3 Chapter 3

◎What a wonderful scheme of keeping a mistress in a golden house!◎

It took Zhan Xinyue a long time to calm herself down before she finally entered the classroom. The bell had rung long ago, but fortunately, the teacher supervising the self-study session didn't give her any trouble. He just waved his hand, signaling her to go back and sit down.

She walked towards her seat with her head down. She had been crying so hard that the hair at her temples was stuck to her face. She just wiped it away haphazardly with her hands. She knew without a doubt how disheveled she looked. Fortunately, everyone in the classroom was engrossed in their studies and no one noticed her.

She tried her best to make herself inconspicuous, but unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Just as she sat down, Shi Ziqian looked up, and their eyes met unexpectedly. To be fair, they were extremely beautiful eyes, with pupils as black as cold jade and long eyelashes. His gaze paused slightly when he looked at her.

It was too embarrassing; Zhan Xinyue had only one thought in her mind.

Seeing that he seemed to want to ask something, she immediately and stiffly averted her gaze, lowered her head even further, and let the strands of hair at her temples fall down, shutting out everything around her and silently expressing her rejection.

"Don't meddle in other people's business," Zhan Xinyue prayed silently in her heart.

She was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and had no energy to deal with the probing gaze of a classmate she didn't know very well.

As she wished, Shi Ziqian remained silent, showing great discretion.

But he really didn't ask anything, which made Zhan Xinyue laugh at herself. She had been far too presumptuous to think that Shi Ziqian would care about what had happened to her.

So many years after graduation, her memories of Shi Ziqian were actually quite vague. But in her memory, he was always cold, seemingly indifferent to everyone around him. His family background, appearance, and even his grades were so outstanding that no one dared to compare with him. His personality was also aloof, always maintaining a distance from everyone in the class like a solitary bamboo.

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly remembered the brief moment she had exchanged glances with Shi Ziqian in the darkness. The light from the projector in the darkness softened his features and eyes, and Shi Ziqian didn't seem as cold as she remembered him then. His eyes were shimmering with light, as if they were filled with water.

The classroom windows were tightly closed, but the faint chirping of cicadas in the summer night could still be heard.

The air conditioning was set very low, and everyone was wearing oversized long-sleeved school uniform jackets, heads down, engrossed in their work. The school did offer short-sleeved summer uniforms, but the collared style was universally disliked; everyone preferred to wear their own clothes underneath the long-sleeved uniforms in the sweltering heat. On the podium, the elderly Chinese language teacher leaned back in his chair, his eyes half-closed, as if asleep. He was well into his sixties, long past retirement age, but had been rehired by the school.

She stared blankly at the familiar yet unfamiliar scene for a while, then looked at the exam paper in front of her. Unconsciously, the words on the paper gradually blurred, and tears welled up in her eyes again. She tried to control herself, but a tear still rolled down and dripped onto the exam paper, spreading a small damp patch.

In my past life, everything changed beyond recognition because of a strange message.

When she saw the QQ message, Xu Shen was away on a business trip. His business had grown bigger and bigger in recent years, so he inevitably had to travel all over the country.

During their student days, everyone was used to using QQ, but after graduation, almost everyone switched to WeChat. She hadn't opened the app in a long time. But since it held many memories, she had kept it.

She opened QQ that day unintentionally. Just before she was about to exit, her eyes caught sight of an unread message.

The message came from a cartoon rabbit avatar, with a nickname consisting of only English letters and no contact name. She couldn't remember who this person was at all.

The message had been sent a few days ago. She clicked on it out of curiosity, but the moment she saw the contents, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

The message was very short, just a few words.

Keep an eye on Xu Shen; he has someone outside.

She sat alone in the garden, repeatedly pondering the words. The sun was warm, yet she gradually felt a chill. But she quickly calmed herself, not for any other reason than her complete trust in Xu Shen.

After calming down, she began to analyze the person's identity and purpose. QQ was a common communication tool during her student days, which she had long since stopped using. This person was in her contact list and knew Xu Shen, so he must be an old acquaintance from many years ago.

She clicked on the unfamiliar profile picture and stared at it for a long time, but couldn't figure it out. So she casually replied with a "?", not taking it seriously, thinking it was just a silly prank.

The moment I logged out, another message popped up on the other end.

Jinshi Xiaozhu (Golden Stone Cottage)

"What do you mean?" she asked again.

There was no reply from the other end.

She suddenly remembered that it was the name of an upscale residential area on the outskirts of the city. She and Xu Shen had visited the area when it first opened for sale, but she didn't like the overly ostentatious name at the time, so they only went once.

Although puzzled, she still treated it as a bad joke and tried to put it out of her mind.

But in the days that followed, this strange episode began to haunt her like a thorn in her heart, surfacing intermittently and causing her a sense of inexplicable unease.

Finally, after Xu Shen went on another business trip, she inexplicably decided to go and take a look at that neighborhood.

She chuckled to herself at her own absurdity, realizing she had kept such a strange message in her mind for so long, and even traveled across half the city to get here.

She told herself, "Just go take a look, and then I can completely forget about it."

Security at Jinshi Xiaozhu is extremely tight; entry is by invitation only. It was raining heavily that day. Zhan Xinyue sat in the back seat of the car, lowered the window, and gazed at the gate of the residential complex through the rain. The driver, puzzled, asked, "Madam, what are you doing here in this heavy rain?" She replied, "Nothing, just looking around."

She got out of the car, holding an umbrella, and stood not far from the gate of the residential complex. After standing there for a short while, the splashing raindrops soaked the hem of her skirt. Outside the complex, everything was calm and peaceful except for the rain; nothing seemed amiss. She watched for a while, then shook her head and prepared to leave.

But things in this world are often so coincidental. She had only taken two steps when she caught sight of a family of three walking out of the residential area. The man was tall and gentlemanly, the woman was gentle and graceful, and in the middle they were holding the hand of a three- or four-year-old boy wearing yellow rain boots, happily splashing through the puddles as they walked.

What a beautiful picture of a happy family!

But why is it that the male protagonist in the story is her husband?

She vaguely recalled what Xu Shen had told her. Oh, he said he was going on a business trip to a neighboring province, and before leaving, he repeatedly reminded her that he wouldn't be home tonight and to lock the windows before going to bed.

Staring at Xu Shen's face, in that instant, more than anger or pain, the first emotion that welled up in her heart was absurdity. It was too absurd. Her husband, who had just parted from her that morning, was here with another woman, and even had a child with her. Was this real or an illusion?

After a long pause, she reached for her phone and dialed Xu Shen's number. She thought she was calm, but at that moment her hand trembled so much that she could barely press his number.

How could that be? No way.

Even if everyone in the world cheats, he shouldn't... He's Xu Shen.

However, reality is always so stark and cruel. A man not far away took out his phone.

He had barely glanced at the caller ID when the little boy beside him started fussing and trying to reach for his phone. He then gestured to the boy, and the woman beside him considerately took the umbrella he was holding, picked up the boy, and said something to him until the boy quieted down. Only then did he answer the phone.

Zhan Xinyue stared blankly at their actions.

Xu Shen's gentle voice came from the other end of the phone, through the sound of the rain. The rain was so heavy, mixed with the raindrops around her ears, that her whole world felt like a downpour. As always, his voice was gentle, patient, and without a trace of anything amiss: "Hello, Yueyue?"

Holding her phone, she slowly lowered her umbrella, shielding her from everything. The torrential rain threatened to engulf her. A man's questioning voice came through the receiver, "Why aren't you saying anything? What happened?" Only then did she belatedly realize that the young woman beside him looked so familiar. It was her best friend, Xie Wanzhi.

Xu Shen, Xie Wanzhi.

Her husband, her best friend, two people she never imagined would have any other connection.

Okay, okay, okay.

What a wonderful Jinshi Xiaozhu (Golden Stone Pavilion), what a perfect place to hide a beauty.

"Maybe I pressed the wrong button..." The phone finally went into a long beeping sound.

"Dad, who's on the phone?"

"It's someone you don't know."

The hushed voices of the family of three grew closer and closer, then gradually faded away, eventually disappearing into the sound of rain.

Zhan Xinyue raised her umbrella and glanced again at the residential complex behind them. In the heavy rain, the complex appeared even more tranquil, truly living up to its name of luxury, with its exorbitant prices evident everywhere.

For no reason, she recalled that year in her junior year of college when Xu Shen's father, trusting a friend, suffered a failed investment, losing not only the family fortune but also incurring a considerable debt. At that time, Xu Shen, with red eyes, had said to her, "Yueyue, although I have nothing now, believe me, I will definitely work hard to give you a good life."

She didn't know how she left, nor did she remember where her umbrella went. It was all beyond her control, and only one thought remained in her mind: "I have to leave." Although she didn't know where to go, she only knew to keep moving forward, to escape this place. In her panic, she even forgot that the driver was still waiting for her in the car.

The torrential rain enveloped her like knives. Ten years of what she thought was a happy marriage crumbled in an instant. All those vows of love were lies, more than a decade of fidelity and love were lies—everything was a lie.

The phone suddenly vibrated violently, and Xu Shen's name reappeared in the center of the screen. Large raindrops fell, quickly obscuring the two characters. Zhan Xinyue neither hung up nor answered, but simply held the phone and walked and walked in the rain, as if afraid of being caught up in that unbearable scene again.

However, the vibration persisted relentlessly, ringing out again and again. She finally pressed the call button, and Xu Shen's panicked, incoherent voice came from the other end: "Yueyue, I see the car at home... Where are you? Please tell me where you are..."

She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but at this moment they suddenly seemed meaningless. She heard her own voice, eerily calm: "Let's get a divorce."

Silence fell over the other side for a moment, with only the sound of rain continuing.

She had no more strength left, so she hung up the phone. In her dazed state, she only remembered that when she saw the black car coming towards her, she felt an unexpected sense of relief: this absurd and ridiculous thing could finally end.

The man she had just met was not only her husband, but also her best friend and soulmate. They had shared almost all of their most passionate memories of their youth, and then ten years of marriage and devoted companionship. She had believed their lives were intertwined, inseparable, and that nothing could shake their love. But now, the stark reality told her: she had never truly known this man she had shared a bed with for ten years. It was all just a dream, a fleeting illusion.

In the final moments of her life, large tears rolled down her cheeks. Countless thoughts swirled in her mind, until finally only one question remained.

Xu Shen...why?

She felt as if she had shed countless tears, as if her internal organs had turned to water. Through her blurred vision, a pack of tissues was pushed into her field of vision by slender fingers, paused for a moment, and then the hand gently withdrew.

Zhan Xinyue stood stiffly, stubbornly refusing to take the pack of tissues. She wiped the wet test paper haphazardly with her hand, then picked up her pen again and pretended to be busy scribbling on the paper, deliberately leaving the pack of tissues forgotten on the corner of the table. As if doing so wouldn't be an admission of her current disheveled state.