On the Wedding Night, I Transmigrated to After the Divorce – Chapter 80
by Little PandaRage
Both Spying and Surveillance
Why on earth did Fu Yunqing go out of her way to apply for remote work, yet tell her that it was required by the university?
Why did Fu Yunqing lie?
If the reason was truly as she claimed—that working from home allowed her to keep her company all day—why couldn’t she just say so?
It wasn’t as if Yu Yan would’ve found it unacceptable if she’d been direct. In fact, she would’ve been delighted, wouldn’t she? She would’ve felt that Fu Yunqing loved her deeply, that Fu Yunqing was incredibly clingy, and that Fu Yunqing truly couldn’t bear to be apart from her. She would’ve been utterly smug about it.
Upon first discovering the deception, Yu Yan had felt an impulsive urge to get to the bottom of it. But after careful deliberation, she hesitated.
What would be the consequences of rashly exposing everything?
If Fu Yunqing really only saw her as a little cat to be humored and coaxed at will, how could she expect her to tell the truth?
She’d probably just spin another reason to coax her. After all, everything that came out of her mouth always sounded so convincing; Yu Yan had never once doubted her before.
And because she’d trusted her so implicitly, the deception was all the more difficult to accept.
Yu Yan had only dared to bring it up casually after her class, acting as if nothing were amiss. “Is your school really that generous? They actually let everyone do online classes just to make it easier for the students to study for exams.”
And her response had been a gentle smile, a nod, and a soft, “Mhm.”
It was so tender, so natural—just like the soothing answers she always gave whenever Yu Yan asked out of curiosity about their past.
She made Yu Yan second-guess herself, wondering if there was some misunderstanding she didn’t know about in the information she’d received.
In her heart, Yu Yan still leaned toward her jiejie.
She desperately wanted to believe her Fu-jiejie.
This cycle of constant self-doubt battled in her mind for several days, only to grind to a sudden halt on one ordinary night—
Fu Yunqing was still working from home. Aside from her fixed teaching hours, she did most of her work while Yu Yan was taking her afternoon naps or before Yu Yan woke up in the morning.
But on this particular night, Yu Yan woke up in a daze after falling asleep, only to find that Fu Yunqing wasn’t in bed.
The bathroom light was off as well.
She found it strange, but before she could get out of bed to look for her, Fu Yunqing pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Yu Yan squeezed her eyes shut to feign sleep. She felt a slight dip in the mattress as Fu Yunqing sat on the edge of the bed, though she didn’t lie down right away.
Yu Yan felt a pair of eyes staring at her, holding her gaze for a long time. Her heart began to race, but she forced herself not to open her eyes.
After a moment, the intense sensation of being watched faded. Even with her eyes closed, Yu Yan could tell that a light had turned on.
What was Fu Yunqing doing?
Peeking through a tiny sliver of her eyelids, Yu Yan saw her sitting on the edge of the bed with her neck bent, holding a glowing phone in her hand.
In the pitch-black room, that single beam of light illuminated her face. Her eyes were cast down, her expression veiled by her thick lashes. Yu Yan could only infer from the rapid, steady swipe of her thumb that she was reading something with intense speed and concentration.
Fu Yunqing never let her use her phone in the dark, telling her it’d be bad for her eyes. Yet here she was…
Yu Yan found it baffling.
Suddenly, she noticed something.
Dangling from the bottom of the phone Fu Yunqing was holding was a small charm—a tiny jade ornament that swayed gently in the air with each tap of her thumb. Fu Yunqing’s phone never had anything like that attached to it…
Yu Yan’s heart jolted.
—Fu Yunqing was looking at her phone.
Panic surged within Yu Yan. For the next several nights, she forced herself to stay awake to watch her. She discovered that Fu Yunqing wasn’t nearly as free as she appeared; every few days, she’d slip away to the study to work after Yu Yan fell asleep, usually returning to bed after midnight. And almost every single night, she’d open Yu Yan’s phone, look through it, and return it exactly where she’d found it.
Yu Yan had always been a deep sleeper, drifting off quickly. If not for that accidental awakening, she might’ve gone her entire life without ever finding out.
It turned out Fu Yunqing really did know her passcode.
It turned out Fu Yunqing had been secretly spying on her entire life, right in the places she couldn’t see.
When had this started?
She was so practiced at it; it must’ve begun long before Yu Yan caught her.
Which meant she knew everything. Whether it was An Qiu inviting her to act, or her mouth cannon1 jokes with Lu Yu about escaping, or who she messaged every day and what she said—she knew it all.
She knew everything…
And Yu Yan knew nothing…
Yet they still spent every single day joined at the hip.
Yu Yan watched her maintain her usual gentle facade, acting as if nothing were wrong. Whenever their eyes met, there wasn’t a trace of anything amiss in her gaze. No matter what Yu Yan asked, her replies were perfectly seamless. The more flawless she was, the more uneasy Yu Yan became. She was simply too good an actor.
She was too good at pretending.
Her acting was far too brilliant.
It turned out she truly knew nothing about her.
Yu Yan couldn’t help but wonder: apart from this, what else had she lied about?
She’d believed every single thing Fu Yunqing said. Beneath those words she’d trusted so implicitly, how many other straight-faced deceptions lay hidden?
And what about their past?
What had their past really been like?
How they got together, the little moments of their daily life, the romantic details, the reasons they broke up—everything had been told to her by Fu Yunqing.
Was any of it true?
Yu Yan despised deception. Once a lie began, the crisis it brought stretched far beyond the immediate moment, far beyond the present.
She was terrified that everything was a fabrication, yet she was torn. She didn’t want to think so poorly of Fu Yunqing, because she’d felt her genuine goodness.
Fu Yunqing really was wonderful to her.
Living together day in and day out, Fu Yunqing’s love was incredibly patient and accommodating. Every morning, she’d tirelessly coax her out of bed for breakfast, reminding her to wear socks when getting out of bed. When they went out, she’d often wrap a scarf around her neck with her own hands. On the street, she always kept Yu Yan protected on her right side, keeping an eye out for any danger Yu Yan might miss.
She desired her—desired her intensely— and would whisper her love over and over when that desire burned hottest.
Yet many of her intimate gestures had nothing to do with lust. They came so naturally, as if they were the most proper things in the world: trimming her fingernails, checking her ears, applying ointment to her blemishes, rubbing lotion over her body, and even washing her hair and bathing her afterward. Though she’d tease her occasionally, she never pushed her to the point of genuine embarrassment, caring for her with a quiet, maternal security.
Every few days, she’d inspect her teeth, reminding her to brush thoroughly and warning her that getting cavities filled would hurt. Recently, Yu Yan’s wisdom tooth had flared up again. It had swollen so badly and inflamed so repeatedly that it had to be extracted. Knowing how terrified of pain she was, Fu Yunqing had taken her to the hospital and comforted her so deeply before she entered the extraction room that her fear had vanished entirely. All she could think of was that Fu Yunqing was waiting for her outside.
After the extraction, while the anesthesia hadn’t worn off yet, Yu Yan had a cotton ball stuffed in her mouth. She didn’t feel any pain, so she’d been quite smug2. But the moment the nurse pushed the door open, she looked up and locked eyes with Fu Yunqing, whose gaze was filled with deep, immediate worry as she rushed forward to ask if it hurt.
Before Yu Yan could even register the discomfort, Fu Yunqing’s heart was already aching for her.
During the grueling days of swelling and throbbing that followed, when sleep was impossible, she’d rested her head on Fu Yunqing’s lap while she gently held an ice pack against her cheek.
All of this was real… an incomparable devotion that no one else could match.
And as for her desire to work, Fu Yunqing hadn’t brushed her off. She’d brought several scripts for her to choose from, detailing exactly how she’d map out her path if she truly wanted to enter the entertainment industry.
Everything happening to her left Yu Yan utterly lost.
The deception was real, but the love was real too.
The path ahead seemed shrouded in a dense fog. When she thought about the future, she was at a complete loss. She didn’t know which way to go, nor did she know if she should just stay put and maintain this peaceful, quiet facade.
But keeping up appearances meant continuing to live like an obedient pet under her lies and constant, privacy-violating surveillance. Yu Yan couldn’t bear it.
What if she tore it open?
Would they have another massive fight? Or would she just be coaxed with more sweet lies? With a rift like this, could they ever truly mend things?
Should she leave?
No. Yu Yan knew she couldn’t afford to be blind, reckless, or impulsive. She could clearly feel that love—that profound, heavy love. Fu Yunqing wasn’t someone she could treat lightly. She could no longer simply run away with the carefree detachment of her earlier plans.
Yu Yan was afraid of making her sad, afraid of making her angry, afraid of disappointing her.
And she was afraid of certain consequences that she might not be able to bear.
Her mind was in complete disarray. There was a scale in her heart, and she kept adding weight to the left, then to the right, hesitating for a moment before throwing the balance into chaos all over again.
No matter how much she pondered, it always ended in a tangled mess.
Suddenly, Yu Yan desperately wanted her memories back. She thought, if only she could remember everything, wouldn’t it all become clear? She’d know exactly what kind of person Fu Yunqing was, and what had really happened between them in the past.
Then she could make her decision without a second thought, and her life would finally get back on track. Right?
If only she could remember everything, she wouldn’t have to go on living in this endless state of conflict and anxiety.
When Fu Yunqing finally had to leave the city on a business trip, Yu Yan actually felt a wave of relief. Distracted and unable to reach any conclusions on her own, she’d arranged a time to meet up with Lu Yu.
And it was because of this that she completely confirmed the reason Fu Yunqing had been working from home and not going out: she was monitoring her.
To test her reaction, Yu Yan had intentionally informed her beforehand that she was going out for lunch with Lu Yu. Fu Yunqing had readily agreed, only telling her to come home early. For a brief moment, Yu Yan had naively thought she was simply being too cynical.
Fu-jiejie had no intention of monitoring her, nor would she restrict her freedom. Perhaps she only snuck looks at her phone because she knew Yu Yan’s past flirtatious reputation and felt insecure, wanting to see if she was cheating behind her back?
Once she realized Yu Yan was completely devoted to her, she’d put her mind at ease and stop doing things like that.
Until Lu Yu shook her awake with a single question.
“Isn’t that person your driver? Why is she following you everywhere you go?”
After having lunch at a restaurant, the two had gone to a cafe for afternoon tea. They were sitting on the second-floor terrace when, in the middle of their conversation, Lu Yu glanced to the side and spotted Dan Lin sitting in a corner, her eyes locked onto their table.
Yu Yan froze as realization struck.
Of course…
Whenever she went out on her own, no matter where she went, Dan Lin was always right there. She was never out of her sight.
Dan Lin was just a driver. Yu Yan wasn’t some high-profile celebrity; did she really need a bodyguard trailing her every move? Was the public safety in Yuncheng truly that terrible?
There was no protection here. This was surveillance.
Fu Yunqing monitored her at home, and she monitored her outside.
Could it be that she was really just a little cat or dog to her, and going out for a walk even required someone to hold her leash?
In an instant, a surge of rage rose in Yu Yan’s chest.
The author has something to say:
Sorry for being late! I’m completely out of drafts now. I’ll do my best to update at 8:00 PM (though I might be late). If I can’t update before midnight on any given day, I’ll take a leave of absence.
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