Chapter 31: An Encounter in a Foreign Land [1]

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Although Jing Nuo did not like Wen Xiaorou, he had never intended to push her into a corner. He would have been content to provide for her for the rest of her life as long as she was willing; after all, he once regarded her as a younger sister. Their relationship had only soured when Elder Jing arranged their marriage, which led him to believe that Wen Xiaorou had ulterior motives.

However, in this final parting, Wen Xiaorou truly reclaimed the dignity she had lost over the years. At the very last moment, Jing Nuo no longer felt resentment toward her, nor did he believe she was after the Jing family's fortune. Instead, he found himself concerned about how she would survive after leaving the Jing household.

At night, in Feng Jing's home!

"Jing Nuo, cheers! I never expected Wen Xiaorou to be so decisive; she really just walked away. She said she loved you—did she ever truly love you?" Feng Jing swirled the red wine in her glass, her words brimming with excitement.

"I don't know." Faced with Feng Jing's question, Jing Nuo found himself seriously considering it. That woman had always worn an expression of adoration for him, yet she had left with such swiftness that it felt surreal. Had she ever really loved him? Or was it all just a ploy, and she simply left once she realized there was nothing left to gain from him?

"Oh! Two things accomplished today. It feels so good." Feng Jing swayed, leaning her entire body against Jing Nuo, who was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window admiring the night view.

"Hmm." Jing Nuo merely took a light sip of his wine, looking less than enthusiastic.

"Jing Nuo, why aren't you happy? Isn't this divorce a good thing? Haven't you always wanted Wen Xiaorou to leave? Are you reluctant to let her go? Have you grown fond of her over time?" Seeing Jing Nuo’s low spirits, Feng Jing felt a tinge of jealousy.

"No," Jing Nuo replied, smiling as he pulled Feng Jing, his partner of eight years, into his arms. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder what Wen Xiaorou was doing at that very moment.

"But you clearly are." Pouting, Feng Jing stood on her tiptoes to place her glass on the nearby cabinet, then cupped Jing Nuo’s face and kissed his lips.

"I’m not." While denying it, Jing Nuo pulled her into a deep kiss, though his mind flashed with an image of Wen Xiaorou in leopard-print lingerie, trying to seduce him.

"The Jing family supported her for ten years, and she married me, yet I never touched her. Isn't that a huge loss?" In the middle of their heated kiss, Jing Nuo pulled away, staring into her eyes as he asked this, as if he had truly suffered a significant setback.

"Well! That is a huge loss indeed. Are you thinking of making up for it?" Feng Jing glared at him and pinched his arm hard. This Jing Nuo was becoming more and more outrageous; to think he would talk to her about whether he had missed out by not touching Wen Xiaorou—it seemed he was itching for a lesson.

"I just suddenly did the math and felt I’d been taken advantage of." Jing Nuo blinked, confirming his thought, and pulled Feng Jing back into his embrace.

"Do you think of Wen Xiaorou as a business transaction? Your father would skin you alive if he knew. Jing Nuo, why do you think your father likes Xiaorou so much?" Elder Jing’s affection for Wen Xiaorou exceeded even that which he held for his own daughter, a fact Feng Jing found impossible to understand.

"I don't know."

"You are not allowed to like her."

"Of course." Jing Nuo gently lifted Feng Jing, pinned her against the glass of the floor-to-ceiling window, and softly kissed every inch of her skin. He savored her various charms and allure—treatments that Wen Xiaorou had never once enjoyed during their time as a married couple.

In Cheng Yiyi’s home, in the dining room, two young women drank and chatted about life and ideals.

"Hey! Xiaorou, that ex-husband of yours is absolute trash. With such a beautiful wife at home, he still cheated? Tell me who she is; I’m going to beat him to death!" Upon hearing that Wen Xiaorou had divorced because of her husband's infidelity, Cheng Yiyi felt like she wanted to peel the skin right off his back.