Shen Fu immediately woke up from his confused and chaotic state, frightened awake, thinking something had happened to Xiaodie.
"Who are you, and what have you done to my wife!" Shen Fu roared.
"It's me, it's me!" the other person hurriedly explained, "It's your brother, Officer Guo!"
"Officer Guo, ah~" Shen Fu asked with a somewhat hoarse voice, "What did you just say to me?"
"You had another tiff with your wife, didn't you, and your wife has run away from home again, right!" Officer Guo spoke in a tone that implied he knew all about it, "Don't deny it, we saw her at the hotel~"
It turned out that there was a routine hotel inspection in the area today, and by coincidence, Guo saw Bai Jiaoyue during the inspection.
His first reaction was to think Shen Fu had been cuckolded, then he remembered the eternally single daughter in his own home.
It was later confirmed that she was the only person in the room, or rather, at that point in time, she was the only one there.
No matter the situation, Guo felt that Shen was a good kid, truly loved his wife, and thus he made a special effort to tip him off.
"What I'm doing is not exactly by the book, so you better get going."
"Guo, I won't say much now, I'll treat you to a drink another day!" Shen Fu expressed his sincere gratitude.
If he hadn't known, it would have been one thing, but now that he did, he of course wanted to be by his wife's side to protect her.
Although he was reluctant to admit it, multiple personalities were indeed a mental illness, and you could never tell when another personality might emerge or what it might do; there were too many uncertainties.
Shen Fu immediately got up, dressed, and went to the hotel not far from the residential complex.
He didn't disturb Bai Jiaoyue, instead, he quietly opened a room next to his wife's and continued the interrupted beautiful dream.
In the dream, his wife split into nine, and nine Xiaodies flung themselves at him, some cold and distant, some coquettish.
He didn't know why he was scared, desperately running away. Shouldn't he have been rushing to mingle with them in this situation?
As he ran, the number of wives behind him grew, from nine to dozens, to hundreds.
He ran like Forrest Gump, without ever stopping, crossing over mountains and seas, and then through crowds of people.
Running and running, there was no one chasing him anymore, and he had forgotten why he was running, but he couldn't stop.
He ran to the place where he volunteered to teach, back to his hometown, to all the places he had ever left footprints.
And so, the next morning, his leg cramped up.
"Ouch~" Shen Fu rubbed his ankle, and since it was still early, he planned to wake Xiaodie and have breakfast downstairs.
In the room next door, Xiaodie got up even earlier, having already watched all the video and text material left behind by Bai Jiaoyue.
This guy, it was one thing for her to play with high-risk investments, but to wheedle 60 million out of her husband for stock trading! What if it was lost!
Just as she was pondering how to explain this to her husband, the doorbell rang. She went to check, and oh, it was Caesar... no, it was her husband!
She opened the door, and Shen Fu, without a word, kissed her on the left cheek.
Bai Xiaodie was taken aback, then finally realized—it was a secret code!
"Oh, kiss here too~" Bai Xiaodie pointed to her right cheek, smiling sweetly.
Shen Fu chuckled "heh heh," kicked the door closed with his foot, and kissed her directly on the lips.
Xiaodie struggled to get a chance to speak amid her wild husband's embraces and asked, "How did you know I was here?"
Shen Fu couldn't betray a nice guy like Officer Guo, so he said that during yesterday's video call, he guessed it was this hotel near their home by the layout of the room.
Bai Xiaodie gave an "Oh," then immediately asked, "You can guess the hotel just based on the layout of the room, are you very familiar with this hotel, honey? Do you come here often?"
Shen Fu was quick to respond, "Of course, during our wedding, all our friends and family stayed right here."
Bai Xiaodie chuckled, as she had no intention of doubting him; she was just teasing him.
"By the way, yesterday you knew it was Bai Jiaoyue, didn't you? Why did you give her all your savings?"
"I knew it. Wasn't it you who said she's very good at investing and business, a truly hidden dragon and crouching phoenix within your personas?"
"Mrs. Bai is indeed very capable, but that's still half a billion. She can't watch the stock market all the time; there's still risk involved," Xiaodie remarked.
"If you put it like that, do I still have a chance to get it back?"
Bai Xiaodie shook her head, "Nope, she's also invested over 90 million of her own, and can't withdraw it at the moment."
"What! My wife is that rich? How come I never knew!"
"It's her money, it has nothing to do with me. Her money is always on a separate card; I don't even know the PIN," Bai Xiaodie explained, "But she said as long as she's here, we won't go hungry."
Shen Fu realized that within her multiple personalities, Bai Jiaoyue was like an elder sister, the role of a breadwinner.
Shen Fu said, "Let's leave it at that, then. You trust her, and I trust you."
"Thank you, hubby," Xiaodie leaned her head against Shen Fu's chest, "and for making the special trip to book a room and keep me company."
Shen Fu hugged his wife a little tighter, "So, do I get any reward?"
"Reward?" Xiaodie caught on to Shen Fu's hint, blushing, "Is it okay with your head like that?"
"I went to the hospital yesterday, and the doctor said it shouldn't interfere with business as usual," Shen Fu said, his gaze fixed on Xiaodie's gradually reddening cheeks, knowing the deal was sealed.
The room temperature began to rise, and Xiaodie's hands had already reached for her nightdress straps, but Shen Fu added a request, "Wifey, yesterday Bai Jiaoyue bought high heels and stockings, do you want to try them on?"
Bai Xiaodie looked at the black stockings by the bed, pursed her lips, struggled internally for a moment, and finally nodded.
As she dressed, she asked, "Mrs. Bai said I don't know how to dress up, do you think so too?"
"Not at all!" Shen Fu handed her the red high heels, "You've always gone for the good girl look. Changing styles occasionally helps spice up the marriage, no?"
He then rummaged through her purse and found a lipstick, "Let me apply it for you~"
When Shen Fu painstakingly removed the stockings he'd helped Xiaodie into, he couldn't help feeling an illusion that it wasn't Xiaodie beneath him, but Bai Jiaoyue.
This thought made him wary; he was in love with Xiaodie, so why would he think of another woman at this time, even if that woman was another manifestation of Xiaodie?
With this in mind, Shen Fu stopped his actions, even feeling somewhat disappointed with himself. He never intended to be a saint, having had his wild younger days with a love life more tangled than a spider's web. But back then, he was on his own, free to play as he pleased.
Now, however, it was different. He'd made a promise to this girl of unfortunate circumstances: she was his chosen one for life, irreplaceable!
Seeing that her husband had stopped, Xiaodie was confused, "What's wrong?"
Shen Fu gestured for her to stop, "Just be yourself, you don't seem comfortable."
Xiaodie smiled sweetly, "You got used to eating spicy food for me, why can't I make some attempts for you?"
Seeing that Shen Fu was still hesitating, Xiaodie turned over with her heels in the air, and gave a playful poke on Shen Fu's chest with her delicate fingers, "You lie down and close your eyes~"
Shen Fu stammered, "This, this, this…"
(Pushed to the front page, for your investment, for this chapter's sake, for recommendation tickets! Blessings from the old Buddha to everyone~)