Chapter 11: The pigeon egg in your hand looks even better.

The post An Ling made quickly climbed to the top of the trending topics, and her follower count skyrocketed. At the same time, the Shen Group's PR department issued an official statement, causing last night's news to be instantly taken down.

However, right after her post went live, someone on the internet exposed the history of An Ling chasing after Lu Jingshen.

An Ling was completely unaware at first. After returning from the company, she took a shower and went straight to sleep.

She slept all the way until the evening, only finding out when Jiang Mai called her after she woke up.

"The internet is saying I chased after Lu Jingshen?"

With her phone on speaker and set aside, An Ling yawned, her voice still raspy from sleep. Wearing her pajamas, she sat on the sofa, scrolling through the comments on her tablet.

"Yeah, it's incredibly detailed. They even compiled it into a document. It was completely scrubbed from the internet shortly after, but I managed to save a copy. I'll send it to you."

An Ling saw the file pop up and was just about to accept it.

From the other end of the line came Jiang Mai's teasing laughter. "Hey, by the way, is that photo real or fake? Was that really Shen Linyan's hand?"

"What do you mean, real or fake? Do you think I'd just find some random guy to fake it? Imagine the disaster if I got caught," she replied with an amused scoff, her gaze subconsciously falling on her empty ring finger.

She wondered if Shen Linyan had taken off his ring yet.

Jiang Mai had actually guessed it was real. Shifting her position on the bed, she tapped open the photo and clicked her tongue in admiration. "But seriously, Shen Linyan has gorgeous hands. He could totally be a hand model."

An Ling retorted, "Hey, are my hands not pretty enough?"

Jiang Mai replied, "The giant diamond on your hand is even prettier."

"..."

An Ling let out a huff and downloaded the file.

Flipping through the comments below the post, Jiang Mai asked casually, "Your parents must have seen the news by now, right? Have you talked to them?"

An Ling's movements paused. She put down the tablet and suddenly said, "My brother called me today."

Jiang Mai was startled and immediately sat up. "Really? What did he say?"

"Nothing much. He just asked about the news reports and whether I actually hit Lu Jingshen. I was on my way to see Shen Linyan at the time, so we just had a brief chat. I told him I'd call him back once everything was sorted out."

At this, An Ling took a deep breath, her tone turning serious. "So, I'm planning to make a trip back home tomorrow."

Although there was still a mountain of trouble waiting for her, at least the immediate crisis was resolved. She could finally feel a bit more at ease going back to see her parents and explaining everything clearly.

Jiang Mai was still hung up on the whole novel thing and asked curiously, "So, our world is actually a novel? That's so surreal. I've read so many novels, and it turns out my bestie is the vicious female antagonist."

Adding to that, she asked with concern, "Are you going to divorce Shen Linyan then? He is the second male lead, after all. What if he ends up betraying you for the female lead?"

Jiang Mai had a valid point. An Ling had already considered this exact scenario.

Resting her chin on her hand, she let out a helpless sigh. "I'm definitely getting a divorce, but not right now. I have to at least wait until the current mess is sorted out, right? I still have a pile of problems to deal with."

Unexpectedly, just as the words left her mouth, the electronic chime of the front door unlocking echoed through the room.

An Ling turned her head in shock.

Shen Linyan was back?!

This early? According to her memories, didn't Shen Linyan usually come home in the middle of the night?

She hastily grabbed the phone beside her. "Shen Linyan is back. I'm hanging up."

Without giving Jiang Mai a chance to respond, she quickly hit the end call button.

With a soft beep, the door swung open.

Their eyes met in midair.

The woman sat on the sofa, her light gold silk pajamas making her skin look luminous. Her long, dark hair was slightly messy, and her delicate, makeup-free face bore a faint flush, making her look exactly like someone who had just woken up.

This unprecedented sight made Shen Linyan pause in his tracks.

His gaze lingered for a few seconds, and his grip on the doorframe tightened slightly. However, he quickly returned to his usual demeanor, lowering his eyes as he bent down to change his shoes.

For a moment, absolute silence filled the spacious living room.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward, so An Ling silently turned her head back around.

Whatever. If Shen Linyan greeted her, she would respond; if not, she'd just let it be.

An Ling smoothed out her bedhead, quietly pricking up her ears to listen to the rustling behind her.

Shen Linyan looked up as he loosened his tie, only to see the girl's figure sitting on the sofa with her back to him.

He paused for a moment before walking straight back to his own bedroom.

With a soft click, the door closed, but Shen Linyan remained standing frozen in place.

The man stood quietly by the door. The dim, warm light spilled over the broad, straight line of his shoulders, casting a deep shadow beneath his high nose bridge. His dark eyes were quiet yet slightly unfocused, masking whatever thoughts were running through his mind.

A moment later, he let out a low chuckle and rubbed the bridge of his nose in resignation.

"I must be going crazy."

He walked over to the closet, took off his suit jacket, and unclasped his watch to place it on the table. When his gaze fell upon the wedding ring on his finger, his movements halted once again.

After a moment of silence, he finally took it off, placed it neatly beside his watch, and grabbed a change of clothes before heading into the bathroom.

Meanwhile, upon hearing the sound of his door closing, An Ling glanced back at his room and let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, just as I expected."

They weren't exactly close enough to exchange casual greetings. They put on an act for the public when they were outside, but there was no need to keep up the charade at home.

Both she and Shen Linyan were well aware of this.

If it hadn't been for the need to clear up the rumors, they wouldn't have had a single word to say to each other.

Now that the crisis was averted, there was no need for any further interaction.

An Ling opened the document she had just downloaded.

The first thing that caught her eye was a neatly formatted spreadsheet.

Dense blocks of text filled the entire screen.

Just as Jiang Mai had said, whoever posted this had clearly put a ton of effort into it. Every single incident was described in excruciating detail.

There were even details that An Ling herself wasn't aware of, yet the author had managed to describe them with perfect clarity.

For instance, when she made love bento boxes for Lu Jingshen, the document listed the exact dishes inside. When she knitted a scarf for him, it detailed the specific pattern. It even accurately recounted how many bottles of alcohol she had intercepted for him during a particular dinner party.

At first glance, it almost looked entirely fabricated—after all, how could anyone know such intimate details?

But An Ling knew it was all true. In the memories she had inherited, every single one of these events had actually happened.

She read through a few lines, her mouth twitching more and more with every word.

What in the world was all this nonsense? How could it be this absurd?

Jiang Mai sent a message asking: [How's the reading going?]

An Ling: [It's pretty great.]

Jiang Mai: [...Great?]

An Ling let out a cold laugh.

[Yeah. I was having trouble sorting through all these memories myself, but now someone has kindly compiled them into a neat little document for me. It'll make getting my revenge on Lu Jingshen so much easier.]

Even though she wasn't the one who had actually done all those things, reading about them still pissed her off.

After finishing her chat with Jiang Mai, An Ling set her tablet back on the table and got up to head to the kitchen.

She had only eaten a quick bite for lunch, and now she was starting to feel a little hungry.

She opened the refrigerator to find it fully stocked with fresh ingredients—meat, eggs, and vegetables in abundance. It seemed the housekeeper came by frequently to restock.

She stared at the raw ingredients for a few seconds before slowly closing the fridge door. She then opened the pantry cabinet next to it and peeked inside.

"How is there not even a single packet of instant noodles?"

If she had known things would turn out like this, she would have bothered to learn how to cook.

An Ling ruffled her hair in frustration. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the freezer drawer below.

No instant noodles, but there had to be some frozen food, right?

She squatted down, pulled it open, and rummaged through it carefully. A few seconds later, she broke into a smile and triumphantly held up a package. "Ha! I knew it!"

Dumplings!

Beaming with delight, An Ling pulled the bag of frozen dumplings out.

Her smile barely lasted three seconds before she set the dumplings down, took out her phone, and opened a search engine.

Question: Do you put frozen dumplings in cold water or boiling water?

An Ling was so focused on reading the instructions that she completely missed the sound of footsteps approaching from behind.

The next second, a man's voice suddenly rang out right behind her.

"...What are you doing?"