It was a sunny day when they went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a divorce—the sun was shining brightly, and the weather was lovely.
Zhao Xinran and Pei Hongwen sat in the back seat, looking at each other in silence. After being married for so long, it seemed there really wasn’t much left for them to say to one another.
Zhao Xinran could talk about work with Zhou Ji and discuss daily life with Li Yi, while Pei Hongwen could discuss research with Gu Yue and talk about marriage with Si Jinghuan.
But between the two of them, aside from eating and sleeping, there was nothing to talk about.
Thinking about it calmly now, it was indeed true, as Pei Hongwen had said—their marriage had been in trouble for a long time.
Zhao Xinran glanced at Pei Hongwen out of the corner of her eye. He had turned his head to look out the window. Curious, she followed his gaze but didn’t see anything particularly noteworthy that would warrant a prolonged look.
She must have been staring for too long, as she didn’t look away for quite some time—until she unexpectedly met Pei Hongwen’s gaze.
A thirty-year-old man, long past his youthful awkwardness, his eyes and brows exuded a distinctive charm—handsome and alluring.
Zhao Xinran really liked his face—so much so that even though she didn’t feel much romantic love for him, she still felt a physical attraction. When the mood struck her, she’d want to pin him down in bed.
At that thought, Zhao Xinran blushed, swallowed awkwardly, and deliberately shifted her gaze out the window.
Hmm, the weather is absolutely perfect today—ideal for hiking. Maybe when I get back from my business trip next week, I’ll pick a day to take the staff to a resort to unwind.
Zhao Xinran let her mind wander through a jumble of thoughts, forcing down the sudden surge of desire.
Counting the days, she realized she was right in the middle of her ovulation period—no wonder seeing Pei Hongwen’s face had made her feel this way so quickly.
“Ahem!” Zhao Xinran cleared her throat and said, as if suddenly remembering, “Even though we’re divorced, you can still keep living in Star Glory Bay. After all, that’s the house Dad… I mean, Uncle and Aunt prepared for you.”
Pei Hongwen glanced at her, then turned away, his voice low and steady in his usual detached tone: “No, thanks. I already submitted an application to the university last month, and I’ll be moving into campus housing this afternoon. Xingyao Bay belongs entirely to you now.”
Pei Hongwen wanted to reassure Zhao Xinran, implying that he would give her everything he’d promised—and more.
But to Zhao Xinran, it sounded as though Pei Hongwen had been plotting this for a long time—that he’d wanted a divorce and to leave for ages.
With that thought, Zhao Xinran curled the corners of her lips in a sneer. “I suppose so. Young Master Pei may lack many things, but he’ll never lack money. He’s got plenty of real estate, after all. Living with me in this run-down little villa all these years must have been quite the hardship for you, huh?”
“Xinran, don’t be like this. I’m not… Never mind.” Since they were getting a divorce anyway, there was nothing left for him to explain.
Silence fell over the car once more. The driver and Zhang Nan in the front seat didn’t dare breathe a word; they had even quietly switched their phones to silent mode.
None of them could have imagined that on this ordinary morning, the car wasn’t heading to the office, but to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Nor could they have imagined that President Zhao—who was always affable and decisive—would show such a “harsh” side when dealing with Young Master Pei.
Zhao Xinran’s hands, tucked in her pockets, were clenched so tightly her knuckles had turned white. She used to be most pleased with Pei Hongwen’s taciturn nature; she believed that was exactly how a man should be—doing more and talking less.
But now she suddenly found herself somewhat annoyed by his personality. He rarely communicated, bottling up all his emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—deep inside. No matter how much she teased or sarcastically prodded him, she couldn’t elicit a single response.
Those few words he’d spoken yesterday about wanting a divorce were roughly equivalent to the amount they’d spoken in an entire month.
When it was time to get out of the car, Pei Hongwen stepped out first. Out of habit, he walked around to Zhao Xinran’s side to open the door for her, his hand resting quite naturally on the top of the doorframe.
Zhao Xinran gave him a scornful once-over from head to toe, then ruthlessly pushed his arm aside and got out of the car herself.
She walked quickly, reaching the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau in just a few strides. Turning around to see Pei Hongwen still standing frozen in place, his lips pressed into a tight line, she ordered, “Hurry up and come! Do you want me to come and fetch you?”
Pei Hongwen hurried after her, but the distance was too great, and she left him far behind. He stumbled as he chased after her, looking utterly disheveled.
Zhang Nan and the driver, still in the car, exchanged glances and, in unspoken agreement, looked down at their phones; neither said a word.
“Ms. Zhao Xinran, do you consent to this divorce?”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Pei Hongwen, do you consent to this divorce?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any children?”
“No.”
“Do you have any joint debts?”
“No.”
“Does the divorce agreement reflect the true intentions of both parties?”
“Yes.”
As the staff went through the routine questions, Pei Hongwen answered each one earnestly. While he filled out the paperwork beside her, Zhao Xinran stared at his profile for a long time. Suddenly, she realized that it wasn’t until this day of their divorce that she had glimpsed even the tip of this man’s iceberg.
She smiled with a sense of relief. As far as she could tell, her taste in men was still far better than her mother’s.
Zhao Xinran turned back and began filling out the forms with care.
It was their first divorce; they had no experience and didn’t know they needed to prepare photos in advance, so they went back to the marriage registration office to have one taken.
It was still on a red background, but this one was newer and a deeper shade of red than the one they’d used when they registered their marriage.
The moment the official seal was stamped on it, the divorce certificate officially took effect, and the staff returned the invalidated marriage certificate to them, instructing them to keep it for their own records.
The divorce certificate and the marriage certificate—though clearly two separate documents—didn’t look much different from each other except for the names on the covers. But as soon as you opened them, you could see that the photos of two people had been replaced by a single one.
They had entered the Civil Affairs Bureau one after the other, but now they were walking out side by side, calmly and unhurriedly.
When they reached the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Zhao Xinran offered to have the driver take him to school. Without a moment’s hesitation, Pei Hongwen waved her off: “I’ll just hail a cab myself. You’ve already wasted enough time on my account.”
Hearing this, Zhao Xinran furrowed her brow. Her lips moved slightly, but she didn’t argue.
As they passed each other, she slipped the box—which had been in her pocket for a long time—into Pei Hongwen’s jacket pocket.
She’d bought it as a men’s item to appease him in the first place; it was of no use to her now, so she simply treated it as a divorce gift, drawing the final line under their five-year marriage and ten-year relationship.
Pei Hongwen stood at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, watching from a distance as the car carrying Zhao Xinran drove away. He slipped his hand into his pocket and felt a stiff box.
He furrowed his brow.
He gripped it tightly, pulled it out, and looked at the familiar packaging and logo, letting out a wistful smile.
Even without opening it, he could guess what was inside.
Nothing more than gemstone cufflinks in various colors.
Rather than a gift meant to appease him, they were simply a token of indifference.
He had at least a dozen pairs of cufflinks set with gemstones of different colors; his reaction to receiving them had long since shifted from surprise to predictability.
He used to be able to console himself by thinking that Zhao Xinran was simply too busy with work and had overlooked him—at least she was still willing to spend money on him.
Now, with the divorce certificate in his hand, he could no longer deceive himself.
Yet even though he knew this was just a casual, perfunctory gesture, Pei Hongwen still carefully placed it, along with the packaging, into the inner pocket of his jacket.
Pei Hongwen took a day off work. After picking up the certificate, he didn’t go to school but took a taxi to Xingyao Bay instead.
He didn’t have many clothes, and his belongings were pitifully few. Although this was clearly his home, he had always felt like a guest here, ready to leave at any moment.
Now that the day of his departure had truly arrived, he felt a pang of reluctance. He walked through the house, inspecting every nook and cranny of the space he’d personally overseen—renovated and redecorated entirely to Zhao Xinran’s tastes.
He went to the kitchen, where he’d spent the most time, packed his favorite pot and spatula into his suitcase, went to the master bedroom to take his two sets of pajamas, and then tossed the remaining sets into the trash can from the nightstand.
Before leaving, he went to the backyard to water the sunflowers one last time.
It was a shame he hadn’t gotten to see them bloom this year.
Zhao Xinran had been extremely irritable all morning; nothing seemed to go her way, but she was afraid of taking her mood out on her innocent employees. After her nap, she simply put on her jacket, grabbed her swim bag, and ran out of the office.
She was swimming when Li Yi called her.
Submerging herself completely in the water, she silently counted to one hundred in her head before breaking the surface.
On a weekday afternoon, the pool wasn’t very crowded, so Zhao Xinran swam to her heart’s content. Only when her limbs grew heavy and her body demanded rest did she slip on her flip-flops and head to the locker room to freshen up.
Opening her locker, Zhao Xinran took out her phone. Spotting a pop-up notification, she smoothed her freshly blow-dried hair and pressed the call button.
About five seconds after dialing, Li Yi picked up.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Xinran, what are you up to? You didn’t even answer your phone. I just called Zhang Nan, and she said you weren’t at the office.” Li Yi’s tone was light and cheerful, and her hands were rustling softly as if she were unwrapping something.
“I was swimming just now, so I didn’t catch your call. What’s up?” Zhao Xinran packed her clothes into her bag, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and swiped her card to exit the swimming center.
“The Hope Primary School in the mountains that we helped set up together last year will be completed next month. The school has invited us to give speeches there. Are you free next week?”
“Next week? I’m going on a business trip to City C next week. You go ahead—it’ll be a good chance to shoot some videos and spread the word.” Mentioning the Hope Primary School lifted Zhao Xinran’s spirits considerably; the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. After a moment’s thought, she added, “ “School just started, so they’re probably still short on supplies. Here’s what we’ll do… I’ll have Zhang Nan transfer another 500,000 to you later. Take it with you—it’ll count as a joint donation from the two of us. If there are any children with special circumstances, please pay special attention to them and send the details to Zhang Nan; I’ll provide long-term support.”
“Great! Xinran, you’re such a truly, truly wonderful person. I’m so glad to be friends with you. Back when I was in school, I used to wish I were really, really rich—then I wouldn’t have to work so hard, and I’d be able to help more people.” Li Yi laughed heartily: “It’s so great that we’ve both made that happen now.”
“Li Yi, you’re the one who’s truly a good person. I’ve just contributed a little money—I haven’t helped much. You and your team will still have to handle all the details and follow up on these specific matters.”
“It’s no big deal. Charity work is just another project I do through my videos. I get to help them, and I gain followers—it’s a win-win.” There was a lot of noise in the background; someone called out to her. She replied briefly, then hurriedly turned back to Zhao Xinran: “Xinran, I have an ad script I need to go over right now. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay, go ahead and take care of that. I’m about to drive back to the office myself.” After hanging up, Zhao Xinran had just reached the entrance of the swimming pool. She looked down to put her phone in her pocket when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bag suddenly fall to the ground.
She bent down to pick it up, and as she straightened up, her gaze met a pair of piercing eyes.
The man was tall, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He wore a black mask that covered his face, revealing only a pair of almond-shaped, upturned eyes—incredibly alluring.
“Is that yours?”
“Yes, thank you.” The man took the bag, kept walking, and brushed past her, his gaze suddenly turning deep and mysterious.
Zhao Xinran didn’t notice this brief encounter; she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked slowly toward the parking lot.
The man darted behind a pillar, his gaze fixed intently on Zhao Xinran’s receding figure, his right hand uncontrollably rubbing the bag in his grasp.