The card Shen Wanci had used was Bo Jingzhou's; as for her own money… there was no need to waste it on a hotel.
She called Qin Yuezhi, and learning she was at home, drove straight over.
Uncle Jiang's car followed close behind the whole way, but Shen Wanci ignored it entirely.
Getting out of the car, she took her luggage from the trunk and accidentally scraped her hand on a decorative piece.
It bled, but thankfully not badly.
Qin Yuezhi lived on the 17th floor. Knowing she was coming, she'd left the door open.
When Shen Wanci hauled her luggage in, Qin Yuezhi was taken aback—over the phone she hadn't mentioned she was coming with luggage.
Looked like she'd run away from home.
Without even bothering about the face mask she was wearing, Qin Yuezhi reached out to take her luggage—
"You should've told me you had luggage, I'd have come down to meet you… Ai-ya, why is your hand hurt?"
Seeing Qin Yuezhi anxiously about to go find the first-aid kit, Shen Wanci pulled her back. "It's fine, it's almost healed."
"These hands of yours are golden treasures—can't you take a little better care of them? Look at those pianists, they practically wish they could take their hands off and lock them in a safe every day, terrified of even the slightest damage."
Shen Wanci was amused by her exaggeration, and much of the gloom of these past days lifted. "A scratch like this won't make any difference."
Qin Yuezhi paused, and having gotten this far, she couldn't help bringing up the earlier matter again. "Oh right, that thing I mentioned to you last time—have you thought it over?"
Last time… Shen Wanci said nothing; she still hadn't made up her mind.
"Old Master Xu has come to see me several times. His is the top antique-restoration studio in the country—everyone who gets in is among the very best in the field! For Old Master Xu to come forward in person, that's a huge honor for you! If you weren't unwilling to make your identity public, I'd have given him your contact details ages ago!"
Shen Wanci was in antique restoration, and her skills were truly remarkable.
She'd learned from her mother since childhood, her technique unmatched, and her university major had been this field too. She'd originally decided to work at a museum after graduating, but later… after running into all those troubles, she'd had no choice but to marry Bo Jingzhou.
All these years, she'd only been able to take on private jobs through Qin Yuezhi, working as a freelance restorer.
But things were different now. She was getting divorced, and everything should have a fresh start.
With that in mind, Shen Wanci nodded. "Accept it for me."
"You agreed?" Qin Yuezhi hadn't expected it to be so sudden—every time she'd brought it up before, Shen Wanci had refused.
"I'll give it a try. I can report in anytime."
"Anytime?" Qin Yuezhi was shocked again. "You're not doing that nanny job at the Bo Group anymore?"
"Mm, I quit."
Shen Wanci said it so lightly, as though she weren't the one it concerned.
Qin Yuezhi gave a 'tsk,' thinking of the trending search she'd seen that morning, and a whole string of scenarios came to mind.
She couldn't help cursing: "You should've left him ages ago. That dog of a man Bo Jingzhou—clearly won't eat the meals you order, yet has you order them every single time. A hypocrite like him should be locked down with Jian Weining forever, instead of coming out to ruin people's lives. If you ask me, just divorce him outright. There are only three months left anyway, no point letting it sit there and rot your mood."
Shen Wanci leaned back against the sofa, a little worn out from the night's ordeal.
"I brought up divorce, but he won't agree—says we have to wait for the agreement to expire."
Hearing this, Qin Yuezhi just wanted to laugh: "What a performance! Back then Jian Weining rejected his proposal and insisted on going abroad to step onto the international stage. Now he definitely won't divorce you so easily and then get together with her just as easily—otherwise it'd make him look so cheap! If he can't prove how in-demand he is, Jian Weining will just dump him again next time!"
Shen Wanci hadn't thought along those lines, but now that Qin Yuezhi put it that way, she was suddenly enlightened.
That dog Bo Jingzhou was scheming away, polishing up a persona for himself!
"If you ask me, you shouldn't spare him any face. Before the divorce is even official, post your marriage certificate online first—let righteous netizens hound that scumbag man and shameless woman to death, and nail Jian Weining to the pillory as a mistress for good!"
Shen Wanci tilted her head; she didn't think that was a good suggestion.
"Don't. Better to just let those two be locked together. If things blow up too big, then when I look for someone in the future, I'll be the one who loses out."
Look for someone again? Qin Yuezhi's eyes lit up, sizing Shen Wanci up. So she really had decided to leave Bo Jingzhou…
This was a good thing, worth celebrating!
Qin Yuezhi hauled a case of beer out of the fridge, opened a bottle and handed it to her. "Here, let's celebrate my girl finally escaping that sea of misery!"
Shen Wanci was just about to take it when the doorbell rang.
"Who is it?" Qin Yuezhi grumbled as she went to answer.
Standing outside was Uncle Jiang, looking different from before—now wearing a mournful face. He poked his head in and said to Shen Wanci in the living room: "Madam, the young master is waiting for you downstairs. He wants you to come down right away."
Shen Wanci frowned, not even turning her head, her tone tinged with impatience: "If he wants to wait, then let him wait."
She was inside—a bed to sleep in, beer to drink; he was in the car—no matter how roomy it was, he couldn't lie flat. Who's afraid of whom.
With that, she downed the can of beer in her hand in one go.
These words, Uncle Jiang could never possibly relay—unless he was tired of living!
Helplessly, Uncle Jiang added: "Just now in the car, Madam called the young master—she didn't seem to be feeling well…"
Before he'd even finished, Shen Wanci's phone rang. The caller was none other than Bo Jingzhou's mother—Jiang Yazhu.
Shen Wanci could ignore Bo Jingzhou, but she couldn't not answer Jiang Yazhu's call.
In these three years of marriage, Jiang Yazhu had treated her even better than she treated Bo Jingzhou, her own son—sending her everything good and expensive. Every time they quarreled, no matter the reason, it was always Bo Jingzhou who got scolded.
"Mom…"
"Wanci, I called Jingzhou and he said you weren't there. Has that little brat skipped coming home again?"
Probably the only person in this world who dared call Bo Jingzhou that was Jiang Yazhu. Every time she called, she'd check up on whether he'd come home.
"No, I'm at a friend's place tonight—it's her birthday and she's treating us."
Shen Wanci didn't mention the quarrel or the divorce, afraid of upsetting her.
Jiang Yazhu had hemorrhaged badly when giving birth to Bo Jingzhou, leaving her with many aftereffects, and her health had been poor all these years.
Meanwhile, the unwitting 'birthday girl' Qin Yuezhi, watching her best friend lie without batting an eye, rolled her eyes unceremoniously!
Jiang Yazhu's voice came through the phone again: "Then once the birthday's over, why don't you two come stay at the old house tonight? His dad's away on a business trip, and I'm not feeling too well."
Worried about her health, Shen Wanci asked: "Where does it hurt? Have you seen a doctor?"
"No, it's nothing serious. It's just that I bid on a piece of jade at an auction last time and had the craftsman make it into a Doraemon. Come back and see if you like it—you young people don't care for bracelets and such anyway."
After a couple of seconds of silence, Shen Wanci answered: "Okay."
If it were just to have her come back and pick something up, she'd have turned it down—after all, she was about to divorce Bo Jingzhou—but Jiang Yazhu had said she wasn't feeling well.
Knowing she couldn't talk Shen Wanci out of it, Qin Yuezhi could only see her downstairs herself, not forgetting to mutter: "You wanna bet? Your mother-in-law is definitely doing this on purpose."
That familiar car was parked at the entrance of the apartment building. Bo Jingzhou leaned against the car door smoking. Hearing movement, he raised his head and looked toward the new arrival, his eyes deep and dark…