Chapter 2

It was rare for Xiao Qian to see Jiang Lai interested in things other than scientific research and her husband, so she rattled off a bunch of hidden rules about luxury brand accessory requirements.

Jiang Lai listened intently, her mind filled with her husband not coming home all night and the silk scarf he had suddenly taken out of his pocket in the morning, without any packaging.

She looked again in the direction Lin Shutong had left, thoughtfully saying: "Expert Lin's bag looks quite new."

"Of course, she bought it last night." Xiao Qian immediately chimed in.

Jiang Lai looked at her.

Professor Cheng also asked: "How do you know?"

"I happened to run into Ji Lao talking to Expert Lin at noon. Ji Lao also noticed the bag in her hand and told Expert Lin to be mindful of the influence. Expert Lin said it was a gift from a friend last night and that she shouldn't waste the person's good intentions." Xiao Qian sighed, "A bag worth over a million... where are my friends!"

Jiang Lai murmured the word "friend" to herself; Shen Xun had said the same thing this morning.

She asked again: "Does her bag come with a silk scarf as an accessory?"

Xiao Qian said: "More than that, there are many. The silk scarf is just one of many, though such silk scarves can also be bought separately."

Jiang Lai's heart rose and fell with Xiao Qian's words.

"Professor Cheng, I won't be going to the dinner tonight. I have something to take care of at home."

Professor Cheng hesitated: "Is it... big?"

Jiang Lai: "Big."

The sky was about to collapse.

Professor Cheng comforted her: "In that case, I'll go tell Expert Lin. You focus on handling your home affairs. Now that the project is nearing its end, it's not as busy as before, so you don't have to run to the institute every day like before. We'll contact you for important matters."

"Okay." Jiang Lai put on her mask and left alone.

She didn't go home, but took a taxi to the downstairs of Star Universe Technology, where she caught a glimpse of Shen Xun.

But Shen Xun didn't see her.

Perhaps because she was wearing a mask, or perhaps because there were too many people getting off work at this hour, and Shen Xun was busy on the phone.

But they had been husband and wife for four years...

Shen Xun passed right in front of her.

She turned to follow, getting a little closer, and heard his phone call.

"You have a dinner party, so you don't need me to pick you up from work?" Shen Xun stopped in his tracks.

She stopped as well.

"Okay, send me a message when you're done with dinner, and I'll come pick you up." Shen Xun turned and walked past Jiang Lai again.

As he neared the elevator, Shen Xun's body paused slightly, a vague figure flashing through his mind.

He looked back.

"President Shen, what are you looking for?" the assistant asked.

Shen Xun shook his head. He must have seen wrong; Jiang Lai should be in the kitchen at home at this hour, not appearing downstairs at his company.

He wasn't going back for dinner tonight, so he should send a message telling Jiang Lai to cook less.

Ding-dong.

Jiang Lai received the message and stared at the short line of text in silence.

She didn't go home, continuing to wait until Shen Xun left again, and she took a taxi to follow him.

Jiang Lai stood across the street, watching Lin Shutong walk out of the revolving door, naturally taking her husband's arm, chatting and laughing as they got into the car.

Her husband personally opened the car door for another woman and even protected her head; his movements were so careful, his expression so gentle and affectionate.

Jiang Lai had seen him look gentle before, but she had never seen such affectionate eyes, sticking to a woman like melted sugar, refusing to move away.

The car drove away, leaving her in a cloud of dust.

Shen Xun in the car frowned again, turning his head to look out the window.

Lin Shutong: "A-Xun, what are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Shen Xun felt he must not have rested well, otherwise, how could he have seen Jiang Lai twice?

He wondered if Jiang Lai had eaten well on her own, the man thought, somewhat distracted.

Jiang Lai, standing by the roadside, stiffened, pulling out the four-thousand-dollar silk scarf from her bag.

In four years of marriage, this was the most expensive gift Shen Xun had ever given her.

Yet it was an accessory.

It was one of the accessories for the million-dollar bag he bought for Lin Shutong.

Jiang Lai's nails dug fiercely into her palm through the silk scarf; it seemed that way, her heart wouldn't hurt as much.

Before she could continue to grieve, her phone rang incessantly like a death knell.

It was her sister-in-law, Shen Xi.

As soon as she answered, a voice crying bitterly came from the other side: "Sister-in-law, wuwuwuwu..."

The Shen family had always looked down on her for being an orphan, especially after Shen Xun became successful; inside and out, they felt she wasn't a match for him.

Her sister-in-law, Shen Xi, even called her by her first name, ordering her around.

It was only when she got into trouble and didn't dare tell her brother that she would reluctantly call her "sister-in-law."

"What happened this time?" Jiang Lai asked flatly.

Shen Xi had hit someone with her car, and the other party needed compensation and advance payment for surgery; she hadn't fared much better herself, lying injured in a hospital bed.

Shen Xi on the phone repeatedly warned her not to tell the family.

Jiang Lai agreed and rushed to the hospital.

"Why did you take so long to get here! I'm in so much pain, dragging your feet like a turtle."

Having rushed over out of kindness only to be met with a barrage of complaints, Jiang Lai found it hard to control her expression, her gaze sinking coldly toward her sister-in-law.

Shen Xi was stunned.

How had Jiang Lai, who had always been obedient to their family, changed? She dared to look at her with that kind of gaze.

"You're glaring at me? Do you believe I'll tell my brother you're bullying me?"

Thinking of her brother backing her up, Shen Xi's bossy demeanor returned.

Who around them didn't know that Jiang Lai loved her brother like her life, was willing to do anything for him, and could endure any anger?

"If you don't want me to tell my brother..." Shen Xi blinked, suddenly smiling with a well-behaved look, "Sister-in-law, I'm starving. I want to eat Dongxing grouper congee. Go buy it for me."

A bowl of congee cost two thousand, and it had to be reserved in advance.

In the past, she had always paid for it for Shen Xi, but this time, she didn't want to.

The money she had saved for Shen Xun over these years had all gone into Lin Shutong's pocket.

Her heart had grown colder and colder.

"You can tell him right now."

Jiang Lai turned and walked out indifferently, having the nurse call Shen Xun to come over.

The victim's family was also making a huge scene; if it were in the past, she would have gone over to soothe and handle it.

This time, she didn't move, standing to the side like a bystander, her gaze slightly distant, until her parents-in-law arrived in a panic.

When the victim's family realized they were the parents of the perpetrator, they immediately swarmed them, demanding an explanation and compensation.

The elderly couple was dressed elegantly, disgusted by the proximity of others while anxiously trying to find their daughter, standing on tiptoe and looking around. Seeing their daughter-in-law, Jiang Lai, they first glared at her, then opened their mouths to dismiss the victim's family.

Jiang Lai noticed their intent and squeezed in, saying: "Mom, Dad, I'll take you to see Xiao Xi."

She turned to the victim's family and said, "Please rest assured, Xiao Xi's brother is President Shen of Star Universe Technology, a man of great reputation; he will never shirk responsibility. We will bear what we should bear."

Her words were sincere, and the emotions on the other side calmed down slightly.

The victim's brother, however, grasped the main point: "Star Universe Technology, right? If you try to evade responsibility, don't blame us for making a scene!"

Shen's father and mother were very dissatisfied with Jiang Lai reporting their son's company and position; they had intended to stop her just now, and hearing that these "country bumpkins" might harass their son, they both glared at her.

After watching the troublemakers leave, Shen's father said coldly and sarcastically: "I've never seen you be so eloquent before."

Shen's mother pulled her shawl together and scolded: "Jiang Lai, you're really something. You can't earn money, you can't have children, and you can't even manage your sister-in-law. If she's disfigured or has permanent damage to her legs, how will she face people in the future? How will she get married? You even tried to drag your husband into this just now. Is this how a wife behaves?"

"Simply stupid and vicious!"

"Vicious?"

Ever since she married Shen Xun, the responsibility of taking care of Shen Xi had fallen on her. If Shen Xi got a scratch, her parents-in-law would scold her for it.

She had worked tirelessly for four years, receiving no respect, only to be called "vicious"?

Jiang Lai clenched her knuckles, wanting only to sneer.

"Shen Xi is your responsibility, and Shen Xun's responsibility; she is not mine."

The person who had always endured their scolding suddenly talked back, and Shen's father and mother were stunned, but their anger soon flared even hotter.

They were the elders; how dare Jiang Lai commit an act of insubordination!

"As long as you are with my son for one day, the Shen family's business is your business!" Shen's father roared at her with full force, "What are you standing there for! Hurry up and get the money to pay them. If this blows up, it will affect Shen Xun's future!"

"I don't have money." Jiang Lai straightened her back.

"No money?" Shen's mother got angry just thinking about it, "My son's millions in assets are all with you, and you dare say you have no money?"

Ever since their son became successful, bought them a house, and hired a nanny, they had been thinking about traveling the world.

Unfortunately, every time they reached out to ask their son for money, he would say he didn't have any, to wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer.

When asked where the money went, he would fall silent.

The old couple calculated that the money must have been handed over to Jiang Lai to manage tightly. Looking at how their son had been living these past few years, what kind of tight-fisted life was it?

He only had a few good outfits; it was simply pitiful!

"He said the money is with me?" Jiang Lai's cold heart sank deeper and deeper, "He only gives me three thousand a month; I can show you the records."

"Stop pretending, who knows if you photoshopped them." Shen's mother didn't believe it at all.

Shen's father frowned and sized her up: "You didn't take Shen Xun's money to speculate on stocks and lose it all, did you?"

Jiang Lai was so angry she went cold-faced: "Believe it or not, I have no money, and Shen Xun's money is not with me."

As soon as she finished speaking, she prepared to leave, but turned her head.

Shen Xun had arrived.

Only this time, he wasn't alone; he had brought Lin Shutong with him.

Jiang Lai's figure paused, and their eyes met.

Shen Xun's expression also froze slightly, then he walked toward them, asking coldly why they were gathered here.

Beside them, Shen's mother recognized Lin Shutong at a glance, and the fierce look she had just had instantly became kind and amiable, grabbing the other person's hand and chatting endlessly.

"Shutong, it's been so many years. How have you been abroad? Was the food abroad not good? Look, you've lost weight, but you're still very beautiful."

"Auntie, you're still so young and vibrant, and your skin looks great." After Lin Shutong finished complimenting her, she showed a regretful look, "I heard on the phone that Xiao Xi had a car accident, so I came in a hurry and couldn't bring a gift for you two. How about I visit another time?"

"Of course!" Shen's mother was more than happy.

Lin Shutong smiled and suddenly walked closer to them: "A-Xun, aren't you going to introduce me?"

Shen Xun's gaze was gentle: "Shutong, this is my... wife, Jiang Lai."

"This is my friend from university, Lin Shutong. You can call her Miss Lin. Shutong is a very outstanding woman."

"Mrs. Shen is also named Jiang Lai?"

Lin Shutong curled her red lips, sizing up the woman in front of her, her eyes carrying a hint of undisguised disdain.

"That's quite a coincidence; there's also someone named Jiang Lai in a project I'm leading."