Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 383: Li Qiang and Lu Hui (Skip If You Dislike)

Li Qiang showed Lu Hui his train ticket, indicating that he was about to arrive in Jinling, and sent a grinning emoji along with it.On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the factories had actually started resuming work one after another. Lu Hui had also returned to her post, though the office was still quite empty at this time. Besides Lu Hui, the only other person present was Lu Lin, who usually did not have much to do.

In the morning, the two of them had exchanged greetings. Lu Lin was wearing a black tracksuit; being young, she looked good in whatever she wore.

Lu Hui was different. After all, at twenty-six years old and inherently loving to dress up, she wore an office lady uniform skirt paired with nude stockings.

She had been busy until past ten o'clock when she saw the message sent by Li Qiang.

Lu Hui paused in surprise and quickly replied to ask why he had returned as early as the seventh day.

"Didn't you say you were going to Qinhuangdao for a vacation with your family?"

"I'm not going anymore. How could Qinhuangdao be more important than my baby? I sneaked back without telling my family. I have to come back anyway, so returning two days early is the same. Didn't you say you had no one to keep you company? I planned to give you a surprise!"

Looking at the incoming message, Lu Hui did not know what to say for a moment. To be honest, she had never really thought about having a physical relationship with Li Qiang in real life. However, it was only the seventh day of the new year, just a few days after the holidays, and Li Qiang had actually come all this way to find her. She was somewhat moved.

But moved as she was, Lu Hui still retained a shred of rationality. She replied, "I'm not even ready to meet you yet."

Li Qiang could see the hesitation in Lu Hui's mind. Although he was a little disappointed, he still said, "It's fine, I have to come over for my studies anyway. Huihui, if you haven't made up your mind, let's just leave it. I'll be in Jinling for the next few days regardless. If you ever feel unwell or need anything, you can call me anytime."

Seeing how understanding Li Qiang was being, Lu Hui actually felt a bit ashamed. He had traveled such a long distance during the New Year specifically to see her, yet she was unwilling to even meet him face-to-face. Wasn't that a bit too unkind?

"Is your dormitory open?" Lu Hui asked.

"Not yet, I think. They said it will open when the semester starts."

During the winter holiday, the campus was sealed off and the dormitories were closed. However, experienced students could simply climb in, as no one really managed it anyway.

"Oh,"

Lu Hui's replies were especially slow on her end.

"What time will you arrive?"

"Four in the afternoon."

"Got it."

After that, Lu Hui did not say anything else, but Li Qiang's heart skipped a beat. He vaguely guessed something, and a wave of immense joy washed over him, causing him to instantly jump up and down in the dormitory.

However, after the initial excitement, Li Qiang found himself in a difficult spot.

He looked at himself in the mirror. To be honest, his appearance was far too shabby. From head to toe, only the Adidas outfit he had bought that one time looked decent; the rest of his clothes were nothing presentable.

After a brief hesitation, Li Qiang turned his gaze toward Chang Hao's locked wardrobe.

Chang Hao was smart as well. Leaving a whole wardrobe full of clothes in the dormitory made him somewhat anxious, so he specifically bought a five-yuan padlock to lock it.

Because of this, Li Qiang held quite a bit of resentment in his heart. 'Who exactly are you trying to guard against with this five-yuan lock?'

But right now, he had no other choice. Li Qiang hardened his resolve. 'Brother Hao! It's so rare for me to meet a good woman, just help me out this once!'

'If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely repay you!'

Such thoughts flashed through his mind before Li Qiang looked around, pulled out a brick from under his bed, and struck the padlock. Clang! Clang!

The lock was smashed open.

Even though Li Qiang inwardly looked down on Chang Hao, constantly calling him a playboy who wasted money all day long, deep down, he couldn't help but envy Chang Hao.

Chang Hao had shown off in the dormitory more than once. That piece of clothing with a big 'M' logo—Evisu, he thought it was called—cost three or four thousand yuan just for a pair of pants.

And that hoodie with the eagle head on it, which seemed to be called Boy London.

Regardless, Li Qiang did not understand any of these brands. He only knew that these clothes were extremely expensive.

It was a pity that they felt a little small on him, but if he squeezed, he could still wear them.

After changing his clothes, he checked himself out in the mirror and felt that he had become quite a bit more handsome.

'Is this what clothes worth thousands of yuan feel like?'

'It doesn't feel any different.'

At four o'clock in the afternoon, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky over Jinling.

It was a cloudy day.

In the plaza in front of the station, Lu Hui saw this big young man whom she had been dating online for a long time.

Meeting for the first time, Li Qiang was a bit awkward and did not seem like a boy from a big city. She noticed that he kept stealing glances at her beautiful legs in stockings.

Lu Hui remained calm and composed on the surface, but secretly found it amusing. 'I didn't expect this big boy from Jingcheng to be quite simple,' she thought.

Li Qiang was indeed quite simple; after all, he had never had a girlfriend.

Just looking at Lu Hui once—seeing her voluptuous body wrapped in a navy blue office lady uniform skirt, and her beautiful legs in stockings perched on a pair of high heels.

Li Qiang couldn't help but start swallowing hard.

Lu Hui asked, "Are you hungry?"

"Huh? Oh, oh, a little. I've been on the train all day and haven't eaten anything." Li Qiang offered a grin and chuckled.

Lu Hui let out a burst of giggles. "You dummy, didn't you know there's a dining car on the high-speed rail?"

"Uh!" Li Qiang looked utterly embarrassed, feeling like his cover was about to be blown.

Fortunately, Lu Hui did not press the matter further. Holding up her umbrella, she said she would take him to get something to eat.

Li Qiang agreed with a quick hum.

The two of them did not eat anything fancy; instead, they had a bowl of braised chicken with rice near the train station. This Li Qiang, whether he was too nervous or genuinely starving, actually kept his head down and scarfed the food down like a ravenous wolf.

Sitting opposite him, Lu Hui watched this scene with a slight frown.

This...

'Do people from Jingcheng really eat like this?'

'Why is he making such loud chomping noises...'

'So crude?'

However, seeing Li Qiang wipe his grease-stained hands directly on clothes worth thousands of yuan, Lu Hui thought to herself, 'Maybe everyone is just different. But this guy is definitely from Jingcheng. Trashing clothes worth thousands of yuan like that—he's clearly a rich guy.'

With that thought, Lu Hui no longer felt Li Qiang was being crude. Instead, she found him to be carefree. She giggled and said, "Hey, your family is quite wealthy, huh."

"Ah?" Li Qiang, who was busy eating, was completely baffled.

He then saw Lu Hui give a pout and say, "Using clothes worth thousands of yuan to wipe your hands just like that—doesn't your heart ache?" "Uh!"

Li Qiang, who was right in the middle of wiping his hands on his body, couldn't help but freeze in embarrassment. This was completely his usual habit, so ingrained that he had forgotten he wasn't wearing his own clothes!

At this point, Li Qiang could only offer an awkward smile and say, "Thousands of yuan? I didn't know. I just grabbed them casually from the wardrobe."

"Pfft!" Hearing this, Lu Hui found it even more amusing. She said, "Are you actually dense or are you just teasing me? You think I don't know anything, right? You're wearing Boy London; that hoodie costs at least 1,200 yuan. And the Evisu pants on your lower half are at least five thousand. You really are a little nouveau riche!"

Seeing Lu Hui blinking playfully at him, Li Qiang chuckled along and said, "I really don't understand these things. I just wear whatever casually."

"Hmph, boring. You're dishonest. I'm not going to be nice to you anymore!"

Lu Hui gave a pout, crossed her arms over her chest, and crossed her beautiful legs underneath her tight skirt.

Li Qiang felt a bit dazed watching her and hurriedly said, "Don't be like that, Sister Hui! I came all this way specifically to find you!"

Lu Hui teased Li Qiang for a little while longer before bursting into laughter, saying, "Alright, I won't joke with you anymore."

"Hurry up and eat! After you're done, I'll take you to check into a hotel room."

"!" Hearing this, Li Qiang began to grow excited.

Lu Hui, however, seemed to see through Li Qiang's thoughts and immediately rolled her eyes. "What are you thinking about?! Your dormitory is closed, so you definitely have to stay in a hotel. Don't tell me you were..."

"No, absolutely not! Sister Hui, I absolutely wasn't thinking about that kind of thing! I would never force you!" Li Qiang hurriedly waved his hands, vowing sincerely, his face turning bright red.

But Lu Hui replied, "What did I even say? Look at how scared you are. Hurry up and eat!"

"Oh, oh! Okay!" With that, Li Qiang quickly lowered his head and started shoveling food into his mouth.

From the moment they met until the meal, it had been less than an hour, yet Lu Hui had already gotten a rough grasp of Li Qiang's personality. Lu Hui even spoke up proactively, feeling that it was quite rare.

"It's my first time meeting someone from Jingcheng like you."

"Having such a good family, yet still able to maintain such an honest and grounded personality, and you've actually never even been in a relationship."

Lu Hui murmured to herself.

Li Qiang blushed upon hearing this, keeping his head down, focusing on eating without saying a word.

Perhaps because Lu Hui had grown used to being pressured by Liu Shuo a few times, facing a boy like Li Qiang suddenly made her feel respected. She thought to herself, 'He is a bachelor's degree student after all. He's much better than Liu Shuo.'

After finishing their meal, Lu Hui took Li Qiang to a small hotel and booked a room for him.

Throughout the entire process, Li Qiang followed obediently behind Lu Hui.

After securing the room, Lu Hui handed him the room card and said, "I won't go up. I still have work to do."

"Ah?"

Li Qiang froze for a second, but immediately followed up with, "Oh, okay!"

His quick and easy agreement truly surprised Lu Hui a little. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and take a few extra glances at him.

She saw Li Qiang standing there with his face flushed red, keeping his head down, far too embarrassed to even look at her.

Even though Li Qiang was a tall, burly guy, he had never been in a relationship before.

He was only nineteen years old.

From his interactions with Lu Hui, Li Qiang genuinely felt that she was a good girl. She was never willing to ask him for money.

She had even said, "You're a student, so things aren't easy for you either. If you have money, spend it on yourself. Don't just hand out red envelopes to girls at the drop of a hat."

Then, from taking him to eat from the station to booking the hotel, Lu Hui had paid for everything.

It was the first time a girl had treated him so well. At this moment, Li Qiang was even hesitating over whether he should tell Lu Hui about his true situation.

And now, Lu Hui was saying she wouldn't go upstairs.

Li Qiang naturally agreed.

'Sister Hui is a good girl. How could I let my imagination run wild like that?'

At this moment, Li Qiang suddenly realized that he didn't seem to harbor much lustful desire in his heart either.

What he felt was more of a...

A sense of melancholy.

Li Qiang thought to himself, 'Since I'm dating Sister Hui, I should take it seriously. She's a good girl, so how could she just give herself to me right from the start?'

'Just dating like this is quite nice. I can keep Sister Hui company and have fun exploring Jinling.'

'Come to think of it, even though I've stayed in Jinling for half a year, I haven't really toured the city at all.'

Going into the hotel room alone with determination, he put away his luggage. Li Qiang made up his mind: he would spend these three days getting along properly with Sister Hui, and then lay his cards on the table when it was time to leave.

Just then.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

A knocking sound came from outside the door.

"?"

Curious, Li Qiang went to open the door.

"Sister Hui?" Li Qiang was very surprised.

Lu Hui, however, rolled her eyes at him and said, "Dummy, why did you walk so fast? You forgot to take your things!"

As she spoke, she handed Li Qiang two bottles of mineral water.

"Oh, oh!" Li Qiang hurriedly took them.

Looking at the blank and dumbfounded Li Qiang, Lu Hui asked, "Aren't you going to invite me in for a bit?"