Love Variety Show: The despised me exploded in popularity

"Haven't eaten yet?"

Li Yang paused for a moment, instinctively wanting to say she had, but she stopped herself. She had already lied once, and lying again would make people dislike her.

"No."

"Good, I haven't eaten either. I'll take you to have dinner first."

In the backseat, Li Yang's chest rose and fell slightly, and while looking up, she glanced at the car's interior mirror. Under the warm breath light, his cheeks looked even more perfect.

Thinking about the scene that had just occurred at the fruit shop, she felt that she needed to say something.

Just as she mustered up the courage to speak, Xu Qingyan suddenly asked another question.

"How's your roommate?"

"Pretty good, we get along well." Li Yang replied, thinking to herself that next he would ask about the part-time job at the fruit shop, but to her surprise, he did not.

"That's good. Is the food in the school cafeteria tasty?" He asked casually, steering the wheel as if he had not remembered the incident just now, as if it had never happened.

"Yes, for as little as two yuan, you can get a full meal."

"That's quite decent. Back in the day, I loved to mooch off the high school cafeteria," said Xu Qingyan, "A bit of chili sauce, a bit of soup to soak the rice, and you could manage for a week."

Li Yang listened in surprise, tensing up without missing a word. She lifted her head slightly and stole a glance at Xu Qingyan, her eyes revealing some astonishment.

She hadn't expected him to have had such an experience and was quite surprised by it.

What was odd, though, was that he seemed to genuinely have no intention of bringing up what had just happened. He was driving earnestly, asking trivial questions.

"Excuse me, I need to take a call."

After not too long, the car temporarily stopped in an empty space.

A call came in, showing Lin Chuan on the screen. As soon as it connected, a vibrant voice came through the phone, unusually clear in the unusually quiet car.

"Brother Xu, good evening."

"Good evening."

"At Xinghai?" Lin Chuan was still laughing, "Sorry, sorry, I just finished work. I was hoping to ask you out for dinner earlier."

"You haven't already eaten, have you? Oh my gosh, I missed the chance to have dinner with Brother Xu!"

Li Yang sat there seriously, hardly making a sound except when answering Xu Qingyan's questions. She never initiated a conversation and was sparing with her words.

Listening to the fragmented sounds coming from the phone, she seemed even more nervous. It looked like he had something important to do; should she find an excuse to get out of the car, maybe at a stop ahead?

"No, I'm on my way to dinner now," Xu Qingyan said, "I have a cousin with me, so let's talk business another time."

"Talk business?" Lin Chuan's voice was playfully teasing, with a fun tone, "We won't talk business today. Will your cousin mind having dinner with a stranger?"

"We're not really strangers. No fights, no acquaintances," Xu Qingyan replied.

"Ah, right, haha, no fights no acquaintances." Lin Chuan laughed heartily, "Brother Xu, you're not so generous, but no worries, I'll apologize to you at dinner."

"I've always been quite petty, you'll get used to it," Xu Qingyan said as though chatting familiarly with Lin Chuan, "I'm near Xinghai University, you pick a place."

"Alright then, let's do Fengyu Garden." Without hesitation, Lin Chuan named the place, "See you there, don't stand me up, Brother Xu."

"Ok, I'm on my way now."

After hanging up, Xu Qingyan started the car and quickly explained.

"Meeting a friend, he'll join us for dinner. He's a nice guy, don't be nervous, just think of it as going out for a meal."

She wasn't given a choice, just informed of the plan.

"Alright, I got it." Li Yang nodded.

The car turned in a new direction, with Xu Qingyan looking relaxed. The music in the car wasn't loud, just enough to envelop the vehicle, clear to hear.

"Your love has always been so quiet, in exchange for your occasional care."

Li Yang's ears were hooked by the first line as she sat in the back seat, and she held her breath for a moment. These past few days she had occasionally heard the intro to the song, but it cost money...

She had listened a few times, genuinely liking it, yet she had never heard the full version.

"Though it's a movie for three, I'm forever without a name."

She adored the song, having been conquered by the melody from the instant she heard it. She had looked everywhere, never imagining that she would finally hear the full version in Brother Xu's car.

"Your love has always been so quiet, except for my tears being stubborn on my face. It turns out fate is meant to explain, the sudden fact you don't love me."

As the song ended, Li Yang came back to her senses.

"Do you like it?" he suddenly asked.

Li Yang blushed, aware he must have seen her lost in the song. She had no idea how to act around Xu Qingyan, fearing she might come across poorly.

Her anxiety was greater than her closeness; she didn't dare to speak carelessly for fear of being disliked.

When she first started calling him "Brother," it was just instinctual fear, a desire to survive. A sapling growing in a crevice grasps at every nutrient and every rainfall, growing wildly.

After what happened at the fruit store, she was even more reluctant to call him "Brother." She began to care more about every one of his opinions, her heart tumultuous with worry, like a toy wound up too tight.

"It's… nice," she murmured, looking down. Fearing that wasn't enough, she quickly added, "I really like this song, but it costs money, so I haven't wasted money to buy it."

"No worries, no need to be so constrained," Xu Qingyan said as he drove, focusing on the road ahead, "Your father once helped our family; our two families have a good relationship."

"But life is unpredictable; every family has its own hardships. At this point, what has happened can't be changed, and those of us who are alive must go on living."

When Xu Qingyan mentioned her father, emotions surged in Li Yang's heart. They lodged in her cold, hard chest, and her eyes involuntarily warmed.

"Yeah, I understand," she said softly.

"The money I lent you is nothing; tens of thousands of yuan won't break your life," Xu Qingyan continued, "You have the right to spend it freely, having interests and hobbies is normal."

"Your life is for you to shape; you can become whoever you want to be. Don't always spend your time exhausting yourself with manual labor; we'd rather you study hard and make good use of your time."

"When you start working in the future, this money will be nothing to you."

Hearing this, Li Yang hung her head even lower.

Was he talking about the part-time job at the fruit store today when he mentioned spending time on physical labor?

"As for the real estate and shops in Pingsha, I've asked around," Xu Qingyan said calmly, "You're of age now, and those things are still yours."

"When there's time during the New Year, I'll come home and take you to retrieve them. That will settle it."

Li Yang sat in the back seat, her body stiff, her eyes rimmed red. She stared at the dashboard lights to prevent tears from falling and staining Xu Qingyan's car.

She had grown used to being ignored, tugged at, torn apart—like a clump of morning fog, stealthily concealing herself, convincing herself to get used to numbness.

Then one day, someone carelessly pulled her out. With effortless ease, they pulled her from the mire and tried to preserve her fragile dignity.

A mass of emotions as large as storm clouds, wrapping up gratitude, relief, grievances, and numbness, easily overwhelmed her.

Her usually straight back bowed deeply as she covered her face tightly and cried in a subdued manner. The tears were almost inaudible as they slipped from the gaps between her slender fingers.

But Xu Qingyan could sense her deep sadness; it probably wasn't for her own sake that she was crying so brokenly.

The car steadily entered the overpass, slicing through the airflow.

Li Yang's emotions gradually stabilized as she used the back of her hand to dry her tears and looked at Xu Qingyan, who was focused on driving. She sniffled, her voice hoarse.

"Thank you, brother," she said.

Cars rushed wildly on the overpass, stretching out of sight, with xenon headlights illuminating a path of light.

Xu Qingyan glanced at the rearview mirror and replied.

"You're welcome."