Watching Sister-in-law Chen practically bolt away, Chen Lihong curled her lip.
She swallowed back the sharp words on the tip of her tongue. While she no longer needed to rely on her maiden family, Chen Liyun still did. Even if her sister-in-law’s desperate fear of being taken advantage of was an eyesore, Chen Liyun could not afford to hold a grudge.
Chen Lihong even felt compelled to put in a good word for her. “Xiao Yun, don’t take it to heart. That’s just how she is, mostly because things are tight at home. Her heart is in the right place. Look, the moment she heard there was trouble today, she came right over.”
Chen Liyun smiled. “I know, Sis. I’m grateful she came to help. Why would I blame her? Eldest Brother and the rest have left, so you and Brother-in-law should stay and eat here. I cooked plenty, more than enough for all of us.”
Chen Lihong shook her head. “No, food is already ready at home. We need to eat quickly and rest a bit before heading out to the fields.” She tugged Chen Liyun aside, lowering her voice. “Are you and Qi Hongwei really going to get the divorce certificate tomorrow?”
“Really,” Chen Lihong replied. “We agreed to meet in town tomorrow morning at nine-thirty.”
Her sister was genuinely this resolute about getting a divorce.
Chen Lihong remained silent for a long moment. It was only when Fang Dahai nudged her from the side that she finally spoke.
“I’m coming with you tomorrow. Even with a divorce, he can’t get away without paying a single cent for child support. And this house—you and the three girls will have nowhere to go if you leave. You have to make him agree to leave it to you, or your in-laws will definitely try to seize it.”
After what had happened today, Chen Liyun knew Old Qi and Old Madam Qi would certainly try to take the house. But her earlier words had genuinely frightened the old couple, so she was not in the least bit worried now.
Qi Hongwei wanted to remarry, and he wanted someone of good standing. That meant he had a weakness. She, on the other hand, had no intention of ever marrying again. If things truly came to a showdown, he would be the one with everything to lose.
“Don’t worry, Jie. I’m certain I can get him to leave the house to me,” Chen Liyun said, declining Chen Lihong’s offer. “You’re still busy with the fields, so there’s no need to come with me. If you have some spare time, just drop by to check on the girls. I don’t know how long getting the divorce certificate will take, and I’m worried they’ll go hungry if I’m late coming back.”
Chen Liyun had clearly held the upper hand in the argument earlier.
Chen Lihong did not overthink it, assuming her younger sister had simply been hurt so deeply by Qi Hongwei that she had found the spine to stand up for her children. Seeing how she had won the fight and now looked completely confident, Chen Lihong thought that maybe Chen Liyun really could pull it off tomorrow.
Things really were busy at her own home, and someone truly needed to keep an eye on the three girls here. Chen Lihong did not hesitate for long before readily agreeing.
“Be careful tomorrow, then. If he dares to raise a hand against you, just run. Don’t let yourself get hurt!”
Chen Liyun smiled. If it really came to blows, it was not certain who would come out worse.
Once Chen Lihong and her husband left, Chen Liyun had nothing else to attend to.
She shut the courtyard gate, took care to soothe Chen Shu and Chen Chang, and went to bed early. All she hoped for in her heart was the divorce the following day, after which the three girls would belong to her alone.
Qijia Village was not very far from town, but Chen Liyun did not have a bicycle. After eating breakfast and setting aside lunch for the two children, she hurried out the door.
Walking briskly from the village to town would take a solid hour. Luckily, when she reached the main road, she ran into a fellow villager driving a tractor to town for market day. Catching a ride got her there by eight-thirty.
With an hour left before her meeting with Qi Hongwei, and with the market in full swing, Chen Liyun took the embroidery pieces she had made and browsed from one end of the street to the other.
Unfortunately, no one was buying embroidery work. There were people selling shoe insoles, but their craft was inferior to the original owner’s, and their prices were dirt cheap.
After walking the entire loop, Chen Liyun felt a pang of disappointment. If no one in town was buying embroidery, surely someone in the county seat would? If the county had no market for it either, that path to earning a living would be completely cut off.
Dejected, she walked over to the entrance of the town bank. Since she had no watch, she planned to step inside to ask for the time. Just as she reached the doors, a hand gripped her arm and yanked her backward with sudden, violent force.
Caught off guard, she stumbled several steps, steadying herself against the wall.
“You’re the one who wanted this divorce! What time do you call this? Chen Liyun, just say so if you’ve changed your mind! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you?!” The man’s harsh, raging voice sounded horrifyingly familiar.
Chen Liyun looked up. The instant she saw Qi Hongwei, an uncontrollable surge of hatred welled up inside her. It was Qi Hong… Qi Hongwei and Qi Hong looked completely identical.
Even though he was wearing a white dress shirt and had his hair parted neatly to the side with styling oil, his features were carved exactly from her memories.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
This was a modern society governed by law, and Qi Hongwei only wanted a divorce. He had not harmed her Abao. Besides, she had already taken her revenge against the Qi Hong of her past life.
Seeing Chen Liyun in such visible pain, Qi Hongwei felt surprised. For once, she was neither crying nor pleading with him, just quietly enduring her suffering.
Memories of their past involuntarily surfaced, taking him back to when they were dating and when Daya was first born. There had been love between them once.
A flicker of pity stirred in his chest. He reached out, instinctively wanting to touch her cheek and offer some comfort.
At that exact moment, Chen Liyun snapped her eyes open. A flash of hostility crossed her gaze before vanishing just as quickly, replaced by a chilling detachment, as though she were looking at a complete stranger.
To her, Qi Hongwei was nothing more than a stranger now.
Chen Liyun glanced at the watch on his raised wrist. “Have you been waiting long? We agreed on nine-thirty. What time is it now?”
Qi Hongwei looked down at his watch, reacting a second too late. It was only nine-ten.
Embarrassment flickered across his face, quickly turning into irritation. She really must have found someone else to treat him with such coldness. She had never acted like this before.
Chen Liyun let out a cold laugh, cutting him off before he could speak. “Never mind. Do you have all the documents? Let’s go get the divorce finalized.”
Just as Qi Hongwei was about to answer, a thought struck him. “We have to go to the county seat for the divorce. They can’t issue the certificates in town.”
Was that so?
Chen Liyun had not known that. Still, Chen Lihong was watching the house. Even if she returned late, Chen Lihong could tide Abao over with some rice water.
Without hesitating, she agreed. “All right, let’s go to the county seat.”
Buses ran between the town and the county seat twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon. Heading over now meant they would catch the second morning bus just in time. Chen Liyun took the lead, her steps steady and resolute. When she reached the bus, she climbed aboard and took a seat.
Qi Hongwei stood outside for a long time, reeling with shock. What was wrong with her today?
She genuinely wanted a divorce, showing not the slightest hint of regret, refusing to waste even a single word on him. Her sheer urgency to end things grated on him deeply.
Had she really found someone else?
With a dark expression, he boarded the bus and sat down on the aisle seat beside her.
He was curious to see what kind of prospect she could possibly attract. She was twenty-five, had given birth to three daughters in a row, and never bothered to dress up or groom herself. If she remarried, her only option would be some aging bachelor who could not find anyone else. And she was actually willing to settle for that? She truly was desperate.
Chen Liyun turned her head, fixing him with a cold stare.
Qi Hongwei turned toward her as well. “What are you looking at?”
“If we get divorced, do you want the three children?” Chen Liyun asked.
Qi Hongwei instantly flew into a rage. “You…”
Chen Liyun did not quite understand the source of his anger. Yet, looking at his furious face, memories of her past life suddenly rushed back.
In that life, she had not been without admirers. Her maternal cousin had cared for her deeply. She had been oblivious to it at first, only learning the truth much later when he was ordered by the emperor to transport grain and fodder to the Northwest. Seeing that her life was nowhere near that of a duke’s daughter, worse off even than a peasant girl’s, he had impulsively offered to take her away. He confessed that he had once begged his mother to propose marriage on his behalf, and his mother had agreed.
Unfortunately, her family had used her as a substitute and married her off to Qi Hong before her aunt’s proposal could arrive.
Back then, she had turned her cousin down. Somehow, Qi Hong still found out, and he had looked just as furious as Qi Hongwei did now. Once his temper cooled, Qi Hong claimed he reacted that way out of jealousy, terrified that she would leave him.
She believed him at the time, but she would have been a fool to keep believing it later on.
As for Qi Hongwei, who shared the exact same face, he was not jealous either. He simply believed that even a woman he threw away had no right to look elsewhere.
He had misunderstood her intentions.
And that misunderstanding suited her perfectly.
She had originally planned to drop all pretenses and play hardball, but this turn of events was even better.
Chen Liyun immediately said, “Your parents already made it clear that you’re going to remarry after the divorce. Since you’re moving on, I can hardly be expected to stay single forever, can I?”
“So what?” Qi Hongwei kept his voice down, though his fury was unmistakable. “So you’re just going to abandon the three kids so you can run off and remarry on your own? Chen Liyun, you’re truly heartless. You don’t even care about your own flesh and blood?”
You’re the one who doesn’t want his own daughters!
Maintaining an indifferent expression, Chen Liyun looked straight at Qi Hongwei. “Then what do you propose we do?”
“I have to work,” Qi Hongwei said coldly. “I don’t have time to look after them.”
Chen Liyun gave a slight smile. “Don’t you still have your parents?”
Qi Hongwei reacted just as Chen Liyun had anticipated. It was true that he no longer cared for her and had made up his mind about the divorce, but the thought of her finding another man the moment they split was something his pride simply could not swallow.
“My parents are getting up there in years and have worked hard for me their entire lives,” he said icily. “I don’t have the nerve to ask them to raise my kids for me. Besides, all three of them are girls, and you know very well they don’t like girls. If you leave the children with them, have you thought about what will happen to them?”
As if finally realizing the dreadful consequences, Chen Liyun’s face paled.
Qi Hongwei smirked, unable to hide his smug satisfaction. “The children have already lost their father. Are you really going to make them lose their mother, too? Enough, Chen Liyun. I never knew you were this kind of person. You’d abandon your own children just to remarry? And to think you used to claim you loved them so much. Is this what your love looks like?”
Chen Liyun almost laughed. How shameless did he have to be to say such things out loud?
Swallowing the impulse, she looked at him with disgust. “So, you’re saying you want to dump all three children on me?”
Qi Hongwei had never cared much for his three daughters anyway. Seeing that Chen Liyun seemed reluctant to let them go, he figured that saddling her with all of them would be the perfect way to keep her from remarrying.
“What do you mean by ‘dump’?” he countered. “They’re your own flesh and blood!”
Chen Liyun fell silent for a long moment before sighing in defeat. “Fine. Then write me a signed note later giving me the house. Otherwise, where am I supposed to take them? If you don’t hand over the house, I’ll dump all three on your parents. I’m young and pretty, I won’t have any trouble finding another husband!”
Qi Hongwei gritted his teeth in anger. Still, he spent most of his time in the county seat and was about to marry Xue Lili, a girl from the city, so he did not really care about the house back home.
Without hesitating for long, he agreed. “Fine. As soon as we get the divorce certificate, I’ll write it over to you!”
He paused, then added, “I’ll also give you fifty yuan a month for child support. Don’t go thinking a woman in your position can find a decent match. Marrying some divorced man just to be a stepmother and wait on him hand and foot is worse than raising the three girls properly. If you don’t, they’ll grow up hating you anyway!”
Fifty yuan—he was certainly being generous.
Chen Liyun sneered inwardly. Even though she had been discouraged earlier today when no one in town would take her embroidery, she still had no intention of accepting his money. Taking it would make it impossible for the children to cut ties with Qi Hongwei completely. If she refused it and eventually earned enough on her own to move away with the girls, severing those ties would be easy.
“Forget it,” she said. “I don’t want to get into fights with your future wife. Keep the fifty yuan for yourself. Even if we have to scrape by on chaff and wild herbs, I can raise all three girls on my own.”
Qi Hongwei could not shake a strange feeling that he was being played. Yet he couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong or how he was being tricked, so he finally brushed the thought aside. Casting a cold glance at Chen Liyun, he said, “Just make sure you don’t regret it.”
Chen Liyun ignored him.
Once they arrived in the county seat, she went with Qi Hongwei to the Civil Affairs Bureau. Her resolve was absolute, and though Qi Hongwei felt uneasy, he raised no objections. Before long, they each held a green divorce certificate.
Chen Liyun also secured the written statement signed by Qi Hongwei relinquishing the house to her, drafted right in front of the bureau staff as witnesses.