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As it happened, Qin Yu and Zhou Xiaoqiao were chatting in the garden when she arrived at the Shen residence for the party.
They were too far away for Ruan Tian to hear what they were saying, but she could clearly see Zhou Xiaoqiao’s face.
Qin Yu smiled and said softly, “Sister Xiaoqiao.”
Zhou Xiaoqiao was actually a little afraid of Qin Yu. His gaze seemed somehow sharp and barbed, with the barbs used to easily dig out the little secrets in people’s hearts.
But she forced out a smile and replied, “Brother Qin Yu.”
Qin Yu casually reached out and played with a rose from the garden, and he spoke in a lazy tone, “You’ve always called me big brother, so I am willing to treat you as a younger sister.”
There was a long pause and then he laughed lightly and continued, “However, Xiaoqiao, you shouldn’t always bully your sister.”
Zhou Xiaoqiao felt her heart sink, and her face quickly turned pale. She bit her lower lip and stuttered out, “I…I…I didn’t…”
Qin Yu folded plucked the rose indifferently and then interrupted her impatiently, “Don’t cry, it’s useless.”
He gave a thin smile and patted Zhou Xiaoqiao’s face with the rose’s stem, “Be more obedient, okay?”
Just eight words, but they weren’t gentle at all. Instead, each word was like a hidden but very sharp sword that was aimed directly at her.
Zhou Xiaoqiao watched with reddened eyes as Qin Yu casually strode away, and her fists unconsciously clenched so tightly that her nails drew blood from her palm.
Seeing this scene, Ruan Tian was hesitating over whether to go in or not. However, before she could make a decision, Qin Yu had already appeared in front of her.
Qin Yu’s usual ‘virtues’ as a dog who would never spit ivory immediately shone through, “Came over to your ex-husband’s house to visit?”
Of course, the first words out of his mouth were ‘ex-husband’.
Did he just want to annoy her? Was he too bored or something?
Ruan Tian’s expression was numb, “I was wrong before, I shouldn’t have mistakenly thought you liked me.”
Qin Yu: “?”
Ruan Tian’s expression was very serious, “Since you care about my ex-husband so much, I’ve realized that you actually like him.”
Then, completely unafraid of Qin Yu’s murderous eyes, she continued: “I wish you both a hundred years of happiness, a year to hold one, three years to hold two, and fives years to hold three.” (tl note: children, if it isn’t clear)
Her mouth was like a cannon today, blasting Qin Yu to shreds!
She felt awesome.
Qin Yu was so angry he laughed. Then he said, “Don’t forget that I am your creditor.”
Ruan Tian suddenly recalled that she still owed him ten million in liquidated damages.
Realizing that a wise woman would bend to the situation, Ruan Tian closed her mouth immediately.
After drifting around the party and playing dumb for half an hour, someone pulled Ruan Tian aside and invited her up to Old Master Shen’s study.
After she stepped inside, she found that Shen Shu was also standing in front of Old Master Shen’s desk.
Looking at him, his body seemed to be a bit thinner.
But Ruan Tian only glanced at him for a moment before she immediately lowered her head.
Old Master Shen invited her to step forward. Before he could say anything though, he pulled out a handkerchief and covered his mouth before coughing a few times. Only once the coughing stopped did he muster up the strength to talk to her, “Ruan Tian, our Shen family has wronged you.”
Heh, to say the truth out so plainly like that…
It also felt a little embarrassing for her.
Ruan Tian raised her head and, without paying any attention to the man next to her, she said: “It was what I wanted.”
Old Master Shen continued: “By the time I found out about your divorce, it was already too late. Shen Shu, this bastard, has treated you terribly. It’s all because I didn’t teach my grandson well.”
Ruan Tian lowered her heard and listened obediently.
“I know you’ve always liked Shen…”
****!
She couldn’t just let this pass.
Ruan Tian immediately raised her head, “No, no, Grandpa Shen, I haven’t liked Shen Shu for a long time, don’t misunderstand. Our marriage and divorce were all voluntary decisions.”
Old Master Shen’s words were stuck in the air, and he didn’t know how to continue for a moment.
Shen Shu’s face turned ugly. His teeth were tightly clenched, and his fingers trembled uncontrollably until he tightened them into fists. His back was stiff, and he felt a stinging pain in the back of his head. All in all, his whole state was terrible.
After a while, Old Master Shen said, “If you want any compensation, just tell me. If you want to remarry, I’ll also agree, and Shen Shu won’t have any opinions.”
Since she was in front of an elder, Ruan Tian was hesitant to bring out her usual ‘if you give me some money, it will be fine’ rhetoric.
In front of the elderly, didn’t it seem too vulgar and beggar-like?
So she replied: “I don’t need any compensation, Grandpa Shen, I’m having a good time. Our marriage was a mistake from the beginning, but now that the mistake has been solved perfectly. I don’t have any troubles anymore.”
Like that, everything was laid out clearly.
Old Master Shen could only feel powerless. He had the heart to help his grandson, but unfortunately, there was nothing he could do.
After that, Ruan Tian left the study, and Shen Shu followed out behind her a moment later.
Ruan Tian’s words lingered in his ears and his brain throbbed with pain. Recently, he was having nightmares every night and his sleep was always restless.
During this period of time, he had been reflecting on the scene of that spring outing from his third year of high school. He remembered that there had been a sudden downpour, and he had gotten hurt, and someone had carried him into a cave to safety. He remembered how that person had held him tightly.
Soft body, soft fragrance.
He remembered he had embraced her waist, kissed her lips, and told her he wanted to marry her.
His mind’s eye would blink. One second the girl’s face would belong to Zhou Xiaoqiao, and then the next it would belong to Ruan Tian.
He couldn’t tell for sure who it was.
However, Shen Shu had a vague guess in his heart.
A person’s words and expressions could lie.
But that familiar scent, he seemed to have only smelled it from Ruan Tian.
The one-night stand between him and Ruan Tian had not been very pleasant, and he didn’t think of it much.
But on reflection, the fragrance he had smelled on her neck that night seemed to overlap with his hazy memories of the fragrance of that girl in the cave.
Shen Shu smashed a nearby wall with his fist, and blood trickled down between his knuckles.
After a long moment, he turned around, leaned back against the wall, and put a cigarette in his mouth. However, his hand holding the lighter was shaking and, even after trying several times, he found that he couldn’t light it.