In the evening of the previous day.
Wu Yingtai was sitting with her back straight, concentrating on her work in the study room.
Zhang Honghui beamed at the sight of his serious wife. He leaned to the side and stared at her quietly at the entrance before she noticed his existence. She smiled and gazed back at him, showing her adorable dimples.
The fondness in his chest drives him to rush toward her. He cuddled his wife from the back and stick his cheek to her head.
She grasped his warm hand which was on her manubrium and caressed the back of his hand with her thumb. While her other hand was up in the air, softly fondling his hair.
"What's up?" Her tender voice sounded.
"Xiulan just called me."
She was all aware of her husband's affection for his little sister and smiled. 'If my brother were to be as good as him,...' She emptied the unpleasant thought quickly. Then, she intertwined their fingers and carried his hand slowly to her mouth. She pecked lightly on the back of his hand before rubbing her soft cheek at it.
They had been in love for over a decade and yet whenever she made the simple yet lovable behaviors, he couldn't help but feel his heart beating loudly in his chest. He leaned forwards and planted a kiss on the tip of her ear before he uttered, "Hualing will stop by at my parents' mansion tomorrow. Since there are no elders there currently, Xiulan invited us to have dinner together. You will come along, right?"
Wu Yingtai's smile disappeared before breaking free from his embrace when she heard a certain name. She turned around to face him.
No clue, he wrapped his hands around her waist and gently pulled her body towards his while sizing up her facial expression, anticipating her to give a nod in agreement.
Yingtai rarely came and visited his family home. She was not close with his sister let alone his parents. It might be because of the generation gap, she seemed somewhat awkward when she was with her parents-in-law. At least, he wanted his wife and his sister to be intimate as both girls held so much affection in his heart.
Yingtai wasn't willing to ruin the moment, so she forcefully shook off the unnecessary speculation. She tried her best to put a smile on her face before she spoke, "I am terribly sorry, darling. I have an important meeting which I can't afford to call off."
Yes! It was just an excuse. She felt uncomfortable being around Hualing. However, she couldn't bear to stop her husband from going as she knew he was excited to have dinner with his siblings.
"When is it? We can change the time to when you are available. It's just dinner, it won't take too long." He insisted while retracting his hands. It had been over a year since the last time he dined with his wife and his family all together. He missed the time when he felt like he was in paradise.
"It will take a long time. I suppose I will be occupied the whole evening. I am sorry." Afraid that it would sadden him, she gently grabbed his hand.
A guess came across his mind which rendered him gloomy. "Who are you going to meet with?"
She had no particular schedule at that time and faked a sentence, "You don't know him." She lowered her gaze, feeling guilty that she lied to him.
He drew back the hand she was holding. "I know almost all of your business partners except that man." He furrowed his brow.
"Which man?" She had no idea who her husband was referring to and was puzzled.
"That man who you are secretly seeing. Do you think I won't know if you tell lies to me?" He frowned and took a step back away from her.
She predicted who he was referring to was Jianyu. "No, he is just one among all my other business partners. I have no reason to meet him in secret." She worried he might get the wrong idea about her relationship with Jianyu and anxiety grew in her heart.
"Then, why don't you tell me about him? You disclose everything to me but he is the exception!"
"I...I can't." She was in a difficult position. It was one of the conditions for working with Jianyu.
He pulled a long face and tilted his head to the side to look away from her.
"Fine. I will ask him." She hated to have a quarrel with him, but she couldn't divulge about Jianyu carelessly.
Although he yearned for the truth, she might have her own reasons regarding it. Earlier he was just playing sulky to trick her to go with him. Now he was really pissed off. "Ask for his permission? Yingtai, I am your legal husband. If he is a decent co-worker, does he need to be so shady and keep me in the dark?"
"He has his personal conditions. But I assure you that he is a trustworthy man."
"Great! Now you are defending him." His sarcastic tone was evident.
His words drove her up the wall and she yelled, "I am not!"
He detected her anger and changed the subject. "Let's stop talking about him. Come with me tomorrow. At least you also need to have dinner, spare that time for me. The duration is not the case, my goal is to keep in touch with my family."
After all, he brought up that man just to lure her into his trap. 'That man is not worthy of our fight!'
"I won't!" She was mad. She told him in her mind, 'Coax me first!'
He felt exhausted at her stubbornness and spoke in an impatient tone, "I know you are uncomfortable with my family. That's why I have never forced you to visit them. Not even once. Tomorrow there won't be my parents and my sister specifically told me to invite you to come. Why are you so reluctant to tag along with me?" Her thinking process was too complicated for him to understand.
"Are you finding fault with me? You know me so well even before our marriage that I don't like engaging and socializing with other people." They had been friends since elementary school. Although their personalities were completely different like black and white, they hit it off quite fast.
He flared up and raised his voice, "They are not other people! They are my family. You always spend your time with your business partners. Why can't you be with my family?"
Anger transmitted at the speed of light, "Then, why didn't you choose to marry a family-oriented girl like Bai Hualing, who is compatible with you, ins and outs? You guys got along so well back in the day, cooking and chatting. Maybe this way, your sister will be elated and have an intimate relationship with your wife and your mother will get delighted by your wife's beauty. Killing two birds with one stone!" She burst out, crying.
The father of Yingtai worked as a butler in Zhang's mansion which played a big role in bringing them together. After Cai Roumei had learned about their relationship, she fired her father by paying three months' salary in advance.
Yingtai could clearly recall what his mother said, "I am not talking about different backgrounds and stuff. She isn't even pretty. I can't understand why my son is so enthralled by her." At her side was her daughter, Zhang Xiulan. She would always glare at her in a weird way.
Yingtai had no idea why she disliked her, but Xiulan's resentment against her was obvious. They had been thorns in her flesh ever since that happened. She felt insecure and uncomfortable being around them.
Like she could see through her husband's thoughts, she continued shouting, "Don't casually accuse me of being with other men just because you want me to go to that freaking dinner!"
Yingtai's whole face was now covered with tears and her face was red in fury. She was short of breath because she yelled without skipping a beat. She tightly clenched her fists and dashed into their bedroom once she finished lashing out.
Honghui was in a daze. He was oblivious to her assumption about his family all these years. This was her first time disclosing her implacable presumption. He broke out of a stupor when she ran away. He followed her swiftly but faced the slammed door. She locked herself in the bedroom.
"Sweetheart …"
"Shut up!!!" She roared.