Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Business Trip on the Wedding Night

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A pang of pain passed through Shen Jinxiao’s heart.

Poor little thing.

How had this little girl become so sunburned after a trip to the countryside?

Shen Jinxiao swallowed hard.

Then, utterly out of place, a noisy telephone began ringing beside him.

The dazed look in his eyes instantly cleared. Only when he came to himself did he realize that, at some point, he had secretly kissed the girl’s cheek like a shameless philanderer.

Well, perhaps she was no longer a girl.

She was his wife now!

His own actions startled him. He hurriedly slipped out of the room and went to answer the phone outside the main hall, afraid that the noise would wake his wife, who was sleeping so soundly inside.

“Hello? This is the Shen residence. What is it? It’s the middle of the night!”

Shen Jinxiao was irritated, and even over the phone he could barely suppress his temper.

It was all the telephone’s fault. Otherwise, he could have kissed her a little longer.

“Commander Shen, there’s been trouble. Because of the continuous rainfall in the neighboring city to the south, a mudslide has occurred not long after the floods receded. The higher-ups have ordered us to hurry there and provide assistance…”

“Understood!”

Shen Jinxiao’s expression turned solemn. After hanging up, he quietly returned to the bedroom and packed several changes of clothes.

Holding the bag, he looked at the woman still sleeping soundly on the bed and found himself reluctant to leave.

They had only just married, and he had not even had the chance to speak with her before he had to go.

Once he left, he had no idea when they would see each other again.

He took up a pen and paper, left her a note, then grabbed his luggage and departed in haste.

The gate of the courtyard house closed softly behind him…

The residence fell silent, while the Song household on the other side was in utter uproar.

On the third floor of the Song family’s Western-style house, the three brothers cried out in unison.

“What? Uncle got married? What lucky girl managed that?”

One brother sat in a wheelchair, another had his hand in a cast, and the third was coughing blood, barely clinging to life. Yet all three wore the same look of astonishment at this sudden news.

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Lin Shuang, who had arrived in the middle of the night, sat on the sofa sobbing so hard she could barely catch her breath. Clutching Shen Ting’s hand, she looked utterly heartbroken.

“Sis, is this really true? I heard my father say that Brother Jinxiao submitted his marriage application two days ago. He’s probably already obtained the marriage certificate. How could he suddenly get married? What am I supposed to do? I’ve waited for Brother Jinxiao for so many years that I’ve practically become an old maid. Boo-hoo…”

“Which wretched girl stole my man from me? Boo-hoo…”

Lin Shuang’s crying grew louder and louder, until everyone in the room was driven to distraction.

Shen Ting and her husband had, of course, known for a long time that Shen Jinxiao had married Meng Shuyue to preserve peace in his sister’s household.

At first, she had opposed the idea, but after thinking it over, she suddenly understood.

Shen Jinxiao had previously consulted someone about his health, and apparently he was infertile. Perhaps Old Master Shen had taken a liking to Meng Shuyue because she already had a child and could give the Shen family an heir.

After reaching that conclusion, Shen Ting felt far less guilty and readily accepted the arrangement.

Naturally, the old master had also warned them not to reveal the matter—not even to her three sons.

She could roughly understand why.

If word got out, it would bring shame upon the Shen family, and the truth about Shen Jinxiao’s infertility would spread throughout the city!

Thus, when the spoiled heiress Lin Shuang clung to her and relentlessly demanded to know which vixen had lured her younger brother into marriage, Shen Ting claimed complete ignorance.

“I really don’t know who she is!”

“I’ve never seen a woman by his side.”

“I heard the wedding won’t take place until next June. You’ll know who she is then.”

Shen Ting brushed her off casually.

Compared with Lin Shuang’s tearful lamentations, the three brothers were visibly excited, their faces gleaming with gossip.

“Now that Uncle is married, Aunt will surely move in with him. Why don’t we go over tomorrow? Then we’ll know who she is!”

“Anyone capable of winning Uncle over must be a gentle and refined woman.”

Song Shiyu and Song Shixuan began discussing the matter animatedly.

Even Song Shijing, who had been listless for a long time, showed a trace of curiosity and anticipation.

“The woman Uncle takes a liking to must be more than merely gentle and refined. She must also be a peerless beauty, as lovely as a celestial maiden!”

Listening to them, Lin Shuang cried even louder.

Shen Ting, meanwhile, twitched at the corner of her mouth and nearly burst out laughing.

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Those three little fools had actually described the country girl none of them wanted as gentle, refined, and a peerless beauty?

If they found out that their aunt was the very woman they had rejected, wouldn’t they freeze on the spot—and mock their uncle for picking up someone else’s castoff?

Shen Ting composed herself and said, “You are not allowed to go to the Shen residence and disturb your aunt. If your uncle finds out, you’ll be in for a world of trouble!”

After issuing them a few more warnings and casually comforting Lin Shuang with a few words, telling her not to grieve too much, she rubbed her temples and returned to her room to sleep.

The three Song brothers looked at one another. A single exchanged glance was enough for them to understand each other perfectly.

They planned to go and see their new aunt’s true face for themselves the next day!

Lin Shuang sprang up from the sofa, hurried over in her little leather shoes, and joined them. “I’m going too! Take me with you.”

As the others discussed what gifts to bring when meeting their aunt, no one paid her any attention. She pouted furiously, then began crying again.

Su Yanyan, who had been hiding in the corner and secretly eavesdropping all along, had long since been amused by Lin Shuang’s tearful performance. She was grinning from ear to ear.

As the Song family’s adopted daughter, she had not even been granted their surname. Naturally, she had been looked down upon by the young ladies in the household since childhood, who treated her like a servant girl.

Lin Shuang was the worst of them all. Relying on her affection for Shen Jinxiao, she had always acted as though she were superior to Su Yanyan. Su Yanyan had disliked her for a long time.

Now, seeing her suffer over the man she loved, Su Yanyan could not have been more delighted.

Early the next morning, the three brothers climbed into a jeep. Su Yanyan also used the excuse of wanting to meet their aunt and went along with them. The four of them set off in grand fashion for the Shen family’s residence on North Street.

When they arrived, they saw Lin Shuang waiting outside the Shen residence.

The group each took out a small mirror to check that their appearance was impeccable before knocking on the courtyard’s carved redwood gate.

Inside, Meng Shuyue was awakened by a rapid pounding at the door.

Rubbing her bleary eyes, she rose and discovered that, at some point, she had been sleeping comfortably on the bed, a quilt covering her stomach.

When she glanced at the clock on the wall, she was shocked to find that she had slept until broad daylight.

Thinking that the person outside must be her husband—the man who had spent their very first night as a married couple away from home all night—she hurriedly slipped on her slippers and dashed out.

She undid the latch. As the great wooden door opened with a creak, Meng Shuyue looked at the familiar faces outside.

Her entire body stiffened, freezing like a block of ice, while a frantic scream erupted in her mind.

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