The 99th Divorce

Yu Lili’s face reddened as all her thoughts hit her at once. Faced with everyone’s stares around the table, she could feel her face heating up. In a small voice, she called out, “Dad…”

“Louder. Who’s going to hear you with that small volume?” Ou Ming asked with playful eyes. In the depth of his eyes were warmth and love.

Yu Lili looked at him, embarrassed, and pinched his leg under the table.

Ou Ming moved to avoid her and asked, “Dad, did you hear it?”

Ou Huojin could tell what his son was up to. He wiped the smile off his face and shook his head. “I didn’t hear it. Say it louder. What did you call me?”

Yu Lili replied, “Dad!” The volume wasn’t low, but her face was reddening further with every passing moment.

As she addressed her father-in-law, Yu Lili couldn’t help but glance toward Jiao Ziqing, wary that her mother-in-law would suddenly have something sharp to say.

Fortunately, Jiao Ziqing didn’t say a thing at all. Instead, she looked at Yu Lili, as if in anticipation of something.

Yu Lili couldn’t tell if it she had guessed it right. Her heart was beating in premonition. Her voice softened as she weakly called out, “Mom…”

Jiao Ziqing pursed her lips tightly. One couldn’t tell if she was truly displeased or not. She picked up her chopsticks and with a wave said, “Let’s eat.”

Ou Huojin chuckled and remarked at his wife in humor, “You’re unbelievable.”

Jiao Ziqing was a little unhappy. With a furrow of her brows, she retorted, “What’s so unbelievable? Eat your food!”

Ou Ming reached out his chopsticks and picked some food to place in Yu Lili’s bowl. In a lowered voice, he whispered, “Wifey, have something to eat. I’ve spoken to Dad. We won’t be going back tonight. We’ll spend the night here.”

Yu Lili felt her knees go weak. It was a feat in itself that she hadn’t been chased out of the Ou residence. The fact that Ou Ming had succeeded in allowing her to spend the night there was unimaginable.

What surprised Yu Lili the most was that Jiao Ziqing had accepted it. She had accepted Yu Lili’s form of address without any objection or sarcastic comment. Did that mean to say that Ou Ming’s mother had already slowly begun to accept her?

When Yu Lili thought of that possibility, she was so happy that her heart began to soar higher and higher, gradually enveloping her whole being. Even when she had finished her meal, Yu Lili still hadn’t snapped out of her dreamlike happiness.

After lunch, she stayed seated at the dining table, waiting to help with the clearing of dishes. When Jiao Ziqing stood up, Yu Lili felt that it would be inappropriate for her to stay seated. At that moment, she didn’t know what to do.

Ou Ming realized that she was in a dilemma. He lowered his voice to asked, “What’s wrong? Have you been stunned silly?”

Yu Lili looked up to face him with a blank look in her eyes.

Ou Ming chuckled. He pulled her up led her to the bedroom. Once inside and away from the eyes of others, Yu Lili felt herself relax.

“Why didn’t you tell me about it earlier?” she asked. “I thought your dad and mom didn’t know anything all along. Now that you’ve done this, what have you made me out to be? Does this mean that I was lying to them?”

“You’re not in this alone. Besides, this was all my idea to begin with,” Ou Ming replied without any concern.

Yu Lili became vexed when she saw Ou Ming acting that way and cried out, “You still shouldn’t have done that! I was still pretending in front of your mom the whole time!”

“Actually, my mom saw our marriage certificate yesterday. Furthermore, she had already noticed that our wedding rings were very obviously a pair.” Ou Ming looked over at Yu Lili and found her face red with consternation. The corners of his lips lifted in a smile. He tapped her on her nose. “I was just lying to you. They only found out today. I just told them about it.”