Chapter 6: The Idol from Student Days

Because she was too nervous, Si Rong felt her fingers trembling slightly.

After a few beeps on the other end of the line, a voice came through, "Hello?"

"Hello?"

It was a woman's voice.

Shen Lan had really betrayed her!

Because she often called Shen Lan's office, she knew this voice did not belong to any of the women in Shen Lan's office.

Si Rong hung up the phone, feeling agitated and restless.

Tears fell helplessly.

For a moment, she did not know what she should do.

So, was Shen Lan with another woman every time he went on a business trip?

The blow was too heavy; Si Rong had never imagined that Shen Lan would be with another woman.

Leaning against the phone booth for a long while, Si Rong finally walked out in a daze.

Her mind was in chaos...

One moment she wondered when Shen Lan had betrayed her—was it recently, or even earlier?

She recalled how she had scoffed at the "seven-year itch" between married couples when she was young, and felt she was truly a fool.

Actually, why bother?

She was not the type of person to cling bitterly; if Shen Lan liked someone else, he could have made it clear to her. She might have been heartbroken, but only for a while, and then they could divorce and each start a new life.

Keeping a mistress on the side—how filthy and disgusting!

She had originally thought their love was different from others'.

For so many years, although she was used to seeing Ming Zi's husband have a string of mistresses, she had always believed Shen Lan would be the exception.

It turned out, he was not.

Taking advantage of the fact that it was still early, Si Rong prepared to take the bus home, pack a few clothes, and move into Ming Zi's house as she had suggested.

She did not want to see Shen Lan right now.

Wang Ma was stewing chicken soup and smiled when she saw her return, "Madam, the young miss loves my stewed free-range chicken soup the most. Would you like to taste it first?"

The madam had always been attentive to these things.

The young miss she spoke of was, naturally, Shen Yuan.

But today, Si Rong just walked past her indifferently and went straight to the bedroom.

Si Rong sat on the Simmons mattress, staring blankly at the intimate photo of her and Shen Lan on the bedside table.

Shen Lan's profile was gentle as jade, looking back at her with a smile.

Was it fake?

As she packed her clothes, she thought about that mysterious phone call.

The fact that Shen Lan had betrayed her was almost confirmed, so could Shen Chi and Shen Yuan really be ingrates as well?

She did not want to believe it.

After all, these were the two children she had raised with her own hands; she had poured more heart and soul into them than Shen Lan had.

The phone call had also mentioned a third thing: to buy as much property as possible.

Si Rong took the bankbooks out of their safe.

Perhaps because she had never lacked money from childhood to adulthood, Si Rong had never paid much attention to these things.

In twenty years of marriage, she had never really cared how much money was in their bankbooks.

In any case, Shen Lan always kept more cash than she could spend in the drawer.

When she returned to her parents' home, her father, mother, and two brothers all treated her like a child and would stuff money into her bag.

Two bankbooks: one had over ninety thousand yuan, and the other had one hundred and thirty thousand.

She put them into her bag; buying property was the only thing she could do now.

If that phone call really came from her future self, Si Rong chose to believe it.

However, because Ming Zi had self-studied law—reportedly so that her three children wouldn't be taken advantage of in the future—Si Rong had also been influenced by some of this knowledge.

This money belonged to the marital property of her and Shen Lan; even if she bought property, it would still belong to both of them.

She would ask Ming Zi before buying.

Just as she finished packing, the living room phone rang.

At this time, it was highly likely to be Shen Lan; Si Rong heard Wang Ma run over to answer it.

"The madam is in the bedroom."

"Alright, I will pass the message to the madam."

Si Rong walked out carrying a small suitcase, and Wang Ma looked surprised, "Madam, are you going out?"

"Yes, tell the master that I have gone to Ming Zi's house."

Wang Ma nodded, "Very well, Madam. The master just called to say he would be getting off work a bit late today."

"I know."

Si Rong knew that there would be a reshuffle of the Huaiyang City leadership before the new year; she had heard the County Magistrate was to be transferred to the city, and the position of County Magistrate would then become vacant.

Shen Lan was busy with the campaign, but he was not the only one eyeing that position.

So he would be very busy during this time.

"But, what about the young miss later..." Wang Ma wanted to ask if the madam was just going to leave and ignore the young miss, but before she could finish, Si Rong had already pulled her suitcase away.

Their house was not far from Ming Zi's.

To please her mother-in-law, Ming Zi still lived with her three children in the steel plant's Family Quarters.

However, their home is quite large, and Ming Zi's mother-in-law is also considered easy to get along with.

When Si Rong arrived, Ming Zi was already standing at the entrance of the Family Quarters waiting for her.

She took the suitcase from her hand and said, "Let's go! You're sleeping with me tonight."

As soon as these words were spoken, Si Rong knew that her husband would not be coming home tonight.

Sigh! It seems it is always the women who are left waiting bitterly.

Just as they entered the compound, they ran into someone head-on.

The man was wearing a stand-collar military uniform and standing beside a military jeep; his sharp, angular features were wrapped in frost, exuding the icy coldness of a high-mountain flower.

Jiang Cheng.

He was as dazzling as he had been back in their school days.

At that time, many people on campus had a secret crush on Jiang Cheng; he was a god-like existence.

Now, in the blink of an eye, they are actually already nearly forty years old.

How time flies!

She hadn't expected to run into Jiang Cheng here, and her eyes were still red and swollen.

But perhaps Jiang Cheng no longer remembered her.

Si Rong lowered her eyes and walked past Jiang Cheng with Ming Zi, then heard the sound of the jeep door closing and the vehicle driving away.

Sure enough, he definitely didn't remember; he didn't remember that they were once old classmates.

"Do you know?" Ming Zi linked her arm with hers, "Jiang Cheng was only transferred back to our Huaiyang Military Region this year, and I heard he is already a Division Commander. By the way, I heard he only brought a daughter back with him this time; everyone in the compound guesses he is divorced. Back then, all our classmates said he liked you."

"Don't talk nonsense," Si Rong did not believe she had that much charm, and besides, she was in no mood to talk about the past right now.

"It's true, I heard he even wrote you a love letter."

Si Rong was somewhat speechless, "People just repeat what they hear! I never received a love letter written by Jiang Cheng."

Such an arrogant god-like man, would he write her a love letter?

"But at the last class reunion, I heard Cui Lili mention that Jiang Cheng had entrusted someone to deliver a love letter to you."

Yet Si Rong had absolutely no memory of it.

"No, Cui Lili spoke of it with such vivid detail, but who would Jiang Cheng have entrusted to give you the love letter?"

In their student days, even if he entrusted someone, he wouldn't entrust someone who had no connection to the girl; back then, she, Li Xuan, and Si Rong were the closest.

"I'll ask Li Xuan when I see her later."

Ming Zi pushed the door open to let Si Rong in, then remembered something, "By the way, it seems Li Xuan has a boyfriend; did she tell you?"

She generally wouldn't ask Li Xuan such things directly.

They say a friendship of three can be a bit crowded; among the three of them, she only hung out with Li Xuan because of Si Rong.