Shen Nian entered after entering the password. Lu Lingchuan, who was on the balcony, heard the sound and turned his head, saying to the lawyer Xu on the phone: "Send the detailed information to my mailbox, I'll take a look later."
Then he hung up.
Shen Nian was taking off her shoes when Lu Lingchuan came over: "Why are you back so early?"
It was only a little after 2 p.m., and he had thought she wouldn't be back until 3 or 4 p.m.
Hearing the man's voice, Shen Nian abruptly looked up, her pale and frail face catching Lu Lingchuan's eye.
He frowned and immediately grabbed Shen Nian's arm: "What's wrong? Why do you look so haggard?"
Shen Nian forced a casual smile: "I'm fine, what's the matter?"
The man's brow furrowed deeply: "Your complexion doesn't look good."
"Really?" She pretended not to know, touching her face, then remembering something and explaining: "Maybe I'm just tired from shopping too long."
Her tone was still normal, looking straight at Lu Lingchuan without any hint of guilt.
Seeing the man still frowning, Shen Nian hung her bag and put down the seven or eight shopping bags, rubbing her arm: "It's been a while since I walked that much."
Lu Lingchuan had always known that Shen Nian's health was not good, it had been that way for many years. If she sat for too long without exercise, she would feel dizzy; similarly, if she went a long time without exercise and then suddenly walked too much or exerted herself too much, her heart rate would spike, leaving her breathless and pale.
That's how lies work - as long as the person doesn't admit it, even if you guess the truth, it's still just a guess in the end.
Shen Nian... had never intended for Lu Lingchuan to know she was ill.
Lu Lingchuan only felt that Shen Nian's condition was off, but with no clue, he couldn't guess it was related to depression.
Shen Nian just didn't seem to be in a good state, so he pulled her into the bedroom: "Go rest for a bit."
"It's okay." Shen Nian refused, taking out her phone to check the time before smiling at Lu Lingchuan: "Didn't we say we'd have hotpot at home today? Let's go buy ingredients."
Lu Lingchuan frowned: "It's still early, no rush. Rest first."
"I'm really fine." Shen Nian said, "I rested enough in the taxi earlier."
After a pause, she continued: "It may seem early now, but it takes a long time to pick vegetables, wash them, cut them, and prepare the broth."
"Let's go." She picked up her bag.
Lu Lingchuan couldn't dissuade Shen Nian, so he had to go along.
Opening the door, Shen Nian stopped as if remembering something.
"Oh right, there might be some spare change left in the cabinet in the room from before. We can use that to buy vegetables so we don't have to spend cash."
After saying that, she handed her bag to Lu Lingchuan: "Wait for me, I'll go get the money."
Taking the most steady steps into the bedroom, she instantly crumbled as soon as she closed and locked the door behind her.
Stumbling to the bedside table, Shen Nian opened the top drawer and found a key, which she used to unlock the drawer below.
Amidst the various medicines, she rummaged out a pill case and bottle, downing several pills straight away.
The familiar bitter taste spread through her mouth again.
She sat slumped on the carpet by the bed, eyes closed.
It had been so many days since she last took them...
...
Lu Lingchuan had turned Shen Nian's bag upside down.
Aside from her two phones, there was a lipstick, a small mirror, and a card holder for her bank cards.
Nothing else.
He looked towards where Shen Nian had gone, his gaze somewhat pensive.
He always felt Shen Nian was hiding something from him, but he didn't know what.
Putting the contents back one by one - the first phone, then the second...
When he saw the old model phone, Lu Lingchuan paused.
Pressing a button, the lock screen lit up showing 98% battery, proving Shen Nian had been charging this phone regularly.
Swiping up with his thumb prompted for a password.
Without hesitation, Lu Lingchuan entered his own birthday -
Back when they were together, they had set each other's birthdays as their phone unlock passwords.
After entering the last digit, it unlocked to the home screen.
The phone was empty except for preinstalled apps, not even a custom wallpaper.
This phone was like a factory reset device with nothing special about it.
Except that Shen Nian carried it with her, which made it special.
Lu Lingchuan flipped through a few times, then had an idea and opened Messages.
Sure enough, it wasn't blank - there was one old text message.
From about five years ago.
Sent by "Ling Rui."
Seeing those two characters, Lu Lingchuan's fingers trembled slightly.
...
After drinking the water by the bedside that had sedatives mixed in, Shen Nian slowly calmed down.
She had just stood up when the door handle turned, but didn't open since she had locked it from the inside.
Standing outside, Lu Lingchuan frowned and knocked: "What's going on?"
One hand on her chest feeling her gradually steadying heartbeat, Shen Nian raised her voice: "Nothing, I'm just changing clothes, wait a moment."
Then it went quiet.
Lu Lingchuan waited outside for about a minute, watching the seconds tick by.
Seeing no sign of Shen Nian coming out, the man's expression grew urgent, about to force the door open.
Just as he was about to act, there was a click and the door opened from the inside.
Shen Nian had changed into fresh clothes and washed her face, now drying it with a towel.
Wiping away the water droplets, she tossed the towel casually into a nearby trash can.
"I walked too much today and got sweaty, so I changed clothes and washed my face. I'll need to shower after the hotpot." She fixed her hair.
Done, she took out some spare change from her pocket - five, ten, twenty bills and even some coins.
"We can only use this money for buying vegetables." She linked arms with Lu Lingchuan. "Let's go."
Lu Lingchuan let her pull him along, glancing back at the room, but saw nothing amiss.
...
Shen Nian took Lu Lingchuan to a nearby farmer's market she had been to a few times before and was familiar with.
They would buy the meat for the hotpot at the supermarket later, but the vegetables were better from the farmer's market stalls since they were homegrown by the vendors and more nutritious.
Just like the most ordinary young couple, they made a date to stroll through the vegetable market together, and the two novice householders could still discuss things.
Passing by a vegetable stall, Shen Nian saw some pumpkins and thought they looked nice, so she wanted to buy one. However, a disagreement arose when they were selecting it.
Shen Nian: "I think the bigger ones are better."
Lu Lingchuan: "The small ones will do, we can't finish a big one."
Shen Nian: "You don't understand, the bigger ones mean they had good nutrition while growing, just like people, good nutrition is why they grow taller."
Lu Lingchuan, with one hand in his pocket: "The small ones are more concentrated essence."
