Chapter 131: Truly Extravagant [Word Count Fulfilled]

Realizing what she meant, An Ling found it a bit amusing, yet at the same time, she felt a little helpless.

"I was referring to death caused by an accident."

Shen Fuyuan blinked, and after a long while, she slowly let out an "Oh."

"Well, there's no helping that kind of death."

She paused, then whispered, "This shows that even God probably couldn't stand watching anymore."

God...

There was no God.

It was all bought with Shen Linyan's life.

An Ling didn't answer. She pulled out a tissue and wiped her mouth.

"I need to go home for a bit later. Do you want to come with me? I actually want to ask you for a favor."

Shen Fuyuan: "What favor?"

She looked up and smiled, "I might not be able to take care of Huihui for the next few days. Could you help me look after him?"

Shen Fuyuan: "!!!"

She immediately sprang to her feet.

"I'll help, I'll help!"

...

Going home last night had been too rushed, so An Ling came back today intending to reorganize her things.

After changing into a new set of clothes, her gaze fell on the table, and she paused.

A gift box worth hundreds of millions was sitting right there on the table.

She walked over.

The previous tag was still on it.

[A gift bought for my wife last week. I hope she likes it.]

[ꐦ≖≖]

[つ♡⊂]

She lowered her eyes and looked at it for a long time, the corners of her mouth curling up very slightly.

"What a spendthrift."

She raised her hand to take off the necklace around her neck, took out the sapphire pendant inside, and slowly put it on in front of the mirror.

After packing her things, she opened the door and went out.

Shen Fuyuan was on the sofa, playing with Huihui.

An Ling picked up the cookies on the dining table.

She had forgotten to seal them last night. Left out all night, they had gotten damp and soft.

An Ling sighed and eventually dumped them all into the trash can.

She poured herself a glass of water, took out her phone, and checked the news online.

The top trending search was—

#Second Young Master of the Shen Family, Lu Jingshen, stabs Shen Linyan! Still missing!#

#Shen Linyan remains unconscious.#

Scrolling down to the comment section, most people hadn't processed it yet. At first, some suspected it was fake, but after several verified accounts posted the news, the doubts were gradually replaced by shock.

[So dramatic? This is surreal.]

[I'm stunned.]

[And he ran away after stabbing him? Where could he go? They have his fingerprints, photos, and blood.]

[Can't rich people just change their names and identities? Maybe someone is protecting Lu Jingshen behind the scenes.]

[Give it a rest. The Shen Corporation went bankrupt, and Shen Linyan is the head of the AL Group; his power is much greater than his now.]

As An Ling was reading the comments, a call suddenly came in.

After answering, a male voice spoke from the other end.

"Is this Miss An? This is the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Would it be convenient for you to come over now? There are some new matters we'd like to ask you about."

"Yes, it's convenient. I'll head over shortly."

Hanging up the phone, An Ling looked at the person and cat on the sofa. "I have to go to the police station. Are you going to stay here? You can temporarily take Huihui to your place for the time being."

Shen Fuyuan raised her hand and made an "OK" gesture. "Then I'll play with Huihui for a bit longer."

As soon as she finished speaking, the phone on the table suddenly rang as well.

She picked it up, glanced at it, and answered, placing it against her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ah, yes, this is she."

Whatever the other person said, Shen Fuyuan's face first went blank.

Then her gaze slightly hardened, gradually turning complex.

She turned her head and met An Ling's eyes, hesitating to speak.

"Okay, I understand. I'll be right there."

Putting down the phone, the atmosphere in the living room was a bit quiet.

Shen Fuyuan stood up. "The police just called me too and asked me to come over."

She pursed her lips and slowly spoke:

"They said they found my second brother."

...

"A man found Lu Jingshen under a bridge while walking his dog this morning. By the time the doctors arrived, he was already gone."

Even though she had guessed this might be it, hearing it with her own ears still made An Ling's eyelashes tremble imperceptibly.

She lowered her eyes and gave a soft "Mm," her hand unconsciously tightening its grip on her clothes.

The police officer glanced at the computer and continued, "The forensic doctor's preliminary judgment is that the time of death was around 1:00 AM last night."

1:00 AM?

Did the system strike that early?

While she was thinking, she heard the officer speak again:

"The cause of death was homicide."

Her expression froze slightly as she looked up. "Homicide?"

"Yes."

The officer flipped through a document. "There were wounds on the body. So, where were you at 1:00 AM last night? What were you doing?"

"I was at the hospital with my husband."

An Ling still hadn't fully processed it.

Shouldn't it have been suicide? Or at the very least, a death like in the original plot.

Did the system find a helper?

And... where did the system go?

After finishing her statement at the police station, An Ling had a bit of a headache.

She had no idea what the situation was right now.

Was the death ending arranged by the system this time a homicide?

Exiting the police station and just walking up to her car, someone sent a message to her phone.

Mom: [Lingling, mom and dad are back. Where are you now?]

An Ling: [I'm at the police station. I'll be home in a bit.]

Just after sending the message, a woman's cold voice sounded from behind her.

"An Ling!"

She turned her head, her gaze lingering on the other person's face for a few seconds before quickly realizing who it was.

Lu Jincai walked over quickly, her face dark and a sneer hanging on the corners of her mouth.

"I really didn't expect you to play so dirty. I originally thought you just wanted to bring Lu Jingshen to justice. But now it seems you wanted his life outright. He's dead now, you must be very happy, you murderer!"

In her eyes, this matter absolutely had everything to do with An Ling.

An Ling put away her phone and looked at her calmly. "Do you have evidence? If you don't, I can go right back into the police station and sue you for defamation."

"Does this even need evidence?! Who else could it be but you!?" Lu Jincai said with absolute certainty. "You must have hired someone. No wonder you said yesterday you were going to take revenge on Lu Jingshen. So this is the kind of revenge you meant!"

An Ling's figure paused slightly, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Then I welcome you to go find the truth and see who actually killed Lu Jingshen. But will you really do that?"

From the very beginning of the incident, she had been eager to clear herself of any responsibility. In Lu Jincai's heart, none of these children were as important as her own status and interests.

Shen Fuyuan couldn't inherit the Shen Corporation, so she didn't receive much affection from Lu Jincai.

Now that Lu Jingshen was not only unable to inherit the Shen Corporation but was also faring worse than Shen Fuyuan, this was even more true.

Asking her to find the truth behind Lu Jingshen's death might just seem like a waste of time to her.

Sure enough, Lu Jincai's originally furious face stiffened slightly.

A moment later, she gritted her teeth and said, "So it is you! You didn't deny it! Shen Linyan married such a vicious woman like you! Now the AL Group belongs to the An family too. Maybe you even framed Jingshen for Shen Linyan's death, and in reality, it was you..."

"Slap—"

Before she could finish her sentence, a crisp slap landed unexpectedly on her face.

Lu Jincai looked stunned, the burning pain on her cheek seemingly reminding her of what had just happened.

"Have you said enough?"

The woman's cold voice rang in her ears.

With that one slap, the surrounding air seemed to come to a standstill.

An Ling looked at her, her eyes completely devoid of emotion.

"I've put up with you for a long time, you know? Where do you get the nerve to care about Shen Linyan now?"

"Have you forgotten all the things you did to him?"

Lu Jincai was stunned by the slap, her face freezing as she failed to recover her senses for a long time.

Having been Mrs. Shen for nearly thirty years, no one had ever dared to treat her like this.

Just as she was about to explode in anger, she heard the young woman say coolly:

"Sparing the Lu family was out of respect for Shen Fuyuan. You didn't actually think Shen Linyan did it for you, his adoptive mother, did you? If you can't learn to behave, then there's no need to keep it around."

Lu Jincai's expression instantly shifted. Cupping her cheek, she couldn't speak, only glaring at An Ling with a dark, gloomy look.

An Ling tightened her slightly trembling hand.

It was her first time slapping someone, and she still felt a bit uneasy.

She stuffed her hands into her pockets, keeping her tone cold.

"I've said it before. If you think I did it, go find the evidence. Without evidence, keep your mouth shut. If you want to extort compensation, wait until the police find the murderer."

Meeting Lu Jincai's gaze, she curved her eyes slightly in a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Also, I am indeed very happy that Lu Jingshen is dead."

With that, she got straight into her car and left.

After driving for a distance, An Ling finally pulled the car over.

She looked down at the hand she had used to strike, clenched it into a fist, and murmured thoughtfully, "So this is what it feels like to slap someone..."

At the moment of impact, there was an indescribable feeling.

It felt a bit like venting.

Now she really seemed a bit like a vicious supporting actress.

...

After filling out forms and giving a statement at the police station, it was already afternoon by the time she returned to the An family home. Father An and Mother An were waiting for her in the living room.

Seeing An Ling come back from outside, Mother An's eyes grew completely red. She originally wanted to say something, but Father An gently pressed her hand.

She paused, taking a moment to calm down, and tried to keep her tone as normal as possible: "Lingling is here."

An Ling set down the bags in her hand. "Mom, Dad, when did you arrive?"

"We got here at noon," Father An replied. "We originally wanted to go to the hospital to see Linyan, but we didn't know if it was convenient. An Zhou said he needs to rest quietly, so we didn't go bother him."

"You can go, it's just that he hasn't woken up yet."

An Ling put down her things and sat on the sofa.

Seeing the worry in her parents' eyes, she curved her eyes into a smile and asked gently, "How was your trip? Did you have fun?"

"It was okay, the scenery was quite nice."

Seeing that the young woman didn't want to talk more about the topic, the elderly couple didn't pry further and followed her lead in the conversation.

Mother An took out a piece of yellow paper folded into a triangle from her pocket and handed it to her.

"Take this, and tuck it under Shen Linyan's pillow tonight."

An Ling took it, confused. "What is this?"

An Zhou answered, "It's from that Taoist priest Mom and Dad found when they suspected you were possessed by something unclean. They said it could ward off evil, but I didn't think it was of much use at the time."

Mother An scolded him dissatisfiedly, "What do you mean useless! Didn't Lingling get better in the end? That means it was useful! It just took some time to take effect!"

"..."

An Ling froze for a moment, then let out a helpless laugh. "Alright, I'll put it under Shen Linyan's pillow."

After chatting with her parents for a while at the An house, An Ling could tell they were worried about her emotional state, so she didn't show any abnormalities.

By the time they finished dinner, the sky had already darkened.

An Zhou walked her to the door.

Before she got in the car, he suddenly asked, "Is Lu Jingshen really dead?"

An Ling's movements paused slightly, and she gave a gentle nod.

An Zhou stared at her for a moment, then smiled, his tone carrying a hint of emotion. "It's truly unbelievable... I'm even starting to wonder if Mom's evil-warding talisman actually works."

An Ling's eyes curved as she laughed aloud. "Maybe it really does."

An Zhou wanted to say something else, but his phone suddenly rang.

He took it out, and An Ling caught a glimpse of the caller ID.

Miss Qin.

Facing An Ling's slightly teasing gaze, An Zhou's eyes darted around. He coughed a bit embarrassedly, but instead of hanging up, he waved his hand at An Ling.

"Well, you should hurry back to the hospital. Drive carefully on the way."

Then he turned around and answered the call.

In the air, his lowered voice could still be heard.

"What is it? Miss me? Didn't you say you'd call later?"

"Don't! What do you mean cancel tomorrow's date? I'm free! That won't delay our date. Everything is mostly fine now, my sister's side is okay."

"Then can we eat at a restaurant tomorrow? Fat-loss meals again? Let me eat something good, my lady."

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll eat it! But who was that senior student who brought you an umbrella last time?"

"What do you mean jealous? I'm just asking."

"Fine, I am jealous. Can you tell me now?! ... Are you laughing?!"

An Ling watched for a few more moments, then smilingly withdrew her gaze.

This could also be considered an unbelievable thing.

...

Back at the hospital.

The inpatient building was completely quiet. Especially as one approached the VIP wards, the corridors became even more silent.

Going from the bustling streets to the desolate hospital.

It always gave people a very disjointed sense of loneliness.

Gently pushing open the ward door, the regular and monotonous beeping of the monitoring equipment echoed repeatedly in the spacious room.

An Ling put down her things, looked at the unconscious man on the bed, and smiled. "Sorry, sorry, I'm back late. I didn't expect so many things to happen just going out for breakfast."

She took out some wet wipes and helped wipe his face and hands.

"Are you bored being here all alone? I ran into Shen Fuyuan when I went out today. Should I ask her to keep you company and talk to you next time? Though she'd probably prefer playing with Huihui."

"I also went to eat wontons today, but they didn't seem as delicious as the ones you bought for me last time."

"I also wore the necklace you bought me today. Don't you want to see it? Those cookies went soft, so I threw them away. I'll make you a new batch next time. I can succeed next time too."

"Mom and Dad came back today too. Mom even gave me something. Do you want to guess what it is?"

"Ta-da—"

She mysteriously took the talisman paper out of her pocket and smilingly waved it in front of the man's eyes.

"It's a talisman. You couldn't guess that, right? I heard it can ward off evil. I'm going to put this under your pillow. If you don't say anything, I'll take it as a yes!"

She carefully tucked the talisman under his pillow.

"You have to wake up quickly, you know?"

In the quiet ward, only the sound of her own voice remained. There was no response, and even the sound of breathing was exceptionally clear.

The man lay on the bed, his eyelashes drooping, casting shallow shadows under his eyes. His handsome side profile was tinged with a bit of sickliness.

The smile that An Ling had forced into her eyes gradually faded.

She pursed her lips, sat back down on the chair, and lowered her head, silently picking at her hands.

After a moment of silence, she slowly spoke:

"Shen Linyan, let me tell you a secret. I'm only telling you, I haven't told anyone else. I've become a bad person lately, because I wanted Lu Jingshen dead. I tried to teach you how to be a bad person before, and you used to laugh at me. Now I even know how to hit people. Do you think I'm a bad person?"

Her voice grew softer and softer, carrying a faint, choked hoarseness.

"If you don't say anything, it means you don't think so."

The surrounding air seemed to sink, falling into absolute silence.

A few seconds later, scalding tears rolled silently down the young woman's cheeks.

An Ling pressed her lips tightly together, her eyes red, and hurriedly pulled out a tissue to wipe away her tears.

She rested her face against the edge of the bed, gently taking the man's hand and pressing his palm snugly against her cheek.

Closing her eyes, she murmured in a muffled voice, "I was only joking this morning. You can come into my dreams. It's your own fault for not being able to comfort me right now."

Inside the hospital room, the silence was wrapped around the soft, gentle sounds of breathing, rising and falling in a steady rhythm alongside the hum of the medical machines.

The clock on the wall slowly ticked to midnight.

The cold, white light spilled over the distinct knuckles on the back of the man's hand.

The very next second, a finger on that long-motionless hand gave a faint, gentle twitch.