The 99th Divorce

Yu Lili was still panting, and her voice sounded slightly nasal. She tried her best to steady her breathing; then she put the phone to her ear.

“Yu Lili.”

It was Ou Ming’s voice!

Hearing Ou Ming say her name made her head ache. “Yeah. Ou Ming, where are you?”

There was a beat of silence on the other end before Ou Ming replied, “I’m at home! It’s the New Year after all. When I left just now, I forgot to inform you. Are you home yet?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Yeah.” Yu Lili wanted to cry, so she bit down on her lip hard to prevent the dam from breaking, and sniffled instead.

“What did you have?”

“I had steak, a western meal.” Her voice was very nasally.

When Ou Ming heard her, he calmed his emotions before asking, “Did you catch a cold?”

“Yeah. I was out in the cold today. I’ve taken some medicine. I should be fine by tomorrow.”

“Make sure to take care of yourself. I probably won’t be able to see you for a while. I just recalled that there’s something very important I left undone at work. I’ll have to work overtime and go overseas after the New Year to complete it.”

Yu Lili had already prepared what to say, and she knew what he was going to say next. But each word she spoke was like a stab to her heart. Again and again. It was so deep and so painful.

“When will you be coming back then?”

“I don’t know. I’ll contact you again when I’m back.”

“Alright. Whose phone is this?”

“My mom’s. Don’t call this number if you can help it. Otherwise, she might scold you.”

“Mmhmm.”

“I’m hanging up.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Sleep early.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Good night.”

“Mmhmm.”

Each reply Yu Lili gave made her feel as though her heart were being dug out–so searing was the pain.

So very searing the pain was!

Right after Yu Lili hung up, she covered her mouth with her hand and dropped to her knees. Tears started rolling down her face, and she bit her fist to prevent any sound from escaping.

They had just been discussing earlier that afternoon what each of them would do if the other lost the use of their arms and legs.

She had stood by Matchmaker’s Lake for a long time pondering that. If something really happened to him, she would never leave him. She wasn’t as fickle-minded and weak as his mother had made her out to be.

But it had never crossed her mind what she would do if he lost his sight.

At present, she couldn’t even enter his hospital room. What could she do?

…

Ou Ming heard the unhappiness in Yu Lili’s voice and knew that she was upset. But he didn’t dare probe further, and he couldn’t either.

It was all his fault. He had left without a word; it was only normal that she’d be upset.

He put the phone down and used the feel of his hands to press the middle button, but he ended up activating the speaker by mistake.

The disengaged tone was amplified to everyone’s ears.

Ou Ming felt lost, and the memories of his conversation with her earlier in the afternoon came floating back to him.

“What about me? If I lost my limbs, what would you do?”

“I’m with you only because you’re good-looking. If you no longer have your hands or legs, you won’t be good-looking anymore. If that day comes, I’ll leave you and won’t be with you any longer.”

Ou Ming put the phone down and lay back on the bed, his eyes closed and his heart was hurting. “Dad, take Mom home,” he said.

This quiet Ou Ming was completely irreconcilable with the crazed man moments before.

Jiao Ziqing remained worried, but Wen Fenglin, who was standing to the side, spoke up as well, “Lao Ou, Xiao Ou is right. Take Xiao Jiao home first. Xiao Jiao was in a car accident today as well. She must have gotten quite a fright. Take her back first, and I’ll watch over Xiao Ou here.”