Chapter 165: All in Torment

"Isn't that so?"

When the elderly gather, their topics, aside from their sons and daughters, are their grandsons and granddaughters; before long, the conversation drifted to the two daughters of the Shi Family.

A neighbor asked Shi Yucheng when he would be holding a grandchild, since both his daughters were already married.

"I don't interfere in young people's affairs. They can have children whenever they want; as long as my daughters are living happily, that's all that matters."

Shi Yucheng spoke with an open mind, but turned around and urged Shi Youxuan: "Xuanxuan, when are you and Hanyu going to have children? You are young, but Hanyu isn't. Only by having a child can you tether a man's heart..."

Since it would be very difficult for Shi Yuke to conceive again in this life, he pinned his hopes on his second daughter!

"Dad, why do you believe everything you hear? Just because others urge you, you urge me? Sheng Hanyu and I are in a cold war, so what kind of 'having children' are you talking about? No!"

Shi Youxuan did not want to use a child to tether a man's heart; if she and Sheng Hanyu were together, it must be because of love.

She loves Sheng Hanyu, and Sheng Hanyu loves her—only that would suffice.

Love should be mutual appreciation, equal treatment, and free of impurities!

She did not want, nor did she covet, a love that was impure or held back by constraints.

Shi Yucheng did not know what was on Shi Youxuan's mind, but her words reminded him of something he had been meaning to ask, so he brought it up again: "By the way, why are you two angry?"

"Dad, did you take your blood pressure medication today?"

It was obvious the daughter did not want to talk about it, and though he still wanted to ask, Shi Youxuan started talking and wouldn't stop: "You should change your blood pressure medication every few months to prevent developing a resistance from taking the same one all the time. Jian Yining said there is a new blood pressure medication developed abroad that is very effective for stubborn cases of high diastolic pressure, and it's more stable too. Once it passes the trial period, he will send some to you..."

Distracted by her like this, he failed to ask again.

Sheng Hanyu Villa, bedroom.

Zai Zai sat on the bed, and Sheng Hanyu's phone lay quietly in Zai Zai's arms.

Every minute on average, Sheng Hanyu had to pick it up to check, even suspecting at one point that the phone was broken.

It wasn't until Yun Zhe Hao called that he realized the phone wasn't broken; it was just that the voice he wanted to hear hadn't called.

"If you have something to say, say it tomorrow. Don't call me today." He hung up as soon as he finished speaking, not caring if the person on the other end had something urgent to discuss.

In fact, Yun Zhe Hao had nothing urgent; he was simply curious.

Curious about what was going on with that statement on television.

Had the person been found?

In all the years they had known each other, he had never seen Sheng Hanyu care so much about a woman, not even for Jian Yixin back in the day.

After hanging up on Yun Zhe Hao, Sheng Hanyu recalled the long message he had written on WeChat. There was no problem with it; it was even more mushy than the statement on television.

After leaving the Shi Family, he had started writing and deleting it on the road, repeating the wording dozens of times; every word was the result of careful deliberation.

If the statement on television was the mushiest love confession Sheng Hanyu had ever made, then the one sent via WeChat was even mushier. It was mushy but not nauseating—it was all heartfelt words and genuine emotion.

Yet, after writing and sending it, it was like a clay ox entering the sea—not even a ripple was stirred up!

Why was this?

Sheng Hanyu thought to himself that Xuanxuan was not an unreasonable person, nor would she make a scene without cause.

Even if she thought it was wrong or didn't believe it, she would retort and argue with him.

Arguing was fine, being unreasonable was fine—at least say something, wouldn't that work?

To have not a single word like this left him feeling restless and unable to eat or sleep.

This was the first time Sheng Hanyu had spent so many brain cells trying to fathom a woman's thoughts and feelings, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't figure it out.

Since he couldn't figure it out himself, he had no choice but to seek outside help!

Upon receiving the call Sheng Hanyu initiated, Yun Zhe Hao rushed to his house at top speed. As soon as he entered, he was dragged into the Study by Sheng Hanyu, who slammed the door shut with a "Bang."

"What's so urgent that you had me come over? You didn't even offer me a glass of water."

He had sped here at 180 miles per hour and was now parched.

Sheng Hanyu took a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and tossed it over. Yun Zhe Hao unscrewed it and had just taken a sip when he heard him say: "A Hao, help me analyze why Xuanxuan is ignoring me?"

"Pfft—"

All the water he had just taken into his mouth sprayed out, not a drop wasted, landing all over Sheng Hanyu's clothes.

He wiped it off with a tissue in disgust and let it go. Sheng Hanyu was a germaphobe; usually, if someone stepped on his Spring Shoes, he would have to change them immediately.

Now that he had been sprayed with water, he actually just wiped it off and let it go.

"Cough, cough..."

Yun Zhe Hao couldn't stop coughing; he was truly shocked. Was this still Sheng Hanyu?

After finally stopping his cough, Yun Zhe Hao still couldn't believe his ears: "What did you just ask me?"

Sheng Hanyu said: "You saw the statement on TV, right? Then I went to her parents' house to pick her up, but she wouldn't come back with me. She insisted I explain in front of her father. I didn't explain, so Shi Yucheng got angry and kicked me out."

"I wrote the explanation in a WeChat message and sent it over. It's been a long time since I sent it, and there's been no reaction. You tell me, what's going on?"

It was actually a simple matter, but the way he described it was incoherent and illogical. Sheng Hanyu's mind was a mess right now, filled only with the thought: "Why is she ignoring me?"

However, Yun Zhe Hao understood. He gave Sheng Hanyu guidance from the perspective of an "experienced man": "If a woman won't be coaxed no matter what, there are only two reasons. One, she doesn't believe what you're saying. Two, she no longer loves you."

"Not believing you might mean your attitude isn't sincere enough, but the biggest possibility is that she doesn't love you enough."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing else."

These two sentences were what Yun Zhe Hao's wife had told him, meaning: don't be afraid of me making a scene; the fact that I'm willing to make a scene with you means I still love you.

The henpecked Yun Zhe Hao now passed this sentence on to Sheng Hanyu word for word. Sheng Hanyu's heart felt as if it had fallen into an ice hole, cold and numb.

"You can go now." Sheng Hanyu issued an order to leave.

He wanted to be quiet and calm down to re-examine the relationship between the two of them.

Yun Zhe Hao, having been "discarded after the task was done," had no objections. As he left, he even patted his shoulder sympathetically: "Brother, hang in there."

Sheng Hanyu held up on the surface, pretending as if he were a person with nothing wrong.

But at night, lying alone on the big bed, more than half of the bed was empty, and his heart was completely empty!

Tossing and turning alone in bed unable to sleep, the sound and smile of Shi Youxuan kept flashing through Sheng Hanyu's mind.

He wondered if she was asleep now?

If she were asleep, she must be dreaming and smacking her lips; she was restless when sleeping and always had to hug him or the bear doll like an octopus.

Because of "competing for favor" with the doll, Sheng Hanyu did not allow Shi Youxuan to bring Zai Zai onto the bed when sleeping at night.

But now Shi Youxuan was not there, yet Zai Zai was in the spot that belonged to Shi Youxuan.

She was not at home, so he had to look at the things that belonged to her to feel at ease!

……

At the same time, in a different place.

Shi Youxuan was also tossing and turning on the bed at her maiden home, flipping back and forth like a pancake, simply unable to sleep.

Angry.

Angry at Sheng Hanyu.

What was that on WeChat, sending such a long piece all at once? Couldn't he have sent it line by line? At least that way she wouldn't have accidentally deleted one and not seen it.

She originally wanted to call and ask, but her pride got in the way, so she didn't, waiting instead for Sheng Hanyu to take the initiative to call.

Or to ask on WeChat: "Why didn't you reply to my message?" Anything would do.

That way, she could righteously tell him: "I accidentally deleted the WeChat message." And even more righteously make Sheng Hanyu send it again!

However, there was nothing, absolutely nothing.