The 99th Divorce

He trailed off mid-sentence, his pained voice descending into a faint whisper.

Shen Manting felt a jab in her heart. She glanced at the infant, who was lying quietly in the crib, fast asleep.

The family of three was now living under one roof.

On the one hand, the little infant was sleeping soundly. On the other hand, the man-child kept clinging to her…

“Don’t leave,” Shen Luo’an pleaded in a dull, nasal voice. “Stay with us. Both me and the baby need you.”

Shen Manting felt an inexplicable ache in her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes and almost trickled down her face.

“Don’t leave. Please, don’t leave…”

Shen Manting raised her arm and held him gently. “Go to sleep now,” she said softly.

“Don’t leave us…”

Shen Luo’an seemed highly intoxicated. He tugged at her clothes, murmuring unintelligibly.

He simply repeated the same words over and over again.

“Let me go.”

“Don’t go…”

“Shen Luo’an.”

“Don’t go…”

Shen Manting’s eyes reddened. She held him close and whispered, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Shen Luo’an seemed to have been finally granted the answer he had been hoping for. Without another word, he lost all his strength and slumped weakly onto her.

Shen Manting was startled and let out a gasp as she caught him in her arms.

She mustered all her strength to haul him onto the bed, half heaving, half dragging.

The smell of alcohol on his body was overpowering.

Shen Manting took off his shoes and began to unbutton his shirt.

She wiped his hands and face with warm water. Then, she unfastened his belt and tucked him into bed.

Shen Luo’an started to snore. He seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.

Shen Manting sighed deeply. She went back to her room to change into her pajamas and brought the honey water that Mrs. Shen had prepared into Shen Luo’an’s room.

She tried to wake him by pushing him several times, but to no avail. She gave up the idea of making him gulp down some water.

She took off her shoes and lay down. She soon fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, she was awakened by a suffocating force instead of the infant’s cries.

Shen Luo’an was holding her tightly in his arms.

Shen Manting gasped and struggled to breathe. She tried to shrug his hands off and shouted, “Shen Luo’an, get your hands off me!”

She pushed Shen Luo’an’s hands away and shoved him into the corner of the bed.

Then, Shen Manting heard the infant cry. She got up and turned on the light.

She fed the infant some milk and changed his diaper. When she was about to turn off the light, she suddenly saw a figure staring at her in the dark with his eyes wide open.

Shen Manting took a startled step backward.

Upon taking a closer look, she realized it was Shen Luo’an and heaved a sigh of relief. She snapped angrily, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you sneaking around in the dark?”

Shen Luo’an stared blankly at her, as though he had lost his soul. He sat up and said, “I want to go to the toilet.”

“Go, then!”

“I have no strength.” Shen Luo’an sat on the edge of the bed and waited for her to help him up.

Shen Manting grimaced. The innocent, helpless look on his face made her want to devour him alive!

She fought back her rage and walked over to him.

Shen Luo’an managed to stand up with her support and stumbled toward the washroom.

She left him at the door and turned her back to him.

She heard the sound of water flowing. Shen Manting closed her eyes in disgust and walked away.

Thereafter, there were no sound or signs of movement in the washroom at all.

Shen Manting sat by the bed and hollered, “Shen Luo’an!”

There was no answer.

She stood up and peered inside the bathroom.

To her surprise, Shen Luo’an was sitting in the bathtub with his eyes closed. He appeared to have fallen asleep.

Shen Manting was at her wits’ end. She covered her face with her hands and cursed.

She stomped over to him angrily and turned on the shower over his head.

Shen Luo’an was jolted awake. He shuddered and opened his eyes, looking around him.

He seemed to be in a daze.

His gaze suggested confusion.

Shen Manting snapped at him coldly, “Get up and go back to bed yourself!”

Shen Luo’an’s hair was now dripping wet. Upon hearing her command, he touched his head, still baffled.

Then, he turned to grab a bottle of shampoo and squeezed it twice.

Shen Manting suddenly had a bad feeling. “What are you doing?”

Sure enough, Shen Luo’an rubbed the shampoo onto his hair without saying a word.

“Good heavens!” Shen Manting lost her patience.

She immediately grabbed him by the hand and shouted, “Shen Luo’an!”

Shen Luo’an didn’t seem to realize something was wrong at all. He asked innocently, “What?”

“I…” Shen Manting was too sleepy at this point. When she saw the meek, dazed look on his face, her temper seemed to mellow. The words were stuck in her throat.

She crouched down, turned on the hot shower, and cursed in frustration.

She washed the shampoo out of his hair and squeezed some conditioner onto his scalp.

She washed his hair and grabbed a loofah.

She rubbed the loofah harshly over his body to get back at him.

Shen Luo’an grimaced and tugged at her hand, murmuring, “It hurts.”

He looked at Shen Manting as though she had committed an unforgivable crime.

Shen Manting’s heart suddenly softened. She exerted less force on him.

She reached out and unbuttoned his trousers. “Take your pants off yourself!” she ordered unkindly.

Shen Luo’an mumbled and slowly pulled his trousers off by himself, fumbling around clumsily. However, he only managed to strip his pants down to his knees.

Shen Manting rolled her eyes and snarled, “Are you drunk or just plain dumb?”

The infant was startled awake by her loud, shrill voice.

He began to wail.

Shen Manting was startled. She glared at Shen Luo’an and hissed, “Go to hell!”

She threw the showerhead at him and walked over to the infant.

The infant stared at her helplessly.

His expression was similar to Shen Luo’an’s!

Shen Manting felt her heart soften. Yet at the same time, she was still irritated.

She patiently coaxed the infant to sleep and gently laid him in the crib.

She turned around and went back to the bathroom again. To her surprise, she saw that Shen Luo’an had cleaned himself up.

He had also stripped down his trousers. Now, he was holding the showerhead at the level of his neck, letting the water stream down his body.

He smiled when he saw her.

His smile looked inexplicably sheepish.

Shen Manting scoffed. She grabbed a bath towel, turned off the shower, and covered his head with the towel.

Shen Luo’an pulled off the towel. Shen Manting heaved him up.

She instructed, “Come out now.”

Shen Luo’an obeyed and took a step out.

Shen Manting was patting his body dry with the towel when she happened to notice his erection.

She tensed up and immediately glanced up at Shen Luo’an.

Shen Luo’an suddenly grabbed the towel from her and stepped backward. “Don’t look at me,” he muttered.

Then, he walked to the bed and sank right into it.