A token of thanks?
The two of them were very close.
The man’s bearing was cool and aloof, but his breath was scorching hot. Nan Chu’s heart skipped a beat.
She pressed her lips together slightly, feeling a little flustered.
“No, it’s just that I’m not ready yet.”
The prayer beads weren’t at hand, and this wasn’t the right time either.
Shang Lin responded lightly, “Mm, I’ll carry you to wash up.”
“No need, I’ve already troubled Mr. Shang twice today.”
She had already been carried by Shang Lin twice today; having him carry her to wash up would be too embarrassing.
“Actually, my foot isn’t that serious.”
She supported herself against the nightstand and stood up, shifting her weight onto her uninjured left foot, then moved to the wheelchair by the bed.
“I can go over in the wheelchair. The doctor also said it’ll be fine after a night’s rest.”
Shang Lin’s brows and eyes were calm and composed. Seeing her resolute attitude, he didn’t insist further.
“I’ll be in the next bedroom. If anything happens, you can find me anytime.”
“Alright, thank you, Mr. Shang.”
Before leaving the room, he turned on the small night light in the hallway.
The warm yellow light cast layered warmth across the otherwise cool room, dispelling the chill of the night.
After a whole day of turmoil, Nan Chu thought she would lie awake all night.
On the contrary, she slept very well—not even a single dream.
She woke naturally in the morning. Nan Chu opened her eyes, and warm sunlight fell across her cheeks through the gaps in the curtains.
She raised a hand to shield her eyes, still feeling a little dazed.
Today was her first day as a married woman.
Nan Chu reached for her phone and checked the time—seven in the morning, with the morning light just right.
Before getting out of bed, she moved her ankle. There was no reaction.
She first tentatively stretched her foot to the floor, and only after confirming there was no pain did she step down with ease.
After washing up, Nan Chu went downstairs.
As she turned her gaze, she happened to see Shang Lin reading in the soft morning light.
He wore a light gray casual home shirt, his gaze deep beneath silver-rimmed glasses.
Even from a distance, one could sense the refined nobility about him that seemed untouched by the mundane world.
Nan Chu couldn’t help but recall the descriptions of Shang Lin on the campus confession wall during her university days.
A flower on the peak, not to be defiled.
Thinking of how she had agreed to get the marriage certificate with Shang Lin yesterday, she touched her nose.
It was truly a feat worthy of note.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Shang Lin tilted his head slightly, his deep eyes looking over.
“Awake?”
Nan Chu nodded. “Mm, good morning, Mr. Shang.”
“Good morning, Mrs. Shang.”
The address “Mrs. Shang” made Nan Chu’s heart skip a beat.
Truth be told, she wasn’t quite used to such an intimate form of address yet.
Shang Lin rose, walked to the dining table, and sat down, gesturing for Nan Chu to sit as well.
“Mr. Shang hasn’t eaten yet?”
Nan Chu was a little surprised, because judging by Shang Lin’s appearance, he should have been up for a while already.
“Waiting to eat with Mrs. Shang.”
Nan Chu paused.
She hadn’t expected Shang Lin to have deliberately waited for her. A hint of apology crept onto her face.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Shang. What time do you usually get up? Next time, I’ll definitely get up early so I don’t delay your meal.”
“It’s fine. I’m not used to eating too early in the morning.”
Nan Chu still felt a little guilty and silently vowed to get up at six sharp tomorrow.
As luck would have it, everything on the table was what Nan Chu loved to eat.
Century egg and lean pork congee, soup-filled xiaolongbao, crystal shrimp dumplings, and a small dish of Zhenjiang balsamic vinegar.
The aroma of vinegar tickled her nose, whetting her appetite. Nan Chu picked up her chopsticks and dug in.
Shang Lin caught a glimpse of Nan Chu with a smile in her eyes, and a faint glimmer flickered in his deep, calm gaze.
The phone by his hand buzzed with several incoming messages.
“How does it feel to get what you’ve always wanted?”
“Last night was your first night as newlyweds—was it explosive, like thunder and lightning?”
Thunder and lightning.
Recalling her soft, gentle words from last night—that she wasn’t ready—Shang Lin’s Adam’s apple shifted slightly. He didn’t reply.
Seeing that he hadn’t responded, the other party assumed they’d guessed the truth.
“Don’t tell me nothing happened? Look, you can’t keep going like this. If a man doesn’t make his move, he loses his place.”
“Pin her against the wall, against the bed, against the door—show off those eight-pack abs, that V-line! Flaunt it all!”
The other side kept firing off messages, but Shang Lin only sent one line in return.
“Article 237 of the Criminal Law.”
After sending that, Shang Lin shifted his gaze and found two small dishes had appeared in front of him.
One dish held glistening crystal shrimp dumplings, and the other held black vinegar.
He looked up and met Nan Chu’s clear, bright black eyes. “Mr. Shang, you should eat too.”
Though Nan Chu was enjoying her meal, Shang Lin across from her was simply too pleasing to the eye, and she couldn’t help but steal glances at him.
Seeing his gaze fixed on his phone, brows furrowed in deep thought as if pondering something important, she couldn’t help but marvel.
When she was sleeping, Shang Lin was reading. When she was eating, Shang Lin was working.
Truly admirable.
Shang Lin watched Nan Chu’s eyes sparkling, and it felt like a small pebble had been tossed into his heart, stirring ripples.
“Thank you.”
After the meal, Nan Chu sent her medical records to the company to request leave. She had just hung up the call when she saw several messages pop up on her phone screen.
All of them were bank transaction notifications.
Puzzled, she tapped one open, and when she saw the amount, she was stunned.
She counted the zeros one by one—every incoming transaction was in the tens of millions.
Nan Chu immediately sent a message to her mother.
“Mom, did you transfer money into my bank account?”
“No, why? What’s wrong, Chuchu?”
Nan Chu was even more bewildered.
Could she have run into a scam?
Her palms began to sweat slightly. She exchanged a few more words with her mother, then looked at Shang Lin.
“Mr. Shang, take your time eating. I need to go to the police station first.”
“What’s wrong?”
Nan Chu didn’t want to worry him, but then she remembered that the two of them were now husband and wife—when something happened, they should discuss it together.
She stood up, walked over to Shang Lin, opened the messages on her phone, and held the screen up in front of him.
“Several hundred million just appeared in my bank account. I think I’ve been targeted by a scam.”
Shang Lin raised an eyebrow. “Don’t panic. Tap into the transfer details and take a look.”
His voice was cool and clear, unexpectedly calming.
Nan Chu’s racing heart gradually steadied. She logged into the bank app, opened the transfer remarks, and froze.
The remarks were all uniform.
All of them read: “A hundred years of harmony, may you have a child soon.”
Shang Lin wasn’t surprised. His voice was light and gentle. “It’s not a scam. It’s our wedding gift money.”
His slender, well-defined fingers tapped on the transferors on the screen as he patiently explained to the stunned Nan Chu.
“These are from First Aunt, Second Aunt, Third Aunt, Fourth Uncle, Fifth Uncle, and Sixth Uncle.”
Nan Chu had attended plenty of weddings, but this was the first time she’d seen wedding gifts measured in the hundreds of millions.
That was way too much.
Shang Lin watched Nan Chu’s dazed, bewildered eyes, a faint smile curving at the corner of his lips as he explained in a low voice.
“This was supposed to be given to you yesterday, but large transfers take time to process, so it was delayed until today. I hope Mrs. Shang doesn’t mind.”
Nan Chu quickly shook her head.
“I don’t mind at all. I just think it’s really too much.”
“It’s not much.”
Shang Lin’s words set the tone for the matter. He looked at Nan Chu, who still seemed a bit taken aback, and spoke.
“Do you have time today?”
Nan Chu snapped back to reality and nodded.
“Yes, I do. Is there something you need, Mr. Shang?”
Shang Lin lowered his gaze to her. “Mm, we’re going to meet your parents.”