Chen Qing immediately stood up and reprimanded his wife, “I’m talking to Wen Qing. Who gave you the permission to come in?”
Mrs. Chen looked at her husband. “I’ve been married to you for so many years and I’ve done nothing but take care of you diligently and listen to your instructions obediently. Have I ever said no to you?”
Chen Qing was at a loss for words. Indeed, his wife was really good at taking care of the family, their daughter, and serving him.
“I’m talking to Wen Qing, why did you come in? You’re but a woman, so what would you know? Put down the tea and leave.” This time, he was not as loud and not as agitated. With Wen Qing here, if he appeared to be too bothered, he would look like he was trying to hide something.
All he could do was to give his wife a look of warning.
Mrs. Chen stared at her husband keenly and said, “I’ve put you in the center of everything I do since marrying you, but this time, I am not listening to you.”
Chen Shihan stood aside as her gaze moved rapidly between her father and her mother. “Mom, what are you doing?”
Mrs. Chen looked at her daughter with slightly reddened eyes. “I want you to know your dad’s true intentions.”
Chen Qing was a little flustered now. “Get out!”
Back then, Mrs. Chen would have left immediately at the sight of her husband who was about to explode in anger, but now, she could no longer watch her husband sink deeper into his obsession and pulling their daughter along with him as well.
She walked in and placed the tray onto the table before walking to the shelves at the back of the room. From there, she took out a book with the title, “War Strategies.”
While Chen Qing glared at her with a grim face, Wen Qing and Chen Shihan kept their gaze on her as they were curious to know what she would take out next.
In front of everyone, Mrs. Chen took out a photograph from the book.
Chen Shihan had never seen the photo before and she wasn’t sure who the young girl in it was. Wen Qing, on the other hand, could recognize clearly that it was his sister, Wen Xian in the photo.
He walked over and took it from Mrs. Chen’s hands. In the photo, a fifteen-year-old Wen Xian was standing under a tree, wearing a white dress with her hair down. Her features were not fully developed yet, but her exquisite face could still be seen, especially her beautiful twinkly eyes, which were especially unforgettable.
Under the light, Wen Qing noticed that there were words written at the back of the photo. When he turned it over, Wen Xian’s name was written on it together with the date.
The date was when he enlisted into the army.
He turned to look at Chen Qing. “What’s going on here?”
Chen Qing turned his head without looking at anybody.
Mrs. Chen wanted to smile but her body was so stiff that she could not bring herself to smile anymore. “I’ve always known that there was someone else in his heart and I have never wanted to find out more about it. But now? He has gone mad!”
In the beginning, she did not know that Chen Qing had someone else in his heart. As a husband, he had always been very cold towards her. After they completed their marital duties, he would shut himself in his study.
At first, she assumed that this was just his character and eventually accepted it. However, she discovered the girl’s photo not long after Chen Shihan’s birth. It happened when she came into the study once to look for something and accidentally knocked the book over, only to have the photo in it fall out.
That time, she really wanted to interrogate Chen Qing to find out why he was hiding a girl’s photo. However, she thought of their child and the fact that the girl in the photo looked quite young. She then convinced herself that she was overthinking it.
After that, Chen Qing still retreated to the study after completing their marital duties. As such, she purposely pushed the door open without knocking only to realized that he was looking at that photograph.
When she saw that scene, her heart was broken and all she wanted to do was to interrogate him, but she still held back in the end. She could not bear to let her child live in an incomplete family and she had feelings for Chen Qing as well.
“The reason why you went all out to have Shihan marry Jinghao is so that your daughter would marry the son of the woman that you have been secretly in love with all these years. Am I right?”
The moment she uttered those words, Mrs. Chen covered her mouth. Everything that she had hidden inside her all these years had exploded at that very moment. All her life, she had never uttered a word related to all the pain and suffering that she had gone through.
She couldn’t bring herself to say it either.
What do I say? That there is someone else in my husband’s heart? That he calls out another woman’s name in his throes of passion?
She could not afford to lose him.
Chen Shihan’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Dad, is Mom speaking the truth?”
Chen Qing’s body was stiff but he was still trembling slightly.
“Dad, say something!” Chen Shihan could not accept this as her father had always claimed to do things for the collective good of their family.
But at the end of the day, everything he did was for his own selfish wants.
Wen Qing looked at Chen Qing, “I want to know what’s happening too.”
“Do you remember that year when we enlisted into the army and I went to your house?” Without turning around, Chen Qing said in a somewhat repressed tone.
“Of course.” Wen Qing will never forget that day.
“I stood at the living room waiting for you…”
The weather was exceptionally good that day. The early summer rays were not scorching and merely gave off warm vibes.
Dressed in a thin long-sleeved t-shirt, he was standing in the living room when suddenly, someone came from the back and covered his eyes. A soft and sweet voice piped up, “Guess who I am?”
She was next to his ear and her warm breath fell on the skin behind his ears. It was a little ticklish and he could even smell the light fragrance on her body.
The girl was standing so close to him that his heart beat wildly.
“Wen Xian, what are you doing?” Wen Qing changed into a thin shirt and came down to see Wen Xian covering Chen Qing’s eyes. He was confused so he asked her.
Wen Xian froze at the sight of her brother at the staircase and quickly released the man whose eyes she was covering.
She thought that it was Wen Qing standing there. He was enlisting today, hence she had purposely taken a leave from school to see him off.
She had planned to play a trick on him but she didn’t expect to get the wrong person instead.
She scratched her head, “I’m so sorry, I thought you were my brother.”
Wen Xian was very embarrassed then and her little face began to blush.
That was the first time Chen Qing had met her. Her hair was up in a ponytail, displaying her fair and delicate face.
Wen Qing walked over, “His name is Chen Qing and we are enlisting together. I am so much more handsome than he is, so how could you have made that mistake?”
Wen Xian rolled her eyes at her brother. “Such narcissism.”
Besides, she only managed to see his back. Their height was quite similar and there were no other outsiders at home.
“We are going to have some barbecue. Do you want to come along?” They won’t have this kind of chance after enlisting into the army, so they made plans to have some fun first.
“Of course I’m coming along. I took a day off after all.” Wen Xian said.
“Come on then.” Wen Qing took the car keys to Wen Jin’s car.
In the car, Chen Qing took a look at the back. “What’s this, Wen Qing? Are you so afraid that I’d snatch your sister away from you that you didn’t even bother introducing her?”
Wen Qing glanced at him. “Didn’t you meet just now? This is my sister, Wen Xian.”
Wen Xian smiled. “Please watch out for my brother from now on.”
“Do I need someone to watch out for me?” Wen Qing disagreed with his sister. How could she look down on me like that?
“You’re so full of yourself. What if you get into trouble? If I am not with you, who is going to plead to Daddy on your behalf?”
Wen Jin loved Wen Xian, and every time Wen Qing got into trouble, Wen Xian would plead on his behalf.
Wen Qing was speechless upon hearing his sister’s words.
Chen Qing smiled and looked at Wen Xian. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him for you.”
