Chapter 7

Tong Zhichen’s sudden action startled everyone. His friend Lin Lin looked at him with concern, reaching out to tug at his sleeve.

“Cough, cough, Ah Chen, why so worked up? It’s your turn to spin the bottle.”

He could only gently remind Tong Zhichen, who was still recording the show, not to behave too oddly.

Fortunately, Tong Zhichen took the hint. He took a deep breath, sat down, but his hands, which hung by his sides, clenched into fists. It was obvious that he was far from calm.

Qiao Chuchu was also startled, and the meatball she was picking up fell to the ground. She looked at Tong Zhichen with grievance.

【What’s up with Tong Zhichen? Scared me half to death, and now my meatball fell! That was the last one! Didn’t even get to eat it, sob sob sob.】

Qiao Cen silently stood up and went to the director, speaking quietly, “Director, can we get another plate of meatballs? Everyone seems to really like them.”

The director, who had been seriously eating his snacks, nodded repeatedly. “Of course, I’ll arrange it.”

Good service means more gossip, so he asked the chef to prepare another plate of meatballs and brought them out.

Qiao Cen smiled, “Sister, the meatballs are here. Do you want some?”

Qiao Chuchu: “Yes!”

【Qiao Cen is so nice, thoughtful, and caring.】

Qiao Cen grinned proudly, being praised by his sister. He couldn’t help but feel smug.

Barrage:

【Brother Qiao dotes on his sister so much! I envy this thoughtful little brother! I’m so unlucky, my brother only knows how to annoy me!】

【Same here, sis. My brother even said when he grows up, he’ll shoot me. It made me so mad, I gave him a good beating, now he behaves.】

【So true, take advantage of beating your little brother while you can. I’m ten years older than my brother, I can just pin him down with one foot, hahahaha.】

—

After getting the meatballs, Qiao Chuchu was satisfied and began criticizing Tong Zhichen again.

【Tong Zhichen seems sharp, but how can he be so dumb? He didn’t even notice his wife was replaced, and didn’t even realize that he slept on the same bed with the replacement? If he couldn’t figure that out, their relationship must not be good.】

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Hearing this, the sound of coughing echoed through the room, with Lin Lin’s cough the loudest. It was as though he wanted to cough his lungs out. He didn’t want to, but the shock was too much for him to control.

Just thinking about his good friend sleeping with another man made him… cough, cough, cough…

Tong Zhichen clenched his fists even tighter, his expression shifting between rage and gloom, looking as though he had just eaten something foul.

Qiao Chuchu glanced around: 【What’s going on? Everyone’s coughing now. Can you choke on water that easily?】

The coughing in the room gradually decreased.

With no more interruptions, Qiao Chuchu continued her thoughts: 【They say they’ve been childhood sweethearts, very close, but it doesn’t seem like it. Otherwise, how could Tong Zhichen not even realize his wife had been replaced? Even if the replacement mimicked everything perfectly, there must be some small differences. If you observe carefully, you’d still find something off.】

The gossip listeners nodded in agreement. Indeed, with careful observation, one could surely notice something was wrong, unless their relationship wasn’t that great to begin with.

Everyone, both intentionally and unintentionally, glanced toward Tong Zhichen. The shock from what they had just heard was no less than his.

What nonsense is she talking about?

How could the childhood sweetheart he grew up with be replaced by a man?

He stared deeply at Qiao Chuchu, wanting to ask her about it, but found himself unable to speak. He couldn’t bring himself to say what he had just heard.

She seemed unaware that they could hear her thoughts.

Lin Lin, who had heard enough, was worried that Qiao Chuchu might reveal more damaging information about Tong Zhichen.

“Ah Chen, why are you zoning out? It’s your turn to spin the bottle. Hurry up and spin it.”

Tong Zhichen suppressed the turmoil in his heart, but when it was time to play again, he was clearly distracted.

Barrage:

【What’s wrong with Tong Tong? Is he feeling unwell? He looks so down.】

【He seemed fine earlier, but after answering Si Xiang’s question, he’s changed. He suddenly stood up and startled me.】

【What’s going on with Tong Tong? Don’t scare us!】

—

The game of Truth or Dare didn’t last long. Tong Zhichen was preoccupied, his mind kept drifting back to the scene Qiao Chuchu described. It was impossible for him to focus.

What if what she said was true? What if his wife was really a fake? What if she was at the hotel with his lover right now…

The bottle clinked onto the table with a loud “bang!”

He couldn’t take it anymore. He stood up again, “I’m going to the bathroom. You all continue playing.”

Lin Lin watched him leave with concern. When the second round began, he also said, “I’ll step out for a moment.”

In the bathroom, Tong Zhichen was about to call his manager to check on the hotel situation, but he hesitated, afraid it might be a misunderstanding or that he might be tipping them off.

“Ah Chen, where are you?”

Tong Zhichen still didn’t press the call button. He opened the bathroom door. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah, me? I was just using the bathroom.” Lin Lin scratched his head, unsure how to begin. “Well… um…”

Tong Zhichen directly asked, “You can hear her voice too, right?”

Lin Lin nodded, then said, “Ah Chen, don’t overthink it. What she says might not necessarily be true. She doesn’t know us, so how could she know these things?”

“You’re right. She doesn’t know us, so how could she know these things?” Tong Zhichen said slowly. “The fact that I married Man Wen, only the people closest to me know. She has no connection to us, so how would she know I’m married? I don’t think she hired a detective to investigate. Obviously, she’s not a fan of mine, so there’s no reason for her to do such a thing.”

“Ah Chen, you…” Lin Lin wanted to say something comforting but didn’t know what to say. “So, what are you planning to do?”

The fact that they could hear Qiao Chuchu’s thoughts was already unbelievable. How could she know everyone’s private matters? What kind of existence was she?

Tong Zhichen gripped his phone tightly. “I think… I’ll investigate whether this is true first, then make a plan based on the findings.”

“She’s really impressive, knowing so many things,” Lin Lin said. “This could be true. Maybe Sister-in-law really has been replaced. Ah Chen, they’re at the hotel today. Aren’t you going to check?”

“Because I’m afraid it’s true, that’s why I don’t dare go right now.” Tong Zhichen frowned. “To be able to replace a living person so quietly, do you think it’s just one person behind it? If I rush over today, it could easily alert them. I don’t know what Man Wen’s situation is right now. Is she okay or not? I can’t risk her life.”

They had never encountered this kind of situation before, but they knew that such a planned deception, to cheat both money and affection, surely involved a group of people behind it. To find out Man Wen’s whereabouts, they needed to get information from the replacement.

Of course, they could also learn from Qiao Chuchu, but they couldn’t ask her directly. They needed to guide her to bring up the topic. This wasn’t the best time, so they had to start by investigating the replacement first.

Lin Lin thought for a moment and agreed with his approach. “Sorry, I didn’t think it through.”

“No need to apologize. You were just looking out for me.” Tong Zhichen said quietly, “I believe Man Wen has good karma and will be fine.”

Of course, his words lacked confidence, as Fake Man Wen had been back in the country for almost two months.

Where could they have hidden his Man Wen?

—

The next day of the variety show recording, Qiao Chuchu and Qiao Cen had a very pleasant evening and woke up early to have breakfast provided by the production team.

Most of the other guests looked more or less exhausted, with Tong Zhichen looking the most drained. He hadn’t been seen the entire night, and the dark circles under his eyes were so obvious, even foundation couldn’t hide them.

Tian Ka was surprised. “Xiao Tong, did you not sleep well last night?”

Tong Zhichen nodded. “Mm, it’s a new environment, so I couldn’t sleep well last night.”

Qiao Chuchu held a cup of soy milk in one hand and a fried dough stick in the other, taking a bite.

【It’s not insomnia; Tong Zhichen didn’t sleep at all last night. Well, well, he rushed back overnight to check on his fake wife. Unfortunately, he didn’t find her but still sent her 500,000 yuan as pocket money. How enviable.】

【If I had that much money, I’d just lie back and relax.】

Qiao Cen heard her thoughts and quickly took out his phone to transfer one million yuan to his sister. Let others envy her, but she shouldn’t be the one envying others!

“Ding Dong—”

A phone message notification. Qiao Chuchu opened it and was immediately stunned.

Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million…

So many zeros!

【Oh my, why did Brother Qiao suddenly send me so much money? Did he transfer it to the wrong account?】

Qiao Cen immediately whispered to her, “Sis, I just got my salary. This money is your pocket money. If it’s not enough, just let me know.”

Qiao Chuchu: “Isn’t this a bit too much?”

Qiao Cen: “There’s nothing wrong with it. You’re my sister, it’s only right that I treat you well!”

Qiao Chuchu: 【Brother Qiao is so nice. I won’t secretly look at your embarrassing history of bedwetting anymore.】

Qiao Cen: “!!!”

Sis, please don’t say that, don’t think about it!