In just a short sentence, the word "like" appeared four times.
His calm eyes suddenly trembled, showing a momentary look of astonishment. Then it was quickly replaced by ecstasy.
The smile that crept onto his lips spread like wild - growing branches all the way to the corners of his eyes and eyebrows. His eyes sparkled like they were soaked in honey.
Su Qinian lowered his head, holding the tablet, and it took him a great deal of effort to barely hold back his smile.
He looked up, his gaze passing over the other guests and landing precisely on the familiar face. The suppressed smile began to stir restlessly.
Su Qinian smiled extremely brightly, dazzlingly so.
The guests sitting around the long table were equally surprised. On the last day of the countdown, Lin Jinran, who seemed so ordinary, actually responded passionately to the other person.
It seemed that for Lin Jinran, saying the word "like" once was not enough. She had to say it a second, third, and fourth time, showing the surging emotions in her heart.
Su Qinian put down the tablet and strode back. He sat down beside Lin Jinran cheerfully, propping his chin on his hands and staring directly at her.
Everyone: "..."
A blush crept onto Lin Jinran's face. She pretended to pat Su Qinian and said, "What are you doing? There are still so many people here."
Su Qinian let out a laugh but didn't say a word. He moved his stool a bit closer to her and stared at her with bright eyes.
It seemed that no matter how many times he looked at her, it was never enough.
His Jinran was the most beautiful person in the world.
Lin Jinran helplessly rubbed her forehead. When she slightly raised her eyes, she found that everyone was looking at her, smiling merrily like they were watching a juicy gossip.
He Jiao had an auntie - like smile on her face. She waved her hand and said, "What are you looking at us for? You two go on, go on."
He Jiao was screaming inside: OMG, the sweetness is off the charts today. It's so sweet!
Jiang Yaoguang forced a smile and said, "It's really great that you two can be together."
Xie Yun's eyes darkened slightly, but he still maintained a proper smile and said, "Yes, I wish you happiness in advance."
Gu Huai looked at them casually and said, "Are you done talking? Is there anyone else who wants to go up? If not, I'll go. The sooner we finish listening, the sooner it ends."
No one indicated that they wanted to go up early.
So Gu Huai went up to listen to the love messages. It was from Jiang Yaoguang. He and Jiang Yaoguang had sent each other love messages. He Jiao and Xie Yun also sent each other love messages.
After the daily love message session ended, the staff on the site began to prepare to pack up one after another.
Su Qinian walked Lin Jinran back to her room. All the way back to the Love Cottage, he seemed to be still immersed in a dream, unable to believe that the straightforward confession just now had really happened.
He thought regretfully that he should have listened to it a few more times. No, he should ask the director for the recording.
But now was not a good time.
So the other guests passing by Su Qinian and Lin Jinran heard these conversations.
"Jinran, the love message you sent is real, right? You really said you like me."
"Yes, and it was on speaker. You don't know how much courage it took for me to choose to send it. A huge amount!"
"Hehe, I'm still in a daze now. It feels like I'm dreaming. Jinran, hurry up and pinch me to see if it's real."
"Are you sure? Su Qinian, you're so overjoyed, aren't you?"
"Sure, hurry up and pinch. If it's just a dream, then this dream is worth it."
"Ouch～It hurts so much. It's not a dream. It's real. Jinran, you said you like me. You said you like me so much."
"No, it's super like you. Su Qinian, how did you become so cute? You weren't like this this afternoon."
"Because it's you, Jinran."
Because it's you, Jinran, that's why he was so happy.
Lin Jinran, who had just stepped onto the second floor of the Love Cottage, paused slightly. She turned sideways and raised her eyes to look at the overjoyed Su Qinian. Her heart became as soft and light as a marshmallow.
It was an unprecedented sense of security and satisfaction.
She tilted her head to look at Su Qinian. He was still talking to himself. Lin Jinran pursed her lips and smiled. She stood on tiptoe and planted a brief kiss on his side face.
It was as cool as a snowflake.
"Good night, Su Qinian." That's what she said.
Back in her room, Lin Jinran spent nearly an hour washing up. Then she hummed a song and lazily lay on the soft big bed, her two smooth and delicate feet moving casually at the end of the bed.
There were a lot of WeChat messages. She casually scrolled down one by one. Suddenly, she saw a familiar avatar sending her a message. The joyful look in her eyes was immediately replaced by coldness.
It was a message from Lin Cheng.
[Lin Cheng]: "Lin Jinran, you'd better quit the variety show Crazy Love. As the daughter of the Lin family, you're making a fool of yourself outside. Don't you know you're disgracing me?"
[Lin Cheng]: "Why don't you participate in a normal variety show but instead choose a love variety show? Are you in such a hurry to find a man? Do you know how the uncles and aunts who've known you since childhood are talking about you?"
[Lin Cheng]: "You're almost thirty. Daughters from other wealthy families would have been sent for a marriage alliance by now. The Lin family has been kind enough to you. Don't be ungrateful."
What a "don't be ungrateful"!
Lin Jinran sneered, exited the message box, swiped left, and marked it as unread.
Then she pretended nothing had happened and calmly exited WeChat.
On the other side, in Su Qinian's room.
The secretary reported the investigation results in a matter - of - fact manner.
"Mr. Su, according to the investigation, Yang Jinzhi and Lin Cheng are important shareholders of a depression rehabilitation training center. The children there are sent in because of depression. It's like a fully - enclosed management. Parents can only visit their children once every three months."
"One could say that the parents have given up on those children and sent them to the depression rehabilitation training center to fend for themselves. The staff recruited by the training center are either former prison guards, people with martial arts skills, or graduates from police academies. Once the students there resist, they have reasons to use force."
"I searched a lot of materials and finally found the only child who escaped from the depression rehabilitation training center. He was covered in bruises, had multiple fractures, and was sometimes in a daze."
Su Qinian listened silently. His throat tightened, and he asked hoarsely, "What happened to the escaped child?"
"He was sent back by his parents because he hadn't become an obedient and docile puppet yet. The depression rehabilitation training center is in the suburbs in the southwest of the imperial capital. There are few vehicles passing by."
"Another thing is that Lin Jinran's agent, Ji Xian, still refuses to talk. I secretly investigated and found that a sum of money was transferred to Ji Xian's family's bank card every month for five consecutive years."
"They seem to be very cautious. The transfer went through many hands. I directly investigated the bank statements under Lin Cheng and Yang Jinzhi's names and found that there was indeed a transfer of the same amount from Yang Jinzhi's bank card every month. But that money went into the pocket of a beauty salon."
"We've made a bit of a big move in the investigation. We may be discovered by the Lin Group."
The matter was gradually becoming clear. Su Qinian leaned on the balcony railing in silence.
The secretary was waiting for instructions on the other end of the phone.
Over the past nearly ten years, those hidden truths were gradually surfacing.