Lin Nuan closed her eyes, the tears falling down her cheeks and drenching the front of Fu Huai'an's shirt. "Thank god he's alright. Thank god…"

  Fu Huai'an leaned against the edge of the desk, allowing Lin Nuan to unleash her emotions as she cried in his arms.

  As she unleashed the worry that had accumulated in her heart ever since she came to know that Lin Chen was sick, Lin Nuan's heart gradually became more peaceful.

  She looked up, her reddened eyes gazing at Fu Huai'an's jaw. "Is something troubling you as well?"

  Fu Huai'an lowered his head and looked at Lin Nuan's fair and delicate features, raising a hand to tuck loose strands of hair behind her ear as he asked, "Why are you asking?"

  "I smell cigarettes in the study. You smoked…" Lin Nuan's voice sounded heavily muffled.

  "Do you have the nose of a puppy?" There was a smile in Fu Huai'an's voice as his dark gaze stared at Lin Nuan. He deliberately deepened his voice and said, "After I came back from Dubai, you were injured. And now, you're on your period. Think about how hard a time I've been having trying to hold it in. I merely smoked to relieve those feelings…"

  Lin Nuan's ears turned red, her eyes looking red and moist. She rested her jaw on Fu Huai'an's chest, her voice sounding soft and delicate. "Sorry… I'll make it up to you after my period is over!"

  Fu Huai'an nodded and kissed Lin Nuan on her brows. Lin Nuan, however, grabbed Fu Huai'an's firm arms and raised her head to kiss him on the lips. She then boldly circled her arms around Fu Huai'an's neck, making her way into his minty-smelling mouth in an experienced manner.

  Lin Nuan's long hair wasn't tied up and was falling over her shoulders. As her hair brushed past the back of Fu Huai'an's hand, his gaze darkened.

  Lin Nuan was already addictive opium to Fu Huai'an to begin with, so with her taking the initiative to seduce him, how could he take it?

  Feeling the visible change in Fu Huai'an's body, Lin Nuan shifted her lips away from his and gazed at him with her flushed face and ears. With their waists tightly pressed together, there was no way that Lin Nuan could pretend not to have noticed the change in Fu Huai'an, even if she wanted to!

  Fu Huai'an's breathing was visibly heavier. Biting her lip, Lin Nuan couldn't bear to see Fu Huai'an looking so tormented, so she shifted her petite hand downwards, below Fu Huai'an's abdominals. "Why don't… I help you?"

  "After your period is over!" Fu Huai'an grabbed Lin Nuan's slender wrists, circling them around his own waist.

  Fu Huai'an's leg injury wasn't fully recovered yet, so he had been holding himself back from being intimate with Lin Nuan. Initially, he was worried that she might detect some abnormalities, but who knew that her period would come at the right time, making Fu Huai'an feel relieved…


  Otherwise, he really had no idea how to tell his little bride about how the wound came about, not without lying to her.

  …


  Liu Mingchen was dejected at home for a few days, and Lu Mei finally couldn't take it anymore and called Lin Nuan. She was prepared to lower her stance and apologize to Lin Nuan if the situation really called for it.

  When Lin Nuan received Lu Mei's call, she was preparing for the direct broadcast of the military show "After Heroes".

  Mu Taotao came over through the crowd with Lin Nuan's phone in her hand. "Sister Nuan, you have a call!"

  Lin Nuan, who was talking with Miss Xia, turned her head and glanced at Mu Taotao, then handed the documents to Miss Xia. "Miss Xia, think about whether what I said was right…"

  Lin Nuan then took her phone and put the call through. "Hello!"

  "Nuan Nuan, it's Liu Mingchen's mother! So sorry, I don't know if you're busy…"

  The moment she heard that it was Liu Mingchen's mother, Lin Nuan held her phone, gestured to Miss Xia, and walked to a more quiet spot before speaking. "Auntie…"

  "Nuan Nuan, I called today, firstly, to thank you and your husband for getting Lawyer Lei Hongtao to help Mingchen fight his case! Secondly… I want to ask another favor of you! I have no other means. Over these two days, Mingchen has been feeling depressed. He's been sitting at his desk the entire day, and no one knows what he's thinking. He doesn't even answer our questions. I'm wondering… could you come over today and talk him out of his down state?"

  Lu Mei lowered her stance today, unlike the high-and-mighty tone she used when she asked Lin Nuan out to threaten and cajole her.

  Lin Nuan was quiet for a moment. She likely knew what was ailing Liu Mingchen's heart, but Lin Nuan wasn't the one who could heal his heart ailment. The wonderful thing in the depths of Liu Mingchen's heart was smashed to pieces, and it was going to take some time for him to recover from it…


  "Auntie, sorry, but I can't get away today. In a few days' time, Brother Mingchen will be coming on my show. When that time comes, I'll try to talk to him!" Lin Nuan said.

  Lu Mei had expected to be rejected by Lin Nuan. She thought that Lin Nuan still minded how she had used the Lin family's matter to threaten her the last time around, so she let go of her pride and apologized to Lin Nuan. "Nuan Nuan, I'm very sorry. What I said to you last time was overboard. I hope that you can understand my feelings as a mother. Back then, it was indeed wrong of me to have said something like that to you. I'm apologizing to you here…"

  "Auntie Liu! I'm really not calculative about what happened in the past. It's just that I'm not the crux of Brother Mingchen's troubles, so it'd be pointless for me to try and talk him out of it!" Lin Nuan's voice was calm, and Lu Mei could heed those words. "Brother Mingchen has always been an idealist. Now, he's suddenly discovered that this world is different from the one he had imagined, that it isn't all black-and-white, that it's not as pure as he thought. That's the reason he's in a depressed state now…"

  Lu Mei sighed and raised a hand to wipe away her tears, coming to the understanding that she was the one who had sheltered Liu Mingchen too well.

  "Brother Mingchen merely lost his direction temporarily. He's always been a smart person, so he'll surely find his direction quickly. Don't worry…" Lin Nuan comforted Lu Mei.

  "Lin Nuan!" Miss Xia called out to her, raising the documents in her hand and pointing at them, implying that she wanted to tell her something.

  Lin Nuan raised a hand to let Miss Xia know that she got the message, then said to Lu Mei, "Auntie… my show is about to do a direct broadcast. Shall we hang up the call first?"

  Lu Mei sighed indistinctly. She couldn't very well continue to impose on Lin Nuan. "Okay! You go get busy!"

  After ending the call, Lin Nuan jogged towards Miss Xia. Seeing Lin Nuan come over, she briefly said something to Xing Feng, and the two of them started walking towards Lin Nuan briskly…


  Xing Feng had reached the set early on.

  It was twenty minutes from the start of the show, but Lin Nuan hadn't gone through some questions with Wang Mang like she usually did with her guests. Because of the way the show was designed, Wang Mang's appearance would be rather short.

  The pre-shooting was prepared and edited, and everything was in place, simply waiting for the show to start.

  The production crew sought Wang Mang for his opinion, and the latter said that he wasn't afraid of having his identity exposed. The production crew wanted to get the makeup artist to help Wang Mang put on makeup, but he rejected the notion, saying that a true man wouldn't do something like that.

  Wang Mang had a common face, but his facial outline was cold and tough, and his skin was dark. Especially his eyes, which looked deep and carried a glint of justice in them. Even without eyeliner, he looked alive and energetic, so it was alright for him to go without makeup.