Volume One, Chapter 59: These Days Are Simply Unbearable!

"You're back?" Lin Zhaozhao woke with a start, just in time to see Lu Jinnian standing in the doorway.

She got up to help him, her expression aggrieved. "Why are you so late?"

When he looked at Lin Zhaozhao, the scene seemed to peel away from his memory. The haze of alcohol in Lu Jinnian's mind cleared instantly.

Realizing that, for a fleeting moment, he'd mistaken the person on the sofa for Sang Wan, Lu Jinnian's face darkened slightly.

"Do you have any hangover soup?"

"No... I don't. Wait, I'll get you some hangover medicine."

In a flurry of confusion, Lin Zhaozhao rummaged through the medicine box and found the pills. She poured a glass of water and fed them to Lu Jinnian.

"It's late, you should get some sleep..." Lin Zhaozhao reached out to pull him toward the bedroom, but he didn't budge.

Lu Jinnian asked again, "Is there anything to eat?"

At such gatherings, drinking came first, talking second; he’d barely touched his chopsticks. Now, back home, he was ravenous.

Lin Zhaozhao hesitated. "…No. How about I make you some instant noodles?"

Lu Jinnian frowned. He wanted to say he never ate instant noodles, but looking at Lin Zhaozhao's anxious face—and his growling stomach—he nodded.

He glanced up just as Lin Zhaozhao pulled out a box of instant noodles from the cupboard. She didn’t even turn on the stove; instead, she boiled water and poured it over the noodles.

That sense of discomfort in Lu Jinnian’s heart surged once more.

He hadn’t secured the land he wanted. News of the marital upheaval had been exposed again by paparazzi. Lu Corporation's stock had dropped for two consecutive days. He was busy facilitating new partnerships, busy negotiating with city officials he'd only just managed to connect with. Last night and tonight, he'd been out for business dinners two nights in a row.

It had always been like this, but now Lu Jinnian felt a restlessness he couldn't name. And that restlessness reached its peak when he saw the cup noodles in Lin Zhaozhao's hands.

Sang Wan had never made him eat instant noodles.

Lu Zhengsong and Su Baohui had a rocky marriage; during his growing years, when he was hungry at night and nothing was available, instant noodles were his go-to. It ruined his stomach. He hated them most of all.

During his school years, there was a cafeteria. After graduation, once he was married, Sang Wan would always prepare delicious food for him, constantly inventing new dishes. On nights he returned late, he'd walk through the door to find a bowl of hangover soup, perfectly warm and ready.

Sweet and sour, a single cup swept away half his foggy exhaustion. Then, in the bathroom, the tub would be filled, and on the nearby shelf, towels and clothes ready at hand. When he finished bathing, meals awaited him on the table.

Small dishes with noodle soup, or with rice porridge. One bowl warmed his stomach, and all the day's fatigue melted away.

Once upon a time, the gentle midnight greeting, "You're back," and the array of little dishes with a bowl of noodles on the table, were the comforts that soothed his soul.

But now...

"It's ready..." The spicy, sour aroma wafted up with the steam. Lu Jinnian came back to himself as Lin Zhaozhao slid the noodles toward him. "You can eat now!"

The first bite was bearable. The second, he forced himself to endure. By the third, Lu Jinnian dropped his fork.

The sound of a chair scraping the floor rang out. Lin Zhaozhao lifted her eyes to see Lu Jinnian heading up the stairs.

The noodles in the bowl were barely touched.

She stood there, stunned, then hurried after him.

She’d fallen asleep on the sofa scrolling through her phone, but now, wide awake, Lin Zhaozhao had no trace of sleepiness.

The sound of running water stopped. In the darkness, Lin Zhaozhao bit her lip as she watched Lu Jinnian approach, watched him pull back the covers and lie down.

She waited for a sign of his affection, but none came. Summoning her courage, she nestled close.

Within moments, heat bloomed in the bedroom air.

"Jin… Jinnian…" Lin Zhaozhao realized she loved Lu Jinnian most at night. All his daytime coldness vanished, as if, in those moments, he loved her as deeply as she loved him.

Her unease faded, replaced by fullness.

At the edge of the night, the man held her tightly, his deep, magnetic voice binding her soul back to her body with a single word: "Wanwan..."

Lin Zhaozhao froze.

It was as if she had plunged into an icy abyss.

She didn't know how long she lay there, listening to the steady rhythm of Lu Jinnian’s breathing—he had fallen asleep.

In the darkness, Lin Zhaozhao’s eyes reddened with grievance.

Moments ago, she’d marveled at how well Sang Wan had eaten all these years, and how all those good things had finally come into her own hands.

Now, with a single utterance—Wanwan—every shred of Lin Zhaozhao's dignity shattered.

"Wa!... Mommy, I want Mommy..." The faint sound of crying drifted up from downstairs. Lin Zhaozhao impatiently yanked the covers over her ears.

But Lu Jinnian's shifting in bed sounded like an alarm bell in her mind.

She forgot her slippers, and rushed downstairs.

In the children's room on the first floor, Lu Xiaomu had been jolted awake by a nightmare and was crying loudly.

"Mommy, Mommy, I want Mommy..."

"Don't cry, Mu-ge, Aunt Zhaozhao is here, be good, don't cry..."

She tried to pick him up, but the five-year-old kicked and punched, impossible to handle.

Lin Zhaozhao was flustered, her ears filled with his wailing.

Her thighs, waist, and abdomen took blows left and right, aching from the kicks.

"Stop crying!!!" Her angry shout erupted.

The crying stopped abruptly.

Lin Zhaozhao hadn't even finished exhaling.

"Wa!!!" The shrill wail resumed, louder than before.

"Mommy, Mommy, I want Mommy..."

The scent was unfamiliar. The forced embrace was foreign. Half-awake, half-dreaming, Lu Xiaomu knew with certainty that the woman before him was not his mother.

"Mommy, Mommy, I want Mommy..." Lu Xiaomu cried as if his heart would break.

Lin Zhaozhao slumped on the carpet, her face and heart filled with despair.

Let everything be destroyed! Anyone, anything, love whoever you want! Life like this was unbearable!

She sprawled on the floor, wishing the universe would simply end.

After crying himself hoarse, Lu Xiaomu collapsed on his pillow and drifted off, sniffling.

Lin Zhaozhao waited until he was fast asleep before dragging herself upstairs, moving like a zombie.

She glanced at her phone: three in the morning.

In three and a half hours, her alarm would ring.

No time to wash up, she had to hurry downstairs, change clothes, and wake Lu Xiaomu.

Lu Xiaomu was cranky in the mornings; from opening his eyes to being dressed and sent out the door took over half an hour.

Any good mood she had would be worn away, leaving only fatigue.

Once the car left the villa, she barely had time to breathe before it was time to wake Lu Jinnian and prepare his breakfast.

For a moment, Lin Zhaozhao wanted to ask Sang Wan: Is this how you got through these years?

But the thought barely surfaced before she rolled her eyes at herself.

Impossible.

Returning to the villa, she saw Lu Jinnian, impeccably dressed, coming downstairs.

At the dining table, Lin Zhaozhao spoke carefully, "Jinnian, I want to hire a chef for the house, and maybe a nanny just for Xiaomu. Is that alright?"

Ding.

The coffee cup settled on its saucer. Lu Jinnian frowned. "I don't like strangers in the house. Or are you saying you don't want to do these things for me and Xiaomu?"

"No, Jinnian, I just..."

I just want to focus more on my work.

Trying to balance work and family, she truly couldn’t manage both.

But as the words reached her lips, Lin Zhaozhao froze.

She could set aside work, but if she let go of Lu Jinnian and Lu Xiaomu, she would never get them back.

These past six months, she’d poured her heart into capturing Lu Jinnian’s affection and winning over Lu Xiaomu.

After finally orchestrating a smooth divorce between Lu Jinnian and Sang Wan, she hadn’t even succeeded in becoming Mrs. Lu yet.

Only a fool would let go now.

Lin Zhaozhao smiled and wrapped her arm around Lu Jinnian’s.

"I can do it."

If Sang Wan could do it, so could she.