The residential area was located in the heart of Suzhou Industrial Park. It was a 5A scenic spot called Jinji Lake to the north and Dushu Lake to the south.
Lin Yan followed behind Su Cheng as they walked deeper into the residential area. There were very few pedestrians, and only a few cars passed by quickly.
The Luohan Pines on both sides of the road were neatly trimmed, and the old camphor trees were verdant and green, covering the villas behind them.
There was also a large man-made lake in the residential area. Looking from a high vantage point, the man-made lake seemed to merge with the scenery of Jinji Lake in the distance. The water and forest were connected, and the green hills were accompanied by green hills. It was a quiet place in the bustling city.
"This environment is really not bad." Lin Yan looked around and was somewhat satisfied.
"Everything is good except for the price." Su Cheng smiled and led Lin Yan into a villa by the lake.
Pushing open the courtyard's aluminum door, they were greeted by a small garden of more than 100 square meters.
Small trees and shrubs, stone walls, and translucent lights complemented each other, and the visual space was instantly reflected.
Stepping on the steps, Su Cheng used her index finger to lightly press the fingerprint lock on the door. Pushing open the heavy armored door, she took a pair of shoe covers from the shoe cabinet for Lin Yan and turned on the heater.
The villa was not small, and there was a storage room underground. On the surface, it was a three-story building with five bedrooms and three living rooms, totaling 600 square meters.
The living room on the first floor was quite large, and the enclosed sofa and coffee table and the fireplace in the middle complemented each other without any sense of disharmony.
Su Cheng's room was on the second floor. She wore strawberry bear slippers and led Lin Yan upstairs.
The stairs were surrounded by a bead curtain chandelier that looked like fireflies, and the warm and gentle light poured down on the steps.
"My parents aren't back yet, and I've been living alone for the past few days. It's been quite boring." Su Cheng said as she walked.
Lin Yan responded subconsciously. Su Cheng was in front of him when she went upstairs, so Lin Yan could see his girlfriend's calves at the same level as the steps.
When Su Cheng went out to eat, she was wearing a pair of loose jeans. At that time, the winter wind was bone-chilling, and her exposed ankle was red.
Now that she was back in the house, the warm air from the air conditioner thinned the crimson stain on her ankles. The original color of her jade-like skin gradually emerged, and it really lived up to the saying of rosy white.
Lin Yan's attention was attracted by the ankle.
Su Cheng was a little over 1.7 meters tall. Coupled with her excellent body proportions and slim figure, when she walked up the stairs, her slender calf and Achilles tendons could be seen clearly. She was slender and gentle with a sense of strength.
The delicate ankle sockets on both sides of the calf's Achilles tendon were slightly sunken inward, causing Lin Yan's imagination to run wild.
"I have a lot of books. I plan to buy another bookcase when I come back. I don't want to put it in the study room. What do you think of putting it in my room?"
Su Cheng stepped onto the second floor.
She didn't hear an answer, so she turned her head to look at Lin Yan. She noticed that her boyfriend didn't hear her question.
"… What do you think?" Su Cheng repeated the question. After asking this sentence, she followed Lin Yan's gaze to her feet.
Her face flushed red, and she hurriedly pulled down her trousers to hide her thin ankle.
Lin Yan then looked away.
"Why are you staring at my feet?" Su Cheng's voice was as soft as a mosquito's.
"Teacher Su, you're so cute." Lin Yan couldn't help but say.
"… How is it cute?"
Su Cheng's face became redder, but she still asked in a soft voice. The science girl's enthusiasm to get to the bottom of things came up again.
"You're cute everywhere." Lin Yan answered casually.
Su Cheng was at a loss. Her face was hot, and her shallow knowledge of love wasn't enough for her to continue this conversation. She quickly and cleverly changed the topic.
"I'll take you to my room." Su Cheng said straightforwardly.
Her room wasn't very spacious. The quilt on the bed was neatly folded, the wardrobe was hidden in the wall, and a silver suitcase was placed behind the door.
A desk and a computer table were on both sides of the room. On one side were various mathematics books and mathematical notes. On the other side was a water-cooled computer and a Ferrari red Felco keyboard.
It didn't seem out of place.
"I just want to buy a bookcase and put it here." Su Cheng's face returned to normal. She gestured with her finger in the empty space between the desk and the computer table, "This way I don't have to run around all the time."
Lin Yan walked around his girlfriend's desk. The mathematics books that Su Cheng asked him to buy in the United States were also placed there.
He calculated the location.
"You have to move your desk to the side. Otherwise, there will be empty space in the corner of the room, and the custom-made bookcase won't fit."
The two moved the desk two steps to the corner so that the chair was facing the window.
"Hey, is there someone living in the house over there?"
Lin Yan looked through the window at the house next to Su Cheng's house. There was also a detached villa there. The plants in the garden were neatly trimmed, but there didn't seem to be any signs of life inside.
"No." Su Cheng was very certain, "I saw someone come to look at the house this morning."
Lin Yan sat in Su Cheng's house until nine o 'clock in the evening before he got up and left.
Su Cheng was afraid that Lin Yan would get lost at night, so she put on her shoes and walked him out.
The street lights on both sides of the street and the bright moon in the sky poured a dim yellow light onto the ground. The light cast a long shadow on the ground. The winter wind rustled the camphor trees.
Su Cheng wandered under the street lights.
They had already left the residential area. The security booth was in the distance, and they could leave the neighborhood if they followed the main road.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow?" Su Cheng hugged her body with her arms and said in a soft voice.
Lin Yan turned around to look at her.
Su Cheng wore a thin white down jacket over her black sweater and a pair of white sneakers under her jeans.
The shoes' owner's legs were a bit stiff from the cold, so she gently tapped the shoes on the sidewalk tiles. The sneakers made a dissatisfied tapping sound, which was particularly clear in the quiet winter night.
Lin Yan looked at Su Cheng's fair and clear face without any makeup. Her face was tucked in between the down jacket's hood. Standing under the dim yellow street lights, she looked innocent and charming.
Just as he said in the villa, Lin Yan felt that Su Cheng was cute in every way. He even liked the way she gently tapped her feet.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Su Cheng felt a bit cold as the winter wind blew through Suzhou.
"Teacher Su, can I hug you?" Lin Yan suddenly opened his mouth and stared straight into her eyes.
Su Cheng didn't say anything. She only took a few steps forward and slightly moved away from the street lights.
Lin Yan also took two steps forward and pulled her into his arms.
"So cold, so cold …" Su Cheng hid her two hands in Lin Yan's black down jacket.
Her body was still trembling from the stimulation, but she couldn't tell if it was the cold or Lin Yan's hands that were causing trouble.
The two of them stood by the street lights and whispered to each other. Their voices were wrapped in the white air produced by their winter breaths and softly hit each other's ears with some emotion.
"It's time to go. Otherwise, you'll have to stay up all night again." Su Cheng wanted to push him away.
Rational emotions took over her eyes. Most of the time, Su Cheng was always this calm.
Perhaps it was because Su Cheng was still in his arms, but Lin Yan wanted to peel off Su Cheng's calm outer shell.
He said, as if possessed by demons and gods.
"Can I kiss you?"
Su Cheng's brain was like a captain's barrel of gunpowder. It instantly exploded and fell into a blank.
Su Cheng looked at the handsome Lin Yan in front of her. This was the boy she had missed. For as long as she could remember, Lin Yan had always been by her side.
He appeared in her world like a gust of wind with a bright smile. After that, she couldn't do without him.
Her eyes gradually darkened. She slightly opened her lips and said in a serious tone, "Do you really want to ask me this question, Mr. Lin?"
The words with a bit of moisture drilled into Lin Yan's ears and tickled his heart.
"Then can I take back this sentence?" Lin Yan asked carefully. He wasn't sure about Su Cheng's attitude.
"… … No." Su Cheng smiled brightly.
She slowly tiptoed and grabbed Lin Yan's down jacket with her fingers. Her white sneakers finally stopped making dissatisfied sounds.
Lin Yan's heart skipped a beat and then he gently bent down.
Softness met softness for the first time.
Their shadows gradually intertwined and then slowly shortened under the street lamp.
The copper street lamp was hit and now it was its turn to make a dissatisfied sound.
… …
Su Cheng's face was flushed and her legs were a bit weak. Now she was finally sure that her body wasn't trembling because of the cold.
Lin Ran looked at her. Her eyes, which were originally calm and composed, were now filled with emotions.
"Teacher Su."
"Yes?"
"Cheng Zi …" Lin Yan whispered in Su Cheng's ear again. Every syllable knocked heavily on Su Cheng's heart.
"Yes."
"Hurry up and leave. It's too cold." Su Cheng pulled away from Lin Yan's arms and helped him zip up his down jacket.
"I'll come to see a house tomorrow afternoon." Lin Yan's fingers gently brushed the side of his girlfriend's face. "The one next to yours."
The two reluctantly separated. Lin Yan watched Su Cheng's figure disappear before he took a taxi home.
He hadn't looked at his phone for an hour and the YM group was already a mess.
Lin Yan looked at the 99 + messages and quickly scrolled to the first unread message.
Xiao Tian took the initiative to attack. He threw out a bunch of pictures and then crazily Liu Qingsong.
The pictures were the posts and replies of a Tieba account called "Tearing the Wound."
The most recent post was "Ask if you don't understand. What's it like to be teammates with a world champion?"
The post came with a picture of a clean and bright staircase with a few pots of devil's ivy.
Lin Yan recognized the YM base at a glance. He saw the lush green ivy every day when he went downstairs.
Lin Yan asked. [Is this Liu Qingsong's Tieba account?]
Phyllostachys Pubescens finally began to take revenge. [Of course, there are thousands of weapons better than your Tearing the Wound!]
Then he sent a voice message.
"I'll send the Hammer Stone talent runes to you guys. Red has three attack power, six armor, and yellow has five fixed life …"
Mongoose began to read the post records left by Liu Qingsong on the Tieba. It was not difficult to hear the joy of Phyllostachys Pubescens from the voice.
[Brother Hao, can you kick him out?
This person is too noisy.] Liu Qingsong finally typed a reply.
But the team members, coaches, analysts, and managers were all high-intensity surfing to collect the pictures, trying to keep Liu Qingsong's dark history in their phones.
No one cared about him at all.
Xiao Tian saw the main character appear and his tone became more and more arrogant.
"Hahahaha … If I don't have a sword in my hand, I can't protect you. If I keep holding the sword, I can't hug you. You're really good, Liu Qingsong. Have you watched too many Grim Reaper cartoons?"
Lin Yan looked at the two pictures and found a blind spot.
[Didn't any of you find the message in this picture?]
He edited the picture sent by Xiao Tian and sent it to the group, circling the key message in red.
Liu Qingsong's Tieba account, Tearing the Wound, had a reply in 14 years: You can't blame God for your stupidity.
"You can't blame God for your stupidity, hahahahaha …" Jin Gong sent a voice message.
[I didn't expect Liu Qingsong to be the real Prophet. I'm too young.] The Prophet replied.
"You're still called Liu Qingsong?
Call him Tear Master! "Xiao Tian was extremely excited.
Liu Qingsong paid the price for his crazy Phyllostachys Pubescens stickers in the group yesterday. He was now lying down and letting himself be mocked.
When he woke up the next morning, Lin Yan called the sales office of Four Seasons Lakeside and made an appointment for an afternoon viewing time.
It was a new house that had not been sold yet. The size of the house was slightly smaller than Su Cheng's. It had three floors and 550 square meters. The villa was finally priced at 28 million yuan. It was still an unfinished house and had to be renovated.
Lin Yan was not worried about the renovation. He felt that Su Cheng's house's renovation style was quite to his liking. He asked Su Cheng's father for the contact information of the design team.
As long as he had the money, the procedures were pushed forward quickly.
At the beginning of January this year, Lin Yan's signing fee, two months' salary for the new contract, the LPL Summer Competition bonus, and the income from the live broadcast had been paid out. The balance in his bank account increased rapidly.
Even so, Lin Yan only had a few hundred thousand yuan left after paying the down payment of 8.4 million yuan.
The remaining 20 million yuan was paid off in the form of a 10-year loan. Paying off 200,000 yuan a month was not much pressure for Lin Yan.
He looked at the villa in front of him and felt a sense of accomplishment.
After playing professionally for more than a year, he had finally bought a house.
The renovation matters were agreed upon and the end of the 2017 Lunar New Year quietly arrived.
Lin Mingdong returned home on the morning of the 28th of December. The sound of the door unlocking woke Lin Yan up from his light sleep.
"You're back?"
Lin Yan opened the door and asked as he rubbed his sleepy eyes. The last time he and Lin Mingdong met was back in the summer of last year.
Lin Mingdong was wearing a suit. The moment he saw Lin Yan, his serious expression softened slightly.
"Yeah …" He lowered his body and took off his shoes. "I heard that you're dating Su Cheng?"
Lin Yan subconsciously retorted, "We've been dating for half a year. You're quite well-informed."
He regretted it after saying that.
Lin Yan was no longer a young boy who had not entered society. He knew that his tone was a little harsh when speaking to Lin Mingdong. He did not want to cause trouble for himself during the New Year.
"I plan to have a reunion dinner with Su Cheng's family of three on New Year's Eve. Are you free?" Lin Mingdong asked as he straightened his body and adjusted his glasses.
Lin Yan was quite surprised that Lin Mingdong did not criticize his attitude with a straight face. It was unbelievable.
"Yes, I'm free …" Lin Yan replied, "There's one more thing. I bought a house at Four Seasons Lakeside two days ago."
"I know. Your Uncle Su told me about it." Lin Mingdong took off his suit and put it on his arm. "You can use your own money, but don't spend it recklessly … Do you have enough money?"
Lin Mingdong's tone was particularly gentle tonight.
"It's enough." Lin Yan waved his hand. He did not collect shoes and did not go to the PC. He had nowhere to spend his money if he stayed in the base all day.
"Go to sleep. I'll buy two couplets tomorrow and put them on the door." Lin Mingdong pushed his suitcase into the master bedroom and closed the door.
Lin Mingdong's attitude made Lin Yan think that he was still asleep for a moment.
He scratched his black hair and returned to his bedroom to continue sleeping.
After taking a shower, Lin Mingdong sat on the bed and opened his suitcase.
At the top was a group photo. The date in the corner of the photo was September 2009. Lin Ran was sitting in the middle of the sofa with his arms around his parents, who were sitting on both sides of him. The three of them were smiling happily at the camera.
Lin Mingdong's fingers gently brushed over his family in the photo.
He remembered that at that time, he and his wife took advantage of the flourishing development of the mobile Internet. Their salary increased several times and they received equity dividends.
Because of this, the family bought two new houses and their quality of life steadily improved. However, he did not expect his wife to suddenly become seriously ill and pass away in two months.
After that, Lin Mingdong devoted all his energy to work and became a trapeze artist. He did not pay much attention to Lin Yan. Basically, he relied on Lin Yan's grandparents and the Su couple who were familiar with him to take care of him.
When Lin Yan was in high school, the elders in the family also passed away. The Su couple also moved out of Suzhou. Lin Yan basically lived alone.
Lin Mingdong sighed. He placed the group photo on the bedside and picked up a book below.
An Analysis of Anna Freud's Thoughts on Mental Health.
Last month, after careful selection, he chose this book to help study the psychological state of adolescent children. He finished reading it in his spare time and corrected his words and actions when facing children. The effect of his conversation with Lin Yan today was indeed different.
Lin Mingdong was trying to change. Although it was a little late, he still wanted to make up for it.
On New Year's Eve, Lin Mingdong booked a New Year's Eve dinner at the Kempinski Hotel by the Golden Rooster Lake. Father and Mother Su also returned to Suzhou two days before New Year's Eve. The three parents, who had not seen each other for a long time, chatted and reminisced.
"There are no more conflicts between you and your father, right?"
Su Cheng knew that Lin Yan and Lin Mingdong did not get along very well. After seeing her boyfriend, she quickly pulled him aside and asked with concern.
"It's okay. His temper has been very good recently." Lin Yan glanced at the three people on the other side of the table. "I think it's strange that he doesn't let me eat hamburgers anymore."
"That's a little strange." Su Cheng frowned. "But it doesn't seem to be a bad thing?"
"That's right. I'm at home now. I can order Mai Lai for lunch. The double cheeseburger is really delicious." Lin Yan nodded in agreement.
"That's all you have in mind." Su Cheng rolled her eyes at him. "Your father made his attitude clear first. Don't be so stiff."
"I know, I know …" Lin Yan changed the topic. "Your mother is a little excited?"
Mother Su's face was red. She held a wine glass in her hand and smiled.
"Two days ago, we negotiated a large real estate company merger and acquisition case. She was very happy." Su Cheng smiled and filled Lin Yan's glass with freshly squeezed orange juice.
Mother Su was a partner of the Red Circle Law Firm. This big case made a lot of money.
The TV in the private room was playing this year's New Year's Gala. The New Year's Gala in recent years was really boring. It was just a background noise for people to chat.
When the clock was about to ring, Lin Yan pulled Su Cheng out of the private room. They ran along the corridor and opened the wide balcony door. The stars lit up the night outside the window.
"Ten, nine, eight …" The two held hands and looked at the New Year's countdown outside Jinji Lake.
The moment the countdown reached zero, gorgeous fireworks bloomed in the south of Suzhou.
Starting this year, fireworks were banned in the city. However, fireworks and firecrackers could still be set off in the south of Dushu Lake. They stood on the top floor of the hotel and had a panoramic view of the fireworks on the south side.
"Happy New Year, Mr. Lin!" Su Cheng's eyes turned into crescents.