Did the Tsundere Miss Get Slapped in the Face Again Today? - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: “I Miss Her. Where Is She? Will She Ever Come Back?”

Lin Yishu’s words changed nothing. Lin Han remained obstinate and unmoved, as she always was. The conversation eventually ended on a sour note.

“Where is she now?”

Lin Yishu was talking on the phone while walking toward her car.

The car door shut, cutting off the noise from the outside world.

A reporting voice came through the receiver: “The Third Miss has returned to that small apartment Miss Jiang used to rent. She’s been inside for several hours. She won’t let anyone follow her, so we don’t know the situation inside.”

Lin Yishu’s brow furrowed. For the past half month, Lin Anran had frantically searched every possible place.

Jiang Zhi’s former rental, the magazine office where she used to work, the convenience store, and she even made a trip to Snow City.

She had searched every place she could think of, but the result remained the same: nothing.

It was an expected outcome. As long as Jiang Zhi was willing to leave voluntarily, Lin Han could handle the aftermath perfectly—erasing all traces and ensuring Lin Anran would never find her in this lifetime.

As long as Lin Han didn’t relent, and as long as Jiang Zhi didn’t take the initiative to return, the two would never meet again.

Lin Yishu understood this, and so did Lin Anran.

Lin Yishu felt a sense of defeat, not knowing how to persuade her to stop. She could neither sway Lin Han nor comfort Lin Anran. She rubbed her brow tiredly.

Upon arriving at the location, she stepped out of the car. The bodyguard following Lin Anran ran forward to lead the way: “The Third Miss is upstairs in this building.”

Lin Yishu looked up at the dilapidated apartment block.

The building was old; internet cables and electrical wires were tangled in a chaotic mess. Parts of the exterior wall had fallen off, exposing the red bricks underneath.

In such a ruined environment, the appearance of a woman in a classical qipao, with gentle features and an extraordinary temperament, naturally drew the curious stares of passersby.

Accustomed to the stage and the gaze of others, Lin Yishu felt nothing. Ignoring the onlookers, she asked the bodyguard, “Which floor?”

“Fourth floor. No elevator, you’ll have to walk up.”

Lin Yishu nodded. “Understood. You don’t need to follow, I’ll go up alone.”

The bodyguard bowed respectfully.

She climbed to the fourth floor and reached the door. She raised her hand and knocked.

Knock, knock, knock.

She thought the door wouldn’t open easily—that the person inside would throw a tantrum or ignore her.

To her surprise, on the third knock, it opened.

Lin Yishu was stunned.

Lin Anran stood inside. her long curly hair was messy, and her exquisite eyes were clouded with fatigue. She looked listless and had clearly lost quite a bit of weight.

“Second Sister, why are you here?” Lin Anran spoke without expression. She turned back into the room as soon as she opened the door. “It’s just as well you’re here. I ordered a lot of takeout; I probably can’t finish it alone. Let’s eat together.”

Lin Yishu watched her back in astonishment.

During this period, Lin Anran had barely slept or eaten in her quest to find Jiang Zhi. If no one reminded her to eat, she wouldn’t.

Why did she take the initiative to order takeout today? Not just that, but she was actively speaking to people.

Lin Anran sat on the sofa. Lin Yishu followed and sat beside her, her eyes full of worry.

When Anran didn’t eat or speak, she worried; now that she was eating and talking, she worried even more.

This was abnormal.

“You…” Just as she was about to ask, Lin Anran interrupted her.

“I’m fine. I just think it’s meaningless now. Completely meaningless. I don’t want to look for her anymore. I’m stopping.” Lin Anran leaned back against the sofa despondently.

Lin Yishu hesitated, finally settling on: “I hope you’ve really made up your mind. Moving on is a good thing.”

Lin Anran let out a cold laugh. “Why wouldn’t I? Why wouldn’t I move on? She left without a single word. Why should I keep looking for her?”

“Even if I found her, I’d just want to scream at her. Actually, it’s not even worth the effort. If she wants to go, let her. I don’t want her anymore.”

The words were decisive, but Lin Yishu still saw her clenched fists and the shimmer of tears in her eyes.

Lin Yishu assumed she was just speaking out of anger and would continue the search. But surprisingly, over the next few days, Lin Anran truly stopped.

She no longer tried to find Jiang Zhi, no longer wandered aimlessly, and no longer dialed that number.

She ate her meals on time, went shopping occasionally, got her nails done, and bought bags. She even posted snippets of her life on social media.

Everything returned to normal—back to the life Lin Anran had before.

It seemed this relationship was completely over.

However, the more “normal” Lin Anran became, the more uneasy Lin Yishu felt. She sensed something was brewing.

Until…

Lin Anran and Lin Han entered into a bet.

Lin Han’s sharp, icy gaze swept over her. “That small company you mentioned has a debt ratio of over 70% due to poor management over the last two years. Bankruptcy is a certainty. What can you change by taking over?”

Lin Anran looked her straight in the eye. “Give me one year. I can make it profitable.”

“Being young and aggressive is good, but being too aggressive is not necessarily a virtue.”

“You don’t need to worry about my aggression. What I want to say is: if I succeed, you stop forcing me into a marriage.”

Lin Han showed a spark of interest. “Then may I understand that if you fail, you will obediently follow my arrangements and stop throwing childish tantrums?”

Lin Yishu, listening from the side, frantically signaled Lin Anran to say no.

Lin Anran’s gaze was unwavering. “If I fail, I will marry the person of your choosing, according to your requirements. No questions asked.”

Lin Han arched an eyebrow. “It’s a deal.”

“It’s a deal,” Lin Anran replied.

Once Lin Han left, Lin Yishu slapped her arm anxiously. “Little sister, are you stupid? That company is one announcement away from being dead. If you’re going to negotiate with Big Sister, at least pick a company with a chance of survival…”

Lin Anran turned to her, the traces of her former youth and naivety having faded. “If I had chosen a company with an easy out, do you think Big Sister’s personality would have allowed her to agree to this bet?”

Lin Yishu was speechless.

Lin Han never did anything without an absolute guarantee of winning.

Lin Anran’s only path was to find life within death.

“You have zero management experience, and you chose a garbage company. You’ve started on ‘hell’ difficulty. How is this any different from agreeing to get married right now?” Lin Yishu sighed.

“Second Sister, did you forget? My major was Business Administration and Finance. My grades were always at the top of the class.”

“What use are grades? That’s just theory on paper…”

“Even if it’s theory, it has to be done. It’s better than actually getting married.”

Lin Yishu watched her. “So, you actually still want to…”

Lin Anran interrupted. “No. It’s not for her. She’s already gone. Since she chose to leave, there’s no reason for me to keep longing for her. I just don’t want to get married in a muddle according to Big Sister’s arrangements.”

With that, she walked away.

After a few steps, she stopped and said coldly, “Second Sister, don’t mention her in front of me again. Just act like that person never existed.”

This wasn’t the first time Lin Anran had said something so final, but this time felt different.

In the past, when she said such things, her eyes were still full of sorrow and longing. But now, her eyes were void of emotion.

It was as if she truly didn’t care anymore.

Lin Yishu didn’t know if she truly didn’t care. She only knew that for a long time afterward, Lin Anran was so busy she barely touched the ground.

Saving a company on the brink of collapse was no easy feat.

In this bet, Lin Anran’s chance of winning was less than ten percent.

At 2:00 AM, Lin Yishu got up for a glass of water. Passing by, she noticed the light in Lin Anran’s room was still on.

It had been a month, and it was like this every night—working into the early hours.

Knock, knock.

Lin Yishu knocked.

Lin Anran was frowning over a file, too busy to even acknowledge the knock.

Lin Yishu pushed the door open and snatched the file from her hands. “Go to sleep. It’s 2:00 AM. You work this late every day, and you pull all-nighters constantly. Don’t ruin your health before you even see results.”

Lin Anran grabbed the file back. “Leave me alone. I only have one year. Every second is precious. I don’t have time to rest.”

She immediately buried her head back into the documents.

Lin Yishu shook her head, her heart aching for her, but she was powerless.

Days passed. Lin Anran spent every day at the office. Even when she went home, she was just changing her workspace.

When she was truly exhausted, she would crash for a short while, resting just enough to regain the energy to plunge back into work.

One day, having finished a stretch of busy work, she went downstairs to get some fresh air.

A girl on an electric scooter rode past on the street.

Lin Anran’s eyes followed the scooter.

Who knows what she was thinking.

“Kitten.”

Suddenly, a call came from behind her.

Lin Anran’s body froze. She held her breath and turned her head slowly and stiffly.

“Kitten, kitten… Eh? Where’s the stray cat I was feeding? Wasn’t it here every day? Why is it gone today?”

“Probably went somewhere else. Stop looking, it’s gone.”

The passersby walked away.

Lin Anran’s eyelashes lowered. The faint spark that had risen in her eyes vanished instantly.

A self-mocking smile crossed her lips.

She looked up at the sky. The scorching sun stung her eyes.

Her footsteps became unsteady, and her head felt heavy. The ground beneath her feet seemed to sway.

This had been happening frequently lately—dizziness and heart palpitations. It was likely due to lack of sleep and extreme exhaustion.

Lin Anran closed her eyes, wanting to wait it out. Usually, a minute or two of rest was enough.

But today felt more severe than usual.

The vertigo intensified. Unable to stand, she collapsed to the ground. Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness entirely.

When she woke up, she was in the hospital.

A white ceiling, the overwhelming smell of disinfectant.

A doctor stood by the bed, instructing her that she must have a certain amount of rest every day and could not overwork herself. Otherwise, this time it was a fainting spell, but next time, they couldn’t be sure.

Lin Anran’s health had gone from perfectly fine to flashing a dangerous red light in just three months.

Lin Yishu sat by the bed, accompanying her with a look of helplessness and worry.

Lin Anran didn’t speak. She just stared blankly at the ceiling.

“The doctor said you need to rest. Even if it’s to win that bet, you need to be alive to win it. What’s the point if you win but destroy yourself in the process?”

Lin Anran remained silent, her eyes hollow as if her soul had left her.

Silence filled the hospital room.

After a long while, the person on the bed spoke: “Today, I heard someone calling a ‘kitten.’ I thought she had come back.”

Lin Yishu’s lips trembled; she didn’t know how to respond.

“I miss her,” tears slid from the corners of Lin Anran’s eyes, disappearing into her hair. “Why do I still miss her?”

Where is she now? What is she doing? Is she okay?

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