Flirting Under Favor (GL) - Chapter 20

Waking up in the morning, Wang Lin’s eyes were sore, stinging with pain. She dragged herself up to look in the mirror: she had slight dark circles, and her eyes were red and a little swollen. The trash can on the floor was full of tissues, and many had spilled onto the floor, witnessing how sad she had been last night.

She walked disheveled into the bathroom looking like that and was seen by the housekeeper.

“Oh dear, Miss, what happened to you?”

“I’m fine.”

Wang Lin walked into the bathroom without looking back and closed the door.

The housekeeper, having lived a long time and seen much, felt something was wrong. Lin Jia (Wang Lin’s mother) had hired her to take care of Wang Lin’s daily life, so she had to take responsibility. She immediately went aside and called Lin Jia to report the situation.

After Wang Lin emerged from the bathroom, she heard her phone ringing in the bedroom.

Could it be Mu Fan! Her heart suddenly sped up. She rushed to the bedroom, but saw it was her mother, Lin Jia. Her sky-high hopes crashed heavily onto the floor.

“Mom,” she answered the phone.

Lin Jia asked: “Did something unhappy happen to you recently?”

“No, nothing.”

Lin Jia’s tone carried obvious worry and urgency: “Aunt Zhang said your eyes are red and swollen, like you’ve been crying. If anything’s wrong, tell Mom. If someone bullied you, Mom will definitely help you bully them back.”

“No, no one bullied me.” Wang Lin’s nose felt sour, and she spoke with a choked voice. No matter what, her mother was always concerned and worried about her. But she didn’t know how to tell Lin Jia about her and Mu Fan. She felt a little embarrassed, really embarrassed. She shouldn’t be this sad, but for some reason, she was so sad and miserable.

Hearing Wang Lin’s tone, Lin Jia was certain something had happened. She grew more anxious and a little angry: “Still saying nothing? Have you grown up so much that you won’t even tell your mother about your sorrows?”

Wang Lin sniffled: “No.” She tried hard to calm her emotions. She knew Lin Jia was busy with work and shouldn’t worry her.

“Then tell me! What happened? Tell Mom, and Mom will help you solve everything. Or if someone really bullied you, I won’t let them off the hook.”

“No one bullied me.”

Hearing Wang Lin still refusing to speak, Lin Jia, far away in G City, was extremely anxious. Girls naturally have many worries, and Wang Lin had a soft personality. Lin Jia was genuinely worried about Wang Lin. She had worried over her since childhood, only hoping that Wang Lin would be happy and joyful, asking nothing else of her.

“Then why are you crying?”

Sensing Lin Jia’s anxiousness, Wang Lin’s mind spun rapidly, and she fabricated a lie: “My friend is transferring schools, and I can’t bear to part with her, so I cried. She’s a new friend I made in college, and we got along really well.”

Lin Jia’s heart finally settled: “Oh dear, that’s all? Communication is so advanced now. Just keep in touch with voice and video calls. Transportation is convenient; you can meet whenever you want. What’s there to cry about?”

“Mhm, I was just suddenly emotional and couldn’t hold it back.”

“Alright, alright, stop crying. Invite her to come home during summer vacation.”

“Okay. I’m fine now. Aren’t you going to work? Go get busy.”

“Work is not as important as you.”

“I’m really okay.”

“Mhm, remember to tell Mom if anything happens, okay?”

“I know.”

“Ah, Mom loves you.”

“I love you too. I’m hanging up now, time to eat.”

“Mhm.”

After hanging up the phone, Wang Lin sighed deeply. Wiping the clear tears from the corners of her eyes, she saw the bright spring light outside the window. She collected her thoughts, went out to eat breakfast, and then went to school.

Having things to do helped divert her attention. Wang Lin spent the whole day rather productively. Returning home in the afternoon, she walked into the studio. The first thing that caught her eye was the nearly finished painting of Mu Fan on the easel, which only needed a bit of refinement.

The Mu Fan in the painting had an elegant back view, dragging a suitcase away. In front of her was a bustling crowd, and behind her, Wang Lin hadn’t painted herself in; there was nothing. Wang Lin sat down, looking at the painting, seeing a meaning that Mu Fan would leave and never return. This wasn’t what she had intended when composing the picture. She knew her mood had influenced her.

“Bad woman,” she said resentfully to Mu Fan in the painting. When she was on her way back, she checked her phone and saw a classmate post a status saying: “Why flirt if you won’t marry?” Wang Lin felt it perfectly suited her situation with Mu Fan.

Why flirt if you won’t marry?

She sat there blankly, but in her heart, she kept asking the Mu Fan in the painting, “Why?,” over and over. She was completely distracted, vaguely seeing the Mu Fan in the painting turn around and walk toward her, with a faint, familiar smile.

She was hallucinating. Her mind couldn’t stop thinking, Why, why, why? She wanted to cry again. She quickly ran to the bedroom, slammed the door shut, and collapsed onto the bed, crying silently. She covered her mouth, preventing herself from making any sound, so that Aunt Zhang outside wouldn’t hear and report it to Lin Jia, making her worry.

Soon, tears flowed through the gaps in her fingers onto the quilt, which quickly became damp. She cried even harder than last night, sobbing non-stop, choking for breath several times.

Bang, bang, bang.

Suddenly, a knock sounded, startling her. Her eyes widened, and she stopped crying.

“Miss, I’m going out to buy groceries,” Aunt Zhang said from outside the door.

Wang Lin tried her best to conceal her crying voice: “Mhm.” Then, there was no sound from outside. She got off the bed, opened the door, and Aunt Zhang was gone.

She closed the door again, weakly sitting on the floor with her back against the door. She pulled out her phone. Tears dripped onto the screen, reflecting colorful light.

She sniffled, tears still flowing, as she searched for Mu Fan’s number in her contacts.

At least she had to have a proper ending. She made a brave decision, determining to call Mu Fan to ask and clarify things.

She dialed the number.

The ringing sound lasted for a while, followed by a mechanical female voice: “Hello, the party you are calling is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”

She won’t even answer the phone?

She felt so sad. She closed her eyes, and large tears streamed out again, running down her face like two small rivers.

She was so stubborn it was almost obsessive, redialing again and again.

“Hello, the party you are calling is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”

“Hello, the party you are calling is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.”

“Hello…”

Meanwhile, in K City, in a spacious and bright conference room, people were seated in rows. Mu Fan stood in front of the large screen, speaking eloquently. On the desk in front of her seat, her phone lay face down, making no sound. No one noticed as the screen lit up and dimmed, then lit up and dimmed again.

“…Above is my overall plan for the project. There may still be many immature and non-rigorous areas, and I hope everyone here will offer guidance and corrections.” Mu Fan bowed, and applause erupted.

She returned to her seat. After the meeting host made a few brief comments, they asked everyone to discuss the content of Mu Fan’s plan. The participants immediately began whispering and exchanging ideas, discussing the details meticulously.

Mu Fan casually picked up her phone and saw the calls from Wang Lin. But she couldn’t possibly answer the phone at this moment, so she quickly hung up. After hanging up, she was shocked. The system notified her that Wang Lin had already called over thirty times.

She panicked instantly. Her face turned pale. Over thirty missed calls. What could be so urgent to make Wang Lin this frantic? While she was worrying, Wang Lin’s call came through again.

She clutched her phone tightly, distraught. She looked around, not knowing what to do. Wang Lin’s non-stop calls were like a dull drumbeat pounding in her chest, making her breathless.

The middle-aged man sitting opposite her noticed her panic, stood up, and leaned over, saying: “Is it an important call? The discussion won’t wrap up quickly. You should step out and take it.”

Mu Fan felt as if a savior had appeared. She nodded apologetically, stood up, walked out of the conference room, and rushed to the corner of the stairwell. Her hand trembling, she answered the phone.

Far away in F City, Wang Lin stared at the suddenly connected call, stunned for a moment.

The moment the call connected, Mu Fan asked anxiously: “Wang Lin, what’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay? Are you alright?” A rapid succession of questions.

Hearing the familiar voice, the tears that had stopped while she was immersed in calling flowed out uncontrollably again. Her voice was hoarse and choked with sobs: “Why did you only answer now?”

“I’m sorry, I was in a meeting and didn’t notice. I saw your calls and temporarily slipped out.” Hearing Wang Lin’s wronged crying, Mu Fan’s heart constricted with intense, wrenching pain. She was completely flustered, her voice urgent and worried: “Don’t cry. What happened to you? What’s going on?”

She was very anxious, but Wang Lin on the other end just kept crying. She cried so much that Mu Fan’s heart was shaking, filled with extreme distress. She felt miserable too, almost making her want to cry.

“Don’t cry. Can you please tell me what’s wrong?” she comforted softly.

The girl cried non-stop, as if her heart was breaking. Her voice was muffled and indistinct: “Do you like me?”

“Yes, I like you, of course. You’re so cute. I already answered that, didn’t I? Would I lie to you?” She couldn’t worry about formalities anymore, coaxing her gently in a tone used for soothing a child.

Unexpectedly, Wang Lin cried even harder: “You’re lying!”

“I’m not lying to you, it’s true, I swear.”

“Then you ignored me for the past few days.” Wang Lin cried out in despair.

Mu Fan hadn’t expected Wang Lin to be crying so tragically just because she hadn’t paid attention to her for a few days. While her heart ached, she felt a little guilty and panicked.

“I didn’t ignore you. I’ve been busy for the past few days.”

“Can you be so busy that you don’t even have time to send a single message?”

“It’s my fault, all my fault.” Mu Fan genuinely felt she was wrong. She hadn’t realized that Wang Lin’s reliance on her was so deep and that she was so sensitive. “I saw you didn’t look for me, and I was busy with work, so I didn’t want to disturb you. It’s all my fault. I should have proactively looked for you and called you. Can you forgive me? I know I was wrong. Please don’t cry. Your crying makes me so sad, and it breaks my heart. I also feel so guilty.”

Mu Fan’s last few sentences contained a noticeable tremor, sounding like she might burst into tears at any moment. Wang Lin’s heart was pierced. She calmed down, realizing that she was the one who stopped contacting Mu Fan first, and Mu Fan was naturally not a proactive person. In fact, she was almost always passive when she was with Wang Lin.

She stopped crying instantly and quieted down. She heard a soft sniffle on the phone.

Wang Lin suddenly became flustered.

“Are you crying?”