“Yang Qian, you’re well-educated. Don’t imitate those ignorant village women by acting shamelessly and unreasonable. Do you think that by refusing to sell the house, you can do anything to me? You’re being too naive. I really don’t care about this hundred thousand or so. If you don’t want to sell, then don’t. But you’ll have to pay the forty thousand penalty for breaching the contract.”
Xu Bowen took a deep breath. He wasn’t going to argue with a crazy person. If she didn’t want to sell, then so be it. He wasn’t short of money anyway.
“Why should I pay it all? We should split it half and half.”
“You’re the one refusing to sell, so of course you pay. Yang Qian, if you can’t come up with the money, then sell the house!”
Xu Bowen sneered. He wasn’t paying a single cent.
Yang Qian gritted her teeth, glaring at him with resentment. To be with that vixen, this man was bullying her too much.
Did he think she would give in?
“Fine, I’ll pay it myself. I won’t let you two have the satisfaction!”
Xu Bowen’s expression changed, looking even more disgusted than if he had swallowed a fly. This woman’s craziness had gotten worse. Just to spite him, she was willing to pay forty thousand.
Damn it, he was still stuck with this lunatic!
Yang Qian had initially felt heartache over the forty thousand, but seeing Xu Bowen’s constipated expression, she immediately felt better.
Ever since the divorce, she hadn’t been sleeping well, and her appetite was gone. If she couldn’t live well, then the adulterous couple shouldn’t have it easy either. Even if it meant losing forty thousand, she would make sure they suffered.
In the end, the house wasn’t transferred. Yang Qian would rather pay forty thousand than agree. Shen Jiaojiao was naturally delighted—only a fool would turn down money handed to them on a silver platter.
“I won’t let you two have the satisfaction!”
Yang Qian handed over the forty thousand, tore up the deposit contract, glared fiercely at Shen Jiaojiao, and turned to leave, muttering “adulterous couple” under her breath.
Shen Jiaojiao’s face darkened. What was this crazy woman implying?
“Miss Shen, she’s a bit unstable. I’m sorry for making you come all this way for nothing today,” Xu Bowen apologized.
“It’s fine. I made forty thousand for free, after all.”
Shen Jiaojiao smiled. She really wasn’t angry at all, even after being called an adulterous couple by Yang Qian.
Being called an adulterous couple and getting forty thousand in return—she wished she could have such good fortune every day.
Xu Bowen also smiled, taking out an elegant business card from his wallet and handing it over. “I’m a professor at the art academy. Miss Shen, you have a beautiful face, a great figure, and a rare classical charm. Would you be willing to model for the art academy? Two hundred per session.”
The moment he saw Shen Jiaojiao, he felt the urge to paint her. She was too beautiful—such a goddess had to be captured on canvas.
“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Xu, but I won’t be modeling.”
Shen Jiaojiao refused. If she were short on money, she might have considered it, but she had just earned forty thousand for free today. There was no need to put herself through that.
Modeling might seem easy, but it was actually more exhausting than physical labor. Having to hold a pose without moving was pure torture. Even if it paid five hundred per session, she wouldn’t do it.
“Miss Shen, don’t refuse so quickly. If you change your mind in the future, you can contact me anytime.” Xu Bowen wasn’t disappointed. He wanted to persuade Shen Jiaojiao to be his private model.
“The price is negotiable. Just be my private model. Would you reconsider, Miss Shen?”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Shen Jiaojiao didn’t outright refuse. If she ever ran short of money in the future, modeling could be an option.
“I look forward to the possibility of working with you, Miss Shen. Would you mind sharing your contact number?”Xu Bowen smiled slightly and extended his hand. He wasn’t particularly handsome, but he carried an artist’s aura that made him stand out in a crowd. Moreover, becoming a professor at an art academy in his early thirties clearly indicated both excellent family background and personal capability.
In any era, a man like Xu Bowen would be considered a diamond bachelor, undoubtedly popular with women.
Shen Jiaojiao gave him the hotel’s phone number. She sensed Xu Bowen’s interest in her, and although she had no intention of pursuing romance, making a friend was certainly possible.
Having just arrived in Shanghai, she didn’t know a soul. Xiao Yueyue needed to find a good school, and she herself needed to earn money—both required building a network of connections. Making friends was absolutely essential.
Xu Bowen, ever the gentleman, asked Shen Jiaojiao where she was headed, offering her a ride since he had a car.
“To look at a house. I can’t stay in a hotel forever,” Shen Jiaojiao replied half-jokingly.
“I’m sorry for delaying your plans,” Xu Bowen said with genuine remorse. A young, beautiful single woman with a child, unfamiliar with Shanghai, finally manages to buy a house only to be cursed at by that lunatic Yang Qian—he felt partly responsible.
After all, it was his own poor judgment that led him to marry that madwoman, Yang Qian.
“It’s not your fault, Mr. Xu. But I am curious—with your excellent qualities, how did you end up marrying Miss Yang?”
Shen Jiaojiao was genuinely puzzled. That Yang Qian was clearly unhinged—how could Xu Bowen not have seen it?
Xu Bowen sighed, not finding her question too forward. “When I first met Yang Qian, she seemed perfectly normal. We both had study-abroad experiences, and our family backgrounds were compatible. She was enthusiastic, lively, and straightforward—I fell in love at first sight. We married after just one month of knowing each other. But after the wedding, she became paranoid all the time. Even normal work interactions with female colleagues at the university would be interpreted by her as affairs, and she’d come to the campus to make a scene… Well, enough about her.”
They were divorced now, and he didn’t want to dwell on his ex-wife’s faults—it would seem undignified.
Yet, thinking of Yang Qian’s tenacity, more stubborn than a leech, Xu Bowen felt utterly helpless, regretting for the ten-thousandth time that he had ever married her.
Jiang Liang and Shen Jiaojiao both looked at him sympathetically. Such a promising young talent, saddled with a madwoman—what rotten luck.
Xu Bowen smiled wryly; he felt rather unlucky himself.
After dropping Jiang Liang off at his company, Xu Bowen leaned out of the car window and said warmly, “Miss Shen, give me a call once you’ve made up your mind. See you again!”
“Goodbye!”
Shen Jiaojiao waved with a smile. Neither of them noticed a red Xiali parked behind them, with Yang Qian sitting inside, her expression cold and her eyes filled with venom.
She had seen it all—the affectionate glances, the reluctance to part, the adulterous pair!
Thank goodness she hadn’t agreed to sell the house. She’d gladly lose forty thousand yuan rather than let that wretched couple live in the home she had personally decorated—it would have driven her mad.
Anyone could live in that house except those two!
“Xu Bowen, Shen Jiaojiao, I won’t let you off!” Yang Qian sneered coldly.
She had already suspected Xu Bowen was seeing someone else; now she was certain. All that talk about having nothing in common, the broken relationship, calling her a lunatic—it was all nonsense.
The real reason was that Xu Bowen had someone on the side, betraying their love and marriage.
All men were like this—her father was, and so was Xu Bowen.
Her mother had endured it her whole life and expected her to do the same, but she wouldn’t. She would definitely take revenge on that adulterous pair!The final house Shen Jiaojiao settled on was still in the same residential complex as Xu Bowen’s. The location was excellent, with complete commercial, educational, and medical facilities nearby. The residents in the complex were all social elites.
It was also a fully furnished house, though it was on the first floor and included a garden. The interior decoration wasn’t as refined as Xu Bowen’s, but it was quite cozy. It also had three bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms. The landlord’s family had emigrated and was in a hurry to sell, so it was priced at only 250,000 yuan.