Chapter 119

How ridiculous! I loved the wrong person.

Cheng Sangluo parked the car in the underground parking garage of Senyao Group. Seeing his wife about to push the door open and leave, he quickly pulled her back.

"Wait!" she called out urgently, unbuckling her seatbelt and clinging to her wife's arm affectionately. "Can't we have a little ceremony? We haven't even kissed goodbye yet!"

"What are you doing? It's not like we're never seeing each other again. Aren't you tired of being all lovey-dovey every day?" Lin Jinjiao scolded playfully, but following the little dog's nature, she turned around to meet her embrace, pampering her: "Sigh, I really can't do anything with you."

Cheng Sangluo rested his head on his wife's shoulder, feeling a surge of joy in his heart, and exclaimed, "This is wonderful."

Lin Jin, puzzled by the puppy's sudden exclamation, asked with a smile, "What's so good?"

"These days are so wonderful!" Cheng Sangluo exclaimed, adding the beautiful details: "I can hug you, kiss you, and miss you every day. Isn't that wonderful?"

Lin Jin's smile became somewhat strained. Normally, she would have been content with the puppy's sudden words of affection, but now it was the calm before the storm, and her sigh was overshadowed by a deep sadness, inevitably making her feel uneasy.

In the puppy's unseen vision, she closed her eyes tightly, her brow furrowing even more deeply, and her embrace became so tight it was suffocating.

"You said I'm clingy? Look at you, how tightly you're holding me! Tell me honestly, are you also reluctant to let go?" Cheng Sangluo teased, but inwardly he was thinking to himself. In the past, he would also say goodbye to his wife at work in this ceremonial way, but Lin Jin today was a little different. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but it just felt strange.

Lin Jin released her arm, raised her hand to trace the puppy's eyebrows and eyes, and suddenly changed the subject: "How many signatures have you made? Why haven't you handed them over to me yet?"

Cheng Sangluo laughed mischievously: "Did you think I forgot about this?"

She counted them on her fingers several times, and the count was staggering; it had long exceeded the originally agreed-upon twenty.

Lin Jin stared at the puppy intently counting on its fingers, remaining silent. Her deep, dark eyes, rarely seen so tender, held a tender affection that couldn't be concealed, yet were also tinged with a deep, unspoken sorrow. A faint red tinge appeared at the corners of her eyes.

Cheng Sangluo stretched out her ten fingers and said proudly, "I never expected that I would carve more than forty seals, and the materials are different and they are of different sizes. After I finish tidying up the new house in the next few days, I will hand over all the seals to you for inspection. It will be a great deal to pay off the debt you promised me!"

"Okay, if the carving satisfies me, I'll take all the extra twenty-odd pieces." Lin Jin generously promised, then opened the puppy's palm to examine it closely. The calluses on its fingertips were both new and old, worn away by time, showing that the person had really put their heart into remembering her name when carving the seal.

Engrossed in watching, she ran her fingertips over Cheng Sangluo's palm, her eyes half-closed, and said with concern, "I won't let you do this kind of hard work anymore, it's too exhausting."

"What's so tiring about it? If you like, I can carve many more seals. I really did memorize your name carefully, stroke by stroke." Cheng Sangluo answered honestly, then leaned down and kissed his wife's forehead. "Go back to work now. I'll wait for you to come home for our housewarming dinner tonight. I'll cook a lot of your favorite dishes today."

Lin Jin suddenly raised her head, the hesitation in her eyes replaced by a gleaming light. She cupped Cheng Sangluo's cheeks in her hands, her lips trembling before she earnestly confessed, "Sangluo, I love you. Do you remember what I told you when I was in Zehai? If you want to love me more, then I will love you for a longer time, and then we'll be even."

Cheng Sangluo's heart tightened at these anxious words. She quickly hugged her lover, comforting her back, "What's wrong with you today...you look so worried..."

"No, nothing, I just don't want to be apart from you." Lin Jin sniffed, unable to convey the double meaning of her words to the person in front of her. Thinking that if she continued to be so reluctant, she would really not be able to leave this world of infinite warmth, she simply turned around, pushed open the car door, and got out.

Cheng Sangluo leaned out of the car and called to her lover outside, "If you really miss me, I'll come over to keep you company during my lunch break, okay?"

Lin Jin held her bag tightly in both hands, not nodding in agreement, just wanting to get the dog away as soon as possible. "Go to the villa on the hillside and pack your luggage. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can go to the new house. You've already been busy enough today, so don't come over to keep me company at noon, so as not to cause any unnecessary trouble."

"Alright." Cheng Sangluo started the car, and seeing that his wife was still standing there, he simply turned the car around and stopped it in front of her again. Through the car window, he whispered sweet nothings: "Based on an 8-hour workday, I can see you after thinking of you 28,800 times, so let's start from this second~"

It was rare to hear the puppy say such sweet nothings, so Lin Jin smiled knowingly, tilted her head and instructed, "Drive carefully, and send me a message when you get to the villa halfway up the mountain to let me know you're safe."

The puppy wagged its tail: "Okay, okay, I'll let you know I'm safe as soon as I get there. Bye~"

The sound of accelerators echoed in the empty underground parking garage as Cheng Sangluo disappeared from Lin Jin's sight. She remained standing there blankly, the doting smile she had given her gone vanishing at some point, leaving only a lingering sense of melancholy.

Time seemed to give Lin Jin no chance to catch her breath. Her phone rang suddenly, extinguishing all her uncontrollable feelings for Cheng Sangluo.

She stared at the number on the screen, her brows furrowing slightly. Already flustered by the impending conflict, the caller seemed to have seized the opportunity to add to the chaos, forcing her to mentally prepare herself for a while before reluctantly answering.

Lin Jin abandoned his usual nonchalant demeanor and greeted him in a high-pitched voice, "What a rare guest! What brings Wei Lian here?"

"I've sent you the address. I want you to see some good stuff. See you there." Wei Yun got straight to the point and hung up the phone after speaking. With just a few words, he had whetted Lin Jin's appetite.

Lin Jin stared at the somewhat familiar address on her phone, momentarily puzzled as to why this woman had suddenly come to Zhouhai. A chilling murderous intent instantly welled up in her eyes. "Coming at this particular time... she's definitely up to no good..." Her intuition was always accurate. Although she didn't know the other party's intentions, she could already sense the strong hostility.

...

Lin Jin followed the navigation and drove to the address where he was invited. When the car stopped at the entrance of the old street in the old city renovation area, his heart pounded. No wonder it felt familiar. It turned out that this address was the dilapidated rental house where Xiao Gou used to live.

She slammed the car door shut with a swift motion and drove straight into the damp, narrow alley.

The air was filled with the stench of the sewers, which made her cover her nose in disgust, but it also brought back memories from several months ago.

She remembered Cheng Sangluo squatting at the door of the rented room, chatting with the old landlord while eating large bites of chilled watermelon. The atmosphere was very lively, but the hostility she felt when she saw Cheng Sangluo approaching was also very strong.

Back then, the puppy was more like a hedgehog, baring its teeth and covered in thorns. Even when hard times were pressing it to the ground and tormenting it, it still refused to give in.

"This person... is too stubborn..." Lin Jin couldn't help but sigh as she recalled the past, both amused by Cheng Sangluo's unyielding spirit and saddened that this stubbornness would be her most helpless enemy.

Wei Yun held his military cap with one hand, still dressed in a dignified and crisp military green uniform.

She stood in front of the grocery store outside her rented room, chatting with the old man who was her landlord. She occasionally let out a soft laugh, and it was clear that the two were having a pleasant conversation.

Wei Yun's tall and imposing profile caught Lin Jin's dark eyes, causing her to suddenly slow her pace. For a fleeting moment, she saw Cheng Sangluo from many years ago through Wei Lian's body.

Back then, Cheng Sangluo had not yet been tormented by the bitterness of life. She was full of vigor and vitality, would joke and play with her comrades, and would burst into hearty laughter. The confidence in her eyes had a strong persuasive power that could make everything around her feel calm and peaceful.

Lin Jin always clearly remembered the moment she fell in love with Cheng Sangluo. Time may fade many things, but that moment of infatuation was bright and vivid, and it never became dull with the passage of time.

She was momentarily dazed, then coughed twice, interrupting their conversation.

When Wei Yun turned his head to look at her, the smile on his lips froze. Then, he narrowed his eyes, which held a hint of scrutiny and contempt. He twirled the copper lock key on his finger a few times and then neatly slid it into his palm.

She gave a meaningful smile and simply greeted them, "You're here."

"Hmm." Lin Jin nodded indifferently, completely ignoring the old landlord who was about to greet her.

"Follow me." Wei Yun led the way succinctly, and before entering the stairwell, he turned back to greet the old man politely: "Please continue to look after Sang Luo's room. If the lease is about to expire, you can just contact her to pay the rent."

"Alright, alright, you two can go upstairs now." The landlord was as cheerful as ever, not knowing what Wei Yun had told him to get the key to Cheng Sangluo's room so easily.

It's highly likely that it was because of her military uniform, coupled with Daoming's relationship with Cheng Sangluo, that he politely and courteously tried to get close to her and easily tricked her into giving him the key.

Lin Jin's heart suddenly tightened with pain, and an intense sense of unease quickly swept through her entire body.

She wondered why Xiaogou would secretly rent another place without her knowledge, since she had clearly seen Cheng Sangluo move out that day. That person was very concerned about money, so such behavior seemed a bit extravagant. Or was there some unknown secret hidden in the rented house?

Despite being filled with doubts, Lin Jin didn't ask any questions and simply followed Wei Yun in silence.

Wei Yun paused in the stairwell, turned around to look at Lin Jin, who was in a daze, and asked with a smile, "You should be very surprised. Why don't you ask me why I brought you here?"

In fact, she had already entered that rented room before Lin Jin came.

She had always known about Cheng Sangluo's plan to leverage the situation, and had even offered some advice on it. However, as time went by, the plan did not achieve its intended goals; to be precise, it stagnated.

Wei Yun blamed all the problems on Lin Jin, complaining that she had bewitched her most capable subordinate so much that he couldn't even distinguish between what was important and what was not.

In her mind, Lin Jin had been using Cheng Sangluo all along. Since she was here today, why not take this opportunity to let Lin Jin see clearly that all that so-called love was nothing more than mutual exploitation?

Although such behavior has the villainous flavor of breaking up a loving couple, Wei Yun believes that everything he does is for Cheng Sangluo's good.

Lin Jin looked up at the person on the steps. Compared to the things in the house, she was more interested in Wei Yun's motives: "You know very well that these days are the time when my grand plan is beginning to show results. Coming to join in the fun at this critical juncture is a bit too disrespectful to me."

Wei Yun put one hand in his pocket and said confidently, "Our cooperation ended long ago in Zehai. I already informed you back then that I would explain the whole story to Sangluo in my own way. I don't think there's anything wrong with my behavior."

"Can't you even give me a day or two more? Compared to you, I'm the one who has more right to explain, right?" Lin Jin was furious, but had nowhere to vent her anger, so she could only suppress the pent-up rage in her heart.

"If Lin Sheng is the one who caused Sangluo to be unjustly imprisoned, then you and I are accomplices who kicked her when she was down. If we had stood up in time, her life wouldn't be so bleak. I was a step too late, so I can at least excuse myself. But what about you? How do you explain that? I've helped you enough over the years, and you should be seeing the results by now. But you, I won't even mention all the things you did to bully her, but what about tricking her into getting married and registering her marriage? Is that atonement or exploitation?" Wei Yun smiled so contemptuously, each word like a sharp knife, cutting into Lin Jin's heart, leaving her speechless.

Perhaps feeling that this wasn't enough, she turned around and continued leading the way, saying casually, "This is just the beginning; the real excitement is yet to come."

*

Cheng Sangluo hummed a little tune as he drove into the villa garden. As soon as he parked the car, he immediately prepared to send a message to his wife to let her know he was safe.

She pulled out her new phone, admiring the latest design even more, and couldn't help but rub it against her face excitedly, "Mmm! I love it, I love it so much!"

The sudden sound of a notification interrupted the puppy's dazed behavior.

She looked at the screen with suspicion, thinking that her wife had sent a message to check up on her first. When she saw that it was from an unknown number, she figured it was probably spam and didn't pay much attention to it.

She glanced at the contents briefly, and in that short time, her relaxed expression vanished completely.

[Cheng Sangluo, you've been treated like a dog by Lin Jin for so long without realizing you've been used? Go to the hidden room in the collection room on the top floor of the villa; there's an unexpected surprise waiting for you.]

Cheng Sangluo initially wanted to send a message to question who the other party was, but quickly dismissed the idea. This feeling was like Schrödinger's cat; ignoring it was better than digging into it.

The puppy isn't stupid. Right now, there's only one person who wants to make things difficult for her and Lin Jin. Who else could it be but Lin Sheng?

With that thought in mind, Cheng Sangluo put her precious phone in her pocket and walked through the garden's covered walkway without a care in the world.

As she pushed open the villa door, she subconsciously looked at the home elevator. Some things are like seeds that take root in the wind; once they are planted in the heart, they begin to grow wildly, giving rise to endless doubts and curiosity.

The puppy quickly shook its head, warning itself, "Don't pay attention to it, it must be Lin Sheng's trap."

She tried her best to suppress her curiosity, but the more she suppressed the thought, the more her thirst for knowledge arose.

at the same time.

In a secluded corner of the villa's backyard, Sheng He held a laptop, his fingers deftly typing code on the keyboard.

The mountains were vast and quiet, and any sound would be amplified. He could hear the sound of the car engine starting as the iron gate in the front yard opened.

He anticipated that Cheng Sangluo had already entered the villa, staring at the code that had already been typed on the screen, his fingertips hovering over the Enter key for a long time.

He lowered his eyes to the keyboard, caught in a state of indecision, pondering the disastrous consequences of his actions.

Perhaps if you press the Enter key, all the disputes, complex relationships, and entanglements of interests will enter an irreversible, heated phase.

Fortunately, Sheng He's hesitation only lasted a few seconds. With a 'click' of the keyboard, the code on the screen began to scroll and flash wildly, followed by the smart home assistant's notification sound that echoed throughout the villa.

'Warning, warning, abnormal activity detected across the entire area; data intrusion under investigation. Enter self-inspection phase.'

'Warning, warning, abnormal activity detected across the entire area; data intrusion under investigation. Enter self-inspection phase.'

'Warning, warning, abnormal activity detected across the entire area; data intrusion under investigation. Enter self-inspection phase.'

Cheng Sangluo took the home elevator to the second floor. As soon as she stepped out, the smart home alarm suddenly sounded throughout the house.

Confused, she looked around and then called out to the smart assistant in the air, "Cheng Sangluo! What's wrong? What happened?"

The smart home assistant didn't answer her question, but repeated itself like a mantra: "Warning, warning, abnormal monitoring across the entire area, data intrusion pending resolution, entering self-inspection phase."

Cheng Sangluo hurriedly took out her phone and dialed Lin Jin's number, wanting to ask how to solve this situation, but after two beeps, the call automatically ended, only to find that her phone had no signal at all.

Before she could figure out what was going on, the smart home alarm changed.

"Warning, warning! The security door to the third-floor collection room, a key monitoring area, has opened automatically. The homeowner is requested to inspect it immediately."

"Warning, warning! The security door to the third-floor collection room, a key monitoring area, has opened automatically. The homeowner is requested to inspect it immediately."

"Warning, warning! The security door to the third-floor collection room, a key monitoring area, has opened automatically. The homeowner is requested to inspect it immediately."

Cheng Sangluo slapped himself on the forehead. Now he had no choice but to go up to the third floor to check what was going on. After all, if any one of those valuable items in the room were lost, even his life couldn't fill the astronomical hole.

Thinking of this, she turned around and rushed into the elevator, then hurriedly ran to the third-floor corridor.

Looking around, the heavy doors that would normally require multiple checks to open are now wide open, which inevitably makes people feel uneasy.

Cheng Sangluo's breath hitched, and she ran into the collection room.

She circled the room several times to make sure no important treasures were missing, then prepared to leave.

Everything in this room is a hot potato; if anything goes wrong, she really won't be able to explain it to Lin Jin.

Cheng Sang couldn't bring himself to ignore it, and after taking only two steps, he stopped again, feeling quite helpless.

“A dark room… How could there be a dark room in a place like this…” She shushed and clicked her tongue, turning around to look around the entire space. As an experienced scout, her sensitivity to the terrain was always higher than that of ordinary people.

Cheng Sangluo glanced around at her surroundings a couple of times before her gaze settled directly on the wall in front of her.

Compared to the other walls, which were adorned with a dazzling array of decorations, this wall in front of her only displayed a famous painting. This unbalanced arrangement struck her as odd.

She approached with some skepticism, raised her hand to caress the huge painting that covered half the wall, and then pressed her ear against it.

There was a sound of wind, or more accurately, the sound of airflow. No matter how tightly the hidden door was sealed, the sound of airflow indicated that there was another independent space inside.

Cheng Sangluo groped around and knocked again. The sound of a solid wall was different from that of a hollow wall. When the muffled sound became hollow, it further confirmed the content of the unfamiliar information—there was a hidden room in this collection room.

Suddenly, the image of her first visit to the collection room flashed through Cheng Sangluo's mind, and her gaze followed her memory to the display shelves not far away.

'Cheng Sangluo!'

"What's wrong? Why are you so startled? You scared me!"

'N-nothing...we've reached the end, let's turn back.'

Cheng Sangluo recalled how interested she was in the dagger on the display shelf and was about to pick it up to play with it when Lin Jin interrupted her urgently.

At the time, she didn't think anything was amiss, but now she realizes that there was a deeper meaning behind it.

Cheng Sangluo walked to the display stand with doubt in her eyes, wanting to pick up the exquisitely carved dagger and examine it.

She gripped it a couple of times and found that the dagger was fixed to the display stand, but could be twisted left and right, so she tried twisting it a few times.

A 'click' sound came from behind; the hidden door moved smoothly without making a sound, and then a gust of wind was stirred up.

Cheng Sangluo turned to look at the dark room. The warm-toned overhead light wasn't particularly bright, but it made the objects displayed inside shine.

She moved with suspicion, stepping over those unknowing years, and stumbled into the secret that had bound Lin Jin for so many years.

Cheng Sangluo tilted her head back, her gaze fixed on the center of the dark room.

Her gaze held both faith in her military career and the honors accumulated over the years.

what else?

There were also nightmares that gradually eroded her confidence and arrogance.

In the empty, quiet, dark room, a chilling and eerie laugh suddenly rang out.

The laughter, which began with self-mockery, gradually turned into heart-wrenching sobs, then into trembling, and finally into hoarse weeping.

*

The paint on the old wooden door, which had been damp for many years, had peeled off in patches, and those mottled spots were covered in dust as the brass lock fell to the ground.

Lin Jin raised her arm to shield her nose and waved her other hand a few times before she could barely breathe in the polluted air.

The windowless rental room was stuffy and dark, with not a single ray of light penetrating inside.

Wei Yun walked effortlessly to the old wooden table against the wall, picked up the lighter on the table, and lit the candle.

In an instant, the flickering candlelight filled the room.

Lin Jin stared intently at the wall. Even in the dim light, the clear yet complex relationships between the characters were still clearly visible.

Her gaze swept over all the photos on the wall, finally settling on her own face. The circle drawn with an oil-based pen became a prison, trapping her outside Cheng Sangluo's heart.

She peeled off the white room key card covered with a transparent sticker and stared at it in her palm for a long, long time.

Such emotions are complex, with layers of bitterness building up, and even taking a deep breath cannot quell the surging sorrow.

Lin Jin looked up at Wei Yun, who was silent, and let out a sigh that was neither a smile nor a laugh. Then, her lower lip trembled and she wrinkled her nose. She couldn't bear the discomfort of her nose causing her eyes to sting. Her throat became tighter and tighter, so tight that it hurt so much.

She held up the room key to show Wei Yun, trying to grin and reveal her usual contemptuous and hypocritical demeanor.

But this time, Lin Jin felt that her smile was very awkward.

The candlelight highlighted the glistening tears welling up in the corners of her eyes; she looked pitiful, innocent, and helpless.

All those countless kisses and embraces, all those nights of inseparable intimacy, all those years of enduring hardship alone, were shattered and torn apart at this moment.

"Hahaha..." Lin Jin let out a heart-wrenching laugh, laughing until he was short of breath.

'I've given you the key to get in touch. How about we make a bet? You'll contact me within a week, or rather...'

'impossible. '

Or rather... in the near future... you'll be pleasing me in my bed...

She placed her hands on the table, finally lowering her arrogant head, and mocked herself, "How ridiculous... how ridiculous... so this room key can be picked up like this... hahaha... hahaha... I loved the wrong person... I loved the wrong person..."

[Author's Note]

1. My pre-order novel, "The Sinful Lover," is available for collection.

2. All the hidden clues will now be revealed to everyone.

3. Leave a comment in this chapter to receive a red envelope (cash gift).