The whole way, the car was very quiet. The taut atmosphere left Uncle Jiang not even daring to change speed as he drove.
It wasn't until the car reached the parking lot of the suburban villa that he let out a long sigh of relief and got out to open the car door.
Shen Wanci wasn't as pampered as Bo Jingzhou and didn't like being 'waited on' this way. Just as she was about to open the door herself, Bo Jingzhou spoke flatly: "I like them big-chested and brainless?"
"…"
Shen Wanci nearly choked. If he hadn't brought it up she'd have forgotten all about it. Saying that had been pure deliberate slander against him—who the hell knew what he liked!
She turned her head and saw that Bo Jingzhou's gaze had landed precisely on the area below her collarbone. Whether intentionally or not, that look carried a hint of something other.
This 'something other,' Shen Wanci could only interpret as distaste.
"Isn't it men's nature to like them big?"
Which was why, after three years of marriage to her, he couldn't even muster basic desire. But Jian Weining's figure was pretty average too.
Bo Jingzhou frowned. "I don't like it."
Shen Wanci, however, curled her lips into a smile. Her beauty already had an aggressive quality to it, and with a smile like this, any ordinary man would have had his very soul hooked away by her. But Bo Jingzhou only looked at her flatly, not a ripple in his brow or eyes.
She said: "Whether you like it or not is none of my damn business. But I like them big and well-functioning—and that's the number-one reason I'm divorcing you."
Bo Jingzhou's face sank in an instant, the atmosphere in the car turning stagnant and ice-cold at a visible speed.
The car's soundproofing was poor, and Uncle Jiang, standing outside, had heard their entire exchange. By now his forehead was covered in cold sweat. Seeing that Bo Jingzhou was on the verge of erupting, he hurriedly bore the pressure and opened the car door—
"Young master, young madam, we're home."
Shen Wanci got out first, and there was Jiang Yazhu coming out of the villa, a gentle smile on her face. She took Shen Wanci's hand and led her inside. "Wanwan, I had Auntie Wang stew you some bird's nest, and added some beautifying medicinal ingredients especially."
Bo Jingzhou, still sitting in the car, was utterly ignored.
Once inside, Jiang Yazhu lowered her voice and asked: "Did that little brat bully you?"
She'd seen yesterday's news, and afraid Wanwan would be upset, she'd had the two of them come back to stay the night.
"Mom, he and I…"
She wanted to tell her about her and Bo Jingzhou's divorce, but the words were cut off by Jiang Yazhu: "If that brat bullies you, you tell me, and I'll have his dad whip him with a belt! Don't you go along with him—I'll send you a menu in a bit, all the things he hates to eat. Starting tomorrow you order him one a day for a whole month, rotating through. And I'll call Chen Xu and tell him he's not allowed to cook anything special for Bo Jingzhou on the side—or I'll have him fired!"
She didn't say a single word about Jian Weining, afraid Shen Wanci would be hurt to hear it.
Auntie Wang came toward the two of them carrying a shawl. "Madam, you weren't feeling well just now—how could you come outside without a shawl? Young madam, you really must try to talk some sense into Madam, she takes far too little care of her own health."
And so, Shen Wanci's mention of divorce had no chance whatsoever of being spoken.
"Mom, where do you feel unwell? Have you called a doctor?"
Jiang Yazhu waved a hand. "Ai, it's an old ailment, it'll be fine with a bit of rest. No need to make a doctor make the trip all the way out to this remote backwater in the middle of the night."
It was indeed quite late by now. Jiang Yazhu kept Shen Wanci company until she'd finished the bird's nest, then slipped the finished Doraemon onto her wrist, and went upstairs to sleep.
On her way out, she shot Bo Jingzhou a fierce glare. "You little brat—if you don't smooth things over with Wanci tonight, I'll beat you to death!"
Bo Jingzhou: "…"
He hadn't said a word since coming back—how did even he get caught in the crossfire?
Bo Jingzhou and Shen Wanci's room was on the second floor. Knowing they were coming back, Auntie Wang had long since changed the bedding.
Shen Wanci went to get pajamas to wash up, but when she opened the wardrobe, she found her set of pure-cotton pajamas gone, replaced instead by… all sorts of sexy silk V-neck nightgowns, including two sets of roleplay lingerie costumes.
Jiang Yazhu's wish for a grandchild was known to everyone in the villa, top to bottom. From the moment they married, she'd started preparing a baby's room, buying toys and clothes by the heap—both for a boy and for a girl.
And now these clothes were prepared so the two of them could make a baby too…
Shen Wanci couldn't help feeling a little sympathy for her. If she ever found out that the two of them had had a sexless marriage these three years, would she be so furious she'd toss Bo Jingzhou—that good-looking-but-useless thing—out the door?
She turned to look at Bo Jingzhou, and saw that he too was looking at this wardrobe full of clothes, his gaze as cold and indifferent as ever.
He gave her a sidelong appraising look and remarked: "These don't suit you."
Shen Wanci: "…"
She picked out the set that covered the most skin and was just reaching for it when Bo Jingzhou tossed one of his shirts at her. "Wear this."
Shen Wanci caught it. The man was tall and well-built; his shirt would cover her down to the knees—indeed better than these strange nightgowns. She didn't make a fuss about it, just took the shirt and went into the bathroom.
By law, half of all the property in Bo Jingzhou's name was hers. Rounded off, this shirt was hers anyway.
After washing up and drying her hair, Shen Wanci came out to find Bo Jingzhou standing on the balcony smoking, a thin haze of smoke shrouding his face, softening the man's sharp features somewhat.
Whether it was an illusion or not, when Bo Jingzhou's gaze fell on her, it suddenly deepened a few degrees—but it was gone in a flash.
The man stubbed out his cigarette and walked in, not pausing, brushing past her and into the bathroom.
Shen Wanci had long grown used to it, her heartache numbed to the point that she felt nothing anymore.
Before long someone knocked. It was Auntie Wang, bringing up a bowl of soup. "Young madam, this is something Madam stewed for the young master herself. Watch him drink it down, don't waste Madam's good intentions—to make this soup she even scalded her hand… She's just tough-mouthed and soft-hearted. She didn't say it downstairs just now, but in her heart she still frets over the young master, afraid he doesn't eat well out there, and now she's eagerly had me bring it up."
"Okay."
Shen Wanci understood completely—after all, he was her own son, there was no way she wouldn't care.
The man showered quickly, and when he came out he saw the soup set on the coffee table.
Shen Wanci: "Mom stewed it herself, hurry and drink it."
Bo Jingzhou glanced at it, said nothing, and showed no intention of drinking.
Seeing him like this, and remembering Auntie Wang's words and… the heartbreaking fact that he'd refused to eat her cooking all these years, Shen Wanci felt a flash of irritation: "Bo Jingzhou, Mom scalded her hand stewing this soup—are you so heartless you'd let her good intentions go to waste?"
Letting good intentions go to waste—those four words, however, struck Bo Jingzhou as pointed.
He looked at her, then suddenly curled his lips and asked with a not-quite-smile: "You really want me to drink it?"