22 – Competing with the Man for the Fish Pond
It’s truly unexpected that Yu Ai appears so demure and wifely in front of him, yet privately chats so openly.
He always said—any woman with eyes would naturally cling to him.
“Yu Ai.” Mo Yihan called out to her as she tried to sneak off after grabbing her things to leave work. “Have you forgotten our deal?”
Yu Ai turned around, her face full of hesitation.
Mo Yihan inwardly sneered. Still pretending, huh? Every night she chats with him so enthusiastically, yet in person she acts afraid of being touched by him.
“Come to my place tonight.” Mo Yihan strode forward. “Let’s go.”
Yu Ai had no choice but to follow, still sitting in the back seat of the car.
She took out her phone to text Ying Yi, saying she wouldn’t be back tonight due to overtime work.
Looking at his phone, Ying Yi thought—this was already who-knows-how-many times this month that Ai’ai had worked overtime since returning to work.
His heart grew increasingly uneasy. Could she still be avoiding him because of what happened that night?
Unfortunately, he didn’t know any of Ai’ai’s colleagues.
Through the rearview mirror, Mo Yihan saw Yu Ai sending messages, and just then his phone buzzed repeatedly.
He picked up his phone to see a message from Xiao Ai pop up on the screen.
‘Handsome, have you eaten? Are you tired from working overtime today?’
Mo Yihan curled his lips into a smile. He had indeed been quite tired lately working on the proposal, and had just finished today.
Yu Ai had been sneaking away while he was busy these past few days, but every night she’d send him caring messages under the name Xiao Ai.
This woman was so contradictory. If she liked him, why not say it directly? Still pretending. Well, she did have that worthless husband—how could he compare to me?
“Yu Ai.”
Hearing Mo Yihan call her from the bathroom.
She asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I forgot my towel. Can you bring it to me?”
“Okay.” Yu Ai immediately grabbed a towel, standing far from the door and extending just one hand through the opening. “Here, your towel… Ah!”
Mo Yihan pulled her completely inside.
Seeing the man’s naked body in the bathroom, Yu Ai’s entire face turned red. She immediately lowered her head and closed her eyes. “You… what are you doing?”
“Heh.” Mo Yihan lifted Yu Ai’s face, teasing, “It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”
Yu Ai pushed him away. “I want to leave.”
But the man tightly confined her in his arms. “Stop pretending. I know it’s you!”
“What?” Yu Ai looked confused. “What’s me?”
Seeing she refused to admit it, Mo Yihan didn’t press further. He hooked his finger under the woman’s chin in his arms and bit her luscious red lips, his hands also began to wander restlessly.
Whether it was the dazzling overhead light or the bathroom steam that had drained too much oxygen, looking at the woman’s shy, pink-tinged skin—
Mo Yihan felt somewhat intoxicated. The accelerated beating in his chest made him feel like an inexperienced young boy again.
Two blurry figures are entangled behind the glass.
…
When Ying Yi went to pick up Yu Ai, he noticed she wasn’t wearing the same clothes she had left home in yesterday.
But Ai’ai loved cleanliness, and with all this overtime work recently, she might have prepared spare clothes at the office.
“A Yi?”Yu Ai said with surprise.” “Why did you come pick me up?”
Heh, finally noticed something was wrong? Came to check on me?
When 001 informed her of Ying Yi’s Locator, she had told Mo Yihan she had her period and needed to go home early today.
Seeing the unconcealable delight in Yu Ai’s eyes, Ying Yi felt somewhat guilty. This was the first time he had ever picked up his wife from work.
“Yeah, what do you want to eat today? You’ve been working so much overtime lately—let me take my wife out for something good.””That would be such a waste of money,” Yu Ai said. “It’s perfect timing—I haven’t been home in a long time. Let’s go eat at my place.”
“Won’t your mother be busy?” Ying Yi knew Yu Ai’s mother was a doctor. He had rarely run into her on the few occasions he visited Yu Ai’s home.
“She happens to be off duty today,” Yu Ai replied. “Let’s bring some groceries over.”
It was about time she made an appearance at Han Haoyu’s place too. After all, Han Haoyu had brought Zhou Hui home today.
Zhou Hui had just posted photos on her social media, saying she was having dinner at an ordinary friend’s house. Having eaten at Han Haoyu’s home for so many years in her past life, Yu Ai recognized the dining table in the picture immediately—it was definitely Han Haoyu’s place.
…
“Mom.”
Seeing Yu Ai return with her son-in-law, Yu’s Mother immediately went over and said, “Why didn’t you let us know you were coming? We haven’t prepared anything.”
“Mom~ Does your daughter need to announce her return home?” Yu Ai hooked her arm around her mother’s shoulder and pouted playfully. “I missed you so much.”
She felt a sudden, involuntary sting in her nose—was this the original host’s emotions surfacing?
“Alright, that’s enough! You’re all grown up now—don’t let A Yi laugh at you,” Yu’s Father said as he walked downstairs, holding a book.
Ying Yi promptly greeted him, “Professor.”
Yu’s Father waved it off. “We’re at home, not at the university. No need to be so formal.”
“Understood, Father-in-law,” Ying Yi replied, carrying the groceries toward the kitchen. “You and Ai Ai haven’t seen each other in two months. You two catch up—I’ll handle the cooking.”
Yu’s Mother immediately protested, “How can we let you do that? I’ll take care of it. You chat with your father-in-law.”
She gave Yu Ai a light tap. “Come help with the cooking.”
Without giving Ying Yi a chance to refuse, she took the groceries and headed to the kitchen with Yu Ai.
As she washed the vegetables, Yu’s Mother asked, “Ai Ai, how have things been between you and A Yi lately?”
“Really good,” Yu Ai said with a smile. “He’s so considerate toward me. We’ve been together for so many years—we know each other well.”
Hearing her daughter say this eased her worries considerably. Before, she had always felt something was slightly off between Yu Ai and Ying Yi.
But today, everything seemed just right. Even when Ying Yi was elsewhere in the room, his eyes never left Yu Ai.
“Ah, you’ve always been so sensible since you were little, completely different from Xiao Yu. Time flies—you’re all grown up now,” Yu’s Mother remarked. “Oh, your Aunt Han was so happy today. She said Xiao Yu finally brought a girlfriend home.”
“A girlfriend?” Yu Ai asked. “Since when did Xiao Yu have a girlfriend? I had no idea.”
“Maybe they just started dating,” Yu’s Mother said. “It’s a good thing. That boy hasn’t brought a girl home in all these years.”
After finishing up in the kitchen, Yu Ai insisted on dragging Ying Yi to Han Haoyu’s house.
“Is it appropriate for us to go?” Ying Yi felt it might be intrusive, as the other family was meeting their son’s girlfriend.
“Why wouldn’t it be? We’ll just drop something off and leave. Our families visit each other often—it’s perfectly normal to bring some fruit over when we’re back,” Yu Ai said, pouting playfully. “Come on, Xiao Yu has never been in a relationship before. Aren’t you even a little curious?”
Ying Yi found this playful, coquettish side of Yu Ai particularly lively and different from her usual self. He nodded. “Alright, just a quick look. Let’s not disturb their gathering.”
Truth be told, he was a bit curious too. Throughout their four years of university and even back in high school, many girls had liked Han Haoyu, but he had never actually seen him in a relationship.
No sooner had they made the decision than he regretted it. He never expected it would be Zhou Hui.