Chapter 17 The Invisible Second Wife

Kang Ying couldn’t hold back and instinctively clenched her hands.
The sharp pain made tears spring to her eyes, and the freshly bandaged gauze was already faintly stained red.

Cen Bowen didn’t even look at her—still lost in his own self-pity.

“Yingzi, in all my life, I’ve never felt such heartache. Song Yiyi is so cruel… how can she just decide she doesn’t want me anymore and then really not want me?”

Having lived two lives, Kang Ying suddenly realized that maybe she didn’t really know the man in front of her.

In her past life, he had always come to her with the same kind of complaints—
how Song Yiyi had changed after marriage,
how she didn’t care about him anymore,
how she was always running back to her parents’ house,
how when he was injured in training, Song Yiyi saw it but didn’t show any concern.

Every time Song Yiyi wasn’t home, Cen Bowen would come to her, drink with her, and pour out his sorrows, until he was dead drunk.

At first, she would still send him home.
Every time, Song Yiyi would give her a lukewarm “thank you” and never ask a single question of concern.
Kang Ying felt it was unfair to him.

Later, to make Song Yiyi pay more attention to Cen Bowen, she stopped sending him home and let him stay at her place instead.
Even if nothing happened, as a wife, Song Yiyi would surely find it hard to stomach.

Sure enough, Song Yiyi started quarreling with him.
She even said she wanted a divorce.
Of course Cen Bowen wouldn’t agree—if he refused, they couldn’t get divorced.

No one knew that it was Kang Ying who had reported Cen Bowen.
After all, she and Cen Bowen were like grasshoppers tied to the same rope—no one would suspect her.
Cen Bowen even suspected that it was Song Yiyi who had reported him, and the two of them began endless fights.

Later, she took all the blame onto herself, and Cen Bowen’s guilt toward her only grew.
From then on, whenever she asked for help, Cen Bowen would come without hesitation.

Kang Ying had always believed that if you wanted something in life, you had to fight for it yourself.
In her past life, she had fought for and won Cen Bowen.
She had won back her parents’ love.
She had even taken back her brother.

Everyone stood on her side—even Heaven itself.
Otherwise, how could Song Yiyi have died so suddenly?
That was Heaven giving her an opportunity.

In this life, things were supposed to be even better.
But because of Song Yiyi, all her carefully laid plans had gone up in smoke.

Song Yiyi seemed different from before.
But no matter—life was long, and the one who laughs last is the true winner.

Kang Ying came back to her senses and turned her head, only to see Cen Bowen asleep by the bed.
Looking at his well-defined features, she bent down and brushed a light kiss against his cheek.

“Bowen, you want to marry Song Yiyi, right? I’ll help you. Whatever you want, I’ll help you get it.”

Kang Ying stared at him without blinking, her smile slowly turning strange.

---

That evening, after meeting with Song Yiyi’s father and stepmother, Gu Chengze arranged a dinner at a state-owned restaurant.
Perhaps because it was their first meeting—and with the eldest brother present—Song’s father didn’t openly make things difficult for her.
Song Yiyi also tried to act obedient at first.

In truth, she wasn’t afraid of her father, nor did she particularly care if the fact that the original host had liked the eldest brother was exposed.
In her opinion, it wasn’t a big deal.

What she was really worried about was the Song family finding out she wasn’t the original Song Yiyi.
If that happened, and Gu Chengze decided to put righteousness before family and send her off to some shady human research facility for dissection, that would truly be game over.

Gu Chengze had promised he would stand in front of her—and he really did.

As soon as Song’s father brought up the matter of Song Yiyi and Cen Bowen, Gu Chengze took all the blame himself.

“Dad, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have let someone like that come to our home to deliver things.”

While speaking, Gu Chengze poured her a glass of water and placed it in front of her before continuing:

“Even if Yiyi agreed this time, I still wouldn’t let her continue seeing someone like that.”

Song’s father’s expression darkened.

Stepmother Cai Mengjun, noticing this, tugged discreetly at Song Minghui’s sleeve under the table.
Only then did Song Minghui ease his expression, though his tone remained stern:

“Chengze, don’t make excuses for her. I don’t even need to ask to know—Yiyi must have been too willful. You introduced such a good match to her, and she still managed to ruin it. I think she’s just been spoiled all these years.”

It was right at dinner time, and the restaurant was bustling with people, but Song Minghui’s voice was anything but quiet.

“Dad, don’t pull the teacher routine with me. I’m no longer your student,” Song Yiyi said thick-skinned, completely unfazed by his public scolding.
But to have her sit there meekly and take a lecture? That wasn’t going to happen.

“You’ve come all this way, but without even asking what happened, you’re already blaming me. Are you really concerned about me, or are you just using ‘concern’ as an excuse to interfere in my life?”

While Song Minghui and Gu Chengze had been speaking earlier, she’d eaten a whole bowl of rice. Now that she was full, arguing with Song Minghui was as good as helping digestion.

The three others at the table all set down their chopsticks when she finished speaking.
Cai Mengjun and Song Minghui even exchanged several looks.

Gu Chengze was the first to break the silence.

“Dad, Mom, let’s just eat first.”

Aside from the time they had quarreled, Song Minghui hadn’t seen the “firecracker” version of Song Yiyi in years.
He picked up his chopsticks with a strange expression and swallowed down his questions along with a bite of rice.

Song Yiyi, of course, noticed all their reactions.

“Dad, I’ve been thinking a lot since coming to the city this time,” she began, her words flowing freely.

Song Minghui’s eyes grew wary, half-expecting something terrifying to come out of her mouth.
Fortunately, she only seemed to be expressing her feelings.

“The person big brother introduced me to—that Cen Bowen—he’s the kind who eats from his bowl while staring at the pot!”

“If I marry him, I’ll have to put up with him having an invisible second wife out there!”
“That won’t do — I can’t tolerate even a grain of sand in my eye.”
“But you don’t have to worry. Big Brother said he’d help me find a job here.”
“Once I settle down here, with so many people in the compound, Big Brother can introduce me to another good man.”

That last sentence wasn’t sincere. She was only humoring Song Minghui, saying what he wanted to hear to calm him down.

Sure enough, under her nonstop chatter, she managed to shut Song Minghui up over the course of the meal.

Song Minghui and Cai Mengjun had originally planned to stay at the guesthouse, but Gu Chengze wouldn’t allow it. Everyone went back to the compound together. After settling his parents, Gu Chengze returned to live at the base.

Before leaving, he knocked on Song Yiyi’s door. She came out.
“Big Brother, you’ll still be here tomorrow, right?” she asked, deliberately lowering her voice and tilting her face up with a sneaky look.

Gu Chengze’s voice was gentle. “Don’t worry, I’ll come by first thing in the morning. What do you want to eat?”

Song Yiyi smiled without guilt. “Steamed buns, and the salty porridge from the morning.”

Perhaps from being worn out from the trip, Song Minghui didn’t come to confront her that night.

The next morning, after the four of them had breakfast, they discussed going out for a walk.

Song Yiyi stood at her bedroom door, staring at the curtains for a long time. Gu Chengze walked over and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Big Brother,” Song Yiyi said, “I’ve been meaning to tell you — these curtains are way too ugly. And that bedsheet, it’s army-issued, isn’t it? Can’t you buy me a few nicer sets?”

Gu Chengze nodded thoughtfully. “Alright, but answer me one question first — how did you help Cen Yue catch those tomb robbers?”