Chapter 114 I’m Hungry (I)
It was night in Room 1601. The living room was lit by a single floor lamp, its warm yellow glow like a soft cocoon, enveloping the curled-up figure in the corner of the sofa.
Yu Ling hugged her knees with her chin resting on them, her unfocused eyes fixed on the bright lights outside the window.
In my arms, I felt the warmth of the silver thermos cup printed with simple geometric lines through my thin home clothes, but it seemed unable to dispel the cold, empty feeling spreading deep in my heart.
Gu Qianqian's twisted face, filled with a vicious sense of superiority, and those words, like poisoned ice spikes, repeatedly pierced and echoed in her mind:
"In the eyes of a true aristocratic family, you are worse than an ant!"
"What he needs is a partner who matches his status and can bring him real support!"
"The socialite who paved the way for him in the world's top social circles!"
"Inheritance rights of the Gu Group!"
Every word was like a whip with barbs, lashing Yu Ling's heart, which seemed strong but had just been through a storm.
That afternoon, at the entrance, she defended her dignity and territory with a thunderous kick, sending the vicious woman and her white rose flying. At that moment, she was an angry queen and a fearless warrior.
But when the noise faded away, when Zhao Chen, wearing that ridiculous cartoon apron, brought out the pot of overbearingly fragrant truffle chicken that finally had no mushrooms mixed in, when the two of them dined quietly under the warm light, and when Zhao Chen clumsily but contentedly praised himself as "the pinnacle of culinary skills"... a deeper, colder feeling of powerlessness, like the tide in the night, silently drowned her.
Gu Qianqian's words were poisonous, but not entirely false.
She looked at Zhao Chen, who was dining quietly across from her. The warm yellow light softened his cold, hard features. Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes were focused on the food in his bowl. Occasionally, when he looked up at her, his gaze was filled with undisguised tenderness and warmth.
He was wearing comfortable home clothes and had the Shiba Inu apron tied around his waist. He exuded a homely, warm, and even slightly childish aura of an "ordinary husband."
But Yu Ling knew that this was not all he had.
His "friends" who "just happened" to appear and solve all the troubles in her life;
He can easily customize a silent yacht of inestimable value;
He lives in a top-notch luxury house in the Genting community with tight security;
And that silent yet thunderous final kill at Qixia Mountain last night, and that suit stained with the smell of burning electronic components and gunpowder...
All of this silently tells a fact: her husband is not just an "ordinary employee" in front of her who wears a cartoon apron and blushes for not being able to tell the difference between truffles and shiitake mushrooms.
Behind him lay a vast world that she could neither imagine nor touch, a world that belonged to a truly "aristocratic family" and the "world's top social circle."
And what about her?
Chairman of Starlight Technology? This title, which Gu Qianqian described as a "small company that could go bankrupt at any time"?
What is the background of a teacher’s family in a third-tier city?
The career and status that she was proud of, which she had built with the help of Zhao Chen, might really be as small as dust and as fragile as an ant in front of that real behemoth.
Gu Qianqian has the right to inherit the Gu Group, is a socialite, and has connections in the global social circle. What she can give Zhao Chen is visible support and a ladder to higher heights.
And what can I give to Zhao Chen?
A bowl of truffle chicken stew he made himself? A cup of brown sugar water he filled daily? A warm home belonging to an ordinary person, one that he had to constantly hide his identity and carefully play the role of an "ordinary employee" to maintain?
A huge sense of inferiority and panic, like cold vines, tightly wrapped around Yu Ling's heart, almost suffocating her.
She even began to wonder if Zhao Chen's choice of her, his choice to hide his identity and stay by her side, was a sacrifice? Was he giving up the wider, more dazzling world he should have had?
"Lingling?" Zhao Chen's gentle voice, with a hint of imperceptible worry, broke the silence.
Yu Ling suddenly came to her senses and found that she had hardly touched the truffle chicken in front of her, while Zhao Chen had put down his chopsticks and was looking at her with concern.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Yu Ling forced a smile, picked up the spoon, scooped a spoonful of thick soup, but hesitated to put it into her mouth.
"Not to your liking?" Zhao Chen frowned slightly, his eyes sweeping across her slightly pale face:
"Is your stomach upset again?" He subconsciously reached out his hand to touch her forehead, his movements natural and smooth.
But at the moment when his fingers were about to touch her, Yu Ling tilted her head slightly, almost imperceptibly!
This subtle movement, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, caused Zhao Chen's outstretched hand to freeze in mid-air!
Zhao Chen's eyes froze instantly! Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, a flash of sharpness and hurt flashed across his eyes.
But that emotion vanished so quickly, so quickly that Yu Ling thought she was dizzy. He withdrew his fingers as if nothing had happened, and instead picked up the thermos on the table, unscrewed the lid, and handed it to her: "Drink something hot, it'll warm your stomach."
Yu Ling took the thermos cup. The warm walls of the cup ironed her cold fingertips, but it did not bring warmth as usual.
She lowered her head and sipped the brown sugar water, trying to hide her inner panic and the inexplicable sense of alienation. She didn't dare look him in the eye, afraid to reveal the inferiority and doubts surging in her heart.
Zhao Chen didn't ask any further questions, but just quietly watched her silhouette as she sipped water.
The living room fell into a subtle silence again, with only the slight sound of electricity from the floor lamp.
The space, which was just filled with the rich aroma of truffles and warmth, seemed to be hit by an invisible cold current and the temperature dropped sharply.
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