Chapter 6: Women of Diverse Charms

Li’s mother opened the living room door of her home, scarcely able to believe her eyes.

The glass coffee table gleamed, spotless inside and out, and the clutter on the counter was neatly arranged. The last time she’d been hospitalized for three days, she’d come back to find the house a veritable dump, barely a place to set foot inside the door. This time, after three days away and with only Li’s father at home, the place seemed even cleaner than when she left.

Hearing the door, Li’s father emerged from the spare bedroom. When he saw it was his wife, he looked away as though she were invisible, not saying a word.

Li’s mother was used to this. She carried her luggage alone toward her bedroom. As she passed her husband, a whiff of a long-missed scent of osmanthus powder wafted into her nostrils.

Turning, she discovered a woman standing behind her husband.

“Who is she?”

The woman, who had been timidly hiding behind Li’s father, shook like a leaf when Li’s mother shouted at her.

“Why do you care who she is? When have you ever cared about your family?” Li’s father raised his chin, his voice low and sullen.

“Don’t argue with me! Li Changshou, if you don’t explain who she is today, don’t blame me if your reputation is ruined and you fall into the eighteenth level of hell!”

Her husband used to be so docile, always obedient to her will. But in the last two years, he seemed a different person, always at odds with her, even separating and giving her the cold shoulder. And now he’d actually brought a strange woman home—she was furious.

Li’s mother flung her luggage to the floor, rolled up her sleeves, and reached for her husband’s face.

The two of them were instantly at loggerheads, water and fire. The woman behind Li’s father was so frightened she didn’t dare intervene or speak, her face blanching.

If things came to blows, the woman was no match for the man. Li’s father quickly subdued Li’s mother onto the sofa.

“Um, sister-in-law, I’m his cousin’s daughter. I came from the countryside…”

Realizing it was another of her husband’s relatives here to borrow money, Li’s mother slammed the door and ignored them.

If the family hadn’t been in dire financial straits back then, she’d never have married her daughter to Fu Xiao, whose health was compromised.

Fortunately, her daughter bore Fu Xiao a son, silencing the gossips for a time. She too had basked in that brief period of pride.

But just as their debts were repaid, the in-laws’ relatives began showing up again…

Meanwhile, at the entrance to Chen Bo’s villa—

A woman in a red off-shoulder dress, a white purse on her arm, white high heels crossed elegantly at the ankles, leaned against the column by the gate. A slim, green-tipped cigarette was held between her fingers. She inhaled, then shaped her lips into an O and blew a white smoke ring into the air, her expression languid and nonchalant as she watched it slowly dissipate.

A white BMW turned the corner. Chen Bo was driving slowly, afraid to wake the sleeping Kai Kai. He noticed the woman standing at his door.

The woman had spotted his car too. She quickly dropped the cigarette, ground it out with her heel, straightened up, tossed her waves of hair over her shoulder, and arched her back into an S-curve.

The red dress, long hair, and white heels were impossible to miss—Li Tian’er had seen her at once. But no matter how beautiful a woman came looking for Chen Bo, Li Tian’er felt nothing at all.

Sensing Chen Bo sneaking glances at her, Li Tian’er simply reclined and closed her eyes, feigning sleep.

The drive had been filled with old love songs, which Chen Bo sang along to with deep, self-absorbed affection. She only hoped this ordeal would end soon; she never wanted to ride in Chen Bo’s BMW again.

The BMW slowed to a crawl. The red-dressed beauty waved and smiled sweetly through the window.

“She’s a business acquaintance of mine, a sworn little sister—Guo Li.”

Chen Bo got out and said something to Guo Li, then opened the gate and returned to drive in. By then, Guo Li had already entered the courtyard and was waiting beside the car door, standing as if she were a hotel greeter.

“Who’s she?” Guo Li stared provocatively at Li Tian’er.

“She’s my relative. You should call her sister.”

“Oh, sister? I thought she was your wife! Brother Bo, when are you going to marry your wife? We’re all waiting impatiently!” Guo Li’s tone was teasing, but Chen Bo’s displeasure was obvious. He brushed her hand off his arm, opened the back door, and lifted Kai Kai out.

“Let me carry him,” Li Tian’er offered. Chen Bo sidestepped, not wanting her to tire herself.

“So thoughtful, Brother Bo…” Guo Li pouted and swung her purse, sulking.

The voice on the phone last night hadn’t been Guo Li’s—hers was a little hoarse, and she called Chen Bo more intimately. Her every glance and gesture was designed to please him.

Li Tian’er had no wish to be the object of another’s jealousy, but if others chose to be jealous, there was nothing she could do.

Why can’t women see which men are truly worth loving?

Chen Bo treated Guo Li so indifferently that even friendship seemed a stretch, yet she persisted, warm face against cold indifference. Unless, of course, it wasn’t love, but money.

Money really is a wonderful thing.

Tomorrow, she’d start her fruit wholesale business. If all went well, she could move out in less than a month. In three months, she might even afford a replacement car.

"Chen Bo—"

As Chen Bo opened the door, a woman rose from the sofa.

She looked more surprised than Chen Bo himself. He stood in the doorway holding Kai Kai, momentarily stunned. Li Tian’er seized the moment to take the chubby child, nodded politely at the woman, and hurried upstairs.

Guo Li slipped her arm through Chen Bo’s naturally, curiously eyeing the woman by the sofa.

“When did you arrive?”

“Just a short while ago.” Liang Xia sat back down, sinking deeply into the sofa.

Chen Bo chuckled, disengaged Guo Li’s hand, and walked toward Liang Xia, settling into the armchair beside her.

“Who’s she now? Another relative? You sure have a lot of relatives!” Guo Li’s voice was shrill; she’d clearly realized she had more rivals.

Other women could ride in Chen Bo’s BMW and come and go with him. Some had the key to his villa and could walk right in. But she was left waiting outside the gate, her treatment worlds apart—she was the most pitiable, the most wretched of all.

“Watch your mouth,” Chen Bo said, his tone heavy as he raised his chin.

Reluctant to have her hand brushed aside again, Guo Li went to perch on the arm of the sofa by his side, draping her hands over his broad shoulders.

Liang Xia watched Li Tian’er ascend the stairs, barely sparing Guo Li a glance.

Liang Xia was Chen Bo’s business partner. She knew his tastes, knew what kind of woman he wanted to marry.

Over the past two years, Chen Bo had had a string of rumored girlfriends—waitresses, hotel receptionists, dance hall hostesses, shop assistants, arts students… They came and went like a revolving door.

But no matter how many women Chen Bo cycled through, Liang Xia knew that they were all just bandages for old wounds. Only one could truly heal his heart—the one who was his life-saving cure.

And now, it seemed, that precious remedy had finally landed in his hands.