Chapter 331 - 256: Too Engrossed in Reading

Chapter 331: Chapter 256: Too Engrossed in Reading

His eyes were glued to the book, his hand occasionally turning a page.

Completely still.

Fu Yangqing waited a few seconds, but when Chen Lin still didn’t respond, he didn’t press the issue.

"Alright, Professor Chen, since you’re fine, I won’t disturb your reading."

He straightened up and walked toward the door.

"My men will continue to protect you covertly. It doesn’t matter how late you stay at the library; we’ll keep an eye on things."

"I’ll be going now."

With that, he pulled the door open, ready to leave.

’No—!’

A desperate roar echoed in Chen Lin’s mind.

’Don’t go!!!’

’What am I supposed to do if you just leave?!’

’Hey! Fu Yangqing! Old Fu! Brother Fu!’

’Come back!!!’

However, his mouth remained tightly shut.

He couldn’t utter a single word.

Fu Yangqing’s back grew more distant.

The door slowly closed.

THUD—

Chen Lin’s heart sank with it.

It was over.

It was really over now.

Fu Yangqing was gone.

No one could save him now.

Next, he could only continue to be controlled by the system, forced to read.

Until he had finished all ten of these books.

’How long is that going to take?’

’Tomorrow?’

’The day after tomorrow?’

’The day after that?’

Chen Lin felt like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

But just then—

CREAK—

The door was pushed open again.

Fu Yangqing’s figure reappeared in the doorway.

"Oh, right, Professor Chen. I almost forgot to mention."

He walked in, his tone casual as he said:

"The people at your company have been trying to reach you. They’ve called several times and sent a lot of WeChat messages."

"We’re protecting you covertly, so we couldn’t tell them you were here."

As he spoke, Fu Yangqing’s gaze fell on the phone beside Chen Lin’s hand.

The phone’s screen happened to light up just then.

It displayed—

[WeChat Voice Call from Yunqing]

Fu Yangqing raised an eyebrow.

"See, another call."

He looked at Chen Lin, who was still motionless and staring intently at the book, and finally sensed that something was wrong.

"Professor Chen?"

He took two steps closer, tentatively reached out, and placed a hand on Chen Lin’s shoulder.

Then, he gave it a gentle shake.

The very instant Fu Yangqing’s hand touched Chen Lin’s shoulder—

DING!

A crisp notification sound rang in Chen Lin’s mind.

[External interference detected!]

[This learning session has ended.]

Chen Lin felt his whole body relax.

He could finally move!

"HUUUH—!"

Chen Lin let out a long breath, leaned back against his chair, and gasped for air.

The suffocating feeling that had been suppressed for more than two hours was released all at once.

"Thank you!"

He immediately turned to Fu Yangqing, his voice filled with the relief of someone who had just survived an ordeal.

"Old Fu, thank you so much!"

Fu Yangqing was taken aback for a moment.

He looked at Chen Lin, somewhat bewildered.

’Thanks?’

’What for?’

’He’d only come over to remind Chen Lin to answer his phone.’

"Uh... You’re welcome?"

Fu Yangqing scratched his head, a baffled expression on his face.

"Professor Chen, were you just too engrossed in your book? You didn’t even hear your phone ring?"

"Yes, yes, I was completely absorbed."

Chen Lin nodded quickly, going along with Fu Yangqing’s explanation.

"I was lost in my book just now, I didn’t notice anything."

"It’s a good thing you reminded me, otherwise, who knows how long I would have kept reading."

As he spoke, he quickly picked up the still-vibrating phone beside him and answered Yunqing’s WeChat voice call.

"Hello? Boss?"

Yunqing’s voice came from the phone, tinged with obvious anxiety.

"You finally answered! Where are you?"

"I’m at the library."

Chen Lin tried his best to make his voice sound calm.

"What’s wrong?"

"What’s wrong?!"

Yunqing’s voice shot up an octave.

"Do you have any idea how long we’ve been looking for you!"

"You suddenly rushed out this afternoon, you weren’t answering your phone, and you weren’t replying on WeChat!"

"Sister Yiyi called you three or four times, Yanyan called three or four times, and I called you seven or eight times!"

"And you didn’t answer a single one!"

"We all thought something had happened to you!"

Listening to Yunqing’s rapid-fire questions, Chen Lin felt a wave of warmth spread through his heart.

At the same time, he also felt a pang of guilt.

"Sorry, sorry, I made you worry."

He apologized sincerely.

"I just came to the library to look up some information and got so absorbed that I didn’t notice my phone."

"I’m really fine, don’t worry."

The other end of the line went silent for a few seconds.

Then, Yunqing’s voice came through again, much softer this time.

"...You’re really okay?"

"I’m really okay."

Chen Lin answered affirmatively.

"That’s good, then..."

Yunqing heaved a long sigh of relief, the tension finally leaving her voice.

"You scared us to death, you know that?!"

"I know, I know. My bad."

Chen Lin glanced at the time on his phone. It was already past closing time.

"What time is it now? Are you guys still at the office?"

"Of course!"

Yunqing’s tone once again held a hint of playful reproach.

"We couldn’t even reach you, how could we possibly be in the mood to go home?!"

"Yanyan is still sitting at her desk, checking her phone every few minutes."

"Huang was already thinking about whether she should call the police."

Hearing this, Chen Lin’s guilt deepened.

"Alright, alright, just let everyone know I’m fine."

He stood up, his gaze sweeping over the stack of books on the table.

"You all should head home first. Don’t wait for me. I still have a few things to take care of here, I’ll head back when I’m done."

"What things?"

Yunqing pressed.

"Just... checking out a few books."

Chen Lin replied casually, brushing off the question.

"The library has some good resources. I plan to borrow them to read at my leisure."

"Oh..."

Yunqing didn’t sound entirely convinced.

But she didn’t press further, only offering a word of caution: