Chapter 59 Wisdom Teeth

Lin Yu dragged his heavy suitcase out of the airport and got into the car arranged by Jiang Chuan. The car drove onto the overpass, and the city lights outside the window gradually lit up.

Jiang Chuan returned to Shanghai on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year and immediately flew to Shenzhen. He was busy participating in on-site due diligence for IPO companies and also had to find time to meet with several private equity firms. According to what he said on the phone, he wouldn't be back until the afternoon of the ninth day at the earliest.

Lin Yu had some understanding of Jiang Chuan's work rhythm: maintaining customer relationships, organizing business training, promoting new business lines, plus a bunch of miscellaneous financial matters. The end of the year and the beginning of the new year were always his busiest times.

Back in her rented room, she opened her suitcase and began to slowly unpack the New Year's gifts that Lin Min and Liu Wenbin had given her.

First, put the perishable food in the refrigerator. Then, shake out the folded clothes and stuff them all into the closet. A hard object fell out of the inner pocket of one of the clothes and rolled onto the floor.

Lin Yu bent down and picked it up. It was the scar removal cream that Lin Min had asked her to give to Jiang Chuan during the New Year. It was now pitifully squeezed together with her grandmother's gold earrings.

She had intended to give the earrings to her father for safekeeping, but during the Chinese New Year, while busy visiting relatives, she unwittingly brought them back to Shanghai.

Lin Yu hesitated for a moment, then turned around and took out an empty velvet box from the drawer. She carefully put the earrings away and put them in the dressing table drawer along with the hair clip that Jiang Chuan had given her, thinking that she would take them back with her next time she went home.

Just as I finished packing, Jiang Chuan called right on time. "Was the journey smooth?" His voice came through the receiver, carrying a familiar laugh. "Want to have dinner together tomorrow night?"

Lin Yu certainly remembered what day it was tomorrow. Several messages popped up on WeChat. She opened the message on speakerphone and saw that they were restaurant links sent by Jiang Chuan, all of them Western restaurants with views of the Bund.

"This is quite a show, it's making me a little nervous," Lin Yu joked, holding his phone. "What if the answer isn't what you want tomorrow? You won't back out and try to split the bill with me, will you?"

"In your heart, am I that kind of person?" Jiang Chuan's laughter came through the microphone.

"It's hard to say. Who knows if you'll get angry and suddenly have a professional fit?" Lin Yu said as he clicked on the link and browsed through it, then randomly selected a reasonably priced one and sent it back.

Then Jiang Chuan said on the other end of the phone, "AA is not an option. But I've already spoken to the boss beforehand, and there are people at both the front and back doors. I believe your answer won't disappoint me, Banban."

Lin Yu was taken aback when Jiang Chuan joked with her, then burst into laughter. "You're something else, Jiang Chuan."

After hanging up the phone, she let her family know she was safe and sound, and then planned to wash up and rest early to be well-rested for returning to work after the holiday.

Lin Yu leaned against the wall, brushing his teeth with his eyes closed, reviewing his workload for the coming week while thinking about what to wear tomorrow.

The toothbrush stopped vibrating, and she looked down to spit out the toothpaste foam in her mouth, suddenly noticing a trace of blood in it.

Lin Yu frowned, opened his mouth and looked carefully in the mirror, then gently pressed his gums with his finger, but found nothing unusual. He assumed it was just fatigue from the journey and a bit of internal heat, and didn't pay much attention to it.

However, when she woke up the next day, her gums were still slightly swollen, as if someone was gently tugging at her nerves with cotton thread.

Lin Yu thought it might be time to get his teeth cleaned, so he found a dental clinic near his company and made an appointment for a dental check-up during his lunch break.

Early in the morning, Jiang Chuan called again. At that moment, Lin Yu was crammed into the sardine-can-like early morning subway. The carriage swayed slightly, and she held onto the handrail with one hand while pulling out her vibrating phone with the other and pressing the answer button.

"Have you arrived at the company?" His voice was relaxed and cheerful. "I have something for you!"

"Aren't we meeting tonight?" Lin Yu switched his phone to the other side, freeing his hand to rummage for his earphones, but found the scar removal cream in his bag again.

"I brought you breakfast!" Jiang Chuan's car was parked in the company's underground parking lot, and his fingers were unconsciously playing with the charging cable next to him.

"There are also some Shenzhen specialties, which I'll share with my colleagues." The background sound of subway announcements came from the other end of the phone.

Lin Yu took the scar removal cream out of her bag, stared at the subway's overhead lights for a while, and suddenly realized that she seemed to have never been to Jiang Chuan's workplace.

"Send me your location." She tapped the screen lightly with her thumb, squeezing the ointment into her palm. "I'll come find you."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yu opened the location Jiang Chuan had sent her and found that it was indeed less than two kilometers away from her company.

As the train pulled into the station, she followed the flow of people out of the subway. The wind at the exit carried the chill of early spring, making Lin Yu's hair disheveled.

She looked up and brushed the stray hairs from her forehead, and immediately saw Jiang Chuan standing there straight, his figure bathed in the bright morning light.

He was wearing a well-tailored black suit, his hands in his pockets, and a pair of frameless glasses perched on his high-bridged nose.

Lin Yu walked over and handed him the ointment. "My mom gave this to you. Apply it twice a day, morning and night, remember!"

"Auntie is so thoughtful, remembering such a small thing." Jiang Chuan took the ointment, a smile spreading across his eyes.

He then tapped his forearm with one end of the metal tube and joked, "But I'll tell Auntie later that this ointment won't be needed for now."

"After all, this scar is crucial evidence for me. I need to keep it carefully in case someone goes back on their word."

Lin Yu was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then narrowed his eyes and looked up at Jiang Chuan speechlessly. Seeing her expression of anger that dared not be expressed, he couldn't help but chuckle softly, and casually smoothed the messy bangs on her forehead.

......

Jiang Chuan's law firm is located on the top floor of a Grade A office building in a complex.

In the early stages of their business, funds were tight, and the law firm's location had to be chosen between a suburban villa and a cramped apartment in Lujiazui. But the three partners unanimously agreed that location was more important than space.

In recent years, the law firm has focused on the high-net-worth sector, and its performance has steadily improved. Its office location has also been upgraded from a small backstreet shop to its current location.

His senior colleague, who is now his partner, always says, "Only by standing at the highest point can you see the true face of Shanghai." These words reveal the hardships they faced in the early stages of their business, as well as their current sense of pride and satisfaction.

Along the way, they occasionally ran into a few acquaintances, who raised their coffee cups and nodded to Jiang Chuan, their eyes glancing intentionally or unintentionally at Lin Yu beside them.

Lin Yu thought to herself that being with a man like this seemed to mean she was destined to be in the spotlight and would be forced to become the center of attention wherever she went.

The elevator doors opened on the top floor, and she immediately saw the prominent law firm logo on the right wall. Jiang Chuan walked ahead, lightly tapping his phone on the access control, and the glass door slid open silently.

He raised his hand and pressed the switch, and the track lights on the ceiling lit up one after another, instantly illuminating the spacious office area. Lin Yu followed behind Jiang Chuan, walking across the office area on the silver-gray carpet, subtly surveying his surroundings.

As the start of the workday approached, the cubicles were nearly empty. The entire office area was shrouded in a strange tranquility, with only the hum of the central air conditioning audible.

The door to the innermost office was ajar. Pushing it open, a half-person-tall coniferous plant stood quietly in the corner on the left, its leaves slightly curled at the edges, as if its life had been drained by the room full of documents.

Jiang Chuan's coat was neatly draped over the back of the chair, and the desktop printer emitted a regular hissing sound, spitting out page after page of documents.

The floor-to-ceiling windows behind me are like giant picture frames, encompassing the entire Lujiazui area. The buildings across the Huangpu River are faintly visible in the mist, and the golden rays of the morning sun shimmer and sparkle on the glass curtain walls of the skyscrapers.

Lin Yu sat down on the sofa in the reception area, watching Jiang Chuan place breakfast on the coffee table. "How did the inspection go?" he asked with a smile, his gaze lingering on her fingers as she held the croissant.

Lin Yu did have ulterior motives. After all, they had only known each other for a short time, and her understanding of him was mostly superficial. Before taking their relationship further, she should at least see for herself where he worked every day and get a comprehensive understanding of him as a person.

But what truly sparked this idea in her mind was the tube of ointment she found while rummaging through her bag that morning. Hearing his question now, she feigned displeasure and huffed, "Who wants to test you? I'm here to deliver medicine!"

Jiang Chuan sat casually on the edge of the coffee table, elbows resting on his knees, leaning over to look at her with a playful expression. "How come I never noticed before that you cared about me so much!"

Lin Yu's ears burned. She finally understood that no matter how much she denied it, Jiang Chuan would always find a way to twist her words into evidence that she cared about him.

This time, she decided to take the initiative and avoid falling into the trap of proving herself. She raised her chin, pointed to the empty office area outside, and joked, "Not a soul in sight during working hours. Is this some kind of shell company?"

Jiang Chuan chuckled softly, "Everyone worked through the night last night, so I gave them a half-day off today." He then glanced at his watch. "But you should be able to see your colleagues from the administration department in a little while."

Lin Yu nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this. "Are they always this busy?"

"As you saw when we arrived, we're not a very large company." Jiang Chuan straightened up and casually adjusted the cufflinks on his wrist.

"Therefore, we prefer versatile lawyers. Lead lawyers need to be able to handle litigation as well as be proficient in non-litigation matters. It is normal for one person to do the work of three people."

Lin Yu casually pulled out a tissue to wipe her fingertips, picked up her coffee and took a sip. The strong bitterness made her subconsciously frown.

Jiang Chuan's gaze lingered on her furrowed brow for a moment before he turned and walked to his desk, opening a drawer and rummaging through it.

"And what about you? Wouldn't you need three heads and six arms?" Looking at his back, Lin Yu gently swirled the coffee in his hand, savoring the bitterness spreading on his tongue, followed by a sweet aftertaste.

"Me?" He walked back with two packets of sugar, handed them to Lin Yu, and sat down opposite her, casually putting his hands into his trouser pockets.

"Most of the time is spent cleaning up messes." She paused, her gaze sweeping over the coffee in Lin Yu's hand. "Occasionally, I also have to buy coffee for colleagues who are having emotional breakdowns."

Lin Yu nodded, tore open two packets of sugar, and poured them into the coffee one after the other. "What you're doing is essentially the job of a fire chief and a psychologist."

“You could say that.” Jiang Chuan raised his head, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes.

Sunlight streamed through the window, refracting into tiny specks of light on his glasses. The printer had stopped working sometime earlier, and the office fell silent instantly.

Lin Yu suddenly leaned forward and lightly tapped Jiang Chuan's glasses frame with his fingertip. "I've never seen you wear glasses before!"

"The prescription isn't too strong." He casually took off his glasses and placed them on the coffee table. Without the lenses obstructing his view, his eyes appeared exceptionally clear in the morning light.

"No need to pick it, it looks quite refined!" Lin Yu swallowed the last two words, "scoundrel." But Jiang Chuan seemed to have guessed what she wanted to say, and simply raised an eyebrow and smiled.

After delivering the medicine, Lin Yu glanced at the wall clock and prepared to return to work. As she stood up, she grabbed a water bottle from the table, unscrewed the cap, and took a swig.

The moment the icy liquid touched her teeth, a sharp, piercing pain suddenly shot through her left teeth, causing her to clutch her left cheek and furrow her brow.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Chuan leaned over and gently lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger.

The sudden pain subsided instantly, leaving only a faint ache. Lin Yu released his hand from his face, his expression returning to normal. "It's nothing, it just hurt suddenly."

"Open your mouth so I can see!" Jiang Chuan pried open Lin Yu's teeth without a word, held her jaw in place, turned on his phone's flashlight, and frowned as he carefully examined her. "Which side?"

Lin Yu opened his mouth, unable to speak, his posture comical and awkward. He could only vaguely point to his left rear side with the tip of his tongue.

The flashlight swept across her mouth, but the affected area was too deep to see clearly. To confirm, Jiang Chuan used some force, forcing Lin Yu to open her mouth even wider, making her look like a specimen nailed to the wall.

"You have a wisdom tooth here, it's already erupted!"

Upon hearing Jiang Chuan's words, Lin Yu's eyes widened in disbelief. He tentatively licked the area with his tongue, but only touched the smooth gums.

"It's an impacted tooth." Jiang Chuan noticed her confusion, still pinching her cheek, and turned off the flashlight to explain, "It's already pushing against the tooth next to it. Have you had any bleeding gums when you brush your teeth lately?"

Lin Yu blinked in sudden realization, his mouth still open, and nodded repeatedly at Jiang Chuan, his eyes shining with admiration. He patted Jiang Chuan's shoulder approvingly twice.

This wisdom tooth, which had been lodged in her gums since her university military training, witnessed her entire adolescence, and now it was going to assert its dominance in her mouth by piercing through the adjacent tooth.

Jiang Chuan put down his phone and was about to speak when the office door was suddenly pushed open without warning. Lin Yu's gaze passed over Jiang Chuan's shoulder and landed on the beautiful figure appearing in the doorway.

The girl was tall and composed. She walked in, wearing ten-centimeter stilettos and swaying her hips.

Her long, wavy hair cascaded over her shoulders, swaying gently like silk with her light steps, and her delicate makeup shone with a pearly luster under the overhead light.

Secretary Bai stood at the door with a stack of documents in her arms, her professional smile turning completely stiff the moment she saw Jiang Chuan and Lin Yu's strange posture in the corner of the sofa.

Her gaze swept back and forth between Lin Yu's forced open mouth, Jiang Chuan's fingers pinching her chin, and his shoulder being held by Lin Yu, her pupils dilating slightly, like a scanner that suddenly malfunctioned.