Meng Shujing stopped his forward steps and turned to look at Lin Yan fixedly.
"Yan Yan, what do you mean?" He could hardly believe it, as if pie had suddenly fallen from the sky and hit him directly.
"Didn't you say you'd wait until I was an adult? Today is my eighteenth birthday, Shujing, I'm an adult!"
"So... so you're saying yes to me?" Meng Shujing asked excitedly again, his gaze towards Lin Yan filled with ardent emotion.
"Mm-hmm, so, boyfriend, please take care of me!" Lin Yan said with a smile.
Meng Shujing directly pulled Lin Yan into his arms, using his embrace to confirm the reality of the person in front of him.
"Girlfriend?" Meng Shujing's chest vibrated slightly. "Yan Yan, I'm so happy!"
"Alright, everyone is watching! Let's leave first." Lin Yan gently pushed Meng Shujing.
Meng Shujing let go of Lin Yan as if going with the flow, but then his hand tightly grasped Lin Yan's again, as if afraid that if he let go, Lin Yan would disappear before him.
Lin Yan saw a figure out of the corner of her eye; the person was staring intently in their direction.
"Host, that's the female lead," the system reminded her.
Lin Yan hadn't seen Fu Yin for a long time and didn't know what she looked like now. After being reminded by the system, she noticed that the person had features similar to Madam Fu.
But so what if she was the female lead? She didn't care about confronting her.
Fu Yin stared intently at the two people walking away intimately. Lin Yan didn't recognize her, but Fu Yin recognized Lin Yan's face.
She had originally intended to invite Meng Shujing again. It was her coming-of-age ceremony that evening. She had invited Meng Shujing before, but he hadn't agreed to attend.
So, before the banquet started, she took the time to find Meng Shujing again, wanting to personally invite him one more time. She hadn't expected to see this scene.
Why, hadn't she already sent Lin Yan away? Hadn't Lin Yan returned to Jingshan? Why would they still know each other and be together!
Lin Yan, living in a small town, and Meng Shujing, from the capital, had no connection. Why could they still be together? If nothing could be changed, what was the point of her rebirth?
No, that was not right. There had been changes. Even if Meng Shujing liked her, so what? The Meng family would absolutely not agree to Meng Shujing marrying Lin Yan.
Without the background of the Fu family, even if Meng Shujing liked Lin Yan very much, she couldn't become Meng Shujing's fiancée like in the previous life.
She glared venomously at the two people who had already walked away, her freshly manicured nails digging deeply into her palm.
A ringtone interrupted Fu Yin's thoughts. She took out her phone; it was Madam Fu.
"Hello, Mom, what's wrong?"
"Yinyin, where are you? The stylist is already here, and you're still not back."
"Okay, I'll be right back," Fu Yin replied.
Today was her coming-of-age ceremony, and she had to be grand.
If not Meng Shujing, there were others. She didn't need to envy Lin Yan. How big was the cake in her hands? How many people were celebrating her birthday? She hadn't even had such a grand banquet!
Fu Yin comforted herself in her heart, but the tears in her eyes couldn't be held back, falling drop by drop. Fu Yin reached out to wipe away the tears from her face.
"Classmate, are you alright?" A tissue was handed to Fu Yin.
"I'm fine," Fu Yin didn't take the tissue. She continued to wipe the tears from her face with her hand. She ignored the person who handed her the tissue and turned to walk away.
"You should still wipe it," the person blocked her path and handed her the tissue. "What is it that makes you so sad? If you walk away like this, others might think I'm bullying you!"
"I said I'm fine, and I don't need you to worry about me." Fu Yin looked annoyedly at the person in front of her who thought too highly of himself.
"Don't you think you're being very considerate and touching? It's ridiculous! I've seen plenty of people like you. If you want to take advantage of the situation, you need to look in the mirror first!"
Fu Yin ignored the other person's displeased expression and walked around them towards the door.
The person left standing there angrily threw the tissue on the ground, "A viper bites the hand that feeds it, ungrateful wretch!"
After speaking, he stepped on the tissue and also left.
Lin Yan was brought by Meng Shujing to a very nice restaurant. He didn't choose to sit opposite Lin Yan but sat next to her.
"Have you booked your hotel?" Meng Shujing asked.
"Not yet, I came to find you as soon as I got off the car."
"Then do you want to stay at my apartment? You haven't seen it yet. The password is your birthday. Next time you come, you can go directly there to rest."
Lin Yan looked at Meng Shujing with no expression.
"My apartment has two bedrooms. If you feel awkward, I can move out. I just don't want you to stay in a hotel," he quickly explained.
Lin Yan smiled as she listened to his explanation. "Then I won't stay in a hotel."
"Okay, then I'll go back to the old house tonight."
"Didn't you say there were two bedrooms? Why do you still have to go back to the old house?" Lin Yan raised her eyebrows and looked at him.
Hearing Lin Yan say this, Meng Shujing immediately seized the opportunity. He stopped talking about going back to the old house and instead started asking about Lin Yan's recent vacation.
Lin Yan had just finished a research project and could take a break. If she wasn't roped into work by other professors, her vacation should be normal.
After dinner, Meng Shujing asked Lin Yan to wait there for a moment. He was going to get something. Lin Yan knew he was probably going to get her birthday gift.
However, Meng Shujing should have already sent her the birthday gift, as she had received a delivery notification before. Since he didn't mention it now, she pretended not to know.
Meng Shujing returned in less than half an hour. Lin Yan didn't see him carrying anything, so she guessed the gift wouldn't be very big.
He didn't mention the gift, and Lin Yan, even if she had guessed it, didn't ask. After all, sometimes it was better for a girl not to appear too clever, as she had to leave opportunities for men to surprise her!
Meng Shujing first took Lin Yan back to his apartment, letting her rest for a while. Soon after, his assistant delivered the things he had requested.
In fact, as soon as he met Lin Yan, he had already messaged his assistant to have the housekeeping staff tidy up the second bedroom of his apartment.
New bedding had been changed, and now the assistant had also brought new toiletries.
He had no intention of letting Lin Yan stay in a hotel. No matter how good the hotel was, it wasn't safe enough.
Moreover, Lin Yan wouldn't just come once; the second bedroom still needed to be prepared and would eventually be useful.
This was his apartment near the school, intended for his convenience when attending classes. It was relatively simple.
He felt he needed to buy a house of his own. He couldn't keep living like this. He could make do, but he didn't want Yan Yan to suffer.
Thinking that Yan Yan had agreed to be his girlfriend, he couldn't help but smile. He involuntarily began planning their future.