Chapter 98

The other party remained unmoved as if she hadn't heard anything.

But the corners of her eyes, twitching beneath the sunglasses, betrayed her emotions.

"If you don't speak, after we arrive, I'll either take you back to the company first, or have Howard drive over to pick you up, and you can go back with him tonight."

"No, Mrs. Smith, I finally managed to get out."

Zoey pouted, took off her large sunglasses, looked at me, and pushed the coffee towards me with a pitiful look. She then smiled, took out two croissants and two crescent rolls from her bag, and cheerfully handed me one.

"Mrs. Smith, I bet you didn't have breakfast. How can you skip breakfast? Mr. Martin bought these for me this morning. I packed them up, bought coffee downstairs, and rushed to the high-speed rail station. I almost missed the train, which scared me to death."

As she spoke, she patted her chest dramatically, took a few deep breaths, and her eyes kept glancing at me.

Seeing that I still hadn't spoken, she immediately raised her hand and started to promise, "Mrs. Smith, don't worry. Wherever you go, I'll follow. If you don't let me step out of the room, I'll stay in the room and won't go anywhere."

Saying this, she ran over to sit next to me, hugged my arm, and said coquettishly, "Mrs. Smith, please."

Where did Zoey learn these shameless words? Howard never did this. I vaguely pictured Ruben in my mind. He must have given her these ideas and found out about my travel plans.

This girl.

"Have you been in touch with Ruben recently?"

Zoey's eyes lit up when she heard me speak. She smiled and asked, "Why do you ask? Do you think I'm with him?"

I was taken aback for a moment, then smiled, "Not really, but those lines words now sounded like Ruben."

"No!" Zoey laughed, unwrapped a croissant, and handed it to me, explaining, "Ruben did give me this idea, and he helped me check your ticket, but we're not in a relationship."

Zoey stood up, sat across from me, and said righteously, "After deep discussions and exchanges with Ruben, we shared our life insights and respected each other's emotional views. We decided to develop a new relationship that isn't constrained by traditional romantic ties."

"You sound a bit like Howard now." I shook my head, "You rejected Ruben."

"No! We decided to become brothers from different mothers!"

I was stunned for a moment, not understanding what she meant. Then I remembered some internet jokes from recent years and shook my head with a smile. I picked up the coffee Zoey bought for me and took a few sips. The coolness went straight to my throat, and my mind cleared up a lot.

"Mrs. Smith, I'm serious. Why are you laughing? Men and women can have relationships other than romantic ones!"

Zoey was embarrassed and angry, pouting.

"Did Ruben drive you to the high-speed rail station?" I didn't respond directly.

"Yes, otherwise, my car was taken by Mr. Martin, my bank card was frozen by my mom, and I spent all my salary. They are determined not to let me out. I couldn't even get a cab, so my brother had to help me." Zoey said seriously.

No wonder Howard's Facebook said Zoey couldn't escape. They were harsh, taking her car and freezing her bank card, completely locking down her travel. But they didn't expect Ruben, the leader of Zoey's fan club, to still be helping her.

Zoey suddenly remembered something, waved her hand, and said casually, "Mrs. Smith, don't worry. I'll pay him back double when I return. I can still owe him money."

"Was Ruben still watching you before you got on the train?" I nodded and smiled, continuing to ask.

Zoey nodded.

"How did you feel?"

Zoey shook her head.

"What did you say to him?"

Zoey was taken aback, scratched her head, and said embarrassedly, "I told him to get back to work. He was standing there in his police uniform, looking like a security guard. It was quite embarrassing."

This guy forgot to change out of his uniform again during non-working hours.

Forgot it, let them be. Both of them were clueless about relationships.

Back then, Alan and I thought Benjamin wouldn't win Cindy over, but that scene at the train station suddenly opened her heart. Now, in two months, their child will be born.

Would Zoey and Ruben be like that?

I didn't know, but calling each other brothers seemed a bit far-fetched.

It was not that I was overly conservative or didn't believe in pure friendships between men and women, but it was a feeling from experience. They wouldn't end it so easily.

At 10:40 AM, the high-speed train arrived.

It seemed that this carriage wasn't very crowded. After getting off, there were still quite a few people.

Shadow City's high-speed rail station was far outside the city, and it was not very big. This was understandable, as although it had a high-speed rail, the passenger flow wasn't high, so it was normal for it to be small.

Zoey and I traveled light, without any luggage, but the crowd was too dense. We were pushed to the back of the line, and it took half an hour to get out of the station.

Outside the station, there were low stone hills all around. Looking into the distance, the mountains were layered and towering, some even reaching the sky. It was winter, and I could see a patch of white on the mountain tops. I didn't know why, I felt a sense of pressure.

It was hard to imagine that in the mountains that separated the North from the South, there was a city hidden away, forgotten by the world.

Zoey excitedly waved her fists, ready to take a cab to the town where Bob lived. She said we had to wait for him and couldn't let him escape this time.

Today was a weekday, so Bob should be at work in the theater company. If we went to the town first, I'm worried something might go wrong.

Looking at the time, I decided to take Zoey to a nearby restaurant first and order some local specialties from Shadow City.

Back in college, our freshman and sophomore campus was actually in Shadow City, far from the main campus in Silverlight City. It was later merged. Sometimes on weekends, we would gather with classmates and often order some local dishes.

Small places had their limitations, but the food retained some original purity.

Zoey kept saying how delicious the food was, much better than the pre-made dishes in Silverlight City. She insisted on bringing Howard over to try it next time.