Chapter 9: She Was Gone

Even after returning home, Su Sanxian was still in a daze, her mind filled with one thought: she was gone.

But that wasn’t even the most important thing. What was most important was that she didn’t feel even the slightest aversion to Lin Shen kissing her! She even wanted to kiss him back.

Her reputation was ruined. Su Sanxian hadn’t expected this—she turned out to be a deeply hidden, shameless flirt.

She looked at Lin Shen, who, after carrying the tired and sleeping Three Kids one by one into their bedrooms, settling them down, pouring her a glass of water, cutting her a plate of fruit, and reminding her to sleep early, had now started working through a stack of documents his assistant had just delivered.

Su Sanxian covered her face. Ugh… but he really was kind of handsome.

No, she couldn’t do this. She couldn’t stay in the living room any longer. Being near Lin Shen made her whole body feel like it was on fire. She had to retreat to the bedroom to cool down.

Meanwhile, Lin Shen, watching Su Sanxian’s hurried steps as she ascended the stairs, had eyes that were dark and unreadable, yet filled with deep affection.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

In the past few days, The Three Cubs had been diligently attending school. Su Sanxian drove them there and picked them up every day, and she could see that the children were getting along well.

And because she often witnessed scenes of An Ruo and Dazai bickering, she, like Erzai and Sanzai, had grown used to it. In fact, on days when the two were unexpectedly quiet, she even found it unsettling.

Zhao Shize also kept his promise and treated himself as Sanzai’s older brother, watching over a Sanzai who didn’t really need protecting. The two kids were even showing signs of becoming close buddies.

Right now, Su Sanxian was more worried about Erzai. Erzai had the sweetest tongue of the three, but his body was weaker than Dazai’s and Sanzai’s. He also liked to cling to her the most.

Cute and clingy as he was, Su Sanxian still hoped Erzai could have a little friend of his own like Dazai and Sanzai did.

But if a child didn’t want to make friends, she couldn’t force him. She’d just take things step by step. After all, she was here now; she wouldn’t let her little ones repeat the mistakes of the past.

Besides, with Dazai and Sanzai around, Erzai wouldn’t really be lonely.

But since the issue of The Three Cubs attending school was resolved and they now spent most of their day at school, Su Sanxian inevitably found herself… lonely.

Ugh… she was struck by a sudden realization in her dying boredom—the clown turned out to be herself.

After lazing around for three days, Su Sanxian decided she couldn’t waste away like this any longer. She resolved to return to her former profession from her past life.

In her past life, she had been a violinist. She’d gained some fame after winning first place in a national-level competition, and thanks to her good looks, she’d become a minor celebrity.

Then netizens dug up that she was also a Douyin influencer with over a million followers, famous for brandishing broadswords and other weapons in her videos. The revelation shocked everyone, and she gained even more popularity.

Not long after, she started livestreaming—sometimes teaching violin, other times teaching self-defense. Thanks to her humor and sense of fun, she became wildly popular.

Her followers skyrocketed to forty million in just one month. The most iconic comment in her section had been: “Such a talented, witty, and beautiful fairy sister—why wouldn’t you follow her?”

What came after wasn’t worth mentioning… because what came after was her constant late nights, even all-nighters, and her sudden death that landed her here.

Though being a pain-free mom was wonderful, she still felt a bit sad… oh, her sweet little fans!

This time, as she decided to pick up her old career again, Su Sanxian told Lin Shen directly. She wanted him to gradually realize how different she was from the original owner of this body.

And also… so he’d stop getting so close to her, because she really couldn’t hold herself back anymore!!!

What Su Sanxian hadn’t expected was that Lin Shen wasn’t confused at all. Instead, he even led her to the innermost room on the third floor of the house—a soundproof music room.

What the hell? There was a music room in the house? Lin Shen had never gone into that room on the third floor, nor had The Three Cubs. That meant it had belonged to the original owner. So, the original owner had also been able to play the violin.

And there was even a violin that perfectly matched her aesthetic?

The instrument had a dark brown body adorned with patterns. It was a 4/4 violin, and the strings and bow had been well-broken in. Its sound quality was excellent—a truly fine violin.

Two words: pure envy.

Su Sanxian felt almost guilty for being so envious. The music room was well-equipped, the violin was exquisite, the children were wonderful, and Lin Shen was… also wonderful.

Growing up an orphan in her previous life, she felt both attachment and guilt.

She cherished the warmth this home gave her, but she also felt remorse, knowing she had stolen what rightfully belonged to the original owner. Everything that stirred her envy and longing wasn’t hers.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Lately, Lin Shen could clearly feel that Su Sanxian was distancing herself from him.

It started the day after he had shown her the music room.

She treated The Three Cubs just as warmly as ever, but she was undeniably distant toward him. She avoided being alone with him, and whenever he helped her with something, she would thank him excessively—eight hundred times over.

Lin Shen was speechless.

His thoughts: What do I do when my wife distances herself from me? Waiting online for an answer, very freaking urgent.

Recently, Su Sanxian had signed up for a city-level violin competition, and the preliminary round was today.

“Do you need me to take you there?” Lin Shen asked, taking a bite of a fried dough stick and glancing at Su Sanxian.

The Three Cubs all knew their mother had signed up for a violin competition and that today was the preliminary round. They were all cheering her on, while also lamenting the fact that they had to go to school and couldn’t watch her perform.

“Mom, can’t we really take the day off today?” Sanzai was still bargaining with wide, hopeful eyes.

Before Su Sanxian could answer, she heard Lin Shen’s question. She instinctively lifted her head and met his gaze, only to quickly avert her eyes.

“No need. I’ve already spoken to the driver. You’re busy every day, and it’s just a preliminary round. I can go by myself.”

Lin Shen: “…”

He had let his guard down. He should’ve just said he would take his wife himself.

Though he had fumbled, his children were quick to pick up the slack.

Sanzai’s eyes widened. “Mom, let Dad take you! I want Dad to record a video of you!”

“Yeah, Mom! Even if Dad’s busy, he has time for this.” Dazai added, unusually supportive of his silly younger brother.

Erzai nodded enthusiastically. “We want to see you, Mom! Let Dad take you, so we can watch a video of you playing the violin after school!”

Su Sanxian found herself softening under the relentless pleading of her three adorable kids.

Lin Shen saw her hesitation and immediately seized the opportunity. “Let me take you. No need to trouble the driver. Plus, he might not take good videos.”

Su Sanxian: “…”

What did he mean: “No need to trouble the driver”? The driver was literally paid to do this.

But faced with the sparkling eyes of her husband and children…

Fine, fine. She gave in.

“Alright then. Sorry to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble at all, no trouble at all.” Lin Shen replied. Driving his wife was hardly a burden.

After breakfast, the family of five split into two groups. The Three Cubs headed to school, while Lin Shen and Su Sanxian drove to the competition venue to get familiar with the space ahead of time.

Before they parted ways, The Three Cubs energetically cheered their mother on.

Su Sanxian, for her part, had dressed with great care despite it being only the preliminary round. She wore elegant makeup, a black mermaid gown, and had her hair neatly tied up.

She stood tall and graceful, exuding poise and refinement.

Lin Shen was utterly captivated.

“Let’s go.” Su Sanxian said, walking toward him.

“Oh, oh, oh—yes, yes.” Lin Shen stammered, snapping out of his daze and quickly following her out the door.

His wife was stunning. He truly felt like he had struck gold by marrying her. No wonder his father-in-law had once looked down on him. If he were his father-in-law, he wouldn’t think he deserved her either.