I, a Scumbag, Only Flirt but Never Marry [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 4

With a click as the door closed, the hotel room fell into an eerie silence.

Chen Xiyao had just left, leaving behind a single tear that seemed to solidify in Xu Tinglan’s heart.

Xu Tinglan slightly clenched her fingers, her mind a mess.

What exactly was going on? Was even this mistress… a victim?

Xu Tinglan wasn’t born in a great era for the arts. It was still a time when excelling in math, physics, and chemistry was seen as the key to success, while arts like painting and music were considered unorthodox by parents. Moreover, supporting an art student required too much study time and financial investment, so few received full family support.

But Xu Tinglan was also lucky. Her parents had her late in life and doted on her. Both were highly educated professors with modest means but foresight. They recognized their daughter’s talent in painting, which was clearly above average, and didn’t hesitate to spend time and money to nurture it from a young age.

Xu Tinglan lived up to their expectations, winning various awards at a young age, including those from the National Artists Association and prestigious international competitions held in Paris. She sold her first painting at the age of nine and was hailed by the media as the “Girl Da Vinci,” achieving financial independence at a young age and no longer needing her parents to scrimp and save to support her.

At seventeen, she received an admission letter from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Before her visa was processed, her grandfather Xu suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage and was admitted to the ICU.

With cerebral hemorrhage, if the first attack is treated promptly, it usually doesn’t leave any sequelae. But if one isn’t careful and it recurs, the chances of hemiplegia increase significantly, and it could even be life-threatening.

Xu Tinglan was really worried about her mother, whose health wasn’t great, taking care of her father, who could have another episode at any time, all alone. Unable to find a suitable and reliable nanny for the time being, she reluctantly gave up the opportunity to study abroad and instead applied to the Hai City Academy of Fine Arts.

Wang Jianfei was a master’s student supervised by Grandpa Xu. He was steady in character and had some cleverness. Most importantly, he had a face that, while not handsome, looked honest and reliable, giving people a good impression of sincerity.

During Grandpa Xu’s hospitalization, he frequently visited the hospital and naturally became familiar with Xu Tinglan.

Xu Tinglan was beautiful and possessed an artistic aura cultivated over years of immersion in the arts. Her every move was as graceful as the maiden in Ingres’ “The Source.” It wasn’t just ordinary men like Wang Jianfei, who were easily swayed, but even women couldn’t help but feel a liking for her.

To win her over, Wang Jianfei racked his brains and used all his skills, flattering the two elderly professors until they treated him like family and had no suspicion of him, which made it easier for him to approach Xu Tinglan.

Xu Tinglan was still young at the time, just turned eighteen, and her heart was solely focused on painting. Once she started, she could paint for days and nights without sleep, almost collapsing in front of her easel. Her parents had protected her well; she hadn’t been exposed to the darker side of society and had never been in a relationship. She was like a pure, flawless piece of white paper, simple and without any guile.

As an “older” man eight years her senior, Wang Jianfei found it incredibly easy to win her over.

Xu Tinglan quickly fell for him, loving him wholeheartedly. At one point, she even lost interest in her beloved painting, spending all day on her phone, exchanging sweet nothings with Wang Jianfei, wishing they could be together every second.

Wang Jianfei was a publicly funded graduate student, so he didn’t have to pay tuition and even received a monthly stipend from the state. Coupled with his tutoring jobs and summer cram school work, he had some spare money.

But to pursue Xu Tinglan, he specifically bought a new phone, new clothes, and got a new hairstyle to package himself. He also bought many romantic but practically useless things to create surprises. His already meager savings quickly dwindled.

To save money, Wang Jianfei started eating instant noodles. He had only been eating them for a few days when Xu Tinglan found out.

Xu Tinglan had the naivety of a young girl and the lofty ideals of an artist. She believed that directly giving Wang Jianfei money would be an insult to his dignity.

To both save Wang Jianfei’s face and improve his diet, the hands that had only held paintbrushes picked up a spatula. Xu Tinglan went from a culinary novice who couldn’t distinguish sugar from salt to a master chef, having worn out countless woks for him.

In all fairness, Wang Jianfei was genuinely attentive to Xu Tinglan at that time, but this attentiveness was based on Xu Tinglan being beautiful, having a good family background, and her father being his supervisor.

Xu Tinglan, however, was truly devoted to him. Cooking was just one aspect. She herself didn’t have much concept of money. Thousand-dollar ties, tens of thousands of dollars worth of suits, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Rolex watches, as well as bags, tie clips, and various other luxury goods – she found excuses to give them to Wang Jianfei every other day. Wang Jianfei was initially a bit embarrassed, but he quickly accepted them without hesitation.

After Wang Jianfei graduated, Xu Tinglan even asked her father to intervene and arrange for him to join a listed company owned by one of his favorite students. Out of trust for his mentor, Wang Jianfei was immediately given important responsibilities and became a department manager within two years.

At the age of 30, Wang Jianfei successfully proposed to Xu Tinglan, who had just graduated from university at the young age of 22.

Everyone thought it was a good match, a talented man and a beautiful woman. As for the age difference, a slightly older man would cherish his wife more, which was also a good thing.

Who would have thought that less than two years after their marriage, Wang Jianfei would have an affair?

Xu Tinglan possessed the unique pride of an artist. She disdained to act like a shrewish woman, tearing and cursing in the streets, and even more disdained to fight over an unfaithful man. In the past, when she saw other original wives going to extremes for a scumbag, she couldn’t understand it at all.

She believed that it was actually a good thing for the original wife to recognize the true colors of a scumbag early on. An early divorce and liberation would allow her to find her true happiness sooner.

But now that the slap had landed on her own face, she realized that unless one was in the same situation, no one had the right to comment on another person’s pain.

This wasn’t like having split ends that could just be cut off; this was like tearing out something deeply rooted, flesh and bone, causing pain to the marrow and even taking half her life – something that had already become a part of her existence.

Having been accustomed to a smooth life since childhood, she didn’t know how to face the terrible situation before her.

Fortunately, the mistress had left, otherwise she was afraid she would have lost control of her emotions even more.

Her mind was in chaos, her temples throbbing painfully. The only thing that kept repeating in her mind was the question she hadn’t asked, interrupted by Wang Jianfei’s slap.

She leaned on Zhizhi, or rather, Zhizhi supported her, who was already a bit unsteady on her feet. She raised her eyes to look at Wang Jianfei, who was leaning against the wall, rubbing his waist.

“I just want to ask you one question.”

Wang Jianfei tightened the belt of his loosening bathrobe. His mind was also a mess right now. That little b1tch Chen Xiyao had pulled off a clever disappearing act. She finished her performance and walked away, leaving him to deal with the aftermath.

But no matter what, Chen Xiyao was gone, and he had lost the energy to make a fuss. His mind gradually calmed down, and his tone softened a lot.

“Ask away.”

Xu Tinglan’s lips trembled. She didn’t want to show her vulnerability in front of him, but she still couldn’t help but choke up a little.

“Why… why treat me like this?”

Wang Jianfei clutched his waist and limped over to the bed, sitting down and leaning against the headboard with a long sigh. “I made a mistake that all men in the world make.”

“Pui!” Before Xu Tinglan could speak, Zhizhi couldn’t help but explode. “Did your dad have an affair? Or did your mom have you with the old man next door? What ‘mistake that all men in the world make’?! You’re the one being promiscuous, yet you have the nerve to blame the wind! Where do you get the face?!”

Wang Jianfei’s expression instantly changed. “Ma Yanzhi! This is none of your business!”

Zhizhi was known for her arrogance and was about to jump up and start a fight with Wang Jianfei, but Xu Tinglan gently pulled her back.

Xu Tinglan lowered her head and smiled bitterly, tears almost falling. She quickly raised her head again, forcing herself to hold them back.

“According to you, all men will have affairs? Then what’s the point of the monogamous marriage law?”

Wang Jianfei glared at Zhizhi, who was still rubbing her fists, feeling a faint pain in his scalp where his hair had been pulled. He said irritably, “A hundred years ago, it was still polygamy. What’s currently in place isn’t necessarily reasonable. Who knows what the marriage system will be in another hundred years?”

Zhizhi instantly blew up. “You’re a scumbag, and you still have the nerve to argue?! Why don’t you go back a few thousand years and talk about the matriarchal clan society?!”

“How long did matriarchy prevail? Polygamy has existed for thousands of years!”

“So what if it’s been thousands of years? If it’s unreasonable, it should be eliminated!”

“Arguing with me is useless. I want to see how faithful your future husband will be.”

“I… I won’t get married in the future!”

“Alright, alright, I’m watching you. If you have the guts, don’t get married.”

“I just won’t!”

The two continued their pointless argument. Wang Jianfei was being unreasonable out of guilt, while Zhizhi was just furious.

Xu Tinglan only felt the noise in her ears, her head buzzing, stars in her eyes, and a suffocating feeling in her chest. She turned around unsteadily and staggered towards the door.

Zhizhi couldn’t bother with the argument anymore and quickly chased after her to support her.

“Where are you going?”

“Home…”

The word “home” caught in her throat.

She didn’t want to go back to the house she shared with Wang Jianfei, a place that could no longer be called “home.”

But where else could she go?

She wasn’t good at hiding her emotions. If she went back to her parents, they would definitely notice something was wrong.

Zhizhi was her best friend after all and saw her dilemma. She quickly said, “Let’s go to my place. My parents will be back late, so we won’t run into them, and you won’t have to deal with anything.”

It seemed that was the only option.

Wang Jianfei didn’t stop her. He was annoyed himself and needed to calm down.

Zhizhi supported Xu Tinglan as they took the elevator down to the first-floor lobby. Just as they were about to leave, the lobby manager suddenly called out to her.

“Hello, are you Mr. Wang Jianfei’s wife?”

Xu Tinglan forced herself to nod, barely holding herself together. “Is there something wrong?”

The lobby manager took out a small paper package wrapped in several layers of transparent tape and handed it to her.

“A Miss Chen asked me to give this to you, saying it should be returned to its original owner.”