Chapter 3

I thought I was prepared for this.

But when I saw that Gu Ze had saved that girl, Su Qing, under the nickname [sweetie] as well-

My stomach suddenly twisted into knots.

Forcing down the nausea, I scrolled through their messages, one by one.

The latest one: Su Qing sent Gu Ze a revealing photo.

[“Do I look good?”]

Gu Ze replied: [“Keep teasing me, and when I come upstairs, don’t beg for mercy.”]

[“Then tell me, between me and your wife, who’s better?”]

Gu Ze: [“Isn’t it obvious? Of course it’s you. She’s like a log in bed, so boring.”]

The moment I read that, everything I thought I knew about Gu Ze came crashing down.

It was as if a gaping hole had been punched through my chest, an icy wind howling through it, leaving me numb with pain.

Almost masochistically, I kept reading their chats.

I discovered that as early as last March, Gu Ze had already gotten entangled with her.

Before my birthday in May, Gu Ze had shamelessly helped her rent an apartment upstairs from us, just to make it easier for them to sneak around.

On our fourth wedding anniversary, Gu Ze gave me a Porsche. She got a Hermès.

But she was still dissatisfied, so she deliberately rear-ended me, provoking me right to my face.

Even when he went downstairs to buy me a bottle of vinegar, they would seize the moment to make out in the dim stairwell.

And clueless me-on that day, I was even touched that Gu Ze remembered to bring me a flower after going downstairs, so much so that I found a vase and took special care of it.

Only now do I realize that it was just a single rose plucked from the bouquet of ninety-nine Gu Ze bought to coax Su Qing.

Every time I thought Gu Ze was away on a business trip, she was always there, like his shadow.

Gu Ze took her to the most expensive hotels, wined and dined her at upscale restaurants.

By day, Gu Ze went out for work; by night, he came back to make love to her.

After business was done, Gu Ze would even stay a few more days-

Just to take her sightseeing, to check in at trendy restaurants.

At the end of last year, on a whim, she wanted to see the snow at Changbai Mountain.

Gu Ze left me sick at home, bought tickets in the middle of the night, and flew to Jilin with her.

What disgusted me most was that Gu Ze even took her to the most spiritually potent temple to pray for love.

On the red slip, Gu Ze wrote, with bold, decisive strokes: [“Gu Ze will love Su Qing forever.”]

I stared hard at that photo. Then what am I?

What does my eleven years of youth mean?