Four Years Ago, Her Husband Cheated on Her Body - Chapter 45.1

A strange ceiling.

Jia Qiao blinked slowly and pulled away the blanket covering his body.

The clothes he wore yesterday had been changed.

According to the classic tropes of novels or television dramas, this should be proof that “something happened.”

What was it called… a drunken mistake?

Jia Qiao lifted the blanket and sat up, checking his body. It did, indeed, hurt a bit.

Mainly a headache.

If it were truly a drunken mistake, one shouldn’t need to use their head, right?

And—

He lifted his eyes to observe the room.

This was a hotel.

“Then it must be…” Jia Qiao murmured softly, already having reached a conclusion.

Zhu Nanyu, that fake-serious guy, quite disliked hotels, even those with large floor-to-ceiling windows or various themed love hotels.

There were several times when, even after being flirted with intensely, he would rather stay in a narrow car than go to a hotel to get a room. Heaven knows why.

He couldn’t have been secretly filmed in a hotel before, could he?

While Jia Qiao was grumbling to himself, he heard a “beep-beep” sound, and the room door swiped open from the outside.

“Morning. I figured you’d be waking up about now, so I bought breakfast and came back.” Zhu Nanyu took off his mask. There was a hint of exhaustion under his eyes; it seemed he hadn’t slept well last night.

Strange.

Since nothing happened, why does he look so haggard?

“Did you not sleep last night?” Jia Qiao didn’t care for subtle hints and asked his question directly.

“I slept for about two hours.” Zhu Nanyu opened the porridge bowl and tucked a spoon into Jia Qiao’s hand, asking as if casually, “How much of last night do you remember?”

“If you said something I must remember, you’d better repeat it,” Jia Qiao stirred the porridge and replied righteously. “I have amnesia.”

Zhu Nanyu’s suspended heart died for a moment.

To think he was worried that Jia Qiao, once sober, would continue the topic from last night.

“Jiao jiao, that isn’t called amnesia,” Zhu Nanyu massaged his forehead. “That’s called a blackout.”

Jia Qiao bit the spoon and repeated blankly, “Blackout?”

“Don’t drink anymore in the future.” Zhu Nanyu held back the second half of the sentence: Your alcohol tolerance is too low!

Jia Qiao didn’t really care; he preferred cola to champagne anyway, so he gave a casual “Oh.”

The porridge was a bit hot, and Jia Qiao drank it very slowly.

Halfway through, Zhu Nanyu leaned over to sit on the edge of the bed and leaned closer.

Jia Qiao put down the spoon and tilted his face up cooperatively.

Zhu Nanyu rubbed his hair, pressed his forehead against Jia Qiao’s, and felt for a moment.

“That’s good.” Zhu Nanyu breathed a visible sigh of relief. “Your body temperature was a bit high last night. I helped you wipe down your body for physical cooling. It seems it was just the alcohol and not a cold.”

“Eh?” Jia Qiao had no memory of that at all.

He didn’t know if he was so used to being touched that he didn’t notice, or if it was buried in the memories of the blackout.

Compared to that kind of thing… he poked the porridge in the bowl gloomily with his spoon.

Zhu Nanyu was leaning so close; he thought he was going to give him a morning kiss like they had when they first got married.

Are humans such fickle animals?

“Jiao jiao, your disappointment is too obvious.” Zhu Nanyu sighed softly and leaned in again, cupping his face and giving him a light peck on the corner of his lips.

“Is it over?” Jia Qiao opened his eyes to look at him. “Just that?”

“This is a hotel.”

“So what?”

“Today is New Year’s Day, the first day of the New Year. We can’t spend it in a place like this, can we?” Zhu Nanyu took the spoon from his hand, scooped up some hot porridge, blew it cool, and fed it to Jia Qiao’s mouth. “Be good. After eating, let’s go on a date.”

“You’re so annoying. I’m not going to crowded places.” Jia Qiao cooperatively opened his mouth and sped up to finish the remaining half bowl of porridge.

After breakfast, the hotel staff delivered two sets of clothes. It looked like Zhu Nanyu had asked someone to buy them.

His own set was very ordinary—a plain basic jacket and sweatpants.

The set for Jia Qiao looked exceptionally thick: a short down jacket paired with a sweater and a shirt inside, plus a warm cashmere scarf.

Once the inner layers were on, Zhu Nanyu picked up the ribbon Jia Qiao usually used to tie his hair. He looped it around the shirt collar and tied a bow—the kind that goes with a sailor suit—and a high-quality demantoid garnet hung perfectly at his chest.

Jia Qiao looked down. “What about my hair?”

Zhu Nanyu went behind him, carefully smoothing the long hair with his hands, and leaned close to his ear to ask, “It looks very good like this. Let’s leave it down today, okay?”

“…” Why talk such nonsense? The ribbon for tying his hair had been used, and Jia Qiao hadn’t brought a spare, so he could only leave his long hair down.

He looked at the bow at his collar again and, for the first time, regretted having long hair.

According to Zhu Nanyu’s quirks, he would definitely find more uses for it in the future, like tying his wrists or…

No.

The wrists were the limit.

Jia Qiao made a secret decision.

“Jiao jiao, what are you thinking about?” Zhu Nanyu reached out and lightly brushed his cheek. “Your face is all red. Are you that excited for today’s date?”

“Oh right, we still have a date.” Jia Qiao murmured softly, sounding not very excited at all.

It was no wonder he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Zhu Nanyu was a lunatic who insisted on a sense of ritual and was romantic to the core. There were no pink-bubble-filled dating methods he couldn’t think of.

Since they had been together, from cruises and sunrises to private islands, Jia Qiao had long since grown tired of them.

To him, a date was nothing more than two people changing locations to cling to each other.

If that was the case, staying in a hotel was no different, so why go to all the trouble of traveling so far and for so long?

In comparison, he would rather Zhu Nanyu stay at home and play games with him.

If Zhu Nanyu’s romantic cells numbered a million, then Jia Qiao’s must be negative one million. The two of them canceled each other out, which was why dates ended up feeling unromantic.

“Let’s go.” Jia Qiao didn’t hold any expectations and called to Zhu Nanyu coldly.

Despite getting such a reaction to his meticulously planned date, Zhu Nanyu wasn’t annoyed at all. He followed behind and adjusted Jia Qiao’s scarf.

On the first day of the New Year, the temperature outside was quite low.

However, because it was a holiday, the people coming and going were very spirited, and many couples had arranged to meet today.

Jia Qiao stood under the sign outside the hotel, waiting for Zhu Nanyu to finish the checkout procedures. Several pairs of young couples walked past, hand in hand, their faces radiating happiness.

“What are we going to do next?”

“I don’t know. I just want to spend the whole day with you.”

“Me too! As long as I’m with you, I’m happy doing anything, even just wandering around the mall and spacing out.”

“Hahaha, please take care of me this year as well.”

“…”

They walked away laughing, hand in hand, leaving Jia Qiao lost in thought.

Is that what normal couples are like when they date?

What matters is not what you do, but who you are with.

“Hmm…” Jia Qiao sank into thought.

Previously, his focus had been on “what to do.” Because everything felt boring, he felt that dating Zhu Nanyu was also very boring.

But if Zhu Nanyu was by his side, even playing boring games was interesting.

Therefore—

“Jiao jiao.”

Zhu Nanyu’s voice came over, interrupting his thoughts.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?” Jia Qiao asked.

Zhu Nanyu was stunned for a moment, then laughed. “I thought you wouldn’t ask, considering you looked like it didn’t matter where we went.”

“Because there really is no difference,” Jia Qiao said, then immediately added, “I don’t mean that I hate dating you.”

“I know.” Zhu Nanyu’s smile deepened. “Don’t worry, I’ve never misunderstood that point.”

So, even if Jia Qiao reacted coldly to the date plans he prepared, Zhu Nanyu never felt heartbroken or sad.

It was just that he hadn’t catered to his preferences and had chosen the wrong plan.

Jia Qiao hated trouble so much, yet he tirelessly cooperated with him.

My wife is so good.

“So, should we go see a movie? Or go to an amusement park?”

“The pace of movies is too slow; you can’t double the speed. You’d get sleepy after watching for a while, wouldn’t you? An amusement park is even worse. You’d complain about the safety bar being in the way on the roller coaster and almost make the staff cry from fear.” Zhu Nanyu summarized calmly, “I won’t take you there again.”

“…” Jia Qiao felt a pang of guilt.

Hearing him recount the details, Jia Qiao realized he was a killjoy lover.

He made a secret decision: no matter how boring the place Zhu Nanyu took him today, he would act a little more interested.

It was just acting, right?

Zhu Nanyu observed his expression and easily guessed Jia Qiao’s thoughts.

He still remembered when they first got together; Jia Qiao, for some reason, was confident that his acting skills were excellent and seriously played the part of a “fragile and soft canary.”

The fragile part, due to innate advantages, was indeed very accurate, but the “soft canary” part…

There was no soft canary who looked cold and world-weary and thought “what a hassle” when given an opportunity to make money.

” Jiao jiao, I don’t know what stimulated you, but there’s no need to deliberately cater to me.” Zhu Nanyu slowed down a few steps to keep the same pace as Jia Qiao. “A date should be something that both people enjoy.”

Hearing him say that, Jia Qiao directly stated his truest inner thought: “But it’s such a hassle.”

“Today is different.” Zhu Nanyu was mysteriously confident. “You’ll like the place we’re going.”

—I don’t have a place I like at all.

Jia Qiao really wanted to throw cold water on him, but seeing how serious Zhu Nanyu was, he held his tongue.

Forget it.

He didn’t know if it would be a private jet or a sea-view villa today; he’d just force himself to like it.

The two of them sat in the car with their own thoughts. Zhu Nanyu gave an address that was the polar opposite of where Jia Qiao currently lived—both being equally remote.

Although he rarely went out, Jia Qiao had stayed in A City for a long time after all and knew the general terrain.

The place Zhu Nanyu was going had no villa districts, no large amusement parks, and certainly no sea.

Could it be that this person had finally grown tired of traditional romantic tricks and planned to play wilderness survival with Jia Qiao?

Wilderness survival was actually quite interesting, but there was no need to choose the dead of winter, right?

Even if they successfully survived, they would catch a cold from being outside and be “assassinated” by Dr. Zhou.

“Don’t be anxious, we’re almost there.” Zhu Nanyu coaxed him verbally while flexing his hands to make his knuckles more agile.

Jia Qiao noticed his actions and found it even more inexplicable.

Previously, Zhu Nanyu had mentioned that his bodily functions were not affected, so he shouldn’t need special rehabilitation.

Suddenly starting to move his fingers—what was his intention?

After a while, the car slowly stopped.

Jia Qiao pushed the door open and got out, seeing a directional sign nearby:

A City Outdoor Shooting Range, 50 meters ahead.

“Outdoor shooting range?” Jia Qiao repeated the words on the sign.