Chapter 2: The Return of the Cold-Faced Man—Could She Possibly Have Two Faces?

"Zhou, Su, Su, what did you do to An'an?"

The murderous aura, almost tangible, seemed to plunge the entire room’s temperature by dozens of degrees.

Zhou Susu cradled the burning little one in her arms, feeling as if her brain was about to overheat.

Explain?

How could she possibly explain?

Say, "Hey, your wife has been replaced. I’m a soul from the 21st century who just saved your daughter"?

Don’t be ridiculous. If he didn’t think she was crazy enough to send her to a mental hospital, that would be a mercy to her face.

The original owner’s sins were too deep; even if she jumped into the Yellow River, she couldn’t wash them away.

In this man’s eyes, the name Zhou Susu was synonymous with “vicious,” “vain,” and “snake-hearted.”

Fight back?

Zhou Susu glanced at Lu Zhan’s arm, thicker than her thigh, and the murderous aura radiating from him because of An'an, and wisely abandoned the suicidal idea.

She couldn’t beat him, nor could she explain it clearly.

“Lu Zhan! Lu Zhan, you’re finally back!”

Outside the door, Wang Cuifen, who was locked out, heard her son-in-law’s voice and, as if finding a savior, started banging on the door madly, her cries hoarse and mournful.

“Open the door! That heartless Zhou Susu wants to freeze An'an outside and locked me, her own mother, out! This is attempted murder! Please control your wife!”

Well then, no divine assistance, but a top-class teammate.

Wang Cuifen's words were like pouring fuel on the fire, directly putting Zhou Susu on the pyre.

Lu Zhan’s gaze grew colder. He took long strides, walking step by step toward the bed.

He didn’t walk fast, but each step pressed on Zhou Susu’s heart like a heavy weight, making it hard for her to breathe.

Her mind raced.

What to do? What to do?

Got it!

In a flash, a bold plan took shape in her mind.

Since the original character was the “delicate white lotus,” then today she would act this role to the extreme!

It was time to use her acting skills!

Just as Lu Zhan was only a step away from the bed, the overwhelming pressure almost suffocating her, Zhou Susu moved.

She said nothing, only slowly lifted her head and looked at Lu Zhan with eyes red and misty.

Those eyes held a myriad of complex emotions.

The grievance of being misunderstood by her husband, the pain for her child, exhaustion, and a barely perceptible despair.

Her lips trembled, as if wanting to say something, but no words came out—only large tears uncontrollably slid down her cheeks, falling onto the blanket covering An'an.

Anyone who saw this would feel pity.

However, Lu Zhan was not just anyone. He had been deceived repeatedly by the original owner and had already sentenced her to death in his heart.

His eyes were filled only with cold ridicule, clearly seeing this as another performance.

“Stop your shameless act!” he said coldly, reaching out to snatch the child.

Zhou Susu knew the final moment had come.

Just a second before Lu Zhan’s hand could touch the child, the light in her eyes suddenly extinguished.

Then, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed stiffly and gracelessly to the side, still holding the child—

“Bang!”

A muffled thud.

The direction of her fall was precisely calculated to avoid An'an on the bed. Her head struck the corner of the bedside table heavily, then her whole body slid limply onto the cold cement floor.

The entire process was smooth yet tragic.

Lu Zhan’s outstretched hand froze mid-air.

He was dumbfounded.

What... what was that move?

Feigning injury so suddenly? And so convincingly?

He had imagined countless possibilities—she might have thrown a tantrum, lied, cried and begged—but he hadn’t expected her to put on a fainting act so realistically.

Outside, Wang Cuifen’s yelling continued, but inside the room, there was dead silence.

Lu Zhan stood there, stunned for three whole seconds.

His instincts prompted him to crouch down and use two fingers to check Zhou Susu’s carotid pulse.

There was a pulse, though faint.

He also checked her breathing, shallow but present.

Not faking?

Lu Zhan’s brows knitted tightly.

His gaze shifted from Zhou Susu’s pale face to the bloodied corner of her forehead, where fresh blood seeped from a wound caused by the bedside table.

This woman was so cruel to herself?

Finally, his eyes returned to the small figure on the bed.

That was what truly concerned him.

He reached out with his thick, calloused hands and gently touched An'an’s forehead.

—Scorching hot!

The temperature made his heart tremble!

Looking again at An'an, though her little face was pale, she was wrapped in a clean, soft blanket he had never seen before. Her mouth was slightly open, her breathing weak but steady.

She didn’t look like she’d been freezing in the snow for long.

Lu Zhan’s mind was in complete chaos.

He looked at the “unconscious” Zhou Susu on the floor and then at the feverish An'an on the bed, his eyes clouded with confusion.

This woman, though cunning and a habitual liar, had a real sick child.

The wound on her forehead was real too.

Could he really have wronged her?

The thought barely surfaced before he forcefully suppressed it.

No, impossible.

This must be another trick.

Lu Zhan’s face hardened. Without a word, he lifted the limp Zhou Susu from the floor and roughly threw her back onto the bed.

Then, cautiously, he cradled An'an in his arms and wrapped her with his thick coat.

After doing all this, he pulled up a chair and sat by the bed like a grim guardian, his heavy gaze fixed on the two figures, large and small, on the bed, enduring the entire night.

In the dead of night, all was silent.

Suddenly, the baby in his arms let out a soft, kitten-like whimper.

“Mm... hungry...”

Lu Zhan’s stiff body moved slightly. He looked down at his daughter.

An'an’s fever had subsided somewhat, but her little face was still colorless; her big eyes half-open, her mouth unconsciously moving.

“Gurgle—”

A clear sound of hunger came from An'an’s tiny stomach.

Lu Zhan, a man of steel, was utterly helpless.

Soothing the child? He didn’t know how.

Cooking? He looked around the empty kitchen, where only a few cold, brick-hard steamed buns remained, and fell silent.

He tried feeding An'an with warm water from the kettle, but the child drowsily pushed it away, only crying out for food.

Lu Zhan’s forehead broke into a sweat. This seemingly mighty man was now completely defeated by a hungry baby.

Just when he was at a loss, behind him, the woman who had “fainted” all day fluttered her eyelashes, then slowly opened her eyes.

Zhou Susu was awakened by hunger.

Her eyes opened to see Lu Zhan sitting like a black tower by the bed, holding the hungry, whimpering An'an, looking utterly clueless.

Ignoring the pain in her head and without thinking about how to continue her act, her only thought was for the child.

She looked at An'an and spoke the first complete, clear sentence since crossing over:

“Move aside, I’ll do it.”

“The child is nearly starving.”