The wealthy military officer spoils his wife excessively

Lu Zheng's scarf was still wrapped around her face, and he exhaled large puffs of white breath that condensed into fine frost, making the edges of the scarf fluffy. This made her feel somewhat dazed, just like that winter night when all she could hear was the soft rustling of her own footsteps in the snow.

Seeing that she kept rubbing her hands, Lu Zheng put her hands into his coat pockets and wrapped them up.

Suwen felt a warmth in her heart. She was finally not alone anymore. Whether it was the person beside her or the baby in her belly.

She must not have told him what she wished for. She hoped—

All three of them are doing well.

There were still some small handheld fireworks left in the bag. Suwen sat in the back seat of the car, stretched her hand out the window, and lit the sparks in her hand, like the magic wand of a fairy when she was a child. The white light at the top was like a little star held in her hand, illuminating a small circle of light.

Suwen happily said to herself, "I remember when I was a child, we used to set off these things during the Chinese New Year. Back then, we called them fairy wands. They were so pretty. Holding one made you feel like you really became a fairy."

There was no sound in the carriage. After a while, Suwen realized that he had fallen asleep.

He was probably exhausted, working overtime day and night, and even came out to see her on New Year's Eve. After getting in the car, Suwen wanted to set off all the remaining fireworks, but he said he was tired and lay down on the back seat for a while, and unexpectedly fell asleep.

He took off his coat and covered himself with it, the fur collar pulling it all over, obscuring most of his face. At first glance, Suwen didn't even realize he was asleep. His thick eyelashes fell down, making him look like a child. He was sleeping restlessly, his eyes still moving slightly, as if he were dreaming.

Suwen felt that he seemed to have lost weight recently; his facial bones were showing, and he was even thinner than her. Or perhaps she had gained weight because she had been living a pampered life and hadn't had to do anything?

Suwen extinguished her cigarette, removed his prickly fur collar, took off her own scarf, and rewrap it around his neck. The car's overhead light and air conditioning were on, and the engine hummed softly. She warmed her hands in the crook of her neck before slowly placing them on his face. His long, slanted eyebrows, his high, straight nose, his warm, soft lips—she carefully and meticulously stroked each inch of his face. Suddenly, she felt that this moment was such a luxury, and to have him was truly a luxury.

When the index finger touched his lips, he suddenly opened his eyes.

Suwen felt a little embarrassed, as if she had taken advantage of him while he was asleep.

“You fell asleep…” she explained somewhat hesitantly, “I was afraid you’d get cold…”

He slowly sat up. She instinctively pulled her hand away because he was too close, but he took her hand in his, slowly removed the scarf covering his face, and then kissed her lips.

His lips were burning hot, and Suwen felt as if her blood had frozen for a moment. It wasn't that she hadn't been kissed by him before, but this kiss today felt like her heart was breaking. His kiss was light, slow, and weak.

After a long while, she pushed him away and said, "Now that you're awake, go drive."

He didn't move, he just looked at her and said, "Susu, if I have nothing left, will you still love me?"

Suwen was stunned. Completely penniless? How could that be?

She was still wondering why he seemed so preoccupied tonight when Lu Zheng had already regained his composure and laughed, "I was just kidding. Look at you, did you scare me?"

He put on his coat, opened the car door, walked to the driver's seat, and turned his back to her: "It's cold outside, so just lie down in the back for a while and don't get out."

Suwen's hand, which was reaching for the car door, stopped halfway.

"By the way, what did you tell your aunt? You came out to buy something? It's been so long, I bet you'll have to tell her when you get back that the convenience store downstairs was closed, so you took a taxi and came all the way to the city center to buy it?"

He chatted and laughed as he started the car. Su Wen felt something was off and couldn't help but call out, "Lu Zheng..."

"If you're sleepy, take a nap. We'll be there soon."

She sat blankly in the back of the car, only able to see his back, but the image of his face when he was fast asleep was imprinted in her mind—handsome, yet looking tired. She suddenly wanted to reach out and touch his shoulder, but she managed to restrain herself despite her strong will.

She loves him.

Three years ago, standing in the hospital corridor, looking at him, severely injured and unconscious, through the thick glass, her heart ached. At that moment, she knew in her heart that she loved this man, even though she knew there was a world of difference between them. This love had been sown, but it would never blossom. Their relationship was destined to be nothing more than a fleeting, beautiful dream; to continue loving him would have been a fervent, irrational choice.

If he had nothing, would there be no obstacles between them, and would they be able to be together smoothly?

No, she couldn't imagine Lu Zheng stripped of his glory and left with nothing. Did she expect him to be like her, crammed into a dark, gloomy old office building, with no hot water in winter and frequent power outages in summer…? She simply couldn't bear to think about it. Sooner or later, they would become a miserable couple, like in countless family dramas, constantly arguing over trivial matters. Most ordinary families end up like this. Nie Suwen had even witnessed a divorcing couple fighting over a thermos outside the Civil Affairs Bureau.

With past affections severed and money gone, all sorts of worldly problems await them. Poverty-stricken couples face a hundred sorrows; even love cannot sustain them on mere sustenance.

Identity can be an obstacle. But identity can also pave a convenient path for them.

She shouldn't have fantasized about making him lose everything; she only wanted to be better, to become a woman worthy of him. Then, when spring arrives, she will hold their child, bringing new hope.

After New Year's Eve, Nie Suwen obediently returned to the hospital. Office workers ended their short holiday, and the new year brought even more busyness.

Assistant Xu brought over the coffee and then nervously withdrew.

Normally, it's always Young Master Xiao who comes here to freeload coffee with a laugh, but today, it was Young Master Lu who had a stern face and had to invite him over three times before finally getting him to come.

The office door closed, and the two men, separated by the steam from their coffee, seemed to understand each other implicitly.

"I had people call you countless times during the Chinese New Year holiday, why didn't you answer?"

Xiao Rong was still as spineless as ever, leaning back on the sofa, taking a sip of his coffee. Perhaps it was too hot, because he frowned slightly: "Beijing is too cold. I'm going to the Maldives for Chinese New Year this year. It's inconvenient to use my phone abroad, so I turned it off."

A high-sounding excuse.

For people like them, traveling abroad for business is commonplace, so how could they say that mobile phone communication is inconvenient?

Lu Zheng didn't mince words with him and slammed the photo Lu Wenyi had given him onto the table: "What's going on here? Why didn't you tell me?"

Xiao Rong glanced at him with his narrow, almond-shaped eyes, his brows furrowing slightly, but only for a moment before his expression quickly relaxed. He casually flipped through the photos, saying as he looked, "The atmosphere is so low this morning, so it's because of this—I don't consider it a trivial matter. Since it's already resolved, I didn't even inform you."

"A trivial matter? That person is dead, a human life, and you think that's a trivial matter!" Lu Zheng grabbed his collar, his eyes filled with furious flames.

With a splash, he swept the coffee onto the floor, spilling it messily onto the carpet.

Xiao Rong didn't seem surprised by his action, but was frightened by his expression.

"Do you know that murder is punishable by death?! If we hadn't known each other for over twenty years, I wouldn't believe you did this!"

Xiao Rong's face was dark and ugly.

He remained silent, but Lu Zheng held him by the collar and wouldn't let go, and the two faced off in silence.

Xiao Rong suddenly chuckled: "What, you still consider me a brother? Is this how brothers treat me?"

His gaze drifted downwards, landing on Lu Zheng's hand gripping his collar.

Both men came from military families and had learned martial arts from their bodyguards since childhood. In a real fight, neither could gain the upper hand. Xiao Rong was clearly letting him win and refused to make a move, which gave Xiao Rong the upper hand.

Lu Zheng's expression was also not very good.

Xiao Rong clenched her fist and said slowly, "I drank too much that day and asked my driver, Xiao Quan, to drive the car back for me. Who knew that Xiao Quan was also drunk that day, which led to that incident. Afterwards, I sent someone to look for Xiao Quan, but as you know, it was a hit-and-run, and they still haven't found him. But don't worry about the victim's family, I've already had my secretary handle it. They'll get whatever they want. After all, it's a human life, and I've done everything I can to satisfy them. The family thinks the compensation is reasonable and they're not pursuing it any further."

Lu Zheng was a little suspicious: "Did you tell the traffic police about this?"

"If the problem isn't resolved, won't the traffic police come looking for you with the license plate? It's the Lunar New Year, and the traffic police also want to have a good holiday. They mediated a bit, and the family was quite reasonable. They didn't intend to make a big fuss, and they were happy with the reasonable compensation."

After speaking, the two remained silent for a while. Finally, Lu Zheng slowly released his grip, straightened Xiao Rong's collar, concealed the flames of anger in his eyes, and patted his shoulder meaningfully.

Xiao Rong shrugged, gave a barely perceptible mocking smile, and turned to leave.

As soon as the office door closed, Lu Zheng picked up the internal phone and said to Assistant Xu, "Keep a close eye on Xiao Rong and see what he's been up to lately!"

Assistant Xu nodded obsequiously, then glanced outside and saw Xiao Rong striding down the corridor and into the elevator.

In the afternoon, Assistant Xu came in to hand him some documents for his approval, and whispered in his ear, "After leaving the company, Young Master Xiao went to the hospital. I heard that he's been frequently going in and out of a certain hospital lately..."

"Is he sick?" Lu Zheng paused in writing with his pen, without looking up.

"I don't know yet, but it doesn't seem like it..."

Lu Zheng took the document from Xu Te's assistant, quickly signed his name, capped his pen, and closed the document: "Go prepare the car."