That night, Wen Meimei insisted on sleeping with her mother, and Jiang Yiyan finally realized she was being “challenged,” immediately protesting strongly.
Children were adorable, but playing around during the day was one thing; having to sleep with her was absolutely out of the question.
Thanks to relatives, a child from their family had once stayed over at Jiang Yiyan’s home for a while. With no extra beds available, the little girl had been placed to stay in the same room as her.
At first, Jiang Yiyan had thought, a four- or five-year-old could hardly cause much trouble. After all, she was a grown woman, experienced in dealing with all sorts of workplace demons and challenges—surely handling a little kid would be easy.
But reality proved otherwise.
She had severely underestimated the energy of a four- or five-year-old girl. The 1.5-meter bed, clearly big enough for two, became impossible to share.
Awake, the child covered the bed with toys; asleep, she sprawled out in every direction, leaving no room to settle.
When full of energy, Meimei insisted on pulling Jiang Yiyan into her games. When sleepy, she couldn’t even touch her phone. Early the next morning, Jiang Yiyan was woken by the child’s noise, without any consideration for weekends or rest days.
After only a few days of this, Jiang Yiyan couldn’t take it anymore. She finally packed up and stayed at a friend’s place.
It wasn’t until the summer ended and the relatives came to take the little “demon” away that Jiang Yiyan returned home.
From then on, no other children from relatives ever stayed over again.
That experience left a deep mark on her.
So when Meimei, with her friendly invitation, suggested sleeping together, Jiang Yiyan didn’t hesitate for a moment—she refused outright.
Fortunately, Meimei hadn’t expected much, and though disappointed, she didn’t press the issue.
“Alright,” she said, her tone tinged with an unmistakable sense of loss, “then I’ll sleep with Feng Ma.”
Occasionally, Meimei would sleep with her parents, but mostly, she slept with Feng Ma. She wanted to sleep with her mother, but it seemed her mother preferred sleeping with her father.
Upstairs, she had her own room, and many of her classmates were already sleeping alone.
But Meimei was afraid of the dark and couldn’t sleep alone yet.
That night, Jiang Yiyan went to bed with a bit of hope, wishing that when she woke up, she would return to her original world.
But the next morning, opening her eyes, she was still in the same huge bedroom, with its unfamiliar but tastefully luxurious decor.
Her hope had never been too high, so she wasn’t too disappointed.
After lingering under the covers for a while, she checked the time—it was nearly eight-thirty. Jiang Yiyan quickly got up.
She had looked in the wardrobe the night before. All the clothes were exquisite, expensive, and fashionable, but none were suitable for daily wear.
So she had resolved that if she remained here in the morning, she would go to a nearby mall to shop.
She planned to buy a couple of comfortable outfits and pick up some small essentials, while also seeing what the outside world was like.
Since she couldn’t leave for now, she decided to try to accept it.
Whatever happened, she needed to maintain a positive attitude and live well.
After browsing the wardrobe, she chose one outfit she could reluctantly accept and changed.
The bedroom had a private bathroom. She found a new toothbrush in the cabinet, brushed her teeth, splashed water on her face, and examined herself in the mirror.
Even barefaced, her beauty was undeniable.
Her skin was flawless, well-maintained, without blemishes or visible pores. Her facial features were perfect.
Unlike her usual self, too busy at work to care for her skin, normally she didn’t bother with makeup, only lightly wearing it when necessary, otherwise staying barefaced at home or around friends.
Even her mother called her messy.
Despite her casual, work-focused life, a few men had pursued her, including some young professionals, but she had no interest in romance.
Anyone would want to be beautiful, and seeing this almost-perfect face, even if not her own, Jiang Yiyan felt thrilled.
She proudly left home with this face, applying only a bit of lip tint to brighten her complexion.
The bedroom also had a walk-in closet. Before leaving, she peeked inside.
It was about half the size of the bedroom, displaying various clothes, shoes, and neatly arranged designer bags—some she recognized, some she couldn’t even name.
One cream-colored bag was set aside, not in the glass display, and Jiang Yiyan picked it up.
It seemed to have been recently used, containing a few cards, a lip tint, a compact, and a small mirror.
Since she would need her phone while out, carrying this bag made sense. She decided to treat everything here with care, even if temporarily borrowing it.
By 8:50 a.m., she went downstairs.
Meimei had likely already left for kindergarten, and she didn’t see Feng Ma, only Fangfang busy in the kitchen.
Seeing the lady awake, Fangfang immediately brought breakfast to the dining table.
Even a simple breakfast was generous, with five or six dishes and three drinks: milk, coffee, and orange juice.
Could she eat all this alone? It seemed wasteful.
So she said, “Keep the milk and the toast with fried egg; the rest isn’t needed.” She usually preferred street food, but among these delicate dishes, she selected what she could accept.
Although frugal, Fangfang followed her instructions without question, which pleased Jiang Yiyan.
Just as she finished, Feng Ma returned from dropping Meimei off at school.
“Good morning,” Jiang Yiyan greeted. “I’m going out to shop a bit.”
“I’ll accompany you,” Feng Ma offered.
“No, I’ll go by myself,” Jiang Yiyan said, taking her phone and bag.
An employer didn’t need accompaniment, so Feng Ma didn’t insist and added, “I’ll call Xiao Chen to come back. After dropping Miss Meimei off, he told me he needs two hours to handle personal matters. I thought we wouldn’t need the car this morning, so I approved. He shouldn’t be far—should be here in five minutes.”
Xiao Chen was the family driver, usually transporting Wen Mochuan, but with him away, his main responsibility was the wife and daughter.
Jiang Yiyan stopped Feng Ma from calling.
“No need. Since his leave is approved, let him go. I’ll take a taxi myself.”
Feng Ma hesitated, concerned about cleanliness, knowing her mistress loved cleanliness.
Jiang Yiyan understood she had noticed something different about her today.
But she knew she couldn’t live entirely according to the original Jiang Yiyan’s habits and personality if she remained here for a while. She needed to gradually let them accept her.
Of course, she wouldn’t suddenly change her personality, revealing inconsistencies.
She added, “Mochuan has taken taxis before. What’s the problem?”
As a deeply loving wife, she could face any hardship with him.
Although Wen Mochuan was the third son of the Wen family, he had long withdrawn from the family inheritance struggle.
He gave up the right to become the future head of Wen Corporation, establishing his own company. Over the years, backed by the Wen family and running it diligently, his new company was doing quite well.
They didn’t live in the old family home, but separately, in Cui Ming Shui Yuan.
Cui Ming Shui Yuan was a residential development built by the Wen family a few years ago, consisting of villas and low-rise houses with small gardens, not towering high-rises.
The Wen family’s three-member household lived in one of the villas.
Cui Ming Shui Yuan was centrally located, and taxis were easy to hail.
After walking six or seven minutes under her umbrella, Jiang Yiyan reached the community gate.
The security guard, recognizing her, immediately stood straight and greeted, “Good morning, Mrs. Wen.”
Jiang Yiyan politely smiled.
After she left, the guards whispered among themselves.
“Mrs. Wen seems different today.”
“What’s different? She’s still beautiful, maybe even more natural without makeup.”
“No, I mean her attitude. Usually, she doesn’t even glance at us. Today she smiled.”
“Don’t be silly. Even if her relationship with Mr. Wen isn’t perfect, a beauty like her isn’t someone you need to rescue.”
Before ten, Wen Mochuan was in meetings.
After ten, the meetings ended, and he turned his phone back from airplane mode.
Almost immediately, multiple “ding” notifications appeared from bank card transactions.
No need to guess who had used the card.
Wen Mochuan then remembered he had promised a gift yesterday as part of the transaction.
But he never handled such things personally, instead instructing Xu Special Assistant to take care of it.