"Let me hold him," she said.
"But Madam, your health..." Mother Wu worried she wouldn't be able to bear it.
Then, seeing her red and swollen eyes, Mother Wu gasped in shock, "Madam, what's wrong? Has someone bullied you?"
Shen Zhiyu gave an awkward shake of her head. "No. I'll take Zhouzhou upstairs first."
Behind her followed Mother Wu and Uncle Wang's worried gazes.
Carrying Zhouzhou, Shen Zhiyu paused on her way to the nursery as a thought struck her, and she headed straight for the master bedroom instead.
When she gently placed Zhouzhou on the bed, he still gripped her collar with a trace of unease, whispering, "Mommy, don't cry."
The tears she had just managed to hold back nearly fell again.
Tipping her head back, she forced the tears away.
She gently patted Zhouzhou's back. "There, there, Zhouzhou. Mommy is right here. Mommy isn't crying."
Surrounded by the warm, comforting scent of his mother, Zhouzhou slowly drifted off to sleep, his chubby little hands gradually releasing their grip on her shirt.
Looking at the tiny, curled-up bundle of toddler in her arms, Shen Zhiyu felt her heart soften completely.
She leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her son's cheek, carefully tucked the blanket around him, and stood up to go to the bathroom.
She had cried far too hard; not only were her eyes swollen, but she was covered in sweat.
She wouldn't feel comfortable until she washed up.
As she stepped out of the bathroom, a buzzing vibration rang out!
It was her phone, resting on the bedside table.
She glanced at the toddler on the bed; his brow furrowed slightly, on the verge of being woken up.
With a few quick strides, she rushed over, silenced the phone, and gently patted her son's little bottom to soothe him back to sleep.
Free of the annoying buzz, Zhouzhou's brow relaxed as he continued sleeping.
Not long after being silenced, the phone vibrated again.
Shen Zhiyu felt a flicker of annoyance.
Who on earth was calling at this hour to disturb her time with her little one?
When she saw the caller ID read [Sugar Daddy], her red lips pressed into a thin line.
Lu Yunzhan.
Her husband by arranged marriage.
The Shen and Lu families were old family friends.
The previous matriarchs of both families had been best friends.
When the two of them married, they had agreed that if they had a boy and a girl, they would become in-laws.
Lu Yunzhan's mother had been rather fortunate, conceiving just three months after marriage.
Her own mother had waited three years before having her.
She and Lu Yunzhan had gotten engaged as adults and married right after graduation—a celebrated, perfect match in City A that everyone envied.
Only she knew that her relationship with Lu Yunzhan was nothing like the loving romance outsiders imagined. They merely respected each other like polite guests.
In her past life, she only learned after her death that Lu Yunzhan held a first love deep in his heart.
Thinking of her son's helplessness and despair, and her own utter powerlessness, Shen Zhiyu's eyes flared with intense hatred as she decisively deleted his contact name and blocked his number.
Looking at her son's chubby little face on the bed, she smiled with satisfaction.
My baby, Mommy won't let anyone bully you.
Not even your biological father.
Meanwhile, Lu Yunzhan, who had just finished work and on a whim wanted to call his wife, listened to the cold, automated voice coming through the receiver. His handsome brow furrowed slightly.
The formidable aura around him instinctively flared.
Refusing to believe it, he called again.
The same cold voice sounded in his ear.
What had happened?
This time, Lu Yunzhan called Uncle Wang.
"What is Madam doing?"
Uncle Wang looked up toward the hallway, walked around the corner, and honestly recounted everything that had happened that afternoon.
"She cried? Look into it." Lu Yunzhan hung up, his fingers absentmindedly playing with the bracelet on his wrist.
Shen Zhiyu had bought it for him for his birthday.
He didn't like wearing accessories; previously, the gifts she gave him were always ties or watches, making this the first time she had ever given him jewelry.
Unable to resist her earnest pleading, he had put it on.
And after wearing it for a while, he had simply gotten used to it.
Uncle Wang was thorough in his work, and by the time Shen Zhiyu came down for dinner, he had already reported his findings to Lu Yunzhan.
Lu Yunzhan stared at the information Uncle Wang sent to his phone, deep in thought.
His wife had always been terrified that public gossip would harm their son Zhouzhou, and she never appeared in his social circles.
Yet today, she had unexpectedly gone out.
Not only that, but she had held their son and cried.
Had someone bullied her?
At that thought, Lu Yunzhan couldn't sit still anymore. He instructed his executive assistant to look into what had happened around his young wife, and simultaneously arranged for a few highly skilled bodyguards to protect her and their son.
Shen Zhiyu knew nothing of this. She had originally intended to rest for a bit alongside her son.
Instead, when she woke up, she found that both she and her son had swollen eyes.
In the living room, the lights blazed brightly.
Mother and son wore matching panda-patterned pajamas, sporting identical walnut-sized eyes as they stared at each other in blank dismay.
Pfft—both of them burst out laughing.
When Zhouzhou smiled, his eyes curved into crescents, and his eyelashes fluttered like wings, looking utterly adorable.
Full of enthusiasm, Shen Zhiyu pulled Zhouzhou over to take a selfie.
Click after click, their matching walnut-sized eyes were captured in the photographs.
Mother Wu walked over carrying four small ice packs. "Madam, you use yours yourself. I'll help the young master."
Taking the ice pack, Shen Zhiyu said guiltily, "Thank you, Mother Wu."
As she applied the ice, she thought to herself that venting her emotions carried quite a heavy price. She couldn't cry like that again next time.
The ice compress worked wonders; the matching swollen eyes on mother and son faded considerably.
During dinner, Shen Zhiyu eagerly filmed a video of Zhouzhou trying hard to eat all by himself.
Noticing that Mommy was filming him, Zhouzhou hastily put on a proper, restrained expression and ate with great care.
Watching him, Shen Zhiyu burst into another fit of laughter.
Teased by his mother, Zhouzhou's little face flushed red, his chubby cheeks nearly burying themselves in his bowl.
"Alright, Mommy won't laugh anymore. Eat up, Zhouzhou." Shen Zhiyu put down her phone, propping her chin on her hand as she looked at him. "Once you're full, Mommy has something to tell you."
After dinner, instead of heading upstairs, the mother and son sat huddled together on the sofa.
Shen Zhiyu's long legs were crossed, while Zhouzhou's short little legs dangled and swung, looking impossibly cute.
Looking up at her with soft, innocent eyes, he asked, "Mommy, what did you want to tell me?"
"In a couple of days, Mommy is going to take Zhouzhou on a show with me." Choosing a speaking pace that Zhouzhou could easily understand, Shen Zhiyu continued, "It's the kind where lots of children go on a trip together."
Zhouzhou stared blankly at Shen Zhiyu, forgetting even to swing his chubby little feet.
He was utterly overwhelmed by this wonderful surprise.
"Really?" Was Mommy really going to take him on a show?
"Of course it's true. When has Mommy ever lied to you?" Shen Zhiyu reached out to stroke her son's head; his hair was thick and soft, a delight to touch.
Unable to resist, she patted it a few more times.
The toddler's hair was completely ruffled by her petting.
After the initial wave of joy, the toddler couldn't help but knit his little brow in anxious worry. "Will this affect Mommy's career?"
What kind of precious little toddler was this?
So cute and sensible.
Ah, right—he belonged to her, Shen Zhiyu.
Shen Zhiyu hugged the toddler tight, planting a flurry of loud kisses on his chubby cheeks before saying, "Mommy is very capable. Zhouzhou won't affect Mommy's career in the least."
With his face being kissed by his mother, and hearing that he wouldn't hinder her career, Zhouzhou felt a wave of shyness wash over him, yet he couldn't stop a wide grin from spreading across his face.
Even if this were just a dream, he had already won a whole evening of Mommy's tenderness.
How wonderful.
When it was time to rest, Shen Zhiyu adamantly insisted that the toddler sleep with her.
Clutching his panda pillow, the toddler's eyes lit up, but his mouth quickly puckered into a pout. "But Daddy said Zhouzhou is a big boy, and big boys sleep by themselves."