Chu Tianqing scanned the room—Assistant Sun wasn't there.
Lin Sinian heard the commotion and lifted his eyelids to glance at her, his eyes filled with complex, questioning emotions.
The moment Chu Tianqing laid eyes on Lin Sinian, a surge of intense possessiveness and irritation welled up inside her.
She'd argued with him just yesterday and was confident she'd won.
But looking at him now, why did his gaze toward her…
Carry a hint of provocation?!
The little devil inside Chu Tianqing's head sounded the battle horn—
Bring it on, you loser from yesterday!
Want to fight today? I'll stomp you into the ground again!
She straightened her back and shot back a fierce glare.
Lin Sinian met her gaze with cold, unyielding eyes.
He thought Chu Tianqing was utterly absurd.
She was the one who'd been dishonest in their marriage, deliberately hiding things—and she still had the nerve to act so arrogant? He'd actually planned to have a calm, reasonable talk with her today.
How could there be someone in this world so self-righteously unreasonable? And if there had to be one, why did he have to marry her?
Lin Sinian was convinced that his pre-amnesia self must have been out of his mind.
Their gazes clashed back and forth, like a silent duel.
Until three seconds later, just as Lin Sinian was about to speak—
A soft, sweet girl's voice drifted into the room: "Uncle, are you feeling better?"
Lin Nanxi walked in from behind Chu Tianqing, ran to his bedside, and grabbed Lin Sinian's hand.
Right behind Lin Nanxi, Assistant Sun walked in carrying a basket of fresh fruit and a large box filled with the snacks, milk tea, and little cakes that young girls loved.
"Chairman Lin, as you instructed—"
Lin Sinian glanced up at him, and Assistant Sun immediately shut his mouth, turning to arrange the items.
Chu Tianqing casually picked an apple from the fruit basket, found a paring knife, and sat down on the companion sofa with a put-on air, gazing at them with a gentle expression.
She tilted her head slightly, letting a stray strand of hair "coincidentally" fall to the tip of her nose.
Instead of brushing it away with her hand, she gave a light toss of her head and said in a soft voice, "Sinian, shall I peel an apple for you?"
Lin Sinian sat upright, his eyes filled with utter bewilderment.
Lin Nanxi let out a "wow": "Uncle, Auntie loves you so much! She's so gentle with you!"
Chu Tianqing lowered her head with exaggerated coyness: "Oh, Xiaoxi, don't say that—I'll get shy. Though it's true that I really do love your uncle…"
Lin Sinian: "…"
Love my ass.
Chu Tianqing's voice was syrupy sweet as she began peeling the apple: "Sinian, since I wasn't here last night, did you skip your meals again? Don't do that anymore. For me, for our family, you need to eat properly~"
Lin Sinian narrowed his eyes: "When were you ever here at night? Don't you leave at five o'clock sharp every day?"
"Even if my body isn't here, my heart is always with you." Chu Tianqing smiled sweetly, her hands not even pausing as she peeled away with a series of crisp sounds.
In her mind, the apple had become Lin Sinian—peel away, you sneaky bastard!
That cunning Lin Sinian, calling her out in front of the kid!
In front of her niece, Chu Tianqing was determined to cement her image as the gentle, virtuous young aunt.
That way, no matter what happened at home after Lin Sinian returned, Lin Nanxi would always side with her.
"Xiaoxi, want to split the apple with your uncle?" Chu Tianqing held up the peeled apple, tilting her head with a sweet smile.
Lin Nanxi looked at the apple, which had been reduced to the size of a cherry by Chu Tianqing's "Dubai-style" knife work, and said understandingly, "Better give it all to Uncle."
Chu Tianqing brought the apple to his lips: "Sinian, this is my first time peeling an apple. You won't be picky, will you?"
From this angle, no one else could see their expressions.
Chu Tianqing glared at him.
Don't push your luck. Eat it, damn it…
Lin Sinian's face was expressionless as he took the apple and bit into it.
And that was it.
The apple was too small for a second bite.
He swallowed it whole, core and all.
"Sweet?" Chu Tianqing was very satisfied and picked up another apple. "Xiaoxi, want me to peel one for you too?"
"Let me, let me! Madam, please spare this apple…" Assistant Sun "rescued" the apple from her hands, saving it from a death by a thousand cuts.
Chu Tianqing grabbed a wet wipe and turned to sit back on the sofa.
Lin Sinian's voice came, neither heavy nor light: "Yesterday afternoon, you took leave to go to the old mansion and see your three uncles?"
"That's right," Chu Tianqing said as she leisurely wiped her hands, looking up at him. "What about it?"
Lin Sinian paused, his tone turning serious: "Getting them to agree to let your best friend marry Lin Zhichen—that's the thing you said would have serious consequences if you didn't accomplish it?"
Lin Nanxi and Assistant Sun both shrank their necks, sensing the tense atmosphere in the room.
"Yes." Chu Tianqing held his gaze the entire time, never looking away.
She spoke word by word—
"Because I believe in Shen Xinglan. She's the only hope for Lin Zhichen to wake up."
"Of course, Lin Zhichen waking up sooner is even more important to the Lin and Chen families."
"For me, Lin Zhichen and I don't share any deep bond. He's my new husband's cousin—we've barely met twice, just acquaintances who exchange nods."
Hearing this, Lin Sinian felt inexplicably pleased, though he had no way of judging whether it was true or false.
Whether it was her natural use of the term "my new husband" or her claim of having "no deep bond" with Lin Zhichen, both made his chest feel heavy.
Chu Tianqing stubbornly straightened her back and raised her voice—
"From start to finish, I stand on the side of my friend Shen Xinglan."
"She's had a crush on Lin Zhichen since middle school, and they lost contact after he went abroad."
"After you and I started dating, they reconnected."
"Shen Xinglan wants to establish an independent laboratory for Lin Zhichen, specifically to research drugs that repair brain nerves."
"She said she wants to marry him—even if I have ten thousand objections in my heart, I'll respect her wishes. Because it's what she wants, I'll do everything in my power to make her and Lin Zhichen's wedding happen, and I'll clear every obstacle for her."
"I went to see your three uncles precisely to get them to sincerely offer their wedding blessings to Lin Zhichen and Shen Xinglan."
"I did this for Shen Xinglan. It has nothing to do with Lin Zhichen, and nothing to do with you, Lin Sinian."
"If tomorrow Shen Xinglan says she doesn't want to marry Lin Zhichen—that she wants to marry Putin instead—then I'll fly to Russia and go to the Kremlin to find him. From that point on, Lin Zhichen's life or death wouldn't have a single cent's worth of connection to me."
Chu Tianqing, like a proud little swan, lifted her slender neck: "So do you understand now why I didn't tell you yesterday where I was going or what I was doing?"
The answer couldn't be simpler—
Because all of this has nothing to do with you, Lin Sinian.
For a moment, Lin Sinian was genuinely convinced by her righteous, arrogant, yet three-parts-sincere speech.
But setting emotions aside and analyzing carefully, Chu Tianqing's argument still had obvious holes.
However, with Lin Nanxi and Assistant Sun present, Lin Sinian didn't want to dig deeper.
He only wanted to know one thing right now.
Lin Sinian sneered and shook his head: "You went to see my three uncles to invite them to the wedding of Lin Zhichen and your friend, hoping they'd offer their blessings…"
Lin Sinian paused for a moment, stood up from the bed, and walked over to stand before Chu Tianqing.
He leaned down, bracing his hand on the sofa armrest as he drew closer, the veins on the back of his hand faintly pulsing, once again locking eyes with her.
A trace of uncontainable irritation crept into Lin Sinian's tone: "So, you care more about the blessings of three uncles you've only met twice, and you don't care whether I, as the cousin, offer my blessings to my cousin's wedding?"
Chu Tianqing's breath caught for a moment—their noses were almost touching, and the sudden closeness sent her heart rate spiraling out of control.
Lin Nanxi watched them from the side, screaming internally like a prairie dog: AHHH!!
"Little uncle, little aunt, Assistant Sun will take me up to the third floor to see Uncle Achen…"
Lin Nanxi grabbed Assistant Sun and bolted, thoughtfully closing the hospital room door behind them.
From her angle, little uncle and little aunt were about to kiss!
She understood perfectly—little uncle and little aunt were newlyweds who hadn't even had their wedding night before the accident happened. They'd been holding back for a full two weeks now.
Usually when little aunt came to the hospital to accompany him, doctors and nurses kept coming in for check-ups, and Assistant Sun stood guard like a door god.
Little aunt and little uncle never got any alone time at all.
Never mind that they were quarreling like swords drawn and bows bent right now—that was just because their emotions hadn't found an outlet.
The next second, something intensely exciting was bound to happen—Angry Sex! And generally, after that kind of cathartic, frenzied lovemaking, their feelings for each other would reach a whole new level of sublimation!
She and Assistant Sun absolutely couldn't be clueless third wheels.
Chu Tianqing: "…"
Her great-niece always seemed dazed and confused, but at critical moments she was the ultimate wingman, clearing the field on her own initiative.
Well then, time for her to make her move—time to perform!
Hearing the chaotic footsteps and the sound of the door closing, Lin Sinian didn't even lift his head, his gaze remaining locked with Chu Tianqing's.
"Chu Tianqing, you've met my three uncles. How much concern do you think they actually have for Lin Zhichen?"
He raised his eyes, glancing over her slightly trembling pupils.
"And what about me? Do you think I care even less about Achen than they do, so you never even considered inviting me to their wedding?"
"How could I ever question your sincerity toward your own brother? I…" Chu Tianqing didn't finish her sentence before her whole body suddenly swayed without warning, collapsing limply toward Lin Sinian.
The distance between them closed abruptly, and Chu Tianqing's lips crashed toward Lin Sinian's.
In that instant, she tilted her head slightly, like a newly awakened little vampire baring her fangs.
"Hiss…" Lin Sinian steadied her with one hand while covering the corner of his mouth with the other.
Chu Tianqing's sharp canine tooth had precisely split the corner of his lip.
"I think I… have a bit of low blood sugar. I feel so dizzy." Chu Tianqing waved her hand vaguely in the air, "accidentally" knocking over a cup of warm water on the small mobile table.
The glass traced a perfect arc through the air, not a single drop spilling, as the entire contents splashed onto Lin Sinian's thigh.
He was wearing a pair of dark gray lounge pants, and a large, awkward patch of dark water stains spread across his thigh and the area that shall not be named.
At that moment, Chu Tianqing flopped onto the armrest like a boneless puppy. "Dizzy…"
Lin Sinian raised a hand to touch the corner of his mouth, then pulled his fingers back—they were stained with a trace of crimson. He let out a laugh that was forced out through sheer exasperation.
Could low blood sugar make someone accurately bite another person's lip hard enough to draw blood?
Unable to tell whether she was faking it, Lin Sinian didn't have time to grab a towel or tend to his wound. He made a move to press the bedside call button. "Low blood sugar? I'll call a doctor to take a look."
"No need, no need, I just need to eat something." Chu Tianqing's eyes and hands moved in tandem as she snatched an apple from the fruit bowl and took several fierce bites.
The crisp flesh burst between her teeth, mingling with Lin Sinian's blood. Chu Tianqing mumbled indistinctly, "Whoo… so sweet! This apple… bloody sweet, bloody sweet!"
Lin Sinian: "What kind of description is that?"
Chu Tianqing let out a "hehe" laugh. "It's a dialect from a small town—means sweet to the bone."
She was thinking to herself: biting his lip bloody, "the blood tastes sweet," and wetting his pants were done. One thing left—a forced kiss…
"Aren't you dizzy anymore?" Lin Sinian looked at her suspiciously.
"Fruit sugar cured my low blood sugar!" Chu Tianqing put down the apple, and before Lin Sinian could react, she pressed down on his shoulders with all her might and pulled him onto the sofa without a word. "Um… I didn't mean to do that just now. Let me put some medicine on it for you?"
Lin Sinian couldn't even pull the corner of his mouth into a smile—it hurt just to move it.
He felt like he needed a rabies shot.
Chu Tianqing licked her lips. Her mouth hurt too from that collision just now. She briskly rummaged through the medicine box for iodine and a cotton swab, then leaned in close to him, dabbing at the blood at the corner of Lin Sinian's mouth.
"Whoo, whoo…" After applying the medicine, she habitually blew gently on the wound at the corner of his mouth.
Lin Sinian felt a faint cool breeze brush across his lips, carrying a hint of apple's sweet fragrance.
"Done." A flicker of resolve passed through Chu Tianqing's eyes. She cupped Lin Sinian's handsome, noble face with both hands with a "smack," aimed at his forehead—
"Mwah!" Like a bird pecking at food, she planted a heavy kiss on his smooth forehead.
After kissing him, Chu Tianqing quickly stepped back, pressed her palms together, and muttered, "Bad luck, go away, go away! Consider it stamped—from now on, you won't be so unlucky."
Chu Tianqing reasoned to herself: the original text said "forced kiss," but it didn't specify where the "forced kiss" was. A forced kiss on the forehead still counts as a forced kiss!
Lin Sinian raised a hand to touch his forehead, his brows furrowing tightly.
Her brief physical contact triggered some strange reactions in his body that he had never experienced before.
His heart rate accelerated, a wave of heat gradually piled up across his body, his breathing grew rapid, and his chest and lower abdomen tightened and ached…
And this ominous physical state gradually returned to normal once she put distance between them.
"When I was little, whenever I ran into bad luck or got accidentally hurt, my grandma would comfort me like this—it works really well!"
Chu Tianqing stood up straight. The "lie" had been made up yesterday, but her expression was sincere and earnest: "You're my family, right? You don't mind me stamping you, do you?"
Whether Lin Sinian minded or not, Chu Tianqing had completed her Plot Mission anyway.
She grabbed her bag, pulled out a red envelope from inside, and shoved it haphazardly into Lin Sinian's hand. "This is for you—my wedding invi…"
Lin Sinian clamped down on her wrist and yanked her toward him, the invitation falling onto the table.
Chu Tianqing's breath caught in her throat as she was forced to squeeze between Lin Sinian's legs.
She could feel the flutter of his eyelashes, the heat of his body temperature, and smell his scent—it was too close.
Lin Sinian's palm was dry and scorching hot as he pinched her chin with one hand. "You like biting people that much? Are you a dog?"
Before Chu Tianqing could answer, the system notification rang in her ear again—
[Please complete the following plot for the host]
As she read the original text that appeared before her eyes, her face instantly flushed yellow.
[…Chu Tianqing, burning with lust, lured Lin Sinian into a secret room and played with him like a dog, using extremely cruel methods to make him cry. Lin Sinian became addicted to her, and from then on, he could have no one but her.]