Chapter 72: “What do you like about your wife?”

Meng Jianchen frowned at her words. What on earth was she talking about? Since when did he not want her to have contact with her family?

Previously, he hadn’t let her go home simply because she had been running wild abroad for four years, refusing to return to Beijing with him no matter what. If he let her scurry back to her parents’ house to find a place to hide from him, wouldn’t he be sentenced to “life without a wife” all over again?

Having lived apart in different countries for four years, he couldn’t let her be willful anymore.

But now, Chen Luoru was much better behaved than before and wasn’t screaming for a divorce every single day. He wouldn’t block her from going wherever she wanted—she had just spent half a month in Paris recently, after all. At most, he’d just send a few bodyguards to follow her.

“I don’t feel that way,” Meng Jianchen said.

But Chen Luoru countered, “You seem like you don’t like the people on my family’s side.”

Meng Jianchen was silent for a moment before asking, “Who in your family do you want me to like?”

Chen Luoru began counting on her fingers. “My parents, my sister, my—”

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“R alprlnv uswa ryaldvp,” Yldt Kkydnbld pyke, “fwpv yp usw alprlnv xu qyvbla.”

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Fbl pweeldzu qlzv zkjl y “okvblale lttrzydv bkv cu qaspv.”

Fktb, xu qyxkzu kp ps ekpyrrskdvkdt. Lsv y pkdtzl rlapsd nyd xyjl Yldt Kkydnbld vbkdj bktbzu sq vbl Ubld qyxkzu.

Thinking of it this way, she was essentially the “only hope” for the entire family. She sighed again, feeling like a failure. Even she, the only hope, hadn’t managed to make Meng Jianchen like her that much. It seemed this marriage, built without an emotional foundation, would instantly crumble the moment the two families’ interests clashed.

“However, there is one person in your family I like very much,” Meng Jianchen’s deep voice vibrated near her ear.

Chen Luoru lifted her long lashes and looked at him in confusion, her expression like that of a dazed white rabbit. “Who?”

Meng Jianchen’s eyes darkened, showing a hint of surprise. “You don’t know?”

“Why would I know?” she grumbled. “Who is it? A man or a woman?”

“I’m a man. Do you think I like men or women?” Meng Jianchen found her question ridiculous.

“There are plenty of men who like men these days,” she muttered. “Who knows with you?”

Meng Jianchen had no choice but to say, “…It’s a woman.” He added for good measure, “I only like women.”

Having been married for so long, he never expected the day would come where his own wife would question his sexual orientation. He felt a bitter sort of irony.

“Is it the ‘romantic’ kind of like, or the ‘small animal’ kind of like?” she asked again.

“Small animal? What do you mean?” He arched an eyebrow.

“You know, the way one likes kittens and puppies. Like the way I like Lucas.”

Meng Jianchen gave a faint smile. “No. It’s the first kind.”

Chen Luoru thought seriously for a moment, then asked hesitantly, “You couldn’t possibly like my aunt’s second daughter, could you?”

Meng Jianchen: “…”

Chen Luoru immediately kicked his shin. “Meng Jianchen! You’re actually two-timing me!”

Meng Jianchen: “…Who even is your aunt’s second daughter?”

“The pretty one! You saw her at the wedding,” she said.

“I have absolutely no memory of her,” he replied expressionlessly.

“Then could it be my cousin’s younger sister?” Goosebumps broke out on Chen Luoru’s skin, and she looked at him with pure disgust. “That’s disgusting. She’s only fifteen!”

Meng Jianchen: “…”

He really wanted to give her head a shake to see if he could hear water sloshing around inside.

“Then who is it?” Meng Jianchen’s increasingly dark expression didn’t stop her wild imagination. She continued to screen suspicious targets, even considering pulling out her phone to check the family tree.

“Enough, stop guessing.” Meng Jianchen couldn’t sit still anymore. This woman truly had no self-awareness. He treated her so well, yet she didn’t notice at all. He had intended to tease her, but she had veered so far off-topic she’d landed in a ditch.

“Who is it then!” she demanded relentlessly.

“If I tell you, what do you plan to do?” he asked calmly.

“I—” Her heart sank. If he really had his eye on one of her sisters or cousins, what would she do? But she couldn’t let him see her panic. She feigned composure and said, “I’d divorce you, of course!”

“Then you’re better off not knowing,” he said stiffly.

“No way! You can’t just leave it half-said. Do you expect me to be able to sleep tonight?” she cried indignantly.

Meng Jianchen lifted her chin. She wore no makeup; her face was naturally pale with a rosy tint, and her lips were as delicate as flower petals.

He parted his lips and said, “If I don’t like my own wife, who else would I like?”

Chen Luoru: “…”

Her rosy lips parted slightly, her glassy eyes wide, her lashes trembling. Seeing her dazed expression, Meng Jianchen felt both annoyed and amused.

“You couldn’t possibly not know who my wife is, right?”

Chen Luoru blinked, then said blankly, “I know.”

It was her! It was her! It was definitely her!

The corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve into a proud smile. Seeing the tender look in his eyes, her heart suddenly felt as if it were soaking in honey-water.

“What do you like about your wife?” She shifted her position on his lap, her face full of haughty little expressions, her back straightening considerably.

“I like that she’s beautiful and cute,” he said.

“Doesn’t she have any other virtues besides being beautiful and cute?” she asked dissatisfied. “Isn’t she gentle, virtuous, and exceptionally clever?”

Meng Jianchen pondered for a moment before saying solemnly, “She really isn’t.”

Chen Luoru: “…”

What kind of ‘plastic’ marriage is this?! In the end, it’s all about the face! I guess I should be glad I was born with good looks.

“Meng Jianchen, you are so shallow.”

“Actually… she does have other virtues,” he added.

“Like what?”

A small laugh escaped his nose. He lowered his voice and said slowly, “She has a delicate body and she’s very soft. She feels… particularly good to hold.”

Chen Luoru’s face turned bright red. She pounded his chest with her fist and scolded, “You pervert!”

He didn’t argue. He was used to her calling him names both in and out of bed anyway. Being “perverted” toward one’s own wife was perfectly natural.

He picked her up and tossed her onto the bed; she screamed and rolled into the duvet. As he reached to pull back the covers, she dodged back and forth like they were playing hide-and-seek, until he finally managed to pin her down.

Chen Luoru looked up with her bewitching “peach blossom” eyes, emboldened by his affection. “Tell me… have you been plotting this for a long time?”

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Sansukini: Happy New Year, my dears. I wish for all of us to have a better year and more blessings, this 2026.

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