Harmony

Wen Dai had thought that something unspeakable would happen on the first day of living together, but after tidying up her belongings and taking a shower, she had no other desire than to snuggle into the warm bed.

She lay on the blanket, burying her face in it, none of the awkwardness or helplessness she had anticipated showing. It turns out that when you're exhausted, you're too lazy to feel embarrassed, even if the bed beneath her belongs to her new boyfriend.

When Chen Sizhe dried his hair and entered the room, this was the scene he saw—the person on the bed was lying straight, like a stiff corpse, covered with an air conditioning blanket—making him look even more like a corpse.

"Ha." He chuckled unconsciously, a smile spreading across his face. He stepped forward slowly and gently pulled at the blanket that was wrapped around someone like a cocoon.

Wen Dai's head was pressed to the side on the blanket, facing Chen Sizhe. She lifted her eyelids and glanced at him, saying weakly, "Is there something you need?"

"Ha. Lying on my bed, asking me 'What's up?' Wen Dai, you're really thick-skinned." This was a sarcastic remark, but Wen Dai was already immune to it.

She offered him a moral compliment: "It's not that I'm naive, it's just that I trust you as a gentleman. So please turn off the light, I'm going to sleep, thank you." Her lazy eyelids closed again, and she reminded him to turn off the light one last time.

"So you like having the lights off."

"...Chen Sizhe, stop being so flirtatious, you're even more outrageous than the mutton."

The brightness she perceived with her eyes closed turned to darkness with a snap, and Wen Dai relaxed, continuing to drift off to sleep. It seems that one's perception of their surroundings becomes stronger when their eyes are closed; for example, she immediately noticed the bed beside her sinking, and the new person who had gotten in carried a fragrance she couldn't describe—very hypnotic.

Suddenly, his arm gripped her waist without any sense of boundaries, and after a brief moment of dizziness, Wen Dai found herself in his arms.

The sleepiness she had finally managed to cultivate was half dispelled by his interruption. Just as Wen Dai was about to lash out, a large hand patted her back gently. The owner of the hand used his deep, husky voice, which had the potential to be a voice actor, to softly say, "Go to sleep."

The feeling of being coaxed to sleep was novel, and Wen Dai, who often dreamed, had a rare dreamless night. In her drowsy state, a voice suddenly emerged—it turned out that the simplest hug could make up for the lack of security.

-

Wen Dai did not take for granted the thanks she should give Li Chengjian just because the case was a win-win situation. The inheritance left by her parents was a true "inheritance," and now that she had successfully overturned the case for her parents, it was time to put the inheritance to use.

She sent many gifts to the Li family, and of course, she also sent many to the Lai and Chen families.

However, when they went to the Chen family, they encountered someone unexpected.

The elegant voice had been heard since Wen Dai stepped out of the elevator. It was a voice that could rival Chen Sizhe's. She subconsciously stretched her head to look at the source of the voice. The woman who came into her view had a generous appearance, a dignified yet bright look, and her clothes gave people the impression of a successful person—mainly because of the word "elegant".

It looks very familiar.

Wen Dai remembered.

Wen Dai took a step back.

Chen Sizhe, whose arm he had bumped into, lowered his eyes and raised an eyebrow, asking, "What's wrong?"

Stiff as Wen Dai turned around—she should have known long ago that lies were not something to be told lightly.

She looked up at the only victim whose reputation had been damaged by her lies, her peach blossom eyes becoming exceptionally sincere and bright at this moment, but her excuse was very unreliable: "I don't think today is an auspicious day for giving gifts. Anyway, it's not a short-shelf-life item, so why don't we come and give it to you tomorrow?"

But how could the people in the living room possibly ignore the "ding" sound of the elevator? Their hearing is quite terrifying.

"Chen Sizhe? Hmm? Isn't the one next to you my future sister-in-law? I just heard my aunt mention her." The familiar elegance was there, but Wen Dai didn't have the leisure to appreciate it at the moment; she just wanted to disappear into the ground.

Chen Sizhe lowered his eyelids, glanced at the person in front of him who had frozen like a wooden statue, and then looked up to meet Cheng Nuo's gaze. He immediately understood why the person in front of him was trying to escape.

He chuckled softly, then lowered his voice mischievously to the despairing Wen Dai, saying, "Have you forgotten a saying? You reap what you sow."

Well, it turns out her boyfriend has no intention of joining forces with her and is about to team up with the enemy to attack her.

"Oh my, Xiao Dai's here! Why did you bring so much stuff? Don't just stand there by the elevator, come over here and sit with me." This was a warm greeting from Qi Ya.

Wen Dai had no idea that she might have been invited to a trap, a trap she had walked right into.

Wen Dai slowly turned her head, maintaining a smile. She dragged herself to the living room, praying in her heart that Cheng Nuo had forgotten her. When she got closer, she nodded politely to Cheng Nuo and said, "Hello, I am... Wen Dai."

Please don't remember me!

However, the person in front of her frowned and stared at her for a long time. Cheng Nuo scrutinized her for a while before replying with an ambiguous tone, "Um... I am Cheng Nuo, Chen Sizhe's cousin."

It sounded like he didn't remember her. Wen Dai was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Cheng Nuo said frankly in front of Qi Ya, "I remember you. Do you remember me?"

Upon hearing this, Wen Dai's brain froze on the spot, while Qi Ya asked with considerable surprise, "Oh, you two know each other? How did you meet?"

Cheng Nuo glanced at Chen Sizhe, who had put down the gifts and looked completely at ease, with a half-smile, and then said leisurely, "There are only so many ways for women to get to know each other, Auntie, don't you know that? Although we only met once, I have a deep impression of this younger sister."

With her heart utterly still, Wen Dai was like a puppet, letting Chen Sizhe lead her to sit down.

Wen Dai hadn't forgotten the important matter. She forced herself to revive, raised her hand, and looked at Qi Ya with a smile, saying, "Auntie, you've helped me a lot with the case of overturning the verdict. I'm very grateful that you were willing to put in so much effort for me. These gifts are just a small token of my appreciation. Actually, there's something else I wanted to give you..."

She took out a card with a small amount of money (around ten million) from her pocket and handed it to Qi Ya. "It must have cost a lot of money to have He Shaoyang act as a witness. This is the case I was going to overturn. I feel bad making you spend money for nothing. I don't know if this is enough. There's about ten million in it... Actually, I wanted to transfer it to you, but I probably won't even be able to get the bank card number."

Qi Ya wasn't the only one looking surprised; Chen Sizhe was too. Wen Dai hadn't told him about preparing an extra bank card.

Cheng Nuo had also heard about Wen Dai, and she thoughtfully turned her gaze away from Wen Dai.

Qi Ya pushed the card back to Wen Dai without hesitation, saying unhappily, "Listen to what you're saying. You're not the only one who wants to overturn the case. Your Uncle Chen is the same. You should think about what kind of relationship your father has with your Uncle Chen. That little bit of money is nothing to our family. Friendship is much more important than money."

"Your Uncle Chen didn't want the murderer who hurt your father to go unpunished. This case isn't just yours; it's our case!"

Although it was a reprimand, Wen Dai inexplicably felt a surge of warmth in her heart. Her heart, which had been cold for many years, was now being warmed again.

"Little sister, don't be so polite, okay? From now on, we're all family." Cheng Nuo's eyebrows relaxed, and she looked at her with a smile in her eyes, which seemed to hold no other meaning.

Next, Cheng Nuo and Qi Ya turned their blades on Chen Sizhe, taking turns to criticize him, mainly questioning how he could have the nerve to let Wen Daizhen deliver the money.

Feeling guilty, Wen Dai wanted to defend him, but Chen Sizhe immediately admitted his mistake.

As Qi Ya got up to help the family chef prepare dinner, Cheng Nuo glanced at Chen Sizhe and then looked at Wen Dai, smiling gently as she said, "Go chat with your sister for a bit?"

Because of what had just happened, Wen Dai no longer had any desire to avoid Cheng Nuo. Without much thought, she immediately got up and followed Cheng Nuo to the terrace.

Cheng Nuo's brows furrowed with worry, and she whispered, "Did Chen Sizhe use any coercion or inducement on you? How did you get him to take responsibility for you? Or is he just using PUA on you?"

Well, it seems that Cheng Nuo's impression of her relationship with Chen Sizhe is still based on their first meeting. Back then, Chen was criticized as a cheat who cheated her out of money and sex, but now in Cheng Nuo's mind, he has become a cheat who cheated her out of money, sex, and body and was biased.

Wen Dai parted her lips slightly, wanting to explain, but didn't know where to begin. So much had happened in the past year, and trying to explain the entanglement in a few words was simply beyond her reach.

But Cheng Nuo saw Wen Dai's troubled expression and knew that there must be something else going on between her and Chen Sizhe. Cheng Nuo immediately said seriously, "Sister, don't be afraid. I believe that if Chen Sizhe has really made a big mistake, my aunt and uncle will not stand idly by. If you need help, just tell me now, and I will put aside my own family for the greater good."

Wen Dai felt even more guilty. Chen Sizhe was really pitiful. His image was ruined because of a lie she told out of revenge.

"Sister, you've misunderstood. Chen Sizhe didn't use PUA on me. We've been through a lot together over the past year, and I genuinely like him. I also believe he genuinely likes me too." Wen Dai tried her best to make her expression seem sincere.

Cheng Nuo frowned, staring at Wen Dai with suspicion for a while before relaxing her attitude. "...Alright. You need to know that if you encounter difficulties and need help, feel free to contact me anytime." She then took out her phone, found WeChat, and added Wen Dai's contact information.

But whether Cheng Nu believed it or not, this minor incident was eventually weathered.

But storms usually don't occur alone.

At the dinner table, it was Qi Ya who started bringing up old grievances. Holding chopsticks, she casually asked Wen Dai as she served her food, "Xiao Dai, do you think that spendthrift daughter-in-law who will be at odds with me in the future won't appear?"

Immediately, the other two people's gazes also shifted to her face.

Aside from being thankful that Chen Wenkang wasn't there today, Wen Dai really didn't know what else she could be thankful for. But the current chaotic situation was already bad enough, so whether there was one less person or one more person didn't seem to make much difference.

What should I say? Actually, the future spendthrift daughter-in-law who doesn't get along with you is most likely me?

Wen Dai racked her brains but couldn't figure out what could be causing the discord between her and Qi Ya—she wouldn't know for sure now, but the answer would become clear in a while.

"Hmm...it shouldn't be." And just like that, a little lie was born.

But lies do have a remarkable effect. Qi Ya turned around with peace of mind, smiling happily, her eyes filled with anticipation for the future.

"That's good. Oh my, having Xiao Dai as my future daughter-in-law is truly a blessing from Buddha." I won't have to worry about performing divination or fortune-telling anymore, especially since she and Wen Dai get along well. I doubt I'll be involved in any mother-in-law/daughter-in-law conflicts.

While Qi Ya was secretly plotting to show off to her girlfriends how harmonious her relationship with her future daughter-in-law was, Wen Dai was frantically asking the immortals for answers in her heart—how exactly could she and Qi Ya not get along?

Wen Dai, who considered herself to have a relatively good conscience, did not think she would have a conflict with Qi Ya, who had helped her a great deal.

Unfortunately, the immortals' reply to her remained the same: "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."

What this unrevealed secret was, Wen Dai didn't want to care anymore; let the future deal with its own affairs. Feeling perfectly justified in leaving the mess to her, she and the others happily finished their dinner.

On the way home, the driver, Mr. Chen, glanced at her inexplicably and suddenly asked, "What are you doing that's causing trouble for my mother?"

How did he remember this incident?

Wen Dai glanced at him, straightened her back, and said confidently, "How would I know? I'm not at odds with Aunt Qi right now. Maybe I miscalculated. Even the wisest person can make a mistake."

The topic was glossed over, and Wen Dai, who had been slacking off for a long time, went home, took a shower, and rushed to the study—Chen Sizhe had cleared out half of the space for her to use for live streaming.

So the scene in the study was like this: on the left was Wen Dai, who was live-streaming and chatting with fans and occasionally telling fortunes, and on the right was Chen Sizhe, who was focused on his work. There seemed to be an invisible dividing line between the two of them; if they had been deskmates in school, they would probably have been the kind of people who kept to themselves and never crossed the dividing line.

Chen Sizhe, who had finished his work first, slowly turned his gaze to Wen Dai. Ignoring the intense gaze, Wen Dai continued to giggle, resting her chin on her hand. She was engrossed in chatting with her fans on the live stream screen, occasionally answering questions for viewers who had sent gifts.

About two hours later, Chen Sizhe leaned back in his chair, holding his phone in his hand, but his gaze kept glancing at Wen Dai.

As soon as Wen Dai finished her live stream, he got up and went over to her. However, Wen Dai didn't seem to care about the large dog sticking to her back, and she walked out of the study and into the bedroom on her own.

However, her attention would soon be completely focused on the person standing right behind her.

She had only just reached the bedside and hadn't even started to climb onto it when the person behind her turned her around and pushed her down. Before she could even catch her breath, the person who had pushed her down was on top of her.

"Chen Sizhe, what are you doing—" The voice stopped abruptly because Wen Dai's mouth was covered. She stared wide-eyed at the person pressing down on her, wanting to say something, but the person with ulterior motives seized the opportunity to smear her tongue.

Everything that had been in their way was gone. Wen Dai's mind had long since gone blank under the onslaught of his forceful kiss. When their lips and tongues finally parted, she only heard the person on top of her let out a low, hoarse gasp—

"Dry."