These few people were my best friends. In my previous life, when my family was ruined by Pei Heng who had gone mad for love, they were the ones who reached out to help me. Although they still couldn’t withstand Pei Heng’s power, adversity reveals true friendship, and their sincerity was forever engraved in my heart.
So I told them about my decision to divorce Pei Heng.
Except for the part about being reborn.
After hearing my words, the three of them fell silent for a few seconds before bursting into applause together. “Great! To celebrate our Yi Yi breaking free from love addiction, we’re getting drunk tonight!”
“Cheers!” I shouted happily too, raising my glass high like the White Bone Spirit.
I seemed to see myself, after divorcing Pei Heng, running freely toward a new life, leaving the tragedy of my previous life far behind.
After getting somewhat drunk, the courage of us four women quickly inflated.
Li You patted my shoulder and said, “Yi Yi, see if there are any handsome guys here that catch your eye. Don’t be afraid—if you like someone, go for it! Since Pei Heng keeps having affairs all day long, we can’t lose to him!”
“Th-that makes sense.” With drunken eyes, I scanned the surroundings until my gaze settled on a silhouette.” He was tall and slender, and judging by his clothing, he seemed quite young—a college student perhaps?
If Pei Heng could find a female college student, I could find a male college student too.
Holding my glass, I stumbled over and reached out to pat the young boy’s shoulder. “H-handsome, want a drink? M-my treat…”
The young boy turned around—quite handsome, with a bit of a pretty-boy vibe.
He looked at me in surprise at first, then shook his head apologetically. “Sorry, sister, I have a girlfriend.”
“Ah, is that so? Ah, sorry then, I’ll find someone without a girlfriend…” I bowed deeply to the young boy. The alcohol had numbed my language center, and I didn’t even know what I was saying. I turned in another direction to continue scouting for candidates.
But before I could take two steps, I tripped over someone else’s messy footsteps, and the glass in my hand shattered into pieces.
My head was spinning, and after falling to the ground, I had the strange thought of wanting to sleep right there.
“Sister, let me help you up!” It was the male college student offering assistance.
Sitting on the ground, I looked up at him with a flushed face.
Why was I having visual hallucinations? The male college student’s face had transformed into Pei Heng’s, staring at me coldly.
I struggled to get up but ended up pressing my palm onto broken glass. Bright red blood gushed out. After staring blankly for two seconds, everything went dark before my eyes and I fainted.
“Xu Zhiyi, do you think your family can stop me?” In my dream, I saw Pei Heng’s cruel and cold face again.
Like a madwoman, I sat collapsed in the disastrously messy living room, tears streaming down uncontrollably.
When my parents learned that Pei Heng wanted to divorce me, they joined forces with the Pei family elders to pressure him.
Pei Heng wouldn’t listen to any advice, stubbornly insisting on his own way, even paying a huge price to ruin the Xu family.
The Pei family elders went from initially opposing and reprimanding him, to reluctantly helping him, until eventually I heard they had accepted Wei Lan too.
Under Pei Heng’s obstinate protection, she gradually gained the approval of Pei Heng’s parents.
Most importantly, Wei Lan was already pregnant by then.
“Pei Heng, I’ve loved you for ten years. Don’t you have even a little feeling for me?” Covering my face, tears slipped through my fingers once more.
“No, Xu Zhiyi. I gave you the chance for a peaceful separation, but you didn’t cherish it.” Pei Heng told me coldly, then his phone rang with a special ringtone – Wei Lan’s clear, melodious voice singing out.
“Mr. Pei, please answer the phone! Mr. Pei, hurry up and answer the phone!”
Listening to that sweet ringtone and watching Pei Heng quickly walk away, I felt the world spinning around me, with sharp pains shooting through my chest.
In the suffocating agony, I suddenly woke up.
“Huff… huff…” I gasped heavily, only to realize I was in my own bedroom. Sunlight streamed through the window, accompanied by birdsong and the fragrance of flowers.
How did that Male College Student bring me back to my home?
Glancing at my bandaged hand, I pressed my throbbing temples and tried to look for the Male College Student, but instead heard Pei Heng’s voice coming from outside the door.
“You guys go ahead and have fun. I’m not in the mood today.” He leaned against the second-floor railing, a cigarette between his fingers, his voice lazy, his profile as straight as a pine tree.
Leaning against the doorframe, I watched him approach and asked, “Where did you hide him?”
“Who?” Pei Heng’s thick eyebrows furrowed deeply.
“The Male College Student,” I replied.
It was rare to meet a man I liked besides Pei Heng, and I was somewhat reluctant to let him go.
Anyway, in a month, Pei Heng would enter his crazy mode for another woman. I might as well choose a spiritual comfort angel early to transfer my pain.
Hearing my answer, anger instantly spread across Pei Heng’s handsome face. He glanced at what I was wearing, then grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the bedroom’s walk-in closet. “Damn it, change out of this! Who allowed you to wear something so provocative?”
Provocative?
I looked down at the slight swell of my chest – the weak curves entirely dependent on the fabric’s full support.
I felt this word didn’t suit me. Besides, why should a man who doesn’t love me care whether I’m provocative or not?
“Pei Heng, is it true that you checked into a hotel with that Innocent Flower Female Artist the other day?” I didn’t move, instead asking him calmly.
“None of your business,” he replied as always.
“Then I’m none of your business from now on either. If we’re not getting divorced, then let’s each do our own thing,” I said lightly.
After all these years, without the nourishment of love, I at least need to find some hormonal comfort.
So this is what giving up feels like – really quite comfortable. I no longer have to feel happy or sad because of Pei Heng; my soul is finally returning to my body.
Men are naturally hypocritical – they can go out and have fun themselves, but their wives must follow the three obediences and four virtues at home.
Pei Heng was no exception. He didn’t love me, but I was still nominally his wife.
“Trying to cuckold me?” Pei Heng sneered, then reached out maliciously to pull open my black deep-V neckline. “Do you think any man would like this kind of figure?”
I looked down – the pasties completely covered everything, not revealing anything at all.
These were the smallest size pasties available.
I pushed his hand away and calmly straightened my clothes. “I’ll eat more from now on, drink more papaya milk, and try to accumulate enough assets to put more green hats on your head.”
“Xu Zhiyi, have you fucking lost your mind?!” Pei Heng finally couldn’t take it anymore. He stared at me. “Have you taken the wrong medicine these past two days?”
The old Xu Zhiyi was steady, generous, understanding, and considerate – how could she possibly spout such nonsense?
If my father heard what I just said, he might have a heart attack from anger.
But only by first becoming a madwoman could I escape from Pei Heng, who was on the verge of madness.
Without Wei Lan’s appearance, he would never have divorced me. A marriage of convenience was never a game one could abandon at will. He was such a rational man—weighing pros and cons was his specialty.
And I truly couldn’t bear to go through the agony of watching him fall in love with someone else again.
“Then divorce me,” I proposed once more.