After the Divorce, My Wife Is Impossible to Coax - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

During the pregnancy, An Zhaoyu had lived at the An residence. Lu Shen spent most of her time there accompanying her, though she occasionally returned to her own apartment and even more rarely to the Lu family home.

During this period, Lu Shen had mentioned visiting Lu Ming once. Lu Ming never left the Lu residence, so An Zhaoyu would have to go to her. An Zhaoyu was willing, but her parents were worried about her health; they insisted she wait until after the baby was born to pay a formal visit to the Lu family.

There were far too many rumors surrounding Lu Ming, and the Lu family itself did not seem particularly peaceful.

On the day of the engagement ceremony at the An residence, Lu Ming, as expected, did not appear. Lu Shen’s grandfather, Lu Congwen, had seemed less than pleased with An Zhaoyu. His smile was strained, and the way he looked at An Zhaoyu was like looking at a thief who had stolen his family’s treasure.

An Zhaoyu initially thought he was simply too attached to Lu Shen and reluctant to see his granddaughter marry. However, Ye Jinhua didn’t have that look at all. On the contrary, she was beyond satisfied with An Zhaoyu, looking as though she wanted to push Lu Shen directly into An Zhaoyu’s arms.

“Shenshen and Xiaoyu are a good match. Don’t you dare think about using Ming’er to plot against her again!”

While heading to the restroom, An Zhaoyu overheard Ye Jinhua and Lu Congwen arguing in a low voice in the balcony lounge. Ye Jinhua’s tone was uncharacteristically impatient.

“But she is an Omega,” Lu Congwen’s voice was filled with dissatisfaction, though he kept it tempered since they were in the An household.

“So what if she’s an Omega? Don’t think I don’t know you want to trade Shenshen for those business deals of yours. She’s married to Xiaoyu now. If you ever try to make her see those shady people again…” Ye Jinhua let out a cold laugh. “Go ask the He family and the An family if they’ll allow it.”

Hearing their quarrel, An Zhaoyu began to understand. All the major families in S City were more or less connected to Lu Shen. Now that Lu Shen was married into the An family, it would inevitably affect her relationships with the other clans. Lu Congwen was a businessman who wanted to use Lu Shen as leverage to achieve his commercial goals. After all, medical talent was an abstract thing—hard cash in hand was far more reliable.

She was right. Whether it was Lin Kezhi of the He family, Wei Ruicheng of the Wei family, or Wen Xuan of the Wen family—they all sought out Lu Shen. In Lu Congwen’s mind, Lu Shen was a sparkling gold mine. As long as she was there, people would beat a path to the Lu family’s door, and business would never be an issue.

He had turned a blind eye while Ye Jinhua set Lu Shen up on blind dates because as long as Lu Shen was unmarried, he could keep those interested parties hooked. Many Alphas who had met Lu Shen on those dates liked her; quite a few had approached him privately to propose marriage, widening his business network further.

Now, with Lu Shen married to An Zhaoyu—an Omega with an Alpha brother—Lu Congwen feared she wouldn’t even get a share of the An family estate, making his “gold mine” less profitable.

No wonder Lu Congwen hadn’t shown up when they discussed the marriage; he was likely unwilling. An Zhaoyu thought then that the Lu family was far more complex than outsiders guessed. Even her parents noticed that Lu Shen’s grandparents didn’t seem to get along; after returning from the balcony, Ye Jinhua didn’t go near Lu Congwen again.

Consequently, they were very uneasy about her visiting the Lu household.

An Zhaoyu planned to take the baby and Lu Shen back to the Lu family for a visit in the coming days when they had time. For now, the two lived in an apartment in the bustling city center. An Zhaoyu liked the excitement, and the place was close to the An residence, making it easy to look after one another.

After work, they had to pick up their daughter from her parents, as they couldn’t bring the baby to work. Having regained her driver’s license from her parents, An Zhaoyu took the wheel. Lu Shen sat in the passenger seat with her eyes closed, resting. Most of the time they spent together was like this: quiet and sparse with words. Lu Shen only spoke or acted when necessary.

Despite the lack of details regarding the Lu family’s situation, An Changguo and He Nanchun trusted Lu Shen implicitly. It seemed that as long as she was present, An Zhaoyu and the baby were perfectly safe.

Lu Shen was a strange person. She was taciturn and often expressionless, yet the lively An Zhaoyu never felt bored around her. Perhaps it was because of her beauty.

In the rearview mirror, Lu Shen’s long, dark eyelashes fluttered slightly. Her cool, pale skin was as bright and clear as the moon, complemented by a high bridge of the nose and vivid, delicate thin lips. It was hard to get tired of looking at that face. At least, that’s what An Zhaoyu thought. Lu Shen hit every one of her aesthetic preferences.

That was likely what had sparked her initial attraction.

Light music flowed through the confined space like a lullaby. An Zhaoyu’s personal playlist was usually full of high-energy rock; this CD of pure instrumental music only played when Lu Shen was in the car.

As they passed a public tennis court, An Zhaoyu thought she heard a child crying. Recently, thanks to the baby, she had become hypersensitive to such sounds and wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating. She turned off the music, and Lu Shen opened her eyes at the same time.

“Did you hear that too?”

“Over there,” Lu Shen pointed toward the front side.

An Zhaoyu rolled down the window and followed the sound, pulling over near the lawn at the southwest corner of the tennis court. It wasn’t a child, but a small black-and-white stray kitten. Its head was stuck in the gaps of the wire fence. It was using all its limbs to try and scramble free, letting out pathetic, high-pitched cries that sounded remarkably like a baby.

The two got out to investigate. Compared to their usual search and rescue missions, saving this little creature wasn’t much of a challenge, but the kitten’s struggle was pitiful. It was so small, looking as if it had only recently been weaned.

“Its head is stuck,” Lu Shen knelt. Her slender arms reached through the fence to stabilize the kitten’s body, preventing it from frantic movements that might cause the wire to cut its skin. It was clear the cat had tried to take a “shortcut” through the fence and ended up in a predicament. The kitten was not cooperative, still struggling desperately against the helping hands.

“I’ll go get a pair of pliers,” An Zhaoyu said. Her gaze fell on the hem of Lu Shen’s sheer skirt touching the ground as she knelt.

The doctor was a bit of a clean freak; she took three baths a day in the summer, and her clothes had to be spotless. An Zhaoyu often saw other doctors with ink or smudge marks on their white coats, but she had never seen a single speck on Lu Shen’s.

“Meow!” The kitten wailed louder. In its fright, its claws snagged a few threads of cotton from the sleeve of Lu Shen’s white knit top.

Lu Shen continued her efforts to hold it still. In the peak of midsummer, the evening sun was still harsh. A faint flush of heat appeared on her pale face and spread down to her snowy neck.

I’ll have to apply some after-sun cream on her later, was the first thought that popped into An Zhaoyu’s head as she returned with the pliers, completely ignoring the beads of sweat on her own chin.

The pliers were hard and difficult to fit into the gap. The kitten’s cries and struggles intensified, making it nearly impossible for Lu Shen to hold.

“Should I hold it?”

“No need.”

An Omega and a Beta—they had never reached a consensus on who was stronger. An Zhaoyu felt Lu Shen was too soft; Lu Shen felt An Zhaoyu was too delicate.

“Then I’m cutting it,” An Zhaoyu said. She gently pulled the kitten’s head outward so the narrowest part of the neck was in the gap, making room for the tool.

With a snip, the wire was cut. The kitten didn’t hesitate; it kicked off with its legs and vanished into the bushes. In that split second, its claws raked across the back of Lu Shen’s hand. Beads of bright red blood seeped from the scratches.

The vivid blood made her skin look even whiter, while the pale skin made the blood appear more striking. An Zhaoyu grabbed her wrist before she could even ask if it hurt.

“I’ll just get a vaccine later,” Lu Shen said, quickly withdrawing her hand. She gave the wound only a cursory glance.

She didn’t say if it hurt, nor did she frown. She simply turned her back to the Captain, as if An Zhaoyu were something she needed to guard against more than the injury itself.

An Zhaoyu looked back at the grass. The startled kitten was hiding in the thicket, its green eyes staring at them warily, full of hostility.

Hmph. Ungrateful little thing.

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