The 99th Divorce

“You didn’t eat much. Are you already full?” Qiao Ziqing shouted at his back. Ou Ming ignored her and kept walking.

Shen Manting and his parents could see that Ou Ming was unhappy.

Shen Manting felt a little embarrassed. She looked at Qiao Ziqing and asked, “Aunt, is it good for us to force him like this?”

Qiao Ziqing looked after Ou Ming disapprovingly and said, “You would be wrong to question yourself. When it was time for your uncle and me to get married, he acted just like Ou Ming. At the time, he was so unwilling to go through with it. However, you can see that he treats me well now. Trust me when I tell you that all men must be forced into action. If you don’t force him, he won’t understand.”

Shen Manting nodded at Qiao Ziqing’s words and felt relieved. She smiled brilliantly and said, “My grandmother told me the same thing. Men will be responsible after they get married, Ou Ming has a great sense of responsibility, and he will certainly be a good husband.”

Qiao Ziqing was very happy to hear Shen Manting say such nice things about her son. It did not take them long to turn their attention back towards the wedding.

…

Ou Ming walked irritably out of the house, lit a cigarette, and dialed the number to his private pharmaceutical research institute. He wanted to know if the experts had found a way to duplicate Shen Luo’an’s medicine successfully. He listened as the experts explained their work in detail, but ultimately, the drug was not ready.

His lousy mood suddenly became worse. He could see no end to his engagement with Shen Manting without the medicine his mother needed to stay alive.

I regret everything. If I had known this would’ve happened, I never would have brought Yu Lili back from the capital.

Things will not stay calm for much longer. A storm is rising again, and it will soon swallow us whole. Yu Lili is very sensitive right now, and if I tell her that something wrong, she will think the worst.

What should I do?

Ou Ming took several long drags from his cigarette and noticed that his headache felt worse than it had inside. He took out his keys and started making his way towards the car. Before he could open the door, he heard Ou Huojin’s voice, “Xiao Ou.”

When Ou Ming heard him, he turned his head towards the house. Ou Huojin stood at the door. Even from the long distance, Ou Ming could see his father’s peach blossom eyes, so like his own, but with little wrinkles around the corners. His father looked at him meaningfully and said, “Let’s talk.”

…

Ou Ming did not come home, so Yu Lili was in a terrible mood.

After dinner, Yu Lili had utterly lost her motivation to draw. She laid in bed, her mind full of fantasies. She wanted to call Ou Ming, but she dared not do it.

What if he thinks I’m annoyed?

In my current position, what right do I have to ask him who he was with or where he went?

Yu Lili had been so happy with the way things had been going. Now, she was very disappointed.

There are still too many problems between us.

Yu Lili was too upset to sleep. She spent a while tossing and turning before she eventually got up to take a bath. Afterward, she went to the study and continued working on the pictures she had started earlier.

It was almost eleven o’clock, and Ou Ming had still not come back yet.

Yu Lili felt her heart drop into her stomach. She picked up her cell phone and called Ou Ming. His voice came through quickly: “Why are you still up?”

Ou Ming’s gentle question reassured Yu Lili a little. She pouted and said, “I can’t sleep without you here. Where are you?”

Ou Ming was silent for a long time. Finally, he said, “I’m not coming back tonight.”

Yu Lili’s disappointment magnified with Ou Ming’s news. It swallowed her up like the tide of a rising storm.