Aren't You Contradicting Yourself?

Welcome to Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years, exclusively produced by Feilu Novel Network, written by Sang Ze and narrated by Wang Xiaomo and Lao He.

Li Ruotai's doubts about Wu Chen weren't about whether Wu Chen genuinely wanted to help him. There was no reason to doubt that anymore. Li Ruotai knew exactly how serious his own predicament was. The evidence could send him straight to prison, where he might even die. If Wu Chen wanted to ruin him, he wouldn't have to do a thing.

So Li Ruotai believed Wu Chen intended to help him through this crisis. He still had doubts, though. Who exactly was Wu Chen? Was he plotting something bigger? He had appeared out of nowhere, and both the information he possessed and his abilities defied explanation. Wu Chen seemed utterly mysterious. Anyone would be curious and wary of the unknown.

Li Ruotai's suspicion of Wu Chen simply showed that his mind was working. He'd be a fool not to have doubts.

A sharp tap sounded. Li Ruotai clutched the top of his head, looking angry but not quite daring to show it. His sister had done it.

Li Ruobing had rapped him with a spoon. "What's with all this 'that guy' business? Have some manners. He's your brother-in-law."

Li Ruobing gave him a cold glare. In truth, she had doubts about Wu Chen too, but they still had to play the loving couple.

"Right, right. My brother-in-law. That's who I'm asking about."

"Seriously, sis, where did he come from?"

"Don't try to fool me. He can't be an ordinary college student, and he's no kept man either. I'm your own brother. Don't keep me in the dark."

Li Ruotai tried asking another way.

"Why are you asking?"

Li Ruobing couldn't answer, so she avoided the question. She could hardly admit she didn't know either. That would give the game away.

"Because I care about you! Don't you think there's something seriously off about him?"

"I'm afraid he's deceiving you. He's no ordinary man."

"Oh, spare me. What goes on between your brother-in-law and me is none of your business. Worry about yourself first. I've told you eight hundred times to stay away from Xie Hun. If it weren't for your brother-in-law, you'd be finished this time. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes. I was a fool to trust that bastard Xie Hun. My mistake."

"But sis, stop changing the subject. I'm asking about my brother-in-law." "He's fine. He's good to me, and he's good to you. What else do you want to ask? What's wrong with him?"

Li Ruotai was getting anxious. It felt as though his sister wasn't understanding a word he said.

"Do you have any idea what your brother-in-law and I have been through?"

"If you don't, then don't talk nonsense. I can't tell you all about him, either. And I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless. Your brother-in-law and I will sort out our relationship ourselves."

Li Ruobing had started making things up.

"What have you been through?"

"Was it something big?"

"How come I don't know about it?"

Li Ruotai pressed.

"You're still asking?"

Li Ruobing glared at him, though she felt helpless herself. She genuinely didn't know. They hadn't been through anything; she had only met Wu Chen today. She knew nothing about him and even suspected that the background information she had found on him was fake.

His sister had intimidated him for as long as he could remember, so Li Ruotai didn't dare press further.

"Fine, fine. Forget I said anything. Just don't come crying to me if it all blows up in your face someday."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Ruotai sprang up and put two meters between them.

Li Ruobing watched him coolly without moving.

Having deliberately provoked her, Li Ruotai had expected his sister to come over and hit him. That was why he'd jumped away. But Li Ruobing seemed to see through his little trick.

"Come back and sit down. Your brother-in-law will be back any moment."

Li Ruobing shot him a warning look.

Li Ruotai sat down again, looked his sister up and down, and asked, "Sis, are you really pregnant?"

Li Ruobing studied him in silence for a moment. "Don't go telling the family. If I hear even a whisper about it from them, don't blame me for smacking you."

She hadn't actually answered whether she was pregnant, but to Li Ruotai, her words sounded like confirmation.

"Come on, you don't have to tell me that. I'd never let the old man find out. That would only hurt you."

Li Ruotai sighed.

That was why the siblings were so close. Li Ruobing always worried about her brother, and Li Ruotai always looked out for his sister.

"Sis, do you think I should give my brother-in-law some money?"

"What for?"

Li Ruobing frowned. "He won that money for you."

"He won it back for me, and he won another 130 million for the casino," Li Ruotai said. "Sure, he was betting with the casino's money, but if I don't show my appreciation as his brother-in-law, won't I look stingy?"

"It wouldn't reflect well on you either, sis!"

Li Ruobing rarely approved of what Li Ruotai did. Much of it was illegal, after all.

This time, though, she thought her brother was right.

She had to admit that, although she was a businesswoman, her brother was much better with people than she was.

Strictly speaking, Li Ruotai wouldn't be in the wrong if he gave Wu Chen nothing. Wu Chen had gambled with the casino's money, so the wins and losses belonged to the casino. He had taken no risk.

And Wu Chen was Li Ruotai's brother-in-law in name. Why would he need some huge reward for helping family?

But whether Wu Chen wanted payment and whether Li Ruotai offered it were two different things. Li Ruotai understood such courtesies far better than Li Ruobing did. He moved in those circles, after all. "Up to you. You decide."

"Still, you're a strange one," Li Ruobing said with an amused look.

"You're suspicious of your brother-in-law, yet you want to give him money. Isn't that contradictory?"

"That's a separate matter. If he gets me out of this mess, I'll give him something big afterward too."

Li Ruotai spoke like a man of the underworld, but he had a point. "Don't you think there's something odd about him?"

"He's incredible, and he's so young."

Li Ruobing gave no clear answer.

Seeing her attitude, Li Ruotai sighed. "Forget it. I can't be bothered with you two."

In the second-floor restroom, Wu Chen washed and dried his hands, then headed back toward the private dining room.

As soon as he turned a corner in the corridor, he frowned.

He pretended to check his phone. Its screen was dark, and he used its reflection as a mirror.

He glanced behind him. He had the feeling someone was following him—or watching him.

Wu Chen was puzzled. Why would anyone start following and watching him already?

His New Life had only begun today. A great deal had happened, but word couldn't have spread quickly enough for someone to target him yet.

Ding Ruilong?

Ding Ruilong wasn't omniscient. There was no way he could know Wu Chen existed already. That would take at least a few days.

So why was someone watching him?

Had Li Ruotai sent someone to keep an eye on him?

Even when he went to the bathroom?

That didn't seem right. Li Ruotai wouldn't do anything so foolish, and his trusted men wouldn't be so inept that Wu Chen could spot them at once.

Wu Chen kept thinking, but he didn't slow down. Lunch came first.

His life was finally free to move forward. He meant to enjoy it and treat himself well.

Being watched could mean trouble, perhaps even danger. But Wu Chen wasn't concerned. He doubted any sudden situation would arise that he couldn't handle. Otherwise, what had been the point of his thousand years in Millennium Reincarnation?

After Wu Chen entered the private dining room and shut the door, a man in a baseball cap peered around a corner of the corridor. He checked the door, then took out his phone and made a call.

"Boss, where is he?"

"Having lunch with Young Master Li and Miss Li. Keep watching him, and be careful. Don't let him spot you."

"Yes, boss. Don't worry."

"Oh, boss, should I talk to the others?"

"Have you lost your fucking mind? If Li Guangze catches you, you'll be fish food by tomorrow. Just follow him carefully and see where he ends up."

"What were you two talking about?"

Wu Chen pulled out a chair, sat down, and asked with a casual smile.

"You, brother-in-law."

Li Ruotai answered immediately, sounding even more polite than before. "I haven't asked you yet. Are you from East Sea?"

"From Ning'an County, outside the city."

Wu Chen answered as if they were merely making small talk.

The moment Li Ruotai opened his mouth, Wu Chen knew what he was after.

He was fishing for information.

Li Ruobing knew it too, but she didn't stop him.

She wanted to hear what Wu Chen would say.

"So you're from the county. Do you live in the city now?"

"I do. In Yuehe Community, on the old street in the East District."

"Oh, that's the old part of town. The houses there are all pretty old."

"With your abilities, brother-in-law, haven't you thought about buying a nicer place?"

"No. It's an old family home. I'm comfortable there."

"An old family home?"

Li Ruotai repeated Wu Chen's words. He thought he'd found a hole in the story. After a pause, he said, "Brother-in-law, didn't you just say your family's from Ning'an County?"

"How do you have an old family home in the city?"

It sounded inconsistent.

Wu Chen looked up and smiled. "When my parents were young and newly married, they came to Jincheng to make a living. My dad was a cook—he could make noodles or stir-fry. My mom had more schooling, so she worked as an accountant."

"That was over twenty years ago, when houses were cheap. They scrimped and saved for years to make the down payment, then took out a loan to buy that place."

"Later, my grandpa was in poor health for years before he passed away."

"After my grandma died, my parents talked about how to look after him. They thought about renting a storefront and opening a business in the city, but they didn't have enough money. So they went back to the county and opened a little restaurant there. It made it easier to take care of him too."

"They rented out the city apartment for years. Property prices kept rising, and they couldn't bring themselves to sell it. When I started at Donghai No. 1 High School, I moved back in."

Wu Chen didn't mind talking about his family. He knew Li Ruotai could look into his background in no time.

There was something else worth noting: Wu Chen had come from a parallel universe and entered the body of his counterpart there.

His parents, relatives, and friends in this world were essentially the same as before. His feelings for them were the same too. Their lives had unfolded a little differently, but the broad strokes hadn't changed.

After hearing Wu Chen's brief account, Li Ruotai had only one thought: Ordinary. Far too ordinary.

More than twenty years ago, Wu Chen's parents had come to the big city together, full of ambition. Like so many people of their generation, they had worked hard in hopes of a better future.

But fate had other plans. After struggling to buy a home in the city, circumstances had forced them back to their hometown. They had accepted it and built a stable life there.

And Wu Chen was just an ordinary man from that ordinary family? As if.

Li Ruotai didn't believe a word Wu Chen had said. Who are you trying to fool?

Could an ordinary man know so much information that it was like he could tell fortunes?

Could an ordinary man outplay a top gambler from the gambling capital?

Could an ordinary man chop someone's hand off without even blinking?

In fact, Wu Chen hadn't lied about any of it. Before yesterday—before July 7, 2020—he had been an ordinary person. If he hadn't lived through July 7 exactly 365,000 times, he would still have been one today.

"Brother-in-law, you lived alone even when you were in high school?"

"Your parents never came to stay with you?"

Li Ruotai wasn't ready to give up.

"My parents had my little sister to look after," Wu Chen continued. "She's five years younger than me. They couldn't close the family Ramen Shop either. They had to make a living. I was fifteen or sixteen then. Living alone wasn't a problem. As long as they gave me money for food, I wouldn't starve."

"I was a boy."

"What was there to worry about?"

Li Ruotai still didn't believe him. Anyone who bought this story was an idiot. No one so extraordinary could come from such an ordinary background.

The more ordinary Wu Chen made his family sound, the more suspicious Li Ruotai became. He would definitely investigate him.

Wu Chen knew Li Ruotai would investigate, but he was welcome to try. An investigation was the last thing Wu Chen feared.

If Li Ruotai managed to find a lie or uncover some incredible background Wu Chen had concealed, that really would be a miracle.

Everything he'd said was true.

"Your gambling skills are amazing, brother-in-law!"

After offering the compliment, Li Ruotai asked, "Who taught you?"

"If you don't mind me asking?"

"I worked it out on my own when I had time."

Wu Chen said it casually. This part was a lie, but no one short of a god could discover where he had learned to gamble. All the time he had spent learning had long since been wiped away by each Reset. "Then how did you know all those things?" Li Ruotai asked again.

He meant the information Wu Chen had provided.

"That's a trade secret."

Wu Chen smiled mysteriously. "All right?"

"Enough. Stop interrogating him," Li Ruobing said, putting an end to Li Ruotai's questions. He had reached something he shouldn't ask about.

Li Ruobing knew Wu Chen traded in information, so naturally he couldn't reveal that.

A knock came at the door, but it opened before anyone answered.

A server had arrived with their food: Western dishes, steak, foie gras, pumpkin and corn soup, and a few desserts.

Lunch was pleasant. They chatted about this and that as they ate and got to know one another a little better.

Afterward, the three left the restaurant together but got into different cars.

Wu Chen and Li Ruobing headed straight back to Huancai Fashion Company, while Li Ruotai went back to Crown Club to say his goodbyes before leaving.

Sitting in the back of the Mercedes-Maybach, Wu Chen tilted his head to check the side mirror, then turned to look out the window.

Li Ruobing didn't know what had caught his attention. She looked back too. The road was busy, and their bodyguards' car was following behind them, but she saw nothing unusual.

"What, you miss my brother already?"

"He's too far away to see now."

Li Ruobing was teasing him, something she rarely did unless she knew someone well.

Yet in just half a day, the two of them had grown remarkably close.

"Nothing," Wu Chen replied with a smile. In fact, he had spotted a car following them, and he already knew who was behind it.

Back in the restaurant corridor, the person had worn a baseball cap. Wu Chen hadn't been able to see their face, but while a person could hide their identity, a car couldn't.

Wu Chen knew the East Sea too well. He recognized the low-key black Volkswagen trailing them.

The bodyguard in the front passenger seat suddenly pressed a hand to his earpiece. He listened intently, then murmured, "Understood."

He turned to Li Ruobing. "Boss, the lookout reports a car following us."