As soon as Lu Xiaoqiao arrived at the neighborhood, she ran into Lu Xue.
Lu Xue stopped her car and looked coldly at her.
“Come here.”
“…” Lu Xiaoqiao’s shoulders slumped. “What is it, Sis? What did I do this time?”
Just then, Lu Xiaoqiao’s father came out for a walk. Seeing all the children there, he happily picked up Lu Tu and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.
“My precious grandson! Grandpa just closed a big deal. I’ll save all the money I earned for my precious grandson!”
“Dad,” Lu Xue said seriously, “take Tu Tu home first. I have something to discuss with Xiaoqiao.”
Lu Xiaoqiao was afraid of her sister, and so was their father.
Seeing the look for help in Lu Xiaoqiao’s eyes, her father pretended not to notice. He turned around and said, “Let’s go, let’s go. I’ll make some fish for my precious grandson.”
Lu Xiaoqiao: “…”
Ah!!!!
So annoying!!!
“Get in the car,” Lu Xue said.
Lu Xiaoqiao weakly climbed into the passenger seat.
Lu Xue pulled up a screenshot of a news report and showed it to her.
“Explain.”
“…”
The news showed pictures of yesterday’s collapsed bridge and the Maybach that had fallen into the river.
Lu Xue recognized Xie Xun’s car.
Lu Xiaoqiao’s nerves tightened.
She had a bad feeling about this.
“Although your face wasn’t captured clearly,” Lu Xue said calmly, “I could recognize you from a single strand of hair. So you were there, and the person in that car was Xie Xun, right?”
Lu Xiaoqiao’s lips moved slightly.
Lu Xue warned her, “Try lying to me.”
“…”
“You should be thankful that Mom and Dad don’t read this kind of news,” Lu Xue said coldly. “But what if a neighbor saw it and told them? How big of a lie are you planning to tell? Or should you tell me everything first and let me deal with it if anything happens?”
Lu Xiaoqiao’s lips drooped.
Lu Xue said, “Go ahead and cry. I dare you.”
Lu Xiaoqiao: “…”
Was she even going to let her live?!
Lu Xue rubbed her temples, too tired to argue with her. Her little sister was truly hopeless.
“I’ll ask. You answer.”
Lu Xiaoqiao sniffed and nodded.
Lu Xue asked, “Was Xie Xun in the car?”
Lu Xiaoqiao: “Mm.”
“You were there?”
“Mm.”
“Did you get him out?”
“Mm.”
“He’s in the hospital?”
“Mm.”
“He fell into the water because you two had a fight?”
“…”
That question was complicated.
Lu Xiaoqiao did not even know how to answer.
But Lu Xue was right. The more lies she told, the bigger they would become. Just like when Xie Xun had burned the divorce agreement and sent the ashes back—she had almost exposed the fact that they were having problems in their marriage.
“Da Qiao,” Lu Xiaoqiao said with a heavy nasal voice, “I want a divorce.”
Lu Xue did not bother correcting her for using her nickname.
Whenever her little sister was upset, she always called her by that name.
“Why?”
Lu Xiaoqiao’s shoulders trembled slightly.
“Last year, I found a pair of handcuffs in his study drawer.”
“Mm.”
“The kind…” Lu Xiaoqiao struggled to describe them. “The white, furry kind.”
Lu Xue was more direct.
“Furry handcuffs.”
Lu Xiaoqiao looked out at the spring scenery.
“And they had been used. I could tell.”
Lu Xue understood.
“They weren’t used with you.”
“Mm.” Lu Xiaoqiao sniffed softly. “He probably brought another woman home. He can have rumors spread about him all over the place, but he absolutely cannot bring another woman into our home.”
Lu Xue’s eyes were clear and sharp.
“Did you ask him?”
Lu Xiaoqiao: “I did.”
“What did he say?”
“He stayed silent the whole time,” Lu Xiaoqiao said. “He didn’t dare say anything.”
That was when Lu Xiaoqiao asked for a divorce and moved back to her family home.
Even if theirs was a marriage of convenience, where they helped each other and benefited from the arrangement, they still needed to show each other some basic respect.
The handcuffs had deeply humiliated Lu Xiaoqiao.
They meant that Xie Xun had brought another woman home and, while Lu Xiaoqiao was away, had played some kind of intimate game with her.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Xue said, “I’ll help you find a lawyer.”
“He has amnesia.”
“…”
“He doesn’t remember me or Tu Tu,” Lu Xiaoqiao said honestly. “He said he wants to wait until his memory comes back before discussing the divorce because he’s afraid I’m lying to him.”
Lu Xue frowned. “Are you sure he’s not pretending?”
Lu Xiaoqiao froze. “Huh?”
“Are you sure he’s not pretending?” Lu Xue repeated. “What if he doesn’t want a divorce, but you insist on leaving, so he’s deliberately playing this trick?”
Lu Xiaoqiao had honestly never thought about that.
Surely not.
She had not noticed anything suspicious.
But after Lu Xue said it, a chill suddenly ran through Lu Xiaoqiao.
Xie Xun had said they would discuss the divorce after he recovered his memory.
What if he was pretending?
What if he pretended forever?!
Wouldn’t that mean he could drag this out for the rest of her life?!
Lu Xue asked again, “And you said there are all kinds of rumors about him. What rumors?”
The Lu family and the Xie family moved in completely different social circles. Their worlds were miles apart, so the rumors about Xie Xun and Wan Bao’er had naturally never reached Lu Xue.
“It doesn’t matter. We’re getting divorced anyway.” Lu Xiaoqiao felt her heart sink. “I need to find out whether he’s pretending.”
The cherry blossoms in the neighborhood were in full bloom. From time to time, a chicken from some unknown household wandered into the bushes, pecking around and clucking.
Lu Xue stared into the distance for a while and murmured softly, “So in the end, no matter what kind of relationship it is, it all turns out the same.”
Lu Xiaoqiao did not hear her clearly.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Lu Xue’s expression softened. “Let’s go home.”
“Oh.”
“Get out.”
“Huh?”
“Go to the convenience store and buy me a pack of cigarettes,” Lu Xue said. “Hide them well. Don’t let Mom and Dad see them.”
“…” Lu Xiaoqiao was getting annoyed. “How old am I? And you’re still making me run errands for you…”
“Get out of the car.”
“…”
Lu Xue stepped on the gas and drove away.
Lu Xiaoqiao: “…”
She had not even given her money for the cigarettes.
She had been planning to buy a bag of chips for herself too.
After sneakily buying a pack of cigarettes and some chips, Lu Xiaoqiao ran into Li Yundong at the entrance of the neighborhood.
Li Yundong visibly relaxed.
“Madam.”
Lu Xiaoqiao did not like taking her anger out on other people, so she still greeted him with a smile.
“Assistant Li.”
Li Yundong handed her the box containing the bamboo dragonfly and explained why he had come.
Lu Xiaoqiao’s lips curved slightly, her expression clearly mocking.
“Wait here,” she said.
Not knowing what she intended to do, Li Yundong did not dare enter without being invited. He obediently waited at the entrance.
Lu Xiaoqiao quickly returned.
When she came back, she stuffed a stack of A4 papers and the box into his hands.
“Please give these to him.”
Several large words were clearly printed on the A4 papers:
Divorce Agreement.
Li Yundong’s heart tightened again. He hurriedly opened the box.
Sure enough, the newly carved bamboo dragonfly inside had already been broken into two pieces.
“My family has plenty of these,” Lu Xiaoqiao said with a hint of pride. “I don’t need it.”
Li Yundong fell silent.
After a while, he tried to help his boss with another matter.
“Madam, do you remember Song Ming?”
“Mm.”
Li Yundong struggled to get the words out smoothly.
“Do you remember why he left?”
“Why are you asking me?” Lu Xiaoqiao found it amusing. “He was the one who fired him. Ask him.”
Li Yundong forced himself to say, “Boss… has amnesia.”
Lu Xiaoqiao was not angry at him. Her anger was directed entirely at the boss she hated enough to grind her teeth over.
“So what if he has amnesia? Does that make him so special? I have amnesia too! I don’t remember! Let him figure it out himself!”