Chapter 5
After Nanny Huang complained to the CEO, he stormed home in a rage.
There were still suggestive red marks on his neck.
His face was livid. “You hit Nanny Huang?”
“What?”
Madam wore light makeup that day and a simple blue dress. She looked different from usual—radiant, yet touched by sorrow.
The CEO’s eyes visibly brightened. But with a resentful Nanny Huang behind him, he had no choice but to keep scowling.
“Huangcheng, you…”
Madam’s tears fell before she could finish.
“How could I possibly hit anyone?”
“How could I… How could I bring myself to do such a thing?”
“Even if you don’t love me, you cannot accuse me like this.”
“Yesterday was our third wedding anniversary. I thought you would come home.”
Tears streamed down her face. Her slender body trembled in the breeze, and her reddened eyes overflowed with hurt.
“I never imagined…”
Even I felt sorry for her. The CEO’s stern expression flickered with sympathy too.
He stepped forward and pulled Madam into his arms, his voice softening.
“I was too busy yesterday.”
“You look beautiful in that dress.”
“Let me make it up to you tonight, all right?”
Nanny Huang, already whistling through the gaps in her teeth, fainted dead away at the sight.
Outside the CEO’s line of vision, I clearly saw Madam roll her eyes with a smile.
Now that was acting.
There was a family banquet that day, and both the Old Madam and the Old Master would attend.
After I became Mrs. Wang Number Two, Mrs. Wang Number One—my mother—had been promoted to serve the Old Madam. She arrived early to help me prepare.
As she washed vegetables, she watched Madam play with the Young Miss in the living room and smiled with satisfaction.
“Darlin’, you sure know what you’re doing.”
“Madam’s finally putting some flesh on her bones.”
“The Young Miss’s cheeks are getting round too.”
“You did real good, girl.”
I was smiling bashfully when the first love appeared from nowhere, rolling up her sleeves.
“Mrs. Wang, let me help.”
Madam, still holding the Young Miss, gave me a smiling nod. Apparently, she had no objection.
I could not tell what game the first love was playing, and even my mother fell silent.
The woman ignored our caution. Beaming, she began kneading dough.
I watched her from the corner of my eye.
She seemed to genuinely enjoy making pastries. She did not attempt any tricks; she simply stood there, quietly shaping the dough.
When she noticed me looking, she smiled.
Only then did I realize that away from the CEO, she was an entirely ordinary young woman.
My mother noticed it too and leaned over for a look.
“Goodness, this young lady is something else.”
“Such clever hands.”
I leaned over as well.
She had shaped the evenly divided dough into all kinds of little animals, using red dates and goji berries for decoration.
My mother and I were both amazed. I had assumed a pampered young lady like her had never touched kitchen work in her life.
She arranged the animals in a steamer and stared absently as they puffed up.
After a while, she spoke without warning.
“My parents actually owned a breakfast shop.”
“I like making pastries too.”
“Watching dough rise is soothing.”
With her head half-lowered, she looked at me as though she were looking at her younger self.
My mother carried the dishes out. Unable to contain my curiosity, I remained behind.
Had the first love truly chosen this role for herself?
I was on Madam’s side, of course, but no law said Madam and the first love had to be mortal enemies.
They were alike—two women whose eyes had been blindfolded.
“Then why did you…”
I could not find the right words. My mouth opened, but nothing came out.
She smiled in understanding. “Why did I come back to destroy Mr. Fu’s marriage?”
“Mr. Fu and I were classmates at university. My father had an accident while I was there, and my mother couldn’t run the breakfast shop alone. My younger brother dropped out, but I didn’t want to. I wanted an education.”
“Back then, Mr. Fu only told me he liked me. He never offered any practical help.”
“He said he loved my faded, threadbare dress because it made me look pure.”
She watched a pastry split into bloom as it rose, her lowered hair hiding the emotion in her eyes.
“The suffering of the poor was nothing but an erotic seasoning to him.”
“Mrs. Wang, it was absurd.”
“But Mr. Fu was not the only absurd man. The dean of our department told me… he could send me abroad to continue my studies. I only had to pay a different kind of price.”
“I think I’m filthy too. Disgusting.”
“But my mother and I needed money. If I could become Mrs. Fu, everything would be easy—money, reputation, status…”
The steamer chimed. The sound jolted her from her memories. She rubbed her face hard, grabbed a cloth, and went to lift the tray.
“Why am I telling you all this? I must have gone mad from having no one to talk to…”
I brought her plates for the finished pastries.
I held my tongue for a moment, but in the end, I had to speak.
“Don’t choose the road that only looks easier.”
She paused, then shook her head gently. “I can’t go back.”
“I started rotting the moment I said yes to the dean.”
I gripped her hand and shook my head with all my strength.
“No.”
“A woman does not become rotten because she has sex with a man. Chastity is one of the most deceptive illusions ever created.”
I set the pastries aside and tightened my hold on her hand.
“Think about it. No one calls a man cheap or shameless for sleeping with someone. People joke that he has proved his virility.”
“It is the same act.”
“We are all human.”
“If anyone has rotted, it is the dean who could have helped a student apply for financial aid but instead lured a vulnerable young woman onto the wrong path. It is the married CEO who still held out an invitation.”
I put an arm around her shoulders.
“But you cannot accept their rules. You cannot wear chastity around your neck like a moral plaque, and you cannot keep repeating the same mistake.”
“If you build a career of your own, money, reputation, and status will follow naturally.”
“Qingqing, don’t join their game.”
She tilted her head. Before the huge tears in her eyes could fall, she looked at me in confusion.
“Mrs. Wang, how do you know my real name?”