Chapter 38: The Road to Winning Back His Wife Is a Difficult One

United States.

Shi Zhiyu had just finished washing up and changed into a loose black sports outfit.

Ever since learning that Tang Shu liked athletic boys, he had started waking up early every day to go for a morning run.

He only wanted to become the kind of person she liked.

Suddenly, his phone chimed.

Picking it up, he immediately saw the gentle moonlit photo on the screen, along with the message she had sent.

The cold indifference in his eyes instantly softened, and a faint smile unconsciously curved his lips.

He pressed the voice message button, and his deep, magnetic voice came through the speaker.

“The moon is beautiful. When I return to China, I’ll watch it with you.”

A moment later, he sent another voice message.

“I’m heading out for a run now. Be good and finish your dinner.”

Tang Shu had just returned to the entrance of the restaurant carrying a steaming bowl of rice noodles.

Her phone vibrated twice.

She opened the voice messages, and the man’s rich, pleasant voice immediately filled her ears.

Lowering her head, she couldn’t help but grin foolishly at her phone.

How could his voice sound so good?

Every time it stopped, her imagination couldn’t help running wild.

Just then, a soft childish voice suddenly sounded in front of her.

“Pretty big sister?”

Tang Shu looked up and immediately saw Qiao Chuqing and little Tongtong standing beneath a streetlamp.

A flash of surprise crossed her eyes.

She stepped forward with a smile.

“Tongtong, Sister Qiao, what are you doing here?”

Qiao Chuqing smiled gently.

“We wanted something hot to eat tonight. The locals said Songqing Shu Hotpot has the best reputation around, so we came to try it.”

Tongtong tilted her little face up and tugged at Tang Shu’s sleeve.

Her voice was sweet and childish.

“Big Sister, Mommy always eats hotpot alone. It’s so lonely. Do you want to stay and eat with us?”

The moment she heard that, Qiao Chuqing quickly covered Tongtong’s little mouth.

A faint blush spread across her cheeks as she hurriedly explained.

“Don’t listen to her. Children say whatever comes to mind.”

“I just wanted to properly thank you for helping me find Tongtong today. I never got the chance earlier. Let me treat you to hotpot tonight as a thank-you.”

Tang Shu lifted the warm bowl of rice noodles in her hand and smiled apologetically.

“Thank you, Sister Qiao, but my mom already bought dinner for me.”

“Though I can sit with you for a while and keep you company while you eat.”

With that, she led the mother and daughter into the restaurant.

Tao Qingrou had been working at the front desk.

Seeing that her daughter had been gone for quite some time and had returned with two unfamiliar guests—one adult and one child—she couldn’t help asking,

“Shu Shu, why were you out so long? And who are these two?”

Tang Shu quickly stepped forward to explain.

“Mom, this is Sister Qiao and her daughter Tongtong. I met them at Yunding Mountain today.”

“They heard our hotpot restaurant is really good, so they came to try it.”

Qiao Chuqing looked surprised.

“So this famous hotpot restaurant belongs to your family? What a coincidence.”

Tongtong obediently bent slightly at the waist and greeted her sweetly.

“Hello, Auntie~”

The soft little voice instantly melted Tao Qingrou’s heart.

Looking at the adorable and well-behaved child, she gently pinched Tongtong’s soft cheek and praised her warmly.

“Tongtong is such a good girl. Come inside and have a seat.”

Tang Shu brought the mother and daughter upstairs to a quiet private room.

After arranging the tableware, she let them scan the QR code and place their order themselves while she helped take care of everything.

While waiting for the food, the two women chatted.

Most of their conversation revolved around art and painting, exchanging thoughts on techniques, styles, and brushwork.

Qiao Chuqing also briefly spoke about her plan to return to Jiangcheng and open her own art studio.

And yes—the invitation she had previously extended to Tang Shu still stood.

Meanwhile, Tongtong sat quietly on her chair, playing with a small doll in her hands.

The little girl remained obedient and well-behaved the entire time, patiently waiting for the hotpot to arrive.

8:30 PM.

Tang Shu finally returned home.

Spending the evening with Qiao Chuqing had truly felt like meeting a kindred spirit.

The two of them could talk endlessly about almost anything.

But during dinner, after unexpectedly running into Tao Hongyi again during the day, Qiao Chuqing had ordered a couple of low-alcohol fruit cocktails.

After several drinks, she finally pulled Tang Shu aside and told her the truth about the past.

Years ago, at that banquet, someone had secretly drugged Tao Hongyi.

When his consciousness became blurred and he was losing control of himself, Qiao Chuqing happened to find him.

Seeing how distressed and feverish he was, she couldn’t bear to leave him alone and stayed behind to take care of him.

The truth was—

She had secretly loved Tao Hongyi for years.

But she always felt there was someone else in his heart.

He never seemed to notice her.

After that one night, she panicked.

She didn’t dare face Tao Hongyi once he woke up.

So she quietly left before dawn the next morning.

Afraid of facing his questions, she left for another city.

Not long afterward, she discovered she was pregnant with Tongtong.

As for Tao Hongyi—

When he woke up the next day, he only remembered being set up.

He had absolutely no memory of who had stayed with him that night.

Afterward, he searched everywhere like a madman, trying to uncover the truth.

But no matter how hard he investigated, he found nothing.

The person who had hidden everything for Qiao Chuqing back then…

Was her own older brother.

Unfortunately, Tao Hongyi and her brother had been best friends for many years.

Tao Hongyi had even asked him to help investigate the identity of the woman from that night.

With Qiao Chuqing’s brother secretly covering every trail and destroying all evidence, it was only natural that Tao Hongyi never discovered anything.

After listening to the entire story, Tang Shu was left with nothing but endless amazement.

Reality truly was more dramatic than fiction.

The melodramatic plots she wrote in her novels actually happened in real life.

Her poor cousin really had it rough.

The road to winning back his wife would be a difficult one.

Not only that, Qiao Chuqing also had an older brother fiercely protective of his little sister.

The fact that he hadn’t already shown up to beat Tao Hongyi up was practically a miracle.

For all anyone knew, he had probably been suppressing years’ worth of anger and was just waiting for an excuse to punch him.

Shaking her head, Tang Shu pushed those thoughts aside.

She went to the bathroom, washed up, changed into loose pajamas, and climbed into bed.

Opening WeChat casually, she found that the conversation pinned at the top—her “God of Wealth”—was already filled with messages.

First came several shirtless selfies showing off his abs after exercising.

Then there were photos of his carefully plated breakfast.

Along with countless little snippets of his daily life.

Tang Shu slowly scrolled through the pictures.

Her gaze stuck stubbornly to the photos.

Silently, she mocked herself for being such an appearance addict.

Shamelessly staring at the screen.

She couldn’t help wondering whether those muscles would feel as firm as they looked in real life.

The thought immediately brought a blush to her face.

Oh my god.

Her mind had wandered somewhere inappropriate again.

She replied to every one of his messages.

This had already become part of their daily routine.

After sending her replies, she lay back on the bed.

Her mood grew heavy.

She remembered her mother’s repeated instructions before she came home.

Her mother wanted her to book a ticket and return to Jiangcheng University tomorrow.

Even though there were still two days left of her vacation.

Originally, Tang Shu had wanted to stay home a little longer and spend more time with her parents.

She also wanted to see the family’s debts fully paid off.

But her mother’s attitude had been unusually firm.

Only after Tang Shu left would her parents be able to stop worrying about her and focus on handling the family’s problems.

Yet Tang Shu couldn’t stop worrying.

Her mother was too soft-hearted.

And her father was deeply constrained by traditional notions of filial piety.

Whenever faced with her grandmother’s and eldest aunt’s unreasonable demands, he always chose to endure and compromise.

Once she left, there would be no one at home willing to directly confront those unreasonable relatives.

Her parents would surely suffer.

Tang Shu let out a heavy sigh.

Suddenly, the ringtone of an incoming WeChat voice call rang out.

“I must have told you I loved you hundreds of years ago…”

It was the special ringtone she had assigned exclusively to Shi Zhiyu.

Tang Shu picked up the phone.

Her finger slid across the answer button as she pressed the phone to her ear.

For a moment, neither side spoke.

Only the steady sound of each other’s breathing echoed softly through the call.

In the end, Shi Zhiyu was the first to notice that something was wrong.

His deep, gentle voice came through the receiver.

“What’s wrong?”

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