Chapter 9 Xiangmeng first noticed something was wrong with her
"The soft furnishings were chosen because we knew you were moving in, so we asked Aunt Yuan to decorate them in a warm and inviting way. As for Chen Lian, she's my junior colleague. She occasionally sends local specialties to me and our teacher when she's away on business. Last time, she must have sent them to the wrong address."
After listening to her description, Liang Huaixu spoke gently and gave a comprehensive explanation. The way he looked at her seemed to be asking if there were any other questions.
Zhuang Fuyao felt a sense of helplessness after indiscriminately scolding someone. Then, she felt a surge of joy.
He is still single and has no romantic interest.
Zhuang Fuyao suppressed the corners of her mouth that were turning up and deliberately said, "Actually, it's okay if something does happen. We've been divorced for five years. I'm not the kind of person who would make a fuss and not let you find a new love after the divorce. So if you have this idea, you must tell me."
"I know." Liang Huaixu lowered his eyes and scratched the lid of the cup. He said, his emotions unclear, "If I do, I will tell you."
After saying this, both of them fell silent.
Then a sudden gust of wind blew up, rustling the leaves and breaking the surrounding silence.
Liang Huaixu reached out and brushed the leaves that had fallen on the table, asking her, "When do you plan to move out? Do you have enough people at home? Do you need me to find someone else to help?"
Zhuang Fuyao's eyes flickered. "No need, there's no rush."
She thought to herself, since it's a misunderstanding, there's no need to move.
"good."
Liang Huaixu's gaze fell on her face. He wanted to ask something, but didn't. In the end, he just quietly drank his tea.
As expected, Liang Huaixu suffered from insomnia that night.
Zhuang Fuyao, however, had a very sweet dream.
She was walking back with Liang Huaixu when they were teenagers, and they tried to climb over the wall to get into the school before curfew, but they were caught by the security guards and sent to the dean of students.
In the empty office, a man in a white shirt and black trousers stood with his back to her by the window, scolding her for not following the rules and regulations.
Just as she was about to retort, the teacher suddenly said cryptically, "Who was the man who climbed over the wall with you just now?"
As he spoke, the man turned around.
It turns out to be Liang Huaixu at the age of thirty-eight!
Suddenly the scene changed—
She was pressed down on the pillow, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a white shirt. The air was filled with the scent of tea and woody incense. She squirmed restlessly, only to be bound by something that looked like a tie.
Under the dim streetlights, the shadows of the trees swayed, the light and shadow were dappled, and the blurry figures on the chiffon fabric moved about, filling the air with a romantic atmosphere.
……
Zhuang Fuyao woke up from her dream with a dry mouth and throat. She covered her burning cheeks, got up to drink some water, and washed the wet, light purple bow-tie panties.
The night is quiet, and even the slightest sound is amplified infinitely.
"Still not asleep?" A slightly tired voice came from behind.
Zhuang Fuyao looked up and saw Liang Huaixu standing behind her through the mirror.
She paused slightly while washing her underwear, and nodded somewhat awkwardly, "Mm."
Seeing the movements in her hands, Liang Huaixu calculated the days and asked, "Have you started your period?"
"..."
Zhuang Fuyao, having given up all hope, nodded again.
"I'll go make you a bowl of brown sugar water."
"No need," she called out to him, feigning composure. "The effect of brown sugar water is actually the same as that of hot water. I'll just go back to my room and drink some hot water later."
That makes sense, but remembering how painful her menstrual cramps used to be, Liang Huaixu was still a little worried. "Then I'll go heat up a hot water bottle for you."
"No need!"
"Hot water bottles are effective..."
He was still rambling on and on when Zhuang Fuyao suddenly snapped, embarrassed and angry, "Oh dear, it's not my period!"
Liang Huaixu was taken aback.
Seeing his blank, wooden posture, neither walking nor standing, Zhuang Fuyao's mood improved somewhat from his nagging, and she said lightly, "It's a normal physiological need."
"…………"
The old man blushed.
Zhuang Fuyao thought about it again and realized there was nothing to be ashamed of in admitting it. She was only thirty-eight years old, not eighty-three. And even if she were eighty-three, so what...?
On the contrary, it was Liang Huaixu.
He's always been easily teased; if she says something even slightly blunt, he'll blush bright red.
Sixteen years have passed.
How can a 38-year-old man still be so thin-skinned?
After washing her underwear, Zhuang Fuyao went back to sleep for a while.
Perhaps dreaming was too mentally taxing, because I slept until noon.
When I woke up, there were 99+ messages in the group chat.
She glanced at the message and sensed something was wrong, so she quickly made a phone call to ask where Bagel was.
When Zhuang Fuyao arrived, Bagel was lying on the sofa with disheveled hair and red eyes, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
"What happened?" She picked up the empty wine bottles on the ground and comforted them gently.
When Shu Run saw her arrive, she broke down in tears again. "Yesterday was Qixi Festival, and we had planned to go camping on the mountaintop to see the stars. But he got a phone call and was called away. Later I found out that his childhood friend had returned to China, and his family had called him to pick him up. I didn't want to keep bothering you with these things, but I just couldn't hold back my emotions this morning."
You're already so upset, why are you still talking about troublesome things?
Zhuang Fuyao asked irritably, "Is his childhood friend male or female?"
"It's a woman, and his family is even trying to match him up with his childhood friend."
"Damn it!" Zhuang Fuyao thought Bagel's boyfriend was a real jerk after hearing this. "So what happened next? Did he come looking for you after he picked up the person?"
“He came, left at 7 p.m., and didn’t get back until the early hours of the morning. I kicked him out as soon as he entered the house.”
No, what a scumbag!
Zhuang Fuyao was furious. Shu Run continued, "He told me he had a minor car accident, and it took time to get it treated. He has a wound on his forehead, so he probably isn't lying to me. I just feel really sad, and I'm so uncertain about our future..."
Shu Run felt that her family background was too different from Liang Chaoluo's.
Liang Chaoluo said he would do everything in his power to resist his family's arrangements. She asked what if he couldn't resist.
He pondered for a long time, and then rationally said that he had responsibilities to bear and could not gamble everything on a relationship.
After listening, Zhuang Fuyao felt a sense of powerlessness, as if she had punched cotton.
In the past, she would definitely have advised them to break up.
But after experiencing the soul-transmigration, she felt that she shouldn't interfere in other people's relationships without knowing the full story.
The world is not black and white; we cannot judge things by appearances alone.
Without solid evidence, Zhuang Fuyao found it difficult to hurl insults.
Just like her and Liang Huaixu, in the original story, the two who were originally loving ended up like two repelling magnets.
Did the plot play a role in this?
After all, it's hard for someone with a happy and fulfilling family to become a vicious mother-in-law who tears apart the younger generation.
She stayed with Bagel for a long time, then went to the refrigerator to find some ingredients, made some food for Bagel, and then urged Bagel to take a hot bath.
"Eat something good, take a shower, and get a good night's sleep, and any difficult hurdle will become much easier."
Zhuang Fuyao left after Bagel fell asleep.
On the way back, dark clouds suddenly gathered, and heavy rain poured down, wetting the dry road and bringing new life to the flowers and plants.
She checked the weather forecast yesterday, and it didn't show any rain in the next few days.
She opened her phone, and a news article popped up: "Jiang City arranges artificial rainmaking operations to combat drought..."
It turned out to be artificial rain.
Human factors altered the predetermined outcome.
Zhuang Fuyao thought of herself. She was dissatisfied with her fate in the original story, and even more so, she didn't want Liang Huaixu to die so soon.
Could her soul transmigration trigger a butterfly effect, changing the fate of the original plot?
After all, she has her own family, friends, and career; there's really no need for her to be so idle as to interfere with the relationship between the male and female leads and act as a wicked mother-in-law.
……
During dinner, she subtly inquired about Liang Chaoluo's recent situation from Liang Huaixu.
After listening, Zhuang Fuyao suddenly understood.
No wonder I didn't see Liang Chaoluo after I transmigrated; it turns out he was sent to the neighboring city.
Zhuang Fuyao then asked, "Has he started dating recently?"
Liang Huaixu gave her a strange look.
The messages he and Zhuang Fuyao exchanged this year almost all revolved around their son's girlfriend. She repeatedly emphasized that she did not approve of her son's relationship with this girl.
At first, he didn't think there was anything wrong with the girl. Although she came from an ordinary background, the Liang family hadn't reached the point where they needed a business marriage, and he supported the younger generation in choosing their own partners.
Later, perhaps influenced by her, he also began to feel that the girl was too soft-hearted. Several times he caught his son talking to the girl on the phone, and when his son wanted the girl to greet them, the girl was timid and petty.
Liang Chaoluo is his designated heir, so as Liang Chaoluo's wife, she also represents the face of the Liang family in public. Being petty and narrow-minded won't do.
Meeting his gaze, Zhuang Fuyao blinked curiously.
Liang Huaixu was unsure whether she was implying to him in a sarcastic way that he should play the bad cop.
He hesitated for a few seconds, "I don't think much of this girl. I still hope that Chaoluo and Yihan can get together. We've watched Yihan grow up since we were little, we know her well, and they're a good match."
As for Zhuang Fuyao, although she hasn't met the female lead yet, she will definitely side with the female lead in order to escape the plot.
Thinking of this, she glanced at Liang Huaixu and said, "What era are we living in? Why do we still insist on marrying someone of equal social standing?"
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