Flirting Under Favor (GL) - Chapter 6

After driving Yu Sheng and the others to the entrance of their dormitory, Wang Lin yawned as she watched Yu Sheng struggle alone, lugging two items up toward the dorm room.

It was already ten o’clock, and she was a little sleepy.

“I’ll drive. I know the way, you can rest for a bit.” Mu Fan opened the car door and got out. Wang Lin also knew the dangers of driving while tired, so she obediently moved to the passenger seat.

Mu Fan skillfully started the car and drove effortlessly through the night.

Wang Lin couldn’t see anything around them except for the areas near the streetlights; everything else was pitch black. She had no idea where the car had driven. Mu Fan drove with great concentration, a different demeanor from Wang Lin’s, showing more composure.

After about twenty minutes, Wang Lin felt the car slow down, and Mu Fan gently pulled over to the side of the road.

“What’s wrong?” Wang Lin asked, puzzled.

“Out of gas,” Mu Fan said, turning to Wang Lin with a helpless expression.

Wang Lin hadn’t expected this situation: “Oh dear, I haven’t driven it for a while, and I didn’t pay attention. What should we do?”

Mu Fan thought for a moment: “We can get out and walk another kilometer to my place. But what about you? How will you get back?” The car was currently stopped in what could be described as a desolate, isolated place. It was cold, late, and remote; she wouldn’t be able to catch a taxi. Wang Lin was about to say she’d call her bodyguard to pick her up, but then she heard Mu Fan continue, “Why don’t you stay with me tonight first?”

Wang Lin swallowed the words she was about to say, paused, and replied, “Alright.”

Mu Fan smiled: “Staying together the first time we meet, you trust me that much.”

Wang Lin replied: “You’re not a bad person.”

“How do you know I’m not a bad person?” Mu Fan asked instead.

Wang Lin wasn’t very good at handling this kind of probing, so she could only say: “A guess. You don’t seem like one.”

Being trusted is a wonderful thing. Mu Fan’s eyes softened, and she said to Wang Lin: “Then let’s get out of the car, and we’ll walk back. Tomorrow morning, I’ll find someone to bring some gasoline.”

“Okay.”

As soon as they got out of the car, both of them smelled a strong odor of gasoline.

Mu Fan looked back at the car with the help of the streetlamp; a dark line stretched out from beneath the car.

“It looks like the fuel tank is leaking,” Mu Fan said, crouching down and examining it briefly with her phone’s flashlight. She couldn’t figure out why the fuel tank would suddenly start leaking for no reason.

“Then we’ll have to find someone to fix it tomorrow,” Wang Lin scratched her head.

A cold wind blew in their faces. The night wind was much colder than during the day. Mu Fan pulled her own overcoat tighter, and seeing Wang Lin shiver and even sneeze, she didn’t hesitate to take off her own overcoat, revealing the thin black top she was wearing underneath. She held out the coat, intending for Wang Lin to put it on.

“No, no, what you’re wearing underneath isn’t as thick as mine.”

How could Wang Lin feel at ease wearing Mu Fan’s coat and letting Mu Fan suffer the cold? She stepped aside.

Mu Fan didn’t give up: “I’m not afraid of the cold, but you’re about to catch one.” She grabbed Wang Lin. Wang Lin was no match for her struggle, and as the coat was draped over her, a wave of warmth immediately enveloped her—Mu Fan’s body temperature, and her scent, a faint, unknown fragrance.

Wang Lin still struggled.

“Be good,” Mu Fan’s tone was firm, brooking no refusal. It was like… like her mother, Lin Jia, when she forced her to put on clothes, but less harsh; her tone was still gentle.

Wang Lin surrendered.

She was five or six centimeters shorter than Mu Fan, so the overcoat was a bit large on her.

The night wind blew, pressing Mu Fan’s inner shirt tightly against her skin, outlining her perfect curves. Dressed all in black, her figure was graceful and slender, exuding a distinct allure in the cold wind.

It was a lie to say she wasn’t cold, but Mu Fan could bear it. She forced herself to act as if she wasn’t cold at all.

She locked the car, took Wang Lin’s hand, and walked forward, asking, “Why are you wearing so little?”

Wang Lin was currently immersed in the guilt of making Mu Fan suffer the cold. She pressed close to Mu Fan, just as Mu Fan had done to her during the day, sharing warmth. Hearing Mu Fan’s question, she murmured, “Because I was going to see you, I wanted to dress nicely.”

Mu Fan let out a soft laugh. She hadn’t expected it to be because of herself, and her heart immediately softened a great deal more. She couldn’t help but ruffle Wang Lin’s hair: “Silly.”

“You’re the one who’s silly.” Being called silly, Wang Lin retorted. Mu Fan getting cold and giving her own coat away—wasn’t that silly?

Mu Fan didn’t say anything, and they walked arm-in-arm toward her residence under the dim streetlights.

“Your place is really out of the way,” Wang Lin said.

“The rent is cheap,” Mu Fan said, gracefully stepping in the wind, stating the real reason.

Wang Lin was silent for a moment. She had never worried about money, but she knew the gap that existed between people; the world wasn’t fair. However, she hadn’t expected Mu Fan to be someone short on money. She was already working at a decent company when others were still in school and spending money. Logically, she shouldn’t be struggling financially.

“What, are you surprised?” Mu Fan tilted her head and looked at her, smiling. “When you start working later, you’ll see many people like me, who hide the helplessness of living under a dazzling exterior.”

She spoke calmly, showing no shame for her struggling existence.

“I don’t quite understand,” Wang Lin didn’t know how to respond regarding life, so she could only honestly say she didn’t understand. Then she asked, “Why don’t you live on campus?”

“It’s inconvenient for work.”

“Then why aren’t you taking classes? Why do you have to work?” Wang Lin couldn’t resist asking all the curiosity she had in her heart.

“If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t be able to afford tuition or food, and I’d starve.”

“You could work part-time, the school also has work-study programs,” Wang Lin said, hearing how serious Mu Fan made it sound.

“It’s not enough. I also have debts to pay.”

“Debts?” Wang Lin tilted her head and asked.

Mu Fan’s clear, soft voice slowly delivered information that shocked Wang Lin: “My dad failed in business, owed a lot of money, and committed suicide by jumping off a building. My mom couldn’t bear the shock and had a heart attack. I borrowed a lot of money to treat her illness, dragged it out for two years, but she still passed away.” Mu Fan omitted some crucial details but gave a general idea of the situation. “So now, I’m saddled with a huge debt.”

She hadn’t expected Mu Fan’s parents to both be gone, having left behind a pile of debts. Most importantly, her parents were, in fact, both gone.

“I’m sorry, I…” Wang Lin felt guilty. This was the second time today she had made Mu Fan bring up painful memories. She also understood everything about Mu Fan in an instant.

Mu Fan used her height advantage to easily put her hand on Wang Lin’s shoulder and squeeze it: “I wanted to tell you myself.”

“Do Bei Bei and the others know?” Wang Lin asked, though based on Fan Bei Bei’s behavior, she probably didn’t know.

“Only Yu Sheng knows. She was my high school classmate.”

Wang Lin felt a little overwhelmed. With such a tragic background, why would Mu Fan be willing to tell her?

Mu Fan seemed to see Wang Lin’s confusion. She stopped, looked at her seriously, and said: “In front of you, I don’t want to hide anything.”

Wang Lin was at a loss for words. Mu Fan smiled and added: “Because you are someone who can’t hide your emotions, people can see right through you. Out of fairness, I don’t want to bully you.”

Mu Fan’s words left Wang Lin speechless. She didn’t know if she was being praised for being honest and wearing her heart on her sleeve or if she was being implied to be silly.

“As for Bei Bei and the others, it’s not really hiding. I just don’t want pity or sympathy,” Mu Fan said.

Wang Lin saw the firmness, pride, and self-respect in her eyes, shining brightly and deeply branding themselves onto Wang Lin’s heart.

Mu Fan was right. If Fan Bei Bei or other classmates knew, they would inevitably look at her with preconceptions. Could they still interact normally? If they didn’t know, she was still the big shot student in everyone’s eyes.

Wang Lin looked at Mu Fan with a newfound perspective. She was only one year older than Wang Lin. Her graceful figure could also be described with another word: slender. As a girl, her shoulders were as narrow as Wang Lin’s. She wasn’t strong. Her expression was gentle, and when she spoke, it was light and airy, without negativity or complaint, as if she were telling someone else’s story. A faint, gentle smile touched the corner of her mouth. Wang Lin had seen the resentment and despair of people with tragic fates on TV, but Mu Fan was vastly different.

She felt like hugging Mu Fan.

Thinking this, Wang Lin leaned in, stretched out her arms, and wrapped them around Mu Fan’s waist.

Under the thin fabric of her clothes, Mu Fan’s body was warm, soft, and fragrant. Wang Lin couldn’t help but rub her face against her.

It was a hug of comfort, like their first acquaintance. At that time, Mu Fan was still immersed in the despair and pain of her mother’s passing. Wang Lin had said to her on Penguin (QQ): I hope you’ll be well. And so, Mu Fan collected herself and slowly came back to life.

“You—” Wang Lin pulled away. She wanted to say, You’re so pitiful, but thought better of it. She wanted to say, You’re so amazing, but that wasn’t quite right either. Her vocabulary was suddenly lacking; she couldn’t find the words to praise or describe Mu Fan. She just felt that this Mu Fan was so unique, so special, and she liked her very much, like the light of a clear morning. “I—” she mumbled, unable to speak, and couldn’t offer any explanation for her sudden, forward hug. She stood in front of Mu Fan, like a child who had done something wrong and couldn’t defend herself, and lowered her head.

The warmth in her arms departed, and Mu Fan snapped back to reality. Wang Lin suddenly rushing into her arms had stunned her for a moment. The young girl was small, warm, and soft, her head just reaching Mu Fan’s ear. A few strands of hair, caught by the wind, lingered on her nose, carrying the sweet, warm scent unique to a young girl. Mu Fan lowered her eyelids, a hint of regret flashing in her eyes. She had entered society too early, and the perfume she usually wore was a more mature scent, yet she was originally an age where a girl was just blossoming.

She looked at the flustered Wang Lin, took her hand, and continued walking forward. Mu Fan didn’t question her, and Wang Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

They walked without speaking, finally entering a residential area. Wang Lin couldn’t help but frown at the surroundings.

“The environment is a little poor. I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with it tonight,” Mu Fan said.

Wang Lin naturally didn’t mind, but thinking of Mu Fan living in such a place, a beautiful girl, it seemed very mismatched, and she felt a pang of pity.

However, seeing Mu Fan’s normal expression, Wang Lin realized that Mu Fan probably wouldn’t mind these things.

“Woof woof woof!” A sudden, urgent, and vicious bark abruptly pierced the surrounding silence of the night, also piercing Wang Lin’s heart.

“Ah!” Wang Lin couldn’t stand being startled like that; her soul seemed to fly out of her body, and she instinctively hugged Mu Fan tightly, like a human pendant.