Chapter 23 My Husband Is Cheating!

Chapter 23: My Husband Is Cheating!

Lin Yajun's blood pressure was already unstable, and at these words, her head spun as if she might faint.

"You... what did you say?" She gripped the armrest of the sofa, forced herself to ask, her eyes wide.

Yuan Che realized he'd said the wrong thing. He quickly leaned in, carefully patted her arm, and whispered soothingly, "Mom, don't worry, I'm just guessing!"

Hearing this, Lin Yajun finally breathed a little easier.

She frowned at Yuan Che, silently scolding herself: How could I be so gullible? This kid has never been reliable, and she knew it.

Besides, she might not know Yuan Che, but she knew her own son. Xiaoshan was definitely not the type to treat marriage like a joke. Since childhood, he had always been steady and deliberate. Even if this marriage started in such an absurd way, once he made a decision, he wouldn't casually back out.

Helplessly, she glanced at Yuan Che, about to ask what was going on, but he spoke first, dropping something even more explosive—

"Maybe he wants to find someone else..."

Those words hit Lin Yajun like a thunderbolt.

"Find another?" Her eyes widened even more, her voice cracking. "Find another what?"

Yuan Che sighed, looking helpless. "Find another man..."

Find another man?

Lin Yajun stared at him in shock, for a moment she even suspected he was joking.

"You mean..." she tested cautiously, her heart pounding, "Xiaoshan... Xiaoshan has someone else?"

"Someone else?" Yuan Che repeated the phrase blankly, as if mulling it over. After a moment, he shook his head seriously. "Not someone else. That person already came to our house, just left last night."

As soon as he finished, Lin Yajun felt the world spin. She clutched her forehead and leaned back—this was even more shocking than divorce! Her son had brought another man home!

"Mom!! Mom!!!"

Yuan Che jumped up, flustered, his hands waving in the air, not knowing how to help her, pacing around anxiously. "Are you okay!?!"

"Xiaoyuan!" Lin Yajun forced her eyes open, weakly pressing his hand, "Keep your voice down... I have a weak heart, why are you shouting so loudly?"

Yuan Che quickly covered his mouth with one hand, but his eyes were still darting around, looking both panicked and helpless.

"Go," Lin Yajun waved weakly behind her, "Go to the cabinet at the back and get my blood pressure medicine, the blue box."

Yuan Che immediately turned to find the medicine.

But Lin Yajun's living room was packed with too many things, cluttered with stuff everywhere. In his rush, Yuan Che hadn't taken a few steps before his knee bumped into a Giacometti sculpture—the same one from last time.

The sculpture wobbled, and he grabbed it, but his knee knocked over a vase on a low cabinet.

The vase was gilded bronze, so no harm done. But inside were a few imported Protea flowers that Lin Yajun had cut earlier that morning for an arrangement. Two blossoms rolled out, and Yuan Che nearly stepped on them. He dodged, and his elbow knocked over a bone china coffee cup on the entryway cabinet.

The cup rolled twice on the floor but didn't break.

"Xiaoyuan?" Lin Yajun's voice came from the living room, weak but suspicious, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Yuan Che muttered in a panic, let out a deep breath, set the cup upright, grabbed the pill box, and ran back to Lin Yajun's side.

Seeing him panting and the furniture knocked around in the distance, Lin Yajun let out a long sigh and slowly closed her eyes.

Yuan Che thought she was about to faint, so he shook her shoulders vigorously: "Mom! Mom! Wake up! Don't sleep!"

"Ah! Xiaoyuan!" Lin Yajun felt dizzy from the shaking and waved her hand, "Can you stop making a mess here!"

"Sorry, Mom!" Yuan Che apologized quickly, but still held onto her, "I thought you were going to pass out!"

Lin Yajun looked at his sweaty, panicked face and sighed again—he was genuinely clumsy, but also genuinely worried.

Forget it, why argue with a kid? She told herself. Let's focus on what's important.

"Alright," she pointed weakly at the pill box, her voice sounding drained from the scare, "Take out two pills for me. Then tell me properly, what happened between you and Xiaoshan?"

Yuan Che lowered his head and immediately complied. But in his haste, his hand shook, and after finally popping one out, the little white pill slipped from his hand and rolled under the sofa.

His heart sank. He bent down and knelt on the floor to pick it up.

But he was too tall. As soon as he knelt, his back shoved the coffee table forward—with another crash. Magazines slid off, the remote fell, and the half-finished cup of herbal tea spilled everywhere.

"Enough! Enough!" Lin Yajun couldn't take it anymore, raising her voice without meaning to. "Give me the box, I'll do it myself!"

Yuan Che stared blankly, studied her face for a few seconds, and immediately realized he had messed up again. He didn't dare push it, so he carefully handed over the pill box, then quickly went to pour a glass of water.

Lin Yajun took the box, popped out two pills herself, tilted her head back, and swallowed them, then took a sip of the water Yuan Che handed her. She paused to catch her breath.

"Now talk," she said, trying to keep her tone calm as she set the glass aside.

Yuan Che stood there like a punished student, hands clasped in front of him, head down, looking dejected.

He began to speak.

He exaggerated what happened last night: how Lin Zaishan had "leered" at Yu Yizhou, how he held his hand too long, how he'd rushed to shake it again after being stopped, how he'd slept in a separate room that night, how he'd been cold and indifferent this morning...

He narrated with vivid detail and deep emotion. By the end, he had almost worked himself up.

Truth be told, Yuan Che wasn't much of a liar. But he felt that now, only Mom could control Lin Zaishan. The truth didn't matter; what mattered was that he didn't want to be separated from Lin Zaishan, and he didn't want that male fox stepping foot in their home. He couldn't do what those people on the island did—share his husband with multiple people.

Right now, he had to do whatever it took to save his marriage!

"That's all?" Lin Yajun probed after hearing everything.

Yuan Che nodded.

"Nothing else?"

Yuan Che nodded again.

Lin Yajun fell silent.

She squinted at the tall, handsome boy before her, her gaze lingering on his face for a long time.

After a long while, she reluctantly accepted a heartbreaking fact—her son's male wife was not quite right in the head.

Lin Yajun had initially thought her son had actually cheated; she had even prepared how to scold Lin Zaishan. But after hearing the whole story, she realized it was all imagined by this male daughter-in-law!

Wasn't Xiaoshan just being warm to a guest? And the guest was brought home by Yuan Che himself. It wasn't an affair outside—it was entertaining a guest in their own home. How could that be called cheating?

She couldn't help but sigh inwardly again.

This male daughter-in-law was inexperienced in the ways of the world, and it seemed he was also like a blank sheet of paper when it came to relationships.

She looked up, somewhat helplessly, at the man still standing there like he was being punished, and couldn't help asking, "Xiaoyuan, have you ever been in a relationship before?"

Hearing this question, Yuan Che felt a bit embarrassed again, gently shook his head, and said shyly, "No."

No wonder.

Lin Yajun muttered in her heart.

Although she was Lin Zaishan's mother, marriage was something that required two people to work on together. In her opinion, the problem lay precisely in the fact that her son's husband had never seen much of the world—in every sense of the word.

That's why he makes a huge deal out of everything every day, like today's incident. Clearly, it was because he knew too few people, didn't understand what normal social interaction between people looked like, and therefore jumped to conclusions over trivial matters, suspecting that his husband was cheating.

She had seen plenty of people like this.

Rich and idle housewives, always hovering around their husbands, thinking their husband was cheating if he so much as glanced at someone else.

At the end of the day, it was because they had too little social interaction, too narrow a circle, and nothing on their minds but their husbands.

If they had children, they could divert some of their attention. But this...

She looked up again at the tall, strapping male spouse—

Lin Yajun sighed again. Two men, children were most likely out of the question. After careful thought, the only option now was to take her son's husband out to make friends, to let him see how young people in the city behave and handle themselves.

"Xiaoyuan," she said in a heartfelt tone, "I think your top priority right now is to make more friends and expand your social circle. Once you've met more people, you won't let these little things bother you."

Yuan Che stood there, listening intently, nodding frequently, but he looked like he had no idea what she was talking about.

Lin Yajun, at a loss, patted the spot next to her, motioning him to sit down.

Yuan Che understood this gesture. He quickly sat down properly beside Lin Yajun. As soon as he settled onto the sofa, it was as if something had suddenly clicked. He turned his face and said seriously, "Mom, I think I understand what you mean."

"Do... do you?" Lin Yajun's heart suddenly filled with a sense of foreboding.

"Are you also trying to help me find another husband?"

Lin Yajun's vision went black.

What a load of nonsense!

"Besides my husband, I don't want anyone else," Yuan Che continued, his gaze utterly devout. "My husband—"

"Stop, stop, stop!" Lin Yajun couldn't take it anymore, waving her hands frantically. "What is all this craziness, for crying out loud!"

She took a deep breath, looked at Yuan Che's dead serious face, and suddenly realized a grave problem—it was urgent for this man to see the world. If this continued, not only would he drive himself crazy, he would also drive her crazy.

"Tell me," she said, putting on a stern face, with the same stern demeanor she used when disciplining Lin Zaishan, "do you listen to Mom or not?"

Yuan Che, who rarely saw Lin Yajun so serious, quickly nodded. "I do."

"Good." Lin Yajun slapped the sofa arm. "Then today, you go out and have fun with people your age."

Having said that, she didn't give Yuan Che a chance to object and directly picked up her phone to scroll through her contacts.

"But... Mom," Yuan Che hesitated, "weren't we supposed to go to the spa this afternoon?"

Lin Yajun looked up at him in disbelief.

"Xiaoyuan!" Her voice rose an octave. "At a time like this, you're still thinking about a spa!"

"But..." Yuan Che frowned in great distress, "didn't we make plans with Aunt Qu yesterday?"

Lin Yajun was stunned.

Aunt Qu, the spa, afternoon tea.

Suddenly everything clicked.

She was definitely partly responsible for making Yuan Che the way he is. A perfectly good young man, spending every day accompanying an old lady for massages, afternoon tea, and shopping trips—like this, even if he stayed in the big city another ten years, wouldn't it all be for nothing!

Back then, all her old friends would say after meeting Yuan Che, "Simiao's younger brother is so good, he even goes shopping with her." She felt proud then, but now thinking back, wasn't she just holding this kid back?

This absolutely could not continue!

Lin Yajun steeled herself and dialed the number she had been hesitant to call.

The first time, no one answered.

She dialed again.

This time, it was picked up quickly—

"Hello?" Without giving the other person a chance to speak, Lin Yajun issued a decree directly. "Wen Jun, come to your aunt's house."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"...Now?" "Yes, right now."