Chapter 51 Regret: How far could I go for that 'ex-wife'...
Dai Yuzhuo carried the clothes home and saw Chi Youran standing downstairs.
My mind went blank for a moment. He found me so quickly?
Was it Shuzhi who told him?
Chi Youran was holding his phone to his ear, but the call didn't seem to be going through. Chi Youran was wearing a black short-sleeved jacket and shiny leather shoes, giving him a scholarly air, and his handsome features were a major asset.
He seemed a little anxious, turning halfway around in place, almost making eye contact with Dai Yuzhuo.
Dai and Zhuo quickly took two steps and went directly upstairs in another elevator, while also dialing Shuzhi's number.
The line was busy, probably because Chi Youran made the call at the same time.
Dai and Zhuo quickened their pace, their bellies heaving with each step. Both hands were full of shopping bags from various brands. Shuzhi, being extremely clean, couldn't bear to put them down, carrying some while supporting others. He used one hand to look for his keys, his palms sweating. He remembered they were in his jacket pocket, but he couldn't find them.
The phone call suddenly stopped, but inside the living room, Shuzhi's cell phone continued to ring.
The ringing of the bell urged him on, but he couldn't find the key even after searching all his pockets. The sharp corner of the packaging bag poked his abdomen, and suddenly it twitched inside. Caught off guard, Dai Yuzhuo groaned and took a half step back, leaning against the wall. The handle of a bag slipped from his fingers, and half of his skirt fell to the ground along with the receipt.
Dai Yuzhuo immediately squatted down to pick it up, but his six-month pregnant belly prevented him from squatting completely. He had to squat down to make room, take a few deep breaths, and then he was already drenched in sweat after a few movements.
The cell phone inside the door stopped ringing for a moment, then rang again.
"Don't answer, Shuzhi, I beg you, don't answer..." he muttered to himself, quickly tidied his clothes, and finally found the key in his jacket pocket.
The moment the key was inserted into the lock, the bell stopped abruptly, and he heard Shuzhi say gently, "Hello?"
Dai and Zhuo suddenly opened the door, and a gust of wind blew up a stack of documents on the coffee table, causing them to flutter.
Sunlight, sliced into beams by the glass, fell on Shuzhi's wet hair, which cascaded over her shoulders. She had only wrapped herself loosely in a towel and was now staring blankly at him, her phone to her ear.
He stood there, looking at her with a mixture of caution and sorrow.
After a long pause, he finally spoke: "Who...who is it?"
He closed his eyes tightly, awaiting her verdict.
Shu looked him up and down: "Are you...my husband?"
Does she know something?
Oh right, there's a divorce certificate on top of the bookshelf in the bedroom. He was in such a hurry when he left that he forgot to put it away first.
Since she left, there are very few things left in the bedroom; she could find them with just a little searching.
Dai and Zhuo were unsure of her attitude. What if she hadn't noticed?
He slowed down a bit, placed all the packaging bags on the cabinet, and then turned around to ask, "Why do you ask that?"
Shuzhi's cheeks gradually lifted: "My aunt just called, and she seemed quite surprised that I'm staying at your house."
Hearing this, Dai Yuzhuo breathed a sigh of relief: "Of course I'm your husband, who else could it be but me?"
Shuzhi picked up the towel draped over her shoulders and dabbed the water dripping from her hair. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. "A strange man called me 'baby' just now, but after thinking about it, I realized that besides you, there's no one else."
“Yes, yes.” Dai Yuzhuo immediately agreed, and went over to help her dry her hair. “Who else could it be but me? He’s a liar, don’t pay any attention to him.”
"I think so too..."
Shuzhi went inside to change her clothes, while Daiyu went to the kitchen to heat up some milk, as she urgently needed to replenish her nutrition.
The glass clinked against the porcelain plate with a crisp sound, and a wisp of white mist meandered up from the surface of the cream. He stared at the slightly trembling skin of the milk in the center of the vortex, watching it slowly spread out like the first snowflakes.
This scene used to occur every morning after the wedding, but now it hasn't happened for half a year.
After marriage, he always wanted to have a child, but Shuzhi always felt that she was still young and did not want to be tied down by a child so soon.
The two argued about this a lot, and he always felt that it would be better to wait and wait.
Until one day, he learned that Shuzhi had actually aborted a child herself.
He was furious and spoke to her harshly for the first time: "You're not a child anymore. Don't tell me you don't know or understand; I'm a part of the child too. Why didn't you tell me before you aborted it?"
He was standing by the kitchen door, while Shuzhi was slumped in the sofa. Even the usually docile Shuzhi retorted, "I told you I don't want it. What good would it do to tell you?"
Dai Yuzhuo couldn't recall the feeling of anger she had at the time, only remembering saying, "You're really trying to drive me crazy! You're a married man, when are you going to learn to discuss things with me?"
"So what? If you want it, go ahead and have it yourself," Shuzhi said, then stormed out the door.
Afterwards, Dai Yuzhuo calmed down and realized that she was determined not to have children, so she went to have the surgery herself and became pregnant with great difficulty.
He held the pregnancy test results, ready to tell her the good news, but what he received was a divorce agreement from her.
For the first few months, he was in so much pain that he had no energy to argue with her, let alone comfort her. Later, Chi Youran took advantage of his vulnerability, sending her flowers and preparing a birthday surprise for her. Dai Yuzhuo looked at the cake in her hand that read "May your happiness be as boundless as the Eastern Sea and your longevity as enduring as the Southern Mountains," and chose to let go.
Fine, if she likes it... then he'll back off.
The child was growing quickly, and he sat at his desk for long periods of time. His lumbar spine couldn't take it anymore, and one time the pain became so unbearable that he called his assistant to notice.
The brothers knew he had just gotten divorced, but they didn't know he was pregnant. After pressing him, they found out that his sister-in-law didn't even know he was pregnant.
Dai and Zhuo sternly told them to shut up and not to let Shuzhi know.
She doesn't like children, and he doesn't want to use them to tie her down...
But he couldn't bear to part with it...
I can't bear to part with the warmth of the past, I can't bear to part with this 'home' that I once had.
Later, when he felt fetal movement, he would often interact with the inside of his belly through his skin, as if Shuzhi had not yet left.
But what if Shuzhi found out now? Would he let him get an abortion?
He deeply regretted that he shouldn't have pressured her so much back then.
Inside the bedroom, Shuzhi had already changed her clothes.
Although her memory has a gap, her intuition is not wrong.
Shuzhi quickly found the woman's hair on Dai and Zhuo's pillowcase.
A long, thin, slightly wavy strand of a woman's hair that gradually turns red from its black roots.
This strand of hair wasn't weaving through the pillowcase; rather, a small section was sticking out, while the other end was tied tightly in a small sachet.
The first thing she could tell was that this hair was definitely not hers. Not to mention that it was impossible for Riyo and Zhuo not to change their pillowcases during her hospitalization, just look at the color. She would never be so unconventional as to dye her hair red, and she had never permed it.
Furthermore, this sachet would certainly not be something she used.
She felt that something must have happened between her and Dai Yuzhuo.
In her memory, Dai Yuzhuo had never been so cautious in front of her. He always appeared calm, composed, and confident.
My aunt's reaction just now seemed to confirm her guess. She didn't move out because of a typical argument.
While waiting for Dai and Zhuo to return, she wandered around the room and found a divorce certificate on top of the cupboard.
Strangely, the divorce certificate had been torn up. Apart from his photo, which was relatively intact, all other information, including the date, certificate number, and even the seal, was illegible.
She has probably been married to Dai Yuzhuo for just over a year now, but the four corners of this divorce certificate are already frayed from being touched so much.
It looks like he's traced it many times in his hands.
Does he really miss his ex-wife that much? He's even holding a divorce certificate like a precious gem...
Now that she has discovered this hair that doesn't belong to her, Shuzhi can almost conclude that she moved out in a fit of anger because she found out that Dai Yuzhuo was still entangled with his ex-wife.
Who was his ex-girlfriend?
Shuzhi had absolutely no clue. She racked her brains for everyone she knew, but couldn't think of anyone with red curly hair.
She banged her head hard, feeling a little dizzy, and quickly sat down on the edge of the bed, holding onto the corner of the table.
Dai Yuzhuo had just brought her a cup of hot milk when he saw this and quickly went over to support her, bracing his arms on the bed and encircling her in the middle.
He spoke gently, "Your head hurts again, doesn't it? The doctor said you shouldn't think too much and need to rest more."
His expression, as if he were afraid of discovering something, made Shuzhi even more suspicious.
Dai Yuzhuo didn't hand her the milk cup, but instead held her shoulders, trying to make her lie down.
The original full milky white in the glass gradually faded into a translucent honey color, and the milk powder that settled at the bottom of the glass formed tiny coral reefs. The persistent milky aroma, like an invisible net, enveloped the entire space in a fluffy, sweet warmth.
Shuzhi grew even colder, defying his strength: "I don't want to sleep here."
She suddenly stood up, and Dai Yuzhuo followed suit, immediately pressing her lower abdomen as her face turned pale.
He refused to let go, still holding her wrist: "Where should we go? The study isn't tidied up yet, you... why don't you make do for now?"
Their separation began when Shuzhi moved into the study.
He always seemed to be a step too late. By the time he wanted to coax her, she had already moved out; by the time he wanted to go downstairs to wait for her, she had already prepared the divorce papers.
Now that she's back, he absolutely cannot sleep in a separate bed from her anymore.
Shuzhi shook off his hand, then crossed her arms, revealing a defensiveness mixed with some hostility.
She gestured with her chin towards the bed: "Then change everything on the bed, the sheets, the duvet cover, the pillowcases..."
She stared at that strand of red hair, which was particularly striking.
"I find it dirty..."
Dai Yuzhu felt a sharp pain in her heart; the place he had slept in, the things he had used, she felt disgusted by them…
He still remembered that when they first got married, Shuzhi liked to hug his clothes and smell them, snuggling into his arms, especially liking to smell the scent under his armpits.
I don't know when it started, but she stopped being so proactive.
Now, I'm saying it so bluntly.
Dai Yuzhu paused, said nothing, and simply changed everything in the room as she had instructed.
Shuzhi looked at him, carefully held the sachet in both hands next to the lamp, and then began to remove the pillowcase.
Shu Zhi snatched it away and cut it into tiny pieces with scissors in a few quick movements.
His pupils contracted, his expression twisted for a moment, and he stood up somewhat flusteredly, walking closer.
Shuzhi held the sachet with its broken threads high in a triumphant manner, giving him a defiant look.
She wanted to see just how far Dai Yuzhuo would go for that 'ex-wife'.
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Author's Note: Here's a ghost story, school starts soon [doge emoji]
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