In the end, Lin Wan did not get crushed to death.
On the contrary, she somehow came out of the disaster with a "blessing in disguise."
After Chen Jin's rampage, perhaps his conscience finally stirred. Whether she had "seen the light" or not, he took her back to the city.
The real reason, however, came from Aunt Zhou's little report: lately, Lin Wan had been sleeping too much. She dozed all day and turned into a night owl once the sun went down, often staying up past one or two in the morning, lights on, glued to TV dramas.
Chen Jin mulled it over. Losing all sense of routine was never good. Work wasn't just a way to pay the bills; it was the anchor of daily life, a form of discipline. He had never truly intended to keep Lin Wan as a caged bird.
He merely tied a rope to her.
She could fly wherever she liked—
As long as she never strayed beyond the radius he allowed.
That day, Lin Wan was still drifting in a fog of sleep when a piece of music floated into her dreams—strangely familiar, tugging at her memory. Before she could distinguish whether it was from the dream or the real world, a familiar voice sounded right by her ear:
"Hello. Yeah, she's here. Hold on…"
Then she was shaken awake.
Chen Jin pressed a phone into her hand. "It's for you."
She took it, still half-asleep—and the voice on the other end practically exploded out of the receiver.
"Wanwan, who was that guy? Don't tell me you hooked up for a one-night stand!"
Lin Wan sobered instantly.
She glanced at the lit phone screen, then at the back of the man's head beside her. Rage and regret surged together. Why didn't I turn the phone off last night?
He had answered her call. Answered it.
Has he no basic sense of boundaries?
Milan's voice kept going. "Did you forget what we said yesterday? Si Si's boyfriend is treating us, remember? We're all here waiting for you!"
Lin Wan hung up, deflated, and turned—only to meet Chen Jin's eyes.
He was fully awake now, propped on one arm, his head resting on his palm, watching her with undisguised amusement. "Stood them up, didn't you? Look at you—day and night flipped like a bat in a cave. If I didn't bring you back, you'd give yourself jet lag without ever getting on a plane."
She ignored his gloating. She picked up the nightgown he'd tossed onto the floor last night, slipped it on, and snapped, "Don't answer my calls again."
Chen Jin sat up lazily on his side of the bed, unconcerned. "Then don't sleep like the dead. Your phone rang so many times my head was about to split."
He stretched, and when his eyes landed on the wall clock, he jerked. "Fuck—it's eleven already. 'Spring nights are short and mornings come late; from then on, the king never rises to court.'"
Lin Wan shot off the bed and headed for the bathroom. His last sentence made her teeth ache. If he hadn't kept her tangled up all night, she wouldn't still be in bed now—and he had the nerve to quote poetry about it.
As she washed up, she silently paid her respects to the Chen family's ancestors in increasingly creative ways. Her hands moved faster and faster—wash her face, brush her teeth, lotion, comb hair. In under five minutes, she was done.
When she came out, Chen Jin was already dressed as well, standing by the door in full business attire. He picked up his car keys and jingled them. "I'll drive you over."
Pulling on her clothes, she answered, "No need. I'll grab a cab."
"Come on. Weren't you meeting at Chuanwang Mansion? It's on my way."
"How do you know that?"
"Your friend talks like a megaphone. If I couldn't hear, I'd be deaf."
Twenty minutes later, Lin Wan was seated at a four-person table on the first floor of Chuanwang Mansion.
Milan sat at her side. Across from them was Ding Sisi. Diagonally opposite sat today's subject of inspection—Sisi's former senior and current boyfriend, Xiao Zheng.
In the middle, the hot pot was boiling furiously, red broth heaving in waves of bubbling spice.
Xiao Zheng was a PhD in engineering, currently working at a research institute. He wasn't much of a talker—he answered when spoken to, otherwise simply looked at his girlfriend with a pair of soft, besotted eyes, occasionally offering a foolish grin.
Milan, on the other hand, had fully entered "sister-in-law mode," calling him brother-in-law every other sentence, firing off questions and pouring drinks with merciless enthusiasm. Today's Hongmen Banquet was entirely her idea.
She'd declared that since Sisi was falling in love for the first time, her best friends had a duty to vet the guy. She also claimed you could judge a man's character by how he handled his alcohol. After hearing, he couldn't handle spicy food, she'd insisted on a Sichuan restaurant.
Dr. Zheng was clearly outmatched, but he kept up his gentlemanly act and endured politely.
Fortunately, halfway through the meal, his workplace called him back on urgent business. He left with an apologetic expression—but the smile in his eyes was unmistakable.
The moment he left, Sisi turned to them, cheeks pink. "Well? What do you think?"
They exchanged a look and nodded in unison. "He's good."
A unanimous pass.
Sisi flushed deeper. "He's just… not that good-looking. Compared to your two, he's way behind."
Milan replied, without missing a beat, "Let me tell you a harsh truth. A handsome face is only good for one thing—raising the odds he'll cheat. Otherwise, it's useless. Haven't you heard men say, 'Turn off the lights and everyone's Lin Ching-hsia'? It's the same for us—close your eyes and every guy's Chow Yun-fat. So looks don't matter. As long as he's well in bed, that's what counts."
"In bed?" Sisi frowned. "What do you mean, good in bed?"
Lin Wan choked on a mouthful of food and had to gulp Sprite to steady herself.
Milan gaped at Sisi. "Don't tell me you haven't tested anything yet?"
Seeing Sisi's confusion only deepen, she slapped the table. "Alright then. I'll send you a little gift later. Try it tonight. If it doesn't work, return the product immediately."
Her voice was loud enough to make a passing waiter stifle a laugh.
Lin Wan tugged on her sleeve. "Keep it down. Have some dignity."
Milan obediently lowered her voice, but continued her "education," undeterred. "A woman has to learn to enjoy life. Sex life is still life."
Lin Wan choked again.
Milan blinked at Sisi and said, "Even Wanwan's opened up now. You can't keep acting like some relic from the last century."
"What's wrong with Wanwan?" Sisi asked, startled.
Milan chuckled, turning to Lin Wan. "Well? Tell us about your Mr. Morning."
So this was the ambush.
Lin Wan sighed inwardly. "Nothing much to say," she replied lightly. "What's there to say?"
"Oh no, that won't do." Milan grinned. "A one-night stand is 'nothing much.' Living together is 'nothing much.' If you don't explain, how are we supposed to know which one it is?"
Sisi bristled. "What are you talking about? Wanwan would never be that casual. She's the most serious about relationships. Right, Wanwan?"
Lin Wan smiled. "Being serious is exhausting. There's nothing wrong with being casual once in a while."
The other two froze.
Milan stuck out her tongue. "Wanwan, I was joking…"
"I'm not." Lin Wan took a sip of her drink, lifted one corner of her mouth. "I'm living with a man right now. Didn't you say we should enjoy life?"
She added calmly, "He's pretty good in bed, too."
"Are you serious?" Milan's expression darkened. "Wanwan, you're not doing this because you're too devastated by Wang Xiao's death, are you? Are you trying to ruin yourself?"
"Yeah," Sisi said, equally anxious. "You promised you'd move on."
Lin Wan gave them a small, soothing smile. "Do I really look that stupid?"
"You're not stupid," Milan sighed. "You're just too pure."
"Yeah. Just like me," Sisi chimed in.
"Pure girls are the ones most likely to go to extremes," Milan concluded.
Lin Wan leaned back in her chair, adjusting her posture into something that looked almost confident. "Starting a new relationship—doesn't that count as moving on?"
Milan and Sisi exchanged a glance. It did make a sort of sense. But they still couldn't quite believe it. Given Lin Wan's personality, even if she started seeing someone, she wouldn't jump into living together so quickly.
Lin Wan fell silent as well.
It was probably the most dishonest sentence she had ever uttered in her life.