Falling After Marriage - Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Let’s Stop Fighting, Okay?

Lin Jin glared at her phone screen, her eyes nearly sparking with fire as if she intended to burn a hole through the “dog thing” on the other end.

She expected the woman to be stubborn and hang up, but to her surprise, the call was answered before the second ring.

Despite the speed of the connection betraying Cheng Sangluo’s true feelings, her mouth remained harder than reinforced steel. She got straight to the point with a cold: “What?”

Lin Jin, usually the dominant one, softened her voice instead: “Can’t you speak properly for once?”

This question was laced with such heavy grievance that it instantly extinguished the other’s fire. “I can, but you never give me the chance. I’m asking you—which ‘wild butterfly’ were you having a candlelight dinner with today?”

“Heh, are you jealous, or are you jealous?” Lin Jin raised an eyebrow and smirked. Feeling she needed to stir the pot more, she goaded the puppy: “Since you want to know so badly, shouldn’t you be speaking to me with a little more kindness?”

“Lin Jin, are you taking liberties now?” Cheng Sangluo’s good temper lasted all of three seconds before she flared up again. “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. I don’t want to have nightmares tonight.”

You couldn’t be nice to this madwoman for even a moment—give her an inch of sunshine and she’d try to dazzle you to death!

“Don’t you dare hang up!” Lin Jin’s voice turned sharp and stern. “If you dare, I’ll make sure you don’t sleep all night. I have plenty of ways to deal with you. If you don’t believe me, try it.”

Cheng Sangluo knew the madwoman was capable of anything when agitated, so she retorted crossly: “Just go back to your ‘tender village’ (lover’s embrace). Why do you insist on pestering me?”

“Is it really that hard to call me ‘Wife’? You stuttered for ages; can’t you speak like a human? So what if I hung up on you? I was annoyed by your stammering. Heaven knows, Earth knows, and I know exactly what’s in your heart. You’re the only one playing dumb. If you like me, you like me. If you’re moved, you’re moved. It’s not embarrassing to say it—why be so stingy with your words?” Lin Jin was truly anxious now, so she laid everything bare.

She had exhausted herself pushing their ambiguous feelings to this point. If the other woman remained as immovable as a mountain, Lin Jin was ready to buy a plane ticket back tonight just to “discipline” her properly.

On the other end of the line, Cheng Sangluo fell silent.

She actually found herself strange too. This was just a contract relationship—did it really matter who the madwoman was with? What did it have to do with her?

Yet, she had been restless all night, her mind filled with wild thoughts. Even discovering important clues at Xu Songheng’s house hadn’t brought her a shred of joy.

“There you go again, playing mute because you’re afraid to face it. Since you love being a mute so much, don’t talk about missing me anymore. I’ve heard plenty of cliché sweet talk; I don’t need your half-hearted words.” Lin Jin’s harsh words finally stung. Realizing she might have gone too far, she stopped talking, waiting to see how the “jerk” would respond.

“I…” Cheng Sangluo struggled for a long time before managing a single word. Fortunately, she didn’t stop for long. “I’ve had a miserable time these past few hours. Time has been agonizing. Even though I did a lot of things, nothing could fill the void of missing you.

Yes, I’ve never admitted my dependence on you, but the truth is, I depend on you more than I imagined. I walked alone on the main street, watching groups of people passing by, seeing how happy they seemed, and realizing I don’t fit into this society. I’ve felt this way since before I left prison. Back then, I thought if I didn’t fit in, so be it—I’d just live alone forever.

Do you know what people fear most? They fear change after they’ve finally gotten used to something. I didn’t expect that as much as I ‘hated’ you, I’d gotten used to you being around. Now everything is different. Like right now, suddenly having no one to talk to… I actually feel lonely, even though loneliness used to be my normal state.

Thinking of you is real. Hating that you hung up is real. Caring about who you’re with is real.”

This long explanation shattered the silence of the night. This time, it was Lin Jin who became the silent one. Her eyelids fluttered, her lashes trembling—partly because the person who was usually so bad at taking initiative had finally opened her heart, and partly because she was moved by the loneliness between the lines.

After waiting for a response that didn’t come, Cheng Sangluo finally softened her voice: “Let’s stop fighting, okay? How can there be overnight grudges between a ‘wife and wife’?”

Lin Jin suppressed the urge to burst out laughing and said coldly: “When I was easy to coax, you didn’t do it. Now that I’m not, it’s not that easy to forgive you.”

Cheng Sangluo curled up on the bed. In a world Lin Jin couldn’t see, she was tightly hugging a pillow saturated with the scent of cedar. Sniffing it made her feel safe. Hearing the arrogant words no longer made her angry; instead, it made her tense emotions relax.

Lin Jin hoped the person on the phone would be more proactive to make up for all the years she had spent waiting alone. However, the silence on the line made her heart tighten, and she silently prayed: Respond to me quickly, don’t make me wait without hope.

“I am a little duck, I’m standing in line… but the line isn’t straight (dui bu qi)… I’m sorry (dui bu qi)… quack quack.” Cheng Sangluo hummed a childish apology, punning on the Chinese words for “lining up” and “I’m sorry.”

“Pfft…” Lin Jin finally laughed out loud, falling back onto the bed with a soft pillow. The longing of the night was finally somewhat dissolved. “I forgive you, I forgive you.”

“You still haven’t answered me. Who was the ‘wild butterfly’?” Cheng Sangluo grumbled, then worried she was being too pushy, so she added: “Forget it, if you don’t want to say, then don’t.”

“I was teasing you and you actually believed it? I haven’t even eaten yet; where would I find ‘wild butterflies’?” Lin Jin answered honestly. Afraid the puppy wouldn’t believe her, she added: “If you don’t believe me, ask Secretary Zhou. She wouldn’t lie to you.”

“If you say there aren’t any, then there aren’t. I’ll believe you once,” Cheng Sangluo said generously, then hummed suspiciously. “Hmm? Are you that busy? Why haven’t you eaten yet?”

“Because…” Lin Jin buried her head deeper into the pillow, dragging out her voice to keep the puppy in suspense before explaining: “You aren’t here. I can’t eat well or sleep well.”

“Don’t be like that,” Cheng Sangluo advised tenderly. Secretly, she felt her own growling stomach, but she didn’t confess that she had also been starving all night because she was so anxious. “You’re already as thin as a piece of paper. ‘Man is iron, bread is steel’—you have to eat. Starting tomorrow, you must send me photos of your three meals a day, or I’ll hold you accountable.”

“We’ve only been married a few days and you’re already acting like a nagging housekeeper? You want to manage this and that?” Lin Jin teased, but in truth, she loved that the puppy wanted to restrict her. Being “managed” by someone is actually a very happy thing; at the very least, it means you are cared for.

Cheng Sangluo pressed (Puppy wagging tail anxiously.jpg): “Will you take the photos or not?”

“Of course I will,” Lin Jin agreed, but she began to set conditions: “Then you have to give me something in exchange.”

“Always thinking about a trade—you really are a businessman through and through,” Cheng Sangluo grumbled, but had to agree: “Fine, I’ll send you photos of my three meals too.”

“Since you called me a businessman, I naturally have to bargain.” Lin Jin was not someone easily fooled; she wanted more profit. “I don’t think just photos of meals are enough. You need to add a little ‘bonus gift’.”

“Then… what do you want?” Cheng Sangluo hesitated, but not wanting to fight again, she took a step back: “Hey, don’t make your demands too outrageous.”

“Then you have to say good morning, good afternoon, and good night to me every day. You have to include the prefix ‘Wife’… or…”

Before the madwoman could finish, the puppy could no longer hold back and called out: “Wife…”

Lin Jin’s eyes crinkled with a smile. She murmured softly: “Spicy Bingbing, you know how to call me ‘Wife’ now?”

Cheng Sangluo buried her face in Lin Jin’s pillow, smelling the familiar scent. Her eyelids began to grow heavy uncontrollably, and her voice became slow and drowsy: “Wife… you smell so good…”

“Hmm?” Lin Jin paused. Realizing the puppy was getting sleepy, she lowered her voice: “What are you doing?”

“Hugging your pillow to sleep…” The puppy’s tongue was getting tied as she smacked her lips in a daze. “The pillow… isn’t as soft… as you…”

The wine finally began to hit her. Lin Jin whispered provocatively: “Do you want me?”

“Yes… really want you…”

“Then you be good and endure it. You aren’t allowed to ‘relieve the fire’ (satisfy yourself) alone in secret. Keep it all bottled up for me.”

“Six days left… until Wife comes home… that’s six centuries of torture…” Cheng Sangluo mumbled for a while before completely falling asleep.

In the deep night, Lin Jin listened to the puppy’s mumbles until she finally felt sleepy herself. She couldn’t bear to hang up, so she placed the phone by her ear. Even just hearing the steady breathing of the puppy through the receiver made the night feel less lonely.

“Goodnight, my dear dog thing,” Lin Jin said with unprecedented tenderness. She whispered to the phone, and even without a response, she felt a sense of peace as she closed her eyes.

Thinking of a good way to soothe their mutual loneliness, she whispered to the phone: “Be good… tomorrow… I’ll help you ‘relieve the fire’…”

The Next Morning.

Cheng Sangluo didn’t sleep well that night. She had many strange dreams, but because Lin Jin wasn’t in them, they weren’t worth remembering.

She woke up early and started clattering around the kitchen preparing breakfast. Although she was the only living thing in the massive villa, she tried her best to create a lively atmosphere.

The puppy called out to the air: “Cheng Sangluo.”

“I am here, Master. What are your orders?” The smart butler was very sensitive and responded quickly to the command.

Cheng Sangluo, still a bit uncomfortable hearing her own voice, said playfully: “Nothing, just calling you.”

“Master, if you are bored, you can say to me—’Cheng Sangluo, I am so bored’.”

Cheng Sangluo stood by the stove simmering Eight-Treasure Porridge, the steamer on the other side puffing out steam. Realizing breakfast would take a while, she leaned against the counter to interact with the AI: “Cheng Sangluo, I am so bored.”

“Understood, Master. I will entertain you now.”

Cheng Sangluo thought this AI was quite human-like, knowing how to amuse its owner. But before she could praise it, her face turned dark.

“I am Cheng Sangluo, Master’s most loyal dog. I love it when Master puts a sexy collar on me. I love licking Master’s delicate, white feet. Master, please use the whip to strike me hard… I will go to heaven…”

The smart butler used Cheng Sangluo’s own voice, using a sappy tone and ear-piercingly scandalous words that rushed into her ears.

“Aieee! Cheng Sangluo, shut up! I don’t want to hear your voice now—no, ever again!” The puppy quickly called a halt. She finally realized why Lin Jin had set up the smart butler with her voice.

It turned out there was a hidden program like this! What a sick sense of humor! During those countless days in the past, the madwoman must have played this bizarre “game” a lot!

“Master~ was my performance not good enough? Why do you despise me so much? It’s all because I am not a good girl. Please take the whip and strike my buttocks, punish me well~”

Cheng Sangluo’s eyes were wide as saucers. She had no idea how Lin Jin had configured this AI thing—it sounded like some kind of “training” session!

She felt like she had seen a ghost. Seeing that the dialogue was endless, she grabbed her head and ruffled her hair: “Shut up! Say one more word and believe it or not, I’ll hang you up and beat you!”

“Ooh~ I’m even more excited now~”

The smart butler was truly smart!

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