"Sorry, Wen Lan, I got too carried away."
Li Bin gave Wen Lan a mournful look, then pointed at Wen Ting's room. "Wen Lan, go check on Wen Ting. That silly girl's probably still upset about yesterday. Comfort her, get her to eat something—starving's no good."
He was dying to see Wen Ting's state and how close they were. If she remembered last night and was ready to expose his sleazy, disgusting brother-in-law crimes to ruin him socially, he'd be screwed. But if she acted normal and didn't recall, he could relax.
"Wen Ting! Get up already! How are you still sleeping? Open the door!"
Wen Lan was way more direct than Li Bin, banging on the door with a "bang bang bang" and snapping impatiently, "You little shit, either you're out causing trouble or holed up gaming all day! You trying to become an immortal? Not even eating? Get out here!"
"Got it, got it! Stop banging! I'm up!" Wen Ting's annoyed voice came through.
Then the door swung open. Wen Ting stepped out, face dark, gave Li Bin a cold glance, and said to Wen Lan, "I'm hungry! Let's go eat downstairs!"
[Current State: Repressed, Sad, Ashamed, Pained, Conflicted, Confused, Torn, Lost]
[Intimacy: -0 (Disgust)]
Oh fuck. Li Bin's head buzzed, cold sweat instantly beading on his forehead. Seeing Wen Ting's state and intimacy drop to -0 (Disgust), he knew—last night, she'd been aware! Maybe not the whole thing, but she definitely had some hazy memory of what he'd done! He braced himself for social death and a reboot.
He even shut his eyes in despair.
But the scene he'd pictured—Wen Ting outing him in front of Wen Lan, then raging in humiliated fury—didn't happen! None of the chaos he'd imagined came true.
"Brother-in-law," Wen Ting called him flatly, then brushed past like he wasn't even there, heading downstairs.
Not only did she not expose him, she acted like nothing had changed. Watching her go, Li Bin froze.
"Brother-in-law? Why're you standing there? Let's eat." Wen Lan tugged at the stunned Li Bin, pulling his hand toward the stairs.
From Wen Ting's state, she'd definitely had some awareness last night! And remembered bits of what he'd done. But she showed no sign of spilling it—acting normal on purpose.
Even playing it off like she didn't know a thing in front of him! Why would she do that?
Li Bin had been ready to die socially.
But nothing happened—it was like punching cotton. He was totally thrown, no clue how to handle it.
"Brother-in-law, this is the lunch I made special for you and Wen Ting! Come on, try my cooking!" Downstairs, Wen Lan handed him chopsticks and a bowl of rice, her big, sparkly eyes blinking expectantly.
Li Bin glanced at the table's dark cuisine and his face dropped. Wen Lan had put in effort—made a full spread. But every dish was a charred, black mess. Was this edible?
He swallowed hard, picked up a burnt piece of sweet-and-sour pork, and took a bite. A bitter, scorched taste hit his tastebuds, followed by a salty vinegar sting—like eating burnt salt. Fucking awful.
"Pfft!" Wen Ting, across from him, spat out her bite in agony. "Second sis! What the hell is this? You call this food? Ugh! Disgusting!"
"You little brat! Ungrateful shit! I got up early and slaved over this for you guys!! Don't eat it if you don't want to—brother-in-law'll love it, right?"
"Brother-in-law! Tell me, isn't it good?" Wen Lan turned to Li Bin, eyes full of hope, craving some encouragement.
"Cough, cough…"
"Ugh…"
Li Bin had wanted to grit his teeth and boost her confidence, but this shit was hell-level bad. He couldn't hold it in and spat it out too!