Chapter Ninety-Four: My Lower Back Hurts...

“Are you sure you’re really all right?”

Zhou Jiayan looked at Jiang Zao with deep concern, alarmed by how calm she seemed.

Jiang Zao smiled. “I’m fine. I just got angry a moment ago, and he kicked me.”

Zhou Jiayan placed a hand over the slight rise of her belly, her voice softening as she said, “Little one, you nearly scared your aunt to death. Just wait until you come out and see if I don’t spank you.”

Seeing that, Jiang Zao could only shake her head helplessly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zhou Lichuan standing nearby, at a complete loss.

“What are you still doing there?”

Zhou Lichuan was dazed for a moment before realizing she was speaking to him.

“Zhao Luyi has nothing to do with me. I’ll investigate this thoroughly. Don’t worry.”

Jiang Zao said expressionlessly, “I know it has nothing to do with you. But right now I don’t want to see you. Get out.”

Zhou Jiayan shot him a look, but Zhou Lichuan seemed not to notice. He lifted one trouser leg, crouched on one knee before Jiang Zao, and brought himself level with her gaze.

His eyes were full of pain and guilt. “This started because of me. Be angry if you want, throw things if you want, just don’t hurt yourself. That shard of porcelain today was dangerous. Don’t smash dangerous things in the future, all right?”

Jiang Zao looked into his eyes. They were unimaginably deep, with a profound and tangled devotion in them, enough to draw one under.

She let out a faint sigh, lifted her fingers to the furrow between his brows, and said, “Your son just kicked me so hard I nearly lost my breath. And now you’re here acting pitiful? Who do you think you’re fooling?”

Zhou Jiayan took a deep breath nearby, covered her eyes, and rose to walk toward the floor-to-ceiling window, turning her back on the two of them whose eyes seemed locked together. Silently, she recited to herself, “One should not look upon what is improper.”

Zhou Lichuan took hold of that small hand that stirred his heart. “Zaozao, I will give you an explanation. I know you haven’t forgiven me yet. It’s all right, we have time... Zaozao, don’t chase me away...”

Jiang Zao withdrew her gaze, not bothering to look at him any longer.

“Get out. You smell. Annoying.”

Zhou Lichuan’s heartfelt confession froze halfway, and Zhou Jiayan, listening from the side, felt her toes curl in embarrassment.

Who taught Zhou Lichuan to court his wife like this... Du Bin wouldn’t even talk like this!

The man rose to his feet and left the room, defeated.

His beloved wife had said more than once that he smelled. What in the world did he smell like? He had clearly washed himself very thoroughly before!

Zhou Lichuan wanted to cry but had no tears.

Not long after, Li Baixiu returned carrying two surveillance systems.

“Sis, I bought two models. One can go in the room, the other in the hallway. Take a look and see where they’d be best placed. I’ll install them for you right now.”

Jiang Zao beckoned him over. “No rush. Come here, I want to ask you something.”

Li Baixiu set down the newly unboxed equipment and sat in front of Jiang Zao. “What is it, sis?”

Seated on the sofa, Jiang Zao’s eyes flashed with sharp intelligence. “You said Zhao Luyi came to cause trouble in Changzhou because someone incited her. Who was it?”

Li Baixiu glanced at Zhou Jiayan. After encountering Zhao Luyi in the shop yesterday, he had become cautious at once and sent people to investigate. By the time the results came in, he and Zhou Jiayan were already bent over documents, scratching their heads. Naturally, she had heard the whole thing.

Li Baixiu said, “We still don’t know exactly who it was, but the source of the information points toward the entertainment industry. They probably wanted to use Zhao Luyi to test what other women were around President Zhou.”

Jiang Zao nodded. “Mm. I can guess her purpose, but I can’t think of who it might be. The entertainment industry... Zhou Lichuan really has a lot of romantic debts.”

Zhou Jiayan said from the side, “That’s only because you have a good temperament. If it were me, I’d already have stormed back to Capital City and made a scene. She still dared to send someone to provoke you? Doesn’t she realize whether the Zhou family is someone she can afford to offend?”

Jiang Zao looked at Zhou Jiayan. “You’re just as domineering, but far cuter than Zhao Luyi.”

Zhou Jiayan, praised so suddenly, was still a little unaccustomed to it. “Cu... cute? How am I cute?”

Jiang Zao glanced at Li Baixiu, and he picked up where she left off.

“You’re kind, with principles; clever, but never slick. Even your spoiled temper is rather cute.”

Zhou Jiayan’s expression changed slightly. “Don’t tell me you have a thing for me.”

Li Baixiu turned his head away, refusing to look at her. “My eyesight is perfectly fine. You’re not my type.”

Zhou Jiayan refused to accept that. “Hey, the likes of me aren’t enough for you? Then what kind do you want?”

Li Baixiu said nothing, and Jiang Zao cut off Zhou Jiayan’s tirade.

“All right, you two, stop bickering. Didn’t we discuss your graduation thesis yesterday? What about it? Any progress?”

Hearing this, Zhou Jiayan hurriedly got up to take her leave. Her advisor on the other side of the ocean was already emailing every day for updates, and that was stressful enough. Add Jiang Zao’s urging to that, and she really might as well not live.

...

That night, Jiang Zao did not find the black Bentley beneath the floor-to-ceiling window, so she took out her phone and called without hesitation.

He was impossible to drive away when she didn’t want him there, yet when she needed him, she had no idea where he had gone.

Men really were utterly unreliable things.

The call connected, and Zhou Lichuan’s excited voice came through from the other end.

“Zaozao! Are you looking for me? What’s wrong?”

Jiang Zao pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed. “Yes. Where are you?”

There was a brief silence on Zhou Lichuan’s end, followed by the sound of a door opening and closing, as though he had just come out of some room.

“I’ve already returned to Capital City. Zaozao, Zhao Luyi went to your home to threaten you. I can’t just let this matter go. I came back to deal with her family’s affairs.”

Looking at the animated character on her tablet, Jiang Zao said, “Zhao Luyi was incited by someone. The person behind her has some connection to the entertainment industry. Sort through your romantic entanglements over the years. If you really can’t think of anyone, keep a close eye on Zhou Kuan.”

Zhou Lichuan’s voice suddenly deepened. “You think it might have been Zhou Kuan?”

Jiang Zao said, “What Zhou Kuan is best at is hiding in the shadows and firing cold arrows, letting others charge ahead. This matter fits his style very well.”

Zhou Lichuan considered it and said, “You’re right. After Lin Rui fled, there were fewer useful people at his side. It’s not impossible that he left some backup arrangements behind back when he was participating in those reality shows in the entertainment industry.”

Leaning back against the sofa, Jiang Zao’s voice carried a trace of fatigue. “Zhou Lichuan, your son kicked me all day. Before that, there had never been any fetal movement at all. Once it started, it never stopped. My waist hurts...”

Even she had not noticed that her tone was gradually softening, dragging out with a nasal lilt full of coquetry.

Zhou Lichuan’s voice grew gentler by two degrees. “Be good, Zaozao. Go lie down on the bed for a while. I’m coming back right now.”

Jiang Zao felt somewhat irritated. “I don’t want to see you. Your son is annoying enough already, and now you’re coming back to be a nuisance too. One more bothersome than the other.”

Zhou Lichuan coaxed her patiently, and from the sound of it, he had already gotten into a car.

“All right, all right, I’m the most annoying one of all. You’ve suffered so much because of me, and it’s all my fault. Eat fewer snacks, and I’ll buy you a late-night meal, okay?”

Jiang Zao tilted her head and thought for a long while.

“I want barbecue. Spicy.”

“All right. I’ll have it sent over right away.”