After the Sang-Style Beauty Married the Disabled Villain [Transmigration] - Chapter 4

Despite the unfamiliar environment, Shen Jiali was able to accurately locate an empty room and tucked himself in for a beautiful thirty-minute nap.

Uncle Li eventually came to collect him, stating it was nearly time to return and prepare dinner. Upon waking, Shen Jiali felt even more exhausted; as he headed downstairs, the ground beneath his feet felt like dough—airy and insubstantial.

Just as he reached the door, he heard someone behind him calling, “Li-li, Li-li!” Turning around, he saw his adoptive father jogging toward him while waving. Uncle Li discreetly stepped aside and closed his eyes to rest his mind.

“Is Li-li leaving already?” The adoptive father asked, catching his breath, his eyes full of reluctance.

Shen Jiali nodded.

“Then… when will you come back next time?” The man asked tentatively.

Shen Jiali originally wanted to save energy by simply saying “I don’t know,” but seeing this middle-aged man running so ungracefully just to catch up with a son who wasn’t even his own, he felt a rare spark of compassion. He took a moment to think and said, “Call me, and I’ll come back.”

The father nodded frantically like a woodpecker, his fingers nervously rubbing together. After a long while, he pulled a bank card from his pocket and handed it over. “Li-li, this is a bit of my private savings. The PIN is written on the back. If there’s anything you want to eat or buy, don’t deprive yourself. If it’s not enough, just ask.”

Shen Jiali didn’t move. He didn’t want to take it; it wasn’t his money.

Thinking his son was just being shy, the father simply stuffed the card into Shen Jiali’s trouser pocket and urged, “If your husband treats you poorly, don’t just endure it. I will definitely! Um… go beg him not to treat you that way.”

Shen Jiali: ? This isn’t quite how I expected this interaction to go.

After saying goodbye, Shen Jiali leaned against the car window with half-closed eyes, the bronzed face of the original owner’s father occasionally popping into his mind. For once, he felt a sliver of curiosity about a stranger.

“Brother! Brother, wait for me!” Just as the car started, a familiar voice rang out from outside. Without looking, he knew exactly who it was.

“Uncle Li, drive fast.”

Uncle Li: “But Young Master Lanqing…”

Shen Jiali: “I owe him money and he’s here to collect a debt. Uncle Li, let’s go.”

Uncle Li silently checked the rearview mirror and stepped on the gas. Shen Lanqing stopped his pace, standing alone amidst the grimy exhaust fumes, his eyes welling with tears.

As the car drove steadily along the main city road, the street scenery blurred into black dots until it vanished.

“Uncle Li,” Shen Jiali spoke suddenly. “What is my adoptive father’s name?” It was the first time he had been curious about someone’s name.

Uncle Li: ? How can someone not know their own father’s name? Oh, wait, this is the arrogant and self-centered Shen Jiali. That explains it.

“Your father’s name is Gong Yuan.”

Shen Jiali was confused. “Why is my surname Shen if his is Gong?”

Uncle Li: “…” How do I explain this? “Because your mother’s surname is Shen.”

Shen Jiali felt a spark of doubt. Although young people today often didn’t care whose surname the child took, twenty-two years ago, the trend was still heavily towards the father’s name.

Thinking back to lunch, the one sitting at the head of the table was the stepmother, and the one hosting guests was the stepmother. That adoptive father seemed to have no say, doing everything while carefully watching her face.

A matrilocal son-in-law? It seemed possible. Shen Jiali thought for a while, felt tired, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

At Nan Liujing’s house.

Uncle Li cleared his throat and opened his black hardbound notebook. “Mr. Shen, today’s dinner menu: Flower Rolls as the staple, Cherry Foie Gras and Stir-fried Broccoli as the main courses, Snakehead Fish Soup, and Papaya Stewed with White Fungus for dessert.”

Shen Jiali closed his eyes. Feigning sleep. I must feign sleep.

Snap! Uncle Li closed the notebook with one hand. “Mr. Shen? Was the menu clear? Do I need to repeat it?”

Shen Jiali didn’t move or make a sound.

“Mr. Shen, feigning sleep is useless. Please ensure dinner is ready before the Master returns. You have two hours.” Uncle Li smiled, his face full of wrinkles.

Since faking sleep didn’t work, Shen Jiali slowly sat up and rubbed his temples. “Sebastian, I have a headache. Can we just order takeout tonight?”

“Mr. Shen, do you need me to call the family doctor for a detailed check-up?”

At the words “detailed check-up,” Shen Jiali was reminded of the painful days spent in the hospital. Defeated, he rose lethargically.

“Uncle Li,” he said softly. “You’ll still be helping with the tasting tonight, right?”

Uncle Li bowed respectfully. “Yes, it is my duty.”

As he spoke, Uncle Li’s gaze sharpened. Wait. Something is wrong.

As Shen Jiali entered the kitchen, Uncle Li pulled out his phone and dialed the family doctor, his voice trembling: “Hello, I need to book a gastroscopy for two hours from now.”

Meanwhile, on Weibo.

Because of a recent crackdown by the authorities, celebrities were being extremely well-behaved, so the trending searches were mostly trivial news. That was until a certain man’s name appeared:

#Shen Jiali Suspected of Infidelity During Marriage#

It started when an entertainment gossip magazine posted a Weibo:

“Our staff received an anonymous chat screenshot. The other party claims to be the person Shen Jiali—the new bride of the Nan family—is having an affair with. Shen Jiali has reportedly sent him a large number of explicit photos. He will release the photos at midnight sharp tonight. See you there! [Smile]”

To grab attention, this magazine often paid high prices for secrets; the number of celebrities who had been ruined by them was at least eighty or a hundred. As soon as they posted, every influencer’s heart skipped a beat.

Seeing that this didn’t involve them, the celebrities breathed a sigh of relief and joined the crowd of onlookers. In the age of entertainment, it wasn’t just actors; the melodramatic events of wealthy families had become common table talk. Especially when the protagonist was the notoriously ill-reputed Shen Jiali.

[Heaven has eyes! SJL finally crashed and burned~] [Why wait until midnight? This office worker is fuming. Don’t be ungrateful—post them now so I can sleep after seeing the drama.] [Nan Liujing deserves it. I used to pity him for being paralyzed so young, but who told you to marry Shen Jiali? Birds of a feather, you know?] [Pity him for what? Neither of them are good people. Look into how Nan Liujing’s mother died.] [Evil person paired with a disabled person—in a way, this CP is quite good to ship, heehee.] [To the person above: are you excited for the annual ‘Evil & Disabled & Homewrecker’ love triangle drama?] [It’s totally normal for SJL to cheat. Who would want to stay with an old, ugly, crippled waste every day? Their marriage is purely business.]

Perhaps because life had been too dull lately, netizens were having a blast. The wealthy family drama climbed from the seventh to the first spot on the trending list.

Shen Jiali was sitting before the cutting board, flour covering his face and head. He was rolling and pinching a lump of white dough, a tutorial book on flower rolls open beside him.

He didn’t understand. Even if you sculpt a lump of dough into a flower, once it’s in your stomach, it just breaks down into glucose anyway. Why go through the extra step of kneading it? Does it turn into diamonds in your belly? The tutorial was a hassle and he couldn’t follow it.

I’ll just pinch it randomly. He stretched the dough, gave it a twist, and tossed it into the steamer.

The doorbell rang. Uncle Li put down his newspaper and went to open it. At the door were the driver and Nan Liujing in his wheelchair.

Nan Liujing was dressed in an ink-blue suit with a shirt as white as snow. His sharp eyes were cold, and his words were even colder:

“Where is Shen Jiali?”

The driver was too terrified to even breathe and fled after a quick goodbye. Seeing the bad atmosphere, Uncle Li tried to save some face for Shen Jiali: “Mr. Shen is in the kitchen preparing dinner. Shall I call him?”

Nan Liujing adjusted his cuffs, his fingers carelessly stroking the gemstone cufflinks. His voice was icy: “Wait until he finishes the dinner. Push me in first.”

Trending searches plus dinner he’d be punished for multiple crimes at once. He wanted to see what Shen Jiali was capable of this time.