Fang Zheng sniffed indignantly. "Why wouldn't it be mine? I was the one who handed it over. I figured I'd make him happy first and steal it back another day. If I'd known this would happen, I would've just filled the damn bottle with water. Clearly, being too nice never pays."
Lin Wan didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. What kind of people are these? They twisted logic into knots, and every one of them acted so righteously while doing it.
Fang Zheng wasn't done. "So what did you do? Smash it for the sound?"
"Mm." Lin Wan nodded. Barely counted as a pleasant sound, she thought. If anything, it was awful.
"For real?" Fang Zheng stared at her for a long moment before blurting, "I've got it—I've got it! That guy must've picked up a trick from King You of Zhou. Other kings tore silk; you two went big and smashed wine bottles!"
This time, Lin Wan felt the injustice hit her square in the chest. On top of that, this man's grasp of history was downright tragic. She decided to enlighten him. "The one who liked tearing silk wasn't Bao Si. It was Mei Xi."
Fang Zheng blinked. "Mei… what? All I know is that I'm out of luck today. Came here for nothing."
Lin Wan couldn't hold back a laugh and explained, "Mei Xi was King Jie of Xia's favorite concubine. You know King Jie, right? She loved the sound of tearing silk, so he ordered people to rip silk for her every day. That story has nothing to do with King You of Zhou. Don't pile crime on him—setting off beacon fires just to amuse Bao Si was already bad enough."
"Oh." Fang Zheng listened with only half his brain working, but then his expression suddenly lit up. "But smashing wine is because of you two, right?"
Lin Wan was speechless. Here we go again. Was she supposed to confess that she'd stolen a few sips of Chen Jin's wine, and he'd gotten so furious that he'd smashed every bottle in the cabinet? Classic: "If I can't have it, no one will." Absolutely vile.
"What a waste of my good wine. Didn't even get a taste. If I'd known, I would've—" Fang Zheng slid right back into lamentation, nagging endlessly like a modern-day Xianglin Sao.
"If you like, take anything you see in the house," Lin Wan offered, unable to see him wallow any further.
"Really? You have the authority to say that?" His eyes lit up at once.
Lin Wan shook her head. "If I did, I would've given it to you already."
"Tsk. Lin Wan, you've learned to be bad."
Tan Xizhe clearly didn't buy Fang Zheng's sob story, but he still teased, "Spending money like water… who would've thought Chen Jin had it in him to act like a decadent king?"
"Right!" Fang Zheng slapped his thigh. "Utterly decadent!"
Tan Xizhe chuckled. "And yet you're still loyal to him—dropping your real brother for his sake?"
"Hey now, that's a whole different issue. And you're not my real brother either. Look at Jin's actual brother—he's like a twenty-four-filial-saint. No matter if being drunk causes a mouse-hole incident or a full-blown homicide, his big brother is always the first to clean up the mess without a word. Can you do that? Half the time, we can't even find you—who knows which starlet's bed you've passed out in."
Tan Xizhe ignored the jab. His gaze shifted toward Lin Wan—her face had already darkened, her eyes fixed on the carpet. He coughed lightly, clapped Fang Zheng on the shoulder, and said, "Right. We're strangers now, got it? Off you go."
"You just want to talk to the pretty lady alone." Fang Zheng backed away dramatically. "Fine, fine, I'll get out of your sight."
Two steps later he turned back and yelled, "Lin Wan! Next time you two smash wine for fun, at least tell me beforehand! I want to come sniff the aroma!"
Once the chatterbox finally left, peace returned to the room. Tan Xizhe studied Lin Wan's gloomy expression. "Are you alright?"
She lifted her head and smiled faintly. "I'm fine."
"He doesn't know anything. Don't take his nonsense to heart."
"I believe you two really are cousins now."
Tan Xizhe huffed a laugh, rubbing the bridge of his nose, faintly embarrassed. "What happened this time is on me. I didn't think it through, and it dragged you in."
"There was always a chance of success and a chance of failure. I was prepared for both."
"Actually… we walked right into Chen Jin's trap."
"What do you mean?" Lin Wan's eyes widened.
"There was never a whistle-blower's report. Just a blackmail letter." He paused before continuing. "The gang leader had a personal grudge against an executive at Zhicheng. Lost money gambling, so he came up with a scheme—beat someone up, take photos, fake evidence, and use it to extort the executive. The old neighborhood's demolition was under that executive's jurisdiction. The thug thought that if he hid the family of three, no one would be able to prove anything. And he wasn't even asking for much—just a few tens of thousands—assuming the executive would pay up to avoid trouble."
Lin Wan listened, the chill climbing her spine.
"But the executive didn't play along. He reported everything to Chen Jin instead. And Chen Jin wasn't even in the country at the time. You have to hand it to him—before he even flew back, he had already sorted the entire mess out remotely. He had people treat the injuries of the family while setting a trap for me. He deliberately leaked rumors about a whistle-blower's letter, knowing I'd take the bait."
A cold heaviness settled through Lin Wan's chest. The story made a terrifying amount of sense. It explained every loose end. And it matched Chen Jin's style to the core.
How could she forget? This was how he dealt with people—fast enough to leave them no time to breathe, ruthless enough to leave them without hope. Now she finally understood why he had stalled the truth: he was waiting. Waiting for the family to recover, waiting to polish his image, waiting to push Zhaohui into the storm at the perfect moment—or perhaps… simply waiting to torment her.
Her emotions surged violently—hurt, disappointment, despair—each wave crashing harder than the last, until it felt like she was drowning.
Aware someone was watching, Lin Wan forced her thoughts to settle. "How badly were the family injured?"
"They only wanted to create a visual effect. They weren't actually planning to kill anyone. Some of the blood was smeared on them while the victims were unconscious. To keep things from blowing up, they locked the family up—but they weren't going to let them starve."
"And your company?"
"I'm not that fragile. Zhicheng has what Zhaohui has. The only thing I lack is his ability to stay calm."
Then he looked at her seriously. "Lin Wan, leave him. You've seen it yourself—you won't win against someone like him. If you're afraid he'll come after you, I can help."
"How?" Lin Wan asked weakly.
"Well," he tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I could send you abroad. Somewhere he can't find you."
Lin Wan couldn't help laughing.
"I'm serious. If you're worried about your fiancé's parents, I can take care of them. Financially, practically—whatever. I may not be good at other things, but I can look after two elders."
She smiled and interrupted him. "Thank you for the offer. Maybe I look fragile to you, but no matter how weak I am, I can't shove my responsibilities onto someone else. Running away solves nothing. If I leave a mess here, I won't be at peace anywhere."
Tan Xizhe blinked, then said with genuine admiration, "Lin Wan, I respect you."
After a quiet moment, he added, "But technically… they're not really your responsibility."
"Maybe it's because of love," she said, her eyes distant.
"Just because of your feelings for your fiancé? You two only knew each other for three years."
"Not just him." Her voice softened. "You know my family situation. His parents didn't approve of us at first—many parents wouldn't. But after spending more time together, they not only accepted me, they treated me well. They helped me rediscover something I'd been missing for years. So feelings are feelings. You can't measure them by time or anything else."
Tan Xizhe looked at the thin, weary girl before him—yet beneath her exhaustion was a resolve that seemed to shine. It felt like he was seeing her for the first time. He thought about her words and finally said, "I can't fully understand, but… I'm moved."
"Thank you for being moved," she answered with a gentle smile.