Chen Yuanyuan ran all the way back to her parents’ home in one breath. Just as she stepped into the elevator, she ran into Shi Jinfen, who had just returned from playing mahjong. Shi Jinfen looked her up and down in surprise and asked, “Yuanyuan, what happened to you? Why did you come back dressed like this?”
Chen Yuanyuan forced herself to remain calm and replied, “Mom, I’m fine.” However, she had no intention of letting her family know about what had happened between her and Lin Fan.
Yet the expression on her face could not escape Shi Jinfen’s sharp gaze. She narrowed her eyes slightly and pressed on, “Did you argue with Lin Fan? Did he bully you?”
Chen Yuanyuan frowned faintly, impatience flashing through her eyes. “Mom, no. What’s between us is our business. You don’t need to interfere. I’ll handle it myself.”
Shi Jinfen snorted softly, clearly unconvinced. “Daughter, you need to be more clear-headed. You can’t spoil a man too much. If he dares to bully you, just tell me. I’ll go deal with him myself.”
Seeing that the conversation was going nowhere, Chen Yuanyuan quickly forced a smile, slipped an arm around Shi Jinfen’s shoulder, and deliberately changed the topic. “Mom, how was your luck at mahjong today?”
At the mention of mahjong, Shi Jinfen’s expression immediately shifted, her interest piqued. “Sigh, don’t even mention it. In the last round, I was just about to win with a pure suit self-draw. Who would’ve thought I’d end up discarding the winning tile to Third Brother Yan instead… I had finally broken even, but in the end I lost another 80 yuan.”
As she spoke, she sighed repeatedly, then suddenly added, “Yuanyuan, give me some money later. I don’t have any left to spend.”
The next day, Lin Fan accompanied his parents to list their house for sale. The average price for second-hand homes in their residential complex was around 10,000 yuan per square meter. His parents’ apartment was about 80 square meters, a spacious two-bedroom unit located on the third floor with good north-south ventilation… one of the best layouts in the entire complex.
Under normal circumstances, the apartment could have sold for around 850,000 yuan. However, in order to sell it quickly, they directly listed it at 100,000 yuan below market price. There was only one condition… the transaction had to be paid in full.
If it involved a loan, the procedures could take ten to fifteen days, and Lin Fan’s family simply could not wait that long.
Perhaps because the price was so attractive, someone contacted them to view the house on the very same day it was listed.
The buyers were a middle-aged couple. They originally owned a school district apartment in the main urban area, but their son was about to go abroad for studies, and they were short on tuition fees. For the sake of their son’s future, they had no choice but to sell that apartment to gather the funds.
With the remaining money, they planned to buy a smaller place just to get by.
Given the excellent layout and the highly appealing price, they took a liking to Lin Fan’s parents’ apartment at first sight.
That very day, they signed the purchase contract with Lin Fan’s parents and paid a 100,000 yuan deposit on the spot. Both parties agreed to go to the real estate transaction center the following Monday to complete the ownership transfer.
Over the weekend, Lin Fan did not idle away his time. On one hand, he searched for a suitable apartment in the neighboring residential complex. On the other, he entrusted a lawyer to draft a divorce agreement. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
He had already made up his mind… if Chen Yuanyuan still refused to divorce this time, he would have a lawyer file directly for divorce.
That afternoon, it was rare for the entire Chen family to be at home, sitting together on the sofa watching television. At that moment, a courier delivered a piece of mail. When Chen Yuanyuan opened it, her expression changed instantly… it was the divorce agreement sent by Lin Fan.
Chen Lili, who was sitting on the sofa cracking sunflower seeds, asked casually, “Sis, what did you buy?”
“Nothing,” Chen Yuanyuan replied curtly. She silently crumpled the document into a ball. Just as she was about to throw it away, Shi Jinfen suddenly snatched it from her hand.
“Let me see.”
Chen Yuanyuan’s heart skipped a beat. She hurried forward to grab it back, but it was already too late.
Shi Jinfen unfolded the wrinkled paper, her eyes scanning it quickly. In the next second, her voice rose sharply, “What?! Lin Fan wants to divorce you?!”
Chen Dehai, who was sitting nearby in a drunken haze, turned his head sluggishly and muttered, “Divorce? Who… who’s getting divorced?”
Shi Jinfen pointed at Chen Yuanyuan with the crumpled paper in her hand and demanded, “Yuanyuan, what exactly is going on?”
Seeing that she could no longer hide it, Chen Yuanyuan could only recount the conflicts between her and Lin Fan over the past two days. By the end of it, the grievances she had been holding back overwhelmed her, and she burst into tears.
Only then did Shi Jinfen realize something was off. “No wonder you’ve been so gloomy these past two days… I knew you were hiding something from us.”
Her expression turned resolute as she said, “Yuanyuan, don’t worry. I’m here. I’ll get justice for you in this matter. Today, I’ll go find Lin Fan and make him explain himself clearly.”
As she spoke, she turned and kicked Chen Dehai, who was still sitting beside her. “Old man, you’re coming with me.”
Chen Dehai snapped back to his senses, scratching his head awkwardly. “This is between the two of them… let them handle it themselves. Why should we interfere?”
Shi Jinfen shot him a fierce glare. “Have you drunk yourself stupid? Lin Fan wants to divorce your daughter! How can we just let him off so easily? Otherwise, Yuanyuan will end up with nothing! You must come today and show him a father-in-law’s authority.”
Chen Dehai grumbled under his breath, “Alright, alright… I’ll go, I’ll go.”
By evening, when the Chen family arrived at Lin Fan’s home, they found that he was not there. Get faster updates on g.com.
“Where did that brat go? Did he know we were coming and hide?” Shi Jinfen said angrily.
Chen Yuanyuan thought for a moment and said, “Maybe he went to his parents’ place.”
Hearing this, Shi Jinfen narrowed her eyes, her voice filled with resentment. “He must’ve gone to those two old folks. Lin Fan used to listen to you so well… how could he suddenly want a divorce? I bet those two have been stirring things up behind the scenes. Those old fools, not thinking for their child at all, actually encouraging their son to divorce… just wait, I’ll give them a piece of my mind today.”
At this point, Shi Jinfen was completely overwhelmed by anger over her daughter’s situation, her judgment clouded.
The whole family then hurriedly hailed a taxi and headed to Lin Fan’s parents’ home.
At the entrance of Unit 301, Building 3, Happiness Garden, Shi Jinfen banged heavily on the door. “Wang Shumei, open the door! Wang Shumei, open up!”
…
As soon as the door opened, Wang Shumei saw Shi Jinfen standing there with an angry expression. She was momentarily stunned, then quickly forced a polite smile. “Oh, it’s you. Please come in.”
Then she noticed Chen Yuanyuan standing behind her and greeted warmly, “Yuanyuan, you’re here too? Come in, all of you.”
Shi Jinfen showed no courtesy at all. She strode straight into the house, glanced around, and found no sign of Lin Fan.
“Where’s Lin Fan? I need to talk to him.”
Sensing the hostility, Wang Shumei roughly understood why they had come. She replied calmly, “Lin Fan went out for a walk with his father. If you have something to say, you can tell me.”
Shi Jinfen cast her a cold glance and said bluntly, “Your son wants to divorce my daughter. Do you know about this?”
A trace of bitterness appeared on Wang Shumei’s face. “To be honest, I only found out about it not long ago.”
Just as Wang Shumei was about to ask Chen Yuanyuan about the situation, Shi Jinfen suddenly launched into a furious tirade.