For Your Happiness - Chapter 40 - "The Gift"

Wu Di was lying on the bed looking at his laptop, while Shao Han emerged from the bathroom and sat down at the vanity to brush her hair.

“What gift did you pick out for Wang Chufan?” Wu Di asked.

“A bag, a skirt.”

“I was really nervous today. Before we went to dinner, Xu Zhuo called me and told me something.”

“Oh?” Shao Han waited for Wu Di to continue.

“That Old Fox has taken a liking to you?” Wu Di still spoke in a calm voice.

“What?” Shao Han pretended not to understand.

“Xu Zhuo told me, at the cocktail party he had ulterior motives, told me to be careful.”

“Oh, did he?” Shao Han replied nonchalantly.

“Can’t you feel it?” Wu Di finally took his eyes off his laptop and looked at Shao Han, as if questioning how she could not feel a man’s advances.

“What feeling? Some things shouldn’t just be felt randomly, right?”

“Even if it’s not random, you should be able to feel something different, why haven’t you ever mentioned it to me?”

“Mention it? How? He didn’t clearly say anything, just hint through feelings? Isn’t that being presumptuous?” Shao Han explained.

“I could help you analyze it.”

“Let it go, he’s leaving tomorrow anyway, let’s not talk about him anymore.”

“Huh? Why do you dislike mentioning him so much, it seems like you always interrupt whenever he comes up.” Wu Di was curious.

“Do I? Just feels a bit odd, let’s not think about it.”

“Alright, I’ll mark his name with a highlight.”

“Highlight?”

“Yeah, he must be an enemy, watching him, trying to steal you away, this villain.” Wu Di spoke like a child, seemingly very upset.

Shao Han turned around and laughed at him. “Fool, am I something to be stolen?”

“Oh, that’s not certain. Now that my leg isn’t great, and I don’t know if there will be any lasting effects, what if I end up disabled, and you run off with some bad guy.”

Before Wu Di could finish, Shao Han threw a plush doll at him.

“Ah! A hidden weapon.” Wu Di blocked it with his hand. “Already plotting to murder your own husband.”

“Do you have paranoia?” Shao Han huffed as she walked over to the bed.

“Spare me, I dare not.” Wu Di bowed with his fists.

Annoyed with Wu Di, Shao Han turned her back to him and said, “I don’t want to deal with you.”

“Hey,” Wu Di called out to her.

Shao Han didn’t respond.

“Hey,” Wu Di repeated, shaking her shoulder, but Shao Han still ignored him.

“What’s wrong?” Wu Di leaned over, his chin brushing against her face.

“Nothing. I just feel like you never trust me.”

“I do trust you.”

“Forget it, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m tired and want to sleep.” Shao Han felt uneasy again. She didn’t want Wu Di to know about Wang Chufan to protect their relationship, but this had only led him to doubt her. Why couldn’t he just trust her?

Wu Di watched Shao Han’s back, his heart aching, unsure of what had happened to their love, which had suddenly acquired a different flavor.

The next day at work, Shao Han received a package. Shocked, she opened it to find a dark red dress she had picked out for Wang Chufan’s wife. A note fell out:

“Shao Han, forgive my rashness. It was merely a sincere expression of my feelings. We are both adults, and I know boundaries must be respected. This is a gift I wanted to give you. When you wear it, I’ve decided it belongs to you; only you can bring out its beauty. Please don’t reject it, or throw it away. Your admirer: Wang Chufan.”

Shao Han walked to the window, her hand instinctively touching her chin as she pondered how to handle the dress and this special gift. The doubtful look from Wu Di the previous day still haunted her. She sighed, turned back, and admired the expensive and beautiful dress, impressed with her own taste. It was just Wang Chufan that she found difficult to handle. Fortunately, he was far away in Beijing. Perhaps this matter was now concluded.

Suddenly, her phone rang. It was Shao Bin.

“Hello, what’s up?”

“Hehe, good news,” Shao Bin couldn’t stop smiling.

“Good news?” Shao Han glanced at the calendar. “Isn’t it still a while until Liu Xin is due?”

“Hehe, we had an ultrasound today. The doctor said it’s a boy,” Shao Bin said with a laugh.

“Ha, you… breaking the rules.”

“I found a good friend to secretly… haha, I was anxious, so I…” Shao Bin is also a male chauvinist, extremely fond of boys.

“Hmph, everyone wants a boy like you, where are you going to find a wife then?” Shao Han couldn’t understand these men.

“Haha, haha.” Shao Bin was still giggling.

“However, congratulations.” Shao Han felt a sense of pride as well.

“Thank you.”

“Do Mom and Dad know?”

“I told them.”

“Take good care of your wife, you’re going to be a father in three months.”

“Yes. I’m really nervous.” Shao Bin said happily. Shao Han felt a bit sad, wondering when she would be able to become a mother. Maybe next year?

After hanging up the phone, Shao Han didn’t know whether to feel happy or worried.

When she got home in the evening, Shao Han took out the dress Wang Chufan had given her and threw it on the sofa, saying to Wu Di, “This is a gift from Wang Chufan.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Di’s eyes blazed with anger: “Throw it away.”

“Throw it away?”

“Can’t bear to?”

“What can’t I bear?” Shao Han looked at Wu Di, and their eyes met. Shao Han averted her gaze: “Don’t worry, I won’t wear it, but it doesn’t have to be thrown away. Let’s give it away.”

“Throw it away.” Wu Di was firm, “Do I not have money? Can I not afford to buy? Why keep it? If we are giving something away, I will use my own money to buy it.”

“You!” Shao Han understood why he was angry, but it felt weird to just throw it away. “Alright, I’ll give it to Mengmeng tomorrow. She will be thrilled.”

“I told you to throw it away.” Wu Di roared.

“Can you not make a scene? I brought it home to tell you this because I didn’t want to hide anything from you, to avoid any unclear situations.”

Angry, Wu Di picked up the dress from the sofa, opened the front door, and threw it outside. Shao Han watched silently. Wu Di turned around and said, “Why accept gifts from others?”

“It was sent to me.”

“Why didn’t you throw it away immediately?”

“Can you be reasonable? Randomly throwing things away is not my style, and I didn’t plan to wear it.”

“Remember, besides me, you are not to accept gifts from any other man,” Wu Di said fiercely.

“You!”

Suddenly, Shao Han felt a severe stomach pain. Wu Di, annoyed that her condition flared up, saw Shao Han lose her strength to argue further and no longer wished to continue their quarrel.

“So, your proactive behavior yesterday was because you felt guilty,” Wu Di wouldn’t let it go.

“What are you talking about?” Shao Han grew angry.

“Guilty, huh? Did some other man give you a gift, and that’s why you were so forward? It was hardly like you; how is that supposed to make up for it?” Wu Di said, infuriated.

“You… you’re being too much. Here I was, concerned about your leg, and you twist it into something so ugly,” Shao Han’s eyes brimmed with tears.

“How would I know? Did you promise someone else something? Is that why you felt guilty and tried to appease me?”

“Wu Di! You! I hate you.” Shao Han ran out of the house. As she dashed toward the door, Wu Di instinctively reached out to grab her, but she was too fast. All he heard was the loud slam of the door, and he stood there, stunned.

Shao Han left the house without her phone, car keys, or money. Tears streamed down her face as she descended the stairs. It was dark outside, nobody could see her face clearly. She bit her lower lip, letting the tears flow, and eventually sat down by a secluded pavilion in the neighborhood, covering her mouth with her hands as she continued to cry.

Such careful protection only brought about this outcome, and her heart ached immensely. She thought of the past, how Wu Di used to dote on and love her, and now his suspicious and explosive behavior puzzled her-sometimes warm and loving, other times erratic and full of doubts. What went wrong?

Perhaps there is a law to love. For men, their passion is intense, but once they’ve won over the woman they desired, their thoughts wander beyond her. Women, initially possessing a sense of self, often lose it once truly captivated by a man, dedicating themselves entirely to him.

It’s always this mismatched, alternating love, and in the gaps of these alternations friction arises, leading to misunderstandings.