chapter 3

Before my business trip, I tossed an old phone with three alarms set into the safe, and changed the password.

That afternoon, I sent Chen Nian a message using an unfamiliar number.

[Honey, I lost my phone. I can’t get a new SIM card while I’m abroad. I’ll contact you when I’m back in the country.]

Of course, I hadn’t actually gone abroad.

I just checked into a nearby hotel.

Every day, I ate and drank well.

Then I watched videos of Chen Nian smoking in front of the safe in the middle of the night, laughing my head off.

On the fourth day of the business trip,

the old phone in the safe finally ran out of battery and shut off.

I met up with Ling Yuan nearby for some barbecue.

He said, “I’m planning to catch them in the act tonight. What about you?”

I chewed on some lamb.

“You catch them, I’ll catch them too!”

Here’s how it went:

Ling Yuan and I burst in, flinging open the bedroom door in a flash.

Chen Nian was on top of Ling Yuan’s wife. Ling Yuan’s wife was moaning, her hands leaving scratch marks down Chen Nian’s back.

I couldn’t help but blink.

Was it really that good?

Fake, right?

That wasn’t how it felt for me back then.

I was still swallowing, but Ling Yuan was already in character.

His face was pale, his whole body trembling.

“How… how could you do this to me!”

The two on the bed were so shocked they fought over the blanket.

Chen Nian lost to Ling Yuan’s wife and could only scramble to put his clothes on.

Ling Yuan shot me a look: Act!

I hurried to get into character, screaming at the top of my lungs, “Chen Nian, you bastard!”

And then?

Should we fight?

Probably!

Ling Yuan and I exchanged glances.

He lunged at Chen Nian, I went for his wife.

I yanked off the blanket, grabbed her hair, and slapped her a few times.

She screamed for help.

But the only one who could save her was being pinned to the ground by her own husband, getting pummeled.

Cries of pain, pleas for mercy, curses-it was music to my ears.

After venting, Ling Yuan and I stood on the Eighteenth Floor, sharing a post-battle cigarette.

Half an hour later, he went downstairs, I went upstairs.