Chapter 436 - 272: A Wonderful and Interesting Date

Chapter 436: Chapter 272: A Wonderful and Interesting Date

she said, a hint of frustration in her voice.

My mind and my body are disconnected.

It’s so annoying.

I thought my heart was encased in concrete, but now it’s starting to crack.

"Don’t worry, don’t worry. If this doesn’t work out, I can always get you a toy later."

Lin Chu laughed heartily, teasing her without mercy. "So now you understand my struggle, don’t you? Humans are just like that—half beast, half divine. And the beastly part often wins out over the divine."

Bai Weiwei glanced at him.

The blush on her face gradually faded.

"Hold on a second. I’m going to go find another guy and try holding his hand."

As she spoke, her eyes scanned the area, and she started walking toward a clean-cut, decent-looking young man on the seaside promenade.

The sight left Lin Chu completely dumbfounded. ’What kind of scientific dedication is this!’

’She’s actually trying to control the variables for this, for fuck’s sake!’

"Come back!"

"Are you an idiot?"

Lin Chu shouted and hurried over to her, grabbing her hand again.

Bai Weiwei couldn’t help but laugh. "What? Does this make you feel like I’m cheating on you? Tsk, such a chauvinist."

As she spoke, her face turned red once again.

Feeling the warmth of Lin Chu’s palm, she felt her own heartbeat start to slowly rise again.

Then she felt her whole body go a little weak.

"You... you let go!"

"I... I’m done with the experiment."

"I’m going to the restroom."

She hastily broke free, her breathing ragged, and walked quickly towards the nearby restroom.

Lin Chu watched her leave, an incredible thought suddenly popping into his head—’If she were a player, her game would be on another level.’

’She’s even got me worked up.’

’—Who could possibly resist a woman who’s intellectually cold and has the persona of an abstinent genius, but whose body is incredibly responsive to you?’

’What is this?’

’Is she an electric switch or something?’

After waiting under the shade of a tree, bored out of his mind for a few minutes, Bai Weiwei finally emerged from the restroom. Her face was still bright red, and even the way she looked at Lin Chu had subtly changed.

"I... I think I’m broken."

"Don’t stop me. Seriously, don’t. I’m just going to shake someone’s hand. That’s all. Just wait."

Bai Weiwei reiterated her point. Her expression was formal, her tone almost solemn.

Lin Chu said, "Have you never shaken hands with anyone before? Are you an idiot? What are you, some kind of nympho?"

She took a deep breath.

Bai Weiwei was speechless.

A look of dawning realization crossed her face, but she furrowed her brow and thought hard.

"No, no, no, it’s not the same. When I shook hands before, my thoughts were completely pure. I had no other intentions; it was just a normal, civilized courtesy. But now... a handshake and holding hands are definitely different."

"Then you still won’t find anything out. The test would only work with another man you’re attracted to—at least, say, 30% attraction, if you could even quantify something like that."

"If you don’t even have the urge to go on a date with the guy, holding his hand definitely won’t trigger a physical response."

Lin Chu explained his analysis with a perfectly straight face.

’This... is so damn interesting!’

"Is there something on your hand?"

Bai Weiwei understood what Lin Chu was implying. His logic wasn’t wrong. She looked down at his hand and said, utterly speechless.

Lin Chu teased with a grin, "I’ve got shit on my hands! You must be allergic to shit!"

She was speechless.

She pressed her palms together as if begging for mercy. "Okay, man, stop talking. Fine. I admit it. This is just... my curse!"

Lin Chu howled with laughter.

"Let’s skip this step for now and move on to the next."

"Are you thirsty? I’ll buy you a bottle of water. Let’s talk over there."

Bai Weiwei gave up on her experiment, a sense of resignation washing over her. Maybe this really was one of those strange twists of fate, like the classic line from *A Chinese Odyssey*: "It’s all part of heaven’s plan."

The man who can pull out her sword is the one destined for Zi Xia.

However...

Even so, so what?

They didn’t get a happy ending.

Sitting on a stone bench in the shade under a tree, Lin Chu let the puppy run free, then turned to look at Bai Weiwei.

A strange feeling was now stirring in Lin Chu’s heart, too. It was just as he’d said last night: for every lock, heaven sends a key.

"A few questions. I’ll ask you, and of course, you can ask me too."

Bai Weiwei spoke first, going over her mentally prepared questions.

"Alright."

Lin Chu sat up a bit straighter and silently placed his hand on her leg.

She froze for a second, her face flushing instantly as she pushed his hand away. "Be serious!"

"Fine, fine, fine."

Lin Chu roared with laughter.

"First, smoking. Absolutely no smoking. I can’t even stand the smell of secondhand smoke. My dad quit, and my grandpa doesn’t even smoke in front of me."

"Can you do that?"

Bai Weiwei asked, her eyes serious.

A flicker of hesitation crossed Lin Chu’s mind.

At this very moment, it was as if he had been transported back to his first love.

Back with his first love, he wasn’t allowed to smoke either. He had even resolved to quit but would still sneak a cigarette now and then, just making sure to brush his teeth and chew a ton of gum before their dates... And yet, despite all that, they still broke up in the end.

"I can’t quit,"

Lin Chu said, his tone calm.

He paused, then added a reason. "I won’t change myself for any woman, because that’s not what a relationship is built on."

Bai Weiwei looked up at him, her lips parting as if to speak before she stopped herself. A pained look filled her eyes. She had to admit that what Lin Chu said made sense, but it wasn’t the answer she wanted.

"Okay, we’ll skip that one."

"Second question: after you find what you consider to be ’pure love,’ will you cut ties with all the other women you’re still in contact with? And in the future, would you be able to stay faithful to that one true love?"

She stared straight into Lin Chu’s eyes.

Lin Chu was speechless.

He scratched his hair, sucking in a sharp breath.

HISS...

Images of several women flashed through his mind: Jiang Ya, Gu Jiayan, Liang Jieyu, Fang Yichun...

He shook his head.

"I can’t make that kind of promise or guarantee."

After saying this, Lin Chu felt a sense of relief, as if he had finally, in that moment, faced his own heart with complete honesty.

’So the possibility of "pure love" was, at its root, negated.’

’To be blunt, the "pure love" I was hoping for was just another form of novelty.’

’I wanted to try it simply because I never had before.’

’But after I tried it, the curiosity and anticipation would probably fade.’

"Third..."

Hearing his answer, Bai Weiwei once again chose to move on, but just as she started to ask, Lin Chu cut her off.

"Alright, stop asking. I get it now. Let’s leave it at that. I should really thank you. I’m having dinner with your father and the others tonight anyway. We can talk more then."

"Let’s go."

Lin Chu reached out and stroked her hair, a genuine smile appearing on his lips.

Bai Weiwei’s expression froze.

She pursed her lips.

’She knew what Lin Chu understood. He was completely giving up on the idea... It seemed like the goal of this date had been accomplished.’

’Originally, the whole point was to make him do some "deep soul-searching" and completely crush any ideas he had about getting with me.’ ℯ

’But...’

’Why, at this very moment, did I feel a little sad?’

’That instinctive, uncontrollable sadness.’

"Let me finish!"

Her eyes suddenly glistened with tears. She glared at Lin Chu and snapped, her voice full of anger.

"Third... For the third question... in your mind, what kind of image does a woman represent?"

As soon as she finished speaking, tears immediately began to stream down her cheeks.

It seemed to be another instinctive reaction.

Lin Chu frowned, glanced at her, and then smiled as he wiped her tears away. He suddenly reached out and pulled her into a hug.

"Don’t ask anymore."

"You already know the answer, don’t you?"

"Hey, let me ask you a question... Want to... give it a try?"

Bai Weiwei’s eyes widened. She felt two completely different reactions warring within her. One half was fire; the embrace made her heartbeat accelerate again, her face flush and burn. But the other half was an iceberg; her heart turned ice-cold.

’What the fuck is wrong with this guy?’

’I’m over here crying, asking this profound question, and you’re still thinking about... sleeping with me?’

...

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