“I don’t have a problem with it, and I wasn’t being sarcastic.”
Zhao Xinnian kept his head lowered and continued folding his clothes one by one before placing them neatly into the suitcase.
Qin Chaolu stared at his calm expression. For some inexplicable reason, an empty, uncomfortable feeling spread through her heart. She watched his belongings disappear into the suitcase one after another, while the traces of Zhao Xinnian’s presence in this home gradually vanished with them.
An uncontrollable sense of panic suddenly rose within Qin Chaolu.
She snatched the suitcase away from him again and said coldly, “Zhao Xinnian, stop pretending! Are you trying to give me the silent treatment? I’m telling you, that won’t work on me!”
Zhao Xinnian frowned and instinctively glanced at Zhao Leyan.
The little girl had somehow sneakily gotten hold of Zhao Xinnian’s phone. At that moment, she was secretly playing Subway Surfers and wasn’t paying the slightest attention to their conversation.
Only then did Zhao Xinnian relax. He looked up and asked, “Why are you getting so worked up? When did I ever give you the silent treatment?”
Qin Chaolu was almost going crazy.
She didn’t even understand why she was so angry. Perhaps it was because reality was so different from what she had expected.
At first, she had been anxiously wondering what would happen if Awei returned and happened to run into Zhao Xinnian. Would the two men end up fighting?
No matter how she imagined it, she had been certain that Zhao Xinnian could never face the situation calmly.
Yet Zhao Xinnian had actually come over, and what happened was completely different from everything she had imagined.
When Zhao Xinnian saw Zhuang Ziwei, there wasn’t even the slightest trace of anger on his face. He was as calm as still water.
That completely overturned all of Qin Chaolu’s expectations, and somehow, she found it unbearable.
“I already explained it to you. Awei only came here to visit Mom. What else do you want me to say?” Qin Chaolu demanded through gritted teeth.
Zhao Xinnian felt helpless. He waved his hand and replied, “You already told me that. I know. Besides, you don’t need to explain anything to me. Whatever happens between you and him is your decision to make, but… it can’t affect Yanyan.”
In truth, the moment Zhao Xinnian saw Zhuang Ziwei, his emotions had still stirred.
It wasn’t as though he had no feelings left for Qin Chaolu. However, they were already divorced, and he had been the one to ask for the divorce.
Under those circumstances, if he still tried to interfere in Qin Chaolu’s life, it would only make him seem despicable.
“Fine! Fine! Fine!”
Zhao Xinnian’s answer clearly did not satisfy Qin Chaolu. She laughed in anger and said, “So I don’t need to explain anything to you? You really are generous!”
Although she was laughing, Qin Chaolu’s eyes had already begun to redden.
“For the past seven years, ours was a contractual marriage. There were never any feelings between us. It was nothing more than a financial transaction! Do you understand?”
Qin Chaolu dragged Zhao Xinnian into the neighboring room. Gritting her teeth, she emphasized every word.
Zhao Xinnian looked into her eyes and fell silent.
Hearing those words hurt more than he wanted to admit. Even so, he eventually nodded and said, “You’re right.”
Qin Chaolu’s face turned as cold as ice. She continued, “I should actually thank you for asking for a divorce! Otherwise, now that Awei is back, I wouldn’t even know how to face him. After all, the feelings between him and me… you already know about them!”
Zhao Xinnian quietly clenched his fists. After taking a deep breath, he slowly loosened them again.
His expression remained calm as he replied, “I know.”
“Good. As long as you understand.”
Qin Chaolu sneered and continued, “You should be satisfied too. I waited seven years for Awei! You also stayed by my side for seven years, and you received 3.5 million yuan for nothing. Now we can part peacefully. No matter how you look at it, you’re the one who came out ahead.”
“I’m the one who came out ahead,” Zhao Xinnian replied expressionlessly.
Qin Chaolu was completely speechless.
Zhao Xinnian glanced at her, then looked past her toward the enormous wedding portrait hanging above the headboard. He said, “Take that down when you get the chance. It wouldn’t be good if he saw it.”
With that, Zhao Xinnian turned around and continued packing his belongings.
The instant he turned away, all the grievance and sadness Qin Chaolu had been holding back were completely shattered by his words. Tears immediately spilled from her eyes.
In truth, Zhao Xinnian did not own many clothes. A single suitcase was enough to hold everything.
Finally, he packed a few sets of clothes for his daughter. Then he took Zhao Leyan by the hand and headed downstairs, saying, “Yanyan will sleep at my place tonight.”
“Stop right there!” Qin Chaolu called out coldly.
Zhao Xinnian stopped and looked back at her. “What is it now?”
“Take this money.”
Qin Chaolu held two thick bundles of crisp 100-yuan bills and extended them toward Zhao Xinnian.
Zhao Xinnian looked at the money and asked, “What is this supposed to mean?”
“You’re going to raise Yanyan. Do you even have enough money? Does that convenience store of yours even make 3,000 yuan in profit a month? To be frank, if I took you to court right now and fought you for custody of Yanyan, you wouldn’t have the slightest chance of winning,” Qin Chaolu said without holding back.
Those harsh words stung, and Zhao Xinnian felt a bitter ache in his heart.
Even so, he shook his head and said, “There’s no need. I’ve already taken more than enough, and I still have money saved. If I can’t keep the convenience store running, I still have my degree. I can find a job.”
No matter what had happened between them, Zhao Xinnian was still grateful to Qin Chaolu.
If it hadn’t been for the 3.5 million yuan she had given him over the past seven years, a university graduate who had started his adult life 4 million yuan in debt would have had almost no hope of seeing a way out.
“When are you going to stop being so childish?” Qin Chaolu snapped angrily. “I know you care about your pride, but can pride put food on the table? Find a job, find a job… Heh. Do you really think finding work is that easy these days? So what if you graduated from a top-tier university? You have no work experience. Who would hire you?”
A voice suddenly sounded in Zhao Xinnian’s mind.
[Host, handsome and charming as ever, don’t let this get to you. You still have me!]
Of course, something like this was nowhere near enough to break Zhao Xinnian, even though everything Qin Chaolu had said was true.
He replied lightly, “I’ll find a way.”
“Mr. Zhao, my company actually has a position that might suit you. If you’re interested, we can talk about it.”
A voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
Zhuang Ziwei had arrived at the second-floor stairway. He stood there with a smile on his face.
Qin Chaolu’s expression softened as she said, “Awei, thank you.”
Naturally, Zhao Xinnian had no intention of accepting the offer. He could not even be bothered to respond.
Instead, he picked up Zhao Leyan and headed downstairs.
“Zhao Xinnian! What is that supposed to mean? Didn’t you hear Awei say he was willing to help you?” Qin Chaolu asked with a displeased frown.
“Sorry. I don’t have any work experience.”
Zhao Xinnian threw her own words right back at her.
“You!”
Qin Chaolu was so furious that her chest rose and fell sharply.
Zhuang Ziwei hurriedly comforted her, saying, “Lulu, don’t be angry. Men care about their pride. That’s perfectly normal.”
“He’d rather suffer than swallow his pride!” Qin Chaolu snapped irritably.
At that moment, she noticed that Zhuang Ziwei had come upstairs and instinctively said, “Let’s go downstairs first. We can talk afterward.”
Meanwhile, Zhao Xinnian carried Zhao Leyan downstairs.
“Aren’t you staying for dinner before you leave?” Qin Fengjiao asked expressionlessly.
She already knew that the two of them were divorced, so she did not try very hard to persuade him to stay.
Zhao Xinnian shook his head and replied, “No, I won’t be eating.”
“Then I won’t keep you. Hurry up and leave,” Qin Fengjiao said with a stern expression.
Zhao Xinnian gave an awkward laugh before asking, “Where’s Wanshuang?”
“What the hell does that have to do with you?”
After being mercilessly shut down by his former mother-in-law, Zhao Xinnian could only flee in embarrassment.
On the way back, Zhao Xinnian did not ride a bicycle.
Instead, he seated his daughter on his shoulders, pulled the suitcase with one hand, and walked home at an unhurried pace.
Under the moonlight, the shadows of father and daughter stretched far behind them.
“Dad, I don’t like that man.”
Zhao Leyan hugged Zhao Xinnian’s head and said seriously, “Mom told me to call him Uncle Awei, but I don’t want to!”
Zhao Xinnian smiled and replied, “Then don’t call him that.”
“But Mom seems to like that man…”
Zhao Leyan let out a long sigh, her little face filled with worry.