The 99th Divorce

The sound of whimpering coming from upstairs caught Jiao Ziqing’s attention. She quickly went up when she heard the sound. When Yu Lili heard her footsteps, she wiped the tears off her face and stood up.

Jiao Ziqing ascended the stairs just in time to see Yu Lili squatting at a corner in tears. She took one look at Yu Lili’s tear-stained faced and creased her brows. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“I’m fine.” Yu Lili wiped her face and forced a smile. “Auntie, Ou Ming seems to be in a bad mood. May I remain here?”

Remain here outside? Jiao Ziqing’s forehead creased in annoyance. The way Yu Lili had phrased her plea didn’t sit well with her at all. What was that supposed to imply?

“May I remain here?” clearly meant that Yu Lili was worried that she wouldn’t be allowed to squat by the wall. When that sank in, Jiao Ziqing was extremely unhappy.

She rolled her eyes at Yu Lili. Without giving any answer, she headed toward Ou Ming’s room. She knocked on the door gently and called out, “Son, are you inside there? Please open the door.”

There wasn’t an immediate response. Yu Lili also waited expectantly for a reply.

About 10 seconds ticked by before Ou Ming replied, “Mom, I would like to be alone for a while. Don’t come in.”

“Are you in a bad mood? Why don’t you talk to me? Perhaps your mood would improve after talking it out with me?” Jiao Ziqing was persistent.

In her mind, this woman beside her had been scolded and insulted by her several times over. At not one of those instances did she cower. Now, due to something Ou Ming had done, she was crying terribly. What on earth did he do?

Furthermore, Ou Ming had always been so protective of this woman. How could he bear to reduce her to tears?

Something had to be wrong!

“It’s fine. I’m tired. I’m going to sleep,” Ou Ming tonelessly said. Other than his bad mood, nothing else out of the ordinary could be detected in his voice.

When Jiao Ziqing heard that, she had no choice but to give in. She turned to Yu Lili and said, “Come down and have a chat with me.”

Yu Lili looked back at Jiao Ziqing. She felt very unsettled.

Once downstairs, Jiao Ziqing brewed a cup of tea for Yu Lili and asked, “Did you and Ou Ming get into a fight?”

Yu Lili took the cup from her and shook her head.

“Then, what happened?” Jiao Ziqing asked.

That was the question burning inside Yu Lili as well. What happened? Even she couldn’t arrive at any explanation as to why Ou Ming was suddenly treating her this way. The tears that she had been fighting so hard to keep at bay came pouring out again.

Yu Lili took a deep breath and tried to restore a calm appearance before speaking. “Perhaps Ou Ming wanted some time alone to himself. He’s in a really bad mood. Thankfully, he finished his lunch.”

Despite how much she disliked Yu Lili, seeing the lady in such a state made Jiao Ziqing feel uncomfortable. But, being of a stubborn personality, Jiao Ziqing couldn’t bring herself to give Yu Lili any words of consolations.

With a look of annoyance still etched on her face, she said, “You look so ugly crying! What are you even crying about? My son isn’t dead! Since my son chased you out, why don’t you just go home? When he calls for you, I’ll let you know.”

Yu Lili panicked when she heard that. “Auntie, Ou Ming’s bad mood will only be temporary. It’ll get better after some time. Can I just sit here?”

Jiao Ziqing didn’t reply.

Yu Lili quickly added, “If you feel that I’m in the way, I’ll wait by Ou Ming’s door instead. That way, if he calls me, I’ll be able to hear it right away.”

Jiao Ziqing swallowed her original words and replied, “Have it your way!”