Lin Fan was speechless. He even wondered if his appearance had become so miserable that people couldn’t recognize him anymore.
“Brother Sikong, it’s me—Lin Fan!” he said with a bitter smile.
He hadn’t expected to be mistaken for a beggar.
“Lin Fan?” Shen Wuxiao leaned forward deliberately and squinted. “Damn, it really is you?”
“What happened to you? At first glance, I thought you were a sewage cleaner.”
The corner of Lin Fan’s mouth twitched.
Was it really that bad?
He was confused too—why did Brother Sikong sound so sarcastic? But he didn’t press it. He remembered why he had come.
“Brother Sikong, won’t you invite me in to sit down?”
He couldn’t wait to confirm whether the voice he had heard belonged to Jiang Huaiyue.If it wasn’t her, he could leave in peace. If it was… well, he hadn’t thought that far ahead.
Shen Wuxiao looked apologetic. “Brother Lin Fan, it’s not that I don’t want to invite you in.”
“But my woman is still sleeping in the room. If you came in and she woke up and saw a stranger, it’d be really awkward, you know?”
Lin Fan nodded in understanding. That did make sense.
Still, he probed further. “I used to think you were a playboy, but now I see you’re quite considerate toward women. So, what do I call my sister-in-law?”
He asked indirectly.
Shen Wuxiao looked smug. “My wife? Let me tell you—even young Catherine Zeta-Jones or Monica Bellucci couldn’t compare to her beauty!”
“Uh…?” Lin Fan was stunned.
Wasn’t he asking for a name? Why did it suddenly turn into a discussion about beauty?
Trying again, he asked, “So… is she foreign?”
“Nope,” Shen Wuxiao replied, still speaking through the fence door.
Lin Fan really wanted to get inside and find out for himself. But Shen Wuxiao clearly had no intention of opening the door.
He couldn’t barge in, that would be crazy.
So he changed tactics.
“Brother Sikong, can I at least borrow your place for a shower?”
Shen Wuxiao rejected him without hesitation. “If this were before, no problem.”
“But now that my woman is here, it’s really inconvenient. Think about it—your request is a bit out of line, don’t you think?”
Lin Fan was completely defeated.
He nodded reluctantly. “Alright then, I’ll head out first.”
Since he couldn’t get in, there was no way to confirm it. But the doubt in his heart only grew deeper.
So instead of leaving, he circled behind a large reef not far from the villa and hid.
He wouldn’t go in—but they’d have to come out eventually. Then he could see for himself.
He was overthinking it.
The two inside the villa hardly went out.
Shen Wuxiao returned to the room and took a nap with Jiang Huaiyue. The entire morning passed just like that.
Lin Fan waited for hours, but no one came out.
By noon, Shen Wuxiao and Jiang Huaiyue finally got up. She made lunch.
After all, last night was like their wedding night—sweet and intimate.
After eating, they headed to the KTV room in the villa to sing. In the afternoon, they worked out together in the villa’s gym.
That evening, they bathed together.
Then, they curled up in the private cinema to watch a movie—talking intimately for over two hours.
The day passed, and the two never left the house.
Meanwhile, Lin Fan was practically freezing into a statue.
It was already autumn. After the heavy rain the night before, everything was damp. The sea breeze blew constantly, and the humidity made the cold even worse.
Another day slipped by.
Lin Fan felt like he was falling apart.
All he wanted was to confirm one person’s identity. Why was it so difficult?
Do they never go outside?
On the third day, after enduring two nights and a full day of wind and cold, Lin Fan finally saw someone.
The villa’s door opened. Jiang Huaiyue walked out, arm-in-arm with Shen Wuxiao.
Shen Wuxiao had always known Lin Fan was hiding nearby. He just hadn’t bothered to acknowledge him.
What he wanted was for Lin Fan to witness this moment—him and Jiang Huaiyue together—until he reached the breaking point.
Only when Lin Fan was emotionally crushed by everything he had endured—cold, rain, heartbreak—would the damage be complete.
Once he was emotionally shattered, he’d no longer be able to maintain his composure with Jiang Huaiyue. Their friendship, their bond as comrades, would be gone.
And the deeper Lin Fan fell, the more satisfaction Shen Wuxiao felt.
As they walked outside, Shen Wuxiao deliberately slowed down to give Lin Fan a clear view.
He reached out and brushed Jiang Huaiyue’s hair aside, his hand lingering on her face.
“What is it?” Jiang Huaiyue asked softly, her eyes full of warmth.
“Did you put on lip gloss today?”
She shook her head. “No, I never wear makeup.”
“I don’t believe you. Let me taste it.”
Jiang Huaiyue laughed. “Go ahead, try it!”
She pouted playfully.
Shen Wuxiao leaned in and kissed her.
After a moment, he pulled back and licked his lips. “You’re right. No lip gloss.”
“If you wanted to kiss me, just say it. Why the excuses?” she teased, rolling her eyes at him.
Hidden nearby, Lin Fan saw everything.
His mind went blank.
A haunting melody played in his thoughts: “WuwuwuwuwuwuwuFor all the pain caused by love, for all the hurt caused by hate…”
“I can no longer tell love from hate. Is this how it ends? My trembling hands won’t stop. I can’t… forgive.”
Lin Fan was at his breaking point. His whole body trembled. He couldn’t take it anymore.
His fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked.
“Yue’er… it’s really you. It’s actually you!”
Fury erupted from within.
He stomped the ground—and in an instant, a powerful force burst out from under him.
His body soared like a great roc spreading its wings, and within moments, he landed on the villa’s path.
The aura he released instantly caught Jiang Huaiyue’s attention.
She felt a surge of pressure and instinctively turned her head.
What she saw was a ragged man—curly hair, tanned skin, torn clothes, fists clenched—walking straight toward her.
“Stop!” Jiang Huaiyue called out.
But Lin Fan didn’t seem to hear. His teeth were grinding.
He couldn’t believe it.
The woman he had missed for so long, the one he cherished, had fallen for someone else.
And that man was someone he once called brother.
How could he endure such humiliation?
Seeing that Lin Fan wasn’t stopping, Jiang Huaiyue instinctively prepared to defend herself.
But as he came closer, she finally recognized the disheveled figure.
She stared in shock.
“Lin… Lin Fan? What happened to you?”
Her voice was calm, just like a casual greeting between friends. There was no guilt, no trace of remorse.
Because in her heart, she was just Lin Fan’s comrade-in-arms.
Even if there had been feelings in the beginning, that was long gone.
They had never had a romantic relationship. Only comradeship.
So there was no reason to feel guilty.
“What’s your relationship with him?” Lin Fan stood before them now, trembling with rage.
He was on the verge of exploding.
But he hadn’t struck—yet.
He was still trying to get answers. Still holding on. Just barely.