Chapter 3

At nine the next morning, having taken time off work, I arrived at the marriage registry right on time.

Lin Wei hadn’t come.

At this stage, the slightest disturbance might make Jiang Yao change her mind.

Nothing could be allowed to go wrong before I had the divorce certificate.

But as I approached the entrance, I saw Jiang Yao standing on the steps with our daughter.

My chest tightened.

Was she planning to have our daughter talk me out of it?

Youyou was only five. How could she drag a child into this?

I went over, keeping my voice low.

“Why did you bring her?”

Jiang Yao glanced up at me, then turned and pushed open the glass door.

“Since you’ve taken time off, we might as well get everything done. We’ll put the apartment in Youyou’s name afterward.”

I paused.

That made sense.

I’d already agreed to give it to her. Transferring it now would save me having to take another day off later.

There was no problem with that.

She hadn’t changed a word of the agreement.

Except to raise the child support from the three thousand we’d discussed to five thousand.

I agreed without hesitation.

Jiang Yao was the sort of mother who would try to pluck the moon from the sky if her daughter wanted it. Every last yuan of that extra two thousand would go to Youyou.

To me, that amount of money meant nothing.

Once we’d registered our application, the clerk handed us a receipt.

“There’s a one-month cooling-off period. After that, both of you need to come back, and you can collect your certificates.”

I was annoyed.

“This is a divorce by mutual agreement. We’ve settled the property and the child. What is there to cool off about?”

The clerk didn’t even look up.

“I’m sorry. It’s required by law.”

That left me with nothing to say.

From the marriage registry, we went to the property registration office.

The process was more complicated than I’d expected, but at least we got it done.

As of today, our divorce cooling-off period had officially begun.

I called Beike, the property agency, and asked them to send someone to photograph the apartment as soon as possible.

Then I leaned against my car and lit a cigarette, watching Jiang Yao and Youyou walk away hand in hand.

A dull ache swelled in my chest.

I couldn’t quite name it.

I drew deeply on the cigarette and slowly exhaled.

It didn’t help much.

Soon my phone rang.

Weiwei.

When I answered, her soft voice reached me, warm with a smile.

“Hubby, I booked a Japanese restaurant for lunch to celebrate you almost being single.”

I closed my eyes for a moment.

Those words seemed to settle gently over the irritation I’d just felt.

Yes. What was I so bothered about?

I’d asked for the divorce. I was the one who wanted Lin Wei.

Jiang Yao was making a clean break. I should have been happy.

Habit was a frightening thing.

Even when you no longer wanted something, your body struggled to adjust when it was suddenly taken away.

Weiwei was still coaxing me over the phone.

“Are you coming or not?”

“I’m coming.”

I stubbed out my cigarette outside the car window, turned the key, and stepped on the gas, merging into the midday traffic.

I left all the petty details of the past in the rearview mirror.

And raced toward my new life.