Chapter 46: A Strange Woman
The delivery person was standing outside the door. Wang Zhao took the food, said “Thank you”, and closed the door before speaking to Li Zhenguan.
He was lying on the bed, with a familiar background behind him. Their wedding photo was hanging on the wall behind.
She untied her slightly damp hair and let it fall over her shoulders, sat down on a chair, placed her phone against the wall, and began to open the takeout box.
“What did you order?” Li Zhenguan asked.
Wang Zhao said, “Vegetarian food.”
She was actually just a bit thirsty, so she ordered a plate of vegetable salad. With the exam tomorrow, she didn’t dare eat too much, fearing her body might have issues.
She picked up some purple cabbage with her chopsticks, then remembered something. After swallowing the food in her mouth, she looked up at the screen: “Have you eaten?”
This was a redundant question, but obviously Li Zhenguan didn’t think so. He tilted his head slightly, looking happy: “Of course I have. Dad cooked today. I didn’t let the nutritionist come. Dad made quite a few dishes. It’s a pity you’re not here.”
Originally, some of these dishes were prepared for Wang Zhao, but she said she was going to the hotel to check things out and could go there early to rest. So those dishes ended up benefiting the three of them.
Wang Zhao smiled: “I’ve had Dad’s cooking before, why does it sound so regrettable when you say it?”
Zhang Shu’s culinary skills have been honed over so many years, they must be very good.
Li Zhenguan laughed, saying somewhat excitedly: “I don’t often eat Dad’s cooking. In the future, I’ll just eat here. I won’t let the nutritionist my dad hired come over anymore. It’s quite troublesome to come every day, and Dad’s cooking is really good.”
“Today I even helped out in the kitchen, learned a few dishes. When you come home, I’ll cook for you.” Looking at the woman slowly chewing her vegetables on the other side of the screen, he felt a bit distressed. “If I had known, I would have had someone drive over a meal for you, or ordered something from the restaurant. It wouldn’t have taken much time. The driver at my house is usually idle, and my mother doesn’t go out often nowadays.”
Wang Zhao smiled: “You’re married now, yet you still use the family driver. Aren’t you embarrassed?”
Li Zhenguan didn’t seem to mind, smiling with bright eyes: “What’s wrong with that? My dad even said the other day that I should come home to stay for a few days.”
It’s not like he’s no longer his parents’ child just because he’s married. His dad would love for him to come home often. Yang Jin’s thinking is that as long as he’s happy in life, it’s fine. The key is that Wang Zhao, as a son-in-law, is presentable, good-looking, and really has no faults to speak of.
The only thing Yang Jin was dissatisfied with was that she had let Li Zhenguan accidentally get pregnant at such a young age.
This was something Li Zhenguan couldn’t change either. Without this child, who knows if she would be his wife now. Of course, this statement might be too general. To be precise, without this child, Wang Zhao’s boyfriend would most likely not be him, but that man Chen Fangli.
Wang Zhao is a very nostalgic person who doesn’t like big changes. It seems that at that blind date, she didn’t take a liking to him. Even to this day, Li Zhenguan still couldn’t figure out why Wang Zhao didn’t like him.
The first time he appeared in front of Wang Zhao, it was carefully planned. His smile, the tone of his voice, and the expressions he showed were all played to be the type of boy that women nowadays would like. Even today, he finds it difficult to distinguish which parts were pretense and which were his true personality.
Twenty-one days are enough to form a habit, let alone years of accumulation, nearly half a month of pretense. Once you’ve played a role for too long, it becomes difficult to shed that layer of skin.
Wang Zhao followed Li Zhenguan’s words: “If Dad really misses you, when I’m free after the exam, I can send you back to stay for a few days.”
Li Zhenguan asked, “What about you?”
Wang Zhao smiled: “I won’t go. You’ll be more comfortable without me. Zhenguan, you can enjoy the time when I’m not by your side now. Otherwise, after decades together, you might feel bored.”
Li Zhenguan refuted without hesitation: “I won’t feel bored. Since you’re not going with me this time, I won’t go back either.”
Hearing this, Wang Zhao’s gaze moved from the notebook in front of the takeout box to look at the person on the other side of the video. Li Zhenguan was oblivious, tilting his head and looking back.
After a few seconds, she put down her chopsticks and smiled: “If there’s time, I can stay at Mom and Dad’s for a day or two. But I plan to work at a friend’s firm for half a year after the exam, so I might not have much time.”
She calculated the time. The original owner had quit her job about four or five months ago, for reasons unknown. If she continued to be idle, she might be out of touch with society for about a year, which wasn’t a good thing for Wang Zhao. So she decided that if she passed the initial test, she would prepare for the retest while working.
Moreover, she had to check on the renovation of the house on Golden Avenue the day after tomorrow. Chapter Shu had been following up on the renovation progress of that house. She had only been there once or twice when even the electricians hadn’t started work yet, and the whole house was in its most primitive state. Things like baseboards and grouting hadn’t been done yet.
Now, according to the schedule, these should be done, and some furniture should have been moved in. She needed to consult Li Zhenguan about the overall layout of the house, after all, they would be living there together in the future. So, she planned to take Li Zhenguan there for a look after the exam. Any changes needed should be communicated to the renovation company and designers as soon as possible.
“Then we’ll go back when we have time,” Li Zhenguan said. “Besides, it’s very convenient for me to go back. If I really miss my mom and dad, I can just call and have the driver come pick me up.”
Wang Zhao had no objection.
While talking, Wang Zhao quickly finished her takeout and prepared to read for a while longer. This was her first exam in this world, and it would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous. But when she really thought about it, Wang Zhao felt strangely calm.
After chatting with Li Zhenguan for a few more sentences, she hung up the phone. When she left home, she had told Wang Xuechun and Zhang Shu to look after Li Zhenguan. She was worried that if something happened at night while she wasn’t home, they wouldn’t be able to react in time.
She slept well that night. The next day, she woke up at seven o’clock, read for a while, went downstairs for breakfast, and then entered the exam room.
Today was the administrative aptitude test and essay.
The day passed smoothly, but in the evening, Wang Zhao received a call from Li Zhenguan. He said he had ordered food from a restaurant and asked them to deliver it to her hotel.