“Madam, it’s time for your medicine.”
Like a robot, Ruan Mi drank the fertility-enhancing medicine her mother-in-law had found for her under Zhang Sao’s watchful gaze, her voice indifferent.
“You can go back now. I’ll go back after the funeral service.” Ruan Mi stood up straightened her clothes, and looked somewhere, a self-deprecating smile playing on her lips.
What use was any amount of fertility-enhancing medicine for a virgin?
Her husband hadn’t been home for six months. She opened the door, and a voice, not too loud, reached her ears.
“Brother Mu really knows how to play, bringing someone to a place like this. How embarrassing would it be if your wife saw him!”
“Tch, so what if she saw him? He’s just a substitute. A dog that’s been paid to be served, what can he think of?”
“That’s true. Even if she saw him, she’d probably have to clean up after him!”
A substitute, a dog that’s been paid to be served?
Ruan Mi chewed on these words repeatedly, as if recalling her own unbearable past.
For a fleeting warmth from those days, she willingly became a substitute, hoping that one day he would remember their past.
Later, they truly fell in love, and she counted down the days, believing them to be blissful.
Then they married, and she continued counting down the days, but home became a desolate palace for her alone.
The two continued, “No wonder she’s Mu-ge’s darling, he takes her everywhere. It’s been over an hour, and it’s still not over. Should we knock to remind him?”
“You’re so nosy. Mu-ge knows his limits. We’ll go ahead.”
After the two walked away, Ruan Mi went to the room they had mentioned.
A voice, soft and seductive, mixed with heavy groans and panting.
Ruan Mi, standing at the door, trembled. These two voices?
As if possessed, she gently pushed open a crack.
Destruction greeted her.
The bed creaked and groaned, and on it lay familiar figures entangled together.
The cold air of the funeral home, carrying the smell of paper money and ashes, seeped into her very bones.
Zhou Mei?
A minor celebrity, also Mu Xiubai’s white moonlight—she had actually returned.
“Go back tomorrow, take good care of your pregnancy and give birth to the child. This child will be the sole heir of the Mu family.”
“Xiubai, wait a little longer! Can’t you wait another month? Sending me away so soon, don’t you miss me?”
With a thud, Ruan Mi almost lost her footing.
A sharp pain shot through her lips; she realized she had bitten them, a drop of blood seeping out, looking both alluring and tragic on her pale lips.
Her nails dug deep into her palms, trying to use the pain to pull herself back to her senses.
Ruan Mi didn’t know how she got back to the mourning hall; she was in a daze, her soul seemingly detached.
She walked to the brazier and knelt down with a thud, tears streaming down her face.
She didn’t kneel on the cushion, but directly on the cold floor.
“Sister-in-law, what are you doing…”
Xu Lingfeng, kneeling beside her, was startled. He looked at her red eyes and then nervously glanced around.
His brother’s wife was crying so heartbrokenly at his father’s funeral, and kneeling beside him—it all seemed strange.
Ruan Mi’s voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded, “I’ve come to see my uncle off on his final journey.”
And also to bury her five years of unwavering devotion.
“Isn’t this the wife of the president of Cheng Yu Group? Why is she kneeling beside Young Master Xu, crying so sadly? This is not right!”
“Keep your voice down. The Mu family and the Xu family are old friends, their relationship is not ordinary. And everyone in the industry knows how much Mu Xiubai dotes on his wife.
Even if it’s not right, who dares to say anything!”
Dotes on her? Yes, Mu Xiubai has always done a good job in public relations.
The entire high society of Hai City knows that Mu Xiubai dotes on Ruan Mi to the bone. Whether it’s a birthday banquet or a wedding anniversary, he always celebrates it in a grand manner.
“Sister-in-law, that’s enough. If Xiu Bai sees this, he’ll be heartbroken. I can’t stand his intimidating gaze.”
Xu Lingfeng tried to help her up, but she ignored him, mechanically throwing away the paper money.
The farewell ceremony was about to begin, and the mournful music lingered softly in the hall.
“Mi Mi, what are you doing? Don’t you want your legs anymore?”
A familiar voice sounded above her, and the next second, she was lifted up horizontally.
The familiar scent of cedar mixed with another sweet perfume wafted into her nostrils.
Mu Xiu Bai helped her to a chair in the corner, squatted down, and placed his warm hands on her knees, gently rubbing them.
“Your knees are injured; they can’t get cold.” His tone was as gentle as ever.
Then he leaned close to her ear and warned sternly, “What’s the meaning of you kneeling here? Are you trying to slap me in the face in public?”
Seeing that Ruan Mi didn’t answer, he looked up but suddenly froze.
Ruan Mi’s face was as white as rice paper, her eyes frighteningly empty, and the red mole at the corner of her eye looked unusually alluring.
Large beads of sweat mingled with tears, rolling down her chin and dripping onto her clothes.
Vivid red blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, the dripping sound forming a deathly melody.
Then, a sharp slap.
The crisp sound of the slap was completely drowned out by the mournful music.
Mu Xiubai was stunned, his eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
Ruan Mi looked at him, a slow, poignant smile playing on her lips.
“Mu Xiubai, let’s get a divorce!”
Ruan Mi’s vision went black, and she collapsed straight down.