Inside a second-floor private room of a café near the group headquarters building, two men sat facing each other, their two cups of coffee untouched.
Xu Yiwen unhooked the string of the document envelope and laid three documents out on the table in order. “The one from a year ago couldn’t be found. This is a new one I had my lawyer draft, in triplicate. I’ve signed all of them.”
Hearing this, He Xihuan instantly shifted his gaze, which had been lingering on the window outside, over to the table.
The prominent characters “Divorce Agreement” pierced straight into his pupils, causing He Xihuan’s breath to stall and his brow to furrow deeply.
He had originally thought Xu Yiwen took the initiative to invite him out to apologize for what happened last night and to ask him to look over some investment materials for the Xu family.
He never expected that Xu Yiwen’s intention last night was to unilaterally notify him of a divorce.
Seeing He Xihuan staring at the documents with a gloomy expression, making no move to flip them open and showing no intention of speaking, Xu Yiwen added:
“If there are any parts that need modification or supplementation, you can have your lawyer refine them and send them to me, and I will sign them again.”
“I suggest that this matter can be postponed before informing both of our families.”
“After signing the agreement and obtaining the divorce certificate, we can then put on an act of having a strained relationship. We’ll take it step by step so that Mom and Dad can accept it more easily.”
Xu Yiwen’s exceptionally calm tone sounded as if he were conducting a transaction that had already been decided upon, completely devoid of emotion and reluctance.
He Xihuan lifted his gaze to look at Xu Yiwen, then lowered his eyes to flip open the documents for a look.
Across all three documents, Xu Yiwen had signed his name.
His signature was composed of bright, clear characters that looked very nice when written on a blackboard, but on this piece of white paper, it looked utterly agonizing.
He Xihuan picked up one document and tore it diagonally downward from the middle of the top edge of the paper, splitting the connected strokes of the character “Yi” right in half.
He Xihuan tossed it away casually, and the small piece of paper drifted down, sinking into the coffee, instantly obliterating the contents of the agreement and blurring the black handwriting.
Xu Yiwen, witnessing He Xihuan’s actions, made no move to stop him; his expression merely shifted slightly.
He knew that He Xihuan was dissatisfied with this agreement.
In that case, he could quietly wait for the revised agreement from He Xihuan.
“The coffee you ordered isn’t fit for human consumption.”
He Xihuan stood up and strode straight toward the exit.
Xu Yiwen stood up as well, gazing at He Xihuan’s retreating back with a flat tone. “Then I’ll wait for the revised agreement. You can just have your lawyer send it directly to me.”
The words left behind dropped to the floor, transforming into fine, dense thorns that pierced He Xihuan, causing his footsteps to grind to a halt.
He turned around, strode back, and tore all of the remaining two documents to pieces as well, throwing them aside. “Xu Yiwen, who do you think you are? You treat this marriage like something you can just enter and leave whenever you please. Are you playing games with me?”
He abruptly clamped his hand around Xu Yiwen’s chin, his voice carrying obvious resentment. “Let me tell you, there is no such deal in this world. I am not signing this agreement.”
The chair was kicked backward by Xu Yiwen’s instinctive leg movement, producing a loud scrape.
After steadying his posture, Xu Yiwen faced He Xihuan directly, his eyes carrying a hint of confusion. “Isn’t this what you wanted? Consider it me returning what I owed you from a year ago.”
“Modify the agreement however you like; I agree to all of it.”
“You.” Veins bulged on He Xihuan’s forehead, and an inexplicable fire burning deep within his internal organs choked the words right out of him.
He slowly loosened his grip, turned around, and walked toward the private room’s door.
Xu Yiwen rubbed his jaw and, before He Xihuan could walk out, hastily offered a few words of persuasion:
“He Xihuan, stop throwing a child’s temper tantrum. There’s no need to delay important matters and important people just to spite me.”
“Doesn’t the He family have assets abroad? You can completely choose to accept life overseas.”
Xu Yiwen thought to himself that he had already made his hints quite obvious.
However, the moment those words fell, what he got in return was He Xihuan slamming the door shut with even greater fury.
Xu Yiwen paid the bill, left a tip as compensation, and sat in the private room for a while longer.
Standing by the window, Xu Yiwen could see an office building not far away.
That was the He Group headquarters building, and He Xihuan’s office was on the top floor.
For He Xihuan, who was accustomed to looking down on everything and keeping the entire situation under his control, did today’s solemn and normal chat count as being toyed with?
Xu Yiwen let out a faint sigh.
Clearly, he was only three years older than He Xihuan, so why did communicating with him feel like there was a massive chasm in between?
It wasn’t even as effortless as chatting with Dr. Cong.
Thinking of this, Xu Yiwen made a phone call to Cong Rui to ask about the situation with Xu Baoan and Xu Baoning.
Hearing that Xu Baoan and Xu Baoning might still sleep for a few more hours, Xu Yiwen asked Cong Rui to pass a message to the housekeeper to send the two children back to the Xu residence once they woke up.
After finishing the call, Xu Yiwen finally went downstairs.
“Xu Yiwen!” Duan Shuye, who was buying coffee downstairs, spotted Xu Yiwen and waved to greet him.
Duan Shuye was He Xihuan’s chief assistant and also his good buddy.
The moment Xu Yiwen caught a glimpse of Duan Shuye, his head started throbbing.
Duan Shuye was thorough and meticulous in his work, but overly exuberant in his personal life.
On the day he and He Xihuan got married, everything had been going fine. During the kissing segment after exchanging rings, He Xihuan had tried to brush it off by kissing his own thumb, but Duan Shuye had deliberately exposed him right there on stage.
As a result, Xu Yiwen’s first kiss was gone.
Xu Yiwen bit his lower lip and forced a fake smile at Duan Shuye as the latter walked toward him. “Chief Assistant Duan, hello.”
“What a coincidence,” Duan Shuye smiled, deep crow’s feet forming visibly at the corners of his eyes. “Are you here to see President He?”
“Hey,” he stopped right beside Xu Yiwen, not giving the latter a chance to answer, and immediately switched to a gossipy expression. “Did you two newlyweds have a fight?”
Xu Yiwen’s fake smile stiffened. “Of course not.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Duan Shuye rattled off his words quickly and densely. “I just ran into President He, and he was boiling with anger, completely different from how he’s been the past few days.”
“Good thing there’s a private elevator, otherwise poor wage slaves like us would have to make a life-or-death choice between being scared out of our wits and taking the stairs.”
Watching Duan Shuye put on a show of trembling in fear, Xu Yiwen bitter-smiled as he exposed him. “Don’t you usually ride the private elevator together with He Xihuan?”
“My empathy is very strong, I totally projected myself into it,” Duan Shuye chuckled twice, then continued. “You have no idea, the moment President He got to his office, he chewed out a bunch of people.”
“Scared those little assistants so much they didn’t even dare go in. That’s why I came down to buy some coffee to comfort them.”
Hearing this, Xu Yiwen lowered his head and tapped his phone a few times. “Buy some desserts for everyone as well. My treat.”
Only then did Duan Shuye notice he had received a red envelope from Xu Yiwen.
“I have some things to take care of, so I’ll be leaving first. See you around.”
The moment Duan Shuye looked up, Xu Yiwen had already walked out of the café.
Duan Shuye clicked to accept the red envelope, internally marveling at the situation. Little President He, oh Little President He, with such a great Omega, why on earth do you have to act up? You end up with a stomach full of anger, and we end up with a stomach full of desserts.
Duan Shuye sent a message in the assistants’ group chat: The boss’s wife is treating everyone to desserts as a consolation. Drop what you want to eat in the group.
Attached was a screenshot of the chat showing the red envelope interface.
Assistant Li Xiao had her phone resting on her workstation and swallowed nervously.
“President He,” she unlocked her phone and presented it to him with both hands. “Would you like to send yours first?”
He Xihuan stared fixedly at the message in the group chat and the words in the screenshot that read “I’ll thank Mr. Xu on everyone’s behalf!”, his expression gloomy.
Divorcing him, was Xu Yiwen really that happy? So happy that he specifically sent a red envelope to treat the people working under him to desserts?
“I haven’t agreed yet!” He Xihuan tossed the crumpled, wrinkled document at Li Xiao. “Get Duan Shuye to my office immediately.”
“Got it, President He.”
Seeing He Xihuan walk back into his office, Li Xiao and the other assistants hurriedly messaged Duan Shuye in the group chat.
Brother Duan, it’s bad. President He ordered you to report to his office immediately.
Brother Duan, if you had sent that message just a few seconds later, it would have been fine. President He just chewed us all out in the assistant bullpen and was about to leave.
Brother Duan, why don’t you buy a separate dessert just for President He and tell him Mr. Xu sent it?
Good grief, the newlyweds are squabbling and we’ve become the living targets. Brother Duan, good luck.