On the street, carriages and horses flowed like water, and voices buzzed with noise.
Chen Yi hurried to meet Lin Hao beneath a magnolia tree by the street.
“I’m late.” Because she’d left in such haste, Chen Yi’s forehead was beaded with sweat and her breathing somewhat rapid.
“You were already quite fast. I only just received the news myself.” Lin Hao took Chen Yi’s hand and walked toward a teahouse.
“They’re currently drinking tea in a private room on the second floor. I’ve reserved the room next door.”
“Ahao, I really must thank you…” Chen Yi didn’t know what else to say for a moment.
This was originally her matter, yet she was relying entirely on Lin Hao’s help.
Upon reaching the teahouse entrance, Chen Yi slowed her steps, growing nervous.
“Please come in, young ladies.” The doorman greeted them warmly.
“The ‘Moon’ room upstairs.”
The attendant led the two into the private room, served tea and snacks, and tactfully withdrew.
Lin Hao walked to the open window, pointed next door, and said quietly: “They’re in the ‘Flower’ room.”
Chen Yi carefully peeked out and only saw the tightly closed window next door and the birds lingering outside it.
“Are we going to wait here for them to come out?” Chen Yi withdrew her gaze, somewhat at a loss.
Waiting like a farmer by a tree stump could indeed catch them coming out, but how would that confirm their relationship was special?
Two men drinking tea together was the most ordinary thing.
Lin Hao reached out to close the window properly and said in a low voice: “We can first listen to what they’re saying.”
“Eavesdrop?” Chen Yi looked around, walked close to the wall and pressed her ear against it, then shook her head. “I can’t hear anything.”
This type of private room wouldn’t have poor soundproofing. Unless someone was shouting loudly, one could only hear some commotion.
Lin Hao took something from her sleeve: “Try using this.”
It was a pair of bamboo tubes about the size of a cup’s mouth, connected by a thin string. Lin Hao pressed one bamboo tube against the wall, pulled the string taut, and put her ear close to the opening of the other bamboo tube to listen carefully.
Chen Yi stared wide-eyed.
Just what kind of person was Second Miss Lin!
After listening for a moment, Lin Hao signaled Chen Yi to come over.
Chen Yi came back to her senses and approached. A bamboo tube was pressed into her hand.
“Do as I just did, and you’ll be able to hear.”
Chen Yi was dubious as she brought her ear close to the bamboo tube.
“Hanfang—”
The moment she heard the voice, Chen Yi’s hand trembled and she nearly dropped the bamboo tube to the floor.
She looked at Lin Hao in shock, completely unable to understand why using a small bamboo tube allowed her to hear sounds from next door.
Lin Hao pointed at the wall, reminding Chen Yi to listen carefully.
Chen Yi steadied herself and listened earnestly.
“The heir is getting married by year’s end. I haven’t yet offered my congratulations.”
The man’s voice was gentle. Perhaps it was preconception, but to Chen Yi’s ears, it seemed to carry a trace of resentment.
This made her frown in discomfort, her heartbeat accelerating.
By this point, she already had a premonition.
“Hanfang, are you saying this deliberately to make me uncomfortable? You clearly know that even if the other party were a heavenly immortal descended to earth, I would have no interest. In my heart, there is only you…”
Chen Yi stepped back half a pace, her face deathly pale.
Lin Hao silently took back the bamboo tube and listened for a while longer, then put away the tubes and looked at Chen Yi.
“Ahao…” After a long while, Chen Yi spoke. “I knew it was true, but hearing it with my own ears, I still cannot imagine it’s actually real.”
Her fiancé was actually telling a man that in his heart there was only him…
“Ugh—” Chen Yi quickly covered her mouth and dry-heaved twice.
Lin Hao patted her back and handed her a cup of tea: “Drink some tea.”
Chen Yi took the tea and drank several sips. The nauseating feeling eased considerably.
At this moment, the sound of a door opening came from next door. The conversation between the two men, with the door opened, could be heard clearly without need for any device.
Lin Hao pulled Chen Yi to the doorway and they looked out through the door crack.
The two men walked out side by side. Judging by appearances alone, no one would imagine their relationship.
Chen Yi held onto the door, biting her lip hard.
She had seen Heir Pingjia before. It was him, no mistake.
The sound of footsteps outside the door gradually receded.