Chapter 113: I Am Her Husband [Word Count Fulfilled]

The next day, the alarm clock rang on time.

An Ling turned over and groggily turned off the alarm. She sat up slowly in bed, so sleepy that she couldn't even open her eyes.

Footsteps approached, and then a section of the bed sank down.

Her face was gently cupped by someone, and warm fingertips tenderly brushed against her cheek.

"Still sleepy?" the man's voice was deep, carrying a gentle smile.

An Ling didn't speak. She just opened her eyes and gave him a slow glance.

The woman's still half-asleep face clearly read, 'What do you think?'

Shen Linyan couldn't help but laugh out loud. He reached out and gently pulled his grumpy little wife into his arms, his hand resting on her waist and rubbing it softly. "My fault. Does my wife want to take another day off?"

An Ling lowered her head, resting her forehead against the shoulder of his suit. Every breath she took was filled with the man's crisp, woody cedar scent, steady and reassuring.

She closed her eyes and mumbled softly, "No need, it's time to go to work."

It had been so long since the incident; logically, the hype should have died down by now.

But facts proved that An Ling was wrong.

As soon as she entered the company building, countless gazes instantly shot toward her.

These looks came from all directions—scrutinizing, curious, mixed with the sound of whispers, making them almost impossible to ignore.

An Ling's footsteps paused slightly, but she still naturally took the elevator up.

In the enclosed, cramped space, this scrutiny felt even more intense. An Ling could even hear someone ask in a low voice, "Is it really her?"

"Ding—"

The elevator doors opened, and she walked out briskly.

It wasn't until she sat back down at her desk that the uncomfortable stares gradually disappeared.

She leaned back in her chair and sighed.

She really wasn't used to the feeling of being famous.

Just as she turned on her computer, the faint sound of an argument came from behind her.

"You go."

"I won't, you go yourself."

"Oh, how about we go together."

"It's fine, just go directly."

"That's easy to say, so why don't you go."

"I'm not the one who needs a stamp."

She turned her head to take a look.

Two colleagues were pushing and shoving each other with documents in hand, their eyes occasionally darting in her direction.

After making eye contact with her, both of them froze, then flusteredly but pretending to be calm, looked away.

An Ling: "..."

She turned her head back.

It seemed the impact was still there.

Not long after, a tentative female voice came from beside her.

"Um, Producer An, this form needs your stamp..."

Looking up, her gaze fell on the other person's clothes.

It was one of the people from over there just now.

An Ling's expression remained unchanged. She nodded and took it. "Okay."

After stamping it and handing the form back, the other party remained standing there, looking at her as if hesitating to speak.

An Ling spoke up first: "Is there any other problem?"

The girl opened her mouth, but suddenly, the document in her hand was snatched away by a hand, and a man's lazy voice sounded from behind.

"Xiao Yang wants to ask if that news from yesterday was really about you?"

"Brother Nan!" Xiao Yang's face instantly turned red, trying to stop him.

Nan Zhechuan sat on a nearby chair, glanced at the form, and then raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? Isn't it? It's not just you."

As he spoke, he looked around the office again, his tone lazy.

"Don't the rest of you want to ask too? I heard you all discussing this matter this morning."

The other colleagues who were quietly pricking up their ears: "..."

An Ling guessed this was the case and smiled, "It's me. There's nothing you can't ask, though I originally thought you guys would have found out earlier."

Xiao Yang rubbed her nose. "We were just guessing the past couple of days. We didn't expect it to be true."

Nan Zhechuan crossed his legs, looking smug. "You guys are no good. I knew about it before the variety show even started filming."

As his words fell, others instantly exclaimed, "Really? How did you find out so early?"

Nan Zhechuan handsomely adjusted his hair. "Of course An Ling told me. You have no idea how much effort it took for me to hold back from saying anything."

Every time he saw his colleagues discussing it, he felt like he had a god's-eye view.

With him saying this, the originally somewhat tense atmosphere instantly relaxed.

Xiao Yang looked a bit embarrassed.

She pursed her lips and stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Producer An, we've already seen the news. Although we don't know the exact details of what happened, we all believe you."

Hearing this, An Ling's face blanked in surprise.

Before she could speak, she heard Nan Zhechuan say:

"We all work in this industry, so we all know that those media outlets will say anything for a gimmick. Don't take the news to heart."

As his voice fell, other colleagues chimed in one after another in agreement.

"Yeah, the news is purely to fool those who don't know any better. Don't we know what kind of person Producer An is?"

"When the news first came out, I knew it was fake. With Ah Leng's temper, how could she have taken the initiative to ask to film Shen Fuyuan back then?"

"Exactly! And the reason we were able to get so much sponsorship was because of An Ling. Otherwise, Chairman Shen would never have agreed to the filming."

Various voices of comfort reached her ears. An Ling's eyelashes trembled slightly, and a few streams of warmth flowed through her heart.

But this touch of emotion didn't last long, as she then heard a colleague change the subject.

"It's just that Ah Leng is too unkind, actually hiding her identity from us."

"Oh, don't even mention it. When we were setting up camera positions at Chairman Shen's house before, An Ling said she was staying behind to check things over. Was she really checking?"

A colleague next to them turned to look, their eyes narrowing ambiguously. "That red book that fell on the floor before wasn't just a notebook, was it?"

Teasing voices rose one after another, and An Ling's face flushed with a guilty conscience: "..."

Fortunately, someone called her at this moment.

"Ah Leng, Teacher Chen is calling you."

She hurriedly stood up, "Okay."

After An Ling left, the office remained in a lively atmosphere.

Someone asked Nan Zhechuan when he found out.

"When we went to the Shen family's house to set up the cameras before, remember Chairman Shen bought bread for us?" Nan Zhechuan sighed with emotion. "That wasn't for us. That was bought for An Ling by someone else."

"That early?"

Someone recalled that time period. "They were still getting a divorce at that time, right? Their relationship was still that good even when getting a divorce."

Suddenly, someone spoke up.

"Not necessarily. You didn't even see Shen Linyan. Maybe An Ling directed and acted the whole thing out herself and bought it."

As soon as these words came out, the office fell silent, and they instantly looked toward the source of the voice.

A woman sitting in a chair raised her head.

"What's wrong? Am I wrong? It's possible she directed and acted it out herself. Aren't there people online saying that Shen Linyan's account is just An Ling's alt account?"

Xiao Yang frowned and said, "No way. If their relationship is bad, why would they remarry?"

"For commercial interests, to hype up popularity, for reputation—these all count as reasons, right? An Ling didn't let us find out before, maybe it was also because their relationship wasn't very good."

The woman picked up her phone and stood up. "I also saw someone reveal this online. They said that according to Shen Linyan's personality, he wouldn't deliberately post an update just for a ring, so isn't it highly likely that it was self-directed and self-acted? Besides, have you guys ever seen An Ling and Shen Linyan appear together? Has Shen Linyan ever said it himself?"

The others looked at each other in dismay, wanting to retort but finding themselves at a loss for words.

Let alone appearing together, they hadn't even seen Shen Linyan in person yet.

Even Xiao Yang's new blind-date boyfriend had been seen downstairs every day recently, picking her up from work. It was as sweet as could be.

Seeing them stay silent, the woman turned and went to the restroom.

Standing in front of the mirror, she took out her phone.

[I've said it.]

After sending the message, she put down her phone to wash her hands.

Just as she finished drying her hands, a message popped up on the screen.

[10,000 transferred]

She frowned and clicked her tongue.

"Some Mrs. Shen she is. So stingy, only giving ten thousand yuan."

...

The work piled up over her few days of leave was quite a bit. After her meeting, An Ling placed the documents on her desk and got up to make a cup of coffee in the pantry.

While waiting for the coffee machine, she took a moment to check the news online.

She didn't know if it was her brother or Shen Linyan who had stepped in to control the comments.

The direction of public opinion online had gradually shifted, and the focus of the topic had been diverted.

It went from An Ling actively causing trouble in the beginning, to people saying that if Zhou Wen hadn't revealed An Ling's identity first, none of this would have happened.

She took a sip of her coffee and casually scrolled through the comment section.

Those comments Jiang Mai had sent her earlier were now all gone.

She didn't know if those people deleted them themselves or if the platform removed them.

As her eyes were fixed on the news, a message suddenly popped up.

Shen Linyan: [Madam, do you want to go out for a movie tonight? I heard there's a new release that's really good ^^]

An Ling blinked, the corners of her lips turning up slightly.

[I can't tonight. We have a dinner party, and my colleagues insisted I go. I'll accompany my hubby next time (^▽^)]

She had skipped the last few gatherings, and Sister Lin Ya said she absolutely couldn't escape this time.

Shen Linyan: [Alright, I'll come pick you up after it's over, Madam.]

......

The evening gathering was at a KTV. Sister Lin Ya had also invited eight or nine other close colleagues.

Everyone probably hung out together often; the atmosphere was very harmonious, and they started ordering songs as soon as they went in.

An Ling quietly shrank into a corner, listening to them sing from the sidelines and occasionally eating some fruit.

Sister Lin Ya noticed her and sat down next to her. "Aren't you going up to sing?"

The young woman shook her head, leaned in, blinked, and whispered softly, "I'm a terrible singer."

Lin Ya was slightly surprised. "Really?"

"Really." An Ling nodded repeatedly. "The only song I'm probably good at is Happy Birthday."

Lin Ya was amused by her. "Then let's play a game."

"What game?"

Lin Ya's gaze fell on the table next to them, and she picked up the dice. "Let's roll dice."

She placed the dice in the cup and turned to look at the others listening to the music. "Who wants to play dice?"

Nan Zhechuan was the first to raise his hand. "Me, me, me, me!"

A few others also nodded and came over. "Count me in!"

An Ling spoke up weakly, "But I've never played."

"Then let's play a simple one, no skill required."

Nan Zhechuan put ten dice into the cup. "We take turns rolling. Everyone guesses a number. If you guess right, you take away a die. If you guess wrong, you take a sip of alcohol until you guess correctly. The odds are high with ten dice, don't worry, there are six of us here."

After hearing Nan Zhechuan's explanation, An Ling felt it sounded quite simple.

That was until she failed to guess the number eight times in a row, and An Ling fell silent.

The colleagues beside her also fell silent.

Seeing the flush on the girl's face, Sister Lin Ya gently reminded her, "Why don't we stop here? Don't get too drunk, or it'll be hard for you to get home."

"It's fine." An Ling took a deep breath, not knowing if her face was burning from frustration or from being drunk.

She took off her jacket, rolled up her sleeves, and stubbornly shook the dice cup, her competitive spirit instantly flaring. "I'll try a few more times."

What kind of luck was this? It was too terrible.

She refused to believe she couldn't guess a single number right!

Finally, on her tenth try, An Ling guessed the number correctly.

She instantly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a heavy burden lifted, and passed the cup to the next person.

After a few rounds, An Ling clearly felt she couldn't handle much more.

If she kept drinking, she would definitely get drunk.

An Ling sat on the sofa and shook her head. Under the dim lights, her fair face was flushed a deep red. "I'm not playing anymore, you guys go ahead."

The other colleagues nodded in agreement.

An Ling watched them play from the side, but the more she watched, the sleepier she got.

She had been kept up too late by Shen Linyan yesterday, woke up early today, and on top of that, had drunk several large glasses of alcohol. Drowsiness washed over her like a tidal wave.

Her eyelids were fighting each other. An Ling yawned and checked the time; there were still fifty minutes until their room reservation ended.

Everyone was having fun, so it didn't seem right to leave early.

Hugging her jacket, she leaned against the sofa, lazily closing her eyes as she watched her colleagues play. Amidst the music and the rhythmic shaking of the dice, she drifted off.

Inside the private room, the light was dim, and no one noticed that the girl in her seat had closed her eyes and fallen asleep.

She quietly lowered her head. Her hair slipped from her shoulder with the movement, covering the side of her face, and her eyelashes cast a shadow beneath her eyes.

The phone inside her jacket vibrated slightly, but this faint sound was instantly drowned out by the noisy music.

In the end, it was Xiao Yang who noticed something was off.

She turned her head, leaned over to take a look, and confirmed that An Ling was genuinely asleep.

Just as she was about to tell Sister Lin Ya.

A confused voice from another colleague suddenly rang out in the room.

"Sir, are you in the wrong room?"

She looked up,

only then noticing a unfamiliar man standing at the doorway.

At first, not many had noticed, but with this call-out, everyone else cast their gazes over.

When they saw the man's face, everyone was stunned.

The hallway light spilled in. The man had his hand resting on the door handle, his hair styled immaculately. His dark suit accentuated his sharp shoulder lines, and the silver ring on his ring finger gleamed coldly under the light. His features were handsome and refined, yet his entire being exuded an aloof, composed aura.

His gaze swept across the room, and upon seeing the girl on the sofa, his eyes flickered. His tense jaw slightly relaxed, and his clenched hand loosened a bit.

"Apologies for the intrusion," he parted his thin lips, his voice gentle yet distant. "I'm here to take An Ling home. She didn't answer my calls."

Lin Ya instinctively turned to look at An Ling. "An Ling?"

Xiao Yang hurriedly spoke up, "Sister Lin Ya, Sister An Ling fell asleep."

Lin Ya was slightly taken aback. "Asleep?"

She hesitantly looked at the man. "Um... are you An Ling's family member?"

"I am her husband."

This single sentence instantly made the private room even quieter.

The music had already stopped, and the scene suddenly became somewhat stiff.

Everyone present had seen Shen Linyan before, but only through occasional photos. Coupled with the dim lighting, they didn't immediately register that they were looking at the man himself.

Shen Linyan didn't say anything else and walked straight toward the sofa.

The girl sat on the sofa, her head lowered, hugging her clothes in her arms, her cheeks looking peaceful and pure.

He brushed aside her hair, reached out to cradle her face, and bent down to whisper softly in her ear, "Madam, it's time to go home."

As if hearing someone call her name, An Ling groggily woke up from her sleep.

She slowly opened her eyes. Her head felt heavy from sleep, and for a moment, she couldn't register where she was.

Upon seeing the man's face in front of her and hearing the mention of going home, An Ling nodded subconsciously.

But immediately, a sharp ache shot through her neck. She frowned and let out a soft sound of discomfort.

Shen Linyan reached out and gently massaged the back of her neck.

An Ling sobered up slightly, but her mind was still foggy. She didn't even think about why Shen Linyan was here; her only thought was that she was going home.

She picked up the coat in her lap, quietly put it on, and held the man's hand as she stood up.

She stumbled as she rose, almost losing her footing, but the man steadily supported her by the waist.

Looking at her colleagues in the private room, An Ling's face was flushed, her eyes hazy with intoxication, but she still remembered her manners, giving them an earnest wave.

"I'm leaving now."

All her colleagues stared at them blankly, so stunned that no one replied for a moment.

It wasn't until the two left the room that someone finally blurted out, "Holy crap, I think that really was Shen Linyan..."

The colleagues exchanged glances and, almost in unison, pulled the door open to peek out into the hallway.

In the corridor, they saw the couple take a few steps before suddenly coming to a halt.

The man bent down to whisper something in the girl's ear, then lowered his head to kiss her cheek. The girl nodded gently and obediently wrapped her arms around his neck.

The next second, the man scooped her up into his arms and carried her toward the exit.

As if hearing the commotion behind them, the man turned his head to look back.

After a brief meeting of eyes, he indifferently withdrew his gaze, turned around, and continued carrying the person in his arms out the door.

The group of colleagues who witnessed everything: "..."

Xiao Yang, looking utterly in disbelief, turned to Nan Zhechuan beside him: "And you call that having no feelings for each other?"

Nan Zhechuan: "..."

I never said that.