About a year ago, my superior introduced me to Lu Li. At that time, I was twenty-five, and Lu Li was thirty. He was a tall and handsome man, a department manager at a financial company, and his conditions were quite exceptional. We quickly got our marriage certificate after a period of passionate dating.
During the early days of our marriage, Lu Li was very romantic, always bringing me gifts of surprises out of the blue. Also, he seldom came home late. Even if he had social engagements, he took me with him. Half a year later, I got pregnant. He wanted me to resign from my clerical job and focus on looking after our unborn child at home, and just like that, I transformed from a little white-collar worker into a full-time housewife, depending on Lu Li for everything.
But then, the seeds of marital problems were quietly sowed. Every time I thought about what happened that day, I shivered all over.
In early October, the sultry weather ended. I was waiting for Lu Li's return from work at home, as usual, carrying our four-month-old unborn child.
I had prepared a table full of dishes but he didn't show up even after mealtime, so I gave him a call.
Lu Li picked up quite quickly: "Tang Ying, what's the matter?"
"Nothing, darling. I just wanted to ask when you'll come home."
Lu Li silenced for a few seconds and said, "I've got a dinner to attend tonight. Some of my superiors invited me, and I couldn't decline, so I might return late."
Since I'm pregnant, Lu Li has stopped bringing me along to these social gatherings. He mentioned that since there's always alcohol involved at these dinners, it's not suitable for me. As a result, our relationship had also gradually cooled off.
I responded quickly with an 'okay’: "Then when do you think you'll be back......"
Before I could finish, the phone hung up abruptly.
To be frank, even though Lu Li was explicit about returning late, I still sat at the dining table unmoved.
Without knowing, two hours had slipped by. Looking at the table full of turned-cold dishes, I finally choked, collapsed and passed out.
Lu Li didn't come home until eleven o'clock that night. For some reason, I instinctively closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.
The sound of his belt and keys rubbing against each other as he took off his trousers was very clear.
It didn't take long for Lu Li's phone to ring again, speaking in a hushed voice, he said: "I'm home now, don't call me anymore."
Something about him had definitely been off lately. Having that woman's intuition, I sneaked out of bed to grab his phone once he fell asleep.
Ever since we got married, I've never invaded his privacy by checking his phone, why he never set a password.
Looking through the call log, I worked out the timings and found that particular call. It was a string of digits, not a single name was saved, but the location it displayed was Shanghai.
Not long ago, Lu Li had traveled to Shanghai on a business trip. He had no friends there, and if it was a customer he was supposed to save their name, which made this call seem suspicious.
I made a return call, and it was a woman who answered. Over the phone, she cooed: "Hmph, weren't you the one who told me not to call you?"
Just then, Lu Li turned over in his sleep. I panicked and quickly hung up the call, even throwing the phone on silent mode.
Thankfully, Lu Li didn't wake up. My heart was pounding, but I went ahead and rifled through the entire phone.
I checked WeChat, QQ, the mail app; I didn't miss a thing. But, other than work emails and spam texts, nothing unusual popped up.
Feeling relieved, I tried to console myself. It's probably just me overthinking. However, upon accidental sliding my finger, I ended up opening a local video. My eyes widened in disbelief.
It was a video of a man and a woman making love.
They were frolicking in the grass, drenched in sweat. The man's face wasn't visible, but the woman's face was full of bliss, their private parts explicitly exposed.
After getting pregnant, I had stopped sleeping with Lu Li. Considering he was young and healthy, I thought it could be normal for him to download videos like this.
I was just about to turn it off when I noticed the man's hand desperately groping the woman's chest in the footage.
Stunned by this detail, I froze, taken aback.
