Xu Wantang's brushing motion froze for an instant. Her thick, long lashes lowered and trembled slightly, then she returned to her previous impervious demeanor.
She wasn't in a hurry to go out. Instead, she tidied up methodically, unhurried by Zhao Youyou's crying and Lu Yunzheng's questioning from outside.
After wiping her face and finishing up, she walked out of the bathroom.
The moment she stepped out, she saw Lu Yunzheng carefully and awkwardly holding Zhao Youyou in his arms.
He must have just gotten back from his morning run—there was still a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his shoulders, revealing his strong arms.
But Xu Wantang felt not a shred of appreciation. Her gaze swept past Lu Yunzheng like it was passing over a slab of pork and landed on Zhao Youyou's face. Zhao Youyou, hiccupping between sobs, accused her in broken bursts, "Mommy scolded me and… hit me, and wouldn't let me eat… waaah, Daddy Lu, waaah…"
Lu Yunzheng's face grew darker as he listened. He raised his eyes to look at Xu Wantang. Her temples were damp with water, and she looked fresh and elegant—yet this woman with such a beautiful face could commit these acts one after another.
First, she drugged him, making him sleep with her and forcing him to marry her. Now she was abusing a child—not only denying her food, but actually hitting and scolding her!
Lu Yunzheng was utterly disappointed. Coldness seeped from his eyes as his gaze fixed directly on Xu Wantang.
For a long while, the room held only Zhao Youyou's sniffles, the atmosphere frozen solid.
Xu Wantang stared without fear into the man's cold eyes and his tightly pressed lips, clearly reading his displeasure from his face.
Xu Wantang let out a cold laugh. Wasn't she just as disappointed?
Her new husband always blamed her without asking a single question, never even bothering to hear her side.
But disappointment, accumulated enough, simply stopped mattering.
Still, just because she didn't care didn't mean she would let Zhao Youyou frame her. She would never admit to things she hadn't done.
She curled her lips into a self-mocking, faint smile and said to Lu Yunzheng, "It's true I didn't make breakfast today. But your mother is home, and you're home too—I'm not the only one who can cook. The child isn't mine alone, so her going unfed isn't my responsibility alone."
She paused, then continued, "In the time I've been Zhao Youyou's stepmother, I'd say I've been more attentive than her own mother. Never mind hitting her—I haven't even said a single harsh word to her. Believe me or don't. We're getting divorced soon anyway."
Zhao Youyou's eyes darted away. She shrank into Lu Yunzheng's arms, refusing to meet Xu Wantang's gaze.
She hadn't originally wanted to frame the bad woman, but that bad woman had treated her so terribly! So she wanted to teach her a lesson!
But after hearing the bad woman say "we're getting divorced soon anyway," she felt a little regretful. If that happened, wouldn't she really have to leave this big house…
At that thought, Zhao Youyou shrank further into Lu Yunzheng's arms.
Lu Yunzheng assumed Zhao Youyou had been frightened by Xu Wantang, and his arms tightened around her. His eyes watched Xu Wantang's face warily, as if in warning, or as if trying to find evidence in her micro-expressions of whether she was lying or telling the truth.
He admitted it—his heart really did unconsciously lean toward Zhao Youyou.
Zhao Youyou was young, only six years old. Compared with Xu Wantang, who would stop at nothing, he naturally favored the innocent, pitiful child. But the moment he met Xu Wantang's apricot eyes, so full of disappointment, his heart trembled involuntarily.
Before he could speak again, Xu Wantang turned around briskly and went back to her room.
In just a dozen or so seconds, she came out of the room again—only this time, she was carrying the bag she had taken out yesterday.
The bag was neither big nor small, but it certainly couldn't hold one person's luggage.
Xu Wantang looked at him the same way she would look at a stranger, and Lu Yunzheng's heartbeat stalled.
Her cherry lips parted slightly, and she said in a flat, emotionless voice, "Before we leave for the island, I won't be staying at the Lu residence. I'll be at the guesthouse near here. Once the departure date is set, please call the guesthouse to let me know."
With that, she picked up her bag and hurried out the door without looking back, leaving Lu Yunzheng with only a graceful silhouette. With a "bang" of the door closing, her figure vanished from sight.
Lu Yunzheng's brows knitted tightly. Before he could even withdraw his astonished gaze, he stared fixedly in the direction Xu Wantang had left, his face growing darker and darker. Even Zhao Youyou, who always clung to Lu Yunzheng, shrank her neck in fear.
Lu Yunzheng hadn't expected Xu Wantang to go this far. He had clearly given her a way out yesterday, letting her stay at the Lu residence, yet she still insisted on living elsewhere.
But perhaps that was for the best—it would spare the child from breaking down in tears over her again.
Besides, in his view, Xu Wantang wouldn't necessarily leave for good.
For the first time ever, he had spent a sleepless night thinking it over, and he had reached this conclusion.
A few days ago, when Xu Wantang called him, her attitude hadn't been this cold. A person couldn't change so drastically in such a short time, so there was a good chance Xu Wantang was playing hard to get—everything she was doing was just a scheme to follow him when he was deployed with the army.
Moreover, the bag Xu Wantang carried today wasn't big. His married comrades had told him that, generally speaking, women had far more belongings than men. That bag couldn't even fit all of his luggage, let alone the things of a young woman like Xu Wantang. So Lu Yunzheng was certain she would find some excuse to come back home.
As long as Xu Wantang admitted her mistakes then, apologized to the child, and promised never to hit or scold her again, there was no reason he couldn't accept her back.
At this thought, the chill on Lu Yunzheng's face gradually faded, and his tightly pressed lips softened a little. He glanced at Zhao Youyou, who was trembling in terror, and said reassuringly, "Don't worry. We're not getting divorced."
He scooped Zhao Youyou up off the floor and set her on the sofa, asking gently, "What do you want to eat?"
Zhao Youyou's puffy eyes went wide with delight. Since Papa Lu said he and the bad woman weren't getting divorced, that meant the bad woman would keep living at the Lu residence and enjoying the good life! If she'd known this would happen, she wouldn't have wasted her effort warning the bad woman!
Her stomach growled a couple of times, and only then did she look up and tell Lu Yunzheng what she wanted. "Tomato and egg noodles!"
The moment Zhao Youyou said those words, her mind was already fantasizing about the taste of tomato egg noodles—or more precisely, the taste of the tomato egg noodles made by that bad woman.
The bad woman cooked deliciously. She could eat two whole bowls in one sitting!
At the thought, Zhao Youyou's mouth started watering so much that she had to swallow several times before she got it under control.
She watched Dad Lu turn and head into the kitchen, waiting with full anticipation.
But a few minutes later, acrid smoke came billowing out of the kitchen, and Dad Lu emerged from the foul-smelling fumes. "Get dressed. We're eating out."
Zhao Youyou was a little disappointed at not getting the noodles she'd been craving. So even Dad Lu, whom she had always admired, was this useless? She was starving to death here…
She curled her lip disdainfully and shot Lu Yunzheng a look full of mockery before hopping off the sofa to get dressed.
Lu Yunzheng blinked, thinking his eyes must be playing tricks on him.
Otherwise, how could he have seen such a scornful expression on Zhao Youyou's adorable little face?