Lu Bancheng didn’t seem to have any intention of speaking further, and he simply left with his car keys. Xu Wennuan said her goodbyes to Mother and Father Lu and, by the time she walked out of the house, Lu Bancheng had already started the car and turned the car around. Once she got into the car and buckled up, Lu Bancheng slammed on the accelerator without a word.
Once he’d driven out of his parents’ neighborhood, Xu Wennuan took out a white jade bangle that Mother Lu had given to her when they had been chatting earlier and placed it in the glove box. “Your mother gave this to me this afternoon.”
Lu Bancheng merely glanced at it before he returned his attention back onto the road in front of him. He was more than familiar with the bangle. It had been handed down through the generations of daughters-in-law in the Lu family. Xu Wennuan became silent, as well, when Lu Bancheng did not reply. After five minutes of quiet had filled the car, she caught sight of the subway station. “You can drop me off here.”
Lu Bancheng’s jaws were taut and continued to remain set. Thirty seconds later, he then slowed the car down. It was a simple action, but he almost slammed his foot back onto the accelerator. In his hurry, he ended up jamming his foot between the pedals, causing the car to come to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. After a pause, he then turned his steering wheel and drove the car to the side of the road and stopped.
Xu Wennuan took off her seatbelt and opened the car door without any intention to say anything else. Lu Bancheng, who had remained reticent all along, suddenly called out, “Wait.”
With her hands on the ajar car door, Xu Wennuan turned and look at Lu Bancheng, who was staring straight ahead at the road in front of him seemingly struggling over something. After some time, he then asked, “Are you free next Monday?”
Xu Wennuan did not understand why he was suddenly asking her if she was free, so after some hesitation, she asked, “What’s the matter?”
As if in a trance, Lu Bancheng continued staring straight ahead in a stupor for a long time before he turned his head casually and looked at Xu Wennuan. He stared fixedly at her small, pretty face for some time and, as if he had made up his mind about something, he shifted his gaze away furiously and said in one go, “If you’re free next Monday, then let’s head down to the Municipal Civil Administration Bureau to settle our divorce.”
They have previously agreed on a year, so she was confused since they’d been married for only four months. While Lu Bancheng did not look at Xu Wennuan, but as if he knew how her heart would react at that moment, he said, “You’ve already returned me the money and you don’t owe me anything now. Since we are going to divorce sooner or later, we might as well do so earlier.”
Lu Bancheng’s hand began to tremble lightly as he held onto the steering wheel. After a pause, he continued to speak, “Furthermore, our current relationship is no different from that of being divorced so we might as well tidy it all up in one go.”
“Hmm…” Xu Wennuan replied and just when she was about to turn and say yes to Lu Bancheng, out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of his exposed wrist, which had a few stitches that seemed caused by an IV drip. She also noticed some slight bruising on other areas of his wrist, as though they had stuck him a few times to find a vein.
The words were stuck in Xu Wennuan’s mouth.
So, he’s been seriously ill for the past few days… But that shouldn’t have anything to do with me…
Xu Wennuan quickly tidied up her thoughts and said what she wanted to say with clarity, “Okay.”
