JR Chapter 31

Cheng Lulu blinked at Mo Lin, staring blankly for a long time, then glanced around, “Are we discussing this here?”

“Why not come here to talk?” Xu Yuan’s voice appeared behind them.

The employees at Xu Yuan’s shop had already left for the day, and he was tidying up alone. When he stepped outside, he heard Mo Lin and Cheng Lulu’s startling conversation.

Smiling, he gestured with a small paper bag in his hand, inviting them, “Coincidentally, this bag of cookies is about to expire. It would be a shame to throw them away, so how about we have a tea party tonight and finish them off?”

Faced with Xu Yuan’s enthusiastic invitation, Cheng Lulu felt a bit embarrassed. She glanced at Mo Lin’s expression, knowing that Xu Yuan and Jiang Yuanmu still had a competitive relationship…

Mo Lin thought for a moment and declined, “It’s not appropriate. Xu Yuan, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Xu Yuan immediately guessed, “Is it about considering my offer after your three-month renewal period ends?”

“Huh!?” Cheng Lulu was stunned, “Is there such a thing?”

“Yes, thank you for your help during this time,” Mo Lin said politely. “But I think I may not be able to consider it further. Of course, if you’ve changed your mind, my words may be presumptuous, and I apologize.”

“Mo Lin, thank you for the gratitude, but I can’t accept the apology. I’ve been waiting,” Xu Yuan said as he approached, smiling gently and handing the small paper bag to Mo Lin. “However, I already guessed this outcome.”

Mo Lin didn’t take it immediately.

Cheng Lulu looked back and forth between the two, then raised her hand and pointed to Xu Yuan’s café, “Maybe I should go sit inside, and you two can talk here.”

“No need.”

“Not necessary.”

Mo Lin and Xu Yuan spoke one after the other.

“It’s a bit awkward, but you don’t have to sit. You can chat while I handle my business.” Xu Yuan firmly handed the cookies to Mo Lin.

Mo Lin held the paper bag, the small cookies were Xu Yuan’s regular “gift” alongside the coffee he sent them for many years.

She looked up at Xu Yuan in the dim light of the creative park, planning to ask clearly, “I never quite understood why you…”

“You probably don’t remember,” Xu Yuan said, staring at the bag of cookies with a bitter smile. “Years ago, I dropped out of school and ran away from home. I hadn’t eaten for days, I was cold and hungry, standing on the Jiang Bridge, wondering why people suffer in this world. I planned to jump off the bridge that day.”

A vague picture flashed through Mo Lin’s mind as if she had been prompted.

“The Jiang Bridge…”

“Very few people pass by that bridge, but that day…” Xu Yuan’s gaze softened, looking at Mo Lin, “Mo Lin, you walked by.”

Mo Lin’s eyes lit up, “I… I remember, but I didn’t know…” She looked at Xu Yuan in shock, “I didn’t know you were planning to jump off the bridge, and after so long, I didn’t recognize… it was you.”

  Cheng Lulu covered her mouth in shock, whispering, “Oh my god…”

This incident had been buried in Mo Lin’s memory because, to her, it wasn’t significant enough to remember.

She could recall it now, not because of Xu Yuan, but because of another man…

It was five years ago, before Jiang Yu introduced Jiang Yuanmu to her. At that time, she was troubled by her grandmother’s illness and was trying to find a suitable match, but her personality was not very likable.

She ended up on the bridge because she was sitting in the passenger seat of a potential suitor’s car…

She had thrown her pre-prepared “questions” at the man, not knowing which one had angered him, or perhaps all of them had. He found Mo Lin extremely rude, shallow, and harsh, so he angrily slammed on the brakes on the Jiang Bridge, unbuckled her seatbelt, and told her to get out.

Mo Lin didn’t dare stay in the car with someone she had angered, so she obediently got out, stepped onto the sidewalk, and watched the man’s car speed away.

Experiencing this for the first time, Mo Lin reflected on whether her personality was too terrible, but she quickly stopped reflecting because she believed she couldn’t change.

It was the man’s behavior of slamming on the brakes and kicking her out of the car that was too extreme, showing poor emotional management.

She looked at the takeaway hot mocha and a bag of cookies in her hand, one of which was meant for the suitor, now likely to go to waste.

Mo Lin walked along the bridge’s sidewalk, planning to reach the end and then take a taxi to her studio.

The bridge was long, and while driving wouldn’t take long, walking required a slow pace. Then, she encountered Xu Yuan standing by the bridge.

Xu Yuan wasn’t doing anything extreme at the time. He just had his hands on the bridge’s railing, wearing a school uniform, looking down with a vacant expression and pale face. His clothes were dirty, like a young homeless person.

When Mo Lin passed by him, she couldn’t help but glance at him a few times. Then she stopped.

He looked like a confused high school student. It wasn’t the weekend, and he wasn’t in class, which was strange.

Mo Lin walked up to him and said, “Hey, kid.”

He turned to look at her, his expression a mix of confusion and numbness.

Mo Lin noticed how thin he was, his lips dry and cracked. She thought he might be in some kind of trouble.

Mo Lin opened the coffee takeaway bag in her hand and handed him a hot mocha.

The sweet aroma of mocha drifted into Xu Yuan’s nose. He blinked, thinking of how coffee shops represented expensive and unnecessary spending. He had walked past them but had never been this close to smelling it.

It smelled so good.

Like the scent of happiness in the city.

Only then did Xu Yuan look at Mo Lin.

Standing beside him, Mo Lin opened her cup of mocha and took a sip.

Xu Yuan mimicked her and took a sip as well.

It was sweet and warm.

On the Jiang Bridge, cars sped by, creating a cacophony of noise. On the steel-and-concrete bridge, it seemed like only these two fragile humans existed.

“Studying…is hard,” Mo Lin suddenly said, sighing a bit. “Life is hard, too.” She turned to look at the distant, flowing river, not knowing how many places it had passed before flowing beneath them at that moment.

“But keep going,” Mo Lin said, handing the cookies in her hand to Xu Yuan, speaking to both him and herself. “You never know when things might change.”

With that, she left, having no idea what Xu Yuan had been contemplating while standing on the bridge.

She only remembered him as a truant teenager, possibly in conflict with his family or experiencing the restlessness of adolescence. How could she have guessed that he was in so much pain he wanted to jump?

Later, Mo Lin did encounter a turning point in her life, and as for Xu Yuan…

“I went back to school and graduated from high school,” Xu Yuan said, smiling at Mo Lin. “I always remembered the taste of the mocha and cookies you gave me. Later, I learned how to make coffee, always trying to recreate that taste. A couple of years ago, after saving some money, I thought of opening a coffee shop. I thought I’d never see the sister who talked to me on the bridge again. But when I was looking for a shop location…”

Xu Yuan remembered that the sun was particularly bright that day. He had been looking for a shop location for three days. When he arrived at the creative park, he wasn’t very satisfied with the foot traffic and location but unexpectedly saw Mo Lin sending off a customer with a polite smile on her face.

Xu Yuan felt a lump in his throat, unable to say anything.

He could only feel that the sunlight that day was as bright and warm as the day he stood on the bridge, as if fate had smiled upon him.

“I chose this place, knowing you were married and happy. I never planned to disturb you, so I never mentioned it. If it weren’t for that day…”

“If it weren’t for her and Mr Jiang’s ‘divorce drama,’ you would have kept all this a secret for life…” Cheng Lulu, moved, covered her mouth and looked at the cookies in Mo Lin’s hand. “My goodness…”

What a pure-hearted warrior…

Cheng Lulu almost felt like switching sides… but then she thought about everything Jiang Yuanmu had done for them recently and patted her head. Looking at Mo Lin, she thought: Sis, if it comes to it, I’ll help you keep it hidden. Do whatever you need to do!

Mo Lin glanced at the suddenly bright-eyed Cheng Lulu, then looked down at the cookies in her hand. “I didn’t do much for you. You don’t need to be so grateful; it was your perseverance.”

“Yes, it might seem that way to you. But for me, it’s different,” Xu Yuan said with a smile. “You don’t have to be so serious in rejecting me. I’ve seen over this period that you and Mr. Jiang are indeed well-suited for each other. But…”

Xu Yuan paused, seemingly reluctant to bring it up, but eventually couldn’t hold back:

“He cheated on you. Can you really forgive him? Do you truly believe he will change?”

Mo Lin was momentarily stunned, unable to react.

Cheng Lulu, however, jumped up immediately, “What!?” She looked at Mo Lin in anger, “Is that true!?”

Mo Lin rubbed her temples, “It’s a misunderstanding. Xu Yuan, the photo you saw was maliciously taken to slander him and his relationship with one of their company’s influencers.”

“Really? How was it slandered, and why isn’t there any news about it online?”

Mo Lin was taken aback, realizing…

Indeed, why is there no trace of it online?

Having experienced the recent public opinion storm, she knew that no matter what the controversy, there would always be some trace of it online.

Jiang Yuanmu had said at the time that someone online was slandering him and that influencer, affecting the company. If it had such an impact, why couldn’t any trace of it be found?

Ji Ming was so capable; why hadn’t he used this in her public opinion storm?

Mo Lin found it strange but still said, “I trust him.”

Xu Yuan fell silent, contemplating for a moment, “Yes, I can see that you… trust him a lot. No matter what, I just hope you can be happy. If you’re ever unhappy, for any reason, I hope I can help.”

“Thank you,” Mo Lin said sincerely, smiling at Xu Yuan, “I also hope you will always be happy.”

Xu Yuan waved and left for home.

Mo Lin and Cheng Lulu watched him walk away. Cheng Lulu couldn’t help but comment:

“Such a pure-hearted soul. If Xu Yuan had been ready for marriage back then, do you think you two might have had a story? Like a romance drama, a fateful meeting, a broken puppy, and a mature sister…”

Mo Lin shook her head slightly, “It wouldn’t work. Xu Yuan might need more passion and love to fill his life. I don’t have that much to give.”

Cheng Lulu pondered, “True. He remembered the mocha and cookies you gave him for so long; his emotions must be intense and passionate. Such a person needs equally passionate responses. For you, it would be exhausting over time, and he would feel unsatisfied.”

“The world is full of people, and I’m sure he will find someone perfectly suited to him.”

“Like you and Jiang Yuanmu?” Cheng Lulu asked with a smile.

Mo Lin nodded. “Yes, like me and Jiang Yuanmu.”

Mo Lin took a cookie from the paper bag and gave one to Cheng Lulu, then took a bite herself.

“So, about my previous question, where should we discuss it?”

“About taking control? Are you serious?”

Mo Lin stared at Cheng Lulu with determination, speaking seriously and deliberately, “I believe there is no one more suited for me than Jiang Yuanmu. Both my genes and my soul tell me to choose him.”

“Genes and soul… that’s quite serious…”

“I want him to be the father of my child, and no one else will do,” Mo Lin said, looking somewhat troubled. “But he turned me down before.”

“What? Why?”

“He said he didn’t want to be my tool.”

“Why don’t you ask him again?” Cheng Lulu suggested, stammering slightly. “Mr Jiang seems very attentive to you recently. If you ask again, he might change his mind…”

“Jiang Yuanmu is difficult to persuade once he has made up his mind. I’m running out of time, so I want to move quickly,” Mo Lin said, looking at Cheng Lulu for help. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Why do you think I would have an idea?”

Mo Lin was taken aback, feeling a bit embarrassed, “Lulu, I’m sorry. I just thought you had more experience. If you don’t have any ideas, I’ll look online…”

Cheng Lulu looked at the slightly uneasy Mo Lin and sighed, turning her head, “Well, I do have some ideas…”

Seeing this, Mo Lin immediately stopped her seriously, “No drugging.”

“Do you think I’m someone who breaks the law?” Cheng Lulu snapped, then calmed down, “I mean, other ideas…”

Mo Lin looked at Cheng Lulu expectantly, waiting for her to continue.