Chapter 37

I stayed calm under pressure and said, “Can Can, if you keep touching, I might get wet.”

Yin Can Can then withdrew her hand, revealing a radiant smile, “Your husband is really fortunate.”

Is it really okay for a seasoned driver to speed on the first encounter?

Yin Can Can reminisced, “You bought the wrong bra.”

Me: “How is that possible?”

Yin Can Can rolled her eyes, “The shoulder straps are too loose, and with the outward spread and sagging, your perfect cleavage is all messed up.”

Me: “…”

I looked down and started to doubt.

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Zkd Uyd Uyd rknjle swv y cay qsa xl. Ebld R rwv kv sd, xu nblpv yrrlyale aswde yde qwzz, okvb ellr nzlyhytl, vawzu calyvbvyjkdt.

Zkd Uyd Uyd alxyajle, “Rq R bye uswa qktwal, R’e olya ellr A-dlnj yde zso-nwv vydj vsrp lhlau eyu, ps plmu vbyv lhld R oswze cl pnyale.”

R kxxlekyvlzu alvaynvle xu nblpv.

Zkd Uyd Uyd pzyrrle xu cynj qsanlqwzzu, pyukdt, “Zsw xwpv pvyde vyzz yde cl y osxyd!”

This sister is so scary!

But the bra she recommended was indeed very comfortable to wear.

So, when Yin Can Can invited me out for shopping the second time, I happily tagged along.

Due to pregnancy, Yin Can Can could eat a lot, but she didn’t gain weight anywhere else except her belly. Truly enviable.

After eating, Yin Can Can suggested, “Let’s go to the gym.”

Me: !!!

She’s truly an extraordinary woman.

While she exercised, Yin Can Can got me a gym membership and hired a personal trainer for me. Honestly, it was challenging for me to stay committed.

Yin Can Can switched my trainer to the most handsome one in the entire center, and that motivated me to persevere.

Yin Can Can said, “Being thin from hunger is not healthy. Eat freely, shape your body through exercise, and it’s best to have abdominal muscles.”

I went for this goal.

As the abdominal muscles started to show, I suddenly realized that the support from the muscles naturally made my waist straighten.

Yin Can Can even taught me step by step how to do makeup, introducing me to some affordable and effective products like CPB, Armani, YSL, and La Mer.

Indeed, they were easy to use, even for a makeup novice like me.

But I felt like Yin Can Can might have some misunderstanding about the concept of affordability. A BB cream that costs over 700 is not exactly affordable, right?

Yin Can Can said I was outdated, claiming that refined beauties are all made with money. To convince me, she even made a significant sacrifice.

Makeup removal.

Yin Can Can has always educated me that women should not hesitate to spend money on themselves. She even said that my choice of a ten-thousand-yuan handbag is too plain.

I told her she got it wrong; I bought this bag for only five hundred from a friend. Yin Can Can then enlightened me about what high-quality replicas are. She emphasized the importance of destroying such items quickly because once people know about your history with replicas, it will haunt you forever. Having used one fake item, even if you buy a hundred genuine ones later, people will still accuse you of carrying fake goods.

Following her advice, we went to buy a bag from Hermès.

Upon seeing the prices, I realized it was beyond my budget. Yin Can Can commented that my spending habits don’t match my status and my husband’s.

Hesitant, I held the black card given by Du Hongting.

I asked Yin Can Can, “I don’t know why, but I always feel embarrassed spending my husband’s money. Is it too reserved of me? Is it inappropriate?”

Yin Can Can replied, “Why would you think that?”

I said, “Right? I also feel that there’s no need to separate money matters so clearly between husband and wife.”

Yin Can Can asserted, “It must be separated!”

I asked, “Huh?”

Yin Can Can explained, “Women must never develop a habit of spending a man’s money. Financial independence is essential for maintaining an independent personality.”

I agreed, and then, as if recalling a sad incident, I lamented, “This way, I won’t forgive him for not having time to accompany me just because he bought me a limited edition bag. I won’t feel devastated because he refuses to buy me a mere 700,000 yuan diamond bag…”

It seems everyone has their own story.

So-called “Near Zhu Zhe Chi, Near Mo Zhe He” (One becomes good or bad by association), after spending a few months with Yin Can Can, more than one person complimented me on looking better.

Even Du Hongting said, “When you were eighteen, you couldn’t compare to how young, beautiful, and vibrant you are now.”

But he also advised me to limit my interactions with Yin Can Can.

I asked him, “Why?”

He said, “If she continues to influence you, she’ll lead you astray.”

I didn’t believe it until one day when I witnessed this pregnant lady teasing the counter guy.

Yin Can Can argued that just because a woman is married, it doesn’t mean she has to isolate herself from all other men except her husband. Being appreciated by men is the best proof of charm.

The counter guy’s reaction was different when faced with me compared to others. Yin Can Can asserted that this is the joy of being a woman.

I asked, “Isn’t this privilege reserved for beautiful women?”

Yin Can Can replied, “Believe what you want.”

I asked, “Doesn’t your husband mind?”

Yin Can Can said, “Yes, but I have a way to handle him.”

I inquired, “Please enlighten me.”

Yin Can Can said, “Compared to our man, your Du Hongting is quite easy to handle.”

It sounded a bit odd.

Yin Can Can explained, “He’s just a bit of a drama queen, good at playing the victim.”

That’s still quite something!

Yin Can Can added, “It’s because you don’t know how tough Du Hongting is in front of others. He dares to reject major cases, argues with important clients, slams the table, and glares at them. But in front of you, he’s just a little princess who can’t carry anything. The contrast is adorable. You don’t understand the fun in this; it’s a pity.”

I said, “It sounds like you find my husband quite interesting?”

Yin Can Can replied, “Yes, Du Hongting has a lot of leg hair, so he must have a strong libido.”

I exclaimed, “That’s enough!”

So, I started treating Du Hongting’s princess syndrome. He always complained that I never used his card, depriving him of the joy he should experience as a husband.

Therefore, I mustered the courage to invite Yin Can Can for a meal and told her, “Eat more, eat until Du Hongting goes broke. See if he dares to urge me to use his card next time.”

Yin Can Can laughed heartily and said, “With your usage, you won’t be able to eat up Du Boss’s wealth even in a hundred years. Let me help you vent some frustration.”

I couldn’t bear to watch, so I let her take the card and spend it. As a result, Yin Can Can swiped a Porsche for me!

I feel like my short-lived marriage is coming to an end.

I plan to tell Du Hongting that I never intended to buy a car and that Yin Can Can incited me to make a rash decision. Perhaps I’ll return the car tomorrow, even if I can’t get a full refund, I can at least recover some of the losses. I guess he’ll be very angry, blaming my insincerity and extravagant desires. Maybe, in a fit of anger, he’ll even bring up divorce? Even if we divorce, I’ll definitely repay the money for the car; I need to clarify this with him…

When he returned, he asked, “Bought a car?”

My heart pounded like thunder. “Yes.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good.” Du Hongting said and went to take a shower.

I was hesitant.

I used to never step into Du Hongting’s company, but recently, I visited his office without any particular reason, dressing up nicely. 

One time, I brought him a boxed lunch, and when he returned from work, he told me it felt satisfying to have everyone envy him like he was torturing a dog. 

Occasionally, I would gather some important information.

His secretary told me that General Manager Du once gave her a large bouquet of roses. What’s the situation? The secretary, with a smug smile, revealed that the card attached to the roses said, “Happy birthday, wife.” I couldn’t even remember where I was or what I did on my birthday! I felt sorry for Du Hongting.

To make it up to him, I treated him well at home that night, in bed.

On another visit to the company, the secretary happily informed me that General Manager Du had given her a bonus of ten thousand yuan! 

What a spendthrift.

There was also a time passing through their company’s pantry, where I overheard one of his partners saying that when Du Hongting was in the United States, he often hired Chicken(also considered as a slang for prostitutes).

I froze. 

When I confronted Du Hongting, he was furious and took me to that partner’s house overnight. It turned out that the “chicken” he ordered was fried chicken.

So, it seems quite necessary to visit your husband’s workplace frequently, adding a touch of tension to improve marital relations. 

On the work front, I try to balance work and leisure, making an effort to go home with him after work.

We exercise together, do face masks together, and talk about recent work events. I told him that a potential investor hinted at making inappropriate advances towards me. 

He got angry, thinking I was scared. Actually, I was quite happy. It means my recent appearance has improved significantly, reaching the level where I might be approached.

Du Hongting refused to let it go and heard that the fate of that investor was somewhat grim, too violent to mention. 

In our intimate life, with Yin Cancan’s guidance, my preferences have changed a bit. 

I like taking the lead, often transitioning from passive to active, putting Du Hongting beneath me and saying, “You watch, I’ll take charge.” 

Initially, my skills were not great, like driving on a road with starts and stops, and Du Hongting probably bit his teeth in frustration. 

Later on, my skills improved a bit. According to him, “Under the peony flowers, even death is romantic.” 

I think, it’s been three years since we got married. We’ve probably passed the so-called adjustment period, and our marital relationship is gradually stabilizing, making our future happier. 

Yin Cancan finally gave birth. 

The second child is a girl. 

Du Hongting and I went to celebrate the full moon.

I overheard Xiao Che and Du Hongting discussing children. Xiao Che mentioned that their first child was also not easy to conceive, and he could understand our feelings. While speaking, Du Hongting’s eyes were glued to Xiao Che’s precious daughter like strong adhesive, unwilling to move away for a moment. I really wished I could give birth to a daughter for him on the spot.

Du Hongting pleaded with Xiao Che, “Let me hold the baby.” However, Xiao Che refused, saying, “You have no experience. Can you hold her?” Du Hongting looked really pitiful, saying, “I’ll be very careful.” But Xiao Che cherished his little daughter so much, proudly and arrogantly, shaking his head and leaving.

This made both Du Hongting and me so angry that we couldn’t sleep the whole night. My throat was hoarse, and the sheets were wet. Unfortunately, the baby still didn’t come. I started considering IVF (in vitro fertilization).

Du Hongting disagreed, saying it would be too painful, and we should let nature take its course. He claimed that having a child or not didn’t matter. I knew he was saying one thing but thinking another.

I also feel sorry for him pretending not to care.

Perhaps even the heavens couldn’t stand us being too happy, fearing that with another child, everything would be too perfect.

One Sunday afternoon, as I was leaving the hospital after an examination, I unexpectedly ran into Du Hongting in the hospital’s underground parking lot. From a distance of several cars, I saw a pregnant woman tightly holding his hand. His expression appeared cold, and he kept shaking off the woman’s entanglement.

I overheard his voice from afar: “I already have my own family, and so do you… We were all happy before. Moreover, we’ve been separated for so long. Why do you still come back to find me? Don’t you know how annoying you look?” The woman said something unclear, and the two of them got into the car one after the other. I could only faintly hear.

Du Hongting said, “Have you divorced? Doing such things within marriage is not right. I hate infidelity the most.”

I was worried that it might be a misunderstanding on my part, even though it was hard to convince myself that it was.

I planned to calm down and have a good talk with Du Hongting. However, a stranger called me.

“Are you Meng Qiqi? Du Hongting is your husband, right?”

Me: “Yes…”

“I am Michelle’s husband. You know about Michelle and Du Hongting, don’t you?”

“…”

“Can you please control your husband? Michelle is threatening divorce with me because of him! It’s insane! She already has her own family, and Du Hongting is the same! What’s the point of all this? The child is about to be born…”

“A child?”

I didn’t even realize when I hung up the phone. My hands have been shaking.

No wonder having a child didn’t matter…

Turns out, he had shifted my hopes onto someone else.

The fairy-tale-like perfect marriage I thought I had turned out to be just a joke. And this shameless Du Hongting comes back, wanting to play the role of a loving husband with me.

I angrily rejected him.

Du Hongting: “It’s impossible again, right?”

In the past month, I’ve rejected him several times because I wasn’t feeling well. Du Hongting sighed, “Meng Qiqi, don’t let the child’s matter affect yourself, okay? It’s really not necessary.”

Me: “…”

Forget it.

Whatever he thinks doesn’t matter.

As long as he doesn’t find out that I already have Dog Egg 2.0.

This afternoon, it was just confirmed at the hospital, but I haven’t told him about the changes that have occurred.

During this cold war, I’ve been reminiscing the whole time.

Du Hongting has been good to me from the beginning, making me feel special in his eyes. This feeling is truly addictive and hard to let go of.

Thinking back, the happiest and carefree moments together were at the beginning of our love. 

At that time, he was chubby, and I was foolish. We thought that such feelings would last forever.

Afterward, we experienced a lot, and our relationship had its ups and downs. Still, we were able to overcome every obstacle and deepen our bond.

I never thought that we wouldn’t make it to the end.

Until today, I always considered myself the happiest person in the world.

Having everything that every woman desires—career, love, family.

Adding Dog Egg 2.0, my life was complete.

In the end, everything was fake.

As dawn approached, I woke Du Hongting up and told him that I wanted a divorce.

He was in a bad mood, sat up groggily, and managed to hold back from yelling at me for a while.

He mumbled, “Do whatever you want… fine.”

But when he woke up, he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“Reason?”

He actually had the audacity to ask for a reason!

Me: “You know the reason yourself.”

He looked cold and remained silent.

Probably thinking that I had no evidence to hold against him.

So arrogant.

Keep that princess attitude for your next wife; I won’t accompany you any longer.

We took our marriage certificate and household registration to the Civil Affairs Bureau to process the divorce.

It was truly unpleasant.

The clerk even gave me dumplings that tasted like leeks and burped!

It made me experience severe morning sickness, and I vomited so violently that Du Hongting almost became suspicious.

He’s a golden bachelor and a wealthy man; in the future, he could easily build a whole soccer team with any woman.

With my poor uterine conditions, this might be my only chance in a lifetime.

If he found out, he would surely compete with me for the child.

How could I possibly win against him?

So, I must not let him know before the divorce.

But it seems like he found out.

He refuses to divorce me no matter what.

Surprisingly, the clerk also doubles as a mediator. After listening to my long-winded complaints, he summarized it.

“From what I see, the main issue between you two is a lack of effective communication.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means talking at cross-purposes, not being on the same page.”

“Perhaps, but I’m tired. I don’t want to continue.”

“Okay. But you mentioned your husband’s infidelity, and he seems to strongly deny it. Maybe it’s a misunderstanding?”

“Impossible.”

“Do you want to hear his side of the story?”

“No need.”

“It’s necessary. My job requires me to confirm the accurate reasons for divorce; ambiguity won’t do.”

Fine.

I also want to know the truth.

The clerk asked Du Hongting to confess, to admit the fact of infidelity.

He still insisted, “I did not cheat.”

I said, “Why bother? We’ve reached this point; just be honest.”

Du Hongting replied, “You seem to have things you haven’t confessed to me.”

I said, “Fine, I admit I’ve kept things from you. But I had no choice. Before discovering your affair, I felt my life was unbelievably perfect. Well, I was too naive. In reality, there’s no such thing as a perfect life. I thought I was infertile for life, and then unexpectedly got pregnant…”

Du Hongting interrupted my rambling, “You’re pregnant?”

I said, “Didn’t you guess? That’s why you refused to divorce me. But what’s the point of such a marriage? For the child…”

Du Hongting cut off my words, “Are you sure?”

I replied, “Absolutely sure. I went to the hospital for blood tests and had an ultrasound. The values are good, and there’s already a fetal heartbeat.”

Du Hongting was overjoyed. He stood up, hugged me tightly, kissed me vigorously, and even twirled me around in a princess carry, exclaiming, “Haha, this is great! I’m going to be a dad!”

I was about to lose my mind, “Can you please be serious! We’re discussing a divorce now!”

The clerk looked bewildered.

Du Hongting exclaimed, “Divorce? What divorce? All our problems have been solved between us! There’s no problem at all! Why do we still need a divorce?”

I said, “No problem? Isn’t cheating a problem?”

Du Hongting asked, “If there’s no cheating, then do we have any problems between us?”

I thought for a moment. Apart from the fidelity issue, our marriage seemed harmonious, with a good relationship, successful careers, and a satisfying intimate life. Indeed, there seemed to be no other problems.

Du Hongting said, “If I can explain it clearly, you have to withdraw the divorce request.”

I said, “Explain it clearly? How is that even possible?”

Du Hongting asked, “What if I can?”

I said, “Then why would I want a divorce from you? Of course, I’d go home, have a child, and live happily as a wealthy wife for the rest of my life! But you did cheat; that woman is even pregnant with your child. You won’t deny that, right? Come on, tell me, who is that woman?”

Next.

It’s time to witness a miracle.

Du Hongting raised his eyebrows arrogantly and smiled, “My mom.”

The author has something to say:

My mom.

Unexpected, isn’t it?

Surprising, isn’t it?

This is the first novel where I’ve already planned the last sentence and then struggled to write a hundred thousand words for it.