Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was twenty-eight this year. Lu Mingyu was thirty-two.

My mother-in-law had just turned fifty-three last month.

Lu Mingyu had a high sex drive, and his standards were just as high.

Sometimes, he would make comments like:

“No matter how young a surgically altered face looks, it can’t hide the body’s real age. A woman’s greatest asset is her youth.”

I found it hard to believe.

Hard to believe he would have anything going on with a woman the same age as his mother.

I checked the time. Four in the afternoon.

It was time to pick up Ningning.

I cut off that baseless suspicion and headed for the parking lot.

My phone rang. It was my mother.

The moment I answered, her shrill voice exploded in my ear.

“Lin Xiao, transfer me five thousand yuan right now. I need it urgently.”

“Mom, I don’t have any spare money this month.”

My voice was as flat as a frozen lake.

“You wait on that mother and son every day, and you don’t even have that much? Even working as a nanny for someone else would pay more than five thousand a month! You’re too honest, too useless. If only you could switch places with your sister! Learn from Lin Li. She’s got brains!”

Lin Li’s sarcastic voice drifted over from the side.

“What’s there to learn? Didn’t your mother-in-law accidentally break those two fingers of yours? Use that to demand money, make a scene! Honestly, fools really do have fool’s luck. Too bad I wasn’t born with that kind of fate. This world is so damn unfair!”

My mother tried both coaxing and threatening for a while longer. Once she was certain I really had no money, she snapped, “You’re nothing but a pushover people can squeeze however they want,” then hung up in a huff.

I felt nothing.

Scenes like this had happened far too many times already.

When I got into my car, I noticed a black SUV not far away.

It was the new car Lu Mingyu had bought just last month.

He was busy with work. Aside from taking it for a test drive at the 4S dealership, I had handled the rest-price negotiations, accessories, everything. When the salesperson demonstrated the dashcam’s cloud function, they had linked it to my phone.

I stared at the car quietly for a few seconds, put on my Bluetooth earbuds, and opened the green app. Then I started my car and drove toward Ningning’s school while listening.

There were no voices in the earbuds. Mostly just the white noise of driving.

Monotonous, but calm.

Just like my heart.

While waiting at a red light, my gaze fell on the hand gripping the steering wheel.

The middle and ring fingers of my left hand hung limp, without muscle tone.

Back when Lu Mingyu and I were together, his parents had strongly opposed our relationship. My mother-in-law came to my door to lecture me. During the argument, she shoved me, and I lost my balance. My hand got caught in a running dough sheeter.

I was left permanently disabled.

Even now, whenever it was mentioned, my mother-in-law’s eyes would redden with guilt.

…

I stood among the cluster of parents at the school gate. When I saw Ningning walking out in line, I was about to take off my earbuds.

There had been nothing special on the recording. At most, Lu Mingyu had made a few phone calls while driving. The rest was just the white noise of the road.

Then, all of a sudden, a woman’s voice sounded in my ear.

“Xiao Lu, I’m not feeling well. Are we still going to the resort?”

Her tone carried a deliberately affected softness, but it couldn’t hide the raspiness and wear of age.

My hand stopped.

Ningning saw me. With her backpack on, she skipped toward me.

At the same time, a cool, familiar voice came through my earbuds.

“We’re going. We already agreed.”

It was Lu Mingyu.

He paused, seeming to let out a low laugh. “Making you cry and beg for mercy isn’t limited to just one method.”

“Xiao Lu, you’re so bad! I’m embarrassed just hearing that!” The woman’s tone was coquettishly reproachful, yet filled with obvious pleasure. “But when I think about you doing that to your wife too, hmph, I get so jealous I could go crazy!”

“You’re wrong.”

Lu Mingyu’s voice was cruel and teasing. “That’s exclusive to you.”

“Mommy-”

Ningning let go of her little hands and threw herself into my arms affectionately.

Then, beaming with joy, she took three pieces of candy from her pocket and held them up high. “My teacher gave me these as a reward. I didn’t eat them. I saved them for Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma. One for each of you!”

I pressed my lips together, slowly crouched down, and gave her a loving smile.

“Ningning is such a good girl. Thank you, sweetheart.”

It was June.

In this small coastal city,

another long, sweltering season had begun.