Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years: Do I Have a Secret I Can't Let Anyone Know?

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. "Boss Li, we must work together sometime."

Mu Sihai laughed heartily.

"When the opportunity comes."

Li Ruobing maintained a faint, polite smile.

The talk of working together was not entirely for show. A cosmetics company and a pharmaceutical company could indeed collaborate in the field of medicated cosmetics.

Illusion Fashion had been established only four years ago. Though it had grown quickly, its research capabilities could not compare with Mu Biopharmaceuticals, which had research facilities and laboratories both at home and abroad. If Illusion Fashion wanted to enter the medicated-cosmetics market before building up its own research capabilities, joining forces with Mu Biopharmaceuticals made sense.

Wu Chen walked over, caught part of the conversation, and immediately guessed that Wan Jianmin had taken the initiative to introduce them.

Wan Jianmin and Li Ruobing had been business partners for years, so they naturally knew each other well. But as far as Wu Chen knew, Li Ruobing and Mu Sihai had barely had any contact. They knew of each other, but that was about it.

"What are you talking about?"

Wu Chen reached the table with a smile.

"And this gentleman is...?"

Mu Sihai looked at Wu Chen.

"Boss Mu, Boss Wan, this is my boyfriend, Wu Chen," Li Ruobing introduced him.

"Mr. Wu! Ah, Mr. Wu."

"A pleasure." Both men shook Wu Chen's hand. "Mr. Wu, you certainly cut a fine figure! Hahaha, Boss Li has a good eye." "You have such an impressive bearing, Mr. Wu. You're clearly an exceptional man."

The two middle-aged men were warmer than Wu Chen had expected. Something was plainly off. It felt as though they already knew something about him; neither seemed at all surprised that he was Li Ruobing's boyfriend.

"We won't interrupt your date, then. Enjoy yourselves, Boss Li. We'll be on our way."

They had only come over to say hello. After speaking, they headed not toward the private rooms upstairs but toward the front door. They were leaving.

Wu Chen watched them go and understood why their manner had seemed strange. They had not just arrived at the restaurant. They had already eaten upstairs and spotted Li Ruobing on their way out, so they had come over to greet her.

Clearly, they had heard about what had happened downstairs while they were up there.

Lu Guangnian might not have been the richest man in Donghai, but he was certainly the best-known in its business circles and had the most friends.

News of the earlier commotion downstairs had spread: Liu Caixiu had picked a fight with Li Ruobing, and Li Ruobing's boyfriend had fired back.

Lu Guangnian had appeared ready to lose his temper, only for Wu Chen to settle him with a few whispered words. Lu had slapped his own wife instead, then apologized to all the guests present.

In a restaurant of this caliber, even a little unusual noise would draw attention, let alone an incident involving someone of Lu Guangnian's standing.

That was why Mu Sihai and Wan Jianmin had not been surprised by Wu Chen's identity. They had known he was there before they came downstairs. They had probably already made plenty of guesses about who he was, though they would keep those guesses to themselves.

Wu Chen and Li Ruobing sat down across from each other again. Their first date had been a meal full of twists and turns.

"Do you know them?"

Li Ruobing put the question to Wu Chen.

"Mu Sihai and Wan Jianmin?"

Wu Chen named them both correctly.

Li Ruobing had called them only Boss Mu and Boss Wan. She had not told Wu Chen their names.

"You really are an intelligence broker."

Li Ruobing spoke quietly. It was hard to tell whether she was teasing him or impressed.

"Of course. I'm a professional."

Wu Chen smiled and raised his wineglass. Li Ruobing raised hers to clink it against his.

Li Ruobing tipped her head back and took a sip of wine. She set down her glass and picked up her chopsticks, but instead of taking any food, she put them down again. Resting both hands on the table, she stared straight at Wu Chen. "Isn't there something you want to tell me?"

"What?"

Wu Chen smiled, deliberately making it obvious that he was playing dumb.

"What did you say to Lu Guangnian?"

Li Ruobing asked outright.

She did not deny that she was curious.

Desperately curious!

Wu Chen had surprised her yet again.

"What do you mean by 'something'? Do you really want to know?"

Smiling, Wu Chen picked up his phone and typed something rapidly with one hand.

Li Ruobing's phone chimed. She picked it up, then frowned slightly. A text message, when they were sitting face-to-face?

The moment she opened the message, her expression changed sharply.

"His son isn't his biological child. I'll tell you more when we get back," Wu Chen had written.

He had told Li Ruobing because Lu Guangnian had tacitly allowed it when they were outside.

Li Ruobing looked up at Wu Chen, then quickly tapped her screen a few times and deleted the message.

Lu Guangnian's son was not his biological child. If word got out, it would be explosive news, perhaps even enough to affect Juli Group's share price.

Li Ruobing knew it could not be allowed to leak—at least, not through her. She could not do that to a friend.

She understood why Wu Chen had sent a text. This was a public place with too many eyes and ears. It would be bad if anyone caught even a few words. No wonder Lu Guangnian had slapped his wife so hard.

Li Ruobing murmured something softly, her mind elsewhere.

It was a while before she came back to herself and turned her gaze to Wu Chen. The look in her eyes had changed.

"Is there anything you don't know?"

Li Ruobing asked.

"Yes, of course."

Wu Chen gave a faint smile.

"But I know quite a lot. Everyone has secrets. In my line of work, I need to know them, including things people don't want anyone else to see."

"I don't investigate people who have no value to me. But if they do have value, I will. It's business."

"Do you know my secrets?"

Li Ruobing's gaze lingered on him.

"Mm-hmm. Of course."

Wu Chen smiled and nodded.

"You know all my secrets?"

Li Ruobing asked again.

"Yes. That's right." Wu Chen sounded certain.

"Then do I have a secret I can't let anyone know?"

Li Ruobing pressed him again.

She wanted to see just how capable this mysterious man really was at gathering intelligence. Could he truly know anything?

Every secret a person had?

How could that be possible?

"Do you really want me to answer?"

Wu Chen returned the question.

Li Ruobing nodded without speaking.

"You do," Wu Chen said firmly.

"What is it?"

Li Ruobing asked again. She could not even remember having a secret she was ashamed of.

"It goes back ten years. Do you remember that summer when you were seventeen?"

"That girl with her hair in a bun."

Li Ruobing froze, then her expression shifted. If Wu Chen had not mentioned it, she would never have—

The memory came rushing back.

"It's only been ten years. I doubt you've forgotten."

Wu Chen smiled again.

"Her name was Peng Xiaoyun, wasn't it? Seventeen. Such a wonderful age—innocent, carefree, and just beginning to fall in love."

"That's enough."

Li Ruobing cut him off.

"You don't want me to go on?"

Wu Chen asked with a smile.

"How did you find out?"

Li Ruobing countered with a question of her own.

"Trade secret."

Wu Chen smiled. He was not about to tell Li Ruobing that she had told him herself.

Over the thousand years of repeating days, Wu Chen had slept with Li Ruobing roughly a hundred times. The methods he used to win her over within a single day had been much the same each time, but their conversations had not. By saying different things, he could prompt her to talk about different subjects.

She had told him about that summer when she was seventeen. They had just slept together, and both were relaxed.

Wu Chen had joked that a woman as beautiful and commanding as her would attract not only men, but perhaps women too.

That had stirred Li Ruobing's memories. She said that a girl really had once liked her: Peng Xiaoyun, back when Li Ruobing was seventeen and in high school.

At the time, Li Ruobing had been the school's tough girl. She had always had a strong personality and was fiercely assertive, even charging to the front in group fights. She had been the undisputed center of attention at school.

Peng Xiaoyun had not been the only girl with a crush on Li Ruobing. There were not many girls at the school attracted to other girls, but there were some.

What made Peng Xiaoyun different was that Li Ruobing had felt a stir of attraction toward her. Perhaps it was adolescence, perhaps Li Ruobing's forceful personality, or perhaps the pressure of her studies with college entrance exams a year away. She had never dated a boy, yet she had nearly become intimate with a girl.

By Li Ruobing's own account, she had not known what had come over her.

The girl with her hair in a bun was adorable. They had held hands and embraced, but it had not felt like a hug between close friends. When Peng Xiaoyun suddenly confessed her feelings, everything changed. Li Ruobing felt uncomfortable, and nothing came of it.

Something had almost happened, but never did. Li Ruobing had nearly lost her way in confusion, yet in the end she became certain of her orientation: she was heterosexual, not bisexual.

In truth, it was not a major incident. Li Ruobing had never taken that step. She could not accept it, physically or emotionally.

She had simply seemed too cool to the other girls back then. The way she treated them was easy to misunderstand, and that had eventually led to the situation.

But for Li Ruobing, now twenty-seven and still unmarried, it was definitely an embarrassing chapter of her past.

Her family was pressuring her to marry. She had always resisted their arrangements and never dated anyone.

If people learned about that confused but innocent, memorable episode from her past, it would undoubtedly have a serious negative effect on her.

Li Ruobing watched Wu Chen and swept a strand of hair behind her ear.

Resting a hand against the side of her head, she said, "Don't you think you know too much?"

"You even know about a little incident from when I was seventeen. I'd forgotten it until you brought it up. Is this a warning?"

Wu Chen smiled calmly. "How about you give me another ten million as hush money?"

He could sense that Li Ruobing was beginning to be wary of him. He did know far too much.

It was not merely the incident from when she was seventeen. The fact that Wu Chen could bring it up meant his ability to investigate people seemed almost supernatural. If he truly knew everything about a person, that was terrifying. It made Li Ruobing feel as if she were standing naked before him, with no privacy and no secrets.

Wu Chen had done it deliberately. He knew Li Ruobing and knew what effect his words would have.

With a woman like Li Ruobing, Wu Chen had only two choices: win her over or let her gain control of him.

Li Ruobing placed enormous value on individual ability, so Wu Chen would gradually show her how formidable he was. That could easily backfire. If she completely lost her sense of control, she certainly would not go easy on him.

But Wu Chen would not let it backfire. He would not allow Li Ruobing to lose that sense of control completely.

His love of money was the sense of control Wu Chen had deliberately given her. He loved money, and she had it. He had also approached her to propose a partnership, so she would continue to believe she could control him with money—or, more precisely, with benefits. Wu Chen would maintain that balance until Li Ruobing let down her guard, accepted that he was a stronger man than she was, and was ultimately won over.

It was worth noting that being stronger than Li Ruobing was only one condition for winning her over, not the only one. Not every man stronger than her would become her ideal partner. That was merely a starting point. Winning her over completely, heart and body, would not be easy.

"Is money all you think about?"

Li Ruobing touched her wineglass, then turned her head as though casually surveying the restaurant.

Was she checking whether anyone was eavesdropping?

No one was. The people who ate here were hardly ordinary, and none had that much time to spend watching others.

"If you won't pay, you won't pay. No need to mock me."

Wu Chen went on.

"You're the one who kept pressing me. You insisted on finding out exactly what I know."

"You asked me to say it. If you hadn't, I'd never have brought it up to anyone." Li Ruobing ignored his point and gestured with her eyes. "Do you know her?"

Wu Chen followed her gaze. She was looking at a beautiful young woman who had just come down the stairs.

"Du Rou. Twenty-three. The younger daughter of Du Feng, the owner of Dongjiu Group. One hundred sixty-nine centimeters tall, measurements 75-55-82, size 38 shoes. She's a virgin and has a British Shorthair blue cat named Piqiu."

"She had surgery for acute appendicitis when she was nineteen. There's a very faint scar about two centimeters long on her abdomen."

"She got married this March, and the wedding was held in May."

"Her husband is—" Li Ruobing gestured in another direction before Wu Chen could finish.

Wu Chen turned. This time, it was a poised, mature woman in a suit, rising to offer someone a toast.

"Hao Lulu. Thirty-two. Public relations manager at Changxing Industries. Married, with an eight-year-old son named Chang Ning. She's having an affair with Changxing Industries' vice president, Yang Baowen, and goes to En Ting Beauty Salon, Wenshun Road, Xicheng, for skin treatments every Saturday afternoon."

"You win. Let's eat."

Li Ruobing cut him off again. For a woman of her temperament to say "you win" was exceedingly rare.

She asked no more questions. She had lost interest in testing Wu Chen's professional abilities as an intelligence broker.

They ate, and Li Ruobing even served Wu Chen some food.

They were in public, after all, and she had not forgotten to act like his girlfriend. But most of the time, her gaze stayed lowered toward the table, her mind elsewhere.

"What are my measurements?"

Li Ruobing asked softly without looking at Wu Chen, eating as she spoke. She still had not given up.

"82-56-85." Wu Chen was eating too, and answered casually.

"What distinguishing marks do I have?"

Li Ruobing asked softly again.

"Look down on White Tiger!"

Wu Chen replied in a low voice.

Clatter!

Li Ruobin dropped his chopsticks onto the table.