BDBE 10

Chapter 10 The Problem Remains Unsolved

On Monday evening, Shen Wanchao was diligently studying at his desk in the small study. 

His guest room didn’t have a dedicated desk, so Shen Wanchao had borrowed a small lamp from Zhou Mingchen and moved a portable desk from Zhou Hui’s study, which had been gathering dust for years, to make do for two nights. 

Ultimately, he couldn’t stand the cramped space of the portable desk; he’d spent the entire night picking up pens and papers to do his homework. On the third day, he decisively moved his battlefield to the small study. 

The small study was Shen Wanchao’s original studio, with floor-to-ceiling windows connecting to the balcony, excellent lighting, and a row of withered succulents. 

After staring at the seemingly incomprehensible problem for ten minutes, Shen Wanchao pinched the bridge of his nose and decided to go out and get a glass of water before returning to tackle the challenge. 

Indeed, mathematics is the purest thing in the world; if you don’t know it, you just don’t know it. 

Even if you lived a second life, you still wouldn’t know it. 

Shen Wanchao had just stepped out of his room when he heard someone open the door. He paused slightly and saw Zhou Hui come home. 

Zhou Hui leaned against the wall to change his shoes, and loosened his tie. His fatigue was undisguised. 

Shen Wanchao walked up to him, and as the fabric rustled, he caught a whiff of tobacco and a faint smell of alcohol emanating from Zhou Hui. 

“You’ve been drinking?” 

Zhou Hui only then noticed Shen Wanchao, he reflexively took a step back and replied, “Yes, a few drinks.” 

Shen Wanchao felt increasingly worried. 

After graduating, Zhou Hui had gone to work at his dad’s company, and after many years, the business had long since stabilized. It was rare to see him so busy and worn out in the last two years. 

And he’d been drinking. 

Seeing that he was having trouble changing his shoes, Shen Wanchao held out his hand: “Give me your tie and coat.” 

Zhou Hui looked up at him and suddenly smiled: “Thank you.” 

Only after holding the coat in his arms did Shen Wanchao realize that, given his current status, he shouldn’t have offered to help him with his clothes. 

But if he had to explain, he could say that he wanted to be attentive because he was living under someone else’s roof. 

Shen Wanchao sighed inwardly. 

Habits really do kill you. 

The clothes that the Alpha had worn all day, besides other random smells, had a faint pheromone scent. 

A woody fragrance as subtle as morning mist; if Shen Wanchao hadn’t been so close and so familiar with this scent, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. 

Shen Wanchao suddenly felt his cheeks slightly hot and unconsciously touched the glands at the back of his neck that were also burning. 

How strange, he had been smelling this scent for over twenty years, and he was clearly used to it. 

Why did it suddenly feel a little off today? 

It was as if he had returned to the time when they first got together. 

A single glance, a fleeting breath, could ignite a raging fire. 

Shen Wanchao forced himself to stop his wild thoughts, and quickly said to Zhou Hui before turning to leave, “I’ll go make you a bowl of egg drop soup, so you don’t have an upset stomach after drinking alcohol.” 

Zhou Hui watched Shen Wanchao’s retreating figure. 

After a moment, he collected his thoughts and went to Zhou Mingchen’s room. 

Zhou Mingchen was pretending to do his homework. 

His phone was under his notebook, with a chat app running. 

The client was trying to avoid paying the final payment by claiming his order was late; he sent a middle finger emoji and then blocked the client before they could respond. 

When Zhou Hui stood at the table, Zhou Mingchen acted like he had been so engrossed in his work that he didn’t hear the door open and looked up to see him. 

“I’m doing my homework, what are you doing?” he said in a disdainful tone. 

Zhou Hui glanced at the back of the book cover, which reflected a faint fluorescent light, but chose to ignore it and went straight to the point: “Teacher Yang called me and said you’ve been skipping class a lot lately. What’s going on?” 

This was a fact, and there was no deeper reason. 

Zhou Mingchen leaned back in his chair while staring at the twirling pen in his hand. He exhibited a passive resistance and said nothing.

Zhou Hui continued, “Your dad isn’t home, so your reason for wanting to spite him is no longer valid. I know you don’t really hate studying, and you’re not unable to learn. Don’t ruin your future for a moment of anger, okay?” 

The brat remained silent. 

Zhou Hui stopped there; he didn’t say anything more to annoy him. Before leaving, he tapped the workbook with his fingertip, “The book’s upside down.” 

Zhou Mingchen: “…!” 

The door closed again, and the rebellious boy finally moved his lips, 

“Tch, no matter what I become, that person won’t care. What difference does it make whether I study or not?” 

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Making egg drop soup was simple. In less than five minutes, Shen Wanchao turned off the stove and came out of the kitchen. He went to the master bedroom to look for Zhou Hui since he couldn’t find him outside. 

Shen Wanchao pushed the door and peeked in first, but found no one in the room. 

The sound of running water came from the bathroom; it seemed he was taking a shower. 

Just as Shen Wanchao was about to leave, Zhou Hui’s phone, which he had placed on the bed, suddenly vibrated and the screen lit up. 

Shen Wanchao paused for a moment, then quietly walked to the bedside to pick up the phone. 

The phone unlocked automatically the moment Shen Wanchao lifted it to his face, and the message that had just been sent appeared before his eyes. 

Wen Hua: [File] 

Wen Hua: This is a draft of the divorce agreement. Take a look and see if there are any changes needed. Lao Liu said he can help represent you in the case. 

Shen Wanchao’s mind went blank after reading the short message.

Without thinking, he opened the file and quickly browsed the contents of the agreement. 

Ten minutes later, Shen Wanchao sat on the sofa, staring at a colorful postmodern painting hanging on the opposite wall. 

He hadn’t expected Zhou Hui to be preparing for a divorce. 

In those ten minutes, Shen Wanchao’s emotions changed several times. 

The initial surprise at seeing the message quickly passed, followed by extreme anger. He wanted to rush into the bathroom and confront Zhou Hui about how shameless he could be. 

He was the one who was unfaithful to the marriage first, and had an affair with someone else. Yet, before Shen Wanchao even considered divorce, Zhou Hui had already consulted a lawyer and even prepared an agreement. 

After his anger subsided, Shen Wanchao finally calmed down and began to seriously consider separating from Zhou Hui. 

They had known each other since before their first tooth grew in, and had been together ever since. They occupied the vast majority of each other’s lives. 

In Shen Wanchao’s past thirty-seven years, Zhou Hui had been present in every scene, at every crossroads. 

Separating from such a person would be like having his bones and flesh torn out. 

Shen Wanchao slowly lowered his head. The endless, dazzling neon lights outside the window reflected off one side of his cheek, while leaving a deep shadow on the other.

Zhou Mingchen came out of the room, he rubbed his stomach as he asked, “What smells so good? Is there any for me?” 

For this young boy, the most important things in life were going to school, eating, and playing. Shen Wanchao suddenly felt envious as he looked at the other’s untroubled face.

He stood up from the sofa and said, “There’s soup in the pot, and bread in the fridge if you’re hungry. Tell your dad to drink the soup when he comes out. I’m going to rest now.” 

“Oh.” Zhou Mingchen sensed that Shen Wanchao was unhappy, but before he could figure out how to ask, he had already closed the door. 

Back in his room, Shen Wanchao flopped onto the bed and buried half his face in the down pillow. 

His thoughts drifted away, and Shen Wanchao thought of a photo sent from an unknown number more than a month ago. 

In the photo, Zhou Hui and another young man whose face was obscured were standing very close, their posture was ambiguous; the angle was so clever that it wouldn’t be wrong to say they were kissing. 

Aside from the photo, the unknown number left no other information. 

Shen Wanchao carefully investigated the people who might have been around Zhou Hui that night and identified the most suspicious person, Zhou Hui’s newly hired intern secretary, named Han Zhen, a male Beta, only 24 years old. 

Because the face of the other person in the photo was obscured, Shen Wanchao couldn’t be 100% sure that person was Han Zhen. 

He didn’t want to wrongly accuse an innocent person, so he didn’t plan to question Han Zhen. 

He originally wanted to confront Zhou Hui directly, but coincidentally, he had just attended an afternoon tea party with a group of wealthy ladies at the invitation of Mrs. Huo. 

At the tea party, they started discussing the topic of spousal infidelity. They shared a lot of gossip they knew, whose husband had cheated on them, who had been having affairs behind their husbands’ backs… It was clear from their conversations that they were quite accustomed to this kind of thing. 

During the gathering, someone vividly recounted how her friend, upon discovering her husband’s infidelity, foolishly confronted him. Her husband, already planning a divorce, simply went along with it. However, after the divorce, she repeatedly pleaded but was unable to see her child again, while her former husband’s lover shamelessly became her child’s stepmother. 

Mrs. Huo hummed while sipping her tea, “So stupid. Why confront him before being fully prepared?” 

At the tea party, Shen Wanchao dismissed these stories as mere passing clouds. When that photograph appeared, he thought of the tea party, of Mrs. Huo, and even had a dream in which Zhou Mingchen obediently called a beta whose face he couldn’t see “Dad.” 

Thus, Shen Wanchao abandoned the idea of confronting Zhou Hui. 

Furthermore, post-production on the documentary had just begun at that time, requiring his supervision, and the matter was repeatedly postponed. 

Until half a month ago, when Shen Wanchao woke up one morning to find himself back to his 18-year-old self, he hadn’t figured out how to deal with it, nor had he mentioned it to Zhou Hui. 

Why did Zhou Hui suddenly want a divorce? 

He should be the one to bring it up! 

Shen Wanchao angrily punched his pillow. 

At the same time, there was a knock on the door. 

Zhou Hui’s muffled voice came through the door: “Can I come in?” 

Shen Wanchao remained silent, his face buried in the pillow. 

Zhou Hui asked again, “Are you asleep?” 

How could he be asleep? He’d only been in the room for less than a minute. 

“I’m opening the door,” Zhou Hui said. “Speak up if you don’t want me to come in.” 

Shen Wanchao hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn’t stop him from entering. 

Zhou Hui entered and saw Shen Wanchao lying on the bed, his face buried in the pillow, only the round back of his head visible. He couldn’t help but smile. 

“Thank you for the soup.” Zhou Hui came to the bedside. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” 

Shen Wanchao sat up, his bangs disheveled, and shook his head. 

Zhou Hui looked down at his expression and asked softly, “Unhappy?” 

Yes, he was very unhappy right now, wishing he could scratch the face of the man in front of him. 

Even while he entertained those thoughts, Shen Wanchao’s face remained expressionless, and he continued to shake his head: “No, I’m just sleepy.” 

Zhou Hui suddenly reached out. His warm, broad palm gently landed on Shen Wanchao’s forehead to check the temperature, then quickly withdrew and pressed his own forehead against it to confirm. 

“It’s good that you’re not feeling unwell.” 

As he moved, the overly sweet scent of shower gel, mixed with a heavy woody fragrance, forced its way into Shen Wanchao’s nostrils. 

He was clearly still angry, but after smelling the familiar pheromones, his body calmed down. 

This made Shen Wanchao even angrier. 

He glared at Zhou Hui, unable to resist a cold snort: “Uncle, we’re not related, why are you so nice to me? Aren’t you afraid I’ll misunderstand?” 

Zhou Hui was taken aback by what he said, and tentatively asked in a low voice, “Don’t you want me to treat you like this?” 

Shen Wanchao laughed in anger, sweeter than when he genuinely laughed: “Uncle, are you this nice to every Omega or Beta? I bet a lot of people like you, right?” 

Zhou Hui frowned, he found Shen Wanchao’s smile particularly irritating. 

“Okay, I understand.” Zhou Hui’s hand fell down. “Don’t overthink it, go to sleep.” 

The door closed, Shen Wanchao fell back onto the bed, rolled around a couple of times, and simply got up to turn off the light before burying himself in the covers.

On the table, the math problem that had been temporarily put aside still hadn’t been solved.