Yun Xiaoran was halfway through dinner when he received an email from his editor, Kong Bai.
He was hardly surprised that the book had been offered a contract.
The book had enjoyed a huge readership in his previous life. It would have been bizarre if it hadn't landed a contract. Looking at the editor's message, he could tell the book had really caught his interest. He hadn't expected a reply after just one afternoon.
It looked like he was about to join the miserable ranks of writers grinding out words.
Yun Xiaoran set his computer aside. Almost full, he had slowed from wolfing down his food to chewing each bite carefully. It was already ten at night. If his whirlwind-marriage wife still wasn't home, he was going to bed.
Should I send her a message?
The idea popped into his head, but Yun Xiaoran didn't want to do it. Wouldn't that make it seem like he was checking up on her or something?
Forget it. That's her business.
Eleven that night.
Flash Music Bar.
"Sorry, Sister Hua. My girlfriend's checking up on me, so I'm heading out..."
"My boyfriend's here... I'm off."
"I..."
As midnight approached, the crowd at the bar gradually thinned.
At the entrance, a woman struggled to support a sweet-looking, graceful but thoroughly drunk woman as they made their way toward an Audi.
"Muge, look how drunk you are. You still need your best friend to come rescue you. What would you do if you were here alone?"
"Leave me alone. Even my husband has no right to boss me around. What gives you the right?"
Shen Jin looked exceptionally beautiful with her flushed cheeks. Although a few of her pink-and-blue nail decorations had peeled off, her clothes were still perfectly neat.
She looked too drunk to know what was going on, but the low-alcohol drinks had actually left her aware of what she was doing rather than completely dazed.
"Still talking back? Let's see what you'd do if I left you here."
"Don't." Shen Jin was half a head taller than Sister Hua, but she was half nestled in her arms, and Sister Hua could barely support her weight.
"If you leave me here, I'll cry." Shen Jin looked up at Sister Hua, then pouted.
"Where do you want to go now? Your place or mine?"
Sister Hua looked helplessly at Shen Jin leaning against her and asked. Wherever she ended up going, Sister Hua would definitely stay with her until morning.
"My place, of course. I still have to go find my Fu Bao."
Shen Jin clutched her bag, clearly mistaking it for her cat. She was stroking what she thought was the cat's tail, but it was actually the shoulder strap.
"Little troublemaker, call your husband first."
"Okay." Shen Jin scrolled through her phone, quietly repeating "hubby" over and over, sounding both clingy and bewilderedly anxious.
"Hubby."
"Hubby."
"I can't find him. I can't find where my hubby went!" Tears suddenly filled Shen Jin's eyes. With wet lashes and tearful eyes, she kept swiping at her phone.
"You can't even find your husband?" Sister Hua snatched the phone away and searched through it, ignoring Shen Jin's aggrieved attempts to grab it back.
She found someone saved under "Creep stalker."
Then Sister Hua pointed at his profile picture. "See? This is your husband."
"Hehe, this is my hubby." Once Shen Jin got her phone back, she stared fixedly at the man in the profile picture and giggled foolishly.
"Hopeless." Sister Hua sighed at the sight of her, then watched the drunken Shen Jin start fiddling with her phone again.
"What are you doing?" Sister Hua asked.
"I don't know who gave my hubby such an awful contact name. I'm changing it."
"This is his new name." Shen Jin held up her phone and waved it proudly at Sister Hua.
Sister Hua took a closer look:
"My wonderful hubby."
"Phew..."
Sister Hua took a deep breath. "It's fine. It's fine. She'll be back to normal tomorrow morning."
Then she snatched the phone away and saw that Shen Jin had already sent Yun Xiaoran a voice message.
"Hubby, when are you coming to pick me up?" Her voice was tearful, with a pleading, silly giggle. Anyone hearing it would know she was drunk.
"Oh, no." Sister Hua stared at Shen Jin in exasperation. "Look what you've done."
"I'm sorry. I'll buy you ice cream tomorrow." Shen Jin's foolish grin turned into an aggrieved expression. As expected of the Top Diva of Chinese Entertainment, she was quite convincing when she put on an act.
Sister Hua hurriedly started a video call. It connected in barely ten seconds.
"What's wrong? Is she drunk? Do you need me to come pick you up?"
Yun Xiaoran had been busy writing. The voice message on WeChat surprised him, but remembering what his unexpected new wife had said that afternoon, he understood that she was drunk.
He had seen this sort of thing plenty of times. If he waited about five minutes after that message, another message or a call would probably follow.
"No. You and I need to take care of Shen Jin tonight. She's completely drunk."
"Oh, I'll get things ready, then."
After answering the call, Yun Xiaoran stood up to prepare some warm milk and sobering soup.
Sister Hua gave a faint sigh. Her long ordeal was finally nearing its end. Then she gave Shen Jin a lingering look.
But Shen Jin snatched the phone away and spoke happily just as Yun Xiaoran was about to hang up.
"Hubby, I want to eat-"
The disconnected tone sounded, leaving her all alone.
In her tall boots, Shen Jin stood somewhere between 178 and 180 centimeters tall. Now she stood there stupidly, listening to the disconnected tone with a bewildered, helpless, disappointed look.
"Oh, no." Sister Hua held her head helplessly. Of all the times Yun Xiaoran could have hung up, he had chosen this exact moment.
"My hubby hung up on me."
Shen Jin's voice, on the verge of angry tears, stood out sharply in the parking lot. Then she angrily threw her iPhone onto the ground and said:
"What kind of lousy signal is this? My hubby hung up on me!"
With no regard for her image, Shen Jin crouched on the ground and began sobbing. Nothing Sister Hua said could calm her down.
Bzz-
Unexpectedly, the phone she had thrown onto the ground began vibrating with another call.
Sister Hua hurriedly picked it up. Seeing that Yun Xiaoran was calling, she pointed at the phone. "Look, your husband's calling you. Stop crying. Wipe your tears and get up to answer it."
"Really?"
Shen Jin cleared her throat, trying to rid her voice of its ugly sobbing sound, then answered. Yun Xiaoran's puzzled voice came through. "What did you want to eat just now?"
"I want noodles made by you."
"Okay. Wipe your tears. I'll make you noodles tossed with crayfish right now."
"Okay. You promise?"
"I promise."
Yun Xiaoran knew Shen Jin was drunk now, so he decided to indulge her.
After the call ended.
"Hurry up! I want to get home and eat the noodles my hubby's making. Otherwise they'll get cold..." Shen Jin smiled happily and urged Sister Hua on.
"All right, my little troublemaker. That's what I get for being your assistant."
Sister Hua gave a faint smile, then started the Audi.
Before you continue