whenever."
Zhou Yuwen responded, "Once Yanyan’s back, it won’t be your turn anymore."
Lu Lin fell silent for a while. "Mm."
Lu Lin had always assumed Zhou Yuwen had rented a small apartment outside the school for him and Zheng Yanyan to live in.
She thought Zhou Yuwen was wasting his efforts—Zheng Yanyan seemed carefree, but she was actually quite traditional. There was no way she’d move in with Zhou Yuwen so soon. Even if Zhou Yuwen was good at seduction, it wasn’t likely she’d agree to live with him quickly. She’d also have to consider her reputation at school.
If it were her, though, she would agree to live with Zhou Yuwen.
Of course, Lu Lin was oversimplifying things.
When Zhou Yuwen drove her into the gates of the Lanting community, she realized this wasn’t some simple apartment.
When he brought her to a 180-square-meter, four-bedroom, two-living-room apartment, fully furnished but with a sparse living room, Lu Lin’s eyes widened.
"You rented a place this big?"
"It’s not rented. I bought it."
By the afternoon, the appliances they had bought earlier had already been installed by the delivery guys. But the household items still needed to be arranged.
Zhou Yuwen asked Lu Lin to help organize everything.
Lu Lin mumbled an absent-minded "oh." After realizing Zhou Yuwen had bought such a large house, she became even quieter than usual. Still, she didn’t refuse to help.
She helped unpack decorations, arrange items, and set up the remaining appliances.
With so many things to put away, there was bound to be some trash. Plus, the house had been sitting vacant for a while and had gathered some dust.
While Zhou Yuwen was busy testing the appliances, Lu Lin grabbed a broom and started sweeping the floors.
A big house meant a big clean-up.
They had returned home around 6 PM, and after cleaning for hours, they realized it was already 10 PM—and they still hadn’t finished.
They were both exhausted by the end.
After setting up the soft furnishings in the master bedroom, they collapsed onto the bed.
Zhou Yuwen asked, "Why are you so quiet?"
Lu Lin lay there, staring at the ceiling, and replied, "I’ve never seen a house this big."
"..."
Zhou Yuwen didn’t know how to respond. He was tired, too. When he’d moved in the day before, it had felt empty and lonely. There was nothing but a bed, and he’d just barely gotten through the night.
Today, with all the furniture in place, it finally felt like home.
Indeed, having a woman around makes it feel less lonely.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yuwen glanced at Lu Lin beside him.
The master bed was large enough for both of them, but they lay on opposite sides, each minding their own space. He hadn’t thought much of it at first, but after spending the day together, Zhou Yuwen found that Lu Lin wasn’t as bad as he’d imagined. He still wondered why she smoked, though.
Zhou Yuwen had only intended to glance at her. But with them being alone in a room, that one look stirred something in him, and before he knew it, his body responded.
It wasn’t entirely Zhou Yuwen’s fault. Lu Lin was wearing a brown knit cardigan, and during the move, she had left it unbuttoned, revealing a small camisole underneath.
In other words, her neck and chest were exposed, and lying on the bed like that, there was some subtle movement.
Still, that wasn’t enough to cause a reaction.
What really got to Zhou Yuwen was her waist.
Her flared jeans were cinched with a small belt, highlighting her slender waist. But when Zhou Yuwen looked over from his angle, the belt formed a curve around her waist, revealing a small portion of her lower abdomen.
That tiny exposed area created a noticeable gap, and from Zhou Yuwen’s perspective, he could see it perfectly.
Just one glance was enough.
It had been a while since Zhou Yuwen had been with a woman, so his body reacted instantly.
Lu Lin was curious about why Zhou Yuwen had suddenly gone quiet and turned slightly to glance at him.
She caught him staring at her waist.
Pretending not to notice, she turned her head back, feeling a bit shy.
Looking down at herself, she realized they were both lying on the same large bed. Lu Lin’s legs were long, especially in the flared jeans, and lying down only made them seem longer.
Zhou Yuwen realized his mistake and thought he should stop.
Lu Lin turned slightly, facing away from him, unsure of what to say.
But she didn’t mind that Zhou Yuwen had been staring at her.
At that moment, her phone buzzed with incoming messages.
It was Li Qiang.
"Linlin, I’m off work! Made another 100 yuan today! (Grin)"
Aside from Li Qiang, Zheng Yanyan had also sent a message:
"So annoying! Zhou Yuwen’s ignoring me again. I don’t know what he’s busy with all the time."
Lu Lin stared blankly at the messages, feeling bored.
Suddenly, she felt warmth at her waist. Zhou Yuwen had reached out and wrapped his arm around her.
Lu Lin switched off her phone screen and turned to face him.
Their faces were inches apart, eyes locking.
Zhou Yuwen kissed her. Find the newest release on novᴇlfire.net
Lu Lin closed her eyes and instinctively kissed him back.
She was inexperienced, but she was cooperating with Zhou Yuwen.
His hand moved around her exposed waist.
After kissing for a while, Lu Lin instinctively lifted her camisole, giving Zhou Yuwen easier access, and prepared to take it off completely.