Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years: Can I Be Your Fourth Fake Boyfriend? Think About It

Welcome to Trapped in the Same Day for a Thousand Years, an exclusive production of Feilu Novel Network, written by Sang Ze and narrated by Wang Xiaomo and Lao He. The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned. The bodyguards outside the door were on edge. If anything happened to Li Ruobing, they would all be thrown into the river to feed the fish.

But Wu Chen did not seem to be after Li Ruobing. He was threatening her assistant, Feng Yan, with a gun, so they did not fire immediately.

After the initial shock, Li Ruobing raised a hand to signal the men at the door.

"It wasn't me, boss! I've been framed!"

Feng Yan had no idea who Wu Chen was. Thinking this was Li Ruobing's doing, he immediately begged her for mercy. He even thought she had called the guards in to deal with him.

With his head pinned to the desk, he could not see whom the guns at the door were aimed at.

"You've been framed?"

"Even with death staring you in the face, you still dare say you're innocent?"

Wu Chen sounded furious.

"Then how do you explain the five million dollars in your Swiss bank account?"

"Wh-what five million?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know! It isn't mine!" Feng Yan cried.

"Still making excuses?" Wu Chen struck the back of his head again. Then he searched him with his free hand, pulled out his phone, and used Feng Yan's hand to unlock it.

"Look! Look! There's nothing on my phone!" Feng Yan shouted.

Wu Chen did not look through it. He entered a number and called it using SIM 2.

Ding Ruilong's private number was not saved on the phone. Feng Yan had memorized it long ago and deleted the record after every call. Even the mobile carrier had no call records for SIM 2.

Unfortunately for him, Wu Chen knew Ding Ruilong's private number too.

Once the call went through, Wu Chen switched on the speaker and set the phone on the desk.

The call connected. "Did you get the files?"

An urgent voice came from the phone. Wu Chen tapped the screen and hung up.

He set the gun on the desk too and slid it toward Li Ruobing. It stopped right at the edge. Wu Chen straightened his cuffs and collar, then returned to the sofa, sat down, and crossed his legs, perfectly composed.

Li Ruobing stared at Feng Yan, her face cold and expressionless. She stepped forward, picked up the gun, and turned it over in her hands as though checking it. Without looking up, she said slowly, "You're an old hand in the Li Family. You worked for my father for ten years, then for me for four. I know you've made plenty on the side over the years, openly and otherwise, but I let it go because you were loyal. Was five million dollars enough to make you betray me?"

When she finished, Li Ruobing looked up at Feng Yan.

The bodyguards outside seemed to understand what was happening. They put their guns away and closed the door.

One of them ran to the stairwell and sealed off the entire floor for the time being.

Feng Yan dropped to his knees with a thud. He trembled, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Miss Li, I... it wasn't me! I was forced into it!" "So it really was you selling me out all along."

"No wonder I kept running into Ding Ruilong on business trips. And that endorsement deal last time—why did they suddenly change their minds?"

A murderous glint entered Li Ruobing's eyes.

"Miss Li, I... I didn't do it for the money." "You didn't take Ding Ruilong's money?"

"I took it, but... but it was your mother's idea!"

"Your mother."

Feng Yan spoke from his knees, drenched in sweat and terrified, his back covered in blood.

Li Ruobing's expression changed. "Your mother" meant her own mother. The Li Family wanted Li Ruobing to marry Ding Ruilong, but when they made the wager, they had agreed that if Li Ruobing discovered the Li Family deliberately helping him, Ding Ruilong would lose.

If her mother really had ordered it, Ding Ruilong had already lost the wager. But if Li Ruobing asked, her family would never admit it. They could not. It was a dead end.

"Miss Li, I was in a difficult position. I had no choice. I never meant to hurt you—I wasn't trying to hurt you. I've always been loyal to the Li Family," Feng Yan pleaded.

The murderous look faded from Li Ruobing's eyes, replaced by something more complicated.

If her mother had ordered Feng Yan to do this, then he really might have had no choice.

"He's lying," Wu Chen said suddenly from the sofa. He was studying his fingernails, not even looking their way. "It was Ding Ruilong. Your mother doesn't actually want you to marry him. She doesn't want you sacrificed for a marriage alliance, but her family is pressuring her too. Your grandfather put pressure on her. Blaming your mother was Ding Ruilong's idea. He promised this traitor a company once it was done, on top of the five million dollars. Even if Feng Yan was caught, Ding Ruilong would still give him a company."

"Ding Ruilong knows what you're like at home. You'll defy anyone, even curse the old man, but you've always sided with your mother. You can't bring yourself to turn on her."

"Feng Yan wouldn't have dared betray you at first. He knows your temper. Ding Ruilong told him that if he was exposed, he could say your mother ordered it. She certainly wouldn't admit it, but you'd think she was denying it because of the terms of the wager. You'd believe she really arranged Feng Yan's betrayal."

"You..."

"Bullshit! You're making it up! Who the hell are you?"

"Where did you come from, you bastard?"

Feng Yan completely lost control and cursed Wu Chen. Everything Wu Chen had said was true. He knew such closely guarded secrets because, during his thousand years in the loop, he had often tortured people for information. The day reset afterward, so there were no consequences.

On one July 7, Wu Chen had kidnapped Feng Yan early in the morning and cut off his fingers joint by joint, learning a great deal through torture.

Wu Chen had also taken a flight lasting several hours, arrived in Nanguang at noon, and gone straight to kidnap Ding Ruilong. He tortured Ding Ruilong for information, then killed him.

There was no secret Wu Chen did not know.

"If I'm lying, why are you so worked up?"

Wu Chen glanced at Feng Yan and spoke calmly.

"Besides, suppose Boss Li calls Ding Ruilong right now and repeats what I just said. Do you think he'll protect you?"

"If he does, he owes you a company. If he doesn't, you die. What does that matter to him?"

"Am I right?"

Wu Chen's words plunged Feng Yan into utter terror.

"There's nothing wrong with being greedy. But if you're stupid too, you have no one else to blame."

Those last words shattered Feng Yan's defenses.

"Miss Li, I know I was wrong."

"Miss Li! Miss Li!"

Feng Yan began kowtowing until his forehead bled.

Li Ruobing slowly sat down and placed the gun on the desk. "Tell me. What have you done for Ding Ruilong over the years?"

Trembling, Feng Yan confessed everything. Mostly, he had watched Li Ruobing, stolen company information, and obstructed the company's growth.

By the time he finished, Li Ruobing was calm.

"Go. I don't want to see you again."

Li Ruobing waited.

"Thank you, Miss Li! Thank you!"

Feng Yan kowtowed excitedly, scrambled up, and staggered through the door.

After he left, Li Ruobing picked up her phone and made a call. She said only one thing: "Feng Yan. Make it clean."

She hung up and tossed the phone onto the desk. Then she removed her gold-rimmed glasses and rubbed her eyes, looking tired. In truth, her life was exhausting.

"When will the ten million reach my account?" Wu Chen asked. Li Ruobing looked up at him, her gaze hard to read. She was not nearsighted. The glasses had plain lenses, and she could see just as well without them.

"Did I agree to give it to you?" Li Ruobing asked slowly.

Wu Chen spread his hands, as if it made no difference to him.

Li Ruobing gave a cold laugh. She picked up her phone and tapped at it for a while.

Wu Chen's phone rang. He checked it: a bank message said twenty million had arrived.

Li Ruobing had investigated Wu Chen, so she had not needed to ask for his bank details. His information was right there on the desk. "You sent too much."

Wu Chen put away his phone and looked up.

"What's going on with my brother?" Li Ruobing asked directly.

Wu Chen only smiled.

"You tricked me!" Li Ruobing's voice was flat. "I know what you're thinking," Wu Chen said. "You believe I have information, but you still suspect me. You think I'm trying to win your trust. You even think Ding Ruilong sent me and deliberately sacrificed Feng Yan so we could put on this little show. Right?"

Wu Chen smiled. "So I'm guessing that once I tell you about your brother, you'll shoot me. Am I right?"

Li Ruobing watched him in silence. "Then, to put your doubts to rest, I wouldn't mind being your fourth fake boyfriend. You know that's what Ding Ruilong cares about most. He can't stand the thought of being made a cuckold, even if it's only for show. What do you say? Think about it."

Wu Chen kept smiling. "Why?"

"Aren't you afraid of dying?"

After a moment's silence, Li Ruobing spoke. "People want to get ahead. If I tie my future to yours, my life will become much more interesting, won't it?"

Wu Chen beamed.

Li Ruobing looked at him. Gradually, the corners of her mouth lifted. She was actually smiling. "I'm starting to like you."

She meant it. She liked greedy people.

Someone who wanted nothing was far more frightening. Greedy people had weaknesses she could control.

Li Ruobing picked up the gun, came around the desk, and walked toward Wu Chen one step at a time.

From what Wu Chen knew of her, there was a fifty-percent chance she would shoot him. She might kill him with one bullet, or she might not.

But Wu Chen kept smiling. He did not even plan to reset time the instant she fired, because he would not need to. At close range, Li Ruobing would not miss.

If she came within three meters, however, Wu Chen could subdue her in an instant. No one could successfully ambush him from within three meters.

Wu Chen had not spent a thousand years honing his skills for nothing. "I have to admit, you're special."

Li Ruobing had not stopped smiling since that first smile.

"You're brave, decisive, and so young."

"It would be a shame if you left this world now."

It was hard to tell whether she was threatening him.

She came within three meters of Wu Chen. Two meters. One. Half a meter!

Li Ruobing raised the gun in a flash and pressed its muzzle against Wu Chen's forehead.

Wu Chen kept smiling and met her eyes calmly.

He was good at reading people. The instant someone raised a gun, he could tell whether they truly meant to fire.

The moment Li Ruobing raised hers, Wu Chen knew she would not kill him.

Given Li Ruobing's personality, if she wanted to kill someone herself, she would not play games. She would shoot immediately and empty the entire magazine.

Conversely, if she raised the gun without firing, she would not fire at all.

"Not afraid?" Li Ruobing asked, tilting her head with an amused look.

"If you really wanted me dead, you'd have called someone in. You've already realized I'm dangerous, but you didn't."

"It's only a joke. Why would I be afraid?" Wu Chen said lightly.

Li Ruobing narrowed her eyes, then smiled again, as bright and dazzling as the morning sun in April.

"I really do adore you."

Li Ruobing smiled as she spoke.

She set the gun on the coffee table, then took a hair tie from her pocket.

Holding the tie between her teeth, she swept her hair back with both hands. Then she took the tie and gathered her hair into a single ponytail.

She liked wearing her hair down, straight over her shoulders, never a strand out of place.

It was part of the image she maintained, like wearing gold-rimmed glasses despite not being nearsighted. She had long presented herself to the world as cold and formidable. Tying up her hair meant she was at home—or at least relaxed.

Once her hair was tied, Li Ruobing turned and sat straight on Wu Chen's lap. She hooked her left arm around his neck, tilted her head, and brought her lips close to his ear, looking every bit like an affectionate lover.

With her right hand, she took out her phone and opened the camera. Click! The flash went off. The selfie was done.

Li Ruobing checked the photo, and her expression shifted slightly. Only then did she see that, at the moment she took it, Wu Chen had raised two fingers in a V sign.

In the photo, Wu Chen looked as composed as ever, smiling faintly.

Wu Chen understood what the photo was for. Once again, it concerned Ding Ruilong.

Li Ruobing would find a chance to send Ding Ruilong the photo. It would infuriate and disgust him, and it would also help confirm that Wu Chen had not been sent by him.

"Good. Starting today, you're my boyfriend. I'll have someone arrange your employment later. You'll be my assistant, though you won't need to do much. Just accompany me to the occasional business function. You'll be paid as usual."

Li Ruobing spoke as she stood.

She removed the hair tie and shook her hair loose again. Then she picked up the gun, returned to her desk, and sat down.

"Now tell me. What happened to my brother?" Li Ruobing asked in a cool voice.

It was as though the two of them had become strangers again in an instant.

That was Li Ruobing's nature. She guarded her heart fiercely.

This was the first time Wu Chen had become Li Ruobing's boyfriend. He had slept with her on many previous July 7s, but there had never been any feelings involved.

In the past, Wu Chen had never invested emotionally in women. Whenever he pursued one, his aim was to sleep with her. Falling in love with Li Ruobing was harder than sleeping with her. To Li Ruobing, when she slept with a man, he was not using her; she was using him.

Besides, Li Ruobing had long wanted to lose her virginity. She could not be certain she would win the wager, so she had decided long ago that if she truly had to marry Ding Ruilong, she would enjoy herself to the fullest first, just to disgust him.

She had only been waiting for a chance to let go completely. Wu Chen had given her that chance before and led her to choose him.

"East Sea Crown, Central Plains Tycoon, and Nanguang Red Sea are the country's three top entertainment clubs. Your brother runs East Sea Crown," Wu Chen said.

"Yes. What about it?" Li Ruobing asked.

"East Sea Crown has crossed the line, and plenty of prominent figures, tycoons, and officials are involved. The authorities started investigating three months ago."

"From what I know, they'll make their move in a month at most," Wu Chen said.

Li Ruobing's expression changed again and again. For a moment, she looked stunned.

"This is huge. And yes, it's not just about your brother. The Li Family is the real target. Once they make their move, your brother going to prison will be the least of it."

Wu Chen continued, "If it comes to that, the Li Family may even need to cut ties with your brother completely to make a clean break."

Li Ruobing stood up, brushed back her hair, and paced a couple of steps, visibly agitated.

Although the matter couldn't implicate her—she was arguably the cleanest member of the Li Family—she was very close to her brother, and the intelligence was sound.

Li Ruobing stopped and asked Wu Chen at once,

"Are you questioning my intelligence-gathering abilities?"

Wu Chen smiled and answered with a question of his own.

Li Ruobin stared at Wu Chen, took a moment to steady himself, then pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

Meanwhile, in a top-floor private room at the East Sea Crown Entertainment Club: "He really isn't one of your people?"

"Well, that's strange. He dared use your name, and he even knew my number. The man's got some nerve. He's asking to die."

A long-faced, goateed middle-aged man leaning on a cane spoke respectfully to a handsome young man in a white shirt.

Behind him stood a bearded man with a bandaged hand.

The middle-aged man with the cane was Zhao Guai, a name known throughout Donghai City's underworld as Master Crutch.

The handsome young man opposite him was the legendary Young Master Li.

And the man behind Zhao Guai was the bearded fellow who had cut off his finger yesterday.

Zhao Guai hadn't slept a wink last night. He had been scared out of his wits.

He had come to see Young Master Li first thing that morning to apologize, convinced he had offended one of Young Master Li's men. But to his astonishment, Young Master Li knew nothing about it. He said he hadn't sent anyone to contact Zhao Guai, and none of his trusted aides were young men barely in their twenties who would dare use his name.

"Crutch, what did he say yesterday?"

Young Master Li glanced sideways at Zhao Guai.

Zhao Guai was about to answer when a phone rang.

Young Master Li raised a hand to stop him, took out his phone, and glanced at it. The stern, cold-looking young man answered at once with a smile. "Sis, where are you?"

"At the shop. Come over—forget it, I'll come to you."

"Wait, Sis, is something urgent?" "Cut the chatter."

Young Master Li listened to the dead line and smiled helplessly. His big sister had hung up on him again.

"My sister will be here in a bit." Young Master Li looked at Zhao Guai.

"Ah, then you're busy. We'll just—"

Zhao Guai began to rise.

"No, sit. You can leave after my sister gets here."

Young Master Li gestured for him to stay. "Tell me more about that kid. He dared use my name? I'll chop him up myself!"