Chapter 1

Chapter 1

We had just finished collecting our divorce certificates and walked out.

Song Zhiyuan’s secretary, Lin Rou, was waiting not far away.

Seeing us emerge, her expression turned a bit strange.

It was as if she were saying, “So, it’s really over?”

I walked up to her calmly and asked, “Secretary Lin, did you know your boss has seven little lovers?”

Lin Rou was stunned, subconsciously glancing at Song Zhiyuan.

Song Zhiyuan kept a stiff face and commanded, “Notify No. 6. Tell her to go to my Xishan villa to serve me tonight.”

“Understood.” Lin Rou’s face crumpled like a bitter orange, likely trying to figure out who exactly “No. 6” was.

I patted her shoulder sympathetically. “Just think about your monthly mortgage payments and bear with it.”

Hadn’t I endured until now before finally getting divorced?

Lin Rou looked at me with a mix of sympathy and envy.

She envied my escape from this sea of misery, yet pitied what I had gone through over the past three years.

“Miss Wen, would you like me to give you a ride?” Lin Rou asked politely.

I glanced at Song Zhiyuan; he didn’t seem to object.

What goes on in this man’s head is sometimes truly impossible to fathom.

He’s eccentric as hell.

After a moment’s thought, I declined.

“I’ll just call a cab.”

Lin Rou wanted to insist, but Song Zhiyuan spoke up coldly, “Do as she says.”

With that, he stepped into his Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Back home, I placed the divorce certificate in a drawer.

Over the past few days, I had already moved all my belongings, large and small, out of his place.

He was the one who initiated the divorce.

His reasoning was infuriating.

He said he wanted to live the life of a truly wealthy man-the kind where he could have a woman on each arm.

I was speechless.

I asked him if he had lost his mind.

He sneered. “So, only you’re allowed to have six ex-boyfriends as backups? I can’t enjoy the beauty of a few ‘accidental’ romantic encounters?”

“Why don’t you just go into the escort business then? A new bride every night-wouldn’t that be even better!” I retorted, my temper getting the better of me.

Song Zhiyuan’s face darkened. “Let’s just get the divorce. Don’t make it messy.”

“Fine. Let’s do it.”

Then came the lawyers, the drafting of the agreement, and the division of assets.

Actually, there wasn’t much to divide. The prenuptial agreement was crystal clear.

What was his stayed his.

What was mine stayed mine.

A high-society marriage of convenience like ours never had much warmth to begin with.

When I stepped out of the shower, I found three missed calls on my phone.

Two were from Song Mei.

The other was from my grandmother.

I called Grandma back first. She told me to attend a banquet at Uncle Lu’s house tomorrow night, mentioning that his youngest son had just returned from abroad the day before yesterday.

His family was hosting a matchmaking banquet for him tomorrow, with many wealthy socialites and female celebrities attending.

I was exasperated. I rubbed my temples and said, “Grandma, I just got divorced.”

“You’re single now that you’re divorced. It’s only natural to pursue happiness,” Grandma said righteously.

“I know.” I could never do anything but compromise when it came to her decisions.

My marriage to Song Zhiyuan had also been her doing.

Granted, we had ended up in bed together after a night of drinking and were caught by a crowd of people.

But I wasn’t prepared to marry him at all.

After all, he had been snide and sarcastic toward me since we were kids.

I didn’t have much affection for him either, but I didn’t dare refuse Grandma. I could only wink at him desperately, hoping he would be the one to reject the idea.

Instead, the moment he pulled his pants on, he asked me how large a diamond ring would be appropriate.

And just like that, two people who were completely incompatible registered for marriage.

Our life after marriage was one of mutual respect and a forced sort of harmony.

Until the group chat with my ex-boyfriends was exposed to him.

He got jealous.

“Six ex-boyfriends, and you even started a group chat. Wen Shu, you certainly know how to enjoy yourself!”

“They’re just friends,” I said awkwardly.

I really hadn’t been the one to create that group.

It was my fourth-to-last ex-boyfriend who made it. I have no idea what went through his head, but he insisted on dragging me into it.

Sometimes they would organize mahjong games, and if they were short one player, they’d call me.

But Song Zhiyuan was incredibly jealous.
That’s because, before marrying me, he had been single his entire life.

Forget ex-girlfriends-there wasn’t even a female mosquito in his vicinity.

From childhood through adulthood, we attended the same schools for kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school, only parting ways for university.

His mother and mine were even VIPs at the same beauty salon.

They often had afternoon tea together.

His mother’s most frequent complaint was: “Could my son actually like men?”

My mother would laugh. “I’ve watched Xiao Yuan grow up, and I haven’t seen him get particularly close to any boys either.”

“Destined to be single forever” was probably the best way to describe someone like Song Zhiyuan.

His mother cried.

Before our little incident was discovered, she truly believed Song Zhiyuan would end up dying alone.

Because of this, she even made her younger daughter study medicine.

“When your brother gets old and ends up in the hospital, I’m afraid some doctor might try to poison him. With you there, I’ll feel at ease.”

Song Mei was speechless.

She complained to me more than once that if her brother really were hospitalized, she’d be the first one to poison him herself.

That mouth of his was just too much!

Ever since I married her brother, she started giving me designer bags every month.

She was terrified that I’d get depressed one day and divorce him.

For some reason, Song Zhiyuan wasn’t as annoying after we got married.

He came home on time every day.

If he had something going on and couldn’t make it back for dinner, he would send a WeChat message to check in.

He gave me red envelopes for every holiday.

Though, I did have to be dragged out of my warm bed by him at five in the morning for morning runs.

He also fussed over my weight and bowel movements, insisted the house be spotless, and would sulk for days whenever I ordered takeout.

Sometimes he’d simply stay away, holed up at Xishan Villa, saying he wouldn’t come back until the smell in the house had dissipated.

He had his quirks-plenty of them.

But ours was a marriage of convenience, so I put up with these little things as best as I could.

As I was lost in these memories, Song Mei called again.

I hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Sister-in-law, are you really done with my brother?” Song Mei started crying the second I picked up.

My lip twitched. “Your brother was the one who asked for the divorce.”

“My brother is a total dumbass, you know that.”

“Mm.” Without Song Zhiyuan as our link, I suddenly didn’t know what to say to her.

“Are you free to come over for dinner tomorrow? My mom says she wants to host a meal,” Song Mei invited.

I declined.

“Tomorrow, I’m attending the Lu family’s matchmaking banquet.”

“Waaaah… Sister-in-law, you’re so heartless!” Song Mei wailed even louder.

I hung up, feeling a headache coming on.

After ending the call, I couldn’t help but scroll through my Moments.

That’s when I saw the photo of the divorce certificate Song Zhiyuan had posted.

The comments below were a solid wall of “666.” On a whim, I replied with a “666” as well.

Immediately after, several new messages popped up on WeChat.

“Xiao Shu, did you and Song Zhiyuan divorce because Zhou Jin is back?”

“Xiao Shu, is this for Zhou Jin?”

“Xiao Shu, has Zhou Jin contacted you?”

“…”

Looking at the messages everyone was sending, my fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

Is Zhou Jin back?

When did this happen?

Why did no one tell me?

With shaking hands, I tapped into that group chat with my ex-boyfriends.

Zhou Jin’s profile picture was right there in the middle of the member list. It was the same one he’d had when he left five years ago; it had never changed.

However, we had deleted each other after he left.

Later, during many sleepless nights, I had wept while wanting to add him back.

But once a friend is deleted, it’s hard to find them again.

I wasn’t so pathetic that I would go around asking others for his WeChat ID.

I swiped the screen a few times, intending to exit, when Ji Ting suddenly mentioned me.

“We’re one short for a game. You in?”

I hesitated, then replied: “In.”

Ji Ting sent me an address.

I went back to my room, changed my clothes, applied some light makeup, and headed out.