Divorced

It was noon when Chen Yuchuan woke up. He lay on the bed and turned several times, rolling from the head of the bed to the end of the bed, only to realize that he was sleeping in the room above Ling Qun’s bar.

In the past, when he and Lu Yang had gathered for a drink at Ling Qun’s bar and it had ended too late, they would stay in this room.

Chen Yuchuan got up and sat cross-legged with one leg drooping under the edge of the bed, toes pressed to the floor.

The chill of the floor shot up from his toes to his throat, and he swallowed, suddenly more awake now.

He ran a hand through his messy bed-hair and looked down at himself.

He was wearing only a pair of underwear. Rubbing his throbbing temple, he thought for a long time but could not remember how he got here yesterday or how he took off his clothes.

He stretched his neck and looked at the clothes scattered all over the floor. The way the clothes were scattered was very similar to his style.

He lowered his head and sniffed himself, but there was no scent of alcohol on his body. He didn’t remember taking a bath last night.

His shoulders were a little bruised from his fight with Lu Yang in the boxing gym yesterday, and it hurted when he pressed it with the tip of his index finger.

Chen Yuchuan heaved a sigh of relief and scolded, Lu Yang, you self-centered show-off, I’ll definitely beat you next time.

After he was done scolding, he remembered the dream he’d had last night and he felt happy again.

In the dream, he was 18 and Lu Yang was 22, a decent, gentle, and successful person. When they were dating, they each tentatively stretched out their hands until their two hands touched.

But he refused to dwell too much on memories, because doing so would make it extremely easy to feel melancholic.

Chen Yuchuan had a splitting headache, and he rubbed his throbbing forehead for a long time.

Once he felt better, he jumped off the bed on bare feet and went to take a shower.

After washing up, he picked up the clothes on the ground and put them back on with no small measure of disgust. He sniffed the collar of his shirt and could easily smell the strong stench of alcohol.

He grabbed his phone and car keys on the bedside table and decided to go home, take another shower, and change into a new set of clothes.

He didn’t even think about why his clothes were scattered so messily but his cell phone and car keys were neatly stacked.

Ling Qun’s bar was closed in the early hours of the morning. Chen Yuchuan knew that Ling Qun was still sleeping so he didn’t bother him. He only sent a text message to say that he was leaving and that the room key was in the cabinet drawer in the front desk.

Chen Yuchuan drove home in a hurry, and by the time he reached the fifth floor, he was already starting to unbutton the top of his shirt.

But just as he had just finished undoing the first button and was still muttering irritably, he saw a woman standing at the door of the house, holding a dog leash in her hand. His mouth snapped shut and his hands began to subconsciously redo the button and smooth down his clothes.

The woman standing at his door was about to open the door with the key in her hand. Attached to the leash on her other hand was the fat dog that he and Lu Yang had raised.

Chubby was very excited to see Chen Yuchuan. After all, he hadn’t seen his father in a week, and so he jumped on Chen Yuchuan several times. Finally, he placed his two paws on Chen Yuchuan’s thighs and barked with his tongue lolling.

Chen Yuchuan raised his hand and touched Chubby’s neck. Straightening, he opened his mouth at the woman and laughed loudly, calling out, “Mom, why are you here? Why didn’t you tell me that you’re coming?”

The woman in front of him, Man Yunxin, was Lu Yang’s mother and his mother-in-law.

Man Yunxin was wearing an elegant black dress. She was nearly sixty years old but looked only forty years old. The makeup on her face was elegant and delicate, and her hair was pulled back, adding to the unmatched temperament that she exuded.

Chen Yuchuan wasn’t afraid of much, but what he was most afraid of was his mother-in-law. To be honest, it wasn’t that he was afraid of her, but that he just took her as his mother.

If he had to say who Lu Yang looked like, he would definitely say that he looked like his mother, both in appearance and in personality.

Chen Yuchuan’s mother-in-law was a pianist, and she came from a famous scholarly family. Whenever Chen Yuchuan got close to her, he felt that he could smell the scent of books and musical notes, which was the temperament and heritage that she radiated from inside out.

Man Yunxin stood at the door and looked Chen Yuchuan up and down. She asked in a warm voice, “Xiao Chun, why is the collar of your shirt so wrinkled? I knocked on the door for a long time but no one answered, so I took out the key to open the door myself. I just sent you a text message.”

Chen Yuchuan lowered his head and smoothed out his shirt again. Then he took out his mobile phone and looked at it. Man Yunxin really did send him a text message ten minutes ago, saying that she and Lu Yang’s father were going on vacation and wanted to bring Chubby back.

Chen Yuchuan put the phone back in his pocket, took Chubby’s leash, walked over, and hooked Men Yunxin’s arm. He said with a smile, “Mom, I was driving just now and didn’t see it.”

The reason Chen Yuchuan was afraid of his mother-in-law wasn’t because she was too fierce. No, no matter what she said, she would always be gentle and soft-spoken.

Such a woman seemed to know quite well how to handle a bastard like Chen Yuchuan.

At the beginning of his and Lu Yang’s relationship, Lu Yang’s parents didn’t like him at all, and so they strongly opposed their relationship.

Chen Yuchuan didn’t fear harshness, didn’t fear being ignored, didn’t fear angry words, didn’t fear being beatened unreasonably, but he was initially at a loss about how to deal with such a mother-in-law.

Because, she wouldn’t mess with you, wouldn’t quarrel with you, wouldn’t lose her temper and wouldn’t beat you like a shrew.

She would stand right in front of you, her expression gentle and mild, as if she didn’t care very much. First, she would nod politely at you, a gentle smile gracing the corners of her mouth, and then she would say, “Xiao Chuan’er, I know you’ve both been together for a while, and that it’s not easy for you. But I just don’t quite agree with your relationship. You and Lu Yang are from different worlds.”

Those were the heaviest words he’d ever heard from Man Yunxin over the years.

On the other hand, Lu Yang’s father, Mr. Lu Xianfeng, had a hot temper that was more in line with his own.

The way he handled it was different from Man Yunxin. Lu Xianfeng had worked hard in the shopping malls business all his life, and so his way of dealing with it was rude and simple. He directly threw 5 million to Chen Yuchuan to leave his son.

Chen Yuchuan accepted the check with a smile, and said thank you before leaving the house.

If someone were to take a check like that, it would be equivalent to disappearing by default.

But Chen Yuchaun wasn’t typical at all. He took the 5 million check and shook it in front of Lu Yang, showing it off for a long time.

The next day, he flew himself and Lu Yang to a small island in the Pacific Ocean for a vacation. He took that 5 million as a red envelope given to him by his father-in-law.

This incident made Lu Xianfeng jump with anger. After they’d had their fun outside and returned, Lu Xianfeng pointed a finger at Chen Yuchuan and said that he did not keep his words.

However, Chen Yuchuan only half listened. Before he married Lu Yang, Lu Xianfeng had him thoroughly investigated, to the point that even the matter of his grandfather stealing two chickens in the village was picked up.

Chen Yuchuan stood in front of the civil affairs bureau with Lu Yang’s arm around his back, and he said, “Don’t say that my grandfather stole two chickens, even if I stole two chickens, my marriage with Lu Yang is already settled.”

Facing such difficult parents-in-laws, Chen Yuchuan had his own set of methods.

Since his mother-in-law and Lu Yang were of the same temperament, the fact that his mother-in-law didn’t play tricks was great for Chen Yuchuan.

He was the best at acting coquettish, like a spoiled brat. As soon as they meet, he would act like a spoiled child with his mother-in-law, clinging to her.

His father-in-law had the same temper as his, and when he saw his father-in-law, he would have two meals with him, two glasses of wine, and utter two sweet words. The moment they started with each other, they would chat quite happily.

He eventually realized that both his father-in-law and his mother-in-law quite enjoyed his treatment of them.

His supposition was that, based on Lu Yang’s temperament, Lu Yang had probably never acted coquettish with his parents, even as a child. In this way, Chen Yuchuan was making up for their regret in not being closer to their child as parents.

After a long time of trying, even if there was no emotion initially, emotions would eventually be grinded out.

Later, Lu Xianfeng and Man Yuxin began to treat him no differently than Lu Yang, and indeed, they both liked him very much.

He had heard Lu Yang’s so-called friend teased about this before, saying, “Chen Yuchuan licked Lu Yang’s parents like a pug.”

That bullshit, Lu Yang heard it when they were out drinking, and so he directly beat the man under the table. After that, Lu Yang dropped that man as a friend, the first friend that he’d dropped for Chen Yuchuan.

At the time, Chen Yuchuan was next to him and he’d tried to pull Lu Yang back. Lu Yang was worried about Chen Yuchuan’s temper, but he didn’t take that bullshit to heart at all.

Because those were Lu Yang’s parents, and he was Lu Yang’s lover. Of course, he would bow his head to Lu Yang’s parents and coax them.

He loved Lu Yang, and naturally, he also loved his parents.

Chubby’s front paws were still on Chen Yuchuan’s pants, his claws scratching him.

“Mom, isn’t Chubby at fucking…” Chen Yuchaun said while holding the key, but he caught himself at the last minute and made a smooth turn. “Isn’t Chubby at Lu Yang’s place? Why are you the one bringing him back?”

Chubby’s front paws began to scratch at the door, barking a bit harshly. Chen Yuchuan hurriedly opened the door and Chubby shot through the crack in the door.

Chubby had been away from home for several days and he’d missed his own home.

After entering the door, Man Yunxin changed her shoes, walked to the sofa, and sat down. Then she said, “I went to Lu Yang’s office the day before yesterday, and Chubby was with him in his office. He said that you weren’t at home so that’s why he brought Chubby to the office. So, I took Chubby home with me for a few days.”

Chen Yuchuan observed for a moment and found that there were no changes to his mother-in-law’s behavior. He asked tentatively, “Mom…Lu Yang didn’t tell you and Dad anything?”

When Man Yunxin heard this, she was a little puzzled at first. Then she thought about it and asked him with a smile, “What’s the matter? Did you have a quarrel with Lu Yang?”

As soon as his mother-in-law spoke, Chen Yuchuan knew that Lu Yang hadn’t told his parents that they had gotten a divorce.

He thought again that it would be better for Lu Yang to tell his parents himself, and so he decided not to say anything. Instead, he just shook his head and said, “Mom, we didn’t quarrel.”

Man Yunxin said, “It’s good that you didn’t have a fight. By the way, Dad and I are going out to play for a week and we won’t be back until next Friday. You and Yangyang haven’t come back home to eat in several weeks now. Come home for dinner next weekend.

Chen Yuchuan wanted to refuse, but he held the words back. He’d just said that they hadn’t fought, and so he couldn’t think of a good excuse to refuse the elders. In the end, he nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll return home with Lu Yang for dinner next weekend.”