Lu Lingchuan's eyes have always been captivating. Whether in the past or present, Shen Nian dared not gaze into his eyes for too long, because if she did, she would get lost in them.
He reached out with his other hand and cradled the back of her head, pulling her down towards him.
Then, he kissed her lips.
It was gentle, faint, and tender, just like before.
Lu Lingchuan had once said a romantic English phrase to Shen Nian: "Do you have a map? Because I just keep losing myself in your eyes."
And now, it was Shen Nian who was lost in his eyes.
...
The next day, the two woke up almost simultaneously.
Lu Lingchuan released Shen Nian from his embrace and got up, slipping on his slippers to go to the bathroom to freshen up.
Shen Nian also woke up and sat up in bed.
Watching his back as he walked towards the bathroom, she felt a bit dazed.
So, did this mean they had made up?
Lu Lingchuan finished washing up and came out. Shen Nian, wearing a nightgown, walked over, skillfully opened the glass door of the wardrobe, and picked out a white shirt to help him put on. She buttoned up the shirt from bottom to top.
Lu Lingchuan lowered his head, silently watching her as he enjoyed her service.
"There's a meeting at 7:30 this morning, a golf appointment with President Li of the Jiyuan Group at 1 pm, and a dinner with President Sun at 6:30 pm, which was scheduled three months ago," Shen Nian said as she finished buttoning his cuffs. She then opened a display cabinet nearby and picked out a dark-colored, embroidered custom tie.
For different occasions, the way to tie the tie varied. For important events like contract signings, the tie knot needed to be more intricate to show respect.
There were no particularly important activities today, so Shen Nian tied a tie knot for Lu Lingchuan that was neither too simple nor too complicated, and then clipped on a blue sapphire tie clip.
"Mm," Lu Lingchuan responded, staring at her. "You don't need to go to the company today. Take the day off."
"Okay," Shen Nian agreed.
Finally, she helped him put on his suit jacket and then saw Lu Lingchuan off.
Earlier, while he was freshening up, Shen Nian had called the company cafeteria. The meeting time was too early, so even if she started cooking now, she wouldn't be able to make it in time. Therefore, she asked the company cafeteria to prepare breakfast for Lu Lingchuan so that it would be ready when he arrived at the company.
After changing his clothes, Lu Lingchuan didn't leave immediately. Instead, he stared at her face silently.
Shen Nian felt a bit uneasy under his gaze, unsure what he was looking at.
"..." If Shen Nian had been an outside observer, she would have realized that Lu Lingchuan wasn't actually looking at her face, but rather at her... lips.
Shen Nian's lips were thin and pink - the perfect shape for kissing.
He just kept staring, staring...
Just as Shen Nian could no longer resist and was about to ask what was wrong, Lu Lingchuan withdrew his gaze and turned around.
Watching his back, Shen Nian recalled something and spoke up, "Lu Lingchuan."
Hearing her call his name, Lu Lingchuan's steps paused, and his rigid back straightened.
This woman had finally become self-aware, for once.
He turned around, his gaze falling on her thin lips once again.
Shen Nian looked at Lu Lingchuan and said, "Yang Hao and Wang Yong are just ruffians. They haven't had proper jobs for years, spending every day fighting and brawling, living aimlessly. People like them are rotten to the core, and I don't believe they haven't had other victims."
"If we can find other victims and have them all identify Yang Hao and Wang Yong together, they can't refute everyone, even if they can refute one person."
In this world, no matter what crime a person commits, there is never any perfection.
"..." Lu Lingchuan remained silent.
Not receiving his response, Shen Nian pursed her lips and tentatively asked, "Lu Lingchuan?"
"Anything else?" Lu Lingchuan asked her.
"Huh?" Shen Nian didn't understand, and instinctively responded, "Anything else?"
She had already said what she wanted to say.
"..." Lu Lingchuan remained silent for over a minute before saying flatly, "Got it."
Then he turned and left.
...
After Lu Lingchuan went to work, Shen Nian tidied up and then went to find Lawyer Xu Xiping. After listening to Shen Nian's thoughts, Xu nodded in agreement.
"Our thinking is the same. The only way to break the deadlock now is to find other evidence."
Xu Xiping had also been busy all night, his computer filled with various information he had collected.
"Over the years, they've been detained countless times for fighting and brawling. People as despicable as them would never have committed their first crime."
"So Lu had already arranged for professionals to investigate yesterday."
They were now just waiting for the results.
"..." Hearing Xu's words, Shen Nian was slightly taken aback.
No wonder Lu Lingchuan hadn't reacted at all when she mentioned it that morning - he had already thought of it.
After leaving Xu's office, Shen Nian stood by the roadside, and a taxi pulled up in front of her. The driver leaned out and asked her, "Miss, where to?"
Shen Nian opened the rear door, got in, and closed it without answering the driver's question. Instead, she became lost in thought.
The driver called out again, "Miss?"
"The hospital," Shen Nian snapped out of her daze and uttered those two words.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Shen Nian first went to a nearby flower shop.
There were always flower shops and fruit shops near hospitals, as fresh flowers and fruit baskets were essential for visiting patients. Opening shops in such locations ensured high foot traffic.
At this time of year, sunflowers were in bloom, and almost every flower shop had them.
Shen Nian bought a small bouquet of sunflowers before entering the hospital.
During the previous day's conversation, she had managed to extract the floor and room number of Li Mingshi's hospital room from Lu Lingchen, saving her the trouble of having to find it.
The high-end VIP rooms were on the top floor, with their own dedicated nurses' station that only served patients on that floor.
Shen Nian, holding the sunflowers, walked up to the room door but suddenly felt at a loss.
She remembered something very important -
Lu's mother-in-law didn't want to see her.
Shen Nian suddenly didn't know whether she should go in or not.
She wanted to fulfill her filial duty in place of Lu Lingrui, but she didn't want Li Mingshi to get upset at seeing her.
As she wavered, a young nurse noticed Shen Nian at the door and asked, "Hello, who are you?"
Shen Nian snapped out of her daze and nodded coolly at the nurse, "Hello, I'm Lu's assistant."
Although she wasn't wearing professional attire, just a glance and her demeanor exuded the aura of a secretary or assistant.
The nurse knew that the patient in this room was indeed married to someone with the surname Lu, and Shen Nian also possessed the air of a secretary or assistant.
"Mr. Lu took Mrs. Lu for a check-up, and they might not be back for another half an hour," the nurse informed Shen Nian.
She assumed Shen Nian was Lu Yanhua's assistant.
"Okay," Shen Nian nodded, then asked the nurse, "Can I leave something in the room?"
She glanced at the sunflowers in her hand as she spoke.
