Chapter 5: Su Yanyan's Secret Crush

“What are you doing?”

Su Yanyan stared at him. Startled, Lin Mo quickly pulled his hand away. He hadn’t expected her to wake at that moment. How could he possibly explain himself now?

“I want…”

But his worry proved premature. Her awareness slipped away again, and she reached for him, catching him off guard and pulling him toward her until he almost fell on top of her.

Lin Mo bit the tip of his tongue to stay focused. “Su Yanyan, you’re lucky you ran into me today. Another man might already have taken advantage of you!”

He told himself he wasn’t that kind of man.

Her breathing was rapid, her face burning, and the hand gripping his wrist was frighteningly hot. She leaned toward him without seeming to know what she was doing, and one shoulder strap slipped down.

“If you keep moving, I’m not helping you,” he said under his breath. But she was too confused to heed him. Instead, she put an arm around his neck.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The drug was spreading; her pulse was fast and irregular. If he waited longer, he believed, even driving it out later might leave her internal organs damaged.

He quickly pressed a point at the back of her neck. She shuddered, her arm fell away, and she sank back onto the bed.

“A good chance to try the nine chapters of medicine.”

He spread his fingers above her lower abdomen. Heat surged from his energy center and gathered at his fingertips into needles of vital energy, which he sent into several key points around her abdomen.

Anyone who understood the technique would have been astonished: projecting energy as tangible needles normally required more than twenty years of internal cultivation. Yet his hands moved swiftly, placing and guiding the needles in one continuous sequence.

Soon, visible heat rose from Yanyan’s skin. Sweat beaded and ran down her neck, soaking her clothes.

“It’s working.”

Lin Mo kept his attention on the treatment, sending a steady stream of energy into her. Her brow tightened and she perspired more heavily. To him, that meant the drug was being driven out. The flush in her face gradually faded.

“Done.”

He withdrew his hands and let out a long breath. Yanyan lay quietly, her breathing growing even. Sweat had dampened much of the sheet, and a faint medicinal odor lingered in the room.

He picked up a clean towel from the nightstand and reached to wipe her face. His fingers had just touched her temple when her eyelashes fluttered and she opened her eyes.

Seeing Lin Mo so close and her clothes disarranged, she recoiled.

“Ah! Who… who are you? What did you do to me?”

“What could I have done? Don’t you remember what just happened?”

He looked at the towel in his hand, then at the way she guarded herself. With a sigh, he stepped back to give her space.

“Su Yanyan, take a good look at me.”

She studied him as her senses slowly returned. He looked familiar.

“Lin Mo?”

“You finally remember.” Relieved, he asked, “How did you end up being drugged?”

She lowered her head, trying to piece things together. An hour earlier, she had attended a friend’s birthday party in a private room at a nearby hotel. She had gone to the bathroom, then returned and accepted a glass of juice from a close female friend. After drinking it, she felt something was wrong and left immediately. Then she realized she had been drugged and was being followed.

The memory frightened her.

“I don’t know what happened,” she said, still a little dizzy. “I’m lucky I ran into you. I haven’t even thanked you yet.”

She looked at him. “What are you doing here? Where’s Qin Xiaoman? Are you married now?”

Lin Mo grimaced. Of all the things she could have asked.

“What’s wrong?” Yanyan asked. “Didn’t you say you’d get married after graduation? Or do you already have a few children?” She laughed.

There was a child, Lin Mo thought, but it wasn’t his.

“I did save your life, you know. Is this how you repay me, by rubbing salt in the wound?”

“Huh?” She had always believed Lin Mo and Qin Xiaoman would go from college sweethearts to husband and wife. His reaction suggested otherwise.

“She got together with Zhao Zihao behind my back. She’s carrying his child.” He said it calmly, making no attempt to hide that Xiaoman had cheated on him.

Yanyan’s eyes widened. “What? So she cheated on you?”

“Goodbye.” He turned to leave.

“Wait, wait!” She jumped off the bed and caught his arm. “I was only teasing. Don’t take it so seriously.”

For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, news of his breakup had brought her a flicker of happiness.

“You saved me today. I have to repay you properly. Tell me what you want.”

“Repay me?” An idea occurred to him. He turned to look at her.

“Anything I can do,” she said.

“Really?” His eyes lit up.

“Of course. Would I lie to you?”

Her heart beat faster. She had thought she might never see him again after graduation, yet here they were, reunited in such unusual circumstances. And he had broken up with Qin Xiaoman.

“Since you insist, I won’t stand on ceremony.” Lin Mo held out his hand. “I rented this room to help you. It cost 186 yuan, but for an old classmate I’ll round it down. Just give me 180.”

“What?”

Yanyan stared at him. Given an opportunity like this, all he wanted was the room fee?

“Look how nervous you are. I’m joking.” He waved a hand. “You lent me your notes plenty of times at college. How could I ask you for this?”

His balance was under a hundred yuan, but she had helped him before and had just had a terrible fright. Besides, Shen Zhihan’s job would pay twenty thousand in a single night.

“Wait… Shen Zhihan!”

His expression changed so suddenly that Yanyan jumped. “What’s wrong?” Had he changed his mind about the money?

“I almost forgot something important!” He freed his arm and ran for the door. “I have something urgent to do. Let’s talk another day!”

He was gone before he finished speaking, leaving Yanyan staring after him.

“What’s gotten into him?”