Zhao Dong suspected Sara Zhuo was planning to burn the bridge after crossing it.
Having suffered a devastating blow, Sara Zhuo naturally wouldn’t confide her anguish to Zhao Dong. At a time like this, she needed to keep him steady more than ever.
Zhao Dong no longer trusted Sara Zhuo, and Sara Zhuo likewise no longer trusted Zhao Dong. She was afraid he would flip on her the moment the wind changed.
While Zhao Dong scrambled to uncover the truth, the news of Xie Jinghu’s divorce had already sprouted wings and flown across Beijing’s elite circles. Everyone who mattered now knew.
The first to cheer was Mrs Peng.
“Splitting the shares equally? That’s letting Xie Jinghu off far too lightly!”
Mr Peng suspected his wife was indirectly criticising him and, being the straightforward, replied honestly, “From a company-management perspective, giving all the shares to the ex-wife is wrong.”
Losing absolute controlling interest would make any CEO feel insecure.
Mrs Peng gave a mocking laugh. “Men always stick together. You all instinctively defend scumbags. Don’t talk to me about what’s good for the company. If Xie Jinghu hadn’t kept a mistress and fathered illegitimate children, would he have lost controlling rights?”
Mr Peng was speechless.
He had spoken as a businessman. From a husband’s perspective, if his wife wanted divorce, what good were shares?
Mr Peng was the type who let actions speak louder than words. If he ever bothered to say a few sweet nothings, his wife wouldn’t dislike him so much.
Mrs Peng was about to call the newly divorced Zou Weijun to offer comfort when Peng Guoqing came looking for his parents, looking depressed.
“I heard Xie Qian’s parents divorced?”
“Yes, Mrs Peng warned her foolish son, “They did. I know you and Xie Qian are close, but you can’t disturb him right now. Let him process it.”
Peng Guoqing’s brows were tightly knitted, worry far beyond his years. “Even if I wanted to bother him, I can’t find him. He left the country without a word, supposedly for business. I didn’t even know he had new deals abroad… It’s just weird. The place he went to has no signal at all?”
Mrs Peng’s heart sank. She found an excuse to shoo her son away, then turned to her husband. “Hearing Guoqing say that, I find it strange too. There wasn’t the slightest rumour before. How did they divorce so suddenly?”
Splitting the shares must have been agony for Xie Jinghu.
Yet he signed without any fuss, silently!
Mr Peng’s expression grew grave. “A few days ago I heard the old Xie matriarch wasn’t well.”
At her age, hospital visits were normal. The Xies hadn’t announced anything, so no one knew details.
Mr Peng had sent a fruit basket through his secretary, who reported the old lady needed peace and quiet.
Peng Guoqing couldn’t reach Xie Qian for days. The old lady was hospitalised. Xie Jinghu and Zou Weijun divorced at lightning speed. Mr Peng finally realised: something had happened in the Xie family.
Who?
Xie Yuping was still working normally.
The old lady was in hospital.
Only Xie Qian was unreachable.
…It was probably Xie Qian.
“Buy Guoqing a ticket to Shanghai. He’s a shareholder of Jiaxin, and now that the college entrance exam is over he has nothing else to do. He can help out at Jiaxin if he can, or at least run errands.”
Mr Peng instructed his wife. For once Mrs Peng didn’t argue. She nodded solemnly nodded. “If necessary, I’ll go with him.”
Xie Qian’s parents divorced!
Zou Weijun took half of Xie Jinghu’s Jinhu shares.
The news swept the Beijing circles as a triumph for the original wife.
Everyone liked to joke about “leaving with nothing”, but everyone knew the law didn’t support that. A cheating husband rarely had conscience left during divorce. Zou Weijun walking away with half the shares was absolutely thanks to the Xie family’s backing.
Why did the Xie family support her so strongly?
The mother-in-law adored her, the brother-in-law valued her, because Zou Weijun had given birth to an outstanding son whom the entire family cherished.
In her situation, divorce was actually the best outcome.
She could still visit her ex-in-laws.
Her brilliant son was her own flesh and blood.
She had money and no longer had to face the cheating scumbag. The more people thought about it, the more they envied her.
The newly minted winner Zou Weijun vanished from Beijing’s social scene. No one found it strange; a freshly divorced rich lady naturally needed time away.
Yet Xie Qian disappeared along with her.
Peng Guoqing couldn’t reach him. No one could.
Zhang Nan had called Xie Qian several times; the phone was always off. At first she thought he was avoiding her, but when she realised no one could get through, she panicked.
Tai Wu tried to calm her. “It’s his parents’ divorce, a huge deal. He needs time alone to process!”
Zhang Nan felt something was off. “You’re talking nonsense. Xie Qian has been praying for his parents to divorce… something’s not right.”
At the Zhang home.
Zhang Nan and Tai Wu were analysing whether Xie Qian was upset.
Zhang Zhijun had also been distracted these past two days. His wife noticed and, when they were alone, asked, “Is there trouble at work? If you need cash flow, I can transfer money from my account.”
Zhang Zhijun shook his head, voice muffled. “It’s not business. Did you hear Xie Jinghu and Zou Weijun divorced?”
His wife smiled. “You’re worrying about that? I rarely go out, but after so many years in Beijing I still have a couple of female friends. You shouldn’t ask if I know. You should ask how many people still don’t know!”
Xie Jinghu and Zou Weijun’s divorce was the hottest gossip in the circle.
Everyone was talking about how decent the Xie family was and how enviable Zou Weijun was for walking away with half the shares.
Every legal wife stood with Zou Weijun, and Zhang Zhijun’s wife was no exception.
“A man who doesn’t cherish his family isn’t worth keeping. I know you and Xie Jinghu go way back, but your sympathy alone can’t change anything. He didn’t cherish it himself…”
With the Xie family’s principles, they would never let the mistress take the official position.
But who knew? If Xie Jinghu went completely mad and insisted on marrying her?
His wife advised him to let it go and stop meddling in Xie Jinghu’s private life.
People with different values shouldn’t stay friends. If he disapproved of Xie Jinghu’s behaviour, he should just keep his distance.
Her comfort did nothing to ease Zhang Zhijun’s turmoil. He had been struggling for days, and today the weight finally became unbearable. He needed an outlet. So, distracted, he helped his wife sit, then, without warning, dropped to his knees before her.
“Meishu, there’s something I’ve never dared tell you. I should have confessed long ago, but I didn’t have the courage!”
His wife’s full name was Lu Meishu, a typical ethnic minority name.
After so many years of marriage, in Lu Meishu’s heart her husband had always been upright and responsible.
Zhang Zhijun was cultured, dependable, loyal to friends, devoted to family, and utterly faithful to his wife.
She had never seen him like this.
It frightened her.
Her health had been poor these past two years. Panic made her heart race and breathing difficult. She tried to pull him up, but her hands had no strength.
“Zhijun, we’ve been married so long. What can’t you tell me directly? Get up, get up and talk slowly.”
Zhang Zhijun’s knees seemed rooted to the floor. No matter how Lu Meishu tugged, he would not budge.
He was flushed with shame, none of his usual frankness left, unable to meet her eyes. “Let me kneel. Only kneeling can I say it. I did something unforgivable to you. It happened long ago, but it has tormented me every single day! I… I don’t know how it happened, but it did… I swear it was only once…”
Lu Meishu could still understand the first half. By the second half, her ears were ringing.
Zhang Zhijun seemed to be saying he had a one-night stand with some woman?
Impossible!
Xie Jinghu was the notorious cheater. Zhang Zhijun was famous for being upright.
In all their years of marriage, Lu Meishu had never suspected him of womanising.
When Xie Jinghu’s affair blew up, she had pitied Zou Weijun for marrying the wrong man.
Now Zhang Zhijun was voluntarily confessing a one-night stand. Lu Meishu found it laughably absurd.
Only once.
Even half a time was still betrayal!
Lu Meishu nearly fainted. Her ears buzzed, yet she could still hear her husband confessing, struggling.
He said the woman had contacted him after many years, that she had borne him a daughter!
The plot felt eerily familiar.
A happy couple, then suddenly an illegitimate daughter appears.
Wasn’t this exactly what Zou Weijun had gone through?
No, Zou Weijun had it worse. Xie Jinghu’s mistress had given him both a daughter and a son!
Lu Meishu’s head spun. She heard herself coldly demand the woman’s name.
Zhang Zhijun seemed to answer. She either didn’t hear clearly or refused to believe what she heard.
“Say it again. Who is she?”
“It’s Zhuo—”
Lu Meishu somehow found strength and slapped Zhang Zhijun across the face. “Sharing the same woman with your best friend? Aren’t you disgusted!”
…
Shanghai.
Still the same ICU room.
The difference was that now only Zou Weijun kept vigil outside.
They were divorced; she no longer had to tolerate her repulsive ex-husband. She had driven Xie Jinghu away.
The doctor said Xie Qian’s condition had stabilised and he could wake any day now. Zou Weijun refused to leave his side for even a moment.
The doctor praised Xie Qian’s strong will and youthful resilience for pulling through the most critical phase.
“He’ll get better day by day.”
First survive, then everything else. The doctor comforted Zou Weijun.
Inside the ICU, Xie Qian’s eyelids fluttered. His lips were dry. He struggled to open his mouth.
A doctor leaned close and caught scattered murmurs.
“Abroad… I’m abroad… studying…”
Sigh.
Still the same words.
Whenever he briefly regained consciousness, he repeated those fragments.
They said this young patient had a girlfriend he was deeply in love with. After the crash, before losing consciousness, he had clutched someone and begged: if he didn’t wake up, tell the girl he had gone abroad.
Studying abroad.
He had been accepted to a famous overseas university and would settle there after graduation.
That way, the girl might curse him as a bastard and never forgive him, but she would never know he was gone.
