Pei Shi thought fairly, and without hesitation, knocked briefly before opening Bai Tao’s bedroom door: “I’m back, and I brought you…”

But what greeted Pei Shi was not a teary-eyed and excited Bai Tao, but—

Bai Tao was sprawled out on the bed, deeply asleep, with soft snores filling the quiet room…

Pei Shi turned on a dim nightlight, finally seeing her clearly.

She was completely passed out, seemingly in a deep sleep for about an hour.

Just then, Pei Shi’s phone buzzed again.

He looked at it and saw another message from Bai Tao, this time more heartfelt—

“The night without you feels so cold and lonely. Only now do I realize how important you are to me. I miss you so much I can’t sleep.”

Pei Shi pressed his lips together, glaring at the peacefully sleeping Bai Tao for a long time.

This is what she meant by not being able to sleep?

This is what she meant by crying silently?

This is what she meant by loving him so much it made her feel lonely?

Heh.

Pei Shi felt deceived by Bai Tao, but in the end, he didn’t wake her. He just placed her milk tea on her bedside table and left the room, lips tightly pressed together.

Feeling a bit down, he headed downstairs. Passing by Bai Tao’s study, he noticed her computer was still on, so he went in to shut it down for her.

Bai Tao didn’t have a password on her computer, so when Pei Shi moved the mouse, her last open window popped up—a chat with her assistant, Song Yan.

Pei Shi didn’t intend to read it, but Bai Tao had set the font size too large, and the words jumped right out at him—

“Preserve moral principles and eliminate human desires. Men are bad news. Avoid Pei Shi’s clinginess and shine on my own.”

…

This hypocritical woman even wrote a rhyme.

Complaining about him being clingy?!

Pei Shi almost laughed in anger. He realized coming home was a mistake; he should have stayed at the event for socializing.

Who needs marriage and a wife? Shine on his own? He could do that too.

*****

Bai Tao had a wonderful sleep and woke up feeling refreshed. After washing up, she immediately checked her phone. Five years of technological advancement were truly moving—WeChat mini-programs didn’t let her down. All the scheduled messages she set last night were sent on time.

However…

Unexpectedly, Pei Shi hadn’t replied to a single one!

Though Pei Shi hadn’t responded with the same level of “missing” as she did during the day, men often loved deeply but didn’t show it. Plus, Bai Tao had recently lectured him on self-respect and self-love, so she understood.

But even though his replies had been brief before, he had always responded. Yet last night…

Last night she sent nearly ten messages, and they all vanished without a trace…

Bai Tao knew Pei Shi’s routine well enough. He wouldn’t have gone to bed so early and would have seen the messages. And with Pei Shi’s meticulousness, it was unlikely his phone ran out of battery or shut down—Yuan Mu was very responsible in this regard, always carrying a charger and power bank to ensure his boss was never out of touch, as even a second of being unreachable could mean millions in business.

So…

Bai Tao suddenly had a bad feeling.

Could Pei Shi have… made a mistake last night?!

As a manga artist, Bai Tao had a vivid imagination. In an instant, a detailed storyboard formed in her mind—Pei Shi, mingling at the event, got tipsy and ended up in a compromising situation with a woman, so engrossed that he didn’t notice his wife’s messages…

It’s all her fault for going to bed too early! Men need to be checked on!

Panicking, Bai Tao immediately called Pei Shi. After a long wait, he finally answered.

But before Bai Tao could question him, Pei Shi took the initiative, his tone low: “Let’s just forget about what happened last night.”

?

Bai Tao was still figuring out how to probe, but Pei Shi had already admitted so bluntly and shamelessly?! Was infidelity in marriage now so open and righteous?!

Bai Tao fumed, “I can’t just forget! Last night’s issue isn’t over!”

Pei Shi seemed taken aback, then asked, “So what do you want to do?”

He pondered for a moment, “Do you want to apologize to me?”

“Apologize?! Why should I apologize to you?” Bai Tao was furious. “Are you saying your mistake last night was my fault?”

Emotionally charged, Bai Tao accused, “Pei Shi! You don’t love me! If you truly loved someone, how could you cheat? Your sweet words before were all lies! There’s no need to stay with someone who lies. Come back, and we’ll go to the civil affairs bureau to divorce tomorrow! A hypocrite should be humanely destroyed! Anyone who can fake sweet words is definitely scum…”

Bai Tao ranted for over ten minutes before Pei Shi finally seemed to understand what she was talking about and interrupted her, “Bai Tao.” His voice sounded a bit subtle, “Look at your bedside table.”

Bai Tao, in the midst of her tirade, was annoyed at being interrupted but still glanced over and irritably asked, “What?”

“Calm down and see if there’s something new on your bedside table.”

Still fuming, Bai Tao looked again and finally noticed—a white peach oolong milk tea from her favorite trendy shop was sitting there.

Seeing that Bai Tao had quieted down, Pei Shi continued, “You see the milk tea, right?”

“I didn’t reply to your messages last night because I came home directly, waited in line for a long time to buy the milk tea, then came back and received your sweet messages, but you…” Pei Shi paused, “were already asleep.”

“But you were asleep, so why were your sweet messages still being sent to me one after another?”

“And accusing me of keeping you awake because I wasn’t there.”

“What did you just say? Let me recall, something like ‘hypocritical people should be humanely destroyed,’ and ‘people who can fake sweet words are definitely scum,’ right?”

“…” Bai Tao hadn’t expected to get caught and, under Pei Shi’s cold questioning, could only stiffly explain, “This is a misunderstanding, honey, you heard wrong. I didn’t say that. Sometimes a little white lie can help strengthen the relationship between a couple, making them see their true feelings more clearly. It’s an essential part of marital communication.”

“The truth is, I cried so much during the day because I missed you, and at night I was too tired and cried myself to sleep.”

Pei Shi replied with an insincere “Oh,” showing neither trust nor belief, “So, do you still want a divorce?”

“No, no! Honey, I was just joking! Let’s pretend nothing happened last night! You’re right!”

Pei Shi didn’t press the issue further and simply said, “I’ll be busy today. If there’s nothing urgent, don’t send me any more messages.” He paused and added, “Especially not those scheduled insincere ones.”

Bai Tao, eager to appease him, said, “I’ll listen to you from now on! I won’t bother you, honey. Bye!”

Not waiting for Pei Shi’s response, Bai Tao hurriedly hung up the phone.

How embarrassing.

She stared at the milk tea on her bedside table, feeling deeply regretful. After all, with Pei Shi loving her so much, how could he do anything to jeopardize their relationship? Look at this man, he rushed back from the forum event just because she said she missed him, and even bought her favorite milk tea.

It’s fortunate that Pei Shi loves her obsessively; even though she deceived him, he still forgave her.

However, Bai Tao decided that she should behave herself today and not try to make her presence known to Pei Shi any further.

Poor Pei Shi, he must need some time alone to heal from this.

Having already submitted her manga, Bai Tao had nothing else to do, so she decided to water the peach tree that Pei Shi had planted in their yard.

But as soon as she stepped into the yard, she was almost suffocated by shock—

A dog, of unknown origin, was standing there, urinating on her beloved peach tree!

Bai Tao felt both angry and scared. This peach tree was the symbol of her and Pei Shi’s love. How dare this stray dog treat it this way!

Filled with a sense of righteousness, Bai Tao decided she had to fight the dog.

—