Four Years Ago, Her Husband Cheated on Her Body - Chapter 2

When they first met Jia Qiao, no one anticipated that things would become so complicated.

They remembered the day of the incident. Jia Qiao was notified to come to the precinct police station to confirm the surveillance footage.

It was a cold, rainy night. The young man was wearing only a thin white shirt, his hair was soaked with rain, and several bloodstains marked his pale ankles, scratched by something unknown, suggesting he had rushed over in haste.

Yet, his beautiful face was extremely indifferent. He watched quietly as the car on the screen plunged off the cliff. Throughout the entire process, his eyelashes never even trembled, as if the person inside had nothing to do with him.

“That’s right, the person in the car is my husband.”

“Two hours ago, he sent me a real-time photo. It should be the entrance of this winding mountain road.”

Jia Qiao stated the facts calmly, every word clear. Before leaving, he even left a cake for everyone to share.

Only then did the crowd realize that day was his 20th birthday.

Not long after, as if it had been planned all along, Jia Qiao quickly moved out of the marital home he shared with Zhu Nanyu and simultaneously took over the company Zhu Nanyu founded, becoming the acting chairman.

This series of actions was too suspicious, and the police had no choice but to list Jia Qiao as a suspect.

—They had been married for only half a year when Zhu Nanyu met with the accident, and he ‘coincidentally’ left a will designating Jia Qiao as the sole inheritor of all his assets.

The surveillance footage showed Zhu Nanyu driving smoothly past the most rugged part of the mountain road, yet, immediately after sending a message to Jia Qiao, he lost control and plunged off the cliff—even Detective Conan wouldn’t dare to write a plot this dramatic.

However, after several rounds of in-depth investigation, the police ruled out Jia Qiao as a suspect.

He had no time to commit the crime and lacked any motive.

The investigation revealed that Zhu Nanyu had not undergone prenuptial asset notarization; all his wealth belonged to their shared marital property. Furthermore, the will had been handed over to a lawyer on the very day they registered their marriage.

Whether alive or deceased, Zhu Nanyu had made comprehensive provisions for his wife.

“For me, a living Zhu Nanyu is far more valuable,” Jia Qiao exhibited a near-clinical rationality during the lie detector test. “I had no reason to go to such lengths to kill him.”

Ultimately, the incident was closed as an accident.

The Search and Legal Presumption

Although the investigation was over, the search and rescue efforts continued.

Strangely, the police deployed five search and rescue teams one after another, conducting a blanket search of the mountain road near the site where Zhu Nanyu plunged. However, they only found a portion of the vehicle’s wreckage.

The entire search process lasted for two months, yet not a single trace of Zhu Nanyu’s blood was found. The local villagers even turned the incident into a spooky legend, spreading rumors that the mountain road “devoured people without spitting out bones.”

According to the law, a citizen who goes missing due to an accident and whose whereabouts are unknown for more than two years will be presumed dead.

Judging from the car’s speed when it went off the cliff and the height of the cliff, the possibility of Zhu Nanyu’s survival was infinitely close to zero.

When the prescribed time limit arrived, Officer Zhang visited Jia Qiao for the first time to persuade him to go through the procedure for cancelling the household registration death certification.

“Where is the evidence?” Jia Qiao’s tone was gentle, yet offered no room for negotiation. “Show me the evidence that Zhu Nanyu is dead, and I will immediately process the cancellation.”

“…” Officer Zhang was speechless.

He had seen too many surviving spouses who refused to accept the death of their partner—some were heartbroken and wished to die with them, while others were erratic, attempting to connect with the deceased through psychics.

Jia Qiao was different from them. He lived a normal life, worked normally, and had scrubbed away the traces of Zhu Nanyu from his life.

Yet, every time the subject of processing Zhu Nanyu’s death certificate was raised, a subtle resistance would leak from his eyes.

On that rainy night, the one who plunged off the cliff was Zhu Nanyu, but the one who was buried alive was Jia Qiao.

Pressure to Certify Death

“Based on my understanding, you are the sole designated heir to Mr. Zhu Nanyu’s estate. As long as you follow the procedure for the household cancellation, all the assets under Mr. Zhu’s name will be yours,” Chen Caicai, having picked up some experience over the past few days, tried her best to persuade Jia Qiao in the living room.

“Besides, if you don’t cancel the registration, you won’t be able to change your marital status, and it will affect your next marriage!”

Jia Qiao paused the hand that was raising the teacup and instructed, “Lumin, please bring a few more plates of snacks for Officer Chen.”

“Oh? No, no need! You’re too kind!” Chen Caicai was overwhelmed, thinking Jia Qiao was thanking her. She quickly waved her hands, “It’s all part of my job! If you don’t change your marital status to widowed, your next marriage will be treated as bigamy!”

Upon hearing this, Officer Zhang felt a bit dead inside, thinking about the caliber of the foolish apprentice he had brought with him.

Was bringing snacks an act of praise? It was clearly meant to shut your little mouth!

You’re only saying what people don’t want to hear!!!

After investigating both Jia Qiao and Zhu Nanyu separately, Officer Zhang had long understood the situation.

Having been married to a man like Zhu Nanyu, how could Jia Qiao ever tolerate anyone else in his life?

Lumin quickly returned from the kitchen with pastries and fruit—clearly high-end items that Chen Caicai couldn’t afford to enjoy freely with her salary. The sight made her swallow, yet she was too embarrassed to act like a starving person in someone else’s home.

Just as her appetite and reason were battling in her mind, Lumin gently tapped her shoulder and held up a coil-bound notebook:

‘These were all gifts. My master doesn’t like to eat them. Please enjoy yourself.’

“Really? Then I’m starting!” Chen Caicai picked up a salted egg yolk pastry from the table and stuffed it into her mouth, stealing a glance at Jia Qiao, who indeed looked like someone who didn’t partake in earthly food.

A noble person like Jia Qiao must be very disciplined in private. It was hard to imagine him eating such high-sugar, high-fat ‘junk food’.

Seeing Chen Caicai completely surrender to the temptation of food, Officer Zhang had no choice but to step forward himself.

“Jia Qiao, we’ve dealt with each other for two years now. I’m going to be transferred after Little Chen gets settled into her work.”

Jia Qiao’s lips curved into an arc, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Congratulations on your promotion, Officer Zhang.”

“Thank you.” Officer Zhang scratched his head, starting to play the emotional card. “You know, if you don’t apply for the cancellation, the household registration office can’t process it. My subsequent work… will be very difficult to hand over. I don’t mind how long I spend with you, but don’t affect a young person’s future.”

Jia Qiao picked up his teacup, took a light sip, and looked back at them, a fleeting flicker of emotion passing through his eyes.

“If he returns after the cancellation, how will that be handled?”

Chen Caicai happened to know this bit of knowledge. She swallowed the salted egg yolk pastry and quickly answered, “Generally speaking, cases of missing persons returning home after their household registration has been cancelled are rare. If it happens, they first need to process the restoration of their household registration and then have the property that was held in trust during their disappearance period fully returned to them.”

Jia Qiao waited patiently for her to finish and then asked, “What about the marital status?”

“Huh?” Chen Caicai hit a knowledge blind spot and looked at Officer Zhang for help.

“That can’t be helped. The marital status is automatically dissolved,” Officer Zhang sighed, answering for her. “Some people go missing for too long, and when they return, their partner has already remarried. Even if they haven’t remarried, the law doesn’t recognize the original marriage; a new marriage certificate needs to be obtained.”

“I see.”

Jia Qiao understood.

Once the household registration was cancelled, he alone would be completely cut off.

“I will process it before the deadline.”

Sickness and Memories

Late at night, the private doctor employed by the Zhu family, Zhou Chuanbai, rushed over.

Lumin had already taken Jia Qiao’s temperature: 38.2

“The fever isn’t too high. Take this dose of medicine first, then take your temperature every two hours. If the fever hasn’t subsided by tomorrow morning, we can try a fever-reducing injection.”

Zhou Chuanbai quickly retrieved the most effective fever medicine for Jia Qiao from his enormous medical bag; his movements so practiced it was heartbreaking.

“Cough, cough, cough.”

Jia Qiao was half-sitting, half-leaning against the bed, breath faint, each cough accompanied by a resonance in his chest, sounding as if he could cough up blood the next second.

“Dr. Zhou, thank you for coming all this way.”

To prevent his ‘professional skill’ from threatening the real world, Jia Qiao’s physical constitution was much weaker than the average person, and his symptoms were more severe when he fell ill.

The worst part was that Jia Qiao once had a strong resistance to toxins, which caused the efficacy of real-world medicines to be minimal.

“If you’re uncomfortable, talk less.” Zhou Chuanbai opened Jia Qiao’s medical record, finding that it had been less than ten days since his last visit, and couldn’t help but complain, “You know you catch colds easily when you get cold, can’t you be a little more careful?!”

Zhou Chuanbai had been the family doctor for the Zhu family for over ten years and had a good personal relationship with Zhu Nanyu, so he couldn’t control his resentment when he saw Jia Qiao sick.

—Because the Jia Qiao he had seen before was meticulously cared for by Zhu Nanyu.

The house would be warmly heated the moment the weather turned slightly chilly, and Zhu Nanyu would cover Jia Qiao up several times a night when he kicked off the blanket.

In the two years he was with Zhu Nanyu, even though Jia Qiao was physically frail, he rarely fell ill.

The person his deceased friend cherished and protected now treated himself so poorly.

How could Zhou Chuanbai not be angry?!

Jia Qiao lowered his eyes. “My apologies.”

After taking the medicine, Dr. Zhou advised him to rest well.

Jia Qiao nestled under the covers. His head felt heavy and confused. He didn’t know if the cold medicine was working or if the fever had worsened, but he tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

More than the suffering, the sickness brought tormenting memories.

The winter of his 19th year, A City had a big snowstorm.

Waking up in the morning, the entire city was covered in snow, a landscape of silver and white as far as the eye could see.

The space Jia Qiao originally came from had no seasonal changes. Seeing snow for the first time, he was as excited as someone from the South, insisting on rushing out to have a close encounter with nature.

He played in the snow until he lost track of time—making footprints, rolling snowballs, building a snowman…

But before nightfall, Jia Qiao’s body started to heat up, and the medicine did nothing to alleviate it.

Zhu Nanyu held him tightly in his arms, acting as a natural warm furnace, using ice towels for physical cooling. They wrestled with the fever until midnight, but there were no signs of it breaking.

“Jia Qiao, look at me.” Zhu Nanyu gently rubbed Jia Qiao’s exposed hair, calling him softly.

—Once, when Jia Qiao was busy playing a game, Zhu Nanyu tried to ‘compete for attention,’ calling his full name dozens of times. He realized that ‘Jia qiao’ when spoken quickly, sounded like ‘Jiao’ meaning ‘delicate’ or ‘darling’.

Since then, he privately always called him ‘Jia Qiao’ (Darling), and Jia Qiao’s numerous protests were in vain.

“Hmm?” Jia Qiao sniffled uncomfortably, poking his fluffy head out from under the quilt. He struggled to open his eyes and looked at Zhu Nanyu.

The high fever made his cheeks flushed, and his eyes were foggy with moisture, making him look even cuter and easier to bully than usual.

Zhu Nanyu reached out to touch Jia Qiao’s scalding face, leaned in, and lightly pecked his full lower lip.

“Jia Qiao, open your mouth.” Zhu Nanyu’s voice was deep, carrying a hint of seduction.

Jia Qiao was fever-addled, his body reacting faster than his mind, and he cooperatively opened his mouth.

Zhu Nanyu immediately kissed him deeply, a minty fragrance gently invading his lips and teeth, making Jia Qiao softly whimper, almost unable to breathe.

“Mm-mm…” Jia Qiao weakly pushed him away, his face turning redder. He lightly thumped Zhu Nanyu’s shoulder. “Are you going to have a go while I’m hot? I’m sick right now…”

“Do you think I’m that much of a beast?” Zhu Nanyu chuckled softly, rubbing his chin against the crown of Jia Qiao’s head. “I heard that if you pass a cold virus to someone else, you’ll get better quickly.”

“Really?” It took Jia Qiao only 0.1 second to accept this completely unscientific assertion. He lifted his hot face and actively leaned in. “Then kiss me again.”

—He remembers now. Every time he had a cold before, he would deliberately pass the virus to Zhu Nanyu.

Now, there was no one left to fall sick for him.

Jia Qiao wrapped his chilled body in the cotton quilt, murmuring softly:

“The fever probably won’t break.”