Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Wen Mochuan and Shu Yao had always been WeChat friends, and they naturally kept in touch frequently before the incident.

But over the years, since Wen Mochuan got married and Shu Yao went abroad for further studies... they tacitly maintained a distance, never contacting each other again.

They remained in each other's contact lists but never opened them again.

Occasionally, while scrolling through their moments, they would see bits of news from one another.

For example, Shu Yao knew that he had a daughter not long after his marriage and became a father. Wen Mochuan also knew that she continued her studies after completing her master's degree in the United Kingdom, pursuing a doctorate.

Now, five years had passed in the blink of an eye, and she had graduated with her doctorate.

Not only did she graduate, but she was also coming back.

After the incident, they both stayed calm and could be said to have parted ways amicably.

He was rational, and she was clear-headed. He needed to take responsibility for his actions, even though the incident wasn't really his fault. She knew that at this point, silently stepping back was the best choice.

The calmer it was back then, the more uncomfortable he felt as time passed. When recalling their breakup, he felt wronged, resentful, and angry... These emotions came one after another.

It was like a jar of wine; the longer the time, the stronger its potency.

Even now, seeing that she was about to return, Wen Mochuan knew there was no possibility between them, yet there were still ripples in his heart.

Wen Mochuan's fingers paused on the moment she posted. Several times, he tried to muster the courage to give a like, but ultimately gave up.

Just as he was about to scroll past the post, a familiar nickname caught his eye.

If he remembered correctly, this should be Jiang Yiyan's WeChat account.

Deep Yet Subtle — she actually liked Shu Yao's latest post.

Looking at this scene, Wen Mochuan's brows furrowed into a "Mochuan." What was she trying to do? He couldn't figure it out.

But Jiang Yiyan didn't intend to do anything. After returning home, she sat on the sofa, bored, and while browsing her moments, she unexpectedly saw Shu Yao's post about her upcoming return.

She thought that since she saw it, she might as well greet her lightly. They were family, and once she returned, they would inevitably meet and interact.

She didn't want to curry favor with Shu Yao, but neither did she want to make enemies. It was enough to be acquaintances who nodded at each other when they met.

They would keep to themselves and live their peaceful lives.

Jiang Yiyan didn't dwell on liking Shu Yao's post. After seeing it and giving the like, she continued scrolling through others' posts.

She considered that since she was here, she likely wouldn't leave easily. Therefore, she needed to study and understand the original owner's social circle.

For example, what was her life like outside the novel, where readers couldn't see?

To learn about this, the most direct and effective approach was to start with her moments and WeChat contacts.

From top to bottom, Jiang Yiyan carefully scrolled through each post.

When she found interesting ones, she would exit the moments, find the person in her contact list, and judge her relationship with these people based on the original owner's chat history with them.

Most of them turned out to be friends within her circle. They were just casual acquaintances, and she didn't see any close relationships.

After a general investigation, Jiang Yiyan logged out of WeChat.

Jiang Yiyan's simple act, which she didn't think much of, not only caused Wen Mochuan's brows to furrow but also surprised Shu Yao.

Ever since Shu Yao entered the Jiang family, the sisters hadn't been on good terms. Over the past five years, they had no interaction whatsoever.

Shu Yao didn't know why, but today, Jiang Yiyan took the initiative to like her moment.

Hopefully, it was a gesture of goodwill. Five years had passed, and they should both have matured.

When they met again, she didn't want to continue being enemies.

Wen Mochuan arrived home around 4:40 PM. Before he even entered, Wen Meimei, who was engrossed in playing with LEGO, immediately stood up.

.

After shouting "Daddy's back," she rushed to the door to greet him.

At that moment, Jiang Yiyan, who was sitting on the couch reading a novel on her phone, belatedly heard the sound of a car door closing outside.

By the time she put on her shoes and stood up from the couch, the young man in a suit had already entered the house with his daughter in his arms.

Due to work, Wen Mochuan wore a shirt and trousers. His white shirt was rolled up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms.

He wore a watch on his wrist and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, with a slicked-back hairstyle... his scholarly and handsome appearance matched that of the third son of the Wen family from the book.

Jiang Yiyan instinctively smiled at him, her expression friendly.

Wen Mochuan looked at his wife, but his gaze was calm. After glancing at her, he shifted his attention and spoke to his daughter in his arms for a moment before putting her down and looking back at his wife.

Then, he walked over to the couch.

He didn't sit next to her but chose a separate seat, maintaining a certain distance.

Noticing his deliberate distance, Jiang Yiyan pursed her lips, indifferent.

In fact, she felt that keeping a certain distance was quite good, saving her the trouble of concealing her true identity. She didn't need to completely mimic the original owner's behavior, but she couldn't be too excessive to avoid raising suspicion.

This was fine. No intimacy, no marital affairs, which saved her a lot of trouble.

However, Jiang Yiyan still showed concern for him in her words.

"Was the business trip smooth?" she asked gently.

"Mmm." Wen Mochuan only gave a brief reply, not elaborating further.

Thinking about his wife's unusual behavior over the past few days and recalling the news of Shu Yao's return that he had seen in the car just now, Wen Mochuan wanted to ask her several times if she was planning something.

But each time the words reached the tip of his tongue, he swallowed them back down.

He didn't want to argue with her, and mentioning Shu Yao would inevitably lead to a fight.

So, Wen Mochuan chose to ignore the matter for now and asked about something else instead.

"Did Mei Mei's teacher say anything today at school?" Wen Mochuan cared most about his daughter, Mei Mei, and since he couldn't attend the parent-child event today, he wanted to learn some details from his wife.

He didn't want to miss any part of his daughter's growth.

This question was easy to answer; Jiang Yiyan could simply recount everything that happened at school today.

However, Jiang Yiyan didn't mention the incident involving Wu Jingmeng.

But before she could speak, Wen Meimei came over and told her father, "Jiang Yinghao's mom was so mean to Mommy, but she's no match for Mommy. Mommy made her leave all angry." The little girl lifted her chin proudly.

Jiang Yiyan hadn't expected that a child as young as four or five years old would understand adult matters, not only understanding but also wanting to report on her behalf.

Although the daughter wasn't hers, her protective behavior still touched Jiang Yiyan deeply.

She knew that the daughter was protecting her biological mother, the original body, not her.

But such a considerate and well-behaved little girl who knew how to protect her mother—how could one not be fond of her?

Inevitably, Jiang Yiyan felt even more affection for this daughter.

She remained silent and waited together with her daughter for Wen Mochuan's reaction.

Jiang Yinghao's mother was Wu Jingmeng, and Wen Mochuan couldn't possibly be unaware of the relationship between Wu Jingmeng and Shu Yao. Jiang Yiyan was curious to see whom he would side with between her and Shu Yao's friend.

Jiang Yiyan didn't really care about the outcome or his attitude; she was merely waiting for his response with an attitude of watching a play.

But Wen Mochuan didn't judge who was at fault or delve into what had happened. He only lovingly stroked his daughter's soft hair and said gently, "Children don't understand the affairs of adults." Then he changed the subject and asked about her performance at school these two days.

"Starting from the middle class, we will begin systematic English learning. Dad is considering whether to hire an English tutor for you during the summer vacation," Wen Mochuan said seriously.

Children by nature love to play, and upon hearing that her father planned to hire a tutor to give her lessons at home during the summer, she immediately ran far away, forgetting all about continuing to seek justice for her mother.

Saying "No," she laughed and ran off, then dove back into her LEGO world.

Looking at his lively and adorable daughter, Wen Mochuan's eyes were filled with smiles.

When his gaze returned from his daughter and met his wife's, Wen Mochuan resumed his cool and distant demeanor.

Although Wen Mochuan didn't explicitly take a stance, his attitude was clear.

Between his wife and his first love's friend, he unsurprisingly chose his first love's friend.

Perhaps in his heart, his wife was inherently trouble-prone and malicious—a hypocritical and vicious existence. Any conflict or disagreement she had with others was always her fault.

Jiang Yiyan wasn't the real Jiang Yiyan, so she didn't care about Wen Mochuan's attitude.

After all, what she sought wasn't his concern; she only wanted peaceful coexistence and tranquility under the same roof.

So, Jiang Yiyan subconsciously shrugged and spoke up first, "If you're tired, go take a bath to relax. Dinner should be ready soon." She got up and left Wen Mochuan's side, saying, "I'll go check on Feng Ma and see if she needs any help in the kitchen." Jiang Yiyan preferred to spend time with Feng Ma and Fang Fang rather than stay with Wen Mochuan.

This seemed to be the first time she had voluntarily moved away from him.

To his surprise, she didn't cry or make a fuss about his earlier attitude, nor did she seem to take her daughter's report to heart.

Glancing at her retreating back, Wen Mochuan was even more puzzled.

He didn't know what game she was playing or if she was planning something big.

Such abnormal behavior was indeed not typical of her usual style.