Chapter 49: A Good Eye Is All You Need

"President Shen, my wife and Miss Jiang Lai have already gone to sleep. My wife has poor sleep; if she's woken it's hard for her to fall back asleep, so could you please come another day during the day?" How could a fifty‑something Butler let a sub‑thirty youngster see through it.

He kept smiling all the time.

Shen Xun didn't notice anything amiss, but he heard the implication in his words: Jiang Lai and her teacher's mother were sleeping together.

But he still felt uneasy.

The "it's okay" Jiang Lai said before leaving with Chongying always left him feeling like a piece was missing, his whole body tinged with discomfort.

"Do you have a guest room?" Shen Xun thought of staying here tonight so that he could see Jiang Lai when he woke up tomorrow.

Butler Deng smiled and politely declined: "President Shen, ever since my husband left, Cui Zhai does not receive guests; outsiders are not allowed."

Shen Xun frowned: "I am Jiang Lai's husband." How could that make me an outsider?

Butler Deng remained silent.

His gaze shone brightly, saying: you are an outsider.

Shen Xun realized he couldn't get into Cui Zhai tonight, so he gave up: "Please tell Jiang Lai that I came looking for her, and that she should go home."

When Shen Xun got home it was already the third watch of the night; as he was about to change, he opened the wardrobe and saw Jiang Lai's clothes hanging sparsely, with only a few sets remaining, and he didn't know when that had happened.

Jiang Lai rarely bought clothes; every time she bought, it was for him, so two‑thirds of the wardrobe were his items and only a third were Jiang Lai's. It was already few, and now it's even fewer.

Shen Xun felt inexplicably restless.

While showering he also discovered the body wash and shampoo were empty, and he hadn't opened any new ones; as for where the new bottles were, he had no idea.

Before marriage, the house was tidied by his parents, and even when living alone there was a maid to clean.

After marriage, Jiang Lai managed the household.

When Shen Xun thought carefully, he realized Jiang Lai hadn't come home for four or five days.

After a quick shower, he went out, took out his phone, and kept sending messages to Jiang Lai.

"Honey, remember to come home; I'm waiting for you at the house."

Jiang Lai groggily opened her eyes, intending to grab her phone to check the time, and the message she saw was exactly that.

She was startled for a moment.

It felt like she didn't know what year tonight was.

Shen Xun hadn't said that to her in a long time.

When they had just married, he would say it every now and then; each time she would be teary‑eyed, feeling grateful that she finally had a home and was no longer alone.

It was precisely because she cherished this hard‑won home that she dutifully cared for Shen Xun's parents and sister, doing whatever they asked.

And because she treasured this difficult‑earned home, she lived frugally to take good care of Shen Xun.

In the end, the Shen family looked down on her, and Shen Xun cheated on her both mentally and physically behind her back.

Oh, no cheating.

Shen Xun never loved her from the start.

Jiang Lai tapped to hide the message, then saw a message from Uncle Deng, reminding her to take care of herself while out, to send a reply to the teacher's mother and to him, and finally mentioning that last night Shen Xun went to Cui Zhai looking for her.

That surprised Jiang Lai.

He took Lin Shutong to a banquet, and after it ended he left Lin Shutong behind to look for her?

That's sick.

After replying to Uncle Deng, Jiang Lai looked up at the ceiling, a place she had slept in.

Chongying was in an apartment next to A Da.

How did she return?

She vaguely recalled Chongying had passed out drunk, and then she called Ke Zhongyu.

Ke Zhongyu came?

He didn't, I guess.

She didn't see Ke Zhongyu last night.

What she saw was Dean Mom.

But the orphanage is eighty‑thousand li from A City; how could Dean Mom possibly come here?

So…

The "Dean Mom" from last night was most likely Ke Zhongyu.

Jiang Lai: "."

Sudden.

She rolled to the side and pressed a hand.

"Ahhh!" the Chongying lying on the floor jerked his head up, and Jiang Lai finally realized there was someone else in the room, and she looked down.

The two stared at each other.

"Why am I sleeping on the floor?" Chongying's hair was disheveled, his face covered with red marks from sleeping; she propped herself up.

Jiang Lai: "Did I kick you?"

She wasn't sure.

Chongying scratched his hair, trying to climb onto the bed, when a knock sounded.

"Who's there so early in the morning?"

"It's 11:23," Ke Zhongyu's voice rang from the doorway, with a parental sternness, "Get up and eat."

"Why is my brother here?" Chongying asked, bewildered.

Jiang Lai had already confirmed that the person who came to the tavern last night to pick them up was Ke Zhongyu, and she told Chongying.

Chongying let out a sudden laugh, then couldn't laugh any more.

"It's over, it's over, my tavern is exposed."

Jiang Lai: "……Actually your older brother already knew."

Ke Zhongying didn't giggle.

"Forget it, get up, wash up, and eat." She resignedly climbed out of bed, having known from the start that she couldn't hide it; nothing could escape her brother's discerning eye.

Jiang Lai pulled back the blanket and suddenly discovered a band-aid stuck on her chest.

Ke Zhongying also noticed and asked her: "Did your clothing get injured?"

After saying that, she felt her words were silly—clothes being torn wouldn't call for a band-aid.

In Jiang Lai's mind flashed last night's scene—she and Dean Mom pointing at her own chest, saying the band-aid should go there; upon waking, a band-aid appeared there.

She lifted her gaze toward the doorway.

"You're still in your evening gown; I'll go find my clothes for you to wear." Ke Zhongying was also wearing last night's evening gown, but hers was more casual and easy to move in.

Opening the door and stepping out, she smelled a fragrance, and her stomach growled twice.

Ke Zhongyu, sitting on the sofa reading news on a tablet, asked: "Looking for what?"

"Clothes for Sister Jiang Lai to wear."

"Here." Ke Zhongyu picked up a large paper bag from beside him and handed it over.

Ke Zhongying yawned, reached out to take it, opening it as she walked back to her room.

A white knit long dress and an olive-green cashmere coat, tags still attached.

No need to guess—it was obviously bought by her brother for Sister Jiang Lai.

"Hehe." Ke Zhongying laughed, removed the tags, and handed them to Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai didn't notice her removing the tags, assuming they were Ke Zhongying's own clothes, picked them up and went into the bathroom to change.

The white knit dress fell exactly to her ankles, and the olive-green coat's shoulder width and sleeve length were just right.

It fit very well.

But it wasn't Ke Zhongying's height.

Ke Zhongying was slightly shorter than her, with a more proportionate build, unlike her slender frame.

Jiang Lai walked out, and both siblings' gazes turned toward her.

The white knit dress was soft, the green added a brightening effect; together they enhanced her cool, otherworldly aura.

Ke Zhongying's eyes lit up: "My brother's taste is really good."

Picking people and picking clothes are both superb.

The clothing and dress were indeed bought by Ke Zhongyu; Jiang Lai stepped forward: "Thank you, Mr. Ke. May I ask how much this outfit costs? I'll transfer you the money."

Ke Zhongying recognized the goods at a glance—altogether just twenty or thirty thousand—she was about to speak when she heard her brother loudly interject beside her.

"One hundred thousand."

Ke Zhongying: "……"

"Can Secretary Jiang transfer it?" Ke Zhongyu leaned back on the sofa, his bearing noble, his gaze deep.