Chapter 7 — Taking Everything Without Leaving a Trace?

“A superstar? Pfft…”
From Xu Ningning’s breathless, starry-eyed introduction, Lin Xiaowen gleaned the essentials about this impolite, woman-bullying, stingy as a stone, iron rooster of a man!
Cheng Yishu, male, twenty-five years old, a returned idol trained in Korea!
He could sing and dance, act with brilliance, and was an all-around songwriter…
Most importantly, he was handsome!
Of course, these were all praises from fans for their idol! At least, that was what Lin Xiaowen thought!
Lin Xiaowen laughed so hard she nearly doubled over; despite her best attempts to stifle her laughter, she found she simply couldn’t!
“Haha… an idol?”
Standing up straight, Lin Xiaowen studied Cheng Yishu’s current getup, and burst out again, “Haha… Is everyone’s sense of style so bizarre these days?”
“And you have the nerve to talk?”
Infuriated by her laughter, Cheng Yishu gritted his teeth and replied coldly, “Isn’t it all your fault, you wicked woman, dressing me up like this!”
He’d never been so humiliated in front of others in his life!
“A superstar? Surely a superstar isn’t short on cash? You won’t even part with a measly 2,800 yuan—doesn’t seem you’re all that famous!” Lin Xiaowen finally finished laughing and spoke bluntly!
“Heh, don’t think you can get my attention with tricks like this, you must’ve watched too many idol dramas!”
Cheng Yishu exposed her without mercy, thinking she was only pretending not to know him. No matter how terrible he looked now, someone had already introduced him. Still, she acted as if she didn’t know who he was?
Unless she was a caveman who didn’t use the internet or watch TV!
On this point, Cheng Yishu was right—Lin Xiaowen really was that sort of young woman who hardly went online and rarely watched television! She had too many jobs to juggle, not to mention caring for her child!
“Get your attention? Sir, you’re seriously overthinking this! But since my friend says you’re some kind of celebrity, I suppose you really don’t want anyone to see you like this, do you?” Lin Xiaowen stroked her nose, pondering.
“What are you planning?” Cheng Yishu sensed a whiff of danger…
“Planning? Nothing at all!” Lin Xiaowen shrugged innocently. “Just planning to send you a thousand miles away, that’s all!”
The two adults and the little one all turned to watch as Lin Xiaowen strode to the door. With a click, she unlocked the security door, placed her hand on the handle, and looked back at Cheng Yishu, her smile all “benevolence.”
“Mr. Cheng, is it? I’ve decided not to take your money after all—but please, leave my home immediately!”
With that, and under Cheng Yishu’s utterly horrified gaze, she swung open the door behind her…
“Ya, ya ya…”

In his panic, Cheng Yishu staggered backward and started speaking Korean. Realizing they might not understand, he grabbed his blanket with one hand and waved frantically with the other.
“Hey… you… you wicked woman, close that door!”
“If you call me a wicked woman again, I’ll snatch your blanket right off and kick you out as you are!” Lin Xiaowen eyed him coolly, her voice flat.
“Fine, fine… Xiaowen, right? Miss Xiaowen, please close the door first—anything else we can discuss!” he quickly corrected himself, very sincere now!
Cheng Yishu cared greatly about his image—if word of this got out, it would be no small matter!
“Half-dressed, appearing in a strange woman’s home!”
“Spent the night after drinking, causing chaos at so-and-so’s place…”
Just thinking about the headlines was terrifying!
Satisfied with his sudden enlightenment, Lin Xiaowen finally closed the door with a sigh of relief and dusted off her hands.
“A student worth teaching!”
“Xiaowen, aren’t you going too far?”
Xu Ningning shot her a furtive look, but Lin Xiaowen deliberately ignored her.
What’s wrong with it? After all the trouble he caused her last night, and not even a word of thanks when he woke, he deserved a fright!
“Give me my clothes, I’ll pay you!” Taking a deep breath, Cheng Yishu only wanted to leave as soon as possible!
Any more entanglement with her, and he feared he’d lose his mind!
“Very well! Please wait a moment!”
With professional courtesy, Lin Xiaowen headed into the bathroom. While Xu Ningning’s eyes hungrily drank in Cheng Yishu, Lin Xiaowen returned with a set of black clothes, tossed them to him, and kindly reminded,
“They’re not entirely dry, but wearable. Go change in the bathroom.”
Cradling the clothes and clutching the blanket, Cheng Yishu shot Lin Xiaowen a deadly glare before heading to the bathroom…
Lin Xiaowen pursed her lips, utterly unimpressed: “Superstar, and that’s his character? Hmph!”
“Xiaowen, Xiaowen, where on earth did you find him? It’s Cheng Yishu!”
At last, Xu Ningning had a chance to pull Lin Xiaowen aside, her eyes glued to the bathroom door, her voice trembling with excitement.
“Yes, yes, I heard your whole introduction just now. Some kind of internet sensation, right? But you’ve seen it for yourself—besides a passable face, what other merits does he have? Come on, be sensible—if you must idolize someone, pick a man of substance, will you? You’re not a teenager anymore!”
Lin Xiaowen was utterly perplexed by Xu Ningning’s excitement—over that messy-haired, dark-circled drunkard?
If Xu Ningning had seen for herself how Cheng Yishu had sprawled in that heap of vomit last night, “flying free,” would she still be so infatuated?

Patting Ranran’s little head, Lin Xiaowen suddenly remembered to ask,
“Ranran, are you hungry? Once that odd brother pays up, Mommy will take you out to—”
“Lin! Xiaowen!”
Before she could finish, Cheng Yishu’s thunderous tenor boomed from the bathroom…
The three girls all paused, and Cheng Yishu stormed out, rage written all over his face, brandishing a black rectangular object in his hand.
“Lin Xiaowen, don’t you ever check the pockets before doing laundry? My phone!”
Lin Xiaowen’s eyes darted about; she clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Uh… well, um…”
“My phone had a lot of important things in it! Besides photos, there were melodies and scores I’d jotted down. Now you’ve washed them all away—what am I supposed to do?”
Cheng Yishu was starting to regret his whims from last night—why had he insisted on finding a quiet place to brood, and why had it been Lin Xiaowen’s bar?
Had he owed this woman some great debt in a past life, that now he had to suffer her in this one?
“Well… just take it somewhere to be fixed,” Lin Xiaowen offered meekly, though she knew that after half an hour in the washing machine, the phone was beyond saving.
“Fixed? Easy for you to say!” Cheng Yishu clenched his fists, eyes dark with anger!
There were years’ worth of photos with Tan Jing in there!
All gone, just like that—like their relationship over the years, vanished in an instant?
“Fine, I’ll knock a thousand off the bill!”
Lin Xiaowen straightened her back generously. “No less! If I hadn’t rescued you last night, you wouldn’t just have lost a phone—who knows, you might have been dragged off by some lovesick fool and completely devoured!”
She tossed a glance at Xu Ningning, who blushed scarlet and pinched her in protest!
To be fair, once Cheng Yishu had changed into the black clothes and tidied his hair and washed his face in the bathroom, he did look much more presentable!
The black set off his air of maturing manhood, with a touch of youthful sharpness!
No wonder Xu Ningning couldn’t take her eyes off him… until Lin Xiaowen mentioned being “devoured,” and she looked down, pretending to fuss over Ranran!
“Why would you eat big brother? Is there a monster?”
The little one blinked her sparkling eyes as she asked, and Xu Ningning blushed even deeper, regretting she’d ever locked eyes with this tiny imp! Alas…