New York's roads were crowded with people and cars. Song Guanyu still remembered Ye Yansheng's reminder to drive steadily. When they encountered a slight traffic jam ahead, she turned her head to look at the skyscrapers outside. The building designs were beautiful. Sunlight pierced through the clouds, hitting the glass surfaces directly, dazzling her and making her eyes ache momentarily.
If Ye Yansheng really was cheating, she would divorce him without hesitation. A man unfaithful to marriage was not worth having, no matter how handsome or good his body was.
Lu Chunhe felt the pressure drop inside the car. She weakly asked a question she had been wanting to ask: "Baby, isn't he your bodyguard? Wouldn't it be weird for the two of us to catch a cheater? His wife isn't even worried yet. Why are we in a rush?"
Song Guanyu pouted and replied, wanting to say 'I am his wife,' but her reason hadn't completely abandoned her. She rolled her eyes and said, "I'm very close with his wife. I want to catch the cheater for her. If he's really done something to betray my..." She paused. "...friend, then she can cut her losses early. If their feelings aren't deep yet, breaking up will only hurt temporarily."
Lu Chunhe quickly nodded in agreement. "You're right." She had sharp eyes, and when she saw the car ahead start moving, she was about to remind Song Guanyu, but Song Guanyu had already floored the accelerator.
"..." The pushback hit her, and she tightened her seatbelt.
Cars sped by, horns blaring, quickly drowned in the crowd. The sky had turned from clear blue to a pink-purple sunset. Song Guanyu followed Ye Yansheng all the way.
From the car, she watched them chatting and laughing all the way, eventually arriving in front of a Chinese restaurant.
As soon as Ye Yansheng got out of the car, a little girl with double ponytails in a cake dress bounced over and jumped onto him. He crouched down and caught her immediately, kissed her forehead, and couldn't stop smiling.
Song Guanyu watched as he stood up with the little girl in his arms. The girl clung to him, kissed his cheek, and he entered the restaurant holding her. The woman stood nearby, watching them and smiling.
The picture was so beautiful, but in Song Guanyu's eyes, it was painfully glaring.
Lu Chunhe saw it too. Her eyes darted to Song Guanyu, especially her hands gripping the steering wheel. She swallowed.
"Baby, your bodyguard seems quite the player. He even has a child. Your friend is really unlucky."
Song Guanyu didn't speak. She saw them sit by the window, and the woman kept putting food on his plate, almost non-stop.
Ye Yansheng, who was eating with his head down, looked at the bowl gradually piling up with food from Ye Siyuan. He suddenly remembered something and said to Ye Siyuan, "Cousin, I'm already married. Can you stop treating me like a child?"
Ye Siyuan, now forty, took excellent care of herself and looked like she was thirty. She put down her chopsticks, fiddling with her long curly hair, and smiled. "It's rare to run into you here. Why didn't you tell me you were coming to New York? If I hadn't been out running errands with Xiaobao today, I wouldn't have bumped into you downstairs."
Ye Yansheng rubbed his forehead, helpless. "It was a last-minute decision. I came for meetings, not a vacation."
"You always have time for a meal, don't you? You're so busy. Xiaobao misses the braids you make for her." Ye Siyuan rested her chin on her hand and glanced out the window, looking troubled. "Xiaobao only likes it when you braid her hair. Your brother-in-law and I are at our wit's end." Just then, she squinted, scanning the sapphire blue supercar parked outside.
This car seemed to have followed her all afternoon. "Xiaoyan, that car outside has been following us all afternoon." Ye Yansheng was nonchalant and teased her. "Why didn't I contact you? It's because your husband watches you too closely. Maybe he sent someone to follow you."
Ye Siyuan rolled her eyes at him, then proudly bragged, "Of course! Your brother-in-law loves me to death."
Ye Yansheng was speechless and let it go.
Xiaobao, sitting beside Ye Yansheng, was wise beyond her years. She propped her cheeks with her hands and said in a childish voice, "Uncle, why didn't you bring Auntie along?"
"Auntie is back home. I'll take you to see her next time. Want some cake?"
Xiaobao nodded, her mouth already open. "Uncle, feed me." Ye Yansheng smiled, scooped up a bit of cake, and fed her. Xiaobao blinked her big watery eyes, leaned in to bite the spoon, and gobbled it up. Some cream stuck to her lips, and her eyes curved into crescents.
Ye Yansheng wiped her mouth with a tissue and asked if she wanted more. When Xiaobao nodded, he continued feeding her.
Ye Siyuan saw her child so clingy to her uncle and pretended to scold her, but then she turned her attention to her younger cousin. He was thirty-two this year, and he doted on children even more than she did.
She casually asked, "Have you considered having kids? Your sister-in-law is still young, isn't she?"
Looking at Xiaobao, Ye Yansheng thought of his little radish head at home. They were so similar.
His heart softened. He fed Xiaobao cake bit by bit, his eyes fixed on her. "She's still young. I'll respect her decision on having children. It's up to her whether to have them or not. I don't have the right to dictate that her womb should bear life for me. Besides, she's in the rising phase of her career. Let's wait a few years and see—only if she's willing."
Ye Siyuan understood and didn't say more.
After they finished eating, Xiaobao was picked up by the driver. Ye Siyuan dropped Ye Yansheng off at the hotel and glanced in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, that sapphire blue car had followed.
She was really exasperated with her husband. After Ye Yansheng went upstairs, Ye Siyuan called Zhao Zhouyin. As soon as the call connected, she launched into a tirade. When she was done, Zhao Zhouyin said pitifully, "Honey, that's not my car. I didn't have anyone follow you and Xiaoyan."
Ye Siyuan was confused.
Whose car was it then? If it wasn't after her, who was it after?
A flash of insight hit her. She started the car and disappeared instantly.
Song Guanyu finally waited until that car left. She had wrapped herself up very tightly. Lu Chunhe beside her had already fallen into a dead sleep, jet lagged. Song Guanyu quietly opened the car door, took her already packed luggage from the front trunk—she had never planned to stay at Liang Jiasong's house anyway—and left the car keys with Lu Chunhe, leaving a message for her not to wait and to drive the car back when she woke up.
Using the cover of night, Song Guanyu got out of the car. She pulled her mask and sunglasses tightly over her face, looked around—no one—and quickly pulled her suitcase. The wheels made no sound on the thick carpet. She tiptoed like a cat and ran into the elevator.
In the elevator, she avoided the cameras and pressed the floor button. She knew which floor Ye Yansheng was staying on. He had checked in with her as soon as he landed and had even sent photos of the hotel interior.
Around a dark corner, Ye Siyuan hid. A knowing smile spread across her face.
She thought for a moment, raised an eyebrow, and said to herself, "There's going to be a good show tonight." Then she said to Zhao Zhouyin, "Honey, let me tell you, Xiaoyan is in for it tonight."
Without waiting for the man to ask for details, she said, "I'll tell you when I get home," and hung up.
Ye Yansheng had just finished showering. With a towel wrapped around his waist, he stepped out of the bathroom to hear urgent knocking at the door.
He thought it was the medicine he had ordered online. As soon as he opened the door, a small black shadow lunged at him, her suitcase sliding into the room. He didn't have time to see who it was, caught off guard, but caught her full in his arms.
Song Guanyu tore off her mask, looking fierce and puffed up, and bit down hard on Ye Yansheng's bare, still-damp shoulder and neck line. It was a very hard bite, and he grunted.
This familiar sensation made him realize, and he laughed out loud. What an unexpected surprise.
He didn't forget to close the door, letting Song Guanyu bite him. To avoid hurting her teeth, he deliberately relaxed his originally tense muscles, making it easier for her to bite deeper.
With one hand supporting her bottom and the other cradling her neck, he walked over to the large sofa and sat down.
He kneaded the back of her neck to relax her and said softly, "How did you end up in New York?"
Song Guanyu still didn't let go. Ye Yansheng was puzzled. "Hmm? Xiaodai?"
But moments later, he felt a wetness on his neck. He pressed harder on the back of her neck with one hand, while the other cupped her chin, forcing her to release her bite.