The 99th Divorce

When they arrived home, Shen Zhilie helped Ye Qianqian unpack her luggage while she headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

After her shower, Ye Qianqian was feeling refreshed. She rubbed her hair with her towel as she walked out and said, “Shen Zhilie, it’s still early. Why don’t we go to a movie?”

However, when she reached the sitting room, she found her luggage laying wide-open.

In the center of her luggage were the two boxes of condoms.

Those were the exact boxes she had hidden days before.

Except for the one night she had initiated their bedroom activities, she had spent the entire vacation using the excuse of the lost condoms to avoid sex.

Shen Zhilie was sprawled across the couch, fiddling with his cellphone. When he saw Ye Qianqian, he gave her a long and meaningful look before answering, “Sure. Let’s go to a movie.”

Ye Qianqian felt a little embarrassed. She laughed forcefully and said, “Let’s go, then. Put your shoes on while I check what’s showing.”

As she spoke, she walked over to her luggage. She crouched down and quickly flipped it shut.

Shen Zhilie could tell that her awkward smile was a silent admission of guilt. He got up to put his shoes on before heading into the bathroom.

Inside, he took his cellphone out and sent Luo Ran a text on WeChat.

[Shen Zhilie]: I have a situation… A few days ago, I bought a few condoms, but they were nowhere to be found later on. I thought that I might have misplaced them or something. However, I just found out that my girlfriend was hiding them all along…

Luo Ran was at the bar. As the colorful strobes of light flashed to the beat of the energetic DJ, he was busy dancing and grinding against a hot young lady and couldn’t feel his phone vibrate.

Shen Zhilie waited for a moment. When he realized Luo Ran wasn’t going to reply anytime soon, he put his cellphone back in his pocket.

The film Ye Qianqian picked was a popular Disney blockbuster.

Ye Qianqian had always loved Disney movies. After checking with Shen Zhilie and ascertaining that he had no objections, she bought the tickets.

Halfway through the film, Shen Zhilie’s cellphone suddenly buzzed.

It was a late-night screening, and there weren’t many people in the cinema.

Ye Qianqian was in the midst of laughing and shoving popcorn in her mouth. Shen Zhilie leaned over and whispered, “I’m going out to take a call.”

Ye Qianqian glanced at his phone and saw the name “Luo Ran” flashing on it.

“OK. Go ahead.”

Shen Zhilie quickly left. Ye Qianqian wondered why the name “Luo Ran” seemed so familiar…

–

By the time Shen Zhilie exited the cinema, the call had been disconnected.

He quickly returned the call. Luo Ran’s surroundings were very quiet.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Luo Ran was comfortably lying in bed.

Just as Shen Zhilie was about to speak, he heard a woman’s voice pipe up in the background over the phone, “Ran, I’m going to take a shower.”

“Alright. I’ll wait for you.” Luo Ran’s voice sounded warm and gentle. The sound of kissing soon followed.

Shen Zhilie was at a loss for words. He knew that his friend was on a date with a girl. Luo Ran was either at a hotel or the girl’s home. There weren’t any other possibilities.

“Seriously… Can’t you start being a little more serious? Find a proper girlfriend and settle down with her. Given how much you fool around, I’m worried that you might catch something sooner or later!”

“Ha! I only pick the clean-looking girls to fool around with. Then again, how pure do you think girls hanging out at a bar can be? Furthermore, I know enough to use protection! Forget it, let’s stop talking about this. What’s going on with you?”

“Didn’t I tell you all about it over WeChat? She hid the condoms and used the excuse that she didn’t want to take the pill to reject my advances. I…”

“It was your girlfriend’s first time with you, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s exactly why. She must have rejected you because she was worried about the pain! Considering so many days have passed, she should be fine now. It’s time for you to make your move.