Over the next few days, Shen Tang lay in the hospital room like a complete invalid, needing people to help with everything from eating and drinking to using the bathroom.
If it were someone else, they might have felt ashamed or uncomfortable, but Shen Tang adapted to this lifestyle quickly. Other than boredom, there were no downsides.
Gu Huaian still had not returned Shen Tang's phone, so to pass the time she could only watch TV or chat with visiting friends. She had to admit, it felt a bit like she was already retired.
Gu Huaian came every day to bring meals and feed her. Scarily, Shen Tang was getting used to it.
On this day, it was not Gu Huaian who came with the meal, but Tao Sister.
Shen Tang was taken aback for a moment and picked at her food absentmindedly. Even Tao Sister noticed.
She jokingly asked, "Is Madam missing her husband?"
Shen Tang loudly denied, "Why would I miss him?"
Little did she know, her reaction seemed like she had been found out and was now flustered.
"Yes yes, you're not missing your husband, I was the one missing him," Tao Sister said.
After hesitating for a bit, under Tao Sister's teasing gaze, Shen Tang still asked: "Why...didn't he come today?"
Tao Sister's face broke into a grin. "The young master is--"
Shen Tang perked up her ears.
"He's working overtime."
"Oh," Shen Tang responded. "Overtime?"
That's it?
Tao Sister unrestrainedly laughed out loud. "What else could it be? The young master works around the clock between home, office and hospital."
Shen Tang awkwardly laughed, rather embarrassed that she had underestimated him. She had thought he was tired of this. Turns out she was judging an honorable man by her own mean measure.
After Tao Sister cleaned up the food containers, she took out a phone and placed it on the table.
"This is..." Shen Tang could barely hide her excitement.
"The young master will be very busy these next few days. He specially told me to bring this phone over for you. However he said, with your hand still healing, you're only allowed an hour of use every day outside of necessary moments."
An hour would do! Shen Tang was starving. Days without internet or a phone were not fit for human living. She was becoming devoid of worldly desires.
"Hurry, help me turn it on!"
Under Tao Sister's helpless gaze, Shen Tang clumsily operated the phone with her left hand.
In truth her left hand injury wasn't too bad, she just couldn't lift heavy objects. Her right hand was more troublesome.
Upon turning on the phone, her WeChat was bursting with messages.
She replied to the important ones and opened up Weibo. Her fan group was also very lively with an influx of new people.
However, her mood instantly sank when she swiped upon Miao Miao's moments - Welcome back Lian Sister, love love.
She clicked open the attached photos of a banquet scene where a girl with innocent and outstanding looks stood smiling sweetly among the crowd.
So this was Gu Huaian's so-called white moonlight that he used to pine for? She really was quite beautiful.
Although Gu Huaian had said he didn't have a white moonlight figure, Shen Tang believed that where there's smoke, there's fire. *cough cough* Why else would Miao Miao be so deeply mistaken?
Perhaps out of some indescribable feeling, Shen Tang zoomed into the photo and suddenly noticed a hand wearing the same watch as the one Gu Huaian had recently worn, in the bottom left corner.
Her heart instantly sank.
Shen Tang inspected it over and over to confirm it was that same watch. She told herself perhaps it was just a similar model by coincidence. Besides, just a hand, watch and wrist didn't definitively prove anything.
It didn't necessarily have to be Gu Huaian.
However she still couldn't help the assumptions running wild in her mind, leaving her heart feeling sour.
She opened up Gu Huaian's WeChat. Their last conversation was from many days ago already.
She typed and deleted potential messages over and over again, but ultimately sent nothing.
It seemed she didn't have the right to ask anything.
Shen Tang clutched her chest. What was happening to her?
Could she have developed some feelings for Gu Huaian?
It must have been because he had been treating her too well recently, easily giving her the treasured feeling of being cared for. And in both her lifetimes she had been an orphan, longing desperately for that.
Shen Tang repeatedly reminded herself that theirs was a contractual marriage, a contractual marriage, a contractual marriage.
These strange emotions must be from having seen too few men.
And so, Shen Tang opened Weibo and started swiping photos of handsome men and beauties.
In no time at all her eyes were dazzled by the fresh meat and enticing bodies.
I'd love to slide down those abs!
The weather is dry, kissmenow
The waters and mountains of Bashu are desolate. Beautiful women, please marry me.
Do you smell something burning? That's my heart burning for you.
...
Just as Shen Tang was throwing herself into pleasure viewing, she suddenly received a call from her agent Pei Kesong.
"Hello?"
"Shen Tang! Stop what you're doing this instant!"
"Huh?"
"Don't tell me you were browsing on your main account!"
Shen Tang was about to deny it but upon checking Weibo discovered she had indeed forgotten to switch accounts.
She awkwardly responded "If I told you this was all just an accident, would you believe me?"
Pei Kesong took a deep breath to restrain himself from the urge to beat someone up.
"It doesn't matter if I believe you or not, it matters if your netizen fans believe you or not! Don't use that account anymore, I'll talk to the company to figure things out."
"Oh..."
The call quickly ended. Shen Tang's good mood from earlier vanished instantly.
"At least my private account didn't get exposed..." Carefully recalling her earlier comments, luckily there hadn't been anything too vulgar said.
Shen Tang felt confused that she got discovered so quickly even though she hadn't even browsed for long. Upon checking the small account, she realized it turned out that hottie she had commented on was actually one of her antis. He had coincidentally just posted fresh new photos which she happened to scroll upon and comment under in her carelessness.
Shen Tang decided to retract her earlier words. This man was not handsome at all! To suffer from such eye disease at his young age, and even have the gall to mock her, an ugly toad wanting to eat the swan's meat!
Pfth! If anyone's the toad here, it's him!
Opening the comments section on her main Weibo, other than some familiar vicious antis, most passersby reactions were surprisingly not too extreme, largely just playful mocking.
Haha looks like Shen Tang forgot to switch accounts!
Who would've thought I, a normal netizen, would share the same taste in girls as a female celebrity. It's like we're peers!
Wahhh I went and bumped into someone's girlfriend, and quite a few at that!
Worth mentioning were several powerful fans who leapt valiantly to her defense, just about cussing out the antis into shutting up.
In the end Shen Tang still couldn't resist and ended up switching through eighteen small accounts to clap back against those vulgar, nasty commenters.
People are born with innate desires. What was wrong with her looking at some videos and pictures and messing around a bit?
She had just made a common mistake many women have made. Did people have to criticize her to this extent?