Chapter 5: He will forgive me

The next morning, Chen Xinya woke up early.

She washed up quickly, then dove into the kitchen to start cooking.

Not just breakfast, but a lunch bento too.

After finishing, she left a note on the dining table: “I’m off to school. Food’s ready. Eat when you’re hungry and wait for me to get home, okay?”

With everything done, Chen Xinya took a deep breath, grabbed her schoolbag, and left.

…She didn’t go to school.

In her last life, during her most paranoid days, she’d hired a private detective to install a tracking and spyware app on Meng Zhi’s phone.

It was effective. It not only pinpointed his location but also logged his calls and messages.

In an era where information was everything, controlling Meng Zhi’s phone was like controlling his life.

Luckily, last night, Chen Xinya had checked and found the same detective was already working at this point in this life.

She arranged to meet him at a café.

First, she grabbed a bank card her parents kept at home and withdrew cash from the bank. The PIN, as expected, was her birthday.

Then, she took a taxi to the café.

“I need software to monitor my boyfriend’s phone,” Chen Xinya said bluntly upon arriving.

The detective raised an eyebrow, surprised by the young girl’s directness. “Not your first time doing this, huh?”

Chen Xinya didn’t answer, her gaze drifting absently out the window.

“No worries. We don’t ask questions in this line of work.”

He sent her an app. “Get access to his phone and install this. It’ll hide itself, and you can check his calls and chats in real-time.”

“Thanks.” Chen Xinya paid, said nothing more, and left quickly.

With hours until school ended, she had nowhere to go. She bought a milk tea and sat on a bench in a nearby commercial street plaza.

Sipping her drink, her thoughts churned back to the past.

She suddenly recalled that their irreconcilable rift in the last life began when he discovered the tracking app.

He’d asked, confused and hurt, why she doubted him, why she didn’t respect his privacy.

Chen Xinya didn’t know how to respond.

She knew it was wrong, knew it might upset him.

But doing nothing let her nameless fears and suspicions fester, like a rotting wound spreading in her heart.

The tracking app was just a desperate, poisoned cure.

‘If he finds out this time, he’ll be mad again,’ she thought, staring at her phone.

If I apologize… will he forgive me?

Will he understand?

I just love him too much. I can’t bear to lose him.

He will, right?

Lost in thought, she suddenly spotted a familiar, lazy figure on the street.

Meng Zhi.

Her body tensed instantly. She ducked into a corner, secretly watching him.

Why was he out?

What was he doing?

Was he meeting someone? Another girl?

To her slight relief, Meng Zhi didn’t meet anyone. He headed straight to an internet café at the street’s corner.

Just gaming… Chen Xinya exhaled.

Fair enough. Playing on his phone all day at home would be boring.

She remembered how, in the last life, Meng Zhi loved gaming. He’d even skipped school to sneak into internet cafés, once getting caught and publicly reprimanded.

He was talented at games, supposedly reaching high ranks in FPS titles, though Chen Xinya, who didn’t play, never quite understood.

She’d tried picking up his games to share his interests, but 3D motion sickness made her give up.

Still, she loved watching him play.

She didn’t get the games, but she adored how he looked—calm, focused, his sharp profile lit by the screen, eyes glinting with intensity.

She could watch that immersed look all afternoon without tiring.

After seeing him enter the café, Chen Xinya sat on a bench outside, waiting. She stayed until dusk, near school dismissal time, when Meng Zhi finally emerged.

He started walking back, and she trailed behind. Shortly after he entered the house, she pushed the door open, pretending she’d just gotten home from school.

“I’m back~”

Meng Zhi was on the sofa, watching TV. He glanced up briefly, saying nothing.

“Starving, right? I’ll make dinner now.” Acting clueless, Chen Xinya hurried into the kitchen.

Much faster than yesterday, she soon brought out two bowls of noodles. Meng Zhi ate silently.

“How is it?”

“Better than yesterday.”

“Can’t you say something nicer?”

“Still needs work.”

Chen Xinya kicked him lightly, then propped her chin casually. “What’d you do all day?”

“Slept. Played games.”

“Games? No computer at home, so you went to an internet café?”

“Yeah.” Meng Zhi nodded absently.

“The exam’s in a few days, and you’re gaming?”

“What? A few extra minutes of study gonna get me one more point?”

Chen Xinya pouted, dropping the banter. She was used to his laid-back attitude.

“Since you went to the café, take a shower after dinner. It probably reeks of smoke.”

“Got it.” Meng Zhi finished his noodles quickly, tossed his phone on the table, and headed to the bathroom.

As the sound of running water filled the air, Chen Xinya’s heart raced. She cautiously reached for his phone.

…Just like last time. His lock code was her birthday.

Her hands trembled as she installed the detective’s app, watching the progress bar. When “Installation Complete” flashed, she exhaled, locked the screen, and put the phone back.

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered in her mind.

You’ll forgive me.

Right?

Soon, Meng Zhi emerged, steaming from the shower, wearing a thin T-shirt and shorts. He flopped onto the sofa. “Done. Your turn.”

“Don’t you dare peek.”

“Sorry, my type’s curvy married women. Your little buns need a couple more years.”

“They’re not small! You’re just blind!” Chen Xinya stuck out her tongue and shut the bathroom door.

Once she was gone, Meng Zhi’s eyes darkened.

He picked up his phone.

With practiced ease, he found the hidden spyware and deleted it.

Then he set the phone down, closed his eyes, and lay back on the sofa.

…As if nothing had happened.