The warmth resided in their hearts at this moment.

Perhaps it was the embarrassment after the lie was exposed, but Chen Yu Ying simply snuggled quietly in Lin Li's arms, feeling secure without saying a word.

Until she sharply detected an unabashed, curious gaze, she lightly nudged Lin Li: "Someone's coming."

Lin Li turned around, and Zhang Fang was looking at him and Chen Yu Ying with a curious face.

"Good morning, Grandma Zhang," Lin Li greeted casually and confidently.

"Good morning," Zhang Fang replied with a smile, her curious eyes landing on the dazzlingly pretty girl who was now shyly hiding behind Lin Li:

"Lin Li, who is this girl beside you..."

"My girlfriend."

As soon as Lin Li heard this, he immediately raised their clasped hands to shoulder height and shook them, his tone bright.

When he showed off to Zeng Ziang before, he had advised him not to tell anyone in the community, but today things were different. Since Wu Min already knew, it didn't matter at all.

Though still shy, Chen Yu Ying was not an introverted or timid girl. So after hearing Lin Li's introduction, she also looked up at Zhang Fang, mimicking Lin Li's greeting, her voice sweet: "Hello, Grandma Zhang."

"Oh oh—hello to you too, hello to both of you."

Zhang Fang's eyes widened slightly at first, then showed understanding, finally dissolving into a warm smile with a hint of teasing.

Seeing the young and compatible couple in front of her, a smile naturally graced Zhang Fang's face:

"Was Grandma just... interrupting you two?"

"Not really interrupting, just a bit," Lin Li quickly waved his hand, indicating Zhang Fang need not feel so guilty.

"But it still counts as interrupting, you child—" Zhang Fang laughed and scolded, Lin Li was still as articulate as ever, then she asked: "Are you two going out to play?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, Grandma won't disturb you two at all, go have fun and enjoy yourselves."

"Okay, thank you, Grandma."

After bidding farewell to Zhang Fang, the two continued walking toward the community gate.

However, Lin Li figured that news about him being in a relationship would spread throughout the community elders in no more than a day—after all, Zhang Fang was considered the leader of the community's intelligence organization, the community's minister of the imperial secretariat. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

It was the weekend today, but it was already after eight, considered a good activity time for the elderly, so apart from Zhang Fang, they encountered quite a few neighbors along the way.

More than half of whom knew Lin Li, so almost all of them cast curious glances towards Chen Yu Ying.

Lin Li repeatedly stated that Chen Yu Ying was his girlfriend and then skillfully handled the elders' knowing, teasing, and joking remarks.

Chen Yu Ying mostly stayed quiet beside him, only nodding and greeting politely when enthusiastic elders asked her.

But Lin Li could feel her happiness.

Because Chen Yu Ying's grip on Lin Li's hand subconsciously tightened, and as they walked, the range of motion as she swung Lin Li's hand gradually increased unconsciously, and her steps became lighter.

The harmony and joy were evident.

The only possible "victim" was Zeng Ziang.

Because among the elders they met was Zeng Ziang's mom.

And as everyone knows, after seeing other people's children, the next step is to compare them with their own.

Maybe when Mrs. Zeng returned home, she'd lash out with, "Sleep, sleep, sleep all day, and have no idea to do anything else," leaving a bewildered Zeng Ziang inexplicably scolded.

"Are you hailing a cab?" Once they reached the community gate, still clueless about where they were going today and what they would do, Lin Li turned to Chen Yu Ying.

"Yes." Chen Yu Ying nodded and took out her phone to make arrangements.

Watching Lin Li beside her, who deliberately averted his gaze while she typed in the destination, Chen Yu Ying found it amusing:

"You're not at all curious about where we're going?"

"I want to enjoy my confusion, helplessness, and panic; you wouldn't understand." Lin Li tapped her hand with a finger, smiling.

"Then I'll sell you later."

"Could you sell me to your mom? I'll help you count the money then."

"I'll sell you to my dad."

"That's really wicked. The last time I saw such pure malice was outside a surgery room with people pitching funeral services, and outside examination halls handing out leaflets for repeat-year courses."

The two chatted on and off for a while, then Chen Yu Ying looked at her phone: "The car will be here soon, it's positioned over at the corner, let's head there."

Chen Yu Ying took a step, but felt her hand gently tugged—it was Lin Li stopping in his tracks.

Turning back, Chen Yu Ying saw Lin Li's brows slightly knitted, his eyes fixed on a car approaching from the distance, his left hand unconsciously rubbing his chin, as if pondering something.

"What's up?"

Lin Li withdrew his gaze, looking at Chen Yu Ying with a perplexed expression, pointing into the distance: "Class captain, look at that car."

At Lin Li's words, Chen Yu Ying looked up. Lin Li's community wasn't on some busy road, so at this moment, there was only one car coming down the road.

"That should be our cab..." Chen Yu Ying looked down to check her phone, then frowned too: "It matches the coordinates, but... why don't the license plate and model match?"

Seeing Chen Yu Ying still hadn't realized, Lin Li's expression grew even more puzzled: "Class captain, that's your family's car coming over."

Chen Yu Ying: "?"

Since Chen Yu Ying's family had more than one car, she wasn't very sensitive to this detail, but with Lin Li's reminder, she suddenly realized—oh, that seems like her family's car!

And it's the one that brought her over this morning!