“Divorce? That’s great! There’s even such a good thing?!”
Liu Meiling touched her face. She was only 42 this year—not exactly young, but not bad-looking either.
She was strong and healthy, a little on the chubby side, but she had her strengths.
For example… she hit really hard.
Who says she couldn’t get divorced and find a new romance?
Staring at that old fossil Li Mingliang every day—she didn’t even feel like washing up anymore.
0928 was fully supportive, lifting its head and listing classic tropes from trashy romance novels:
“A domineering CEO falls in love with me, a 42-year-old cleaner! Host, go for it—I believe in you!”
“Domineering CEO?” Liu Meiling didn’t understand that part. But she wasn’t going to be a cleaner—she wanted to sell pork!
“A domineering CEO falls in love with me, a divorced 42-year-old mother of five who sells pork… sounds reasonable too, right?”
0928’s tiny brain couldn’t handle that level of complexity—it glitched outright and dove back into its trashy novels. Too interesting!
It needed to study how to become a cleaner first, then win over a CEO!
Bao Mei picked at her ear, wondering if she had misheard. Divorce… was a good thing?
Her innocent eyes filled with curiosity. “Mom, are you going to divorce Dad?”
Liu Meiling didn’t hesitate.
“Of course. If he dares to throw chopsticks at me now, he’ll dare to hit me later.
If he can already bring up divorce just because of your Aunt Qin’s job, then he’ll definitely use it again for something else.
Sooner or later, it’ll happen—so why not now?”
This speech didn’t motivate anyone else—but it fired Liu Meiling up completely.
She wished she could drag that old man straight to the civil affairs office right now and finalize the divorce.
The next moment, the silence was broken.
Li Baoqing stood at the door, her expression cold. “Mom’s awake? Good—I need to talk to you.”
She sat down beside Liu Meiling, her tone filled with resentment.
“I heard you sold your job. I’m graduating next year—what job are you planning to buy for me when I graduate?”
Liu Meiling let out a mocking laugh.
“Why should I buy you a job? You’re graduating—can’t you find one yourself?
Do you think jobs are cabbages, something you can just pick off a shelf?
Li Baoqing, let me say this again—you’re already eighteen. You have a father. You’re not from a single-parent family. You don’t need to come to me for everything.”
Li Baoqing sneered.
“Mom, you’re so selfish. You’re my mother—you should be planning for me.
You paid for my older brother’s job—why are you ignoring me?
What’s the point of talking to Dad? Would you even listen to him?
Dad already said to give the job to Aunt Qin for now, and when I graduate, she’ll transfer it to me.
But you—you sold it without saying a word!
Did you even think about me?”
“Nope.”
Liu Meiling answered calmly.
In her previous life, she had thought plenty about her. And what did she get? Li Baoqing still complained at her grave about not marrying that man Minglang.
Besides… Liu Meiling wasn’t even her biological mother. Why should she?
Li Baoqing clenched her fists tightly.
“If you treat me like this now, aren’t you afraid I won’t take care of you when you’re old?”
That made Liu Meiling laugh.
In her past life, she treated Li Baoqing well—and still didn’t get much filial piety. Not long after she died, that ungrateful girl even called someone else “Mom.”
That kind of “filial piety”? She didn’t want it.
“It’s fine. If you don’t support me, I’ll just sue you.”
Li Baoqing felt a lump in her chest. The woman in front of her suddenly felt like a stranger.
“Are you even my mother?”
…No.
Liu Meiling thought silently.
She wasn’t.
Seeing Liu Meiling’s indifference, Li Baoqing forced herself to look away and sniffed.
“Since you won’t help me with a job, does that mean you won’t interfere with my marriage either?
I’m going to marry Minglang. I don’t want anything—I just want to marry him.”
Before she could go on with her declarations of love, Liu Meiling nodded immediately.
“Alright. But remember—this is your choice.”
In her previous life, she had never compromised on this matter.
That Tao Minglang might have been handsome, but he was far from honest. Her stall had been near his school—she had seen him sweet-talk different girls more than once.
Every time, he managed to get money from them.
And his family was poor. His mother was chronically ill and couldn’t do heavy work.
If Li Baoqing married him, she’d end up serving the entire family while working to support them.
Liu Meiling had only wanted what was best for her.
She had never let Li Baoqing do any housework at home.
How could she bear to see the daughter she raised so delicately suffer like that?
So she had deliberately arranged for Li Baoqing to catch Tao Minglang with another girl.
But she never expected that even after her death, Li Baoqing would still resent her—blaming her for ruining their relationship.
Hating her for a lifetime.
This time… Liu Meiling wouldn’t interfere. She didn’t want to anymore.
She just wanted to see—if she let Li Baoqing choose for herself, would she actually end up happier?
Li Baoqing’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Mom, I said I’m marrying Tao Minglang—the son of a night soil collector!
His family is poor, and his mother is sick!”
She deliberately emphasized every word, afraid Liu Meiling hadn’t heard clearly.
Liu Meiling nodded, completely calm.
“I know. But didn’t you say you had to marry him?”
“But you were always against it before!”
Li Baoqing spoke quickly, unease growing in her heart. Something felt like it was slipping out of her control.
“But you’re willing. This is your choice.
Mom wishes you happiness.”
Something wasn’t right…
Li Baoqing climbed off the kang, shaking her head. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
Shouldn’t her mother be panicking, regretting, apologizing?
How could she possibly be happy marrying into that kind of family?
Liu Meiling watched all her expressions and suddenly felt relieved.
So… Li Baoqing had always known.
She just couldn’t let go of Tao Minglang, and didn’t want to be the “bad person.”
So when Liu Meiling had played the villain, she conveniently blamed her—
Holding that resentment for decades, until she even fooled herself.
How ridiculous.
Liu Meiling suddenly smiled faintly. She patted Li Baoqing’s hand, her eyes devoid of warmth.
“Have his family make preparations. When do you want to get married? Soon?”
Li Baoqing stepped back.
Images flooded her mind—Tao Minglang’s daily life: picking trash to support the family, occasionally helping his father collect night soil, washing everyone’s clothes, cooking…
Taking care of his sick mother, even changing her soiled bedding.
If she married him… would all of that become her responsibility?
Thinking of a future where every day was endless chores, laundry, sweeping, and living in a house with paper-covered windows, falling asleep to the stench of waste—
Just imagining it made her feel like she was going insane.
She glared at Liu Meiling viciously and shoved her away.
“You’re not my mother! My mother would never let me marry him!”