QT: Against My Will

296 5.40 – Pocket Money – The Sleepless Elite’s Wife

+—- Author’s note —–+

Our side characters had enough exposure, and now, it’s time to get back to our leads :).

Edited by Psycho S.

+——————-+

“Aren’t you afraid that your spouse will stop his payments? What if he leaves you because of all the scandals that involve you?” Li Jie asked. How much would an average scientist make for his wife to be so carefree about everything?!

“Then I’ll just earn my own pocket money. No biggie.” Bing Shi used a rolling cart to carry her keyboard outside, “I wouldn’t call those things scandals. They’re more like a free advertisement that benefits me in the end.” She paused as she came to a realization: “Hey, is it just me, or did we switch roles? Do you also want to follow me home?”

“Ugh! No! I’m just worried about your financial situation!” Li Jie huffed as he carried on walking with her in the store. He didn’t know this, but after Xuan Mu’s death, Bing Shi managed his business for two years before she gave up managing such difficult things.

The wealth Bing Shi accumulated still couldn’t save her from the misery. (Do you remember in ch.3.03.06 how Bing Shi contemplated during the chat with Ziek, whether she’s 26 or 28? Time stopped for her together with XM’s death.)

Despite Bing Shi having a business-like mind and a cunning nature, money held no significance to her nor Xuan Mu’s heart. To them, money was only a tool to be used. It was something to mock; even more so after everything, they went through together.

.....

“That’s nice of you, but I’m more worried about my acting career.” Bing Shi walked out of the store, accompanying him to his car before they went their way, “He’s coming home today. Do you want to meet him?”

“Sorry, maybe next time.” Dismissing her offer, Li Jie drove to visit Su Min. He didn’t want to end up as a third wheel again. Instead of one, there were now three women he wanted to protect.

He reflected on himself with self-pity once he finished dropping her off. Why was it that he would fling his love onto women who were already called for?! Was it his talent?

· · — · ???· — · ·

An hour after Bing Shi found her way on how to get to their nest unnoticed...

Lu Kai watched his wife fondly; the view of her taking a bath was quite nice in his opinion. It was a shame the doorway and the billowing steam from the running hot water obstructed the majority of his view.

He leaned his body against the kitchen counter as he asked Bing Shi, loud enough to be heard in the bathroom from his position “Are you finished, my dear?”

Don’t ask why Bing Shi chose to buy an apartment at the center of the metropolis instead of having a house isolated from others. He was quite sure that this was because of her mission. Lu Kai thought with dry humour, ‘At least this isn’t a penthouse in a skyscraper.’

“Not yet! Just give me ten more minutes!” Bing Shi called out to him as she gradually crawled out of the wooden tub. Bless the herb water. It soothed the blisters on her feet.

Lu Kai hummed quietly. A signal showing that he heard her, and then he turned away from the open bathroom door and carried on cooking.

Bing Shi sighed once she fully left the wooden tub. The cold air attacked her almost immediately. She wrapped herself up in a fluffy towel. After patting herself dry, she threw on an equally, if not even more so, fluffy bathrobe. She was too tired to dress herself up and she was comfortable as is. There was no one here but her husband; what hasn’t he seen anyways?

After making her way towards the living room, she laid her robe-covered body on a big couch with a table right beside it. The couch was big enough where it was no problem supporting her body that sprawled outwards in a 5 star shape.

Her body was so sore; her bones were achy and her resentment for special training increased tenfold. With a sigh, she ached to go back into the wooden bath. Even though the tub was already drained by now, she wanted to rewind time and relax again. All the herbs she’d obtained from her hubby’s list, was all for the sake of her having one of his special herb baths at the end of the long day.

Lu Kai left the kitchen slowly whilst holding a frying pan with his mitten-covered hands. He looked up from the pan to his wife, scrolling on her phone, and his lips quirked downwards in the ghost of a pout. Her attention was so focused on the phone... and he wanted to know why she was smiling like a Cheshire cat.

In an effort to get Bing Shi’s attention, Lu Kai approached her, “Your husband came here, all the way from country A to cook you dinner.”

Here, he emphasized that he did so much for her by placing the frying plan on the table. The food within the pan was still piping hot, and it held a delicious fragrance that demanded attention.

Lu Kai wrapped one of his hands around Bing Shi’s; his palm covered her screen, so she was forced to look at his skin. With his other arm, he wrapped it around Bing Shi, encasing her in an overbearing hug.

Bing Shi, amused by Lu Kai’s dramatics, wriggled helplessly in his hold.

Lu Kai pretended to be oblivious to her struggle as he carried on talking, “Your husband is so tired from jet lag, but your eyes are glued to your phone...”

Bing Shi grinned as she helplessly released her hold on her phone. It seemed that, even if she wanted to ignore him in protest of the special training, he was determined to gain her attention by force if necessary. She leaned into Lu Kai’s embrace with an exaggerated sigh and teased him with a twinkling in her eyes, “Don’t we sleep together every day? Is me looking at the phone bothering you that much?”

“No, that’s different.” Lu Kai stubbornly insisted as he held Bing Shi hostage in his arms. He grabbed Bing Shi’s phone and set it aside.

Lu Kai then pretended to complain as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks, “Now that I’m really here, you’re not looking at me.”

“Okay, okay,” Bing Shi laughed as she opened up her mouth, expecting Lu Kai to feed her his stir-fried vegetables. Her husband, amazing as he was, did just that: when she bit into the poorly-seasoned vegetables, generously doused in Lu Kai’s own extra flair of affection that more than made up for the acidic after-taste of vinegar, she hummed happily.

“You look excited. Did you get some good news?” Lu Kai commented as he fed her some more food.

“Mmmfg...” Bing Shi patted Lu Kai’s hand to stop him from stuffing her mouth with another dubiously delectable broccoli. Lu Kai ceased his assault of fried vegetables and waited for her answer.

“Well, I didn’t get any good news yet... but I’m working on it.” Bing Shi replied. Then she opened her mouth again, wordlessly asking for more food. Lu Kai used his skills with chopsticks to satisfy his wife.

While Li Jie had quite a lot of influence, even his backdoor couldn’t help her get any decent acting roles. There weren’t any movies that Mo Luwei couldn’t reach besides her own ones that didn’t exist yet. But to be fair, making her own movie was too much work and there wasn’t a guarantee that it would be a success.

· · — · ???· — · ·

Later that night...

Mo Luwei picked up his phone.

?(3:15 AM) Silika Lin: ? Don’t you want to know why you wake up in the middle of the night? There’s an 80 percent chance that it’s your unborn baby staring at you in the afterlife.

Bing Shi didn’t forget to send him pictures of dead fetuses. Mo Luwei’s lips curled in disgust as he attempted to wipe his mind clean from the jelly-like substances. He deleted the text with a sneer.

?(3:15 AM) Silika Lin: ? Look in the dark for ten minutes without blinking, and you’ll eventually see it climbing up your bed.

The moment Mo Luwei spotted the crying XiaoPu peeking his chubby head from the end of the bed. Mo Luwei immediately threw his phone at the crying XiaoPu as he jumped in fright.

The phone slammed against the wall; the last text he’d seen before he switched on the light in a panic was a mocking taunt from Silika.

?(3:16 AM) Silika Lin: ? Hahaha, gotcha! Never mess with the vulnerable. Good luck with the exorcism.

Mo Luwei frantically looked around the empty room. Was seeing that crying thing an illusion, or was it a dream? He couldn’t tell.

When Mo Luwei reluctantly turned the lights back off, he ignored his phone and attempted to go back to sleep.