CHAPTER 23 (PART 2)

Shi Li was momentarily stunned. She looked through the peephole, saw the officer’s badge, and sent a message to Shen Jingyan first. Only after getting his approval did she open the door.

An hour later, she was at the police station when Shen Jingyan arrived. She stormed up to him angrily. “That old woman claims you hurt her grandson and wants to sue you.”

“What exactly happened?” Shen Jingyan asked, puzzled.

Shi Li took a deep breath to calm herself before explaining, “After you left for work, her grandson went to play in the landscape garden and fell from a tree. She called the police and accused you of instigating it, so the officers came to investigate.”

After hearing this, Shen Jingyan chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.”

“This time, don’t be too nice!” Shi Li frowned. “If you let them get away with it, they’ll keep pulling the same trick whenever something happens.”

“Trust me.” Shen Jingyan reassured her with a glance before stepping into the police station. Shi Li, still uneasy, followed closely behind.

As soon as they entered, the old woman let out a sharp wail and lunged at them, only to be stopped by the officers. Her family quickly grabbed her and pulled her back.

“You heartless bastard! How dare you hurt my grandson? I curse you to die without descendants!” The old woman sobbed and cursed through her tears.

A younger woman beside her, clearly annoyed, scolded, “Mom, can you quiet down? The police are right here.”

The old woman immediately seemed intimidated by the younger woman and fell silent. Beside her stood a middle-aged man, who bore a strong resemblance to her. He didn’t speak but glared at Shen Jingyan with open hostility.

Shi Li glanced at the three of them and quickly deduced that the middle-aged man and woman must be the old woman’s son and daughter-in-law.

Shen Jingyan walked straight up to the officer handling the case. “Hello, I’ve already heard the situation from my friend. If you need any information, I’ll answer whatever I can.”

Seeing his cooperative attitude, the officer motioned for him to sit down and began questioning. “At 1:47 PM today, what were you doing?”

Shen Jingyan thought for a moment. “I left home to go to work.”

“Did anything happen along the way?”

Shen Jingyan nodded. “When I was leaving the residential complex, I saw this lady’s grandson. He suddenly ran into the street, and I almost hit him. I got out to check on him and made sure he was fine before heading to the office. There should be surveillance cameras at the entrance of the complex that can confirm this.”

“You tricked my grandson into climbing that tree!” the old woman accused viciously.

Shen Jingyan frowned. “Why would I do that?”

“Don’t play dumb! My grandson said it himself! You told him you put ice cream in the tree and that he had to go alone to get it without telling anyone!” The old woman spat and her eyes reddened. “If it weren’t for you, my grandson wouldn’t have gotten hurt! Do you even have a conscience? How could you harm a child?”

Shen Jingyan looked at the officer and said calmly after a pause, “When I saw the child was fine, I left immediately. I never said anything like that.”

“You lying bastard!” The old woman tried to rush at him again.

Instinctively, Shi Li stepped in front of Shen Jingyan. He hesitated for a moment, a flicker of something unreadable flashing in his eyes.

The middle-aged man quickly pulled the old woman back, but she was still struggling to get to Shen Jingyan. Her daughter-in-law snapped impatiently, “Can you behave yourself?”

The old woman immediately shrank back. Shi Li clicked her tongue and placed a reassuring hand on Shen Jingyan’s shoulder. He gave her hand a light squeeze before turning back to the officer. “I can guarantee that I never misled the child. If you have any evidence proving otherwise, I’m willing to take full responsibility. However, if their only proof is the testimony of this grandmother and grandson, I believe—given the lady’s character—it might not be credible.”

“You’re talking nonsense!” The old woman cursed again.

Unfazed, Shen Jingyan continued, “She has previously tried to scam us with a similar stunt. At the time, I didn’t want a confrontation, so I gave her money. Now, I have reason to believe she’s trying to pull the same trick again. Fortunately, the incident happened at the entrance of the residential complex, where there are surveillance cameras. There were also residents passing by who could serve as witnesses.”

Upon hearing this, the old woman’s expression flickered with panic. “You’re making things up…”

“You took my son to scam people?!” the daughter-in-law suddenly shrieked.

The old woman flinched, stubbornly insisting, “I did not! They hurt my grandson first! I only asked for medical expenses!”

“Ma’am, did you not hear my Jingyan just now? He said there’s surveillance footage.” Shi Li reminded her lightly.

The old woman immediately shut her mouth. Meanwhile, Shen Jingyan’s eyes darkened slightly when he heard Shi Li say “my Jingyan.”

“You disgraceful old hag! Not only do you act like a crook, but you’re even teaching my son to be one!” The daughter-in-law finally lost it and lunged at the old woman. The middle-aged man scrambled to pull them apart, and the scene quickly descended into chaos.

The officer, looking fed up with the commotion, finally turned back to Shen Jingyan. “Alright, if we need anything else, we’ll contact you. You’re free to go.”

“Thank you.” Shen Jingyan nodded and motioned for Shi Li to leave with him.

Once they stepped out of the police station, Shi Li let out a long breath, finally feeling the frustration in her chest dissipate. She stretched and said smugly, “That old hag bullies people, but now she’s finally getting what she deserves.”

“Alright, don’t waste your energy being mad over people like that.” Shen Jingyan ruffled her hair.

Shi Li paused, a trace of confusion flickering in her eyes. “You’re really not mad?”

Shen Jingyan was silent for a moment. “Well… maybe a little.”

“That’s more like it! No way you weren’t angry at all.” Shi Li grinned.

Seeing her smile, Shen Jingyan smiled as well. After they returned home, they never mentioned the unpleasant incident again. The police didn’t contact them further, and life returned to normal.

Shi Li focused on gaining weight, while Shen Jingyan kept to his routine of going to work and coming home. On weekdays, they had breakfast and dinner together. On weekends, Shen Jingyan would either take her out for a day of food and fun or cook elaborate meals at home. Aside from the Male Lead Hatred Value staying unchanged, life felt almost too good to be true.

…But why wasn’t the hatred value decreasing?

At 20%, based on the previous world, this was the stage where the male supporting lead still held some resentment but could be easily pacified. From what Shi Li could tell, Shen Jingyan genuinely seemed to be getting along with her. So where was the problem? Why wasn’t the hatred value going down?

Since Shi Li didn’t have access to the storyline, she had no clues. After thinking it over, she decided to investigate on her own. She needed to figure out what Shen Jingyan had been through in the time between her disappearance and now. Although he had briefly mentioned his experiences, Shi Li felt she should dig deeper.

After making up her mind, Shi Li set her sights on Shen Jingyan’s study. She had noticed before that whenever he came home from work, he had a habit of placing his documents there. She speculated that the study might hold some clues about his past.

On another workday, after they finished dinner, Shi Li walked him to the door. “Take it slow on the road.”

“Mm, I’m off now. I’ll bring you some sugar-roasted chestnuts tonight,” Shen Jingyan said with a smile.

Shi Li smiled back. After watching him leave, she quickly ran back to the bedroom and kept her eyes on the ground floor. Ten minutes later, Shen Jingyan’s car slowly drove past and headed out of the residential area.

Only after his car disappeared from view did Shi Li turn around and dash toward the study. She tried turning the doorknob twice, but it wouldn’t budge—it was locked. Realizing this only confirmed her suspicion that something important was inside. Determined, she began searching for a spare key.

After rummaging through Shen Jingyan’s bedroom, she moved to the living room and finally found a set of keys under the TV cabinet. She grabbed them and tested them one by one in front of the study door.

With a soft click, the lock turned. Letting out a sigh of relief, Shi Li was about to push the door open when she suddenly had another thought. She grabbed the spare key to the main entrance, inserted it into the lock, and only then turned back to enter the study.

The study was spotless, and everything was neatly arranged—just like Shen Jingyan’s current demeanor. But looking at the perfectly placed books and documents, Shi Li couldn’t help but think of the carefree and unruly boy he used to be.

She let out a quiet sigh, shook off her stray thoughts, and started searching carefully. Since everything was so meticulously organized, she worried about leaving any trace of her snooping. This meant she had to return each item to its exact position after examining it, which made the whole process much more time-consuming.

Sweat began to bead on her forehead as she anxiously flipped through everything. But all she found were stacks of complex project documents with names she didn’t understand—let alone any useful information.

After thoroughly combing through the bookshelf and desk without any results, her gaze landed on the laptop on the desk.

She hesitated for three seconds before deciding she couldn’t let this trip go to waste. Carefully, she opened the laptop. As she pressed the power button, her palms started sweating. A soft chime rang out, and the screen lit up—prompting a password entry.

Shi Li’s excitement faded for a moment, but she quickly gathered herself and tried the six-digit password Shen Jingyan used to favor in the past.

Incorrect password.

She frowned and entered his birthday. Still incorrect. A warning appeared—one more failed attempt, and she wouldn’t be able to try again.

Torn between taking the risk or backing off, she gritted her teeth and entered her own birthday.

Ding! Password correct.

Shi Li froze. Before she could even process the shock, the desktop appeared. Pushing aside her surprise, she quickly scanned the contents and soon found a private folder that stood out among a sea of work files.

Opening it, the first thing she saw was a photo of Shen Jingyan in a graduation gown.

“Donglai Medical University…” Shi Li murmured as she read the name of the university. Just as she was about to continue browsing, she heard the sound of the front door lock turning. Her heart leaped into her throat, and she hurriedly shut the laptop.

But even though the screen was off, the heat from the laptop’s vent remained. Panic surged through her—there was no way she could cool it down in time. With no other option, she clenched her jaw and rushed out.

A few seconds later, her phone rang.

She hesitated for a moment before answering, “Hello?”

“Shi Li, are you home?” Shen Jingyan’s voice came through.

Shi Li stifled a yawn. “Yeah, I was just taking a nap. What’s up?”

“Come open the door for me. For some reason, I can’t get it open,” Shen Jingyan said helplessly.

Shi Li paused for a moment. “Alright, I’m coming.”

She deliberately stalled for time, only heading to the door after he called again to urge her. Pulling the spare key from the lock, she stuffed it into her pocket and opened the door from the inside.

Shen Jingyan sighed. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry, sorry. I was getting dressed,” Shi Li said with an apologetic look.

Shen Jingyan glanced at her with amusement. “Forget it, I’m in a hurry. We’ll talk later.” With that, he headed straight for the study.

Shi Li’s heart nearly stopped. She quickly grabbed his hand. “Where are you going?”

Shen Jingyan paused, his gaze shifting to where she was holding him.

Realizing what she’d done, Shi Li awkwardly let go. “Where are you headed?”

“I need to grab a document,” Shen Jingyan replied casually.

Shi Li panicked. Although she had tried her best to delay him, she wasn’t sure if the laptop had cooled down yet. If he noticed…

“I’ll get it for you! You rushed back so fast, you must be exhausted.” She looked at him earnestly.

Shen Jingyan chuckled. “No need. You don’t know where it is.” He turned to continue toward the study.

Shi Li, feeling drained, grabbed his arm again. “Seriously, let me help you. You should rest.”

Shen Jingyan stopped and looked at her. “Why are you so insistent?”

Shi Li was caught off guard by the question and stammered, “N-no reason! I just… want to help.”

“There’s really no need,” Shen Jingyan said as he tried to pull his arm free.

Shi Li panicked. In a last-ditch effort, she pulled him backward with all her strength. Unprepared, Shen Jingyan was yanked off balance and fell directly onto her.

They tumbled together. Shen Jingyan instinctively tried to push himself up, but Shi Li immediately wrapped her arms around him, pressing their faces together.

Shen Jingyan: “…”

“Don’t move. Let me hug you,” Shi Li mumbled.

Shen Jingyan fell silent for a moment. “Why?”

“Because… I just want to,” Shi Li struggled to answer. Feeling him shift, she tightened her grip. Thankfully, her recent efforts to gain weight had made her a bit stronger—otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to hold him down.

Just as her thoughts began to wander, Shen Jingyan quietly reached out and hugged her back. His face turned slightly, pressing his lips against her cheek.

Shi Li: “?”