Chapter 128
But what Lin Tian didn’t know was that his inner voice had already given everything away.
When his thoughts reached the ears of Shang Chan, Zhao Mengmeng, and Bai Bing’er, the three women trembled in unison.
Shang Chan pressed her lips together as memories of that day surfaced—the day Lin Tian walked into her office and said he wanted to resign.
It was the first time she had heard Lin Tian’s inner voice, and through it, she learned about the Ice Eye Group and Jiang Yifeng’s plot against her and the Zhao family.
After that, she acted with thunderous decisiveness, crushing the plot before it could take hold.
To outsiders, it might have seemed as if her sharp insight and decisive methods were the reason for her success as the Zhao family’s heiress and the powerful CEO of Xinghai Group.
But only Shang Chan knew the truth: it was all thanks to Lin Tian.
From that moment on, her feelings for him had changed.
When she overheard him say, “Being born into a wealthy family is like being a bird in a cage,” she felt that she would never be able to leave him.
The glance they shared through the drifting smoke at the ancestral banquet…
The ambiguous atmosphere when she twisted her ankle at the back door.
Their private moments in the secret chamber beneath Tingchan Pavilion and on the second floor.
The pounding of her heart in the cramped backseat on the way down the mountain…
As these memories flooded back, Shang Chan felt as though she had lived through countless years, even though only a few days had passed.
Still in a daze, she seemed to hear Lin Tian whisper softly in her ear, “Wait for me.” “Wait for me.” At that moment, Shang Chan’s smile was indescribable.
She suppressed the overwhelming urge to drop everything and run to Lin Tian’s side. Instead, she answered him in her heart:
All right. I’ll wait for you.
…
Zhao Mengmeng, on the other hand, was a petite, sweet girl. The moment she heard Lin Tian’s inner voice, tears welled up in her eyes.
Since childhood, she had been exceptionally skilled at reading people’s expressions. This talent had honed her acting skills to the level of an award-winning actress.
In the past, whether in front of outsiders or her own family, she had always instinctively worn a mask of pretense.
That mask always made her seem obedient, cute, and sensible.
In the eyes of some relatives, she had even become “the girl who was mature beyond her years.”
But how could anyone truly be mature from childhood?
Zhao Mengmeng recalled the moment in the lakeside pavilion when Lin Tian spoke with sincerity and emotion. “For a young girl, that really is a bit cruel.”
Although she had only heard his inner voice, to Zhao Mengmeng, who had worn a mask all her life, nothing could be more precious than such genuine honesty.
From that moment on, the fortress in Zhao Mengmeng’s heart began to crack, just a little.
Like a seed taking root and sprouting, Lin Tian’s figure took hold in the cracks of Zhao Mengmeng’s heart.
When Zhao Mengmeng heard Lin Tian’s inner voice say, “Wait for me,” that seed finally grew into a resilient little tree!
Its roots spread deep within the girl’s defenses—an imprint so profound that it could never be completely erased in this lifetime.
Her eyes curved gently, and a trace of crystal and moisture shimmered in those beautiful eyes.
Zhao Mengmeng answered with all her heart.
All right. I’ll wait for you.
…
A person’s three views—their outlook on life, their values, and their worldview—develop at different times depending on their experiences and environment.
For Bai Bing’er, however, the time when her three views were shaped came far earlier than anyone could have imagined.
By her teenage years, Bai Bing’er had already awakened a terrifying gift: the ability to see straight through people’s hearts.
No thought could hide from her.
From a person’s expression, eyes, movements, and tone of voice, she could instinctively deduce everything.
Others, even the sharpest minds, needed time to piece things together bit by bit. For Bai Bing’er, however, it was as natural as breathing—a talent ingrained in her very being.
This gift exposed her to the filth and ugliness lurking within human hearts from a young age.
Of course, beauty existed, too.
However, one drop of poison can spoil an entire pot of soup.
For a young girl whose values were not yet fully formed, how could Bai Bing’er use glimpses of beauty to mask the stench of corruption?
Thus, she resolved to expose the truth for all to see.
Bai Bing’er always acted the same way, whether she was facing relatives, friends, or strangers.
Some people were delighted, believing her to be a prodigy, and spared no effort in nurturing her.
Others saw her as a monster.
From that moment on, Bai Bing’er was destined to be friendless.
After all, no one’s heart is ever completely pure and spotless.
Yet, Bai Bing’er was the demon who could see every stain at a single glance.
During her girlhood years, Bai Bing’er held on stubbornly. In that time, however, she lost her friends, the affection of her family and elders, and the right to attend school.
In the end, she could no longer endure it. She chose to hide behind a mask of laziness and indifference.
She began to lose interest in everything.
Even when she came across genuinely interesting things that could have sparked her curiosity, Bai Bing’er would often abandon them after the briefest contact.
For years, she believed her world was destined to remain gray. No one could accompany her in the realm of truth—not even her father or her closest relatives, all of whom drifted helplessly in an ocean of falsehood.
Until she met Lin Tian.
She asked him, “Lin Tian, was it wrong to hold on to the truth?”
Lin Tian answered with his inner voice:
“Just because everyone embraces it doesn’t mean falsehood is right!”
In that moment, Bai Bing’er felt her world light up. Suddenly, there was red, green, and colors of every shade.
……
Instead of the past’s gray and white!
Lin Tian’s words made Bai Bing’er feel as though she had finally found her own truth in this world filled with falsehood.
From that moment on, Lin Tian became to Bai Bing’er what an anchor is to a drifting boat and what water is to a fish.
The woman who had once stopped believing in anything and lost interest in everything no longer cared about her ability to see through people’s hearts.
The shackles and pressures that had battered her like raging waves when she walked alone, leaving her with nowhere to cling and tossing her about in the current, were gone.
With Lin Tian, she was no longer afraid.
Bai Bing’er gently closed her eyes and told herself that this was something to be happy about and not something to cry over.
Then, in her heart, she silently replied:
All right. I’ll wait for you.