“Husband, the baby is one month old today, can you come pick us up?”
Lin Sa held her daughter in the swaddle, her calm tone laced with cautious anticipation.
On the other end of the line, Fu Yanci’s voice was steady, betraying no emotion:
“I have a last-minute arrangement. I’ll have a driver pick you and the baby up and take you home.”
Fu Yanci had been absent for the childbirth and the entire postpartum confinement period due to work commitments.
Now, with the baby’s full moon celebration and her postpartum confinement ending, he was still unable to be present.
Lin Sa’s heart ached, and she forced herself to hold back tears.
“...Alright, I understand.”
“Sa Sa, you’ve always been independent. I believe that something as minor as giving birth is something you can handle on your own. Keep going, you’re the best mom.”
After speaking, Fu Yanci hung up the phone.
His tone, which sounded like he was encouraging a subordinate, felt like a needle piercing Lin Sa’s heart.
Just then, Fu Yanci’s friend Qin Huai called:
“Sister-in-law, I have something last minute tonight, sorry, I can’t make it to the full moon banquet at Xingyao Hotel. Congratulations on the birth of your son!”
Full moon banquet?
Birth of a son?
Lin Sa was utterly confused. Just as she was about to ask more, Qin Huai had already hung up.
A WeChat notification chimed. Qin Huai sent a gift of 8888 yuan, but less than a minute later, he quickly withdrew it.
【Sorry, Sister-in-law, I made a mistake. You didn’t give birth. 】
Qin Huai quickly sent a voice message apologizing and followed up with over a dozen apology emoji packs.
However, Lin Sa gleaned some clues from that series of bowing emoticons.
A terrible suspicion instantly surfaced in her mind.
At 11 AM, Lin Sa, dressed in a black down jacket, wearing a hat and mask, appeared punctually at the entrance of the top banquet hall at Haicheng Xingyao.
The entrance to the banquet hall was bustling with activity, with people coming and going.
A large baby poster was displayed at the entrance, bearing the words “Jiang Chen Baby’s Full Moon Banquet.” The guests coming and going were all strangers to Lin Sa.
Lin Sa thought it was just a false alarm and felt a sense of relief. She turned around, about to leave.
But just then, a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind her:
“You just finished your postpartum confinement, be good and let me hold the baby. Wait a moment, I’ve prepared a grand full moon gift for him.”
Lin Sa’s footsteps abruptly stopped. She suddenly turned her head and saw, not far ahead in her line of sight, a man taking a chubby, fair-skinned infant from a woman’s arms.
That man was none other than her husband, Fu Yanci, who had been missing for an entire month!
Lin Sa’s blood ran cold. She widened her eyes in disbelief.
The woman’s sweet voice chimed in:
“Brother Yan, you’re so good to me and Chen Bao. You stayed with me throughout my entire pregnancy, cooked all sorts of delicious food for me, and even waited outside the ward when I gave birth, and took care of me during my postpartum confinement. When Jiang Yang returns to the country, he’ll definitely be grateful for your care of me and the baby.”
“You are my cousin, and Jiang Yang is my best brother. Since he’s not here, it’s my duty to take care of you.”
It felt as if a bullet had just been fired directly into her heart.
Lin Sa stood frozen, her heart aching as if torn to shreds. Her entire body felt as if it were plunged into an ice cellar, from head to toe.
So, for the past year, Fu Yanci hadn’t been busy with work, but rather busy taking care of his brother’s wife, his cousin Su Yurou?
The two of them, holding the child, walked into the banquet hall, talking and laughing.
Her phone chimed again.
Lin Sa numbly opened it and found a text message from Fu Yanci:
【Keep going, be a strong mother. After tonight, I promise I’ll be home tomorrow. 】
Seeing this message, and then contrasting it with his solicitous demeanor towards his cousin just now, Lin Sa felt an overwhelming sense of irony wash over her.
Her finger touched the screen, and it automatically scrolled up. Fu Yanci’s previous messages flashed before her eyes.
【Completing the design draft for Haicheng Qitian Building on schedule even at eight months pregnant is amazing, you’re truly outstanding and deserve encouragement. 】
【Five months already? Your pregnancy is so easy, not like other women who are so fussy. I’m proud of you. 】
【Seeing you walk so briskly every day and not experiencing morning sickness, a heavier workload should be fine. Keep going, you’re the only one I trust to oversee the design drafts. 】
……
In reality, throughout her entire pregnancy, Lin Sa had experienced all the symptoms that women go through: morning sickness, swollen feet, elevated blood pressure and blood sugar, fainting spells, and a series of other issues.
It was Fu Yanci’s words of encouragement and admiration that had supported her through it all, enduring from conception to birth without taking more than two days of leave.
She had questioned his attitude at times, feeling that Fu Yanci treated her too much like a superior, completely lacking the tenderness and care expected of a husband.
But this had always been their dynamic, and she had grown accustomed to it.
He treated everyone this way, and she had assumed he was simply that kind of man.
Until just now.
Seeing him carefully take the child from another woman’s arms with her own eyes, hearing his gentle concern with her own ears, and witnessing him carefully supporting the woman’s waist, afraid she might fall.
Only then did she belatedly realize that he was capable of caring for someone.
It was just that the person he cared for was not herself.
Realizing this, Lin Sa’s heart felt as if a large piece had been torn open by bare hands, bleeding profusely from the pain.
She involuntarily started walking, following the flow of people into the banquet hall.
She wanted to see for herself what surprise her husband, who had been hiding it from her, had prepared for another woman and her child.
✦✦✦