Jing Chu nodded and said, “I’ll go take a shower first. Hurry and prepare the items that I need. You don’t need to give me any electronic devices. There are no power circuits there. I won’t be able to use them.”
“Got it. You can just use battery-powered equipment instead. I’ll see to it.”
Pei Yi pursed his lips and watched her walk toward the bedroom. He smiled, feeling rather relieved to see that she was safe.
He quickly instructed his bodyguards to prepare the items that she needed.
He then tiptoed toward the bathroom to hear that there were sounds of water flowing coming from inside. He grabbed the handle of the door, only to discover that it was locked.
Pei Yi had no choice but to knock on the door. “Open up, I need to take a shower.”
“You can do so when I’m done.”
“No, I want to shower with you.”
Jing Chu ignored him. He then unlocked the door with the spare key.
She was in the midst of shampooing her hair while standing naked under the showerhead. Pei Yi strode in brazenly and said with a grin, “Did you think that I won’t have a solution just because you won’t open up?”
Jing Chu answered, “Well, it’s your house. No one can stop you from going anywhere as long as you want to.”
He began undressing himself, after which he stepped forward to hug her. Pei Yi could not help but fondle her affectionately.
Jing Chu looked up at him and said, “I’m afraid it’ll be a long time before I can come back again this time. After all, it’s not that easy to construct a house. You must give me a blueprint that I can follow. It’s alright, I’ll get it constructed in the end. It’ll be our place of refuge in the future. I finally feel safer. Besides, the lake there is really clear and the air is fresh, apart from the periodical waves of miasma. I really like it there.”
“As long as you’re safe and sound, we can stay there forever. You can change it into your ideal home too.”
Jing Chu nodded and said, “Good that you agree.”
——
“I’m here to see Nainai,” Yao Lan said to the guards at the door.
“Come in.”
Yao Lan entered together with the bodyguards. She was now allowed to see her daughter once a month, which was much better than not being able to see her at all.
Whenever she returned to the place that once used to be her home, she would be filled with displeasure and disgruntlement. She used to be the mistress of this house, but she had now been replaced.
She felt annoyed that she had to be restricted to meeting her daughter only once a month.
To make things worse, her daughter was addressing another woman as her mother.
She could not help but feel miserable at the thought of it.
She felt as if a million daggers had pierced through her heart upon the sight of her daughter walking on an unsteady gait in her walker with Su Yan and Qiao An teasing her.
Although Su Yan did like children before their divorce, he had never spent so much time looking after Su Nainai together with her before. He would either bring Su Nainai out alone for a while or play with her for a few seconds before leaving.
Noticing that Yao Lan was walking toward them, Qiao An stood up straight and said a few words to Su Yan softly before returning to the living room.
Yao Lan stepped forward and carried Su Nainai out of the walker. However, Su Nainai felt distant from her and refused to let Yao Lan carry her. Filled with disappointment, Yao Lan said, “Nainai, I’m Mommy.”
Su Yan watched her carry Su Nainai quietly with his hands in his pocket.
Yao Lan shifted her gaze onto him and asked, “Can you answer a question of mine?”
“What is it?”
“Did you divorce me because of her?”
“Do you actually think that I’m a clairvoyant who can predict that I’ll end up with her after we got a divorce? We only reconciled after she got released from prison, and I divorced you because I regretted my decision to marry you. I could not figure out why I would actually marry such a cheap and lousy woman like you. I even let you become the mother of my child. I wanted to put an end to our destructive relationship. I couldn’t stand being together with you anymore. That’s the reason for our divorce.”
“Is she any better than me? Su Yan, you’re really thick-skinned. You’re just holding yourself cheap. That woman aborted your child and broke up with you back then, yet you’re still willing to be together with her. Don’t think I don’t know what happened to you in the past. Everything about you had long been spreading within our social circle. They may wish you a happy marriage, but they’re all just mocking you behind your back! How dare you call me lousy. Is she classier than I am!?!” Yao Lan snapped.
“If you say such words again, forget about seeing Nainai. If Qiao An hadn’t put in a good word for you, I wouldn’t have allowed you to meet her at all. How dumb and ignorant,” Su Yan said while glaring at her coldly.
“She only did so because she wanted you to think that she’s kind and magnanimous. How scheming of her.”
“Seems like my words have fallen on deaf ears.” Su Yan snatched Su Nainai from her and said, “You don’t have to come here anymore from now on.”
Yao Lan felt as if she had suffered a huge blow the moment he left without looking back.
She scurried toward Su Yan and stopped him from leaving. “I just won’t say those words anymore from now on. Will that do?”
“It’s getting late. You can leave my house now,” said Su Yan, who kept his word.
“Su Yan!”
All she received was silence.
Yao Lan stood rooted to the ground, at a complete loss for words.
Qiao An was lying on the bed when he returned with Su Nainai. Upon the sight of them, she asked in surprise, “Why are you guys back so soon?”
He closed the door and lowered Su Nainai onto the bed. “We won’t let her come here anymore. From now on, you’ll be Nainai’s only mother. Yao Lan can forget about meeting her again.”
“Why?”
“I told her that you were the one who persuaded me to let her continue seeing Nainai, and yet she said that you were just pretending to be kind and magnanimous and that you were scheming for doing so. Since she’s so ungrateful, I’ve decided to just forbid her from seeing Nainai again. She’s better off without a mother like Yao Lan anyway.”
Qiao An kept mum.
“By the way, are you aware of this?”
“Aware of what?” Qiao An asked.
“That Ms. Jing Chu is Pei Yi’s wife.”
“Pei Yi? Pei Yi from DK?”
Su Yan answered with a nod, “Yes, that Pei Yi.”
“I didn’t know about this. She has never mentioned it to me before. I read on the news that Pei Yi has divorced his former wife. Is that true?” Qiao An asked in astonishment.
“Yes, it’s been a while since he did that.”
“Jing Chu hasn’t been contacting me lately. I wonder what she’s busy with.”
Su Yan cautioned, “Don’t initiate a conversation with her if she doesn’t contact you first. Although you two were fellow inmates for more than two years, her status is now different. I’m sure you know that the DK Organization is an untouchable time bomb in our nation. The political situation is very tense right now, and we can’t be the catalyst. You just have to understand the pros and cons.”
“Alright.”
