Chapter 6
Just after I finished washing up at home, my best friend Xu Xia, who was away on a business trip, called me.
“Happy birthday, darling! The limited edition bag will be delivered right on time tomorrow!”
She paused for a moment, then changed her tone and asked:
“Was Chen Huaixu’s film made for you to watch?”
Xu Xia and I were college roommates. She had witnessed my relationship with Chen Huaixu back then.
I was silent for a few seconds, pretending to be indifferent as I replied:
“It’s all in the past…”
On the other end of the line, she suddenly sighed.
“I hope you’ve really let it go.”
I teased her, jokingly: “Didn’t we agree to stay away from men for the rest of our lives and spend it together? Darling, you’re the most important person to me!”
She finally laughed. Lately, Xu Xia had been tormented by her troublesome ex-husband.
“Qi An, can you pick up Ruirui for me tomorrow? I’m worried the Sheng Family might try something again.”
“Sure, don’t worry.”
“Are you rushing a manuscript again tomorrow? Go to bed early, don’t stay up late.”
“OK!”
Back in school, Xu Xia had an outstanding and considerate boyfriend named Sheng Lei. After graduation, he married her against all odds. Although there were many issues between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law after marriage, the couple was loving, and in the third year, Xu Xia became pregnant, making the whole family overjoyed.
She thought the days ahead would be sweet and smooth, but unexpectedly, while she was still in her postpartum confinement, Sheng Lei cheated on her.
Back then, Xu Xia, still not fully recovered, left with nothing, insisting on retaining custody of her son.
At that time, I had just gone through the darkest period of my life. I held the postpartum-depressed Xu Xia-whom I always called Xiaxia-and we cried together:
“Xiaxia, I’ll help you raise your son. There’s no obstacle in life we can’t overcome.”
That year, after muddling through for a while, I started trying to write novels. After Xu Xia recovered, she landed an offer from a listed company. Later, we opened a café together, and life became quite comfortable.
We often joked that from then on, we would cut off all romantic ties and lock away our hearts.
With a best friend, a son, a bit of money, and no husband-life was pretty good.
Perhaps it was karma. Not long after divorcing Xu Xia, Sheng Lei was hit by a car and lost his ability to have children forever. The Sheng Family, which had only one son per generation for three generations, was left with only Ruirui as their grandson.
Over the years, they’ve tried every trick, both openly and covertly, to get their grandson back.
Wishful thinking on their part-unless we’re dead, that will never happen.