Su Bei finally realized that something was wrong. In the past, Lin Shaochi's attitude towards her and Xiaobao had always been like an elder brother, and sometimes Su Bei even jokingly said that Brother Lin was more like a dad.
However, it was clear that the words Lin Shaochi just said had completely exceeded the boundary of a 'brother.'
"Brother Lin, you—" Did he eat something wrong today?
Su Bei looked at Lin Shaochi with strange eyes.
Lin Shaochi smiled: "Don't you want to ask why?"
Lin Shaochi looked at Su Bei. His eyes were very deep and intense, as if he was about to swallow her whole.
Su Bei: No, she doesn't want to.
Although she didn't know what answer was Lin Shaochi going to say, Su Bei instinctively wanted to avoid it.
However, before she could refused, Lin Shaochi had already said: "Because I like you."
Finally, Lin Shaochi said the sentence that had been buried deep inside his heart for four years. After he spoke, Lin Shaochi paused a little. He saw the panic and surprise on Su Bei's face. Lin Shaochi didn't want to scare her, but he knew that he could not hesitate at this moment. Once he hesitated, he would no longer be able to suppress the crazy throb in his heart.
"I like you, not with a brotherly feeling, but as a man towards a woman." After a pause, Lin Shaochi continued: "Since four years ago."
This was the deepest secret hidden by Lin Shaochi. Because of this feeling, he had been tormented for four years, and even once felt that he was worse than a beast. But at this moment, facing his beloved girl, Lin Shaochi didn't mind exposing this secret.
"That...Brother Li—no, I..."
Lin Shaochi's sudden confession made Su Bei panicked. For years, Lin Shaochi had always been her boss and work partner, and also a caring brother for her and Su Xiaobao. She never had an idea that Lin Shaochi actually...liked her?
Lin Shaochi's feeling was totally inconceivable for Su Bei. Facing his confession, her first reaction was wanting to escape.
"Did I scare you?"
Su Bei's reaction fell on Lin Shaochi's eyes. Although his heart sank so much that it was suffocating, he had expected it beforehand. Lin Shaochi smiled bitterly. When he spoke again, he had regained his usual tenderness. "Don't be afraid. You don't need to care so much. If you don't like, just treat it as I haven't said anything."
Su Bei: "I..."
"Let's go. I will send you home."
"No need. I will call Uncle Fu to send a driver here." Didn't know how to face Lin Shaochi, Su Bei subconsciously stepped back and refused his offer.
Her avoidance pained Lin Shaochi, but he concealed it and said: "Alright."
After all, it was he who scared her.
—
After she was home, Su Bei was still in a daze. Su Xiaobao saw Su Bei's distracted look during the dinner and finally couldn't help asking: "What's wrong?"
"Did you get scared by today's car accident?" Su Xiaobao frowned. He looked at Su Bei disapprovingly: "Next time, don't go into an accident site again."
"Not that."
"Then what?" Su Bei's mood at this moment was clearly not right.
"..." After some hesitation, Su Bei dragged Su Xiaobao into her room.
"Today, someone I totally never expect actually confessed to me." Su Bei's focus was on 'someone I totally never expect,' while Su Xiaobao focused on the word 'confess.'
"Who?" Which bastard actually dare to confess to their Xiaobei? Does he no longer want to live? Not only confessed, but he also affected Xiaobei's mood!
Seeing Su Xiaobao's angry face and the posture of I-am-going-to-beat-that-bastard-into-pulp, Su Bei suddenly drenched into sweat.
——It seemed that she couldn't tell Su Xiaobao that the person he wanted to beat was Lin Shaochi. More importantly, Su Xiaobao was not Lin Shaochi's opponent!
"It doesn't matter who that person is. It's not important. I only want to talk a bit. Alright, I'm okay now." Su Bei pushed Su Xiaobao out.
"Do you also like him?" At the door, Su Xiaobao stopped and suddenly turned his head.
From high school to university, countless guys had confessed to Xiaobei. But Su Xiaobao knew that his sister always responded to the confessions calmly. After expressing her gratitude, she would reject them politely.
It was his first time seeing Su Bei at a loss because of a confession.
Hearing Su Xiaobao's question, Su Bei was stunned. She frowned: "It's not the matter of liking or not."
"I'm going to sleep. You should also go to bed now."
Su Xiaobao was ruthlessly kicked out.
—
A few minutes later, Su Xiaobao sent a message.
[Xiaobao: If that person makes you unhappy, I will teach him a lesson. If you don't like him, I will drive him away for you.]
Seeing the message, Su Bei couldn't help but smile.
[What if I like him?]
Su Bei originally responded jokingly. But after the message was sent, she felt weird. Unfortunately, before Su Bei could delete the message, Su Xiaobao had read it.
[Xiaobao: If you like that guy, I'll investigate him. If he isn't good, don't even think about it.]
Su Bei reflexively typed: What if that person is very good?
Fortunately, this time, she managed to not send it.
After a while, Su Xiaobao sent another message: [Do you really like him?]
[Su Bei: No, no, I'm just talking casually. Alright, good night.]
Throwing her phone on the side, Su Bei nested inside the blanket. The night's quietness unconsciously made her recall her conversation with Lin Shaochi during the day.
Lin Shaochi likes her? Even now, Su Bei still felt unbelievable.
However, recalling the past four years in her mind, Su Bei found out small clues scattered here and there. For example, Lin Shaochi always remembered her and Su Xiaobao's birthday. For four consecutive years, he had never absent from their birthday party. One year, Su Bei heard from Lin Shochi's subordinate that there was a problem with a project at M Country, and Lin Shaochi had to go to deal with it personally. Su Bei originally thought that Lin Shaochi wouldn't be able to attend their birthday party that year. But unexpectedly, he came back in time to give them the present right before the day passed.
For example, every time Su Bei wanted something, Lin Shaochi seemed to be able to send it to her very quickly, no matter what it was. Su Bei often joked: "Brother Lin has a Doraemon's pocket."
Every time Lin Shaochi 'passed by accidentally,' he would always give Su Bei a ride home. When Su Bei went to Qin Group's office, she seemed to 'coincidentally' meet Lin Shochi very often. Also, every time Su Bei had important school activities or competitions, it seemed that Lin Shaochi had always appeared using various 'coincidental' reasons...
On their birthday, The Dream Park all over the world would have a special light show...
And that work phone!
Since Su Bei revealed her identity at the 'Red Hacker Challenge' final, Lin Shaochi never used the work phone to contact her again. He would directly call Su Bei's personal number or sometimes found her via Mr. Qin.
But there were exceptions: on Su Bei's birthday and every important holiday, Lin Shaochi would send her celebratory message to the work phone. Such as 'Happy Chinese New Year' or even 'Happy Valentine.' At first, Su Bei thought it was a batch message sent to all Lin Shaochi's contacts. Later, she knew by accident that the phone Lin Shaochi used to communicate with [Q] only had her work number saved in the contact.
...
It turned out that there were so many obvious clues, but Su Bei instinctively ignored them. In other words, Lin Shaochi concealed himself so well that Su Bei always saw him as a gentle and kind elder brother.
Su Bei rubbed her head furiously and buried her face into the bed. Her mind was in total chaos now.
Suddenly, there was a light knock on the door. It must be Mr. Qin, who had just back.
"Dad."
"Are you asleep?"
"Not yet. Dad, come in."
Mr. Qin entered Su Bei's room and saw his daughter cuddled up on the bed.
Qin Shao: "What's the matter? Are you in a bad mood?"
"No." Su Bei walked over and hugged Mr. Qin.
Qin Shao was slightly stunned. Since Su Bei entered university, she rarely was this sticky.
"Did something make you upset?"
"No."
Su Bei didn't dare to tell Mr. Qin about Lin Shaochi's confession today. She was sure that if she had said it, Mr. Qin would immediately go to beat Lin Shaochi to death.
"It's just that there is a problem that I cannot figure out temporarily." Su Bei whispered: "Well, it's not that serious."
Seeing his daughter didn't want to say, Qin Shao felt helpless. Having raised Su Bei and Su Xiaobao for four years, he knew very well the character of his two children. Judging from Su Bei's expression, Mr. Qin knew that the matter that troubled her was really not serious, so he felt relieved.
It's just...
Mr. Qin sighed inwardly: His daughter really has grown up, and sometimes, it was really hard to guess her thoughts.
"No matter what it is, you can always tell Dad anytime."
"Yeah." Su Bei nodded.
"Dad, you should go back and sleep. You are not allowed to work in the study until late."
Before, Mr. Qin strictly supervised the twins' bedtime. But now, it was Su Bei's turn to supervise Mr. Qin.
Mr. Qin chuckled: "Alright. Good night"
"Good night, Dad."
—
After Mr. Qin left, Su Bei waited for a while before taking out her mobile phone. When she was talking with Lin Shaochi today, she noticed the tension and loss from the man's expression, and was also shocked by his bloodshot eyes.
Su Bei didn't know that Lin Shaochi eyes were so red not only because he was so worried about her safety, but also because he didn't sleep last night.
Just thinking of Lin Shaochi's state at the time, Su Bei felt an odd discomfort. Of course she didn't dislike Lin Shaochi. Even after he confessed to her, she ran away just because she was so shocked and didn't know how to react.
After thinking for a long time, Su Bei took out her phone and sent a message to Lin Shaochi: [Brother Lin, give me time to think about today's matter.]