215: SESSION (PART 2)

SESSION (PART 2)

Xue Lin went to the class on time. Professor Ivanov was waiting for her. "Lin, you are here. Sit down."0

"Thank you, Professor." Xue Lin sat down and took out her notebook and a pen.

"Lin, I know you want to do it, but this lesson needs exceptional concentration which you lack the most. If you haven't changed after going to China, I believe you still lack concentration," Professor Ivanov pointed out her weakness.

"I'll work on it." That's what Xue Lin said at that time.

A week later –

'I think I'm losing my mind,' Xue Lin wondered. 'Why does it take so much energy to concentrate? I think I should resume playing piano again.' She rubbed her temple.

In the airport, she was waiting for Ge Chen to come out. He was supposed to come here. She saw people rush inside and outside. Everyone was on a tight schedule. Some people were sitting on the benches and tapping their mobiles. Some were even working using their laptop. Only Xue Lin stood there. She had nothing to do except wait.

She looked around and observed people. She tried to read their thoughts using their body language. It was one of her favorite pastime activities.

She wasn't sure how long had passed, she saw Ge Chen coming out. He was wearing blue jeans, a sky blue colored shirt, and a pair of white sneakers. He had a brown-colored small leather bag-pack on his back. Xue Lin raised an eyebrow when he saw it.

Ge Chen noticed her too and strode toward her. He gave her a gentle smile. His eyes laughed at the same time.

He came closer and asked, "Did you wait long?"

Xue Lin naturally smiled at him. She shook her head in response to his question. "Not at all. I thought I was the late one. Hopefully, I'm not. What delayed you?"

"…I was delayed because of Xiao Feng. I was helping with some work." Ge Chen was momentarily stunned by her soft smile and sweet gaze. '…Did she miss me?' he wondered.

But in the next second, he changed his mind when she said, "Is that so. I was living a peaceful life and absolutely loved it. Now you are here, I have to show you around in my free time."

In other words, he wasn't welcome.

"…" Ge Chen couldn't say a word.

Xue Lin guided him to the parking lot. Her black sedan car was parked there. She opened the trunk on the back for her husband to keep his bag there. "Is it okay to have a few sets of clothes for three months?"

"No worries," Ge Chen casually replied. "I'll just have to do some shopping."

"…" Xue Lin was left speechless by his extravagant attitude. She mumbled in dissatisfaction, "Wouldn't it be better to spend that money on some food? What a waste!"

Ge Chen kept her back in the trunk and closed the trunk. Only then did he notice her sour expression. Although he heard her vent her discontentment, he pretended not to hear her. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah," Xue Lin agreed. "Sit on the passenger's seat. I'll drive."

Ge Chen hardly saw her driving. He was curious how well she could drive. He excitedly sat on the passenger's seat. However, what she did next surprised him.

Xue Lin simply started the engine and pressed the 'auto drive' option. The car drove in the direction of her house.

Ge Chen raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you like to spend your food money to modify your system."

Xue Lin answered, "Oh, no, I didn't spend a penny. I helped Xiao Lan a few times with counseling and stuff. Then, for payment, I asked her to do some programming. I wanted her to use Artificial Intelligence on my car. She is a brilliant programmer. I expected nothing less from her."

While talking, she lifted her legs and put them on the dashboard. Her arms were behind her head. She enjoyed relaxing like that inside the car.

Ge Chen showed a slight interest when she mentioned Mu Lan. "…Is she good at programming?"

"You can bet," Xue Lin confirmed. "I've seen two or three top hackers in my university, trust me, they are nowhere near her. She can make electric machines too. I'm sure others helped her with it, but she was the main designer and programmer."

"Once she sold million dollar machines. It was awesome. That's when I learned – knowledge is wealth," she made a fist as she declared.

"Yes, I remember," Ge Chen stated. He bought Mu Lan's invented machines and they work fantastic. "We met at that time."

"Did we?" Xue Lin tried to remember.

"Did you forget?" Ge Chen wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. He could never have any high expectations from her. They met each other very few times and one of their short meetings was in Italy when Mu Lan sold her machines.

Xue Lin didn't notice his expression. Her eyes are forward. "It must've slipped my mind… Ah! We are here." As soon as she spoke, her car stopped in front of a house.

It was a two-storied pink-colored house with chocolate brown colored rooftop tiles. Even the door and windows were chocolate-colored. There were several colorful flower pots in front of the house. There was a small green lawn right after the chocolate-colored iron gate and then the house.

In the corner of the lawn and the wall attached to the gate, surrounded by ivy leaves, there was a small stone made fountain. There was a broken crock. Water was falling from the crock to the fountain. The pleasant bubble sound of the water broke the tranquility of the area. There was a small yellow light under the fountain. It glowed in the dark and gave off a magical aura.

"This place is gorgeous!" Ge Chen couldn't help complimenting the architecture.

"Thank you! I'm not sure what you imagined about my livelihood; I lived a wealthy life before I went to China." Xue Lin opened the door to go out. "Going there was a mistake," she softly mumbled as she stared at her house.

Ge Chen became quiet. He saw her opening the iron gate and the car drove inside, leaving her behind. 'I can't blame her for regretting going to China. Who would want to go back to China and deal with troublesome people while she was having an amazing time in her own house?' he thought.

The engine stopped after the car reached the door. Ge Chen got out of the car. He could smell the sweet fragrance of mixed flowers.

Xue Lin closed the gate and then walked forward. She unlocked the trunk for him and handed him the bag pack. "I hope you have at least a set of clothes to wear after taking a bath."

The corner of Ge Chen's lips subtly rose. "Yes, I do. Don't worry, I won't wear your clothes."

Xue Lin mentioned, "You can wear my t-shirts. I always buy men's large size t-shirts to wear at home. It's comfortable."

"If I knew before I wouldn't bring clothes," Ge Chen joked.

"I don't have men's pants. I don't think you want to risk that." Xue Lin unlocked the door and entered the house. "Welcome to my humble house."

Ge Chen stepped inside. His eyes scanned the whole area. The entrance wasn't narrow. It had a lower space to keep outside shoes and the higher space had a doormat to wipe one's feet.

There was a wall-attached shoe-shelf. Xue Lin opened the shelf and placed a pair of sleepers in front of his legs. "You can wear them at home. You cannot walk around the house wearing our outside shoes."

"All right, thank you." Ge Chen saw a simply designed living room first. It had only one huge set of couches and a large tv above the fake fireplace.  In the corner, there was a piano. "I didn't know you knew how to play the piano."

"I learned many things in my life. I enjoy learning." Xue Lin approached the water bottle. She opened the lid and drank a mouthful of water.

"Even so, let me hear once in a while," Ge Chen politely requested. He knew if he pressed her about this issue, she might never let him hear her play.

Xue Lin wiped her mouth. Her expression didn't change when she said, "I haven't played for a few months. My fingers are all rusty. Let me practice first and then I'll give you a live performance."

"I'll look forward to it." Ge Chen said that from the bottom of his heart. He thought only Yan Su had excellent talent in dancing, Mu Lan in painting, and Qi Ying in sewing. He didn't know if Xue Lin had any talent like this. When he read her file, he found her life was too boring to be mentioned.

'It seemed that my men didn't do a good job in investigating. But that's not a problem. I can slowly find things about her,' he thought.

The kitchen was rather spacious. Everything was neat and clean. Ge Chen's sharp nose could smell the delicious scent of food. He sensed his stomach rumbling.

"Did you prepare lunch?" he inquired.

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