Falling After Marriage - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Pleasing Me is Your Destiny

“Oh~”

“Hang me up… and spank me hard…”

Lin Jin deliberately elongated the final tone, emphasizing the words ‘spank me hard,’ as if a piece of candy was melting in her mouth, wrapped in a soft, moist sweetness.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse!

A chill shot down Cheng Sangluo’s spine. Hearing the word-for-word imitation, her cheeks puffed up, looking exactly like an agitated, cornered hamster.

Her wheat-colored skin normally didn’t show blushing easily, but now it was flushed red, like a steaming chimney top.

Ah! How embarrassing! I want to dig a hole and bury myself! (Puppy hides face and crouches in the corner.jpg)

Lin Jin stood half-turned, hands clasped behind her back, insisting on getting closer to admire the rare sight of shyness.

She couldn’t hold it in and burst into laughter: “So this is what the taciturn puppy looks like when she’s shy. How adorable~”

“Wh… what shyness? Where… where am I shy?”

Cheng Sangluo’s eyes darted everywhere, refusing to look at the crazy woman. She was stuttering that badly, yet still stubbornly denying it.

Even with the curses under her breath, her ruffled appearance didn’t look fierce.

It wasn’t surprising; a puppy wags its tail even when showing its teeth.

Perhaps because it was summer vacation, the pedestrian street, despite the blazing sun, was still bustling with people.

Cheng Sangluo deliberately kept her distance from Lin Jin, looking like strangers.

This person’s stubbornness could no longer be described merely as such. Her head was buzzing with fever, yet she hadn’t mentioned being sick once.

A little girl walked past holding a McDonald’s soft-serve cone. The sight made Cheng Sangluo swallow hard; her feverish throat felt like swallowing needles.

She stared straight at the ice cream, only three words popping into her mind: I really want one.

Lin Jin noticed the puppy’s craving and teased: “Are you a little kid?”

“Tsk, what rule says adults can’t eat soft-serve?” Cheng Sangluo rolled her eyes at her, then looked around for the McDonald’s store.

When she reached the counter, she pulled out the change from her pocket, ignoring the buy-one-get-one-half-off deal.

Lin Jin stood beside her, arms crossed, scoffing: “Stingy, cheapskate.”

Cheng Sangluo’s ears twitched. Clutching the crumpled bills, she protested: “Seriously, you could buy the entire mall, and you’re still after my few pennies?”

“Stingy.” Lin Jin didn’t care for the reasoning, repeating those two words relentlessly, her tone laced with the grievance of an unjustly treated young wife.

Was she after a single ice cream cone?

She was after her importance in the puppy’s heart. Why wasn’t she even worth the price of a discounted item?

The noble Director Lin was brimming with resentment!

“Stop staring at me like that!” Cheng Sangluo hadn’t expected the crazy woman to be so fixated on the cone. However, her temper softened after less than three seconds of resistance: “Fine, I’ll treat you, okay?”

She was extremely unwilling, but still paid for the second half-priced cone at the window.

After getting the coveted ice cream, she dropped her usual tense demeanor, happily licking the milky ball, and handed over the other cone: “Here, take it.”

“That’s better.” Lin Jin lifted her chin haughtily, deliberately pausing before taking the cone and tasting it.

She frowned slightly, finding the syrupy sweetness too cheap and wanting to throw it away immediately. But watching the puppy’s savoring face, the taste melting on her tongue seemed different.

In a way, Cheng Sangluo was like this soft-serve: cheap, milky-sweet, with a satisfying crunch, making up the most basic, simple happiness.

Lin Jin couldn’t help but take another bite, this time her eyes curved into a smile.

It turns out the delicious part is the puppy.

She sighed: “You can buy happiness with just one cone. You’re easily satisfied.”

Cheng Sangluo sucked on the milky ball, clicking her tongue: “Being easily satisfied is a good thing. Ambitious people live a very tiring life.”

“Are you alluding to me?”

The puppy smacked her lips: “Hey! The lady protests too much.”

After eating for a bit, Lin Jin offered the remaining cone to the puppy: “I can’t finish it. You eat it.”

The puppy bristled: “I’m not a garbage can!”

“Don’t you hate waste the most?” Lin Jin mocked with a sarcastic tone: “Do you know how many people starve to death in this world every day?”

“You’re imitating me?” Cheng Sangluo angrily snatched the cone, stuffing it into her mouth. She chewed vigorously, as if trying to chew the annoying person to pieces: “Don’t do it again.”

Lin Jin liked that the puppy ate her leftovers, giving her a sense of satisfaction, like a master feeding a pet. She even wanted to stroke her fluffy head: “I dare you to try me next time.”

Cheng Sangluo shot her a murderous look, internally grumbling that the crazy woman had endless issues. She really couldn’t look at her without annoyance.

The soft-serve brought a brief peace. The two walked side-by-side in the mall, chatting intermittently.

Lin Jin was ‘walking the puppy’ when she suddenly stopped in front of a luxury fashion store.

Just as she was about to step in, someone floated up behind her like a ghost, complaining: “Don’t go in. I can’t afford it.”

Cheng Sangluo couldn’t stand the sickly sweet scent inside the store; the smell made her throat feel tight.

Even if she didn’t understand fashion, she recognized the brand’s logo. Without looking at the tag, she knew the prices were astonishingly high.

Lin Jin looked Cheng Sangluo up and down in her humble attire, sighing: “Clothes make the man. Isn’t it nice to dress respectably? You’ve been wearing this T-shirt since you got out of prison. It’s tired of it. Aren’t you tired of the old thing?”

“I have to live within my means. Do you think it’s appropriate for me to wear clothes from here? Should I wear them to move bricks, or for high-altitude work, or to wash dishes?” Cheng Sangluo was stubborn, but her hand gripping the hem of her shirt secretly clenched.

No one didn’t wish for a life of luxury, and she had her aspirations. But her struggling life was simply like this: either the crazy woman took her job, or an unexpected family debt cropped up.

What was luxury? For Cheng Sangluo, the soft-serve cone she ate today was a luxury; the fever medicine she refused to buy was a luxury.

She wanted to stretch every dollar, let alone spend hundreds on new clothes.

Lin Jin saw through the puppy’s predicament. She knew this person was as unyielding as a steel plate that couldn’t be bent. But the scene of her secretly eating leftovers was like a barb stuck in her heart—impossible to remove and difficult to digest.

She sighed heavily, softening her tone: “Then let’s go look at discounted clothes. Nothing over a thousand yuan, as a gift for you treating me to ice cream.”

This forced reason was both amusing and unspeakably poignant.

Cheng Sangluo was silent, calculating how many soft-serve cones a thousand yuan could buy, and subtly refused: “You really don’t have to be so deliberate…”

Lin Jin didn’t wait for her to finish, habitually hooking her arm and walking forward: “You promised you would listen to me today.”

“Money doesn’t grow on trees.” Cheng Sangluo followed reluctantly, muttering: “You have no reason to be this nice to me. Why?”

“You said no one is nice to a stranger for no reason, so I’m not being nice to you for no reason, right?” Lin Jin countered with a question. She didn’t explain the reason, yet it felt like an answer.

Cheng Sangluo scratched her head, pondering the strange conversation, but couldn’t make sense of it.

Reaching the entrance of a casual clothing store, Lin Jin raised an eyebrow: “You might like the clothes here.”

Cheng Sangluo looked around. The massive retail space seemed endless. The style of the clothes wasn’t important; what mattered was the conspicuous 50% off signs everywhere.

She walked up to the display rack, touching and feeling the clothes, praising: “This is good! It’s pure cotton.”

She instinctively checked the price tag, mentally calculating the discounted price. Feeling it was within her acceptable range, she held the T-shirt up to herself for Lin Jin’s opinion: “How about this?”

Lin Jin showed disgust: “Ugly.”

The puppy grabbed another one: “This one?”

“Even uglier.”

“Then this one?”

Lin Jin’s opinion of graphic T-shirts remained at an elementary school level. She rubbed her temples and complained: “So ugly there’s nothing left to describe.”

“All you say is ugly. You’re not just picky, you’re a mood killer!” Cheng Sangluo angrily put down the clothes and turned to leave.

Lin Jin stopped her almost with an embrace, chiding: “Your taste is as messy as you are! You’ll wear what I pick. No refusing, no arguing, and absolutely no worrying about the price.”

“What’s messy about me?!” Cheng Sangluo was annoyed, but she still refused the crazy woman’s generosity: “You pick. But I will pay myself, so the cheaper the better. I’m begging you!”

Tonight’s gathering was hosted by Shu Wan, and the dinner venue was an antique-style cruise ship.

In the height of summer, this was the perfect spot for guests to enjoy the bright moon over the sea, so the cost was naturally high.

Cheng Sangluo was wearing the denim shirt and khaki shorts Lin Jin had picked out for her. She looked much fresher.

Exhausted after being dragged around all day, her energy was flagging. She was leaning against the car window, using the fresh air to clear her head.

When the Maybach stopped at the port, she stumbled out of the car, rubbing her temples to ease her discomfort.

“Miss Cheng?”

Cheng Sangluo followed the sound. Shu Wan was tilting her head, her eyes smiling, probably surprised by the night’s unexpected company.

She was still dressed in a simple white dress, which looked slightly mismatched with the bright red Ferrari behind her.

Cheng Sangluo smiled politely. Before she could offer a greeting, the person behind her subtly tugged her arm.

“If you were as polite to me as you are to others, you wouldn’t have suffered so much.” Lin Jin’s tone was gloomy, her gaze fixed on Shu Wan’s face, harboring deep hostility.

In fact, the two were not friends, but rivals. However, since Gu Shinian was the intermediary, they had to be invited to every event equally.

For people standing at the top of the tower like them, even if they couldn’t stand each other, they had to maintain appearances. Dinner parties were more than just eating; amidst the toasts and small talk lay business strategy. Just a few conversations could affect the next day’s financial markets.

This was why Lin Jin had to attend the appointment.

Cheng Sangluo showed her teeth: “Isn’t my attitude toward you good enough? Be grateful!”

Lin Jin also felt the puppy was unusually compliant today, so she changed the topic: “Since you’ve behaved well, I’ll reluctantly answer the second question you wanted to know.”

Finally returning to the main topic, Cheng Sangluo urged: “Well, tell me.”

“Your brother’s gambling addiction didn’t start yesterday. Right after you were jailed, Xu Songheng set him up to enter an underground casino. The excuse was that your military retirement money had to compensate the victim, and the only fast way to get the capital for marriage was through gambling.

Initially, he was winning or losing a few thousand, but your brother tasted the sweetness and gambled harder. He barely stopped until he lost your family’s house.

The day you got out of prison and hit Xu Songheng’s men, he used a little trick to get your brother addicted again. In just a few days, the debt compounded into three million.”

Lin Jin patiently explained the sequence of events. This information was precisely the content of the document Sheng He handed her in the office today.

Cheng Sangluo quickly checked the timeline in her mind and knew the crazy woman wasn’t lying.

She resented Cheng Xing for being spoiled yet useless, and her parents for their indifference, but she felt a little uneasy.

If she hadn’t run into Xu Songheng committing a crime back then, and if she hadn’t insisted on reporting and testifying, maybe none of them would be in this situation today.

Lin Jin sensed the puppy’s self-reproach and comforted her softly: “Cheng Sangluo, you mustn’t blame yourself. Blame the person who hurt you, and blame the greedy and foolish person.”

Cheng Sangluo blinked her tired eyes. After quickly composing herself, she threw out the final question: “What do you think is the best way to solve these problems?”

Cheng Sangluo wasn’t soft-hearted. She could completely escape the huge debt, but Xu Songheng was like a cancer in her life. If he wasn’t eradicated, he would constantly find ways to harm her.

Lin Jin had already demonstrated the principle of a crime is easily found when a person is disliked during the pool party.

Of course, Lin Jin wouldn’t reveal all her cards for taming the puppy at once. She had to be the cunning businesswoman first, then the gentle controller.

She looked at Cheng Sangluo, who was seriously seeking a solution, and the curve of her lips subtly deepened.

That smile completely changed its nature. It was cold, sharp, stripped of any warmth, and filled with the ruthlessness of a self-serving opportunist.

“You’ve already realized that the best way to solve the trouble Xu Songheng creates is to seek my help. You also know I’m a businesswoman, and I require an equal exchange of benefits.”

Lin Jin’s voice remained steady, even carrying a hint of laziness, but every word was like chilled steel, precisely stabbing at Cheng Sangluo’s slightly relaxed nerves.

“This question is beyond the scope of our deal. It requires an increase in stakes. How about a happy choice of three: Come home with me tonight, and how we ‘play’ is up to me; or let me force three bottles of liquor down you, get you drunk, and the result will still be that you’re at my mercy; or perhaps…” Lin Jin twirled a strand of the puppy’s hair, playing with it between her fingers: “Pleasing me in bed seems to be your destiny.”

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