CHAPTER 792: CHAPTER 788: EXTRA STORY | FAN HONGSHAN 07

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Fan Hongshan felt a sense of relief seeing the affection her sister-in-law showed her, yet touching her flat belly made her feel sad—

She really hadn’t expected that she would accidentally become pregnant!

It had been a whole nine years.

In those nine years, she hadn’t even once had a ’surprise’ delay of her period, but since the trouble with Fan Fengshou occurred, her periods in the following months became irregular and unpredictable.

Because she moved to the new environment in Beijing and had to worry about her mother, she truly didn’t notice that her period had been delayed for such a long time...

After all, each month, whenever she and Zhou Yilang were intimate, she took her medication.

Could it be that this time, the medicine Zhou Yilang gave her was expired?

Hmm, no!

The new medicine Zhou Yilang had given her, she had been taking it for almost a year now, even if it expired, it shouldn’t be right at the end, right?!

Fan Hongshan still hadn’t figured out how she became ’accidentally’ pregnant when at the residence of Zhou Yilang in Beijing—

Having finally completed his tasks, as soon as Zhou Yilang returned home, he saw his eldest daughter and young son, both with swollen, teary eyes, clutching a letter or envelope, crying inconsolably!

"What are you crying about?" Zhou Yilang loosened the button on his neck, and after making sure there were no bruises or injuries on the children, he asked calmly.

"Daddy~" Rarely so overtly emotional, Zhou Xuantong and Zhou Xushan, upon seeing their father return, immediately rushed into Zhou Yilang’s arms with the letter.

"What," Zhou Yilang’s gaze fixed on the paper, his words halted, ringing in his ears as the children cried out:

"Daddy, is it because I did something wrong, that she wants to leave?"

"Daddy, I want Mom~ Please don’t get a divorce! I don’t want Mom to go!"

The brother and sister cried one after the other.

Indeed, since their mother hadn’t been back for several days and their father hadn’t told them, Fan Hongshan was injured and in the hospital; the children could only uneasily stay at their great-grandfather’s home...

Who knew that upon returning home and not seeing their stepmother, they would find an extra letter in the mailbox.

They had never received any letters at home before, and moreover, Zhou Xuantong recognized the handwriting of her stepmother!

As soon as she saw the handwriting on the envelope, she completely ignored her father’s name, exchanged a glance with her brother, and immediately tore open the letter.

To their shock, they saw a ’divorce agreement’ addressed to their father from their stepmother!

"Nonsense, Daddy won’t get a divorce." Saying this, Zhou Yilang, without even looking at the content, angrily tore the agreement to shreds and told the children:

"Don’t worry, your mom will come back. Come on, go wash your faces; Daddy will take you out for a meal."

Zhou Xushan, hearing the decisive call of "Mom" from their father’s mouth, immediately responded with a "Hmm" through his tears, revealing a big smile—

Because they, brother and sister, did not know in their hearts whether Dad would always acknowledge the identity and existence of their stepmother, and besides, Dad had never asked them to change their way of addressing her. This uncertainty made them even more afraid to show too much reliance on their stepmother, fearing a false hope!

Zhou Yilang was furious inside, but he kept his composure on the surface, coaxing the kids to eat dinner together, and then sending them back to their great-grandfather’s house, asking them to help look after them for a few days, as he needed to step out for a trip.

He initially thought that when he returned home, he would see his wife caring for the children, but to his surprise, his wife had dared to run away!

According to the information from his subordinates, Zhou Yilang immediately bought the nearest train ticket to head south.

In fact, without having to ask, he knew that Fan Hongshan must have gone back to her old home with her mother-in-law!

After all, Fan Hongshan’s circle of life had always been so limited, never taking an extra step outside.

Before the new year, he unexpectedly discovered that his wife hadn’t brought her major paintings of recent years to Beijing, and perhaps he had a telepathic hint then—that only if their marital issues erupted, could they truly be open and honest, and elevate their relationship.

However, when such a marital crisis indeed arrived, Zhou Yilang still felt a heaviness in his heart!

He was not a man brimming with emotions, often even stoic, and he felt that there was absolutely nothing wrong with how he interacted with his wife.

He didn’t understand where he went wrong, for Fan Hongshan, to suddenly harden her heart and want a divorce!

On the train, Zhou Yilang reflected back and forth on his conducts over the past half a year; he basically had not entertained outside anymore, heading straight home after work each day.

He would return to his bedroom punctually at nine each night.

Yet, the eight or nine years of habit between the two meant that they indeed had little to talk about, and since he wasn’t a talkative person, just having Fan Hongshan by his side, even in silence, Zhou Yilang never felt awkward.

Over this half-year period, he realized that his wife’s daily routine was extremely regular! She would wash up punctually at nine each night, and by half-past nine, she could head to bed and sleep.

No wonder, over these years, whenever he finished his work in the study and returned to the bedroom, his wife was always asleep.

Because he started returning to the room earlier, he noticed his wife’s initial discomfort, but over a month, she became comfortable again, acting as if he didn’t exist, finishing her household chores, preparing the materials for the next day’s breakfast, then going to bathe, usually he would sleep around half-past nine, even if she had washed her hair.

Following his wife’s schedule for half a year, Zhou Yilang also felt that this made him more efficient at work.

Still, they rarely spoke to each other.

Moreover, his wife’s interactions with the children were minimal, not only did she not talk to him, but she also rarely conversed with the children.

Mealtimes were silent.

After meals, when the children went to do their homework, she would stay in the kitchen cleaning; when he went to the study, she would then clean the living room...

Even on weekends when she took rest, though she did not shy away, she did not engage or interact with the children either, merely sitting quietly in a corner, holding a book on Chinese painting, comfortably sitting for an entire day.

The only intriguing thing was that she always accurately heard the number of gongs struck by the clock, then quietly got up to cook, completely ignoring how many times, in between, the children and he had looked at her—

Gradually, Zhou Yilang realized that such a marital relationship was unhealthy.

Especially after seeing the relationship model between Zhou Zhenghui and Xie Jingzi, he always felt uneasy... making him dote on his wife like Zhou Zhenghui did with his daughter—no, even his own eldest girl had not been treated like that by him!

After ’experiencing’ this other couple’s model, Zhou Yilang finally, though belatedly, discovered that there indeed existed a chasm between him and Fan Hongshan.

However, the capable Zhou Yilang, faced with a wife who was silent and uncommunicative, was truly at a loss!