“Why won’t you answer my question directly?” She got out of bed and walked up to him. “You won’t say it, but I already know—you simply can’t bear to walk away. And I also know that the night The Graceful Detective premiered, you came. I never sent you a ticket—so why did you have the nerve to come watch my film?”

Lu Shicheng suppressed his anger and nodded, turning to leave once more.

“Go on! You’ve already got Miss Ge anyway!”

Lu Shicheng turned back in surprise.

“Don’t think I don’t know—I saw it all! Yesterday you treated Miss Ge to dinner at Xiaonantian. I heard that ever since Miss Ge came to Shanghai, the Lu family’s been the one entertaining her the whole time. I know everything—you and her—”

She kicked at her shoe, forgetting the injury on her foot. “Ow.”

Lu Shicheng’s expression changed slightly, and he strode over to her immediately.

Wen Tingli angrily shook off his hand. “You don’t need to worry about me—go find your Miss Ge!”

She headed to the bed on her own, but with Lu Shicheng being taller than her, she still ended up being supported by him as she sat down at the bedside.

Immediately after, he crouched down to examine her foot.

Wen Tingli stole a glance at him. From this angle, all she could see was his handsome brow bone, and his high, straight nose bridge—such a handsome, gentle man, and yet he no longer belonged to her.

She fell back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “It hurts so much… just let me die of pain then, go! Go find your Miss Ge! I never want to see you again!”

Lu Shicheng carefully cradled her foot from beneath the bed, examining it.

Fortunately, it wasn’t bleeding again.

He gently set her foot back down and stood up, walking toward the door.

Wen Tingli scrambled back up—but Lu Shicheng, after being gone only a moment, returned with a doctor in tow.

The doctor came in to examine Wen Tingli, then left again. When Lu Shicheng came back in, he had two pills in his hand.

“This is for the pain—take it first before you say anything else.” He walked to the bedside and said this to her.

Wen Tingli’s attitude was unusually stubborn. “I won’t take it. Just let me die of the pain.”

Lu Shicheng walked over and poured a glass of water, then, without a word, pulled her up from the bed.

Wen Tingli glanced sidelong at the water glass, then looked at the pills in his palm—those blood-red pills looked exactly like a person’s heart.

If only a person’s heart could be taken out and examined like this too.

She swallowed the medicine without a word, but immediately fell back onto the bed, crying to herself.

“You hate that I once deceived you, so you refuse to trust me ever again. You think my crying is fake, my laughter is fake, my love for you is fake, everything’s fake—but can you deceive your own heart? And now it’s even better—Miss Ge, Miss Ping, whoever else now, all coming out of the woodwork. I’ll tell you frankly, seeing you two dining together last night, my heart ached something terrible!

“Now that you’re here today, let’s just settle this once and for all—have you already fallen for someone else? If you have, tell me straight out, and I’ll never bother you again! But if you dare show up in front of me again, I’ll put a bullet in you and let you die at my feet—you know how good my aim is.”

Lu Shicheng listened with a furrowed brow, that familiar, squeezing ache in his chest returning again. Between the two of them, who exactly was tormenting whom?!

That night, he’d seen with his own eyes Zhou Sao and Xiao Taozi sitting in Meng Qiguang’s car. He’d also seen her display the toy Meng Qiguang had given Xiao Taozi in the most prominent spot in the living room.

He could have turned around and confronted her about all of it!

But her eyes were swollen red from crying, her nose the same.

Her grievance and tears seemed about to flood the entire bed.

Facing those tearful eyes, his heart softened instantly.

He couldn’t help but temporarily suppress the ache in his own chest, answering her directly: “No!”

Wen Tingli’s emotions hadn’t settled yet.

“Maybe you already have feelings for her, you just don’t realize it yourself…” she muttered, staring at the ceiling. “Otherwise why would you treat her to dinner? And have Mr. Kuang entertain her so lavishly!”

Lu Shicheng said, word by word: “I don’t think I’m so muddled as all that—I know exactly who I’m in love with! I’ll tell you plainly: that Miss Ge already has someone she loves, she just doesn’t dare let her grandfather know. Since she came to Shanghai, I’ve only treated her to dinner once—that was last night! Normally it’s always Kuang Zhilin who takes care of entertaining her.”

Wen Tingli’s crying abruptly stopped. It was rare for him to say this much in one breath.

“I don’t believe you.”

“Believe what you want.”

Wen Tingli mulled the whole matter over twice, then got out of bed and leaned close to his ear, whispering a few words.

Lu Shicheng’s expression suddenly brightened, his tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxing.

He hated that his own mood could be so easily swayed by her. He sensed he was about to lose himself entirely in front of her.

She was like a creator, able to effortlessly command his every reaction.

After so much suffering, his inner defenses were lowering bit by bit. Sometimes, just to see her once, he even deceived himself—for instance, on the drive over, he’d been thinking that if only she’d promise never to deceive him again, perhaps he—

No, he was out of his mind!

He calmed himself for a few seconds, then pushed her back a little from him. “Since you’re fine, I’ll be going.”

Wen Tingli returned to the bed with a smile. Before long, footsteps sounded in the hallway again, but this time it was Gao Xiaowen who pushed open the door.

Gao Xiaowen was quite alarmed, rattling off in one breath, “How on earth did you end up in a car accident? Is it serious? Let me see—hey, don’t move. There are a bunch of reporters outside the door, I saw Lu Shicheng heading upstairs in a hurry.”

An hour later, they made it home safely. Gao Xiaowen, seeing Wen Tingli walking about briskly, exchanged a few words and left.

Wen Tingli, thinking back on the scene in the hospital room earlier, worried Lu Shicheng might come looking for her again, so she called Lixin Bank. The call was answered quickly—by Lu Shicheng himself.

Wen Tingli hadn’t expected that.

“Hello?” Lu Shicheng sounded a little puzzled.

Wen Tingli relaxed, resting her chin in her hand, saying nothing, just listening. Lu Shicheng’s voice was just like his temperament—calm, gentle, steady.

Strangely, after asking twice, Lu Shicheng stopped pressing to find out who was on the other end.

The receiver was suddenly set down on the desk.

Wen Tingli found this odd, and then heard the sound of paper rustling through the phone, along with the sound of a pen scratching on paper—Lu Shicheng had actually set her call aside and gone back to work.

Of course—he was clever enough to guess the call was from her.

He probably thought she was being utterly ridiculous.

She didn’t hang up either, setting the receiver aside as well, getting up to pace around the room. She stopped once to eat an apple while flipping through a script, then picked up a watering can to water the flowers on the windowsill.

Occasionally remembering he was still there, she’d walk over and pick up the receiver to listen for a moment. Lu Shicheng never hung up—no matter how ridiculous a game she played with him, he had the patience to see it through to the end.

A little later, remembering that Huang Yuanshan might be trying to call her, she finally ended this pointless game on her own initiative, returning to bed, propping her elbow beneath her right cheek, gazing out at the sunset glow through the window.

Beneath the window, small flowers seemed to be in bloom; when the wind blew, a rich, fragrant scent drifted in. Before she knew it, it was already early summer—counting the days, she’d known Lu Shicheng for over a year now. So much had happened over the past year, so many people met, but the one thing she was certain of was that she never regretted meeting Lu Shicheng.

He loved her, with a pure, unguarded heart.

In fact, ever since that “Meng Qiguang invitation incident,” she’d keenly sensed Lu Shicheng’s trust in her. He knew how good she was, he couldn’t resist his own heart, he compromised again and again, he was beginning to believe what she said. Perhaps, if she could just give him a little more confidence from her side…

Now, she was quite certain she wanted to win Lu Shicheng back. On one hand, her desire for conquest was at play; on the other, since his heart had always belonged to her, she didn’t want to toy with it either. This time, she’d decided to give her full sincerity to this genuine heart.

To recover from her injury, Wen Tingli called the company to take a day off.

Liu Menglin readily agreed.

As The Graceful Detective continued its explosive success, invitations for collaboration poured in from major firms, social organizations, and out-of-town theaters. With money to be made—plenty of money to be made—Liu Menglin was beaming from ear to ear. In his mind, Wen Tingli had already become the company’s most valuable cash cow.

A couple of days earlier, he’d eagerly called a board meeting. “With The Graceful Detective this successful, I expect a flood of similar films will pop up on the market before long. Our top priority is to move quickly on producing a sequel, still starring Wen Tingli, continuing the style of the previous film, but we must ensure the quality surpasses it. Let’s all work together to make the Graceful Detective series into a golden brand belonging exclusively to Golden Film.”

Wen Tingli had shot up to become Golden Film’s most eye-catching leading lady. To keep her firmly tied to the company, Liu Menglin raised her monthly salary to eight hundred silver dollars, and her film fee to four thousand silver dollars. As for outside advertising fees, those rose accordingly too, her value now rivaling veteran stars like Yu Peiling and Xiao Diejun.

Under these circumstances, Wen Tingli asking for a day off was nothing at all.

Wen Tingli didn’t return to the company until the third day. The moment she went upstairs, Liu Menglin had someone hand her an invitation.

“Next week the Shipping Bureau is jointly hosting a patriotic business gala with the Guangdong Chamber of Commerce, and you’re specially invited as a guest,” he said to Wen Tingli with a mysterious smile. “This time, only true political and business elites are on the guest list—and from the arts world, only you and Yu Peiling have been invited.”

The moment Wen Tingli heard the words “Guangdong Chamber of Commerce,” she calmly accepted the invitation without showing any reaction, and said to Liu Menglin, “I want to fire the driver, Old Li.”

“What?” Liu Menglin was taken aback. “Just because of one accident? No need to go so far as firing him.”

“He knows perfectly well why I’m firing him,” Wen Tingli said coldly. “Either assign him to drive for someone else, or I’m done with him—I won’t use him again.”

Liu Menglin thought for a moment, his expression suddenly darkening. “Was he bought off by outsiders too, just like Old Huang before him? Damn it, these scoundrels are so shallow and easily bought! Fine, fine, I’ll find you another driver—this time, someone truly reliable.”

“No need. If one Old Huang turned out this way, and now one Old Li too, then in the future even if I find an Old Liu, an Old Zhou, an Old Wang, there’s no guarantee they won’t cause trouble too. I’ve decided—from now on, I don’t need a driver. I’ll drive myself.”

Wen Tingli was true to her word, and that same day had people inquire about learning to drive. Huang Yuanshan had always encouraged Wen Tingli to learn to drive herself, and upon hearing this news, immediately found her an experienced instructor (Note) through a car dealership.

Wen Tingli practiced driving with this instructor whenever she had free time. After a full five days of lessons, on the sixth day she began driving on the road under the instructor’s supervision. After two days of practice on busy streets, she officially graduated, and that very day went to the car dealership to buy a white Austin sedan priced at four thousand silver dollars.

On the drive back, Wen Tingli felt an indescribable joy. She rolled down the window, letting the roadside breeze lift her silk scarf.

The feeling of driving herself was this good—she felt boundlessly free, as if she’d sprouted a pair of wings, able to go anywhere farther from now on.

She deliberately parked the car near the back alley of the company, but was still spotted by chance by a few passing colleagues. They gathered around happily to admire Wen Tingli’s new car, and someone joked, “Xiao Wen, you’re about to become the company’s number one figure.”

True as that might be, everyone privately admitted their admiration. One hit could be luck, but a second hit could only come from real skill—not to mention, the recent storm of trouble she’d weathered was not something an ordinary person could have survived.

Yet Wen Tingli had not only survived it, but even used it to generate positive publicity for the film—for this, everyone could only admire her.

After buying the car, Wen Tingli busied herself looking for a new house.

Their current apartment was spacious, but poorly located—especially since Xiao Taozi had started kindergarten, the rickshaw ride to school every day was quite far. Early in the spring, Xiao Taozi’s little face was often flushed red from the biting north wind, and Wen Tingli had long since started thinking about moving.

Now that she had her own car, house-hunting was much more convenient than before, and she soon found a quiet, secluded red-brick standalone Western-style house on Haige Road.

When Zhou Sao brought Xiao Taozi to see the house, she gasped in shock.

“This whole building is our new home?”

Wen Tingli smiled and nodded.

“This—this is far too grand. Won’t the rent on this place be terrifyingly expensive?”

“This is nothing,” Wen Tingli said, looking around happily. “Before long, I’m going to buy this place outright. Xiao Taozi, didn’t you want to be able to play music like Miss Anna in the picture books? Tomorrow you’ll have a piano. I’ll have them put the new piano right in front of the bay window in the living room, how about that?”

Xiao Taozi clearly still didn’t quite understand what a piano was, but immediately grew excited anyway, cheering as she ran around the living room, her little leather shoes making a “swish-swish” sound against the polished teak floor. Zhou Sao winced, calling out in distress, “Don’t do that—such an expensive floor, what a waste if it gets scuffed up.”

Wen Tingli only laughed.

Once the house was settled, Wen Tingli began preparing for the Shipping Bureau gala the day after tomorrow.

When the day came, she arrived promptly. The Shipping Bureau had borrowed the Hardoon Garden as the venue, the garden and main building decorated to look almost palatial. Someone came out to greet her warmly right away. “Miss Wen.”

Along the way, she ran into a few acquaintances and stopped to greet them with a smile, though most of the people there she didn’t recognize.

After sitting on a sofa for a while, she suddenly sensed someone watching her from behind—it was Meng Qiguang.

Wen Tingli immediately put on a stern face and walked toward him.

Meng Qiguang stood still where he was, waiting for her to approach.

“Mr. Meng, I have something to say to you.” Wen Tingli’s face carried not a trace of a smile.

Meng Qiguang didn’t answer right away, instead staring fixedly at the blood-red necklace hanging at Wen Tingli’s throat.

Such a large, richly colored ruby—one glance was enough to tell it was worth a fortune.

His expression cooled slightly. He casually tossed his cigarette onto a passing waiter’s tray, and said with a smile, “What can I do for you, Miss Wen?”

Wen Tingli took the lead, walking a couple of steps toward the garden, and Meng Qiguang followed.

Once the crowd around them had thinned somewhat, Wen Tingli turned to him. “I’ve already fired Old Li. As for why I fired him, I imagine Mr. Meng knows perfectly well.”

Meng Qiguang looked utterly puzzled. “You firing your own employee—what does that have to do with me?”

“There’s no need for Mr. Meng to keep playing dumb—that day when Xiao Taozi and I went out to buy toys, we happened to run into you by such coincidence. The night of the premiere, no sooner had Old Li dropped off Zhou Sao and Xiao Taozi than your car appeared at the theater entrance. That day I was supposed to go meet you at Dingxin Restaurant, but as if by some strange twist of fate, Old Li crashed the car into a telephone pole. Not even fifteen minutes after we got to the hospital, you showed up, Mr. Meng. And then afterward, Old Li tipped off newspaper reporters, luring them to rush over to the hospital as quickly as possible… could all of this really be coincidence? Old Li was clearly bought off by you long ago!”

Meng Qiguang nodded with a smile. “Those outsiders who don’t understand you always say you’re famous because you’re lucky. Only I know that you’re famous because you’re clever enough.”

Wen Tingli didn’t take the bait, only asking coldly, “Why bribe Old Li? Why go to all this trouble to scheme behind the scenes?”

“To split you and Lu Shicheng apart, of course.” Meng Qiguang’s tone was as shameless as his smile.