1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 241 The Past Ten Years Ago: The Truth Behind the Cooperation with Li Qing
"Besides delivering invitations, is there anything else you need here?"

Lin Xiyu didn't want to argue with her anymore. She put on her coat and made a gesture of seeing her off: "If you don't have anything, then go. I have to go out. No one's home, so I'm locking the door."

"I hope to see you in Shanghai on our wedding day."

Having no reason to stay any longer, Li Qing chuckled awkwardly and got up to take her leave.

"I can't make the decision on my own; it depends on whether Gu Bin is available."

Lin Xiyu quickly locked the door, got on her bicycle, and left the alley first.

Li Qing watched her departing figure in silence for a long time before reluctantly turning her gaze away, leaving the alley, and getting into her luxury car.

The driver followed instructions, started the engine, and drove directly onto the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway to return to Shanghai.

-

Gu Bin returned from the market to find the gate to his courtyard locked and no one home. Somewhat surprised, he took out his phone, intending to call his wife, when a message suddenly appeared.

Lin Xiyu had already arrived at the training center and was complaining to Wu Meng about what had just happened.

While listening, Wu Meng secretly sent a message to Gu Bin.

By the time Lin Xiyu finished complaining, Gu Binren had already arrived and appeared in front of her.

"Didn't you go to the market? What are you doing here?!"

When Lin Xiyu saw him, she thought of Li Qing's smug look and was immediately filled with anger.

"I forgot my keys."

Gu Bin pretended not to know the inside story and explained with an awkward smile, "I thought you should be here, so I came to find you."

"You guessed really well..."

Lin Xiyu glanced at her best friend, whose eyes were darting around, and was about to tease her when an old math tutor from a training center rushed over and interrupted the three of them: "Mengmeng, I'm sorry, something came up at home and I have to go back right away. Could you find someone to cover my class?"

"Class is about to start..."

Upon hearing this, Wu Meng panicked: "Where am I supposed to find a teacher?"

My grandson has a fever.

The teacher looked troubled: "I know it's not good to leave at this time, but his grandfather lives alone and can't take care of him..."

"The child is more important, you should go back first."

Lin Xiyu gave Wu Meng a reassuring look, first calming the teacher down: "We'll take care of the class. If there's anything else we can do, just let us know. We can help take the child to the hospital."

"No need to trouble you..."

A look of emotion crossed the old teacher's eyes: "I'll go back and give the child some medicine first. As for whether to take him to the hospital, we'll let his parents decide for themselves after they get off work..."

“A child getting sick is no small matter.”

Lin Xiyu was very considerate: "You don't need to be so polite with us. You can call us anytime if you need a car."

"Okay, okay, I understand. Thank you, Teacher Lin..."

The teacher, concerned about her grandson's illness, thanked him gratefully and left in a hurry.

"You sure know how to be a good person..."

Seeing that the person had left, Wu Meng complained with a bitter face, "Now that she's gone, where are we going to find a substitute teacher?"

"Don't worry."

Lin Xiyu said confidently, "If I dare to let her go, I must have a solution."

"You're not thinking of going to fight yourself, are you?"

Wu Meng didn't believe it: "It's not that I look down on you, but math olympiad is not like English. You really can't teach it if you don't have some skills."

"I wouldn't be foolish enough to teach it myself..."

Lin Xiyu stretched out her hand and pointed to the person standing next to her: "Didn't you want a master? Look here, they're right here, though they're far away."

"what?!"

Before he could finish speaking, two exclamations rang out simultaneously.

"I?"

Gu Bin looked at the slender finger pointing at his nose and didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"You are an all-powerful young talent..."

Taking the opportunity to vent her emotions, Lin Xiyu imitated Li Qing's tone and said sourly, "It can shine just by being placed there. What's so difficult about teaching elementary school students math olympiad?"

I haven't offended you, have I?

Gu Bin felt it necessary to defend himself: "I've been very dutiful during this time, dutifully supporting you, taking on all the housework, and wholeheartedly supporting your paper-cutting and doing what you love."

"I've seen all of this, and I admit that without your support, I couldn't have focused on my work without worrying about basic necessities."

Lin Xiyu changed the subject and said, "However, that doesn't mean I don't have any doubts. I think it's better if we talk about some things openly."

"Wife, what are you saying?"

Gu Bin's eyes flickered slightly: "It's as if I've been hiding a lot of things from you."

"There's none?"

Lin Xiyu glanced at him with a half-smile.

"Can you give me a clear answer?"

Gu Bin felt a little flustered under her gaze.

"Row."

Lin Xiyu, no longer wanting to hold back, finally asked the question she had wanted to ask for a long time: "What's going on between you and Li Qing? Why did she say you two have formed an alliance? When did it start? What agreement did you two reach?"

-

Gu Bin did indeed keep it a secret from Lin Xiyu, not telling her that ten years ago, shortly after his mother passed away, he saw a letter she sent him and that he had returned from the United States once.

At the gate of East China Normal University, she witnessed Wang Fan pursuing her in a sports car. Their relationship had undergone a subtle change, somewhere between lovers and friends, and their words and actions were quite intimate.

He still can't forget how much it hurt when he saw that scene; his fingernails dug deep into his palms, drawing blood.

"Does it hurt? Is this all you want to do? Just watch your beloved woman be taken away and thrown into someone else's arms?"

It was at that moment that Li Qing suddenly appeared beside him, looking at him with an almost cruel, pitying gaze that tore his heart apart inch by inch.

Do not!
He doesn't want to!
He was not reconciled.

He agreed to work with her.

This long-buried memory is one he can't bear to look back on, and it's the last thing he wants her to know.

-

"Cough cough."

As another person in the know present, Wu Meng coughed twice guiltily, trying to exonerate him: "Xi Yu, now is not the time to bring up the past. Didn't you say that Gu Bin would cover for the math Olympiad class? There are still a few minutes left. Let him quickly familiarize himself with the textbook and what to teach next, so as not to delay the class."

Do I really need to attend class?

Gu Bin glanced at her gratefully, then pretended to be very conflicted about teaching and looked away.

"If you don't step up, who will?"

Wu Meng feigned dissatisfaction: "The training course isn't run by me alone. Xi Yu is also involved. Even if it's for my wife's sake, I can't let her down at this crucial moment."

"Okay, okay, I'll substitute for you, alright?"

Gu Bin readily agreed, took the textbook from her hand, and strode into the classroom with his long legs.

"This guy's like a mule; he won't budge unless you push him."

Wu Meng chuckled, and seeing that he had escaped successfully, he also tried to slip away.

"Mengmeng."

Lin Xiyu grabbed her arm: "You seem to owe me an explanation too."

"Me? Me?"

Wu Meng sighed in frustration after failing to escape.

"Yes, it's you."

Lin Xiyu gave a half-smile. "What do I need to explain?"

Wu Meng's eyes trembled, pretending not to understand what she was saying.

You haven't told me yet.

Lin Xiyu didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "What exactly is going on between you and Gu Bin? When did you get in touch? Why did you agree to tip him off?"

"Didn't I already say that it's not me who has dealings with him, it's Liangzi and his group?"

Wu Meng tried to argue, but was silenced by a glare from her.

"Don't try to fool me with that excuse anymore, I don't believe it."

"Hey, hey."

Wu Meng gave an awkward laugh, hummed a few times, and then fell silent.

"Mengmeng, how long are you going to keep this from me?"

Lin Xiyu laughed angrily: "Do you think I really can't see it? I didn't ask before because I thought it wasn't necessary, but now that Li Qing has come knocking on our door, if you don't explain things clearly, you'll be the one to get me into trouble."

"no no no"

Wu Meng's heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly explained, "I never intended to harm you, not in the past, and not in the future."

Anyone can say nice things.

Lin Xiyu was determined to get to the bottom of things, and she wasn't going to let her off easily: "That's not what I want to hear, I want the truth. If you really care about me, then stop hiding things from me. I don't want to be kept in the dark anymore, to be a fool who knows nothing."

"Xi Yu, don't say that."

Wu Meng panicked and stammered, "I didn't mean to hide it from you, it's just that in that situation, I didn't know what to do to truly be good to you."

"Mengmeng, stop talking nonsense and just say it."

Lin Xiyu had lost the will to wait any longer and was eager to know the answer.

"I've told you, so please don't be angry with me."

Wu Meng knew she couldn't avoid it this time, and glanced guiltily at the classroom door.

"It seems."

Lin Xiyu's heart sank: "What you're about to say will be a burden I can't bear."

-

Gu Bin and Li Qing conspired to thwart Wang Fan's pursuit, and they needed someone to tip them off. The best candidate for this inside man was Wu Meng.

Back then, when Wu Meng first saw Gu Bin at the gate of Soochow University, she was quite startled.

It would be unbelievable for anyone to suddenly reappear in front of someone who has been missing for almost a year.

After understanding Gu Bin's purpose, she was once again conflicted.

After all, he was down on his luck at that time, and his complicated background made him not the best choice for his friend.

Gu Bin spoke earnestly, asking her to believe in himself and that he would not rashly return to bother Lin Xiyu before he had achieved success and fame.

I just hope to hear news about her often, and I don't want to live such a miserable life alone in a foreign country.

She relented.

At first, she reluctantly agreed, but later, seeing his sincerity, she was moved by his devotion and willingly became his informant.

She was the one who told Wang Fan that he wanted to propose.

It was for this reason that Li Qing was able to return to Shanghai with her child before proposing to Lin Xiyu.

-

When did he find you?

When Lin Xiyu heard that Gu Bin had returned from the United States, it felt as if a heavy hammer had struck her chest, and the pain was so intense that she could hardly breathe.

"March 1995, I think it was..."

Wu Meng lowered her eyelids, not daring to look at her expression.

“95.”

Lin Xiyu's eyes reddened, and her lips were filled with bitterness: "He clearly came back, but he wouldn't tell me, making me waste so many years of my youth. Four years, a whole four years, spent in endless waiting. How cruel he is, how cruel he is."

"Xi Yu, don't cry."

Wu Meng panicked, filled with guilt: "Blame me if you must. Gu Bin had no choice back then; he didn't want to drag you down with him."

I don't want to hear it.

Lin Xiyu interrupted her, her voice trembling with emotion: "What right does he have to presume to think of me? All that talk about doing what's best for me is a lie. If he really cared about me, would he have let me wait for him for so many years?"

"Men and women think differently, don't they?"

Wu Meng tried to soothe her emotions: "They all have self-esteem and don't want the person they like to see them at their most miserable."

“It’s ironic to me that he would think that way.”

Lin Xiyu felt a tightness in her chest: "Does he think I'm a vain woman who can only share the good times but not the bad?"

"no"

Wu Meng was extremely anxious and stammered, "That's not what I meant."

"You don't need to say anything more."

Lin Xiyu didn't want to listen anymore and turned to leave: "I can't accept that he left without saying goodbye again, without knowing anything about it."

"Xi Yu, where are you going?"

Wu Meng ran out from behind the front desk, trying to catch up with her, but Lin Xiyu was too fast. In the blink of an eye, she had already rushed out of the lobby, gotten on her bicycle, and left the alley.

"Oh dear, Gu Bin has ruined everything. Xi Yu is really angry. This is going to be a real problem."

Wu Meng failed to catch up and sighed with deep sorrow as she watched his receding figure.

-

"You confessed to everything?"

Forty minutes later, Gu Bin finished his class and came out of the classroom, almost startled by Meng's bitter and resentful look.

"What else can we do but recruit them?"

Wu Meng looked like a wronged woman: "Are you going to keep lying to her? We need to make things clear. Back then, it was you who didn't want to see her, it had nothing to do with me."

Gu Bin was speechless: "Is there any point in talking about this now?"

"Of course there is!"

Wu Meng said matter-of-factly, "I have to draw a line between us so that Xi Yu won't blame me, she'll only make you angry."

"What about her?"

Gu Bin wasn't in the mood to argue with her.

"do not know."

Wu Meng shook her head and gave him a helpless look.

"Which direction were you going?"

Gu Bin rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

"East."

This time, Wu Meng didn't disappoint him at all, pointing in the direction Lin Xiyu had left.

Gu Bin glanced in the direction of the small commodities market, roughly understood the situation, shoved the textbook into her hands, and strode away from the training class.

-

Qinglong Back Street.

"I don't want to see him, tell him to leave."

As soon as Lin Xiyu returned to her maternal grandmother's house, she locked herself in her bedroom. When Gu Bin came looking for her, he was unsurprisingly turned away.

"What's going on now?"

Grandma is old and can no longer persuade me. Looking at the closed door, she sighed helplessly.