"Okay!"
Wen Su hung up the phone, but her fingertips were ice-cold.
The next day.
It was a bright, sunny day. Wen Su got up early to dress her daughter for school.
The little one, still in her sleep sack, was sprawled across her pillow, all soft and milky, refusing to get up. Wen Su coaxed her gently as she scooped her into her arms, inhaling the faint scent of baby powder on her. Her mood lifted slightly.
As her daughter grew older, the night terrors and crying had become less frequent. When she was one or two, she would suddenly get nosebleeds in the middle of the night, and she was stubborn—sometimes refusing to let adults wipe her clean. In the mornings, dried blood would still be crusted on her little face. Wen Su had barely survived those years.
Watching her daughter blink awake groggily, pouting as she asked, "I want Daddy to take me to school. He promised me."
Wen Su froze, knowing that Shen Fei'an always told her a little story on the way to school. Shen Siqing had grown accustomed to it, so every morning before school, she insisted that Shen Fei'an take her.
"Daddy is still at the old house helping take care of the guests. Is it okay if Mommy takes you today?"
Shen Siqing's little face fell with disappointment. She immediately picked up her phone watch and called her father.
"Hello, Qingqing!" Shen Fei'an's gentle voice came through.
"Daddy, can you come back and take me to school?" Shen Siqing asked him, her voice full of grievance.
Shen Fei'an immediately soothed her over the phone: "Qingqing, how about Daddy picks you up from school this afternoon? Is that okay?"
"Then you have to bring me a toy, and then I'll say yes."
"Alright, Daddy will definitely bring you a toy this afternoon."
Wen Su stood by the bed, waiting for her daughter to finish her call with Shen Fei'an before dressing her.
Just as the call was about to end, a few light coughs from Lu Qingyun came through the line, followed by her voice: "Fei An, I feel so uncomfortable…"
The call was cut off at that moment.
Wen Su's fingers, holding the clothes, curled tighter.
Once dressed, Shen Siqing dozed off again in the car for part of the ride. When they arrived at school and she saw her teacher waiting at the gate, she perked up immediately and waved goodbye to her mother.
"Mommy, Daddy said he's coming to pick me up this afternoon!" the little one reminded her loudly.
Wen Su pressed her lips into a smile and nodded.
The Chinese Medicine Clinic!
Mondays and Fridays were Wen Su's consultation days. Most of the time, she worked in research and development at the family's Hengsheng Pharmaceutical Company.
The Shen family was a diversified business conglomerate, and the pharmaceutical industry was just one branch of it.
"Teacher Wen, are you alright? You look really tired." Wen Su's clinic nurse, Zhang Xiaowei, handed her a cup of water. "Didn't sleep well last night?"
Wen Su took a sip of water and hummed in response: "Yesterday was too busy."
"Should we reduce the number of appointments today?" Zhang Xiaowei asked.
Wen Su's medical skills had earned her widespread fame two years ago. When people learned that she was the sole disciple of the late TCM master Wu Chunlan, a flood of patients came to see her, and her appointments were extremely difficult to book.
"No need, it's fine." Wen Su shook her head. Many of these patients had traveled from far away, and she didn't want them to make the trip for nothing. She would still see a hundred patients a day as usual.
"Then let me brew you a cup of coffee to perk you up."
"Thank you, Xiaowei." Wen Su said gratefully.
Her consultations ran until seven in the evening. Just as she stepped out of the clinic, her daughter Shen Siqing, with her little backpack on and milk tablets in her mouth, happily threw herself into Wen Su's arms: "Mommy, Daddy came to pick me up! And Auntie came too—she brought me candy and toys!"
Wen Su picked up her daughter and saw a silver Bentley parked by the roadside. A man in a perfectly tailored bespoke suit stood there, tall and elegant, watching them.
"Off work? Let's take Qingqing out for a meal." Shen Fei'an walked over and said.
Wen Su looked at the artificially colored gummy candy in her daughter's hand and said to Shen Fei'an, "Qingqing can't eat this kind of snack."
Shen Fei'an's handsome face stiffened slightly. "Just this once—shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Shen Siqing immediately hid her little hands behind her back and, when Wen Su wasn't looking, quickly popped another candy into her mouth.
"Don't give the child random unclean things next time." Wen Su said sternly.
Shen Fei'an's handsome brows furrowed slightly. "Mm, got it."
"And the sister-in-law?" Wen Su asked.
Shen Fei'an said, "Qingyun said she had something to do. After picking up the kids, I dropped her off first."
When Wen Su heard how he addressed Lu Qingyun, her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
She had heard him use that form of address before in daily life, but today it sounded especially grating.
"Mommy, we haven't eaten out in so long. I want to eat out." Shen Siqing wrapped her arms around Wen Su's neck and acted cute.
Wen Su didn't want to make her daughter unhappy, so she nodded. "Alright!"
Just then, Shen Fei'an received a phone call. He walked off to take it.
A few minutes later, with an unreadable expression, he said to Wen Su, "Something came up with Qingyun. I'll go check on her. Take Qingqing to the restaurant I booked and eat first—I'll come over once I'm done."
Wen Su was taken aback, but before she could say anything, the tall man had already stepped into the car.
A silver Bentley, then a black one, merged into the traffic.
"Daddy ran off again, hmph." Shen Sitian crossed her little arms over her chest, annoyed at her father for leaving without a word.
Seeing her daughter sulking again, Wen Su could only comfort her gently, "Daddy's busy with something. Once he's done, he'll definitely come over to have dinner with you."
Shen Sitian nodded her little head.
Then she took Wen Su's hand. "Mommy, let's go eat quickly. I'm hungry."
Wen Su gazed at the busy road filled with traffic.
Her heart felt as if a boulder were pressing down on it, making it hard to breathe.
Lu Qingyun had just lost her husband. Perhaps she really did need someone to comfort her.
But should that person be Shen Fei'an?
Wen Su let out a self-deprecating laugh and led her daughter by the hand toward the parking lot.
By nine in the evening, Wen Su and her daughter had eaten dinner alone at the restaurant. Shen Fei'an never showed up—not even a single phone call to explain.
"Qingqing, it's getting late. Let's head home." Wen Su looked at her daughter's disappointed little face and coaxed her gently.
"Hmph, stupid daddy, lying again." Shen Sitian was still very attached to Shen Fei'an, and her little face was sullen now.
Wen Su didn't want her daughter to be upset, so she took her to the toy store next to the restaurant and picked out a toy to cheer her up.
"Mommy's the best!" Shen Sitian wrapped her arms around Wen Su's neck and planted a kiss on her cheek.
Wen Su hugged her daughter tightly and asked, "Qingqing, if Daddy and Mommy ever lived apart, who would you want to stay with?"
Without a second thought, Shen Sitian said, "I want to be with Daddy and Mommy, forever and ever, never apart."
Her daughter's words struck Wen Su like a heavy hammer, and she found it hard to breathe.
That night, Wen Su held her daughter close, but woke up around four in the morning.
She glanced toward the door, then quietly got up and stepped out. The guest room door was open.
Shen Fei'an hadn't come home all night.
Wen Su couldn't fall back asleep. She threw on a coat and went downstairs, pouring herself half a glass of red wine at the liquor cabinet.
To outsiders, she and Lu Qingyun were the two daughters-in-law who served as the face of the Shen family—comparable family backgrounds, similar career trajectories.
She came from a family of physicians, trained under a renowned master, and after marrying into the Shen family, she joined the project research and development team at Hengsheng Pharmaceuticals, focusing on integrating traditional medicine with modern pharmacology.
Lu Qingyun, on the other hand, held a PhD in biochemistry from a prestigious American university, with an impressive résumé—she was the pride of the Shen family, groomed by them from the start.
Four years ago, after returning to China, she was directly placed at the forefront of Hengsheng's R&D center for targeted drugs and innovative formulations, serving as a core researcher.
One studied the new application of ancient formulas; the other studied cutting-edge innovation.
This was the Shen family's ambition for the future market, and one of their most valued industries.
Wen Su took out her phone and opened her contacts, her finger hovering over Shen Fei'an's name.
She drained the rest of the wine in her glass, bit her lower lip, and finally made the call.
The phone rang for two seconds before someone picked up.
"Susu!" Lu Qingyun's gentle voice came through, deliberately lowered.