chapter 1

chapter 1

“What’s wrong with shaving? Is the man not allowed to shave now?” My best friend, Lele, was unimpressed.

“He has never shaved at night before.”

“Maybe he had a dinner engagement.”

I shook my head.

“Qin Shen never goes to evening engagements. Everyone knows that. He’s home at seven every day and in bed by eleven. A monk in a monastery couldn’t keep a stricter routine.”

“And everyone knows he loves his wife more than life itself. He nearly died for her once!” Lele frowned at me, exasperated. “Jiang Li, you’re not actually suspecting him of something, are you?”

I blinked, then laughed.

“Of course not.”

Just then, Qin Shen called.

“A-Li, Mrs. Chen said you had no appetite and only drank half a bowl of soup. I’ve asked my assistant to bring over a few dishes from that private kitchen you like. Walk around a little after you eat, then take your nap. I’ll take you to the musical tonight.”

His voice over the phone was gentle and patient, as though he were coaxing a child.

Lele listened, sighing and shaking her head.

“I ought to post this recording online. No one would ever believe that was Qin Shen—the icy tyrant himself.”

I couldn’t blame her.

Out in the world, Qin Shen was known as decisive and ruthless, cold and remote. People knew he doted on his wife, but they had no idea what that devotion looked like.

Qin Shen and I had known each other for ten years and been married for five. This gentle, considerate, painstakingly attentive side of him belonged to me alone.

He knew everything I liked: what I ate, what I watched, when I was in a good mood, when I was prone to sulking, which handbag brands I preferred, which designers made my favorite jewelry.

He carried every detail in his heart.

Once, I got angry because he was being too controlling. I ran away and spent the night at a hotel. When I came home, he was sitting helplessly on the sofa, haggard after a sleepless night. The instant he saw me, he rushed over, pulled me into his arms, and said in a trembling voice, “I was wrong, A-Li. I’ll never do it again.”

Last year, we visited an old town where our guesthouse caught fire without warning. Qin Shen had gone out to buy me a late-night snack. When he came back, he charged into the blaze like a madman; five or six people together could not hold him back. I had escaped through another room and shouted his name. Only then did he come running out, his eyes bloodshot and his clothes already burning.

The fire left a scar on his forehead. Every time I saw it, my heart ached, but he would only smile and say, “It’s my medal for being Jiang Li’s husband.”

Qin Shen loved me.

To me, that was more certain than the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.

And I loved him too.

That was why I noticed something as insignificant as his sudden decision to shave at night.

I was a Cancer, sensitive by nature. I had also inherited my mother’s tendency to take everything seriously and worry myself sick.

The smallest change to the order of my life could make me uneasy.

Shaving at night most likely meant a dinner engagement. I never ate dinner, so Qin Shen usually ate at one of a few private restaurants before coming home. He never attended banquets or drinking parties.

Given his power and position now, what could have made him break that rule?

Was something wrong at the company? Was he hiding it because he didn’t want me to worry?

I decided to go and see him.

If nothing was wrong, all the better. But if there was a problem, I didn’t want Qin Shen facing it alone.

I called Zhang Xiao.

She was the company’s finance director and had been my roommate throughout college. Years ago, when her family was crushed by debt and had nowhere to turn, I lent her money and introduced her to Qin Shen’s company.

Zhang Xiao practically ran downstairs to greet me. After an affectionate reunion, she cheerfully pulled me into the elevator.

“Jiang Li, you hardly ever visit! Everyone at the company wishes you’d come more often. Mr. Qin is ice-cold every day. Our lives only get easier when you put him in a good mood.”

I laughed. “Has anything happened at the company lately?”

“Yes. Something huge.”

My steps faltered. “What?”

“Performance has doubled, and so have the employee bonuses. Does that count as huge?” Zhang Xiao was beaming.

Her life had been full of hardship, yet she had always remained warm and optimistic. That was why I liked her and why I had wanted to help her.

Qin Shen was in a meeting, so Zhang Xiao took me to wait in his office. As we passed the executive suite, I saw several young, attractive women inside. Every face was new.

An absurd thought surfaced in my mind.

Had Qin Shen started paying attention to his appearance for one of them?

The thought startled me, and I immediately scoffed at myself.

What nonsense. This was Qin Shen.

His company had once sponsored a beauty pageant. Even with gorgeous women swarming around him, he had never touched a single one or inspired so much as a rumor.

These women couldn’t possibly be different.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Xiao asked.

I pressed my lips together but could not resist asking, “Did Qin Shen hire new assistants?”

Zhang Xiao thought for a moment.

“No. Oh, you mean those women? Business is expanding, and there are more outside relations to handle. Mr. Qin formed a PR team so he could still get home on time.”

She tilted her head with a teasing smile. “Jiang Li, you’re a knockout—the prettiest campus belle among campus belles. Are you really worried about them?”

“All right, all right. You’ve seen right through me.”

Zhang Xiao put an arm around my shoulders and laughed. “You’ll still be overthinking everything eight lifetimes from now. Don’t worry. Those women handle outside engagements. Mr. Qin never asks for them.”

After she left, I sat in Qin Shen’s chair and sighed at the row of my photographs on his desk.

Nothing was wrong with the company, and he wasn’t trying to impress another woman. Perhaps he had been testing a new razor. Perhaps the whim had simply taken him.

Lele and Zhang Xiao had both said it plainly: if I hadn’t found a perfect husband like Qin Shen, my compulsive worrying would have exhausted me to death.

I really had been born under the patron star of anxiety.

There was a knock at the door.

A woman entered with her head bowed to deliver tea. She bent low, set down the cup with profound respect, and murmured, “Mrs. Qin, call me if you need anything.”

I froze.

Her name was Lin Jin. She was one of Qin Shen’s secretaries.

I had never expected her to still be at his side.