The Wife of a Loyal Servant - Chapter 15

Ever since he’d returned from his last escort mission, he’d felt his wife was acting strangely, though he couldn’t quite figure out why. Her familiar attitude toward Xiao Mu today only deepened his suspicions.

Xiao Mu had only joined the escort agency six months ago, and three months earlier, a family incident had taken her back home, even though he had truly spent less than a month with her.

Ling Yu’s mind raced as she tried to come up with an excuse, but somehow, when she met those deep eyes filled with unmistakable worry, her tightly strung heart suddenly settled.

“If I told you I knew Xiao Mu in my past life, would you believe me?” she asked tentatively.

Cheng Shaotang frowned. “If you don’t want to answer, I won’t force you. Why say something like that?”

Besides, as the saying goes, marrying in this life is a bond cultivated in a previous one. If she really knew someone in a past life, shouldn’t it have been him?

“It’s the question you insisted on asking. Now that I’ve told you, you don’t believe me.” Ling Yu wasn’t surprised by his reaction at all and let out a light snort.

Cheng Shaotang shook his head helplessly and was just about to speak when Ling Yu blurted, “I’ve lived two lives! In my last life, you abandoned me and Xiao Shitou and left early. I…”

Thinking back on the hardships of that past life, her nose stung, and a rare, muddled sense of grievance welled up inside her. She huffed, “I took Xiao Shitou and all your property and remarried, and from then on lived a wealthy, worry-free life!”

Cheng Shaotang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, lightly scolding, “Utter nonsense!”

Ling Yu exploded at once. “How am I talking nonsense? What, am I not allowed to remarry and have to wait around for you? Or am I not allowed to live a wealthy, worry-free life?!”

Seeing her eyes flash with anger, Cheng Shaotang couldn’t help wanting to laugh but quickly suppressed it for fear she’d be even more upset. He gently took her hand, wanting to comfort her, but Ling Yu forcefully brushed him off and turned her back to him.

Cheng Shaotang, amused, reached out to wrap an arm around her waist, but she slapped his hand away without mercy. In a helpless murmur, he said, “I promise you, I’ll work hard to earn money and support the family, and I’ll definitely make sure you live a wealthy, worry-free life!”

His voice was low and husky. Perhaps it was the hazy night making her dazed, but Ling Yu felt there was a faint hint of seduction in his tone. She didn’t notice that he had skipped over the topic of remarriage, only made an awkward hum, and pulled the sleeping Xiao Shitou into her arms, as if only that could keep her heartbeat from going wild.

Seeing no reaction from her, Cheng Shaotang hesitated, then tentatively tried to hold her again. This time, Ling Yu only shifted to show refusal but didn’t slap his hand away.

So she wasn’t angry anymore? He let out a quiet laugh.

“Stop laughing!” Ling Yu felt all jittery from his laughter, as if someone were brushing a feather over her heart—ticklish, tingly, and numb.

Chuckling with a sigh, Cheng Shaotang moved to pull her into his arms, but his large hand touched a tiny body. He froze, sounding helpless and a little stifled. “This kid is already over a year old—how long is he going to keep sleeping with us?”

Ling Yu kissed her son’s cheek, then turned to him with a triumphant look. “If you don’t like it, you can sleep in another room.”

So she was choosing her son over her husband? Cheng Shaotang raised an eyebrow. It was a rare sight to see her with such a playful smile. He shook his head helplessly and gently pinched her nose. “You…”

His tone was impossibly gentle, and even those pitch-black eyes seemed to hold two pools of spring water capable of drowning someone.

But the better this man was to her, the more tolerant he was, the more wronged she felt.

She couldn’t remember how long it had been since anyone treated her with such pampering and tenderness.

“In a few days, he can sleep with Mother…” Her voice was so soft that if Cheng Shaotang didn’t have such good hearing, he might not have heard her at all.

After a few more days, she thought she should be able to overcome her fear and no longer be afraid of having someone beside her at night.

“Okay…” he whispered.

A moment later, he felt a touch of helplessness. Wasn’t he supposed to be probing the cause of her strange behavior? How had the topic veered off to such an absurd angle?

Night deepened. Cool moonlight spilled through the window lattice, laying a thin veil of silver across the room and illuminating the sleeping family of three on the bed.

Ling Yu had a dream. In it, she returned home and saw a young man standing beneath the pine tree not far from her door, holding a square object wrapped in blue cloth. He seemed about to step out from under the tree, but after taking a single step, he pulled back.

She was puzzled but couldn’t see his face clearly. Just as she was about to approach him to ask whether he was looking for someone, he turned and strode away.

When Ling Yu woke, her mind was still hazy. It took her a long moment to remember that it wasn’t a dream at all but something that had truly happened in her previous life. Unlike before, in this life, she already recognized Xiao Mu, so she had taken the initiative to invite him inside.

She let out a small laugh, touching her forehead, amused that she had dreamed of something so trivial.

At some point, Cheng Shaotang, beside her, had already gotten up. She gently pushed away the chubby little leg resting on her stomach, looked at the child sprawled out in a starfish pose, and shook her head with amusement. Slipping on her shoes, she got out of bed, washed quickly, and began preparing for the day’s business.

She was kneading dough when Madam Wang came in. As usual, the two of them worked together to get everything ready. Then Cheng Shaotang and his brother came in and loaded the items onto the two-wheeled cart.

“You and Mother should rest well at home today. Shaoan and I will go,” Cheng Shaotang said before she could even take off her apron.

Ling Yu eyed him skeptically. “You? Can you manage?”

This man wasn’t talkative by nature and always wore a stiff expression. How was that the face of someone doing business? It was practically a method for chasing customers away!

“Oh, don’t worry, sister-in-law, I’m here!” Cheng Shaoan said with a grin.

Ling Yu thought for a moment and agreed. She trusted Cheng Shaoan quite a bit, so she readily said, “That’s fine then. Be careful on the road!”

Her husband was so considerate; why should she refuse his kindness?

For several days in a row, Cheng Shaotang and Cheng Shaoan went out to set up their stall, seemingly having completely forgotten about the escort agency. Ling Yu didn’t ask how much he had earned on this mission. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but she had a vague feeling this mission might be related to his future departure from the agency. If so, it certainly wouldn’t be good, so why stir up his unhappiness?

When news of a theft at the escort agency arrived, Cheng Shaotang and Cheng Shaoan were packing up their stall to go home. Upon hearing the news, they paused and asked in a low voice, “Is anything missing?”

“We counted, but nothing seems to be missing. Brother Cheng, I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but it feels like someone has been watching me these past few days, making me very uneasy,” Tang Jinyuan said quietly.

Cheng Shaotang seemed lost in thought, a vague guess forming in his mind.

Could it be about that box? If so, the other party probably didn’t know that Xiao Mu had switched the items, and now they were in his hands.

Thinking of the box he had buried in his cellar, he felt it was like a hot potato. He couldn’t keep it, yet couldn’t get rid of it.

With his mind preoccupied, he had no heart to comfort Tang Jinyuan. If it really was the work of the person who killed Chief Escort He, it seemed that they couldn’t find what they wanted at the chief’s house, so they went to the escort agency, probably suspecting someone inside, hence sending someone to watch.

He had been busy with his tea stall these past few days and hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings. Perhaps someone was secretly observing him.

In any case, things had come to this point; he had no choice but to keep that box.

Without the chief, the escort agency was leaderless. Each escort had their own agenda, and many coveted the position of chief, setting the stage for open and covert power struggles.

Faced with the immense temptations of profit, the camaraderie forged through shared life-and-death experiences faded considerably.

Song Chao, Tang Jinyuan, Cheng Shaotang, and other bodyguards trained by the former chief escorts, who had also served the agency the longest, watched their former brothers’ faces contort over the pursuit of profit. Feeling both anger and disappointment, they gradually considered leaving.

This escort agency was no longer the one they had once worked so hard for. Perhaps since Chief Wu had left, they should have sought other paths.

To their surprise, whether due to recent misfortune or some other reason, the agency was repeatedly harassed by clients. Some accused them of negligence resulting in damaged goods; others claimed embezzlement. After several such incidents, the agency’s reputation plummeted, and business became extremely slow.

A few days later, the landlord came to the agency, citing the lease had expired, and demanded that the outstanding rent be paid within three days, or he would repossess the property.

The bodyguards had no spare money to pay rent for the already struggling agency. Within three days, seven or eight of them had left.

Cheng Shaotang and the others didn’t even have time to react, watching helplessly as the agency fell into enemy hands.

This series of events, all within half a month, if claimed to be without a mastermind, he would not believe it.

“Brother, what are we going to do now?” With the agency gone, they had lost their jobs and were forced to worry about their future livelihoods.

Song Chao pressed his lips tightly together, his thick brows furrowed, unable to answer Tang Jinyuan for a moment.

Cheng Shaotang sighed, rubbing his temples with a headache.

Just a few days ago, he was thinking of earning some money to rent a shop in the county town and continue running a small business so his wife wouldn’t have to endure the sun and rain. Now, not only could he not rent a shop, but he had even lost his job!

“Fine, if that’s the case, then we’ll have to find another way! We’re all grown men; surely we won’t starve to death!” Song Chao slammed his hand on the table and shouted.

“Brother is absolutely right.”

“It’s terrible! It’s terrible! The officials have come to arrest us!” Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps echoed in the courtyard. Cheng Shaotang’s heart tightened as the door was kicked open from the outside. Dozens of officials rushed in and, without a word, bound them.