Zong Qifeng’s expression didn’t change, but his eyes began to lose its spark.
He married Wen Xian according to their families’ wishes, despite having no feelings for her. It’s been a year since they got married, yet they treated each other like acquaintances and steered clear of intimacy.
They slept separately even on the night of their wedding, since Wen Xian said that she was scared.
Zong Qifeng knew the real reason perfectly well, she’s in love with someone else.
He didn’t love her initially, but he had to admit that Wen Xian was a good woman. She was kind and gentle. He couldn’t help but start getting interested in her, though he hid his feelings away.
He knew that she already loved someone else and that her gentle demeanor was just a mask for her strong personality. She would do anything to please the person she loved.
Wouldn’t that make anyone fall for her?
It sounds funny, but he had never forced her into doing things she didn’t want to.
In the eyes of the public, they were a perfect match for each other, and many people envied them.
However, no one knew that there is no substance in their relationship.
As to his wife’s request, he knew that the person waiting in the room might not be Wen Xian herself…
He went home anyway.
Knowing that the person inside the room was not his legitimate wife, he still pushed the door open.
Cheng Yuxiu burrowed further into the sheets and trembled violently the moment she heard the door open.
Zong Qifeng watched as the mound in the sheets shook, his eyes squinting a little.
He didn’t know whether he should be happy or sad.
In the era of monogamy, where the sensitivity, paranoia, and mysophobia of women became increasingly apparent.
His wife found a woman for him willingly.
Closing the door, he strode over to the bed.
Cheng Yuxiu shivered as she heard the door close.
She held on tightly to the blanket she used to wrap herself in, praying that he wouldn’t come nearer.
Zong Qifeng stood by the bed and looked at the body hidden inside the sheets. He knew that it wasn’t Wen Xian, but he still called out, “Wen Xian.”
Cheng Yuxiu began to cry as she screamed internally, ”I’m Cheng Yuxiu! I’m not your wife! I’m not Wen Xian!”
She couldn’t bring herself to vocalize it.
She agreed to this, and she regretted it wholly. She had been acting rashly, and even though she saved the family and her brother, she had ruined her own life.
Zong Qifeng could tell how terrified the woman in the blankets must be, but he didn’t consider leaving. No matter how this woman looked or how smart she was, he’s getting his way with her tonight.
Unbuttoning his shirt one by one, he rasped, “Since you’ve agreed to this, why are you acting so defeated?”
Cheng Yuxiu froze. What did he mean by that?
Did he know that the person under the sheets was not his wife?
“You took her money and agreed to her conditions, so don’t feel embarrassed. All this was voluntary,” he said. Shouldn’t he be the one feeling embarrassed?
Cheng Yuxiu tossed the blankets aside. “You…”
Before she could say another word, he shoved her back onto the bed and ripped off her clothes.
Cheng Yuxiu struggled against his grip. “I’m not your wife! I’m not…”
The man didn’t want to hear that at all. Pressing her head down and refusing to meet her gaze or even hear her voice, he covered her face with a blanket and said, “There. Neither of us will feel embarrassed this way.”
That night, she screamed herself hoarse.
When she dated Bai Hongfei, they stayed away from intimacy. He had asked for it a couple of times, but she pacified him with kisses, promising a good time on their wedding night.
Little did she know that she would present herself to a man she saw on a photograph and barely recognized.
When the sky brightened up just a bit, the man got up and started to put on his clothes, his back facing her. “We’re done for now.”
Wen Xian did this out of regret. Women…
Since she wanted some closure, then he might as well give it to her.
This would calm her down anyway.
Cheng Yuxiu stayed hidden inside the blankets, her hair wet with sweat and tears. “Don’t you love your wife?”
“I like her.”
Zong Qifeng liked his wife, but as for love…
He didn’t see a difference between the two.
“Then why…you love your wife, but you did it with another woman…aren’t you hurting her?”
Cheng Yuxiu couldn’t help but wonder if both of them were maniacs.
A man who loved his wife willingly got into bed with another woman.
On the other hand, the woman had willingly found someone to sleep with her husband.
Zong Qifeng scoffed. “How did you know that I’m not making her happy?”
Cheng Yuxiu felt confused.
How would a wife be happy with her husband sleeping with someone else?
What kind of couple was that?
“After you get up, change the sheets and clean the room up. She doesn’t like her room to be messy.”
He left after that.
Yuxiu sat on the bed by herself as she watched the tall figure disappeared through the door. She could tell that he cared about his wife from his words.
Why would he agree to this then?
She couldn’t figure out why.
She dragged her fatigued body out of bed and yanked the sheets off the bed to replace them with clean ones from the cupboard, before opening the windows to let in some fresh air. By the time she had finished, the sky had brightened up completely.
Rays of sunlight shone into the room and illuminated every corner of it, making it look prim and proper. It was as though the darkness and chaos last night never happened.
Downstairs.
Zong Qifeng saw the woman sitting on the sofa. “Are you happy now?” He asked coldly.
Wen Xian felt regretful. “I’m sorry.”
Zong Qifeng gave her a look and said, “I don’t need that.”
After that, he left.
Before he could step out of the front door, Wen Xian called out to him. “She’s different from the others. You’ll fall in love with her for sure.”
Zong Qifeng laughed. “As long as you’re fine with it, I can fall for her right now.”
Looking back at the woman standing in the light and the regret in her eyes, he froze for a moment and swallowed the unforgiving words he was about to say. “You found her for me just because you felt that you owed me something. Now that I have had her, do you feel relieved?”
Wen Xian looked at him, swaying slightly on her feet. “I will not be with Ziyi so long as you haven’t found someone you love.”
That was her promise to him.
That had no choice but to marry each other as per their families’ wishes, but she already had a lover before Zong Qifeng so she could never love him.
The only thing she could do was to find a better woman for him.
She had seen countless woman over the years, yet only Cheng Yuxiu seemed fitting for this man.
“If you had met me first, would you have loved me?” Zong Qifeng asked.
He had never felt so powerless before.
Neither had he stooped so low in his life.
Wen Xian gave him a long look before answering, “Yes.”
Zong Qifeng turned around and took a step forward before stopping. “If you managed to find me a woman I loved, I will let you go.”
