Chapter Forty-One: Discovering the Affair

The Seaside Cottage opened for business at noon and in the evening. After two-thirty in the afternoon, the staff could go home, as long as they returned before four-thirty to resume work.

Wen Xiuting, sensing the ambiguous atmosphere lingering in the restaurant, felt increasingly uncomfortable and left promptly at two-thirty, riding her little electric scooter home. Even now, her cheeks still burned as if on fire.

On her way, she ran into an old colleague from her time at the Mengyuan Grand Hotel, a woman named Lingzi. Upon seeing her, Lingzi lowered her voice and teased, “Hey, Xiuting, you’re looking well these days. Is it your husband taking good care of you, or is it some wealthy patron?”

“Oh, go away,” Wen Xiuting replied, blushing. “I’m working a proper job now, thank you very much.” People often said that married women grew thicker-skinned, but Wen Xiuting still blushed easily.

They chatted a bit, discussing recent happenings at the Mengyuan Grand Hotel—like a waitress who had caught the manager’s eye and been promoted to supervisor.

Wen Xiuting continued home on her scooter, her thoughts drifting. Before she knew it, she arrived at the old apartment complex.

After locking her scooter and climbing the stairs, she reached her door and was about to unlock it when a series of strange sounds drifted from inside.

Slap, slap, slap.

“Baby, your body is so soft.”

“You’re amazing.”

“That was incredible.”

“Harder, just a bit harder.”

Waves of frenzied passion, laughter and moans—clear evidence of pleasure shared between a man and a woman.

Wen Xiuting immediately recognized the male voice—it was unmistakably her husband, Shen Die. As for the woman, she had no impression of her at all. Her mind went blank. She and Shen Die had been married four years, always deeply affectionate. She had never imagined her husband would cheat. She found herself utterly unable to think.

After a while, the noises finally ceased. The door opened.

A woman in her mid-thirties, gaudily made up, with an average face but dressed to show off her assets—ample bosom, wide hips, deep cleavage framed by a yellow blouse—walked out. She scanned the hallway casually, and when her gaze landed on Wen Xiuting, she looked mildly surprised, but not at all flustered. Instead, she let out a short, mocking laugh and glanced at Wen Xiuting with derision.

Without a word, she stepped out in ten-centimeter heels, her plump hips swaying with arrogant confidence.

Wen Xiuting felt as if she’d just been slapped hard, three times over. Numb, she unlocked the security door to her home and stepped inside, finding Shen Die, bare-chested and in shorts, lounging contentedly with a post-coital cigarette.

Shen Die was basking in the afterglow, feeling on top of the world. When he saw Wen Xiuting enter, he was visibly startled—the cigarette dropped from his lips onto the tiled floor. “What are you doing home? Don’t you usually come back to rest around two or three in the afternoon?”

A bitter smile flickered at Wen Xiuting’s lips. “Yes, if I hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have caught you in the act with that woman. Are you really going to blame me for ruining your fun? Explain yourself. Who is she?”

Shen Die was silent for a long time. At length, he took out another cigarette and lit it. “Since you’ve seen it, there’s no point hiding anymore.

“I was born into an ordinary working family. Here in GD, working-class families have no prospects. The ones with money are the rich second generation, the children of officials or businesspeople.

“When I was little, my schoolbag was a cloth one sewn by hand. My classmates carried expensive bags from abroad.

“My clothes were always cheap, off-the-street stuff; theirs were all branded.

“I couldn’t afford private tutors, while my classmates had the best teachers coaching them.

“I was afraid of poverty from a very young age.

“And I knew, with my grades, that an honest job would never lift me out of poverty.

“So after college, I kept trying to start businesses.

“Business is the path to wealth.

“But for some reason, no matter what I tried, the only outcome was failure.

“Loss, after loss.

“All these years, I haven’t made any real money.

“I’m still living in this old sixty-square-meter apartment, squeezed in with five people. At night, even when we want to be intimate, we have to be quiet so my parents don’t hear. Now, things are so bad, I can’t even pay our son’s kindergarten fees—it all falls on you.

“I’ve worked so hard, but this is all I have to show for it. I’m miserable! I want to be rich! But after losing so much, I don’t even have the capital to open another shop.

“Last time, I asked you to steal Shen Ye’s secret recipe. With it, we could make a fortune and live well, but you had your principles and refused.

“I can’t stand being poor any longer.

“That woman you saw, I call her Sister Li. She has about ten million to her name. She may be a bit older—thirty-four—but as long as I marry her, I won’t have to be poor again. I’ll become a millionaire overnight.” Shen Die’s voice was heavy.

“Xiuting, I love you. I really, really, truly love you.

“I still remember the first time we met, on the university campus. I saw you turn your head, your hair flowing over your shoulders, and I fell deeply in love.

“I remember our wedding, how so many people envied me for marrying someone so beautiful.

“There are so many moments I can recall.”

“But I’m twenty-eight now. The days when love alone could sustain me are over—I want a good life.

“So, do you understand me?”

Wen Xiuting stared at him in disbelief. “So, you want to marry me, and marry Sister Li too, live off her money and become a millionaire, instead of being poor?”

“Yes.” Shen Die’s voice was strained, but he nodded resolutely.

“Very well. Very well. Very well.” Wen Xiuting’s face was ashen, but then she burst out laughing. “The Shen Die I loved was ambitious, never willing to accept mediocrity, always ready to try again no matter how many times he failed. Not this version, beaten down by failure, who has surrendered and plans to live off a woman to become rich. Divorce, then. Fine.”

“But on one condition—Xiao Nan stays with me. I want my son, Xiao Nan, to grow up to be a true man, not someone molded by his father into a kept husband.”

Normally gentle, Wen Xiuting was unexpectedly calm in the face of this crisis.

Shen Die’s expression grew heated with embarrassment. “No, Xiao Nan should stay with me. When I become rich, I can provide for him. How can you afford to raise him?”

“With you? Ha! Once you’re living off a woman, you’ll have no standing at home. Will Sister Li really treat Xiao Nan well? I doubt it. As for how I’ll support him, don’t worry about that—haven’t I been the one supporting him up till now? I won’t let him suffer, and I’d rather never remarry than let him go.” Wen Xiuting’s words were firm and final.

Faced with her rebuttal, Shen Die was deeply embarrassed. But after a long silence, he finally said, “Alright. If that’s what you want, so be it. Xiao Nan can stay with you. But if I have money, I’ll send some each month for him. He’s still my son.”

“No need. I’ll raise Xiao Nan myself. I don’t want your new woman’s money. If you want a divorce, let’s go to the Civil Affairs Bureau now,” Wen Xiuting replied coldly.

Shen Die was in too deep to back out and could only nod.

They gathered their marriage certificate and IDs and went to the bureau. Both were penniless, with nothing to divide. The apartment was still under Shen Baoping’s name, so there was no property to split.

At first, the clerk at the Civil Affairs Bureau resisted the divorce, but since both insisted, they had no choice but to process the paperwork.

When they left the bureau, it was only May, yet Shen Die felt inexplicably cold.

He looked at Wen Xiuting’s petite, slender figure and suddenly remembered their university days, the sweetness of young love. For a moment, a wave of grief washed over him. He realized he had lost a precious treasure forever.