Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years: Wu Chen Was as Terrifying as the Abyss!

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

Zhan Xiumei spun around with her phone in hand. She saw Li Ruobing's back but didn't recognize her.

Only after taking a few steps closer and seeing the phone still ringing on the table did she realize who it was.

She had been too furious earlier to notice anyone else.

"Miss Li? What are you doing here?"

Zhan Xiumei looked surprised to see Li Ruobing. She smiled and cast a seemingly casual glance at Wu Chen. The ringing phone lay right in front of him.

A moment ago, Zhan Xiumei's face had been dark with rage, and she had barely been able to catch her breath. Yet the instant she spoke to Li Ruobing, she put on a warm, familiar smile, as though she had simply run into an acquaintance on the street. It was as if the scene with her cheating husband had never happened. This plump, middle-aged woman's composure was something else.

"Ms. Zhan, it's been a long time!"

Li Ruobing stood as well and shook Zhan Xiumei's hand with a natural smile.

Wu Chen picked up the ringing phone, ended the call, and stood up too.

"And this must be Miss Li's boyfriend, Mr. Wu, right?"

Zhan Xiumei glanced at Wu Chen and smiled at Li Ruobing as she asked.

She knew Li Ruobing had a boyfriend surnamed Wu. Word had spread after his clash with Lu Guangning.

Li Ruobing nodded. "Hello, Ms. Zhan. A pleasure to meet you."

Wu Chen smiled and shook Zhan Xiumei's hand.

"Mr. Wu is such a fine-looking young man. Miss Li, you have excellent taste—and excellent luck!"

Zhan Xiumei immediately began praising Wu Chen, then gave Li Ruobing a knowing smile.

She held a special position in East Sea. Almost no one in its business circles dared refuse her, and nearly every wealthy merchant was her friend.

But whether it was her, Lu Guangning, or Mu Sihai, they all had to treat Li Ruobing with caution.

Li Ruobing had once brought gifts to visit the elder Zhan Jianyi. She had been courteous, polite, and impeccably proper.

But that had been for Zhan Jianyi, not for Zhan Xiumei.

Nor was Zhan Xiumei the one who had inherited Zhan Jianyi's business. She was not even the most prominent of the Zhan children.

So even as Zhan Xiumei, she wanted to stay on good terms with Li Ruobing—the eldest granddaughter of the Li Family's senior branch and Li Ruotai's older sister—and avoid offending her.

In the way she dealt with people and cultivated connections, Zhan Xiumei was somewhat like Lu Guangnian.

"Miss Li, are you and Mr. Wu here on a date?"

After a few pleasantries, Zhan Xiumei returned to the subject.

"So that text just now was from you, Mr. Wu?" She did not wonder how Wu Chen knew her number. Li Ruobing knew it, so it was hardly strange that Wu Chen did too. But she had stopped taking her husband out to meet people years ago; she could not bear the embarrassment. As far as she knew, Li Ruobing had never met him. That was strange.

Zhan Xiumei also felt uneasy. Family disgrace was not something to air in public. Li Ruobing had meant well by notifying her, but now that she was involved, the incident was even more likely to spread and become fodder for gossip.

"I sent it," Wu Chen said with a nod.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that," Zhan Xiumei said, her smile turning a little strained.

It was not just Li Ruobing and Wu Chen who had seen it. Before long, every wealthy and powerful person in East Sea would probably hear. People would whisper that she could not even keep her live-in husband in line—and that the Li Family's eldest granddaughter had witnessed the whole spectacle.

"Actually, although I'd happened to see your husband before, Ms. Zhan, it was your family's private business. I hadn't intended to text you at first," Wu Chen said with a faint smile.

"But your husband said some awful things. He started insulting us over something trivial."

Zhan Xiumei's expression changed. "You argued with him earlier?"

"Not exactly. He brought that woman over, and they kept talking loudly. He was saying things about getting a share of the property if they divorced and promising to marry her.

"Ruobing didn't know who he was. I'd seen him before, so I told her.

"I know you and Ruobing are good friends, Ms. Zhan, and the Li Family and Zhan Family go back a long way. Once Ruobing knew he was your husband, she didn't want to get involved. Having your family affairs blow up in public wouldn't be good for you.

"But what those two were saying was grating.

"So Ruobing turned around and asked them to keep their voices down so they wouldn't disturb the other diners.

"They saw she was angry, apologized, and said nothing more.

"That should have been the end of it. But at the table behind us, they kept muttering about how Ruobing and I were useless cowards who sold houses and slept with clients. Ruobing nearly went over and hit them.

"I talked her out of it. After all, he's your husband. If Ruobing had hit him, wouldn't that have damaged the friendship between you two?

"You've always gotten along so well. It would be a shame to fall out over this, so I sent you that text, Ms. Zhan."

Wu Chen finished in an even voice. Both women's expressions changed. Zhan Xiumei's gaze at him instantly softened.

An outsider might not have grasped what was so significant about his words, but Zhan Xiumei understood at once how much trouble that text had spared her.

She knew what sort of person Li Ruobing was. For someone in her position to be accused of selling houses and sleeping with clients, anger was only natural. If she had lost control, her bodyguards might have beaten Zhan Xiumei's husband half to death—or worse.

And behind Li Ruobing stood a fiercely protective younger brother. In his six years in East Sea, Li Ruotai had nearly made the city his own, earning the name Young Master Li of East Sea. As the eldest grandson of the Li Family's main line, he was even less someone to provoke.

So if her husband really had been beaten into a cripple, what was Zhan Xiumei supposed to do?

Wang Weijun might have been a live-in husband with no standing, but even a dog's owner had to be considered before it was beaten. If Li Ruobing crippled her husband, was Zhan Xiumei supposed to intervene or not?

Should she retaliate or apologize?

If she did nothing—or even apologized—what would become of her dignity?

What would become of the Zhan Family's reputation?

If she did nothing or apologized, it could mark the beginning of the Zhan Family's decline in East Sea.

Even the elder Zhan's prestige might not be enough to absorb a blow like that. But how could she intervene?

Fight back, confront Li Ruobing, and go to war with her? The Li Family was truly not to be trifled with.

Once it reached that point, Zhan Xiumei would be in deep trouble. Every choice would be wrong. She could neither back down nor stand firm; either way, she would lose.

Wu Chen had spoken casually, as though merely explaining what happened. He had even said he did not want to ruin their friendship. But Zhan Xiumei knew exactly how much trouble he had spared her. A single text had defused a major crisis.

"I see. Oh, I'm so sorry for the trouble. You were very thoughtful, Mr. Wu. And Miss Li, you had to put up with all that. I'm truly sorry."

Zhan Xiumei hurried to apologize. She even took Wu Chen's hand as she spoke, then apologized to Li Ruobing. "Please wait here a moment."

With that, she hurried toward the car by the roadside.

Her husband, Wang Weijun, had been taken back to the car. She was going to bring him out again.

As soon as Zhan Xiumei walked away, Li Ruobing fixed Wu Chen with a cool stare. She said nothing, but her expression spoke volumes.

She knew Wu Chen had lied. He had not told her in advance that the man was Zhan Xiumei's husband. He also knew that, given Zhan Xiumei's temperament, she might not thank them for this. She might even resent them: they had caught her husband cheating, but they had also made the spectacle bigger.

It could have looked like needless meddling. Yet with a few words, Wu Chen had resolved it. He had even shifted the cause of the dispute. It was no longer that the pair had been too loud; it was that Li Ruobing, knowing who they were, had found their remarks about Zhan Xiumei unbearable.

Now Zhan Xiumei would not resent her. If anything, they would be closer.

And Zhan Xiumei was probably grateful to Wu Chen. She owed him a tremendous favor. How had things turned out like this?

He seemed to have done nothing extraordinary, yet he had pulled it off. He had used everyone present, including Li Ruobing herself.

Li Ruobing felt the terror of what Wu Chen could do. His ability to handle people was chilling, like staring into an abyss.

She knew Wu Chen was capable. She firmly believed it; he had proved himself to her too many times.

But she had never found him frightening before. Even in the affair with Lu Guangnian, Wu Chen had eventually told her how he had done it. He had turned things around with intelligence. For an information broker, that simply meant he was extraordinarily good at his job.

This time, Li Ruobing had witnessed the whole process. She had watched it begin, seen it develop, and heard Wu Chen bring it to a perfect close with a few deftly chosen words.

He had not merely ended his retaliation perfectly. He had also made Zhan Xiumei owe him a huge favor.

Something that should not have earned him any goodwill—and might even have made Zhan Xiumei uncomfortable—had been forcibly turned into this.

Wu Chen had lied, but the only person who could expose him was Li Ruobing. And Li Ruobing was one of the people who benefited from his lie. She would never tell Zhan Xiumei that she had asked her husband and his mistress to be quiet only because they were too loud, not because she cared about Zhan Xiumei and could not bear hearing them speak ill of her. Wu Chen had handled it in a way that satisfied everyone, Li Ruobing included.

But when she thought it through, a chill ran down her spine.

"What's wrong?" Wu Chen asked with a smile when he saw Li Ruobing staring at him.

"You look handsome today."

Li Ruobing copied his smile. "Do I?"

"I've always been handsome. Not just today." Wu Chen raised a hand and straightened his collar.

Li Ruobing walked around the table to stand before him and took over, smoothing his collar and lapels.

It was an ordinary gesture between lovers. She used it to lean a little closer and whispered in his ear, "Do you always play people like this?"

"Are you getting more and more interested in me?" Wu Chen whispered back, glancing sideways at her.

"Yes. I'm fascinated. I want to peel you back layer by layer and see how your heart and brain work.

"Are you always this sure of yourself?"

"Don't make it sound so frightening. I'm not an onion you can peel layer by layer."

Wu Chen did not answer her question directly. To everyone else, Li Ruobing had simply come over to straighten his clothes before the two leaned close to exchange intimate whispers.

Meanwhile, Zhan Xiumei had reached the car and brought out her bloodied, cheating husband.

"Move it. Stop dawdling."

Apparently annoyed by Wang Weijun's slow pace, Zhan Xiumei kicked him in the lower back. He stumbled forward and fell beside Li Ruobing and Wu Chen's table.

"Tell me, what use are you?

"You eat my food, drink my wine, and I give you plenty of money. You go and keep another woman? I won't even get into that today. But you just had to cause trouble and offend people too, didn't you?

"Are you blind? Is Miss Li someone you can afford to offend?

"Useless piece of trash!"

Still unsatisfied, Zhan Xiumei cursed and kicked Wang Weijun several more times. At that moment, she looked every bit the shrew.

"Apologize! I said apologize!"

"I—sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was wrong! I was blind! I'm sorry! I'm worse than an animal! I'm scum!"

Under Zhan Xiumei's kicks, Wang Weijun knelt before Li Ruobing, apologizing and slapping his own face. He seemed well practiced at it. Li Ruobing frowned slightly. Though she had always gotten along with Zhan Xiumei, she had never approved of some of her behavior.

After two failed marriages, Zhan Xiumei had begun keeping handsome young men. When she became pregnant with Wang Weijun's child, she had him marry into her family. Her outlook had already grown warped by then. She chose men for their looks, doted on them when pleased, and hit them when she was not.

For a time, calling Zhan Xiumei a twisted rich woman would hardly have been unfair.

Wang Weijun had made his own choice. He had chosen to marry into her family and live like a dog, so there was little reason to pity him.

But Li Ruobing could not condone Zhan Xiumei making her legal husband humiliate himself in public, slapping his own face, merely to smooth things over and cultivate a connection.

However Li Ruobing punished her own people for mistakes, she would never do this in public. She did not even want to accept an apology like this before a crowd. She did not care what sort of man Wang Weijun was. She cared about Zhan Xiumei, who was, after all, a valuable connection.

Zhan Xiumei certainly had problems at home, in her private life, and in how she treated those close to her. But that had nothing to do with Li Ruobing. As a contact and an ally, Zhan Xiumei was perfectly reliable.

"Miss Li, I'm truly sorry about today. I never imagined this wretch of ours would be so blind."

Zhan Xiumei looked up at Li Ruobing as she spoke.

The instant she raised her head, she was smiling again, as though she were a different person from the woman who had just cursed her husband.

Wang Weijun was still apologizing and slapping himself. Zhan Xiumei had not told him to stop.

"It's all right, Ms. Zhan. It's over," Li Ruobing told her.

She glanced around. Her bodyguards and Zhan Xiumei's had spread out nearby, watching closely, so no one dared approach. Even from a distance, though, people had stopped to stare toward the restaurant entrance.

"Ah, how about this? You two haven't had lunch yet, have you?"

Zhan Xiumei noticed Li Ruobing's expression and understood that she did not want an audience. She also saw only drinks on their table; their food had not arrived.

"Let me treat you. Shall we eat inside?

"Miss Li, it's been months since we last met. My father was praising you just the other day. He said you were more capable than I am—just a few years in East Sea, and you've already built such a big business. I've been meaning to ask how you did it."

Zhan Xiumei certainly knew how to say the right thing.

The three went into the Italian Restaurant and took a private room upstairs. Before entering, Zhan Xiumei arranged for her bodyguards to take Wang Weijun to the hospital.

The spectacle was finally over. What Li Ruobing had not expected was for lunch to last more than three hours. Zhan Xiumei was treating, and with only the three of them in the room, she seemed to have endless things to say. She could discuss business with Li Ruobing and keep a conversation going with Wu Chen too.

When she heard that Wu Chen was now Li Ruobing's assistant, she showed no surprise. Instead, she smoothly praised them both, saying they complemented each other perfectly and that Li Ruobing's company was bound to reach new heights. Neither of them was left out.

Wu Chen understood her intentions. She wanted to talk, grow closer, and make sure the incident with her husband left no lingering awkwardness for Li Ruobing.

At the same time, she wanted to use the opportunity to deepen their relationship.

Lunch did not wind down until after three in the afternoon. They had eaten little but drunk plenty. Zhan Xiumei had ordered the wine and drunk nearly two bottles of red by herself, followed by champagne. Yet she showed no sign of being drunk. Her tolerance was astonishing.

Li Ruobing had drunk much less, but she was the one who was slightly tipsy. She disliked socializing in private, seldom drank, and had an ordinary tolerance for alcohol.

At around 3:40, the three left the restaurant and said goodbye at the entrance. Zhan Xiumei drove off. Li Ruobing, however, did not want to return to the office just yet. She linked her arm through Wu Chen's and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Let's walk somewhere and get some air."

Wu Chen knew without asking why she wanted to sober up. She would not go to work tipsy. She disliked the feeling of being drunk; a person was strongest when their mind was at its clearest.

They walked along the sidewalk, crossed the square, and reached the shade of the trees on the other side.

The area was bustling with people. Li Ruobing's bodyguards followed at a distance rather than crowding them.

Li Ruobing said nothing. Wu Chen could not tell what was on her mind as she walked beside him, slightly tipsy.

Wu Chen's phone suddenly rang. He took it out, glanced at the screen, and gave an odd smile before answering. "Mr. Wu?"

"This is Su Qingying. I think we need to meet. Let's set a time."

Her voice over the phone was cool and composed.

That concludes this episode. Please keep listening!