"I'm allergic to ginger." Lin Sinian's expression didn't change.
"…" Chu Tianqing was annoyed by his excuse.
Annoyed that she hadn't thought of using this reason earlier to refuse a big bowl of ginger soup.
It wasn't until the nurse took away the meal tray that she realized—
Wait a minute?
The VIP ward patient's allergies were registered on the first day, and even the companion meals were carefully labeled with allergen information.
The hospital wouldn't be so careless as to blatantly serve an allergenic ingredient right in front of the patient.
He had deliberately swapped it for ginger soup!
It was lunch break.
The curtains in the ward were drawn, and the indoor lighting was dim.
Chu Tianqing, like a "little fire dragon" with flames shooting from her eyes, glared indignantly at Lin Sinian, who was peacefully resting with his eyes closed.
What a cunning, sly old fox…
During the lunch break, Chu Tianqing went to the third floor as usual to eavesdrop.
Just as she stepped out, she noticed Assistant Sun also following her out of the ward.
"Madam, I'd like to ask you something."
Assistant Sun took out his phone and showed her pictures of a Mercedes G63, a Porsche 911, a Bentley Bentayga, a Rolls-Royce… All the luxury cars in the pictures were in soft, pastel pink colors.
Assistant Sun: "I want to buy my wife a car."
Chu Tianqing let out a "wow": "You and your wife are so loving."
Assistant Sun said sincerely: "I'd like to hear your thoughts on cars, as a reference."
Chu Tianqing thought seriously for a moment: "I don't have much knowledge about cars. I got my license the summer after the college entrance exam, and I usually just drive my family's Volkswagen for commuting…"
She looked carefully at the luxury car pictures on Assistant Sun's phone and smiled apologetically: "To be honest, Assistant Sun, the car you want to give your wife is a bit beyond my knowledge. I really don't know much about them."
"That's fine, thank you, Madam." Assistant Sun had already gotten the useful information he needed.
Chu Tianqing thought of someone who could help him: "Why don't you ask my niece? Xiaoxi knows a lot about luxury goods and luxury cars. She can definitely give you better advice."
"Alright, I'll ask Miss when I get the chance." Assistant Sun retreated back into the ward.
Chu Tianqing didn't think much of it and continued her "intelligence" work.
She was busy until the afternoon, when the sky had cleared up.
Fifteen minutes until five o'clock.
Chu Tianqing was still focused on the computer screen.
Lin Sinian had a very full afternoon schedule.
At exactly five o'clock—
Chu Tianqing packed up her backpack and said goodbye to him, "Bye, see you tomorrow."
Lin Sinian had just finished listening to a department report and gave a slight nod in response.
After Chu Tianqing left, he only then remembered that he had forgotten to tell her she didn't need to come anymore.
Next time, he would definitely remember.
Tuesday and Wednesday were both nice days.
Chu Tianqing rode her shared bike to "clock in for work" without fail.
Thursday was another sunny day.
Chu Tianqing parked her bike, slung her backpack over her shoulders, and walked through the hospital parking lot toward the inpatient building.
The VIP parking spot closest to the inpatient building was cordoned off with barriers, and quite a few people were gathered around watching the commotion.
With the mentality of "if there's a show to watch and you don't watch it, you're a fool," Chu Tianqing squeezed in for a look.
A few middle-aged men were chatting confidently, looking like they knew their cars—
"It's the latest Bentley Bentayga, the one with aviation seats!"
"It still has temporary plates—just picked it up and drove it out?"
"Wouldn't the on-road price be three million?"
"At least four and a half million. The options are very expensive—might be five million. My dream car."
"The color of this car is so unique. Is it custom paint?"
"This is a custom matte avocado green, right? The owner has quite distinctive taste."
Hearing "avocado green," Chu Tianqing immediately pulled her ears back.
Fortunately, this time she managed to rein in her runaway thoughts in advance.
She nipped the little spark in her mind in the bud before two shameless, clothesless chibi figures could pop out.
Chu Tianqing comforted herself—luckily this car wasn't hers, even though she couldn't afford it anyway.
Otherwise, her brain really wouldn't be usable anymore; she'd need to get a chemical peel to clear out the yellow before she could drive.
Pushing open the door to the ward, Chu Tianqing's energetic "good morning" got stuck at her lips.
She froze for a few seconds, almost not recognizing the distinguished man standing by the window.
Having grown used to seeing Lin Sinian in a hospital gown, this was the first time she saw him dressed in a pure black shirt and trousers.
The cool-toned fabric perfectly hugged his model-like frame.
On that breathtakingly beautiful face sat a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, adding a hint of "suave villain" charm to him.
Lin Sinian lowered his head slightly, elegantly and casually adjusting his cufflinks.
"Not done looking yet?" He raised his eyes to her, his tone as cold as ever.
Chu Tianqing's throat tightened. She cleared her throat and smoothly resumed her sweet smile.
"Of course not. How could I ever get tired of looking at someone as handsome as Chairman Lin?" Chu Tianqing's cheesy little flirtations came effortlessly.
Lin Sinian straightened up and nodded for her to come over.
Chu Tianqing walked up to him.
"Commuter car." Lin Sinian's gaze swept over the two car keys casually tossed on the table.
Chu Tianqing picked one up. The key was fully wrapped in a leather cover, with only a letter "B" showing on the back.
Oh, a BYD. She knew cars.
It was just that the color of the leather cover happened to be—
Avocado green?! Immediately activating the brain's anti-"yellow" addiction system.
Chu Tianqing smiled gracefully: "Thank you. Is the car a gift for me, or…"
"Like the cars at home that were taken by the group, do I only have usage rights?"
She definitely needed to clarify.
"It's under your name, paid in full." Lin Sinian's scrutinizing gaze swept over her.
"Um… could you send me the purchase contract and the vehicle registration?" Chu Tianqing wasn't quite reassured—she'd only be certain after seeing the contract. "Also, where's the car parked?"
"The contract and registration are in the car, parked in the hospital parking lot. You can find it yourself."
Lin Sinian's tone carried a hint of distance and coldness as he glanced at his watch.
Before Chu Tianqing could speak, he brushed past her.
"You can take the day off today. I have meetings scheduled almost all day." Lin Sinian walked straight out of the ward.
Chu Tianqing stood at attention, seeing off the "boss"—no wait—her husband, leaning forward and waving: "Don't work too hard, make sure to balance work and rest!"
Chu Tianqing waited five minutes, took the elevator down, and strolled to the hospital parking lot.
Car keys in hand, she stood by the VIP parking spot, mimicking Lin Sinian's tone with sarcasm: "You can find it yourself~"
It was just a BYD, not some luxury car.
He'd said it so arrogantly, as if she could spot that BYD at a glance—when there were clearly so many BYDs in the lot.
One was parked right across from Chu Tianqing. She pressed the unlock button on the key fob.
A crisp unlocking sound came from nearby.
Except the BYD in front of her didn't react at all.
"Huh?" Chu Tianqing turned to locate the sound and pressed unlock again.
The matte avocado-green Bentley Bentayga parked in the VIP spot flashed its lights twice.
Chu Tianqing: ??
She pressed once, then again, then again and again…
The Bentley Bentayga kept blinking its "Kazilan" crystal-cut headlights, "flirting" with her.
Chu Tianqing looked at the back of the key fob and realized the leather case opening was a bit small, covering the "BENTLEY" letters surrounding the "B" logo.
"Damn! It's a Bentley? Not a BYD!" Chu Tianqing circled the Bentley like a little dog unable to find a spot to lift its leg and pee.
That old man really was a capitalist—gifting a Bentley as casually as a BYD?!
Chu Tianqing sat in the driver's seat, closing the door with a "click."
Inhaling the fresh scent of white piano wood and Scantina calfskin leather, she excitedly dialed Shen Xinglan's number.
Shen Xinglan answered after a moment: "Qingqing, I'm still in class…"
Chu Tianqing gripped the steering wheel and let out a villainous laugh: "Hehehe! Babe! We've got wheels now! The old man gave me a Bentley. Wait for me—I'll drive over to pick you up after school at noon!"
Shen Xinglan's voice was cool: "Is the car under your name? Any loans? Send me the contract."
"Paid in full, under my name." Chu Tianqing photographed the contract and registration and sent them to Shen Xinglan.
After "reviewing" them, Shen Xinglan's tone softened, with a hint of sympathy: "Qingqing, you've had it so hard. A few-million car is nothing to Lin Sinian, yet my babe had to suffer riding a bike to work every day."
Chu Tianqing felt a bit guilty: "It's just… I rode a bike for a little over a week, and traded up to a four-to-five-million Bentley. That's pretty good value, right?"
Shen Xinglan: "He's your husband—whatever he gives you, you deserve. And he still won't reply to your messages? Old scumbag, low-class trash!"
Chu Tianqing: "Lanlan's right, old scumbag, low-class trash!"
Chu Tianqing and Shen Xinglan shared an extremely double-standard "twisted" best-friend bond—even if both of them were juggling eight hundred boats, they'd still praise each other with "Juggling eight hundred boats? My babe's amazing! Standing so steady!"
They had only one bottom line—
The right to know.
Everything else, I'll unconditionally take your side.
"Oh, right, Qingqing, you're not used to the new car yet. Don't drive all the way to school to find me on your first day. Tomorrow's Friday and I don't have class—I'll come to you."
Shen Xinglan's tone left no room for argument, not letting her drive over.
"Fine then, I'll pick you up tomorrow."
Although Chu Tianqing was eager to share the new car with Shen Xinglan, she always listened to her best friend and conceded.
After hanging up, Chu Tianqing adjusted the driver's seat.
She learned new things quickly—she'd gotten her driver's license in an extreme 26 days during the summer after gaokao.
During college, she'd worked on film sets, and to save time, she'd rented a Jinbei van and driven herself around with all her belongings.
Driving back to the villa, feeling the Bentley's superior performance on the road, Chu Tianqing finally touched a sliver of the real feeling of marrying into wealth.
But by the time she got home, most of her excitement about the new car had faded.
Chu Tianqing reminded herself—this was nothing. Just a Bentley.
Cars were consumables; they depreciated the moment you got them.
And a Bentley couldn't be brought into the third dimension anyway. Selling it secondhand would lose money and break her heart. She needed to keep her perspective broad.
Chu Tianqing was going to make a fortune with Shen Xinglan in this book—buying private jets and yachts to enjoy life, then selling off all assets once the mission was complete and heading back to the third dimension with a hundred billion in cash to retire in style.
The mere thought filled her with boundless motivation.
Chu Tianqing was still thinking about the original owner's study, which she had already searched twice with a fine-tooth comb without finding any useful clues.
This time, she didn't dive straight into a third search.
Instead, she sat calmly at the study door, closed her eyes, and tried to put herself in the original owner's shoes.
"I want to marry my best friend to the comatose Lin Zhichen under the guise of 'warding off evil'…"
Extracting the key information—
"I want to marry my best friend to Lin Zhichen."
Chu Tianqing's eyes snapped open. She had figured something out.
Perhaps the original owner had long harbored the intention of marrying her best friend to the vice president of the Lin Group.
The wedding framed as "warding off evil" was merely a response to Lin Zhichen's "comatose" condition.
But the idea of "marrying off her best friend" likely predated the car accident involving Lin Zhichen and Lin Sinian. This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision—it was premeditated!
Chu Tianqing deduced that from the very first day the original owner met Lin Sinian, she had been scheming about how she and her best friend could both marry into the wealthy family and slowly devour and seize control of it.
Given the original owner's execution ability, she would have taken further action after Lin Sinian and Lin Zhichen's accident.
It suddenly dawned on Chu Tianqing—the original owner's fainting act at the hospital wasn't simply laziness or a desire to go home and sleep.
She must have obtained what she wanted at the hospital. Keeping it on her person was risky and easily discovered, so she needed to return to the villa to hide it.
When people hide things, they instinctively stash them in the place they frequent the most.
Previously, she had only focused on the study, forgetting the blind spots right under her nose.
Chu Tianqing stood up and headed to the bedroom, turning the bedroom, walk-in closet, and bathroom upside down, searching every possible hiding spot.
Inside the wardrobe, she discovered a canvas tote bag printed with an advertisement slogan.
This was highly unusual—it didn't match the original owner's style at all.
Chu Tianqing opened the tote bag and found a crumpled document inside.
Flipping it open, she froze for a moment—it was actually a notarized document?!
There seemed to be… bloodstains on it? Did she sign it right at the accident scene?!
Seeing the name on the document, Chu Tianqing's heart nearly leaped out of her chest.