Chapter 53

Chapter 53

His brother-in-law was cheating on his sister! He had betrayed her!

The realization struck Zhou Benxin like a bolt from the blue. The next instant, a sweeping wave of fury engulfed him.

After hastily parking the car, Zhou Benxin charged over in a rage. The hulking man, built like a small mountain, flipped the slender man to the ground with one hand.

“Chu Wenxu, how could you do this to my sister?!”

The moment Chu Wenxu hit the ground, his expression turned as sinister as a venomous snake’s.

But when he heard Zhou Benxin’s voice, panic immediately overtook his face.

The woman pinned against the wall, still shaken, braced herself against it and tried to run, only to find her escape blocked by Yun Jianyue.

Yun Jianyue gave her a smile that did not reach her eyes. “What’s the rush?”

Furious, Zhou Benxin raised his fist and was about to hit Chu Wenxu. Chu Wenxu made no attempt to resist, merely closing his eyes and quietly waiting for the blow to land.

“Zhou Benxin, what are you doing?!”

Zhou Ruyan’s voice came from nearby. She seemed to have run over from the elevator, and her voice was still slightly breathless. Seeing Zhou Benxin attacking Chu Wenxu, her tone turned sharp.

“Sis, he’s cheating on you! The other woman is right there!” Zhou Benxin pointed at the woman, his eyes bloodshot. If he didn’t have a rule against hitting women, Chu Wenxu wouldn’t have been the only one he attacked.

The woman nervously clutched the bag in her hands. When she saw Zhou Ruyan, terror filled her eyes.

“No, I’m not the other woman…” Tears slid down her cheeks as she pleaded, “Sister Zhou, Mr. Chu, please let me go…”

At her words, Chu Wenxu’s gaze turned cold. He shot the woman a venomous look, then climbed to his feet before Zhou Benxin could react. He hurried to Zhou Ruyan’s side and carefully supported her, as though he were holding a priceless treasure.

In a gentle voice, Chu Wenxu said, “Didn’t you say you’d wait for me at home? Why did you come down?”

Zhou Ruyan gave Chu Wenxu a long, deep look but did not answer him. Instead, she said to Zhou Benxin and Yun Jianyue, “Your brother-in-law wasn’t cheating on me. Yueyue, let Miss Li go.”

“Sis, I clearly saw him…”

“We’re going home!” Zhou Ruyan suddenly raised her voice.

Seeing that Zhou Ruyan had spoken, the woman fled the underground parking garage in a panic, as though a vengeful spirit were chasing her.

The group rode the elevator back to Zhou Ruyan’s apartment in silence. As soon as they arrived, Chu Wenxu hurried to get Zhou Ruyan a pair of slippers. He half-knelt on the floor, gently changed her shoes for her, and then helped her to the sofa.

Only after all that did Chu Wenxu bring slippers for Yun Jianyue and Zhou Benxin.

“I didn’t know Benxin would be bringing a friend, so I didn’t have time to tidy up. It’s a little messy, so please don’t mind it. Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll get you some water.”

Chu Wenxu acted completely at ease. He quickly tied on an apron and went into the kitchen to get some glasses.

Yun Jianyue glanced around the apartment. It was a spacious three-bedroom, two-living-room home, and in this area, it was probably quite expensive, at least twenty thousand yuan per square meter.

The apartment was neat and orderly, looking nothing like the “little messy” home Chu Wenxu had mentioned out of politeness.

“I thought Zhou Benxin’s brother-in-law seemed like a pretty good guy. He doesn’t look like a cheater at all, but he definitely kissed that woman in the parking garage just now. And what’s going on with Zhou Benxin’s sister? How can she trust her husband so much?”

Lu Changxue was completely confused and could not stop rambling. “Still, her husband looks like the kind of good family man who knows how to make money. He’s gentle and considerate, too. If I were her, I wouldn’t believe he could cheat on me either.”

Yun Jianyue ignored Lu Changxue and went over to sit beside Zhou Ruyan. Zhou Benxin followed, sitting down stiffly beside them.

“Sister Ruyan, Benxin told me a little about your situation. You’ve become very prone to sleep again this year because you’re hibernating.” Yun Jianyue got straight to the point. “Benxin hopes I can take a look at you. If I can resolve it, that would be best. If I can’t, I can ask a friend of mine to help.”

That friend was Si Wuming. That should count, right?

They had known each other for so long. Surely that made them friends by now.

Yun Jianyue had helped resolve Zhou Benxin’s problem last time, and Zhou Ruyan already knew she was no ordinary person, so she answered honestly.

“Pregnant women tend to feel sleepy in the first place. At first, I thought it was because of the pregnancy. But then one day, I slept for two whole days and nights. It scared my husband half to death, and when he took me to the hospital, they only said that I was asleep.”

“When I woke up, I realized something was wrong. I must have started hibernating, just like I did when I was little. I’ve also consulted a few nuns and old women these past few days, and they all said it would be fine once the baby was born.”

“So I didn’t tell anyone in the family. I figured everything would be fine once the baby was born in less than three months. But this boy misunderstood and even brought you here. I’m really sorry about that.”

Just as Zhou Ruyan finished speaking, Chu Wenxu came over with two cups of hot tea and set one in front of Yun Jianyue and the other in front of Zhou Benxin.

Zhou Ruyan took Chu Wenxu’s hand and said, “Honey, this is Yun Jianyue, the Yueyue I told you about.”
“Hello, Miss Yun. I haven’t properly thanked you for saving Benxin. Why don’t I treat you to a nice dinner tonight?” Chu Wenxu smiled warmly.

Zhou Benxin, who had been silent until now, could no longer contain his anger. He turned to Zhou Ruyan. “He cheated on you. I saw it with my own eyes. Why aren’t you reacting at all?”

Zhou Ruyan’s expression turned cold. She opened her mouth to lecture Zhou Benxin, but Chu Wenxu gently took her hand.

Chu Wenxu looked at Zhou Benxin with utmost seriousness. “Benxin, I could never betray your sister. Not in this lifetime.”

“But I clearly saw you-”

“What should we have for dinner?” Yun Jianyue abruptly interrupted Zhou Benxin. She held up her phone and showed it to everyone. “This restaurant looks pretty good. How about Sister and Brother-in-law treat me to this?”

Zhou Benxin froze. Was this really the time to talk about food? His brother-in-law had cheated on his sister! Couldn’t they eat later? He could pay for it himself, at worst.

Then he saw the prices on the restaurant’s menu and felt his confidence waver.

He couldn’t afford it.

Chu Wenxu gave Yun Jianyue a grateful smile. His eyes swept over the phone, and when he saw that the restaurant cost fifteen hundred yuan per person, his expression didn’t change in the slightest. He simply agreed in a gentle voice. “All right. I’ll get Ruyan a few things, and then we can go eat.”

“No, wait, I-”

Yun Jianyue interrupted Zhou Benxin again.

“Food is the staff of life. If you skip a meal, you’ll be starving. Once you’re full, you’ll have more energy to beat up your brother-in-law later.”

Yun Jianyue’s words successfully plunged the Zhou Family siblings into silence.

Chu Wenxu, who was packing things in the room, hadn’t heard her.

Zhou Ruyan let out a soft sigh. “This is a private matter between me and my husband. Even if you’re my little brother, you can’t interfere so casually. Your brother-in-law and I are doing perfectly well. He absolutely did not cheat on me. What you saw just now was a misunderstanding.”

“What was there to misunderstand? Their faces were practically pressed together! Zhou Ruyan, could you stop being so blinded by love? Our family can support you, and we can support your child too. You can still live well after a divorce!”

Zhou Benxin looked at Zhou Ruyan with exasperation. He couldn’t understand how his normally calm and rational sister had become like this.

“Bang!”

The sound of something heavy hitting the floor made everyone turn around. Chu Wenxu hurriedly picked up his briefcase, then smiled apologetically at them. “Sorry, I didn’t get a good grip on it.”

He walked over to Zhou Benxin and hesitated for a moment before explaining, “Miss Li is one of Ruyan’s subordinates. She wanted to take advantage of Ruyan’s pregnancy to steal her manager position, so I was threatening her just now.”

The explanation was extremely embarrassing to make. After all, Chu Wenxu looked like a frail scholar and a stay-at-home husband. He didn’t look like the sort of person who would threaten anyone.

Zhou Benxin still wasn’t convinced. “What kind of threat requires you to get your face that close to hers?”

“Are you seriously not hungry?” Yun Jianyue asked Zhou Benxin, her face full of confusion.

The atmosphere of interrogation was interrupted once again. In the end, everyone headed to the restaurant Yun Jianyue had suggested in a decidedly strange atmosphere.

Over the course of the meal, Chu Wenxu barely ate anything. He spent the entire time looking after Zhou Ruyan, rushing around to attend to her every need. The bag he had brought was filled with things for Zhou Ruyan: mouthwash, disinfectant wipes, makeup for touching up her appearance.

He was even so attentive that when some of Zhou Ruyan’s foundation had worn off, he carefully touched it up for her.

Lu Changxue, who had watched the entire scene, was stunned. “He really cheated on her? I must have seen it wrong. How could a man this devoted to his wife possibly cheat?”

Even Zhou Benxin had begun to doubt his own memory. Chu Wenxu had always treated his sister so well. How could he really have cheated on her? Could he have been mistaken when he saw them in the underground parking garage?

“Has everyone had enough to eat? I’ll go pay the bill. Benxin, keep an eye on your sister for me.” Even while going to pay, Chu Wenxu was still worrying about Zhou Ruyan.

Yun Jianyue glanced at Chu Wenxu’s spotless bowl and kindly reminded him, “Brother-in-law, you hardly ate anything. Aren’t you going to have some more?”

Throughout the entire meal, Chu Wenxu had eaten only two bites of food, and both had been tiny.

A trace of panic flashed through Zhou Ruyan’s eyes. “He hasn’t had much of an appetite these past few days. If he gets hungry tonight, he’ll know how to make something for himself. You don’t need to worry about him.”

The two of them helped Zhou Ruyan outside to wait for Chu Wenxu. While he was gone, Zhou Benxin tried to bring up the cheating again.

“Enough. Don’t open your mouth. Every time you do, you say something I don’t want to hear.” Zhou Ruyan knew her little brother far too well and stopped him before he could say anything.

“I’m going to tell Mom and Dad that you’re blinded by love!” Zhou Benxin fumed. He couldn’t hit or scold Zhou Ruyan, so in the end, he could only use his ultimate weapon: tattling.

Chu Wenxu’s voice came from behind the three of them. “What does ‘blinded by love’ mean?”

Clearly, the brother-in-law didn’t spend much time online and wasn’t familiar with the slang young people used these days.

Zhou Ruyan explained, “It means I like you and love you so much that I’ve lost my ability to think rationally.”
Chu Wenxu naturally took Zhou Ruyan’s hand. “I’d rather you loved me a little less.”

“Wait, what? Why can’t I understand a single thing this married couple is saying? Who would ask his own wife to love him less?” Lu Changxue felt like her brain wasn’t big enough for this. As someone who had once been hopelessly love-brained, even she couldn’t figure out where things were headed anymore!

Yun Jianyue’s gaze fell on Chu Wenxu’s mottled shadow. “Brother-in-law doesn’t make a sound when he walks.”

“Maybe I just have a light step.” Chu Wenxu smiled. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you all stay at my place tonight? I’ll take you out tomorrow. How does that sound?”

Zhou Ruyan’s tone changed at once. She shot Zhou Benxin a vicious glare. “Go out? This guy skipped class to come here. What do you mean, go out tomorrow? Get back to school!”

Zhou Benxin had been brimming with righteous confidence, but the moment he heard the words “skipped class,” he wilted.

That night, Chu Wenxu arranged a guest room for Yun Jianyue and made Zhou Benxin sleep in the study.

Because Zhou Ruyan was prone to excessive sleepiness, the light in her room was already off by ten.

After confirming that the married couple was asleep, Yun Jianyue sent Zhou Benxin a message: Come over.

It took only a few minutes for Zhou Benxin to sneak into Yun Jianyue’s room. “Senior, do you also think my sister’s gone completely crazy over love?”

“Keep your voice down.” Yun Jianyue shot Zhou Benxin a warning glance. “I suspect your sister didn’t actually go looking for someone from Xuanmen. She seems to know why she’s been so sleepy.”

Zhou Benxin froze. “Huh? I thought we were talking about my brother-in-law.”

“We can talk about him too. Your brother-in-law is acting strange.” Yun Jianyue got straight to the point.

“I knew it! He’s cheating!”

“It’s not about cheating. He might not even be human.”

Zhou Benxin immediately agreed. “Of course a cheater isn’t human! What decent person would cheat?”

Even Lu Changxue couldn’t take it anymore. She flew straight out of the jade pendant and hovered in midair, asking in all seriousness, “He’s not human? Is that an insult?”

“I mean it literally. He isn’t human.” Yun Jianyue really wanted to smack these two idiots upside the head.

Her words struck them like a thunderclap, leaving one human and one ghost dazed.

Zhou Benxin stared blankly. “Not human… He’s not human?”

Yun Jianyue nodded. “But it’s strange. He has neither ghostly energy nor demonic energy. Maybe there’s something hiding his aura.”

“So, Darling, you don’t actually have any evidence either. You’re just blindly guessing that he isn’t human,” Lu Changxue pointed out with brutal accuracy.

Yun Jianyue raised an eyebrow. “We don’t have evidence, that’s true. But we can find a witness.”

When she had let that woman go, she had noticed the number 4-1304 written on Miss Li’s key ring. Miss Li was also a resident of this complex.

They decided to act immediately. The two of them and one ghost slipped quietly out of the apartment and set off to find Miss Li.

What they didn’t know was that, only a few minutes after they left, Chu Wenxu walked out of his room with an expressionless face. He stared at the closed front door for a long time before finally taking a cup of hot water back to his room.

Outside apartment 4-1304.

“Ding-dong.”

After the doorbell rang, Miss Li’s irritated voice came from inside. “Who is it? Who’s looking for me this late at night?”

Miss Li opened the door. The moment she saw Yun Jianyue and Zhou Benxin, her expression changed drastically, and she instinctively tried to close it.

But Yun Jianyue reacted lightning-fast. She grabbed the doorframe and stopped Miss Li from shutting the door.

“What do you want? I told you, I’m not the other woman! Chu Wenxu and I have nothing to do with each other!” Miss Li stumbled back two steps in panic.

Yun Jianyue looked past her at the apartment’s layout. It was more or less the same as Zhou Ruyan’s home.

Then she looked back at Miss Li and gave her a friendly smile. “Would you mind if we came in and talked?”

“If I say I mind, will you not come in?”

Yun Jianyue nodded. “Of course. I’m a very civilized person.”

Miss Li watched the girl pull a chainsaw out of her backpack. Her breath caught, and even her voice changed. “C-Come in.”

The two humans and one ghost successfully and civilly trespassed into someone else’s home. Lu Changxue’s screams continued without pause. “Are you really not going to get arrested for this?!”

Yun Jianyue put away the chainsaw and smiled gently at Miss Li. “Remember, don’t open your door to strangers at night. Otherwise, you might run into another lunatic like me.”

Miss Li: …Should I thank you for the warning?

“What do you actually want?” Miss Li asked, on the verge of breaking down.

Looking at Miss Li’s darkened forehead and the unmistakable signs that she was about to die, Yun Jianyue curled her lips into a smile. “We’re here to do a good deed, of course. We’re here to save your life.”