Fake! Another Fake!

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.

Su Qingying genuinely had no idea what Wu Chen was thinking. The moment he hugged her, she had leverage over him. They each held a secret about the other and could keep each other quiet, so from the start, Su Qingying had never seen him as a threat.

She also understood that a woman as proud as Li Ruobing would retaliate if her boyfriend betrayed her, then kick him to the curb.

Li Ruobing would do it without hesitation. She might not even bother going after the woman who stole her man. She was forceful and possessive: either she kept her man firmly under control, or, if he annoyed or betrayed her, she threw him away like trash. Someone like her would never lower herself to a drawn-out entanglement.

So what on earth was Wu Chen thinking?

Had he lost his mind?

Su Qingying stared wide-eyed at Wu Chen, waiting for his answer.

"Actually..." Wu Chen reached out, pinched Su Qingying's cheek, and gave it a gentle tug. After letting go, he said, "Li Ruobing and I aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. That's our secret."

Su Qingying's eyes widened further. Then she lifted a finger, gesturing as realization dawned. "Oh, I get it. You two are fake, too."

Wu Chen smiled and nodded. He offered no detailed explanation; there was no need. He had told the truth, and Su Qingying would believe him without the slightest doubt or question.

After all, Li Ruobing had done this before—three times. Everyone in the East Sea Business Circle knew her family had pressured her into marriage, so she had fled to East Sea and started her own business.

Three times, she had pretended to have a boyfriend, using him as a shield so she would not appear single. But those fake boyfriends had been so obviously fake it was painful to watch.

Whenever one accompanied Li Ruobing to a banquet, he trailed behind her like a lackey. If she had not introduced him, people would have mistaken him for her assistant. He was that fawning and careful around her in public; in private, he probably worshipped her like an empress. And that was supposed to be a boyfriend?

Would Li Ruobing ever like a man like that?

They had all been fake!

This time, after Su Qingying discovered that the man who had texted her was Li Ruobing's boyfriend, she had heard the recent talk about him in East Sea and assumed, like everyone else, that the relationship was real. It looked so real. She never imagined this one was fake as well!

"Only Li Ruobing and I know about this. To make the act convincing, even her younger brother doesn't know. You have to keep it secret, understand?"

Wu Chen spoke calmly.

"Of course I won't tell anyone. That would just be asking for trouble."

Su Qingying edged closer to Wu Chen.

Li Ruobing and Wu Chen's relationship was tied to her own relationship with Wu Chen, and therefore to her secret. She would not dare tell anyone even if she had a hundred lives to spare. Besides, she was not the sort of person who leaked secrets.

"Wait. Does that mean you lied to me?" Su Qingying suddenly realized. She had moved close enough to kneel beside Wu Chen, and now she narrowed her eyes at him.

"The leverage you gave me was fake. You're not afraid of Li Ruobing at all. You knew I thought I'd found out your secret and was deliberately trying to disrupt your life, didn't you?"

"Do you regret it?"

Wu Chen smiled without denying it.

Su Qingying narrowed her eyes, then suddenly smiled. She turned and lay across Wu Chen's lap, wrapping her arms around his waist. Looking up at him sweetly, she answered with two words: "Not at all." She did not regret it. If anything, she was happier now.

She felt she ought to thank Wu Chen. He had helped her take that first step and finally given her the courage to resist her mother.

Today was perhaps the most relaxed, carefree, authentic, and comfortable day of her twenty-seven years.

She was an M, and in those four hours, Wu Chen had truly conquered her.

She had already been reluctant to part with Wu Chen. She had originally planned to let herself go completely today, to make it the most precious day of her life, then return home tomorrow to face the storm.

In the end, nothing much would happen to her. She would still inherit the family business. Her life would fall back into its orderly routine.

She had intended to stop contacting Wu Chen after today. Everything about him appealed to her. He even seemed like the man destined to wield the whip for her. But she could not keep seeing him, for many reasons. Most importantly, he was Li Ruobing's boyfriend. She could not do that or let herself become entangled with him.

Now that she knew Wu Chen was only a fake boyfriend, she really was happy. It meant she could still secretly meet him and do things with him in the future.

"Get up and get dressed. Li Ruobing will be here soon—maybe in half an hour, forty minutes or so."

Wu Chen pinched Su Qingying's cheek. "She's coming over."

Su Qingying sat up at once, instinctively nervous. "What's she coming here for?"

"To see you, of course."

"What Li Ruobing and I have is fake, but it has to be out in the open. What you and I have is real, so it has to stay hidden. She needs to feel reassured. You understand?"

Wu Chen smiled.

"Oh." Su Qingying seemed to work something out and relaxed.

"So I just need to act normal?"

Wu Chen nodded.

"Could you not tell her my secret? Just say you and I are dating in secret, all right?"

Su Qingying looked at him pleadingly.

"All right."

Wu Chen nodded and smiled again.

"Love you."

Su Qingying hugged Wu Chen and kissed him, then got up to dress.

Even dating was a secret for Su Qingying, something the Su Family forbade, but she was not afraid of Li Ruobing finding out. When Wu Chen admitted he had deceived her, she realized that although his original leverage had been fake, he had given her something new: his fake relationship with Li Ruobing, a secret neither of them could reveal publicly.

So not only had she and Wu Chen regained their balance of mutual leverage, but Li Ruobing was now part of it too. The three of them were bound in an intricate balance.

Su Qingying was smart enough to see that she might have fallen into a trap Wu Chen had carefully laid, a bottomless mire that was swallowing her. Yet she did not resent it. She even enjoyed it a little.

Wu Chen was controlling her in a way she liked, and she willingly accepted it.

She had always wanted a powerful man to conquer her. Wu Chen was that man.

Su Qingying was even looking forward to seeing Li Ruobing now. She felt the three of them had formed a small, secret circle. They were on the same side.

She could talk to Li Ruobing at ease, without putting on airs or pretending anymore.

What she did not know was that although Li Ruobing and Wu Chen's relationship was fake, it was already heading toward becoming real.

More than half an hour later, knock, knock, knock. Someone knocked on Wu Chen's door. When he opened it, Li Ruobing was, of course, standing outside.

The instant the door opened, Li Ruobing fixed Wu Chen with an intense, deeply strange stare. She was at the end of her rope.

She had driven over, racking her brains the entire way and frantically working through every possibility. None offered a reasonable explanation.

How had those two gotten together? And why was Su Qingying calling him "honey"?

Su Qingying was not that kind of woman!

Li Ruobing knew the answer lay not with Su Qingying, but with Wu Chen.

That man truly was as mysterious and unfathomable as a ghost or a god.

"You're here. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Have I got flowers growing on my face again?"

Wu Chen smiled and invited Li Ruobing in, then brought her a pair of slippers.

Carrying her bag, Li Ruobing kicked off her heels and slipped into the slippers, looking around as she did.

She knew the exact address of Wu Chen's old apartment but had never been inside. Any unfamiliar place warranted a look, and she was also searching for someone.

Wu Chen's home still looked lived-in. He had moved out only the day before yesterday, taking some clothes and daily necessities. Everything else remained, and he had not given the place a thorough cleaning.

Li Ruobing caught the smell of cooking. It was not mealtime, and she did not know whether it had drifted over from a neighbor's home. She also heard a low humming sound.

As she walked farther into the living room and looked around, she noticed that the bathroom door was open. The washing machine inside was running.

She had no idea why Wu Chen was in the mood to do laundry right now.

"Where is she?"

Li Ruobing reached the coffee table before turning back to ask.

Wu Chen raised a hand and pointed toward the kitchen.

Just then, a voice called out, "Honey—oh, is that Miss Li?"

In the kitchen, Su Qingying took a few steps back and turned to look out. From that angle, she and Li Ruobing could see each other.

"Miss Li, it's been a long time."

Su Qingying greeted her with a smile, her voice soft and her manner polite.

"Miss Su. Yes, it... it has been a long time."

Li Ruobing froze. She could barely get the words out. Su Qingying had tied up her hair, put on sleeve protectors and an apron, and was holding a soup ladle. She looked like a housewife cooking dinner. She was cooking dinner. The sight was utterly jarring.

It stopped Li Ruobing cold.

Su Qingying had always been so dazzling. She was an heiress worth billions, an otherworldly beauty to be admired from afar.

Cooking?

She was cooking for Wu Chen? She actually knew how to cook?

In fact, Su Qingying did know how. At home, she had never been allowed to cook or even learn; they said it would roughen her hands.

But she had studied abroad, and during those years, the nanny who looked after her had taught her.

Wu Chen had not asked Su Qingying to cook for him. She had offered. First she said she was hungry, and Wu Chen suggested they wait for Li Ruobing and eat out together. Then she said she could cook and wanted to host Li Ruobing. She had slipped into the role of hostess completely, and Wu Chen had no objection.

The water and electricity were still on, and there were a few ingredients in the fridge, though not many. Before Li Ruobing arrived, Wu Chen had gone downstairs to buy groceries. The market was nearby, so he had returned in about ten minutes.

Cooking was not all Su Qingying had volunteered to do. She had also offered to wash the dirty clothes Wu Chen had left lying around, along with his bedsheets.

Wu Chen understood her thinking. She wanted to try living the ordinary life of an ordinary person.

"Honey, you two talk first. The soup's almost ready. I'll fry an egg, and then we can eat."

With that, Su Qingying disappeared back into the kitchen and continued cooking.

Li Ruobing still looked stunned. She slowly turned toward Wu Chen, stiff as though possessed. Her eyes widened as she stared at him. Then she abruptly grabbed his arm, pulled him a couple of steps aside, and demanded in a low voice, "What is going on?"

She was starting to wonder if she had gone mad.

Everything about this was bizarre.

When she had spoken to Su Qingying on the phone, Su Qingying had denied calling Wu Chen "honey." Li Ruobing had pretended to believe her and come over to see for herself.

Yet now, right in front of her, Su Qingying called Wu Chen "honey" and greeted Li Ruobing with perfect ease and warmth.

Had Su Qingying lost her memory?

Did she have a split personality?

And she was cooking?

She was going to fry another egg?

Li Ruobing could not tell whether she had gone mad or the world had. For a moment, she even wondered whether Wu Chen had found a woman who resembled Su Qingying—or had undergone surgery to look like her—and asked her to put on an act.

The suspicion lasted only an instant before she dismissed it. A face could be altered; someone's bearing and presence could not.

Bearing, especially, was something cultivated over years.

Even wearing an apron slightly stained from years of use and holding a large ladle, Su Qingying naturally gave the impression of a fairy cooking dinner.

To make cooking easier, Su Qingying had tied up her wavy hair, revealing the full outline of her cheeks. Her face was small and her skin flawless. Though she was twenty-seven, she looked eighteen, full of life and charm.

She could not be an impostor. But if she really was Su Qingying, that was even more frightening.

What on earth was going on?

"Nothing's going on. She's my woman."

Wu Chen smiled as he said it.

"Your woman?"

"How did she become your woman?"

"When did this happen?"

"Today."

"Today? Did you know her well before this?"

"No. Not well."

Li Ruobing was losing her mind. She held on to Wu Chen and fired questions at him in a rapid whisper.

"Honey, the rice is done! I'm stir-frying. Open the pot and fluff the rice. My nanny taught me that it makes it taste better."

Busy in the kitchen, Su Qingying called for Wu Chen.

Wu Chen answered, then gestured to Li Ruobing. "I'll be right back."

Wu Chen went into the kitchen. Li Ruobing did not follow. She tossed her bag onto the sofa and raised a hand to cover her forehead.

She wondered if she was ill. Was there something wrong with her?

Had something gone wrong with her brain? Was she hallucinating?

"Honey, it's so hot!"

Su Qingying's voice came from the kitchen again. "These sweats are stuffy, especially with an apron over them. I'm sweating. Do you have anything I could wear?"

"Yes, some old clothes. They're clean, though."

"Oh, right. My old pajamas are in the bedroom wardrobe, on the far left. The blue ones are folded at the bottom. Keep an eye on the pot while I go change."

Su Qingying came out of the kitchen. Seeing Li Ruobing still standing by the coffee table, she smiled and nodded. "Miss Li, have a seat. Don't stand there. Dinner will be ready in a moment."

"It won't be long," she added as she went into the bedroom.

The door closed. Li Ruobing actually sat down, her face expressionless. She felt she needed a moment to calm herself.

Two minutes later, Su Qingying emerged from the bedroom in a pair of men's pajamas that were a little too big for her. She carried the apron and put it on, tying it as she walked.

Beep, beep, beep. A chime suddenly sounded from the bathroom. It came from the washing machine.

The clothes had finished washing and spinning. They were ready to be hung out to dry.

Su Qingying glanced over and headed into the bathroom. As she went, she called to Wu Chen in the kitchen, "Honey, the laundry's done. Should I hang it on the balcony?"

"Will there be enough room for the sheets?"

Li Ruobing shot to her feet. Su Qingying had done the laundry too? The calm she had only just regained shattered again.

That concludes this episode. Thank you for listening!