Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Like many male leads in “crematorium” romance novels, Lin Zheng only began to regret his actions after his wife, Wen Su, passed away.

He regretted being too cold.

He regretted treating Wen Su like a mere tool.

He regretted not answering her phone calls.

He regretted not seeing her one last time.

Before she died, Wen Su had arranged her own affairs. She donated what could be donated and threw away the rest. She even had her ashes scattered into the sea, leaving not a single trace of herself behind. She left cleanly.

It was only after she died that Lin Zheng seemed to have an awakening, suddenly realizing he was hopelessly in love with her.

He began buying back the things Wen Su had sold at high prices, filling an entire room with them and locking it, forbidding anyone from entering.

Not even Lin Zhilan was allowed inside.

But Lin Zhilan had her own ways.

She had secretly hidden a lipstick that Wen Su once used, clutching it in her hand every night as she slept, protecting it with the utmost care.

Unfortunately, one day, the nanny pushed the door open. In her panic to hide the item, she accidentally snapped the lipstick in half.

In the original story, she would later seek help from the original host, Wen Min, begging her to help fix it.

But at that time, the original host was single-mindedly focused on seducing her brother-in-law.

Having just been rejected by Lin Zheng, she was already fuming with rage.

Seeing the lipstick only fueled her jealousy and spite. She snatched it away and threw it onto the floor, crushing it under her heel.

She even scolded Lin Zhilan, calling her a bad child for trying to show off with makeup at such a young age.

When I read the book, I was so angry I wanted to transmigrate into the story just to give Wen Min a few good slaps.

Then I woke up and found I had actually become Wen Min.

What a disaster!

If I had known wishing worked this well, I would have wished to win a hundred million in the lottery.

Sigh…

I took the lipstick and examined it. Realizing I had no idea how to fix it, I said honestly, “Auntie doesn’t know how, but we can figure it out together.”

I pulled little Lin Zhilan into my lap and started looking for short videos on how to repair lipsticks.

The two of us were huddled together, heads touching, enjoying ourselves, when a tall shadow suddenly loomed over us.

Lin Zheng’s cold voice rang in my ear.

“Wen Min, is this how you look after the child? Have you forgotten the conditions for me letting you stay?”

He was expressionless and indifferent, the very picture of a grieving widower whose coldness had practically killed his wife.

Lin Zheng was a very smart man.

He could actually see that the original Wen Min was a very vain person deep down.

But at that time, he was likely going through a phase of obsessive collecting.

He felt that Wen Min was also a sort of relic left behind by Wen Su. It just so happened that Lin Zhilan had begged him, saying she wanted her Auntie to stay with her.

He intended to remain chaste for Wen Su and had no plans to remarry.

Considering that the child did indeed need a female elder around, he tacitly allowed Wen Min’s presence.

But he had conditions.

First, Wen Min had to educate Lin Zhilan properly and was not allowed to pass her bad habits on to her.

Second, Lin Zhilan’s safety was the priority; she was not to do anything that might harm the child.

Third, if she entered a relationship or got married, she had to leave the Lin family, and he would provide her with a sum of money as a dowry.

Fourth, she was not allowed to enter the study, the master bedroom, or any other forbidden areas.

Fifth, she was not to use the Lin family name to conduct business outside.

Sixth…

There were about a dozen such rules, all designed to regulate and constrain the original host.

These terms were actually quite insulting.

Wen Min had grit her teeth and signed.

She didn’t dare hate Lin Zheng, so she took her resentment out on Lin Zhilan instead.

She truly didn’t let Lin Zhilan look at phones, touch electronic products, make friends freely, or have much contact with the outside world.

She kept Lin Zhilan confined to her side like a caged pet.

Because of this, Lin Zhilan was actually unpopular at school because she couldn’t understand anything her classmates talked about.

When they discussed celebrities, novels, or games, she would listen intently but still couldn’t keep up, appearing completely out of place.

She had become like an ancient person living in modern times, left far behind by her peers.

Therefore, I didn’t actually object to the child looking at a phone. It just required moderation-setting rules, fixing a schedule, making an agreement, and firmly enforcing it.

Now, as I held Lin Zhilan while looking at the phone, it likely looked like a “bad habit” in Lin Zheng’s eyes, a violation of his rules. That was why he spoke to me in such a condescending tone.

I set Lin Zhilan down and said, “Go play in the yard for a bit. I need to talk to your father about something. I’ll come find you in a moment.”

Lin Zhilan obediently went to the yard, looking back at me with worried eyes before she left.

I gave her an encouraging smile and watched her go before turning my focus to dealing with Lin Zheng.

I stood up and looked up at him. Standing before his tall frame, I felt like I was losing a bit of my momentum.

“Follow me.”

I walked up the stairs, paused, and looked down at Lin Zheng from a higher vantage point. I asked coldly, “Please explain what you mean by ‘is this how you look after the child’?”

Lin Zheng probably hadn’t expected me to talk back like this. He looked up at me, appearing a bit unaccustomed to it; likely no one had ever spoken to him this way.

His face remained cold, his voice icy.

“If you can’t take care of the child properly, then leave. The Lin family doesn’t support idlers.”

Huh?

Me, an idler?

While Wen Min was calculating and vain, during this period, she had indeed been seriously accompanying Lin Zhilan in order to stay in the Lin family.

Although she had been on the verge of losing her temper and unleashing her malice, she hadn’t had the chance to commit any actual offenses before I slapped her soul away and took over.

Therefore, Lin Zheng calling her an idler and saying she hadn’t looked after the child properly was pure slander.

I immediately fired back.

“You’re certainly not an idler. You didn’t even know your wife was sick, you don’t know what grade your child is in, you don’t know when her birthday is, and you don’t know when she misses her mother. You don’t even know why I was holding the child and looking at a phone, yet you’re so quick to pass judgment. What are you? Are you Hammurabi’s Code come to life? Or were you a hat-maker in a past life, since you’re so good at pinning labels on people? Why are you even running a company? You should open a factory and sell hats-you’re a one-man production line!”