The Unreturnable Refrigerator - Chapter 31.1
Chapter 31.1: The Ex
On a weekday afternoon, the cafe wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t empty either.
Lu Yin’s shout just now had caused the surrounding customers to turn and look at their corner.
Everyone seemed curious about what she was saying was “impossible” so excitedly.
Lu Yin quickly lowered her head and coughed twice to relieve the awkwardness, regretting her overly emotional outburst.
She lowered her voice and emphasized again: “No, it’s really not me. Sheng Xiali has someone she likes, and it’s definitely not me!”
This matter had to be made clear.
As Lu Yin was about to emphasize it one more time, the waiter came to serve their coffee, interrupting what she was about to say.
As soon as the waiter left, Amy spoke first: “The person who’s been with my boss these past few days is you, isn’t it? She’s been staying at your place recently?”
After learning that Sheng Xiali was with Lu Yin, Amy suddenly remembered that the kitchen she had seen in a video where Sheng Xiali appeared looked very similar to the one she had seen at Lu Yin’s house.
The only difference was that there were fewer items and it was much tidier, but the size and layout seemed to be the same.
If they were living together, how could it not be love? Amy’s eyes clearly showed distrust as she looked at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin’s eyelids twitched violently. If she didn’t clear this up, she would never be able to wash away the suspicion.
“Yes, Sheng Xiali has been taking care of me at my place these past few days, but that’s because I was sick, and Sheng Xiali happened to live nearby. It’s just neighbors looking after each other.”
She finished with a summary, afraid no one would believe her: “A good neighbor is better than a distant relative!”
Amy was surprised: “Neighbors? You mean my boss is your neighbor?”
She had been to Lu Yin’s house to take measurements. It was a one-stairway, two-apartment building. Did the boss live across the hall from Lu Yin?
Lu Yin heard the shock in Amy’s voice and was also confused: “You didn’t know?”
She had assumed that as Sheng Xiali’s assistant, Amy knew Sheng Xiali’s address. The last time she came to take measurements, Lu Yin was worried Sheng Xiali would show up with her.
Amy really didn’t know that the apartment across from Lu Yin’s belonged to Sheng Xiali.
“I’ve driven the boss home before. She’s always lived in Qinyin Garden in the east of the city. When did she move?”
Lu Yin’s hand, which was about to pick up her coffee, trembled when she heard the familiar neighborhood name. The coffee spilled onto the back of her hand, scalding her. She covered her hand, and her eyelids twitched.
The apartment she and Sheng Xiali rented after graduation was in Qinyin Garden, a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-kitchen, and one-bathroom apartment.
Was Sheng Xiali still living in that apartment after she left? Or had she moved to a different apartment but stayed in the same neighborhood?
After Amy’s confusion, she decided the question wasn’t important and, without waiting for Lu Yin to reply, gave her own explanation: “She moved, the boss must have moved.”
Yang Beibei chimed in: “Not necessarily. Rich people probably have houses all over the city. They just live wherever is closest. They’re not locked into one house like we are.”
Amy nodded: “That makes sense.”
Especially since their work often involved meeting clients. If a client was in the west of the city and they had to go back to the east late, the traffic in Hengcheng could be a nightmare even on the highway in the early hours. Her boss was so focused on efficiency and time that it was very possible she had a house in the west as well.
It’s just that before, when they went out for social events, if Sheng Xiali drank too much, she would always have Amy drive her to that neighborhood in the east. Amy had assumed that was where Sheng Xiali lived.
Yang Beibei didn’t want to waste time on this unimportant topic. She was dying to know what was going on, and when she saw a break in the conversation, she quickly jumped in with the question that concerned her.
“Yinyin, what do you mean by the person Sheng always likes? Why are you so sure she has someone she likes?”
Yang Sanhao had told her that Sheng Xiali was going to pursue her Yinyin. How could she possibly have someone else she liked?
She couldn’t be pursuing one person while liking another. What kind of performance art was that?
Yang Beibei’s question brought Lu Yin back from her daze after hearing the familiar neighborhood name.
She replied: “I heard it from a friend. Sheng Xiali was asking her about a girl and was pursuing her.”
Lu Yin had even heard Sheng Xiali say “pursuing her” on the phone with her own ears.
Amy was surprised: “Asking about a girl? Who?”
Her boss was immersed in work every day. The only people she seemed to know were clients. Could it be a client?
Lu Yin shook her head: “I don’t know either.”
Yang Beibei was suspicious: “Are you sure this person exists?”
Lu Yin nodded. Yang Beibei still didn’t believe her. How could she be so sure if she didn’t even know who it was?
Seeing Yang Beibei’s disbelief, Lu Yin turned to Amy: “You know Cheng Siyu, right? She’s the one who told me.”
Yang Beibei didn’t know Cheng Siyu, but Amy did. Cheng Siyu was also a client of their studio.
Hearing that it was Cheng Siyu who said it, Amy was a little more inclined to believe it. Ms. Cheng was their boss’s college classmate, so it was possible she knew more than they did.
Amy asked: “Is she Ms. Cheng’s friend?”
Lu Yin shook her head: “No, she doesn’t know her either. She’s only seen a picture.”
Amy was curious: “What does she look like?”
Lu Yin relayed Cheng Siyu’s description: “A round face, big eyes, very cute and full of energy, and very young, looking to be only in her twenties.”
Amy and Yang Beibei both leaned back in their chairs and looked at Lu Yin.
After their observation, the two exchanged glances, and they both saw the same guess in each other’s eyes.
Amy spoke for both of them: “Are you sure you’re not describing yourself?”
Was there any discrepancy between this description and the person sitting in front of them?
Lu Yin raised her eyebrows high, her eyes wide with surprise: “What?”
Amy pointed to her face and laughed: “A round face, round eyes, very cute, looks to be in her early twenties. That’s you.”
Lu Yin laughed, treating it as a joke: “Of course it’s not me. Cheng Siyu doesn’t know that girl, but she knows me. If it were me, wouldn’t she recognize me?”
Amy nodded: “That’s true.”
Then she felt that the situation was even more complicated. The boss had someone she liked who looked very similar to Lu Yin, and she was living with Lu Yin recently. This sounded like a doppelgänger story…
Her mind was instantly flooded with plot ideas.
While Lu Yin and Amy were talking, Yang Beibei suddenly thought of something. As soon as the two finished their conversation, she quickly asked: “Yinyin, can you ask your classmate when Sheng always asked her about that girl?”
Lu Yin was puzzled: “Why?”
Yang Beibei didn’t explain: “Just ask when it happened.”
Lu Yin hesitated, but Yang Beibei urged her, so she opened her phone to check her chat history.
Cheng Siyu had messaged her on Monday, and she said it was two days ago, which would be Saturday.
Hearing Saturday, Yang Beibei looked at the chat history on her phone, thought for a moment, and forwarded the photo Sheng Xiali had sent her to Lu Yin.
After receiving the message, Lu Yin looked up at Yang Beibei: “What are you doing?”
They were so close, yet she sent a WeChat message. She looked down at the photo she opened: “Why did you send me a picture of my Xiaoyu?”
Yang Beibei’s tone was a little urgent: “Forward that to your classmate, Cheng Siyu, and ask her if the photo Sheng Xiali sent her was this one.”
Amy leaned her head over to look at the photo on Yang Beibei’s phone. It really was just like Lu Yin had described.
She didn’t know what kind of secret code Yang Beibei was speaking, nor did she know how Yang Beibei also had the photo.
It felt like everyone knew something, and she was just scurrying around knowing only the surface details.
She looked up at Lu Yin, who seemed just as confused as she was.
Lu Yin wanted to ask Beibei what she meant and why Sheng Xiali would have sent this photo, but before she could speak, Yang Beibei was so anxious she moved her chair over and sat right next to her.
“Quick, quick, quick, hurry and send it to her and ask.”
She was so anxious that it looked like if Lu Yin hesitated any longer, she would snatch the phone.
Lu Yin had no choice but to do as she was told. Just after she sent it, she was still typing, trying to figure out how to phrase the question, when a voice message came back.
Yang Beibei was quick to press play.
“Lu Yin, why do you have this photo too? Did Sheng Xiali ask you about her as well?”
As soon as that voice message ended, another one came in.
“She’s really persistent, isn’t she? Do you know this girl?”
Lu Yin: …
She knew her. Not only did she know her, but this very photo was also piled up with other stuff on her bedside table…
Yang Beibei gave Lu Yin a meaningful smile, which made Lu Yin’s mind draw a blank.
Amy still didn’t understand: “What’s going on? Who is this person? Is she my boss’s crush? Do you all know her?”
Yang Beibei laughed happily: “Of course we know her. How could I not know my Xiaoyu? I’ll introduce you to her so you can vote for my little idol.”
As she spoke, she moved her chair next to Amy and sent her a bunch of pictures, seriously trying to sell her on her little idol.
Amy interrupted her: “So, my boss has started to stan a celebrity?”
Yang Beibei laughed, put away her phone, and looked at Lu Yin, who was still processing the voice message.
“Yinyin, so you thought Sheng always liked Xiaoyu?”
She laughed first, thinking how funny this misunderstanding was.
Lu Yin’s mind was a tangled mess of threads. She didn’t know what was happening now.
“How do you have this photo?”
Yang Beibei laughed: “Sheng always sent it to me, asking me who the person in the photo was.”
“And you told her?”
“Of course.”
“Wait, how do you have Sheng Xiali’s WeChat?”
“She added me.”
“Why did she add you?”
Yang Beibei looked at her with a look of disappointment: “For you! She saw this photo at your house and asked me who it was, probably because she misunderstood that Xiaoyu was someone you liked in real life.”
Lu Yin: …
It wasn’t a misunderstanding. She was the one who had said it. She had said that Xiaoyu was the person she liked.
So Sheng Xiali already knew the truth? And she still teased her about Xiaoyu? She did it on purpose!
Wait a minute, when she mistook her and kissed Sheng Xiali, Sheng Xiali had also asked if she had mistaken her for Xiaoyu. At that time, she already knew who Xiaoyu was. Was she deliberately toying with her?
After figuring everything out, Amy summarized: “So, Lu Yin, you misunderstood that the person the boss liked was actually the person the boss was asking about because she thought that was who you liked?”
Wow, this plot went from a doppelgänger story to a pure, unrequited crush.
Amy’s eyes were sparkling: “The boss likes you so much!”
Lu Yin, who had just realized the misunderstanding, lowered her head and was stirring her coffee with a spoon, her mind in chaos. She stirred until the coffee was all foamy. When she heard Amy’s words, she abruptly dropped the spoon.
“No, listen to me, it’s not like that.”
Lu Yin tried to regain control of the situation. It wasn’t like this.
Sheng Xiali asked about this because she had lied to her first. She must have discovered that she had lied, so she was trying to expose her so she could slap her in the face later.
Yes, that must be it!
“The photo was a misunderstanding, but Sheng Xiali definitely has someone she likes. I heard it with my own ears. She said she was going to pursue her.”
Amy and Yang Beibei both raised their eyebrows, took a deep breath, and looked at Lu Yin as if she were an idiot.
Finally, they couldn’t take it anymore and said in unison.
“She’s pursuing you!”
Lu Yin’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately denied it, but the words that came out were not as firm as before.
“No, that’s impossible.”
Yang Beibei couldn’t understand Lu Yin’s thought process. The moment Sheng Xiali suddenly added her on WeChat to ask about Lu Yin, she knew she liked Lu Yin. Otherwise, who would go to the trouble of getting to know someone?
“Yinyin, why do you think the person Sheng always is pursuing isn’t you?”
The person had already come to her door, taking care of her when she was sick. How could she not see the other person’s feelings?
Lu Yin found it difficult to explain. She couldn’t tell them that she and Sheng Xiali had been together before and that she had dumped her.
Lu Yin made up an excuse: “It’s just not a good match. She’s so successful now. What could she possibly see in me?”
Amy laughed. At first glance, there was indeed a big gap between Lu Yin and her boss. She also felt that Sister Xinlei was a better match for their boss, but love had never been logical.
Lu Yin obviously didn’t read enough novels.
There was another question that Amy really wanted to know: “Do you have feelings for my boss?”
Lu Yin didn’t hesitate for a second. Afraid that Amy wouldn’t believe her, she raised her voice: “No! Not at all!”
The customers in the cafe once again all looked at Lu Yin. Lu Yin’s face instantly turned completely red, and she coughed again to relieve the awkwardness.
Amy and Yang Beibei exchanged glances, and they both saw suspicion in each other’s eyes. Lu Yin’s guilty expression was not at all convincing.
But seeing that Lu Yin was so embarrassed she wanted to crawl under the table, the two didn’t question her anymore and pretended to believe her.
Amy intentionally sighed: “What a shame. The boss is going to be heartbroken.”
Yang Beibei also sighed: “Actually, Sheng always is a really nice person. Why not give her a chance?”
Lu Yin let out an even heavier sigh: “Please don’t talk as if you’re so sure Sheng Xiali is pursuing me.”
Amy: “Then what is she doing?”
Yang Beibei: “Exactly.”
Lu Yin: …
Amy said with a serious face: “Do you think my boss is very idle? She hasn’t been to the company for a few days, and she has a ton of things to deal with. For her, time is life. If she’s willing to make time for you, what else could it be but love?”
Yang Beibei agreed: “That’s right. Where there’s time and money, there’s love.”
When Yang Beibei mentioned money, Lu Yin suddenly remembered Sheng Xiali wanting to transfer money to her…
Oh no, Sheng Xiali really seems to be pursuing me…
And she still likes her?
But how is that possible…
Yang Beibei saw Lu Yin’s distracted look and suddenly remembered something: “Yinyin, are you still not over your ex?”
She had seen Lu Yin drunk and crying her eyes out, asking how to completely forget a person.
Amy’s spirits instantly lifted. There was an ex involved in this? Her boss’s love life was so complicated.
This time, Lu Yin was genuinely choked. She coughed for a long time before she could catch her breath.