Covert Glance

Lin Wanqing had lived in this neighborhood for seven years. Whenever the neighbors mentioned her, they would always use the word "virtuous." Her husband Xie Yan was a surveyor who spent most of the year away on projects, hardly ever returning home more than a few times a month. The rigid routine was like a blunt knife, slicing her life into meticulous pieces—morning runs, grocery shopping, cooking, yoga, staring blankly into space. Her love for Xie Yan was beyond doubt, yet the neighbor Shen Tuo, who always appeared on the other side of the railing, was like a pebble casually tossed into a calm lake, silently sending out ripples. What she didn't know was that some people's gaze is sharper than a pebble.