Yan Feifan had no idea how much time had passed. He opened his eyes again and found the room completely dark.

The light from outside seeped faintly through the curtains.

Light from the living room also filtered in through the carved glass above the door.

Yan Feifan glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table.

10:38 PM.

He vaguely remembered getting home around four in the afternoon. By that count, he had slept for over six hours.

Yan Feifan took stock of his body.

Though he could still feel a pervasive weariness, and his limbs felt sore and leaden, his mind was no longer so groggy.

At the same time, the hunger in his stomach and the fullness of his bladder urged him to get out of bed.

Yan Feifan got out of bed, pushed open the door, and let his eyes adjust to the light in the living room.

He saw his sister in floral pajamas, lounging on the sofa and playing on a tablet.

At the other end of the sofa, Yu Suye, wearing pink embroidered pajamas, sat cross-legged, flipping through a medical journal.

Yan Feifan ignored them and went straight into the adjacent bathroom.

After he relieved himself and washed up, he came out of the bathroom to see Yu Suye walking over from the dining area with a plate of food.

“Feifan, you must be hungry, right?”

“This is from the trial meal Mrs. Su made. She saved it especially for you.”

Yan Feifan sat on the sofa. A few minutes later, his sister and Yu Suye had arranged a small meal of six dishes and a soup on the coffee table.

The dishes included braised pork belly, braised fish fillets, black pepper beef, and white cut chicken, along with two vegetable dishes. The soup was a three-delicacy soup.

Probably because they had been reheated, the dishes didn’t look as vibrant, but Yan Feifan found the aroma to be quite rich.

Yan Ziruo handed him a bowl of rice and said, “Feifan, you were sleeping like the dead, so we didn’t wake you.”

“Mrs. Su also made a few seafood dishes, but we figured they wouldn’t taste good reheated, so we didn’t save any for you.”

Yan Feifan murmured an “oh” and had a couple of spoonfuls of soup to start, then picked up a piece of braised pork belly and put it in his mouth.

‘It was a good balance of salty and sweet, and not too greasy.’

Yan Feifan tried a piece of the black pepper beef and the white cut chicken, then nodded. “Not bad. A lot better than my own cooking.”

Yan Ziruo smiled faintly. “Feifan, since you don’t have any objections, I’ll go ahead and make it official.”

“She’ll work five days a week, room and board included.”

“Her main duties will be breakfast and dinner, grocery shopping, laundry, and keeping the house clean.”

“On weekends, she’ll go home to take care of her daughter, who comes back from her boarding school.”

“The pay is two hundred a day.”

Yan Feifan grunted in agreement. “Sis, if you think she’s a good fit, then let’s hire her.”

He turned to Yu Suye and asked, “Has Mrs. Su gone to bed?”

Yu Suye nodded. “At home, my mom usually goes to bed between nine and ten.”

“Tonight, she went to bed just after eight.”

“Is she tired?” Yan Feifan asked casually as he ate.

“She’s upset.”

Yan Ziruo shot her brother a look. “This morning, you didn’t show Mrs. Su’s friend the slightest courtesy.”

“And then tonight, you were fast asleep and didn’t join her for dinner. Of course she’s going to be upset, right?”

Yu Suye quickly said, “It’s fine. My mom gets over things quickly. She’ll sleep it off and be fine by tomorrow morning.”

“Besides, Feifan didn’t do anything wrong today. It’s my mom who’s overthinking it and feels like she lost face.”

Then she asked excitedly, “Feifan, did you perform a kidney removal surgery last night?”

Yan Feifan hummed in affirmation.

Yu Suye said excitedly, “Plastic surgery and trauma surgery are closely related, but urology is pretty far removed from trauma surgery.”

“Feifan, is there anything you can’t do?”

Yan Feifan said nonchalantly, “Kidney removal is a very standard, routine procedure. It doesn’t mean much…”

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Yan Ziruo got up to open the door and found their downstairs neighbor, Xia Yan.

“Were we being too loud?”

Xia Yan quickly shook her head and said in a small voice, “I came to ask for help. Excuse me, is Mr. Yan in?”

“He is. Please, come in!”

Yan Ziruo invited Xia Yan into the living room and said to Yan Feifan, “Feifan, she’s here for your help.”

Yan Feifan looked at the somewhat uncomfortable Xia Yan and took the initiative to ask, “Is your husband feeling unwell again?”

“Or is there a problem or question about your hearing therapy?”

Xia Yan shook her head again. “It’s neither of those.”

She bit her lip and said softly, “Mr. Yan, I want to divorce my husband. I don’t have many friends, and I was hoping you could help me.”

‘Divorce?’

Yan Feifan could still vividly recall Xia Yan’s behavior that one night.

She had been blaming herself for not being able to effectively help her husband, even deciding to step out of her comfort zone to treat her auditory hypersensitivity.

It was clear that Xia Yan deeply loved her husband.

So little time had passed, and now things had taken a complete one-eighty, heading straight for divorce.

Yan Ziruo and Yu Suye, their gossip-loving hearts now piqued, quickly invited Xia Yan to sit down.

Yan Ziruo even brought Xia Yan a glass of warm milk.

Faced with the eager gazes of the Yan siblings and Yu Suye, Xia Yan opened her mouth, then lowered her head and stared at her feet.

“A few days ago, I found out I’m a joke.”

“A pathetic creature kept in a cage.”

The topic broached, Xia Yan raised her head again and looked at Yan Feifan.

“When he was unexpectedly hospitalized this time, I planned to get treatment for my auditory hypersensitivity without telling him, so I could stay by his side and take care of him.”

“But I never expected that leaving the house a few times to get treatment at the Affiliated Hospital would also lead me to see his true colors.”

Xia Yan said with a pained expression, “I accidentally discovered that he has another family on the side, with a child who’s already five or six years old.”

“And me? I was just a money-making tool he kept caged up.”

Hearing this, Yan Ziruo’s face filled with fury, and she shouted, “That bastard deserves to be struck by lightning! He’s an animal!”

Her loud voice made Xia Yan flinch.

Yan Ziruo quickly covered her mouth and apologized softly, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t control myself.”

Xia Yan managed a weak smile. “It’s okay.”

“Mr. Tan told me that my auditory hypersensitivity is largely due to psychological reasons.”

“As long as I face it bravely, my condition will get much better.”

Xia Yan sighed again. “All these years, he just did everything he could to create a quiet environment for me and tried his best to keep me from going out.”

“I thought he loved me and cared about me. I never imagined he just wanted to coop me up at home so he could have all the fun he wanted outside.”

After a pause, Xia Yan added softly, “Two days ago, I confronted him and told him I want a divorce.”

“But he just laughed at me. Said I don’t dare to make phone calls, don’t dare to talk to strangers, and that without him, I’d starve to death.”

“He also told me that our home is just an empty shell, that he’s transferred all the money to his other family.”

“If we divorce, I’ll be left destitute, with nothing.”

Xia Yan met Yan Feifan’s gaze, her face set with determination. “I would rather die than keep living with a man like that.”

“Mr. Yan, I don’t have many friends. After thinking it over and over, I realized you’re the only one who can help me…”

Yan Ziruo cut in directly, “Mrs. Xia, you don’t have to say another word.”

“I’ll help you with this.”

“Damn it! A bastard this shameless… I refuse to believe that in a society governed by law and justice, he can just get away with this!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep