On the second floor of the Chen family villa, the curtains in the guest room had not been fully drawn. Morning sunlight quietly slipped through the gap, leaving a long, warm streak of light across the soft white quilt.
Lin Wansu lay on her side and slowly opened her eyes in a daze.
It was the middle of summer, so why didn’t she feel hot even though she was covered with a quilt?
And since when had her wooden bed become this soft?
Then there was the pillow. It was so plush that nearly half her face sank into it.
Lin Wansu comfortably rolled over and let out a contented murmur.
Everything felt so unreal.
Was she dreaming?
She instinctively reached for her wrist. It hurt a little, but only a little.
The dressing on her wound had already been changed, and clean gauze was wrapped around it.
Lin Wansu suddenly sat upright. “Wanning!”
She instinctively reached beside her pillow, only to grab nothing. It was only then that she remembered her phone was not with her.
She got out of bed and pulled open the curtains. Sunlight flooded the entire room, finally clearing the fog from her freshly awakened mind.
Everything that had happened last night briefly flashed through her thoughts, and she suddenly realized that she seemed to have overslept.
She had slept wonderfully at Chen Xu’s house, but her younger sister was still at home!
She had not returned all night, and her phone had been taken away by He Man and the others, so Wanning definitely would not have been able to reach her. Her sister must be worried.
However, once Lin Wansu calmed down and thought about it, she realized there was probably no reason to panic.
She often got up early to work part-time jobs. If Wanning woke up and did not see her at home, it would not seem particularly unusual.
Completely unaware of what was happening at the school, Lin Wansu innocently assumed that Lin Wanning was probably at home checking her exam scores right now.
Lin Wansu threw off the quilt and tried to get out of bed, but the moment her feet touched the carpet, a wave of dizziness swept through her head.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
The door was unlocked. After Lin Wansu responded, Chen Xu pushed it open and walked inside.
Chen Xu was not using a wheelchair.
Yesterday, Dr. Zhou had practically forced him into one. From Chen Xu’s perspective, an ankle sprain of this severity would not even have required ice in his previous life. After resting for a few minutes, it probably would not have affected his normal activities, and after a night’s sleep, it would have mostly healed on its own.
Of course, a little pain was unavoidable.
Lin Wansu noticed it immediately.
Chen Xu was wearing loose black loungewear. The clothes covered the injury on his back, making it impossible to tell how serious it was. However, he was clearly avoiding putting too much weight on his right foot, making his gait look somewhat awkward.
Last night, he had endured his injuries to rescue her. He had kept going until they finally returned home, exhausting himself for so long. His injuries had to be more serious than the doctor had claimed.
Lin Wansu’s heart tightened. She hurried over to support Chen Xu and reproached him gently, “Why did you walk over here by yourself? Where’s the wheelchair? Didn’t the doctor tell you to rest properly?”
“I’m not that delicate.”
In his previous life, he had been an orphan. From childhood until his death, he had always been alone. He had never experienced this kind of concern before.
Lin Wansu was wearing loose white pajamas. Having just woken up, her hair was slightly messy, but her complexion looked considerably better than it had last night.
Chen Xu had originally prepared plenty of things to say, yet suddenly, he found himself unable to voice any of them.
Last night, he had only just transmigrated into this world. His mind had been completely occupied with saving someone and changing fate.
But now, seeing Lin Wansu standing safely in front of him, he belatedly felt an almost unreal sense of relief.
In the original novel, this girl should have died inside the warehouse.
She should have died at the very beginning of the novel.
Yet now, she was alive.
She was standing right in front of him, worrying about his injured foot.
This was not a novel.
This was a real world, and every person in this world was a living, breathing human being.
Seeing Chen Xu remain silent for so long, Lin Wansu thought she might have said something unpleasant and upset him.
She cautiously asked, “What’s wrong?”
Chen Xu came back to his senses, and his tone returned to normal. “Let’s go downstairs and eat something. We still need to visit your home later. You can’t go on an empty stomach.”
“Okay.”
Lin Wansu was about to follow him out when she suddenly stopped. “Chen Xu.”
“Hm?”
“My clothes…” She lowered her head and pinched the hem of her pajamas, her voice soft and hesitant. “Can I still wear the school uniform from yesterday? I want to go home and see Wanning. I just need to change back into my own clothes.”
Chen Xu frowned.
That school uniform had already been sealed inside an evidence bag by the nurse.
The clothes were torn and tattered, with scorch marks from the fire and Lin Wansu’s bloodstains still on them. All of that could serve as evidence that He Man and the others had unlawfully confined her.
“You can’t wear it.”
Lin Wansu froze. “Why?”
“It’s already torn to pieces. Why would you wear something like that?” Chen Xu paused before adding, “Besides, keep those clothes for now. They might be useful later.”
Lin Wansu did not quite understand what he meant, but after thinking about it, she agreed that she could not wear them.
If she returned home to see her younger sister dressed in torn and damaged clothes, wouldn’t everything be exposed immediately?
Chen Xu was just about to explain when a knock came from the front door downstairs. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Lin Wansu quickly went downstairs and opened the door.
Han Zheng was standing outside.
He clearly had not rested much throughout the night. His eyes were bloodshot, and he held a tablet and a phone in his hands.
Seeing Lin Wansu open the door, he paused for a moment. However, he quickly recovered and gave her a slight nod in greeting.
Chen Xu followed her over and asked, “What happened?”
Han Zheng’s expression was somewhat grave.
He first glanced at Lin Wansu, seemingly considering how to phrase what he was about to say, before handing the tablet to Chen Xu. “Young Master, news about the fire at the school has already started spreading.”
Chen Xu took the tablet. Several photographs recently sent back from the scene were displayed on the screen.
There was the Old Warehouse, burned until only its skeletal frame remained, fire trucks parked beside the playground, and crowds gathered around the school.
Chen Xu’s expression gradually darkened.
Han Zheng lowered his voice and said, “According to the information our people gathered, a student sent a voice message to a teacher last night saying that Miss Lin had been locked inside the warehouse. After the firefighters extinguished the fire this morning, their preliminary inspection didn’t find a body. However, because Miss Lin has been missing all night and no one can reach her phone, they’re currently assuming that Miss Lin has already…”
He did not say the final two words.
But Lin Wansu already understood.
The faint trace of color that had finally returned to her face instantly disappeared.
“Wanning?” Lin Wansu instinctively grabbed Chen Xu’s sleeve, her voice trembling. “Does she know?”
Han Zheng fell silent.
Naturally, he knew that Lin Wanning was already on her way to the school.
Not only that, but Han Zheng had stayed up all night investigating the entire sequence of events from beginning to end.
As the captain of the bodyguard team employed at a high salary by Chen Group, investigating such minor matters was almost effortless for him. He had even sent people overnight to keep watch near the house Lin Wanning was renting.
Of course, he had not done anything unnecessary, such as knocking on Lin Wanning’s door in advance to wake her and tell her what had happened, or charging into the school and dealing with He Man, the other girls, and their parents.
For Han Zheng and the Chen Group behind him, doing any of those things would have required little more than lifting a finger.
But Han Zheng had chosen to do nothing.
As long as he confirmed that the situation remained under control, that was enough.
Was he supposed to step forward while Chen Xu was still asleep, secretly resolve everything perfectly on his own, and then have the stunning twin sisters, Lin Wansu and Lin Wanning, kneel before him in gratitude?
Only a subordinate with something wrong with his head would do that.
What Han Zheng needed to do now was support Chen Xu, allowing him to appear when the sisters were at their most desperate and vulnerable, rescue them like a hero, take all the glory, and then rightfully accept their gratitude and repayment.
Chen Xu had never explicitly told him to do this, but Han Zheng absolutely could not afford not to understand.
No one who managed to enter the inner circle of Chen Group lacked the ability to read between the lines.
As for whether Chen Xu actually wanted any repayment, that was his own business.
Besides, Han Zheng could tell that his Young Master did indeed have such intentions.