Xu Lin was very relaxed. You could see her natural ease, even drinking in a stranger's home.
"Do you just have a small drink occasionally, or do you drink every day?"
"Occasionally. I got divorced today, so I'm celebrating."
"Wow, it really hasn't affected you at all. You're actually this happy about getting divorced."
"It's all about letting go of personal drama and enjoying the good life."
"Your mindset is really great. I should learn from you."
Xu Lin swirled her wine glass, and the two of them clinked glasses.
Lin Jiang had only meant to take a sip, but seeing Xu Lin down her entire glass, he could only follow suit. He then immediately refilled them.
"You don't seem to be in the best state. Is something troubling you?"
Lin Jiang asked tentatively, already having a good guess as to the cause. It was probably related to her relationship with her husband.
Anyone with eyes could tell they were together in name only.
"It's some business matters. A bit worrisome."
"Are you open to talking about it?"
"Why wouldn't I be? It's not like it's some shameful secret," Xu Lin said with a smile.
"But you're in a good mood, so I won't spoil it for you. Like you said, we should enjoy the good life."
"Isn't chatting what drinking is for? It's hardly spoiling the mood."
Xu Lin leaned back in her chair, her body completely relaxed, and ran her fingers up through her hair.
"I opened a shop in Berkeley Mall. A few days ago, someone opened another one right across from mine and has been stealing all my customers."
"Huh? Don't you run a traditional Chinese medicine business? Is it appropriate to open one in a mall?"
A cunning smile appeared on Xu Lin's face.
"The basement supermarket of Berkeley Mall sells rice, flour, grains, and oil at slightly lower prices than other supermarkets. A lot of elderly people are willing to walk a bit further to shop there, so the foot traffic is huge. The monthly sales are quite substantial, no worse than other storefronts."
Lin Jiang gave a knowing smirk. "I get it. You're making money off the elderly."
"Shh, shut up!"
Xu Lin tilted her head up, her expression a little haughty. Combined with her age and temperament, it created an indescribably unique charm.
"It's true I'm making money from the elderly, but it's not a scam. People who don't understand traditional Chinese medicine have no idea how miraculous it is."
"I'm not doubting you. If it were useless, all those traditional Chinese medicine universities and hospitals wouldn't be so heavily promoted."
"That's for sure."
"But according to a mall's typical tenant recruitment logic, they usually don't allow competing businesses of the same type. Did something go wrong here?"
"So smart. Talking to you isn't tiring at all," Xu Lin said with a smile.
"From what I've observed these past few days, the owner of the shop across from me might have some connection with the mall manager. He saw my shop was making money and decided to open one too. He's been targeting me in every way. Today, he fined me a thousand yuan and said if it happens again, he'll shut down my shop for a seven-day 'rectification.' Son of a bitch."
The best thing about a woman of Xu Lin's age is that she's not pretentious.
Even in front of Lin Jiang, she didn't hold back when cursing, which made being around her very comfortable.
"The person you're talking about must be Ma Shangxi, right?"
"You actually know Ma Shangxi?" Xu Lin's eyes widened in surprise, a gleam appearing in her beautiful, large eyes.
"Before I opened my shop, I wanted to get a spot in the mall's basement food court, but he said my noodle shop was too 'low-class' and didn't fit the mall's vibe, so he rejected me."
"Haha, to think we both fell victim to him. Let's have a drink to that."
"Cheers."
The two clinked their glasses. "Thought of a solution yet?"
"The holidays are coming up. If nothing else works, I'll just have to bribe him. The shop is quite profitable, after all. I can't let my pride get in the way of money."
"But will bribing him even solve the problem? Ma Shangxi is putting so much effort into targeting you; there must be a reason. He's not going to pass up a chance to suppress you for just a small sweetener."
"I've thought of that too, but I have to try. I don't have any other options."
Lin Jiang swirled his glass, thinking about Zhou Wanyu's situation.
'The crux of both our problems is Ma Shangxi. If I can take care of him, both issues will be solved at once.'
"Who's the person that opened the shop across from you? What's their relationship with him?"
"An improper one, of course."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. I've been around the block; I can tell if a relationship is proper or not with just one look," Xu Lin said confidently.
"Is there no chance it's his wife?"
Xu Lin looked at Lin Jiang, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
"Under non-essential circumstances, would you want your wife following you around during work hours?"
'Holy shit!'
'This part's gonna be on the final exam.'
"What about you? Now that you're divorced, when are you going to find someone new?" Xu Lin skillfully changed the topic, ensuring the atmosphere wouldn't grow cold.
"I haven't really thought about it. Being single is pretty freeing. As for marriage... whoever wants to do it can go right ahead."
"Getting ready to start life as a player?"
'It's already begun.'
"Not really. At least for the next few years, I don't have any plans in that department. I'd rather focus on my career."
"There's a saying online that I quite agree with: 'If you meet a benefactor, build your career first. If you meet your soulmate, start a family first.' Basically, you do what's appropriate for the person you've met. I think it makes a lot of sense."
"There's another line to that: 'If you meet a rich woman, you can start a family and build a career at the same time.'"
"Bwahahaha..."
Xu Lin was laughing so hard she was rocking back and forth. "Now that makes even more sense! But there's one condition—you have to get your body in shape first."
Lin Jiang smiled calmly. 'Her words carried a hint of probing.'
'If he were some nice-guy simp, he would definitely say: "How could a man like me do something like that! Such behavior is shameless!"'
'If she heard such a moronic statement, Lin Jiang bet their drinking session would end within five minutes. Xu Lin would use the excuse that it was getting late and she needed her beauty sleep before leaving.'
"True. Rich women aren't easy to please."
Lin Jiang held his glass, feeling a wave of emotion.
'They say even a steel wool scrubber has its own 'flower language': endurance and wealth.'
Soon, two-thirds of the bottle was gone. Xu Lin's face was slightly flushed. She gave a long, lazy stretch, making the plunging contours of her chest all the more obvious.
Her pose was lazy and relaxed, like a pampered cat.
A woman with Xu Lin's personality was, to the greatest extent, unflappable.
Her shop was on the verge of going under, yet she remained unhurried. On a spiritual level, she was still completely at ease.
"Oh, right. I forgot to do something."
Xu Lin sat up straight, looking at Lin Jiang seriously.
"Huh? You came here with a mission?"
Xu Lin held out her hand. "Here, let me take your pulse."
"Huh? You know how to do that?"
"I graduated from a university of traditional Chinese medicine. After finishing my residency, I went straight into the TCM business," Xu Lin said, a little smugly.
"Pulse-taking is a skill you can't ever let go of. You can even pull it out to impress people when necessary."
'I have a traditional skill of my own, but I wonder if this is the right time to mention it...'
"Hold out your hand."
Lin Jiang placed his hand in front of Xu Lin. She shifted her posture, becoming slightly more formal.
Xu Lin's hand was cool to the touch. Her skin was very fair and had a glossy sheen, clearly well-maintained with skincare products.
'I used to read novels on Qidian where they always described the female lead's fingers as being 'like the white of a scallion.''
'Every time I saw a passage like that, I'd always think, 'What the fuck kind of description is that?''
'But seeing this now, I really want to kneel before the master author's writing skills.'
'My own writing ability is probably only good enough for crap like 'the strawberry-flavored youth and the song of the sunrise cicadas.''
Xu Lin's technique was steady, her fingers pressing on the Cun, Guan, and Chi pulse positions with perfect accuracy.
Suddenly, Lin Jiang noticed two tags appear above Xu Lin's head.
[Strong Kidneys]
[Vigorous Qi and Blood]
'Damn, this woman is something else! She figured all that out just by taking my pulse?!'
"Stick out your tongue, let me see."
Ah—
"Okay."
Xu Lin returned to her relaxed posture. "Your liver fire is a bit excessive, and your liver qi is a bit too strong. Come by my shop tomorrow, I'll give you some herbs to reduce the liver fire. Just brew them in water and drink it. Also, try not to stay up late. You need to sleep earlier."
Lin Jiang glanced at the time. It was almost midnight.
'She told me to sleep early, but showed no intention of leaving whatsoever.'
'Sometimes, you really can't overthink the damn details.'
"Oh no, your things have a cost too."
"It's not much money, I can afford to give you this little bit. If you don't have time, I can bring it over in the evening."
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony."
Lin Jiang didn't refuse again; otherwise, it would seem pretentious.
'It also created an opportunity to meet again tomorrow evening.'
"It's not much money, what's there to be polite about."
Slowly, another half hour passed, and the rest of the wine was finished.
Xu Lin gave a lazy stretch, the plunging contours of her chest reappearing. With a satisfied expression, she then stood up.
"It's getting late, let's call it a night for... Ah—"
She staggered, lost her footing, and pitched over toward Lin Jiang.
Lin Jiang's reflexes were sharp. He grabbed Xu Lin's arm with one hand and reached out to support her with the other, his fingers gripping her tightly just under her armpit.
But the angle was a little off. His fingers gripped her under the arm, but the palm of his hand brushed against the side of her breast.
The atmosphere instantly became charged.
Lin Jiang immediately adjusted his hand's position, using only his palm to support Xu Lin.
"You didn't twist your ankle, did you?"
"No, thankfully you were quick enough to catch me, or I would have really fallen."
Xu Lin smoothed her hair. Since she'd been drinking, her face was already flushed, making it impossible to read her true thoughts.
After composing herself, Xu Lin bent over to clear the things off the table.
"You brought the wine, so you don't have to clean up."
"I ate and drank at your place; it would be too embarrassing to just eat and run."
"We're next-door neighbors, what's there to be embarrassed about? I can get it."
It was getting late, and he knew Xu Lin's next step was to go back and rest.
But Lin Jiang never said anything like "you should go get some sleep."
'It's better for the guest to say those words herself.'
"Then I won't be polite. I'm heading back."
"Okay, go on."
Xu Lin didn't dally either. She changed into her own slippers and carefully opened the door to Lin Jiang's apartment.
Standing in the doorway, she waved at him and mouthed some words.
"I'm heading back now."
Lin Jiang smiled and nodded in response.
After Xu Lin left, Lin Jiang cleared the table and went to rest.
...
When he opened his eyes the next day, it was a little after six in the morning.
If he went back to sleep, he'd be out until at least ten.
But Lin Jiang didn't plan on sleeping in. The early bird gets the worm, after all. He decided to go for a morning run and make use of his Sports Card.
In any case, he couldn't be idle today; he had to be as active as possible.
He climbed out of bed, washed up, changed into some light clothes, and got ready for his morning run.
"Hurry up and put on your shoes! Stop dawdling."
As soon as he opened the door, he heard Xu Lin's voice.
Her door was open, and Xu Lin was standing in the doorway, dressed in a gray sleeveless top and a black, form-fitting skirt, a pair of sunglasses hanging from her collar.
The cut of the skirt was beautiful—not too loose, not too tight—and it perfectly accentuated the lines of her legs and hips.
"Up so early?"
"Getting ready to go for a run, get some exercise," Lin Jiang said with a smile.
"Right, I remember now. You used to be on the school team, so you're used to exercising."
"Looks like you didn't drink too much."
Xu Lin rolled her eyes beautifully.
'It was as if she were saying, 'The child is here, don't say such things.''
"Oh, right. I have something for you. Wait a second."
'What's so mysterious?' Lin Jiang wondered.
'She isn't going to pull out a little stick with two lines and tell me that everyone's Physique is different, is she?'