Arriving at the bar, sure enough, Lu Kejun was heavily intoxicated, slumped over the counter like a puddle of mud.
After thanking the bartender, Wen Zhan scooped the woman up horizontally and headed outside.
The drunken woman, who had been asleep, slowly stirred awake. Seeing the man holding her, she smiled with bleary eyes, “Third Brother… I knew… you’d come for me… Third Brother, Gu Xinchen… that bastard, he… yelled at me… and ignored me—”
Wen Zhan wanted to comfort her, but recalling the words his childhood friend had just spoken, he held back.
“You’re drunk. I’ll carry you to the car first. When Xinchen arrives later, you’ll go back with him,” he said coldly, his tone flat.
Lu Kejun protested, “No… I won’t go back with him. I want a divorce… a divorce! Someone with his foul temper shouldn’t… shouldn’t be married!”
Wen Zhan didn’t want to argue with a drunk person, so he ignored her and didn’t respond.
But Lu Kejun began to cry, pitifully sobbing and complaining, “Growing up isn’t good at all… You’re married now… you have a child… You slowly care only about your family, your wife… We can never be like when we were kids… carefree, playing together…”
Hearing her say this, Wen Zhan’s heart gradually stirred with emotion.
He, too, missed the days when the three of them were as close as siblings.
“Third Brother, do you hate me too…? You have someone else in your heart… You’ve fallen in love with that woman… Is it just because she gave you a child…?”
He, in love with Mu Wanqing?
Wen Zhan frowned. Where did that come from?
“I… I wanted to have a child with Xinchen too, but he always puts it off… always says I’m still a child myself… He must be afraid I’ll tie him down with a child. He never intended to… stay with me—”
The woman rambled on, weeping and wailing, now blaming this person, now resenting that one…
Wen Zhan’s heart felt as if it were soaked in icy winter water, every cell occupied by a dense, aching pain, leaving him unable to respond.
He placed the woman in the back seat of the car, leaning her against it, and unscrewed a bottle of water for her.
After waiting about ten minutes, Gu Xinchen’s Porsche arrived.
He got out from the back door, walked over to his friend’s car, and looked at his utterly drunk wife, rubbing his forehead in restrained frustration.
Seeing his irritated expression, Wen Zhan quietly reminded him, “She’s drunk. Don’t argue with her—it’s useless. Wait until she sobers up, then you two can talk properly.”
Gu Xinchen nodded, bent down, and reached in to pick up the woman.
Lu Kejun, half-drunk and half-awake, unleashed her spoiled young lady temper to the extreme.
She slapped her husband across the face, angrily protesting, “Gu Xinchen, don’t touch me! I’m not going back with you!”
Gu Xinchen’s face was cold. “Haven’t you caused enough trouble? Wen Zhan left his child and wife in the middle of the night to come find you. Are you satisfied? You’ve been acting like this since you were a kid—do you think we can’t see through it?”
Wen Zhan’s eyebrows twitched, never expecting Gu Xinchen to speak so harshly.
“Xinchen…” he started again, intending to mediate, but Gu Xinchen wouldn’t listen.
He snatched Lu Kejun’s phone, fiddled with it a few times, and held it up, angrily questioning the woman, “You deleted me again? Blocked me on WeChat too? Lu Kejun, can you stop being so childish? You’re in your twenties, not a three-year-old!”
Wen Zhan was slightly taken aback, finally understanding why the bartender had called him instead of Gu Xinchen.
He sighed helplessly, beginning to reflect on whether their years of indulgence had completely spoiled Lu Kejun.
In the moment he was lost in thought, Gu Xinchen used brute force to directly haul Lu Kejun out of the back seat.
“Wen Zhan, you should go back. Matters between husband and wife should be resolved by ourselves,” Gu Xinchen said without even looking at him, carrying the struggling and hitting woman on his shoulder as he walked toward the Porsche.
Watching the woman he had loved for many years being treated so roughly by his childhood friend, Wen Zhan couldn’t deny the pain in his heart.
But today’s events had already made their relationship awkward. If he continued to interfere, they might not even remain brothers.
It was late, and the early autumn night carried a slight chill, quickly clearing his mind.
Turning to get in his car, he didn’t care how those two were carrying on, stepping on the accelerator and speeding away.
By the time he returned home, it was already 2:30 in the morning.
Coincidentally, Mu Wanqing was breastfeeding their child.
The moment their eyes met, the air visibly froze.
Wen Zhan pursed his lips, approached, and said quietly, “She’s been found. Gu Xinchen took her back.”
Mu Wanqing said nothing, only replying, “Let’s sleep.”
After speaking, she lowered her head again to look at the baby in her arms.
Her heart had long grown numb.
Early the next morning.
When Wen Zhan got up for work, Mu Wanqing was also awake.
But not wanting to face him, she remained completely still, pretending to be asleep.
Only after hearing the car drive away downstairs did she slowly sit up, staring blankly into space.
When the sound of their child crying came from downstairs, she turned her head, got up, and went to wash up.
In the bathroom, she saw the shirt her husband had changed out of when he returned late last night.
On the shoulder of the white shirt were clear marks of lipstick and foundation.
This indicated that they had at least embraced.
As for whether there were more intimate actions, like kissing—it was hard to say.
She couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh, curious whether he had embraced another man’s wife right in front of Gu Xinchen.
It was a miracle his face wasn’t bruised.
Or perhaps, this was just how chaotic the world of the wealthy was?
A sudden, inexplicable anger rose within her. She picked up the shirt, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the trash.
Even though any random piece of his clothing cost at least five figures, in her eyes, it was garbage—no! Dirtier than garbage!
After washing up and going downstairs, Mu Wanqing saw the bouquet still sitting in the living room and found it utterly ironic.
Just last night, for a moment, she had indeed entertained the illusion that she and this man might create miracles, that their family could become a happy one. But reality had quickly slapped her in the face.
“Uncle Hong, have someone throw these flowers away,” she instructed the butler as she sat down to eat.
The diligent and responsible old butler hesitated, caught in a dilemma.
After all, this was the bouquet the third young master had personally brought back yesterday.
Seeing the butler’s hesitation, Mu Wanqing looked at him and said, “What, in this house, don’t I even have the right to throw out garbage?”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” Uncle Hong quickly replied, realizing the gravity of her words, and immediately signaled to a servant.
The servant stepped forward, picked up the large bouquet, and carried it out.
This news would naturally reach Wen Zhan’s ears.
Upon learning that the woman had someone throw away the flowers as soon as she woke up, calling them garbage, he understood—she still minded what happened last night.
Not only did she mind, she was furious!
He recalled Gu Xinchen’s words about women being petty, realizing the one he married was no exception.
Secretary Li knocked and entered, reporting the day’s work schedule.
He listened absentmindedly, remaining unmoved even after the secretary finished.
Being astute, Secretary Li observed her boss’s expression and instantly grasped the situation: “Mr. Wen, could it be that you haven’t managed to appease your wife yet?”
Wen Zhan looked up at her, his pent-up frustration finally finding an outlet: “What terrible idea was that? She’s allergic to pollen—she threw them away!”