Chu Tianqing tried to explain herself: "No, no! Brother, I meant the flower language of pumpkin blossoms, not pea shoots. Pea shoots aren't flowers anyway, right…"
Lin Sinian narrowed his eyes, listening to her "quibbling."
Was she hinting that he was too old for her?
Chu Tianqing quickly added: "The flower language of pumpkin blossoms is joy and steadfast love—just like my feelings for you."
As a student specializing in performance, she delivered her "lines" with an unwavering sense of conviction.
She added another line: "Would you believe me if I said I've never eaten pea shoots before?"
Seeing that Lin Sinian still had a stern face, Chu Tianqing decided she was done pandering to him.
Old man, believe it or not.
She directly snatched the bouquet from his hand and handed it to Assistant Sun: "Have the kitchen stir-fry these. They're really not old."
Lin Sinian said in a low voice: "Put it down." Was she not even bothering to pretend anymore?
Assistant Sun was caught in the middle, not knowing whether to take it or not.
Chu Tianqing casually tossed the flowers onto the table: "Don't like them stir-fried? We could make soup instead."
That morning, Lin Sinian had two check-ups with several meetings squeezed in between.
His dizziness and headaches had just started to improve, and now the workload was picking right back up.
Chu Tianqing no longer needed to look up information, and being stuck in the hospital room was boring, so she went upstairs to check on Lin Zhichen.
Third floor, VIP special care ward.
Lin Zhichen's three uncles had stopped by in the morning to make an appearance, snapped some photos and videos as evidence, then slipped away.
Only a nurse auntie remained in Lin Zhichen's room.
The nurse auntie had seen Chu Tianqing a few times and had accepted her snacks and fruit.
Chu Tianqing would sometimes come in to check on him when the uncles weren't around, and the nurse auntie never mentioned it to them.
"Little beauty's here! I was just about to head to the restroom." The nurse auntie greeted Chu Tianqing warmly.
"Go ahead." Chu Tianqing smiled at the nurse auntie.
Chu Tianqing was left alone in Lin Zhichen's room, with only the monotonous, rhythmic hum of the ventilator filling the air.
Lin Zhichen lay there quietly.
Perhaps because he hadn't been in a coma for too long, he didn't have the withered, deathly aura typical of vegetative patients. He just looked like a beauty sleeping in a dream, as if he might wake at any moment.
Chu Tianqing took a few photos of Lin Zhichen and sent them to Shen Xinglan. Even close-up shots couldn't hide his beauty tinged with a sense of fragility.
The Lin family's looks were truly a gift from heaven.
Though she didn't want to admit it, even the three insufferable old geezers of the Lin family were decent-looking—clearly they'd been heartbreakers in their youth, luring plenty of people in.
Chu Tianqing sent a WeChat message to Shen Xinglan: 【Your husband.】
Shen Xinglan quickly replied with several messages—
Analyzing from various professional angles that Lin Zhichen was an excellent "lab rat"… no, experimental subject.
After reading them, Chu Tianqing sent back a voice message: "Looking at your husband lying there, like his soul is trapped inside, I can't help but feel a little sorry for him."
Shen Xinglan sent a voice message back: "He won't be pitiable once he's in my hands. I have confidence in my experimental skills. Maybe he'll wake up even sooner."
Chu Tianqing was just about to say, "Don't wake up too soon—leave us some time to make money…" when she heard a faint sound at the door of the ward.
She instinctively turned her head.
A slim, tall middle-aged woman with short hair stood silently at the doorway.
From the looks of it, she seemed to have been standing there for a while.
Chu Tianqing had never seen her before: "You are…"
The woman had a cold, proud air about her and spoke with a hint of hostility: "I'm Lin Zhichen's biological aunt. Who are you? Why are you in Achen's room…"
"Hello, I'm Lin Sinian's wife." Chu Tianqing nodded politely.
So this woman was the only blood relative left from Lin Zhichen's maternal family—Chen Qingci, the current president of Chen's Media Group.
"You're… Achen's little cousin-in-law, Chu Tianqing?" Chen Qingci hesitated for a moment, then her expression relaxed.
"Hello, Auntie." Chu Tianqing stepped forward with a sweet, obedient smile.
Chen Qingci looked her over: "Before Achen's accident, he sent me photos of you and Sinian's wedding. Without makeup, you're like a completely different person from the bride in those photos. You look way too young in person."
Chu Tianqing guided her to the sofa: "A lot of people say that. Please, have a seat. I'll pour you some tea."
She went to the pantry in the suite to get cups and tea leaves, moving slowly to buy herself some time.
The conversation she'd just had with Shen Xinglan had probably been overheard by Lin Zhichen's aunt. She needed to figure out how to handle this.
Chu Tianqing's mind rapidly searched through the plot points about Lin Zhichen's aunt, Chen Qingci.
In the original story, Lin Zhichen's maternal family had only his aunt left, struggling to keep the massive Chen's Media Group afloat.
After that accident, the aunt lost her ability to bear children, and her fiancé called off their engagement because of it.
She could never move past the deaths of her parents and sister, developing severe PTSD and major depression, and picking up a drinking problem on top of it all.
If it weren't for her sister's only remaining bloodline in this world, she would have long since lost the will to run the group—perhaps one night, a handful of pills and a bottle of liquor would have taken her to join her sister and parents.
When she learned that Lin Zhichen had been "sentenced to death" by the doctors and would never wake up, Chen Qingci broke down completely.
Chen Qingci felt so guilty toward his sister for failing to care for her only nephew that he leaped from the rooftop of his own building.
Chen Qingci's tragedy was relegated to a side story by the author.
Fortunately, Chu Tianqing had a compulsion to finish every story she started—no matter how terrible the writing, she would read through to the extras.
Chu Tianqing already had a plan.
She collected her somber emotions and walked out carrying a tea tray. "I looked around and only found Tieguanyin. Auntie, you'll have to make do today. Tell me what you like to drink, and I'll prepare it in advance next time."
"Just set it down." Chen Qingci sat on the sofa, her gaze sharp as she looked at her. "It's thoughtful of you to come see Achen."
Chu Tianqing glanced at Lin Zhichen lying in the hospital bed. "Although Sinian and Achen are cousins, emotionally he's like a younger brother to him, so naturally he's family to me too."
"Qingqing, may I call you that?" Chen Qingci's tone softened slightly, though her eyes remained piercing.
Chu Tianqing smiled gently. "Of course. When you call me that, Auntie, it makes me feel very close to you."
Chen Qingci got straight to the point. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with your friend earlier. So, can you explain to me why your friend called Achen 'husband'?"
"And also—" Chen Qingci looked directly into her eyes, "—did your friend say she was confident in the experiment and that there was a chance Achen could wake up sooner?"
Her voice trembled on that last sentence.
Chu Tianqing looked at the middle-aged woman with a haggard face and bloodshot eyes.
Just one glance into her eyes was enough to feel the devastation and pain buried deep inside Chen Qingci.
What Chen Qingci needed now was hope—even if it was an illusory hope.
But with hope, she could keep living.
Chu Tianqing decided to weave a kind "lie." She didn't want anyone to give up on life.
And this kind "lie" wouldn't just give Chen Qingci hope to hold on until Lin Zhichen woke up—it might also lend a hand to her and Shen Xinglan.
"Auntie," Chu Tianqing lowered her gaze and spoke softly, "I… can I trust you? In the Lin family, my husband has lost his memory. You must have heard something about the situation with the elders of the Lin clan."
Chen Qingci nodded. "I know. Achen mentioned it to me before—those old bastards have always had ill intentions, trying to push women onto him and Sinian. When Sinian married you, they must have been displeased. They've given you a hard time, haven't they?"
Chu Tianqing was also skilled at playing the pure-and-innocent persona.
She looked up at Chen Qingci and gave a faint smile. "I haven't had much chance to interact with the uncles of the Lin family. I only know they don't particularly like me."
With the background set, Chu Tianqing moved to the main point—
"I secretly took a few photos of Lin Zhichen earlier and sent them to my best friend, because…"
"My best friend has had a secret crush on Lin Zhichen for many years."
Chen Qingci's eyes flickered, and she furrowed her brow.
Chu Tianqing continued earnestly—
"Her name is Shen Xinglan. Lin Zhichen is four years older than her. My best friend skipped a grade. When she was in her third year of middle school, Lin Zhichen was in his second year of high school. She's had a crush on him since middle school."
"Lin Zhichen was too dazzling back then—lead singer of the band, student council president, winning awards in robotics and physics competitions left and right. His grades were excellent too. He was the prince in every girl's heart at school."
At this moment, Chu Tianqing was grateful that the author wrote such scattered, trivial details—details determined everything!
"Shen Xinglan was too insecure to confess to him."
"Later, she mustered up the courage to tell him how she felt, only to learn that his family had gone through some upheaval and he was going abroad to study."
"So she buried that crush deep in her heart for years. At first, she didn't even tell me about it."
"After I started dating Lin Sinian, I happened to learn that Lin Zhichen was his cousin. Once, I casually mentioned it to Shen Xinglan and asked if she remembered that famous senior from the high school division."
"Only then did Shen Xinglan tell me about her secret crush. So I played matchmaker and introduced them to each other."
"Shen Xinglan truly loves Lin Zhichen. Because of that old crush, she never dared to voice her feelings."
"But honestly, I could sense that Lin Zhichen probably knew how she felt—he just never found the right moment to express himself. Or perhaps…"
Chu Tianqing paused, meeting Chen Qingci's probing gaze. "Perhaps they've already confessed their feelings to each other, and we just don't know about it."
"How can you be sure?" Chen Qingci asked skeptically.