Chapter 99: Couples Should Naturally Share a Room [Word Count Fulfilled]

Of all times to call, he had to call right now.

Thanks to the man's reminder, An Ling hurriedly muted her phone.

[Not calling, I'm outside.]

Shen Linyan: [I want to show my wife her present.]

An Ling: [Wait until I get back.]

After sending this message, the man's laughter seemed to echo outside the bathroom.

Soon after, footsteps sounded. An Ling could clearly feel them getting closer and closer, heading straight for the bathroom.

She was so scared she didn't even dare to breathe.

The footsteps drew nearer. The man's silhouette was cast against the frosted glass door, his hand resting on the doorknob.

Just as he was about to come in, it was as if he suddenly thought of something. He turned around and walked back to sit on the sofa.

Shen Linyan: [Send me your location.]

An Ling randomly picked a nearby shopping mall and sent the location.

Shen Linyan: [Can you wait for me to take a shower and change clothes?]

An Ling thought to herself, if I wait for you to shower, I'm doomed.

[Why do you need to shower? Just come directly.]

Shen Linyan: [Because I'm going to see you.]

An Ling: [No need. Right now, just come over.]

Shen Linyan: [Okay (⑉••⑉)]

The man got up from the sofa, followed by the sound of the door closing.

He was finally gone. Her legs were almost numb from crouching.

An Ling supported herself against the wall and stood up, patting her legs as she muttered softly,

"If I had known, I wouldn't have come in here."

Now she still had to rush to the mall.

She opened the bathroom door and stepped out. As soon as she looked up, she froze in place.

The man who was supposed to have left was currently standing right at the doorway.

He was wearing a black shirt with a few buttons undone at the collar, revealing the smooth lines of his collarbones. Black trousers further accentuated his excellent proportions. His features were sharp and clear, with dark hair falling over his forehead.

He leaned his head against the door frame, his dark eyes rippling with a hint of a smile.

"Can my wife teleport?"

"..."

She had been played again.

Sure enough, there was something off about that phone call.

Under the man's gaze, An Ling silently walked over to the bed, lay down, and buried her face in the quilt.

She put on a posture of, "This is how I am, what are you going to do about it?"

Shen Linyan laughed, walked over, and lay down beside her, reaching out to pull her into his arms.

But the woman twisted her waist and dodged to the side, turning her head away to avoid looking at him, clearly sulking.

"When did you find out?"

If she had known, she wouldn't have bothered hiding.

"Your shoes and bag were out there. I saw them as soon as I came in."

Shen Linyan hadn't noticed the shoes at first; it was seeing the bag on the sofa that made him realize his wife was home.

He knew she was in the room.

But he didn't expect An Ling to actually hide.

"Don't be mad, okay?"

He smiled and chased after her, pulling his angry little wife into his arms again. This time, he managed to hold her tight. "Why did you hide?"

An Ling slowly turned her head. Her pupils were clear, her eyelashes fluttering, and a layer of blush dyed her cheeks. "Because this is your room. I was just taking a look around, I didn't touch anything."

The man's long, slender fingers gently brushed the hair away from her ear.

"Darling, we are husband and wife now," he reminded her.

An Ling nodded. "I know. We slept in separate rooms before, didn't we?"

Hearing this, Shen Linyan's expression slightly froze.

His eyes darkened, and his knuckles curled unconsciously.

After recovering, the corners of his mouth habitually curved upward, and his voice softened. "Do you mean that after moving back in, we should interact like we used to?"

This "used to," naturally, referred to how they interacted after she returned.

An Ling blinked hesitantly. "Shouldn't we...?"

Getting along like before was pretty good...

Just as she was thinking this, a voice came by her ear.

"It seems my wife hasn't understood my words."

Shen Linyan got up and hovered over her, his arms propped on either side of her. He lowered his eyes to gaze at her and parted his lips to say, "Lingling, we are a real married couple, not a marriage of convenience."

An Ling's eyes widened slightly in a daze.

Her lips were captured. The man's tall nose brushed against her cheek, and his scorching breath fell upon her lips. "Therefore, my room is also your room. Husband and wife are supposed to share a room. Live in here with me, okay?"

The man's deep, magnetic voice sounded by her ear, laced with a bewitching charm, gently striking her eardrums, making it utterly impossible to refuse.

An Ling's ears inexplicably felt a little itchy, and a crimson hue climbed up her cheeks. But she still resisted the temptation, raising her hands to push against the man's chest, just about to say something.

Suddenly, a cold metallic sensation brushed across the back of her hand, making her shiver.

An Ling subconsciously looked over.

In the deep night, a silver chain had slipped out from the man's clothes at some point.

A familiar ring hung quietly on it, rippling with a faint glow under the dim light.

Her gaze froze, and she instinctively reached out to touch the ring. "This is..."

A scalding palm wrapped around the back of her hand. The man smiled and lowered his head to kiss her eyes. "The wedding ring you gave me."

An Ling naturally recognized it.

Back then, to resolve a news scandal, they had decided to put on a show of affection.

She sat up, stared at the ring for a while, blinked, and then looked up at him. "When did you start wearing this? I thought you..."

She had thought Shen Linyan had put the ring away in storage.

"The day after our divorce." The man took off the chain and removed the ring.

Shen Linyan had once thought about throwing the ring away, as if doing so would throw away all the memories and attachments along with it.

But it was always just a thought; he never actually did it.

Because this was the only thing An Ling had left him.

And the only thing he could hold onto.

Shen Linyan took the woman's left hand and gently slid the ring onto her ring finger.

The woman's fingers were slender and fair. The silver men's wedding ring was far too big for her hand, reflecting a brilliant luster, looking both beautiful and delicate.

He curved his lips into a smile, his eyelashes drooping as his thumb brushed over the wedding ring on her finger. He spoke softly, "I thought I would never have the chance to put a ring on my wife again. Sometimes, I even regretted refusing to let you put the ring on me that afternoon."

An Ling looked down at the ring on her finger.

After a moment of silence, her eyes suddenly curved into a smile. She looked up and said, "Shen Linyan, let's go buy a new pair of wedding rings, alright? And then I'll put yours on for you."

Shen Linyan wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace. He smiled and lowered his head to kiss the top of her hair. "Okay."

An Ling was still thinking about when they would have free time to go pick out rings when the man's voice sounded by her ear again.

"So, does my wife agree to sleep in the same room as me?"

"..."

He was still hung up on that.

An Ling turned her head. The man's elegant and handsome face was incredibly striking, his dark eyes staring straight at her.

After their eyes met, his eyes curved as he leaned in to kiss her lips. "Hmm?"

After a brief moment of silence, An Ling smiled helplessly and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Alright."

The man chuckled, cupped her chin, and lowered his head to kiss her.

The temperature in the air gradually rose, the narrow space between them enveloped in a scorching, cool fragrance.

The woman hugged the man's neck. Under the light, the silver men's wedding ring dangled from her fingertip, on the verge of falling.

Finally, the moment the woman was lifted and turned around, the ring slipped from her finger, falling to the floor with a soft clack.

Feeling her hand empty, An Ling lay on the bed, panting slightly. "The ring dropped..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the rest of her words were entirely swallowed between their lips and teeth, leaving only the man's heavy breathing in their passionate entanglement.

"It's fine, if it dropped, it dropped..."

The consequence of messing around with Shen Linyan was losing track of time.

Kissed into a daze, An Ling accidentally opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of her phone vibrating on the side.

The caller ID read: Mom.

Reason suddenly returning, she blushed and gently pushed the man on top of her. Her voice was soft at the end, "My mom is calling. I originally told her I was working overtime at the company."

It was truly a coincidence. Last time they were interrupted by An Zhou, and this time it was her mother.

Shen Linyan saw the phone, straightened up slightly, lowered his head to kiss her eyes, and after a moment of silence suddenly asked, "Is Madam staying here tonight?"

An Ling had just grabbed her phone. Hearing this, she turned her head to look at him.

She looked at him, blinked, and didn't say anything.

Seeing this, Shen Linyan chuckled, reached out to tidy her hair, and his voice remained gentle, "Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Answer the phone, I'll go check on Huihui."

He got out of bed and bent down to pick up the dropped ring from the floor.

Just as he placed the ring on the nightstand, his arm was suddenly tugged gently.

The woman held his hand, tilted her head up, her pretty face flushed with a layer of pink, and her eyes held a smile. "I'll move back in tomorrow."

Shen Linyan looked slightly stunned, then his lips curved into a smile as he held her hand. "Okay."

Before leaving the house, the man suddenly called out to her, "Madam, you haven't looked at the gift I gave you."

An Ling's face showed a moment of surprise. She originally thought he was just joking before, and didn't expect there to really be a gift, so she sat back down on the sofa. "What gift?"

She saw the man bring out a document from the room. An Ling had signed too many contracts recently, and she recognized at a glance that this was a contract.

The man spoke, "Madam, I opened a new company."

An Ling instantly recalled what An Zhou had said. "I heard from An Zhou before that you agreed to a condition from my mother, and it was this..."

"Yes, I asked a friend abroad to speed things up. Although the company is very small, it can operate normally."

He pushed the contract over. "And this is the gift I'm giving to you, Madam."

"What? You're giving the company to me?" An Ling smiled and picked up the contract.

She just didn't know if this was really worth any money.

Before she could clearly read the contents, Shen Linyan's gentle voice sounded by her ear.

"This is the kind of agency agreement I signed with my father before."

Her movements suddenly paused. She looked up in astonishment, only to meet his warm eyes. The man's eyes curved in a smile as he spoke softly:

"Signing this means that I will manage this company on your behalf. Any issues that arise will be my responsibility, while all the shares and profits will belong entirely to you, Madam."

An Ling stared at him blankly, opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

After a moment of silence, she pursed her lips, picked up a pen, and signed her name on it.

After signing, she looked up and shifted to the side, quietly patting the spot next to her, signaling the man to come sit down.

As soon as Shen Linyan sat down, the woman cupped his face, and her soft lips unexpectedly pressed against his.

He looked up in a daze, unexpectedly meeting a pair of clean and bright almond-shaped eyes.

The woman's eyes curved into crescents, the end of her sentence rising like a little hook. Her voice was sweet and soft, "Do your best, Hubby. Once we make money, we'll go buy rings. I don't want a huge diamond like the previous one, it's expensive and impractical. This time we'll just buy ordinary ones, and I'll wear it every day."

A trace of surprise flashed in Shen Linyan's eyes for a second.

His Adam's apple bobbed, the corners of his mouth rising uncontrollably. He lowered his head, smiling as he gently rested his forehead against hers.

"Wifey, we have to buy the big one too. We will have the money."

After the last shoot, An Ling's workload lightened a bit, and she didn't have as many things to do.

She had just returned from the pantry when she received a message on her phone.

It was a message from an unknown, strange number.

[What a surprise, the An family's young lady actually has face blindness.]

Her gaze paused slightly. Seeing that she had read it, the other party became even more arrogant.

[Why aren't you replying after seeing it? Your colleagues at the company probably don't know that Producer An is the An family's young lady, right? And they definitely don't know that Producer An has face blindness.]

An Ling placed her cup on the table and, without changing her expression, blocked the number.

Just after blocking it, she received a message from Shen Linyan.

[Madam, I have nothing to do at noon. Would you like to have lunch together?]

An Ling: [Sure, are we going home?]

Shen Linyan: [No, we're eating out. I'll come pick you up during your lunch break.]

When the lunch break arrived, An Ling left the company and got into the car.

Ever since Shen Linyan left the Shen family, his cars had been taken away, and he had switched to a new car.

An Ling had previously worried if his house would also be taken away, but Shen Linyan said the house wouldn't be, as he had bought it with his own money.

She suddenly asked curiously, "Is Secretary Chen still staying at the Shen Corporation?"

Shen Linyan's tone was natural. "No, the Shen Corporation fired him too. He will probably work with me later."

Halfway through the meal, An Ling went to the restroom. She pulled out a paper towel to wipe the water off her hands and casually looked up. Through the mirror, she saw a man wearing a hat leaning against the wall behind her, not knowing when he had arrived.

The man casually leaned against the wall smoking. The brim of his hat hid his eyes, revealing only the sharp, chiseled lower half of his face.

She threw the paper towel into the trash can. Just as she turned around to leave, the man suddenly let out a scoff, his tone carrying a familiar casualness.

"An Ling, was that your bankrupt husband just now?"

Her footsteps paused slightly, and she turned her head to glare at him coldly.

The man lowered his cigarette and lifted his head, revealing his full face. That rebellious and untamed face carried a roguish air, and the smile on his lips was unbridled. "Sorry, I forgot that our Miss An is face-blind. But our An Ling should know who I am, right?"

An Ling glanced at him and wanted to turn around and leave.

Xu Huoqing raised a hand to adjust his hat and spoke slowly:

"An Ling, you really make me sad. Didn't you see my messages? If you just walk away like this, I'm going to tell everyone about the An family's young lady having face blindness."

"..."

She knew it was this guy.

An Ling stopped in her tracks, turned her head, and said indifferently, "Xu Huoqing, do you think you can threaten me like this?"

The woman was wearing a black V-neck knit sweater dress. Her jet-black long hair was pinned up, revealing the graceful lines of her neck, adorned with a silver necklace that accentuated her fair and delicate skin. Her exquisite and beautiful face held no expression as she looked at him coldly.

Yet, it only made one feel an unbearable itch in their heart.

Xu Huoqing's Adam's apple bobbed. His gaze was firmly fixed on her face as he took a few steps forward.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything. After all, this is a secret only I know. Who told you to always ignore me and block several of my numbers? I had no choice but to do this."

As he spoke, he wore an expression of feigned sadness on his face.

But when his gaze landed on a glaring red mark on the side of the woman's neck, Xu Huoqing's expression suddenly froze, a fleeting look of hostility flashing in his eyes.

Fuck, someone else beat him to it.

His mood instantly soured. With a gloomy face, he strode forward, wanting to grab the woman's hand, and sneered sarcastically:

"An Ling, even knowing you have face blindness, I didn't despise you, and my family background isn't bad either. Why don't you divorce that whoever and be with me? That way, I'll help you keep this secret."

An Ling frowned deeply, took a big step back, and slapped the man's hand away. "Get lost! Xu Huoqing, stop being an eyesore! I don't care what you want to do."

She really could not be bothered to waste her breath on someone like him, so she simply turned and walked away.

A sharp pain flared on the back of his hand. Already provoked by the sight of her kiss marks, Xu Huoqing's eyes grew increasingly vicious.

Was he actually losing out to a bankrupt illegitimate son?

Staring at the woman's retreating back, his expression turned dark and sinister as he ground his teeth.

"An Ling, you brought this upon yourself."

Then she could not blame him for going after Shen Linyan.