Lin Shuya wanted a divorce?
Lu Chaonan’s hand jerked, and tea spilled all over the table.
After asking the waitress for a rag and hurriedly wiping the water off the table, Lu Chaonan asked, “How do you know Lin Shuya wants a divorce? Did she tell you herself?”
Zhao Quande shook his head. “She didn’t just tell me. She said it in front of the entire village.”
Lu Chaonan’s expression darkened slightly.
When he had suggested getting their marriage certificate back then, Lin Shuya had been delighted.
The next day, when he was preparing to leave, Lin Shuya had even gotten up early to pack his luggage and prepare food for him to eat on the journey.
After seeing him off at the edge of the village, Lin Shuya had stood there watching him leave.
That day, he had looked back every few steps, only to see Lin Shuya standing at the village entrance like a wife waiting for her husband’s return, staring eagerly at his retreating figure.
He had almost lost his resolve and decided not to leave.
How had she developed the idea of divorcing him after only two years?
Lin Shuya had been raised by Lin Dahai. She was not the kind of person who would casually abandon someone or turn coldhearted.
She was probably just joking because he had disappeared for two years without sending her any news.
Once he got home, he would apologize properly and spend some time with her. After she had calmed down, she would surely stop talking about divorce.
With that thought, Lu Chaonan quickly found an explanation for why Lin Shuya wanted a divorce.
“She’s just joking. Once I get back and coax her a little, she’ll be fine.”
Zhao Quande had come to the same conclusion. “I didn’t really believe it either, so I specifically asked her about it. She said it depended on your attitude. Just be a little nicer when you go back. Over the past two days, her aunt and Lu Chaoxi’s family have really angered her, and things said in anger can’t be taken seriously.”
The relief Lu Chaonan had just felt immediately vanished, and his heart rose again.
It was his first time being married, so he had no experience.
However, he had been in the Army for ten years and had fought on the front lines, so he understood warfare.
As Lin Shuya’s husband, he was like the vanguard charging into battle.
The Lu family, as his relatives, should have been like the logistics unit responsible for support and supplies.
No matter how fiercely the vanguard charged ahead, if the rear support failed to keep up, they would simply be marching to their deaths.
The Lu family was dragging him down, and Lu Chaonan felt a headache coming on.
Back then, Lin Dahai had left the army because both his parents had passed away and he had no close siblings to rely on.
After leaving the Army and returning to the village, he had remained completely impartial during his years as Brigade Captain and had never given any special favors to his relatives in the village, earning quite a bit of resentment because of it.
When Lu Chaonan had rushed home and taken Lin Shuya to get their marriage certificate, it was because he had been afraid that those relatives would bully her and wanted to give her someone to rely on.
He had never expected that his own family would be the ones making Lin Shuya suffer.
Lu Chaonan’s expression grew even darker. “What exactly did my mother and Lu Chaoxi’s family do? Tell me everything.”
Zhao Quande took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and began explaining everything in detail.
“Yu Qinglan, Lu Chaoxi’s wife, got into university this year. In front of a whole crowd, she claimed that Shuya had hidden her admission letter and even brought in the mailman as a witness.”
“Impossible.”
Lu Chaonan immediately rejected the accusation without hesitation.
Lin Shuya did not like studying. Reading for too long gave her a headache.
Because Lin Dahai had insisted, she had managed to finish middle school.
Whenever she entered the classroom and had to study, she would get headaches and feel sleepy. Yet whenever it was time to learn farming or practical work, she became as energetic as a rabbit set loose from its cage.
Lin Dahai had suffered many headaches because of this.
An admission letter was precious to Yu Qinglan, but to Lin Shuya, it was nothing more than a useless piece of paper, and one that would probably give her a headache.
Zhao Quande nodded repeatedly. “I didn’t believe it either, but the admission letter really was in Shuya’s hands.”
Then he changed the subject.
“Later, Tian Shufen, Liu Yuejin’s wife, voluntarily admitted that she had provoked the whole matter, and that Yu Qinglan had been the one who told her to do it.”
Lu Chaonan suddenly looked up. “You’re saying Yu Qinglan staged the whole thing herself and then set Shuya up?”
“Yu Qinglan is refusing to admit it,” Zhao Quande said, though he was fairly certain that was exactly what had happened. “The admission letter is still with Shuya now, and she made it clear that if Yu Qinglan wants it back, she first has to persuade you to agree to a divorce.”
Lu Chaonan felt as though he had been dragged into trouble for absolutely no reason.
By the time Yu Qinglan had come to the village as an educated youth, he had already joined the Army. Other than the few times he had seen her when he returned home two years ago, they barely knew each other.
How could Yu Qinglan’s mess end up landing on his head?
Zhao Quande continued, “As for the divorce, you can blame that idiot Lu Chaoxi. Shuya originally only wanted an apology, but your brother directly threatened that if she refused to hand over the admission letter, then you would divorce her. Shuya probably just responded in the heat of the moment. I don’t think she actually meant it.”
Lu Chaonan’s fist tightened.
Clearly, he had not beaten Lu Chaoxi enough when they were younger. The brat actually dared to make decisions for him now.
Once he got home today, he would make sure Lu Chaoxi remembered exactly who was the older brother.
“What about my mother? Did she take Lu Chaoxi and Yu Qinglan’s side?”
Zhao Quande rubbed the tip of his nose. “It’s worse than that. All the money you sent home over the past two years was kept by your mother. She didn’t give Shuya a single cent.”
Lu Chaonan’s eyes widened in shock.
“Is that really true?”
“When Shuya went to your house to demand the money, the whole village was there,” Zhao Quande said, taking the opportunity to claim some credit. “I knew about the money you sent home, so I helped Shuya get back the ten yuan you sent every month. Shuya was generous and even rounded the amount down, only asking for two hundred yuan.”
Lu Chaonan suddenly felt discouraged.
As the saying went, a woman married a man so she would have food to eat and clothes to wear.
Yet after marrying him, Lin Shuya had not enjoyed a comfortable life. Instead, she had suffered grievances at every turn.
If he put himself in her position, he would not have been able to tolerate it either.
At first, he had thought Lin Shuya was only joking about wanting a divorce.
Now, he was no longer so sure.
Perhaps Lin Shuya truly did want to divorce him.
Lu Chaonan could not help letting out a long sigh.
His gaze fell on the new shoes and dress he had bought for Lin Shuya, and he suddenly felt a little apprehensive.
These things would probably not even be enough to make her stop being angry, let alone win back her affection.
Just then, their food arrived, and Lu Chaonan said, “Let’s eat first. We’ll talk after we’re full.”
However, Lu Chaonan had little appetite throughout the meal.
Nearly two thirds of the food ended up in Zhao Quande’s stomach.
After they had eaten their fill, it was almost time for the bus to leave.
The two of them went to the long distance bus station together and boarded the bus back to the village.
As they neared the village entrance, Lu Chaonan began to feel at a loss.
He was looking forward to seeing Lin Shuya, but at the same time, he was afraid that she resented him and would not give him a friendly reception.
Lost in his thoughts, he barely noticed as the bus slowly came to a stop beside the station sign.
Lu Chaonan walked toward the village with heavy steps.
Someone was approaching from the opposite direction on a bicycle.
There were not many families in the village who owned bicycles. Lu Chaonan looked closely and recognized the person riding it.
It was Lu Chaoxi.
Lu Chaonan’s expression darkened. He strode forward and stopped him.
“Third Brother, where are you going?”
“Second Brother, you’re back?”
The moment Lu Chaoxi saw him, his face lit up with surprise. He gripped the brakes tightly and stopped beside Lu Chaonan.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were coming back in advance? Mom was just about to send me to deliver a letter to you. We almost missed each other.”
“A letter? What letter?”
Lu Chaoxi hurriedly pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Lu Chaonan.
Then he took the luggage from Lu Chaonan’s hand and placed it in the bicycle basket.
“Read it when we get home. There’s no need to rush right now.”