The conversation tore away the mask of their partnership.

Lin Shilan’s suspicions and Tan Jin’s pretentious behavior were both laid bare on the table.

With lingering resentment, she drank every last drop of the egg drop soup he had made.

The time spent drinking the soup helped Lin Shilan figure something out. Some of what Tan Jin said was right: besides trusting him, what other choice did she have?

In any case, she currently had no ideas of her own. Might as well treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

After all, she had been reborn.

Just like the fable of the little horse crossing the river—without stepping into certain pitfalls herself, she wouldn’t know their depth.

As for Tan Jin, she didn’t have to trust him. If he truly had ulterior motives, she could guard against him later, and there was no guarantee she couldn’t protect herself. Since he dared to offer benefits, why shouldn’t she dare to accept them?

Just like this egg drop soup—it tasted so good, it would be foolish not to drink it.

“I want ice cream.” Lin Shilan, still carrying a hint of resentment, gave Tan Jin her orders.

After eating something hot, her appetite had returned, and now she wanted something cold.

Unaccustomed to Lin Shilan’s sudden change of attitude, Tan Jin sat there dumbfounded.

But she continued down this new path, lazily leaning back against the hospital bed and emphasizing her point again.

“Didn’t you say you and I are partners? Your partner wants ice cream.”

Tan Jin didn’t indulge her.

Abandoning his previous sunny and attentive image, his words became harsh.

“If you want to die, go ahead, but I won’t be your executioner.”

The fire in Lin Shilan’s eyes flared up instantly: “I just want ice cream. You’re the one who should drop dead.”

He continued to argue back: “You have food poisoning, you haven’t even left the hospital yet, and you still dare to eat ice cream. Was I wrong to say you have a death wish?”

Lin Shilan retorted sarcastically: “Oh, so it’s out of kindness. Then can’t you speak like a human being?”

What a way to insult someone without using profanity. Tan Jin was amused by his own irritation.

“I only speak human language to humans. Being polite to you before didn’t seem to work either.”

“Then clearly, you weren’t being polite enough.” Lin Shilan’s expression was disdainful.

Tan Jin let out a cold laugh.

“What’s the point of being polite to someone who keeps time-traveling and drinking poisoned chicken soup every time?”

She was genuinely unconvinced: “Hmph, that chicken soup didn’t cause any problems the first few times I drank it. It tasted awful, sure, but at most it made me nauseous. I don’t know why it was so severe this time.”

He didn’t understand why she was still being so stubborn.

“So you’re saying your constitution is different every time you time-travel?”

“Yes, it is different.” Lin Shilan chose to remain stubborn to the end.

“Swoosh—” The curtain of the neighboring bed was pulled open.

They had assumed no one was there and were startled.

Sitting on the neighboring bed was an unshaven middle-aged man.

He glared at them sternly and barked: “If you want to talk, go outside! The child needs to sleep!”

“Sorry about that.”

“Our apologies.”

The two lowered their voices and bowed respectfully to apologize.

Walking outside to the open area.

Not forgetting the embarrassment in the hospital room, Lin Shilan was first to accuse: “It’s all because you were talking so loud.”

He didn’t back down: “You’re the one who wanted to argue with me.”

Standing outdoors, the rainy night air was fresh.

The little interruption had dissipated the tense atmosphere from the hospital room.

The two stood facing each other awkwardly, breathing the fresh air, and it seemed there was nothing left to argue about.

Tan Jin scratched his head: “By the way, did you see the child in the neighboring bed just now?”

Lin Shilan pondered for a moment and answered: “No, I didn’t.”

“Could the child he mentioned…”

They both thought of it simultaneously.

“Be himself?”

“Eek.” She shivered and shook off the goosebumps on her body.

“That person is so weird!” Tan Jin found it increasingly funny.

In the midst of his wild laughter, he suddenly thought of something even funnier: “Someone’s going to spend the night at the hospital with him today.”

Lin Shilan’s eyes widened, her pupils shaking.

Suddenly, she felt completely recovered from her illness.

Forcing Tan Jin to pack up with her, she went through the discharge procedures overnight.

On the way home.

Looking at the calendar on her phone, Lin Shilan asked Tan Jin if he was free on Saturday—she wanted to go to the petrochemical plant.

Tan Jin was free, but he needed to know what they’d be doing first.

“What are you going there for?”

“It must have been four years ago now. I passed by there and saw an injured puppy.”

She gestured: “About the size of my palm.”

This had always been something weighing on Lin Shilan’s heart.

Four years ago, Lü Xiaorong took her to a tutoring class.

Lin Shilan was riding on the back of her mother’s electric scooter when they passed the petrochemical plant.

There, in a trash can, they saw a small stray dog that had been placed inside.

Lin Shilan spotted it from a distance.

The puppy seemed to have blood on it, its tail was wagging. She asked her mother to stop so she could go take a look.

Lü Xiaorong glanced at the trash can but didn’t stop; instead, she sped up.

“Mind your own business. What’s the point of looking? We can’t keep a dog at home.”

“The puppy seems to be hurt.” Lin Shilan’s gaze followed it reluctantly.

“If it’s injured, you definitely can’t touch it. Those kinds of dogs are covered in germs.” Lü Xiaorong kept her eyes straight ahead. The electric scooter took a turn, and they could no longer see the trash can.

Lin Shilan mentioned the puppy twice more along the way, but her mother completely ignored her: “Can you think about your studies more instead of filling your head with such things?”

Scolded by her mother, she didn’t dare resist and stopped bringing it up.

After tutoring class, Lin Shilan called Lü Xiaorong to say she wanted to walk home.

She used next week’s lunch money to buy some milk and ham sausage at a grocery store, deliberately taking a detour to the petrochemical plant. By the time she arrived, the puppy was no longer in the trash can.

Looking around, Lin Shilan found it in the grass.

It had probably crawled out of the trash can on its own.

On such a rainy day, the tiny dog lay in the damp grass, its body already ice-cold, devoid of breath. Its little face rested against a small white flower, eyes closed, as if sleeping.

She buried it beneath the flower.

In later time travels, Lin Shilan never went to save it.

First, she understood Lü Xiaorong—she would never agree to keeping a dog at home. Second, and most importantly, the petrochemical plant made her feel uncomfortable. She really didn’t have the courage to approach that place alone.

“I’ll go with you.” After hearing her description, Tan Jin agreed readily.

Lin Shilan had another concern: “If we do rescue the puppy, can we keep it at your place?”

He thought about it and refused: “I can’t take care of a puppy. It would have to stay at your place.”

She sighed: “My mom won’t agree.”

“Then rebel against her.”

Since it wasn’t his problem, Tan Jin was quite confident.

“Mm…” Lin Shilan was still somewhat hesitant.

“Think about the vow!” He added more fuel to her fading fire: “Your vow to your mother—surely you swore to her that you would live your own life.”

Lin Shilan said honestly: “That doesn’t sound like my mom’s speaking style.”

“Ay! Now you’re thinking badly of Auntie.” Tan Jin spoke sarcastically on Lü Xiaorong’s behalf: “Why can’t that be her style? As the saying goes, when a person is about to…”

This saying was poorly considered. Realizing he had spoken without thinking, Tan Jin quickly stopped himself.

“Setting aside the vow, Lin Shilan, if this is your last time returning to age seventeen, don’t you want to live for yourself just once?”

His impassioned and inspiring manner was exactly like a success guru scamming people.

“Don’t you want to save the puppy?”

“I do!”

As her resolve strengthened, her tone became firmer too: “I’m going to save the puppy and bring it home.”

“Tan Jin, will you team up with me?”

Naturally, he wouldn’t refuse: “Sure.”

Lin Shilan thought carefully, making the dog rescue plan more thorough.

“I don’t know how the puppy ended up there. It might have been abandoned. We should go earlier and stake out the place. It’ll be raining that day, so we need to quickly move it to somewhere warm.”

Tan Jin also became serious: “Should we bring some food and medicine?”

“Yes. But if it’s severely injured like last time, I’m not sure we can handle it properly. We might need to take it to a pet hospital…”

At this point, she asked him somewhat embarrassedly: “Do you have money?”

“I do. I always carry money with me.” Tan Jin reached into his pocket and pulled out his thick wallet.

Opening it to show Lin Shilan, she was shocked.

“You carry this much money on you normally?”

Tan Jin revealed a simple and honest smile.

Although the process was convoluted, the outcome was good.

After spending these days watching their relationship gradually deteriorate, they finally reached a consensus: neither was a good person. After their argument at the hospital, a sudden dog rescue collaboration unexpectedly allowed them to harmoniously form a team.

Hidden agendas and internal discord were inevitable, but at least they were willing to do something together now.