Chapter 5: The Divorce Agreement Was Just Drafted When He Brought Someone Else Home

"Shifu's wife, aren't you going to ask me why?"

Jiang Lai wiped her tears, helped Shifu's wife sit down on the sofa, and went to pour water.

Wang Ruohua said, "Shen Xun said you two argued over the matter of children and you didn't come home all night. He still doesn't want children?"

Jiang Lai shook her head: "This time it's me who doesn't want to. He wanted me to quit my job to stay home and prepare for pregnancy, to be a stay-at-home housewife with peace of mind."

"How is he even more feudal than me?" Wang Ruohua's anger flared. "Has he climbed so high in position now that he looks down on you? He dares to look down on you? Once the project is announced, who knows how many people will break their heads trying to meet you. Old Cui's precious darling, and in his eyes she's nothing but a nanny?"

Jiang Lai's nose stung listening to this, and she couldn't hold back from telling the real reason: "The real reason isn't this, Shifu's wife. The person he loves isn't me. He married me to provoke Lin Shutong. It's just a pity that Lin Shutong didn't come back on the day of the wedding, that's all."

"Who?" Wang Ruohua thought the name sounded somewhat familiar. After saying it twice, she asked, "Old Ji's foreign-educated granddaughter?"

"Mm." Jiang Lai nodded.

"How did you know?"

"I heard it." Jiang Lai recounted the incident of eavesdropping that day. Before she even finished, her hand was already grabbed by Shifu's wife as she was pulled toward the door.

"This is beyond outrageous. I'll personally take you to find a top domestic lawyer to draft a divorce agreement and make him sign it and divorce you right away!"

The divorce agreement was drafted quickly.

The freshly printed paper was still warm, yet Jiang Lai found it burning hot to hold. She stared at the words on it for a long time, then finally put pen to paper and signed her name.

After leaving the law firm, she and Shifu's wife went shopping for clothes and had dinner together. It wasn't until night had fully fallen that she headed back into the cold wind.

The windows at home were lit.

It seemed Shen Xun was home.

Oh, not just Shen Xun.

The Shen Family had also come.

Shen Xi's injuries were minor—hospitalization was optional. She complained that the hospital's disinfectant smell was unbearable and the private kitchen dishes she ordered tasted awful, so she decided to move into her eldest brother's home, where Jiang Lai could wait on her while she recovered.

The moment they arrived and saw the slap mark on Shen Xun's face, the Shen Family's anger erupted.

"Was it Jiang Lai who hit you? Was it?" Mother Shen saw her son stay silent and knew he was habitually shielding Jiang Lai. "You think if you don't say it, we can't guess? Aside from Jiang Lai, who else would dare hit you? In your company, apart from the directors above you, you hold the highest position. And as for the women around you, Shutong is so gentle and proper—it wouldn't be her either."

"Brother! What right does Jiang Lai have to hit you!" Shen Xi also jumped to his defense. "You provide her food, clothes, and a place to live—what more could she be dissatisfied with? She actually dared to hit you. When she gets back, I definitely won't let her off!"

A vicious tone.

Shen Xi always had plenty of wicked ideas, all used on people she couldn't stand—especially her incompetent sister-in-law.

Shen's father demanded sternly, "Was it really Jiang Lai who hit you?"

Shen Xun said, "I hit her too."

Mother Shen: "Then she deserved it! I've never seen anyone dare to hit her own husband."

Shen Xi was even more indignant: "Exactly, what's wrong with eldest brother teaching her a lesson? If it weren't for meeting eldest brother, could Jiang Lai ever reach people of our class?"

"Son, divorce Jiang Lai." Shen's father pondered for a moment before making this decision.

Shen Xun, however, frowned deeply: "Dad!"

Outside the door, Jiang Lai lowered her eyes and pinched the divorce agreement in her hand, thinking: Isn't this just perfect? Let's divorce.

But Shen Xun's refusal reached her ears: "No."

"Why not?" Mother Shen was angry enough to have a headache. "Son, has Jiang Lai really put some spell on you? How can you be so obstinate? There are so many outstanding women around you—Lin Shutong, for example. Why must you hang yourself from one tree!"

Shen Xi pressed further: "Brother, don't you want to divorce Jiang Lai and then marry Sister Shutong? You two used to be so close. Even though the window paper was never broken, everyone in our family knew."

A cold sneer curled the corner of Jiang Lai's mouth.

Shen Xun couldn't bear to drag Lin Shutong into the trivialities of marriage.

"Are you worried that divorcing Jiang Lai will affect your reputation at the company? But I remember you've never brought Jiang Lai to any event, not even the company annual party." Shen's father analyzed methodically, "Not many people know you're married to begin with, and even fewer know who your wife is. There's nothing to worry about on that front."

After seeing Lin Shutong's attitude toward their son, the Shen Family no longer wanted Jiang Lai as a daughter-in-law and were single-mindedly pushing for divorce.

Shen Xun, however, refused to agree: "I won't divorce. Don't let Jiang Lai hear these words."

He got up and went into the Shufang, shutting out the voices of the family.

The Shen Family thought Shen Xun was simply madly in love with Jiang Lai.

Only Jiang Lai knew why he refused to divorce.

Once divorced, where would he find a free, on-call nanny?

Though she couldn't compare to a head chef, over the years she had made Shen Xun's palate finicky.

Jiang Lai put away the divorce agreement.

Whether Shen Xun agreed or not, she was going to get this divorce.

Even if she had to do it in secret.

She waited until the atmosphere at home had eased somewhat before entering the code and going in.

Hearing the commotion at the door, the Shen Family all turned to look, and upon seeing Jiang Lai, still showed no pleasant expressions.

Shen Xi: "Why is my sister-in-law back so late? We're all hungry, especially my brother. If he doesn't eat on time, he's prone to stomach problems."

After saying that, her gaze swept to the pink bunny slippers on Jiang Lai's feet, and she showed a disgusted expression.

"Jiang Lai, you're nearly thirty—how are you still wearing pink like a little girl? Ugh... so childish."

Jiang Lai shifted her feet, thinking these childish slippers were quite nice-looking.

This was someone's kindness toward her.

For someone like her, who grew up in an orphanage and only knew how to study desperately without being good at socializing, rarely did she encounter others' kindness.

So this was precious, and she wouldn't throw them away.

Mother Shen couldn't be bothered to look at her and urged her to go to the kitchen to make dinner, while reminding her: "Don't forget to make it light, with less salt."

Shen's father had high blood pressure.

"Got it." Jiang Lai walked straight to the kitchen, took out her phone, and ordered takeout, specifically adding a note for light seasoning with less salt.

The place they lived in was near the city center, with a commercial street and food street not far away, so the takeout came quickly.

The doorbell rang; Mother Shen went to open the door, saw it was a delivery, and everyone was dumbfounded.

Jiang Lai walked to the study door as if nothing were wrong, raised her hand and knocked, and as usual shouted, "Meal's ready!"

She just lacked her former lighthearted tone.

Every time she finished cooking, she would happily go to the door and shout, "Meal's ready!"

The study door would immediately open from inside.

Her husband would say to her, "You've worked hard, wife."

This time, when Shen Xun opened the study door, that phrase didn't appear; the two locked eyes, each first noticing the slap mark on the other's face.

They stared at each other in silence.

It seemed neither wanted to back down.

"Son, hurry up and eat the takeout Jiang Lai ordered!" Mother Shen said, setting out bowls and chopsticks while speaking in a sarcastic tone.

Shen Xun heard this and was dissatisfied: "Why is it takeout? Is there no food left in the fridge? I want to drink the fish soup you cooked."

"There is fish soup." Jiang Lai turned and walked away.

Shen Xun wanted to reach out, then pulled back, and followed behind unhappily.

The takeout on the table left Shen Xun with no appetite; he hadn't eaten breakfast that morning, and now there was nothing to eat for dinner, making him hard to bear.

"Jiang Lai, how long will you keep being willful?"

"I just don't want to cook." Jiang Lai said in a flat tone, "What does that have to do with being willful? Was I born just to cook?"

Shen Xun was left speechless.

She picked up her chopsticks and began eating, then suggested, "If you don't like takeout, we could hire a maid."

Shen Xi retorted, "Why hire a maid? Isn't there… you?"

"There really is one at home." Jiang Lai interrupted her, looking at Shen Father and Mother, who had been glaring at her reproachfully, and said with a slight twitch of her mouth, "If you feel sorry for Shen Xun, you can send the household maid over."

"Jiang Lai!" Shen Xun could no longer bear it; seeing Jiang Lai turn her head, her face slightly swollen, he suppressed his anger, softened his tone a bit, and said, "Be a little polite to Mom and Dad."

Shen Xun truly respected his parents and loved his sister, but toward her, his wife, his gentleness was fake, and his feelings were fake.

Jiang Lai said nothing more.

After finishing the meal, Shen Father and Mother left; thinking about having to stay and eat takeout, Shen Xi also had to follow them back.

At night.

Jiang Lai was thinking, on one hand, how to avoid sharing a bed, and on the other, how to get Shen Xun to sign the divorce agreement.

Footsteps were approaching.

She felt a little nervous.

Shen Xun's phone suddenly rang.

This call came at a perfect time.

"Your phone." Jiang Lai took his phone, turned, and faced Shen Xun, who was wrapped in a bathrobe; the caller ID read "Lin Shutong."

Seeing the name Lin Shutong, Shen Xun turned and went out to answer the call, returning less than a minute later to say he had an urgent matter and had to leave.

"Okay." Jiang Lai pressed her lips together.

Shen Xun stared at her face for a moment: "Don't misunderstand, we're just friends; you're my wife."

"I know, go." Jiang Lai replied perfunctorily.

In the middle of the night, a clattering sound came from the kitchen.

Jiang Lai came out yawning, and a person was leaning on the living‑room sofa.

It was a woman.

Hearing the noise, the woman lifted her head, her lips pale, one hand still pressed to her stomach, as if she were suffering severe menstrual pain.

"Jiang Lai? Did Ah Xun wake you up?"

Jiang Lai stared blankly at the woman.

I never expected Shen Xun to actually bring someone back so openly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you; I live far away, have few friends I can contact, so I had to bother Ah Xun. I also didn't expect Ah Xun to bring me straight back and even cook for me, making brown sugar water and noodles."

Jiang Lai heard the boast in her tone.

Even more surprising to her was that Shen Xun would actually cook.

In the kitchen, the pot of simmering soup made a gurgling sound, and the air carried a faint sweet scent of brown sugar.

The man wore an apron, holding a spatula in one hand and an egg in the other, obviously unsure what to do.

He muttered, "Why does this fried egg keep burning?"

It turned out that when Shen Xun is in love, he's like this—not steady at all, like a callow youth.

He even does things he doesn't like doing.

Shen Xun doesn't like cooking, and he dislikes being near the kitchen even more, saying he can't stand the fumes.

So when renovating, he rejected her proposal for an open‑plan kitchen.

Thus she has always been the one who closes the door, cooks in the kitchen, and brings the dishes to the table.

"Can't you still see it? Jiang Lai."

Lin Shutong came up beside her, as if she had just won a battle; if she had a tail, she'd be wagging it eagerly.

"Ah Xun loves only me; you're just something he uses to kill time when I'm not around—a…"

"Bathroom reading material."