Chapter 49: Just Let Me Be a Security Camera to Witness Your Idol Drama 〒▽〒

Lin Shiheng and Wang Yan had not even finished the third day of the Lunar New Year; they took the two children back to Tongshi on the second day and left.

They claimed the second day of the new year was auspicious and favored travel.

Unbelievable. Why did they still use the old lunar calendar as an excuse?

After all these years, Lin Shu and Lin Zhou were not entirely incapable of understanding.

Lin Zhou felt restless and asked Lao Xu and Jin Junsheng to take him to a nightclub in his wheelchair.

Lin Shu instructed her older brother not to drink, as the doctor had strictly forbidden it.

Lin Zhou agreed readily.

Lin Shu secretly pulled Lao Xu aside—his surname was actually Lao, and his full name was Lao Xu. "Brother Xuxu, I trust you the most. You promised me you wouldn't let my brother drink, right?"

Lao Xu answered with absolute honesty, "I'll let him drink a little less, but to make him stop completely, we'd have to tie him up."

"Then just a little less. Thank you, brother."

Lao Xu grinned foolishly, and Jin Junsheng patted him on the back of the head from behind.

After the three of them left, Lin Shu stayed at home, replying to comments from her online readers.

Some were scolding her, some were scolding the characters in her stories, and others were praising her as Eileen Chang reincarnated...

(„ಡωಡ„)

Who was feeling ecstatic? She wouldn't say.

Bizarrely, for the exact same plot point, some people loved it while others hated it, which even sparked arguments among the readers.

Lin Shu read through them with great relish, and a brand-new idea popped into her head.

No main plot, no overarching storyline, and she started writing without even deciding on the protagonist's name.

Clack, clack, clack—she hammered away at the keyboard.

The girl bit down on a cheese stick, pretending to be a great literary master biting on a pipe.

To be fair, the resemblance was uncanny.

When describing the male protagonist's appearance, Xie Buchun's image naturally floated into Lin Shu's mind.

She based her description on him: tall, slender in clothes but muscular when undressed, chest and abdominal muscles, fair skin, strikingly handsome...

Ugh, after finishing and reading it over once, it was clearly written about him, yet it didn't look like him at all.

That was truly bizarre.

If a person cannot be described through physical appearance, what should be used to describe them instead?

Hmm.

It must be that her observation still wasn't careful enough.

That damn rebellious brother always gave her headaches. In her past life she slaughtered pigs, and in this life she wrote novels—what a cursed existence.

She stopped her train of thought and dialed his number directly to harass him.

"Hey, Xie Buchun, where are you? Pick up the video call."

"What are you doing?"

"Let me look at your face."

"..."

"Brother, don't hang up! This is not sexual harassment!"

Lin Shu wore him down with soft persistence before Xie Buchun finally agreed to the video call.

He was in a quiet residential area, his skin looking somewhat pale and bluish, as if he had been freezing out in the cold. It was impossible to tell how long he had been standing outside.

In the background, the affectionate whimpering of a puppy could be heard.

Lin Shu instantly forgot all about examining his face closely, turning instead to ask excitedly, "Is your dog nearby? Let me see it!"

Xie Buchun's Adam's apple bobbed.

His eyes were lowered, and his expression carried a trace of cold detachment.

Lin Shu spoke up again, "You promised to let me see it!"

...

He flipped the camera to face the railing of a villa. A fluffy little puppy with a pink tongue sticking out was pressing its face against the gaps in the railing, constantly standing on tiptoes and whimpering, trying to reach Xie Buchun.

Lin Shu smiled at first, and then her smile vanished.

The dog was tied with a rope, its neck constricted tightly. It looked filthy, completely devoid of the clean and pretty appearance in Xie Buchun's profile picture. The fur around its mouth was stained black, the corners of its eyes were crusted with tear stains, its belly was sunken, and its ribs were visible through its breathing.

Lin Shu immediately realized that Xie Buchun was not the one raising the dog.

It was probably over at his father's place.

And it was being cared for terribly...

Lin Shu remarked, "It looks so skinny."

"Yeah... and it lost two teeth."

Lin Shu said, "It's getting old. If its nutrition doesn't keep up, its teeth will fall out fast. Xie Buchun, where are you?"

Xie Buchun's face suddenly turned cold, and his tone was extremely harsh.

"Lin Shu, you are no savior. Stop always sticking your nose into other people's business."

He hung up the video call.

Lin Shu only heard a heavy gasp and the sound of the railing shaking.

Wasn't he going to do something rash?

Lin Shu's heart felt as though it was being squeezed by an invisible hand.

Sometimes, Xie Buchun gave her the feeling of someone walking a tightrope across a cliff—beneath his seemingly steady exterior lay a hidden desire for self-destruction.

Could he be about to break in and beat up his father and stepmother because the dog was being abused?

That sounded entirely... possible!

What if he ended up getting arrested? What was going through his head?

Lin Shu didn't know Xie Buchun's location, nor did she have the contact information of the tattooed cousin. Fortunately, she managed to get in touch with Zhang Bing through a roundabout way.

Zhang Bing was spending the Lunar New Year in his hometown in the countryside and hadn't returned yet. When he heard about it, he grew anxious too, and in his panic, he couldn't remember the exact house number of Xie Buchun's former residence.

"Lin Shu, hold on, let me ask someone."

"Okay, Zhang Bing, hurry up!"

Lin Shu hung up the phone, pacing back and forth across her room, checking her phone eight hundred times a minute.

Ten minutes later.

Zhang Bing called back.

"I found out. Number 18, East District of Chunhe Villas."

"...Holy crap, was Xie Buchun's family actually that rich?"

Lin Shu was shocked.

Tongshi had two major wealthy neighborhoods: one located behind Xihe Road, which was the neighborhood where Lin Shu lived, and the other situated along Chunhe Road, widely acknowledged as a blessed land of supreme feng shui.

There were only a dozen or so detached villas there. Being able to secure the address number 18 meant they were definitely the wealthiest among the rich.

No wonder when Xie Buchun hung out with her, even though he seemed poor, he never acted constrained or took things for granted as if they were owed to him.

So this guy turned out to be a genuine young master... And yet he used to tease her for being a wealthy lady.

The brat had been playing games with her all along.

"Alright, I got it. Thank you, Zhang Bing, and Happy New Year!"

After offering her New Year greetings, Lin Shu hastily hung up the phone, missing Zhang Bing shouting through the receiver, "I asked Jiang Xinyi, and she's going too! Lin Shu, did you hear me? Did you hear you guys—don't start a fight..."

Ah, Bing.

Lin Shu didn't hear it.

...

Lin Shu hailed a taxi and raced over.

Outside vehicles were not allowed in, and visitors had to register. Fortunately, an acquaintance of hers lived there, so Lin Shu gave the security guard that person's name to let her in.

She ran all the way through the biting wind, looking around as she went.

Finally, right when her lungs felt ready to burst, she found Number 18.

"I didn't even run this hard during physical exams. Xie Buchun, you damned man, you're putting me through pure torture!"

If not for owing you a life.

Lin Shu thought to herself: Would I be risking my life like this?

...

Lin Shu stopped in her tracks, pressing against her aching lower right side, blinked away the physiological tears welling up in her eyes, and beheld a sight that froze her in place.

In front of the tranquil villa's railing.

The black shadows of ivy swayed in heavy layers.

The night wind carried an ambiguous, intimate scent.

Jiang Xinyi, dressed in a sleek and glossy mink fur coat, tightly wrapped her arms around Xie Buchun's waist.

A handsome man and a beautiful woman.

A setup straight out of an idol drama.

Composition worthy of a top-tier music video.

And she was simply the designated camera responsible for bearing witness, standing on the pathway, faithfully watching and recording.

...

What the hell.

Without a single moment of hesitation, and purely to be faster, Lin Shu vaulted over the hedge like a hurdler, hurtling straight toward the two of them.

She wanted to demand what kind of relationship they had.

Then she felt like she was focusing on the wrong thing.

She hadn't come here to "catch cheaters in the act," but rather to stop Xie Buchun from doing something rash and ruining his life.

When Jiang Xinyi saw Lin Shu, she was visibly startled. A moment later, as if showing off, she hugged Xie Buchun even tighter and more passionately right in front of Lin Shu.

Resting her head against Xie Buchun's waist, she rubbed back and forth.

...

Lin Shu struck a Tom-the-cat puffed-out-chest pose, puffed up with righteous indignation, and aggressively grabbed the collar of Xie Buchun's shirt.

...

Lin Shu said, "You need to calm down! You have to consider the consequences of everything you do, and don't do something you can never take back."

Xie Buchun's eyes held zero emotion. He didn't look at Jiang Xinyi, nor did he seem to be looking at Lin Shu.

The young man forced out an indescribable, faint smile. "You're trying to stop me too?"

"If I don't stop you, am I supposed to tag along and help you beat someone up?"

Lin Shu roared, "I can't even win a fight!"

Xie Buchun said, "Who's talking about beating people up? I'm just climbing over to get my dog."

Lin Shu paused, stunned. "What if the people inside discover you and a conflict breaks out..."