Falling After Marriage - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Pressure from Lin Jin

Cheng Sangluo didn’t keep Lin Jin waiting for long.

She walked out of the stairwell, fiddling with her ID card. Turning around, she spotted the chilled watermelon the landlord had prepared, and her eyes lit up.

Without waiting for the old man to offer, she snatched a piece and devoured it hungrily.

She must have been desperately thirsty.

“Mmm!” Cheng Sangluo’s eyes shone. Cheeks bulging, she praised: “Grandpa, your melon is so sweet.”

The old man waved his fan and gave Lin Jin a hearty smile: “I told you so, she loves watermelon.”

Lin Jin remained silent. Hearing the boastful statement, she couldn’t help but let out a cold “hmm,” as if saying she’d known that for years.

She watched Cheng Sangluo relish the melon, then crossed her arms, leaning against the flimsy back, patiently waiting.

Cheng Sangluo tossed the rind, then unceremoniously grabbed another piece, clamping it in her mouth. Her two hands were occupied. She declared: “I’ll take a piece for Sheng He too. Let’s go.”

The winding, narrow alley didn’t allow the two to walk side-by-side. Lin Jin could only silently follow behind Cheng Sangluo.

The atmosphere wasn’t hostile, but it was too quiet, brewing a sense of loneliness typical of a farewell.

“I know your favorite fruit is watermelon.” Lin Jin suddenly brought up the topic, unsure if she was saying it to Cheng Sangluo or responding to the landlord’s words earlier.

Her voice was heavy and filled with a regretful stubbornness, as if the words would be unpleasantly stuck in her heart if she didn’t say them.

Cheng Sangluo, chewing on the rind-thin slice of melon, shrugged dismissively: “Yeah, what’s so strange about that? Don’t you like watermelon? It’s so sweet and juicy, and…”

Lin Jin listened quietly to her stream of praise, her thick lashes blinking slightly. Her thoughts drifted far, far away with the lighthearted tune.

That distant place was in her memory and her dreams, untouchable. The person in the camouflage uniform, back straight, gradually merged with the figure in front of her.

That person had said the same words when offering her a slice of watermelon years ago. Decades later, the cheerful tune hadn’t changed.

Lin Jin’s eyes gathered an intense, persistent tenderness, drowning out the cicadas of that midsummer, the white clouds of memory, and the person’s confident smile—clearer than in the present moment.

“Sweet, juicy, cheap at a few cents a pound, and filling after eating one…” Lin Jin finished Cheng Sangluo’s sentence almost simultaneously, though her soft murmur was swallowed by the alley.

Cheng Sangluo looked back at her, muttering: “What are you mumbling about?”

“I’m mumbling that I knew you liked watermelon a long time ago, not just today.” Lin Jin’s smile grew even more content, brewed by the memory.

Cheng Sangluo was suspicious: “Hmm? A long time ago?”

Lin Jin suddenly realized she’d let something slip, so she vaguely covered it up: “Remember that night I called you? You were crunching watermelon on the phone, sounding like a mouse.”

The topic diverted, Cheng Sangluo didn’t suspect anything, but wrinkled her nose in disdain: “Ugh! Speaking of that night, do you know how many mosquitoes I fed just to answer your call!”

Lin Jin didn’t mind the puppy’s complaint. Her fingertip slid from the back of Cheng Sangluo’s neck down her spine, moving to the position of her heart and drawing a circle.

“What are you doing?” Cheng Sangluo felt a tickle, shrinking her neck. She turned and snatched the mischievous fingers.

In truth, Lin Jin’s action didn’t need much explanation; she wanted to, so she did, perhaps also containing the intent to make the puppy turn around.

“Are you very reluctant to leave here?” Lin Jin raised her eyebrows, subtly wiggling her fingertips.

A comfortable itch spread across Cheng Sangluo’s palm. She instinctively tightened her grip on the restless hand, then gently let go, feeling they shouldn’t be so intimate. “Grandpa Landlord is very kind to me. It may be broken down here, but it’s full of human warmth.”

“Human warmth…” Lin Jin tasted the phrase. “Is that very important to you?”

Cheng Sangluo glanced at her, shaking her head with great disdain: “An arrogant and cold person like you naturally wouldn’t understand the meaning of those three words.”

“Your definitions of me are always negative…” Lin Jin’s eyes dimmed, but were quickly replaced by her usual fake smile: “But it doesn’t matter. You’ll have plenty of time to get to know me again. I forgive your superficial understanding for now.”

Cheng Sangluo was speechless. She thought the crazy woman was always so full of herself. Who wants to get to know you again?

Lin Jin smiled lightly, seeing the puppy’s changing expression, and said no more.

She knew this brief harmony would vanish when they reached the end of the alley, so she clasped her hands behind her back and slowed her steps.

She wished this dilapidated road was longer, so the memories and happiness could last a little longer.

When the two reached the Land Rover, Sheng He was already holding a debt agreement.

It was evident that Lin Jin’s subordinates were highly efficient.

Cheng Sangluo hadn’t realized the abyss she was about to face. She kindly offered Sheng He a slice of watermelon: “Eat up. It’ll quench your thirst and cool you down.”

Sheng He wanted to refuse, but seeing his boss’s tacit approval, he took the watermelon: “Thank you, Miss Cheng.”

He handed the agreement to Lin Jin, quickly retreating into the car with the watermelon to avoid the impending conflict.

Lin Jin beckoned with her fingers: “Give me your ID card.”

Cheng Sangluo trusted the crazy woman’s word and handed over her ID. Watching Lin Jin put it straight into her bag, she realized something was wrong: “I thought it was just for a photo copy. Why did you take it?”

Lin Jin leaned lazily against the car, a successful smile playing on her lips: “You need to have something collateral with me, so I can feel more secure. It’s not like I took your property deed. What are you afraid of?”

“I knew you were too easy to talk to! Turns out you dug a trap for me right here!” Cheng Sangluo looked around angrily. The old city area had the most passersby, making it inconvenient to forcefully snatch it back in public.

She realized then that Lin Jin had set a trap long ago. No wonder she insisted on discussing the promissory note only outside the alley.

Lin Jin handed over the agreement: “Don’t you want to look at it? Be careful I don’t trick you again.”

Cheng Sangluo angrily snatched the agreement, reading it line by line. She was furious when she saw the content: “You said you wouldn’t charge interest or demand a repayment date! Why does this stipulate only one month?!”

“Yes, I promised you that, but I also have the right to go back on my word. Just like you don’t listen to my arrangements, it’s the same principle,” Lin Jin wore that expression of what can you do to me, shrugging with one arm crossed. “You asked me what attitude you should take, didn’t you? I’ll tell you now: I can be very generous with you, or I can be petty. It all depends on how you treat me.”

“You!” Cheng Sangluo was speechless, only able to look at the agreement over and over.

There was no other way. She would just have to be reckless.

The thin pages were crumpled as she scoffed: “If that’s the case, then I choose to refuse to sign and seal it.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Who was it in the Convalescence Center who pounded her chest and promised to sign, seal, and notarize, without any delay?” Lin Jin clicked her tongue, her tone outrageously malicious: “Do you know how much interest three million accrues in a month? It’s an amount you can’t possibly earn in a short time. How are you going to pay it back? What are you going to pay it back with?”

Cheng Sangluo listened to the words that directly stabbed her heart, clenching her fingers tightly. Even silence couldn’t dispel the cruel reality.

Lin Jin particularly disliked Cheng Sangluo’s silence and knew that what she was about to say would provoke a strong reaction, but she still revealed her effective constraint method: “You love this place full of human warmth, don’t you? If you can’t pay back the money in a month, that lovely old man will suffer. You saw the tactics debt collectors use last night at Seventeen Port, didn’t you? I don’t mind those things happening to the people around you.”

“Lin Jin! Don’t push me too far!” Cheng Sangluo grabbed Lin Jin’s neck, slamming her against the car window: “Do you have to force me like this? Do you have to force me like this!”

Cheng Sangluo’s sharp eyes instantly turned crimson. The murderous anger embedded itself deep into Lin Jin’s flesh through her fingers.

“Miss Cheng, calm down!” Sheng He threw open the car door and ran over, trying to pull Cheng Sangluo away, but his boss raised a hand to stop him.

Passersby stared with incredible, horrified looks, but Cheng Sangluo couldn’t care less now.

She only wanted to kill this wicked crazy woman!

Lin Jin’s breathing was restricted, and her face was turning dark red, but she didn’t mind the violence. In fact, her smile grew deeper: “Think about it… your pitiful little attic being smashed beyond recognition… or… never getting another piece of free watermelon… You are the root of the trouble… but others will suffer… Hahahaha…”

This was undoubtedly the most effective threat. Had these calamities fallen solely upon Cheng Sangluo, they wouldn’t have provoked such an intense reaction.

Lin Jin had long since grasped Cheng Sangluo’s nature, which was why this novel threat worked so well.

Cheng Sangluo released her grip, breathing raggedly from anger. Listening to the crazy woman’s uncontrollable coughing, she shot her a chilling death glare, which quickly dissolved into disappointment, and then despair born from that disappointment.

Time and again, time and again, Cheng Sangluo was crushed by the dignity-stripping behavior of this terrifying woman. She was helpless.

She screamed hysterically: “Give me the pen! Give it to me!”

Lin Jin rubbed her neck, coughing violently. She waved her hand at Sheng He, looking disheveled: “Su… supervise her to sign the agreement… hurry!”

Despite all this, Cheng Sangluo still hadn’t mentioned choosing to go home with Lin Jin.

Even under immense debt and threats, she refused to bow to the pressure from the privileged. What incredibly hard bones.

Cheng Sangluo silently signed and sealed the agreement, then threw it violently onto the ground: “Satisfied? If you’re satisfied, get lost!”

Lin Jin, who resided in a high position, had never been treated so harshly. Yet, her eyes were filled with admiration—admiration for the poor puppy who, despite not having a bone to eat next, dared to gamble with a debt agreement that would keep anyone awake at night.

She leaned against the car door, suddenly letting out a burst of arrogant laughter: “Poor Cheng Sangluo, what will you do now?”

Cheng Sangluo ignored the humiliating ridicule, turning around and walking straight toward the alley entrance.

She didn’t want to see Lin Jin’s ugly face, didn’t want to hear the display of her powerful superiority, because at this moment, she had fallen into a devastating trap—a situation of embarrassing helplessness that even force couldn’t solve.

Lin Jin was still laughing, even raising her voice to continue the mockery: “I clearly offered you a brilliant path forward, but you insist on walking toward a dead end. Even if you begged me to take you with me now, I wouldn’t. I just want to see how you’ll survive next.”

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