The 99th Divorce

The instant that thought popped up in Yu Lili’s head, denial told her that she was overthinking the situation. She put that hopeful thought aside. With a word of agreement, she followed Jiao Ziqing out.

Yu Lili didn’t dare walk too fast or too slowly. She kept pace just a step behind Jiao Ziqing, making it evident that she was still ill at ease. After she heard the question, she gave it some thought before answering. “At work, I guess. I’m usually at work for half the day.”

“What about the weekends?” Jiao Ziqing asked.

“During the weekends, I’m usually at home drawing,” Yu Lili replied.

“Drawing?” Jiao Ziqing seemed surprised. It took a second before realization set in. “Oh, right! You draw comics, don’t you?”

“Yeah…” Yu Lili replied.

“How can you spend all your time at home? You can’t do yoga, and you don’t exercise on the weekends. How are you different from a piece of salted fish?” Jiao Ziqing remarked in disdain before walking off to change her clothes.

Yu Lili was a little embarrassed and tried to explain herself, “Actually, I do jog every morning.”

“Oh,” Jiao Ziqing replied. She didn’t say another word.

Yu Lili felt awkward. She didn’t know how to fill the silence.

Jiao Ziqing walked into her room to change, but she cast a glance at Yu Lili before doing so and said, “Change your clothes. Let’s go out together.”

Yu Lili was caught by surprise. Her heartbeat began to quicken.

Go out together? Alone with Jiao Ziqing?

“Why are you still dawdling? Are you going or not?” Jiao Ziqing asked with furrowed brows and a wave of her hand.

Yu Lili quickly nodded her head. “Right away. Give me a moment.” Just as she turned to go to the room, she suddenly remembered something. “I didn’t bring a change of clothes.”

Jiao Ziqing turned to look at Yu Lili oddly. “You didn’t enter the walk-in closet?”

This question made Yu Lili blink. She hurried to the closet. Her room was naturally Ou Ming’s room.

Indeed, she hadn’t stepped into the walk-in closet. She had only browsed through the wardrobe by the door and retrieved one of Ou Ming’s shirts to temporarily wear.

The walk-in closet was by the bathroom. The moment Yu Lili entered, she saw Ou Ming’s wardrobe. She opened it and saw an array of men’s suits hanging inside.

There was another compartment in the wardrobe. Yu Lili opened that too, only to see a whole collection of beautiful clothes hanging inside. There were many colors, but the majority were red. She looked through the clothing and realized they were all tailored to her measurements. There weren’t many pieces, but seven or eight wasn’t a small number either.

Had Ou Ming prepared this?

She had originally assumed that the pink dress she was wearing had been what Jiao Ziqing prepared for Shen Manting. On second thought, Shen Manting was a Northerner, and hence much taller than she was. Therefore, that possibility was unlikely. Just like that, the conflict in Yu Lili’s heart disappeared like a cloud of smoke.

She changed her clothes. Just as she opened the door, she saw Jiao Ziqing walk out.

Jiao Ziqing looked at the red skirt Yu Lili was wearing. In a tone that Yu Lili couldn’t tell if it was sarcastic or not, she remarked, “It doesn’t look too bad.”

Yu Lili smoothed her hair awkwardly and looked down, not saying a word.

“Let’s go.” Jiao Ziqing slung her handbag over her shoulder. With the bearing of a rich madam, she announced, “I made an appointment with a few of my good friends to have tea together. They heard that my son brought a woman back, and they are itching to meet you. Don’t you embarrass me.”

Yu Lili’s heart skipped a beat. Jiao Ziqing is taking me to a gathering of her friends?

Author’s note: I’m at Jiangjiajie climbing mountains. It’s so tiring! Ahh!