The 99th Divorce

“It’s all in here!” Li Jianqian stuffed the box into Ou Ming’s arms and stated somberly. “Uncle, this is a present from all three of us. It’s also our blessing. Open it and take a look!”

“The three of you made this?” Ou Ming’s curiosity was piqued. “This is the reason you went upstairs for so long?”

“No. We were dividing the blessings. Half of the blessings is for you, and the other half is for Auntie,” Li Mosen explained, his face serious. “This is also the assignment that Daddy gave us.”

Ou Ming laughed quietly and took the box. He asked, “What kind of assignment is this? I thought it was going to be practicing questions or something like that. I never expected it to be something so different? You made them do this?”

“It was their mother’s idea. I just went along with it.” Li Sicheng was very satisfied with his reaction, and glee was written all over his face. “The main purpose of this exercise was to test the children’s perseverance and patience. Congratulations on being our first guest. You’ve got it good.”

As Ou Ming heard Li Sicheng’s words, he felt a tinge of envy towards Li Sicheng’s happiness.

While he was grappling with his sense of envy and jealousy, he glanced at Yu Lili. Yu Lili had already opened her box and found it filled to the brim with small flowers. She was shocked, and asked, “Did you make all these?”

Li Mosen was quite emotionally sensitive despite his young age. When he saw Yu Lili look so genuinely shocked, he got really excited.

Li Mosen nodded his head and said, “I made the hearts, Ersu made the stars, and the paper cranes inside were made by Dasu. This was the assignment Daddy gave us a few days ago. Each person had to fold 199 pieces of paper.” As he spoke, he looked into Yu Lili’s eyes and his speech trailed off. He started to blush and looked down in helplessness.

Yu Lili saw that Li Mosen had gotten nervous. With a smile, she hugged his little head and planted a kiss on his forehead, saying, “This is great. I love it very much. I’ll be happy if my future son could be as awesome as you.”

Li Mosen almost jumped for joy when he heard that. Looking up at Yu Lili, he nodded as he blushed again and said, “Thank you, Auntie. Your kids in the future will definitely be even more awesome than we are!”

The smile on Yu Lili’s face widened. She couldn’t believe that words of such humility were coming from the mouth of a five-year-old. Such a child could only be the result of good family values.

This child was indeed the son of Li Sicheng and Su Qianci. His upbringing trumped any she had seen before.

Li Jianqian was standing beside Ou Ming and heard the exchange. When he heard Li Mosen’s comment, he added on, “We each made one hundred and ninety-nine. We gave Uncle and Auntie ninety-nine each. There’s still one more here.”

Li Jianqian fished out a few pieces of paper, a pink heart, a white paper crane, and a yellow star from his pocket.

Li Jianyue took a mouthful of sweet soup and smacked her lips; then she asked uncomprehendingly, “Why did you hide one?”

“If we didn’t hide it, we wouldn’t be able to give it to Uncle and Auntie. Only if we took one out would each box have 99. This way, Uncle and Auntie can be together for a long time![1]” Li Jianqian looked at Li Jianyue and explained earnestly. “If we were to put this in, that would make it a hundred. Although it would look like a lot, it wouldn’t be 99 anymore.”

[1] The Chinese word for ‘a long time’ and 99 sound the same.