Chapter 40: Scammer Decides to Be a Good Person 15 – Standing in Front of Her Bedroom Door

After Shi Lan finished her shower and came out, she thought she heard movement at the door, as if two grown men were talking outside.

Soup was stewing on the kitchen stove, bubbling away, and she wasn’t sure whether she’d misheard. She deliberately turned off the heat and listened again. There really were voices.

This apartment layout was one unit per elevator, and there was only one household on this floor, so it was basically impossible to run into neighbors. The building’s water and electrical access shafts were all in the basement level, so it couldn’t be repairmen either.

Had some criminal noticed that she’d been living alone ever since moving in, and decided to take advantage of it?

Was the property management in this complex really that unreliable?

After weighing it over in her mind, her hand had already, almost by habit, grabbed a rolling pin as thick as her forearm from the kitchen.

She crept lightly toward the door, already planning that the rolling pin was only her last resort. If anything seemed wrong, her first move would be to seize the initiative, brace the door shut with something heavy, then stall for time while calling the police and the property security office.

Before buying the apartment, Shi Lan had specifically checked. The local police station was less than a hundred meters from the front gate of the complex.

She brushed aside the cover over the peephole and looked out. A distorted side profile with an oversized head.

But even from that profile, Shi Lan recognized him. The person outside wasn’t some criminal at all. It was clearly her boyfriend, Du Heng, who had been away from home for months.

Startled and delighted, her emotions surging, Shi Lan had no time to think about why someone who had only wrapped filming yesterday and wasn’t expected back until tomorrow at the earliest had already arrived home so late at night.

She opened the door, and unable to hold back her longing, threw herself straight into Du Heng’s arms.

“Du Heng!”

Shi Lan had counted every day. Ninety-eight full days.

Her relationship with Du Heng wasn’t much better than the Cowherd and Weaver Girl¹‘s.

Du Heng had still been talking to Yang Chong about that fortune-bringing wooden plaque when the door beside him suddenly opened. Along with a sweet, aggrieved cry, a fragrant blur crashed toward him. The moment he recognized the voice, he instinctively reached out and caught her. A soft, delicate, sweet-smelling bundle filled his arms.

In that instant, his senses sharpened infinitely, and longing came crashing over him like a landslide, leaving Du Heng struggling to keep himself in check.

He tightened his arms around her. After holding her for a short while and barely managing to calm himself, Du Heng reluctantly patted Shi Lan, who was practically hanging off him. “Lanlan, get down. We’ve got a guest watching.”

Only then did Shi Lan spare some attention elsewhere and notice another young man standing by the elevator, one so good-looking it was almost unfair. His mouth was hanging open as he stared at the two of them embracing.

Yang Chong wasn’t shocked by the reunion of a young couple after a long separation. He had entered the industry early. What scene hadn’t he seen, or filmed? What shocked him was the rolling pin in Shi Lan’s hand.

That thing was so thick. Getting hit with it would definitely hurt like hell.

Before coming, he had already guessed that this younger brother’s girlfriend he had never met must be someone extraordinary. He just hadn’t expected their first meeting to be this explosive.

Even with an outsider present, Shi Lan wasn’t overly shy. She stepped back a little with Du Heng, then smiled politely at Yang Chong in an open, graceful way.

“Sorry you had to see that. I’m Shi Lan, this blockhead’s girlfriend. I’m not sure how I should address you.”

Du Heng quickly introduced them to each other.

Yang Chong said, “Sorry in advance for imposing on you these next couple of days, Sister-in-law.”

As he spoke, though, his eyes kept drifting toward that absurdly thick rolling pin.

Shi Lan noticed and tossed the rolling pin to Du Heng. “Just an accident, an accident. Don’t stand around, come on in.”

Once they entered, it was Du Heng’s turn to be surprised. This apartment was completely different from the two-bedroom place he had imagined. Wasn’t it a little too spacious? It even had a terrace and a split-level layout.

It wasn’t easy to ask Shi Lan about it in front of an outsider, so he could only force himself to hold back. In his heart, he had already started quietly calculating how much this place must have cost, how much savings they had, how much Shi Lan had borrowed from others, and if borrowing roles went smoothly and one drama took over half a year to shoot, how many productions he would have to film before he could pay all that money back…

Yang Chong said, “Why do you look so absent-minded after coming home? Don’t tell me you’re regretting bringing me back to play third wheel.”

Du Heng wasn’t in the mood to joke with him right now.

“Go wash your hands and eat. Lanlan said since it’s so late, we’ll just have something simple tonight. Tomorrow she’ll make a proper meal to welcome us.”

Shi Lan usually ate all three meals at her shop, so she really hadn’t cooked much at home.

It was only because she knew Du Heng would be back tomorrow that she’d brought some ingredients home today. The pot on the stove held beef broth, originally prepared for tomorrow, but tonight it was perfect for making beef rice noodles.

She set a pot of water to boil. In a large wire skimmer were glossy, delicate wide rice noodles and finely minced fresh beef. She dunked them back and forth through the boiling water several times, and the minced beef quickly changed color and cooked through. She drained the noodles and beef, poured them into large bowls lined with blanched mung bean sprouts, then ladled in a generous scoop of clear beef broth that had been simmering for hours. A little salt, a sprinkle of chopped scallions, and it was ready to serve.

After the exhaustion of travel, having a bowl like this on a late autumn night, something piping hot to eat, was deeply comforting. On top of that, it tasted genuinely good. The beef was springy and tender, the bean sprouts crisp and fresh, the broth rich and savory, and the noodles smooth and slippery.

Yang Chong ate until he was utterly satisfied, then even helped himself to another bowl of soup. Patting his stomach, he sighed. “Home really is best.”

Shi Lan was quite satisfied too.

She had worried for nothing that with Du Heng’s personality, he might not get along well with coworkers, and had also worried that he might get tricked. Looking at things now, though, he was the male lead after all. He had protagonist halo² on his side. She had just been worrying over nothing.

Or maybe there really was some kind of law of attraction between big shots.

Look at that, after filming just his very first drama, he had already brought another big shot home with him.

Yes, Yang Chong was also a big shot in the book.

He didn’t have many scenes, but he always appeared at critical moments as someone with a great deal of influence.

He came from a privileged family and debuted as a child star. After shooting a few dramas and becoming popular, the young master decided to settle down, cast aside the glamour behind him, and go study. And not even at a school related to acting. His family wanted him to study economics and management so he could inherit the family business later, but the rebellious young master secretly went behind their backs and got himself a degree from the music academy next door as well.

After graduating, once he could earn his own money, he fully let himself loose. He completely ignored his family’s threats to cut off financial support, packed his bags, and plunged right back into the entertainment industry. It was said that he had struggled for a while too, and then he went on to thrive in both music and film, flourishing in the industry.

Shi Lan looked at Yang Chong sitting before her. He was only a few years older than Du Heng. She was rather skeptical of the book’s description that he had “struggled for a while.”

Judging by his age, he probably hadn’t even been out of school for two years, right? And now he had already landed the lead role in a major production… The “hardships” this young master had suffered were probably just the bitterness of coffee drunk during night shoots, weren’t they?

Some people were simply favored by heaven. Others could only envy them.

A wealthy family background, a brilliant mind, talent in both acting and music, an appealing personality, and on top of all that, a face that made people jealous…

Shi Lan even suspected that this must be some other novel’s male lead who had somehow wandered into the book Du Heng belonged to.

After settling Yang Chong into the guest room, Du Heng stood in the bathroom staring blankly at himself in the mirror.

His mind had originally been full of thoughts about the apartment and money, but now all of that had been replaced by something else.

He had noticed at the dinner table that Shi Lan kept looking at Yang Chong, and there had even been a trace of admiration in her expression.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Du Heng had never thought his appearance was anything especially remarkable. In the past, Shi Lan always praised him for being handsome and said he was wasting a face like that on construction sites, but he had just assumed it was love making her see him through rose-colored glasses. Only after arriving on set, when many people praised him for being handsome and it didn’t seem fake, did Du Heng belatedly realize that maybe he really did look pretty good. But people on set also often praised Yang Chong for being handsome, and now, seeing his girlfriend react to Yang Chong like this, he couldn’t help but overthink it. His thoughts were a mess.

When it came to the current Shi Lan, Du Heng was always afraid of losing what he had.

She was beautiful and radiant, successful in business, and had made many friends. Even without him, she could still live very well. But he wasn’t the same. He was becoming more and more unable to leave her, yet he didn’t know what else he had left to give her. All he could do was try his best to accommodate her in everything and hand over all the money he earned to her. It seemed that only in this way could the bond between them grow deeper.

He wanted to get closer to her, a little closer, then closer still.

Yet standing outside her door, he found himself unable to take that step.

Shi Lan had been straining to listen to every sound coming from the bathroom. She heard Du Heng come out and stop outside her door, yet he still didn’t open it and come in.

She couldn’t help wondering if she’d reflexively locked the door when she came in. Barefoot, she crept quietly to the door to check and found that it wasn’t locked at all.

She waited a long time, until her feet had gone a little cold, but the person outside still made no move.

By the time Shi Lan finally couldn’t take it anymore and opened the door from inside herself, there was no one outside. At some point, he had already left and gone into another guest room. Only the wet footprints from a pair of slippers outside the master bedroom proved he had come.

Fuming, Shi Lan locked the door and went back to bed.

Wrapped in the blanket, she didn’t even know what she was angry about. Because her boyfriend was too proper?

But after not seeing each other for so long, didn’t he even want to talk to her? They had seemed to chat for quite a while earlier, but with Yang Chong there, the two of them hadn’t had any chance to be alone.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Could it be that after only a few months away, after seeing all kinds of slim and curvy actresses on set, his heart had started to wander?

She sat up and furiously raked her fingers through her hair. So annoying!

If he really dared let her down… had he forgotten how sharp her knife was?

After a whole night of wild thoughts, neither Du Heng nor Shi Lan slept well.

Only Young Master Yang Chong, with nothing weighing on his mind, slept soundly, dreamed sweetly, and appeared at the breakfast table looking bright and refreshed.

“Morning~ Let’s see what delicious things we’ve got today.”

Shi Lan said, “I still have to go out for something later, so for breakfast I only made Preserved Egg and Lean Pork Porridge. The Dried Cucumber to go with it was pickled at home, you can give it a try. At noon, you two can just grab something outside. I’ll be back at four in the afternoon, and then we can make a proper dinner.” She said apologetically to Yang Chong, “As for going to the tailor to get measured for clothes, we’ll have to push that to tomorrow.”

“Sis-in-law, just take care of your own business. Du Heng’s here with me anyway.” Yang Chong’s chopsticks flew nonstop between the Dried Cucumber and his mouth. “This side dish is amazing, so authentic! I’ve never eaten cucumber like this before. This trip was so worth it. I wish I could eat this every day.”

“That’s no trouble at all. Since you like it, I’ll pack some up for you to take back when you leave.”

Angry or not, she still had to help maintain a good relationship with her boyfriend’s friend.

Yang Chong grinned even more brightly.

Du Heng set down his chopsticks. Since waking up that morning, Shi Lan had barely looked at him properly, and it made him uneasy. Unable to resist, he spoke up to get her attention. But for a moment he was at a loss for words and didn’t know what to say, so he asked, “Is the shop very busy?”

Shi Lan found the question baffling. As long as a shop was open for business, how could it not be busy? And asking that at a time like this made it sound to her like he was questioning her, as if he were saying that he’d only just managed to come back, yet instead of staying home with him, she was going out. Shi Lan didn’t even want to respond to him. He’d been too spoiled.

She couldn’t embarrass him in front of his friend either, so Shi Lan said, “It’s mainly because a new branch is opening today. This time the location is on the commercial pedestrian street, where foot traffic is very heavy, so I need to go keep an eye on things.”

Yes, after a few months, Shi Lan’s business empire had expanded again, and a new branch had opened. These were the fifth and sixth stores under her name.

Two stores were opening at the same time.

Translator’s Notes