Little did Sun Weiwei know that this was only the beginning of her great downfall.
In the subsequent days, all sorts of breaking news about her were exposed, followed by a massive plunge in her popularity.
Fans who adored her in the past had begun turning their backs on her and expressed their disgust at her sordid and complicated lifestyle.
Soon, half a month passed. Sun Weiwei’s career had sunk into the doldrums.
The initial A-list celebrity was reduced to a greatly despised and abhorred actress who was way past her prime.
It all happened too quickly, such that Sun Weiwei could not even process what was going on.
At the same time, there was also progress in the case involving Shi Shaochuan.
The prosecution was followed by a case hearing in court.
Jin Qingyue was present on the day of the court hearing because the verdict of her divorce claim was also scheduled to be out that very same day.
It was initially supposed to be on a different day. However, Jin Qingyan pulled some connections and arranged for the two separate cases to be brought to trial in court on the same day.
Shi Shaochuan was sentenced to five years in prison and charged a fine of 500 thousand dollars for the evasion of more than 100 million dollars worth of taxes.
He also indicated that he would not be requesting for an appeal.
“Mr. Shi Shaochuan, we’ll now be hearing the case of your divorce. Ms. Jin Qingyue has filed for a divorce with you in the beginning of March. The distribution of matrimonial assets as well as the custody of the child will be decided after today’s trial,” said the judge while taking a look at the case details.
Shi Shaochuan cocked his head to the side to see that Jin Qingyue was seated in the jury box as the plaintiff, alongside her lawyer.
A gloomy expression formed on his face.
Jin Qingyue’s lawyer listed all the evidence of Shi Shaochuan’s multiple extramarital affairs, which had been occurring consecutively since the start of their marriage. Shi Shaochuan was unfaithful towards his wife, Jin Qingyue, and had a nonchalant and negligent attitude towards their child. The lawyer explained that Jin Qingyue had decided to divorce him out of disappointment and was requesting for full custody of their child as well as a XX% share of the assets.
“XX% share of the assets? Out of the question! You can’t have full custody of the child either!” Shi Shaochuan roared in exasperation.
“I knew you wouldn’t agree, that’s why I took the matter to court. It’s not up to you to decide the outcome,” Jin Qingyue said coldy with a straight face.
“Please be quiet! Mr. Shi Shaochuan, is the evidence produced by the plaintiff true?” the judge questioned.
“It is false,” Shi Shaochuan denied.
“Please produce the evidence to support your claim then.”
Shi Shaochuan was at a total loss for words. Yet, he could not find any substantial evidence to rebut Jin Qingyue.
Thus, the judge approved their divorce and granted the faultless Jin Qingyue her request for full custody of the child. Due to the fact that Jin Qingyue had also filed a claim for alimony for the child to be paid in one go, the matrimonial assets were distributed in a 60:40 ratio, with Jin Qingyue receiving 60% of the total assets while Shi Shaochuan was receiving 40%.
The case was passed and the hearing was over.
Jin Qingyue was over the moon to achieve the verdict and outcome she hoped for.
However, Shi Shaochuan was infuriated beyond limits. Not only did he lose more than half of his assets, his child was about to be taken away from him, and so was his company!
To make matters worse, he had to serve a jail term of five years!
There can’t be anything more devastating for him at this point.
“Jin Qingyue, you’d better watch out for when I’m released. I won’t let you off!” Shi Shaochuan hollered.
“Sure, I’ll be waiting for that day to come,” Jin Qingyue said, remaining composed and fearless.
She grabbed her purse and turned around to leave.
As soon as she stepped out of the courts, she was surrounded by a bunch of reporters and journalists who bombarded her with many questions, all of which she answered accordingly.
She looked up into the sky to see that the sun was shining bright and high.
She was only 23 years old this year, still very young in her years.
A bright future awaited her.
She believed that she would not make the same mistake twice and would definitely open her eyes wider in the future to judge a man clearly instead of jumping into a relationship right away. She was certain that she would find a kind and good-hearted man.
She learned her lesson after suffering the consequences of letting love get the better of her rationality.
However, she was determined to become the best version of herself and live her life to the fullest, now that she had wealth and a child. Fall down seven times, get up eight. Failure does not matter as long as one is willing to pick themselves up and learn from their mistakes.
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An Xiaoning’s greatest fear at the moment was that her child would be born in July.
She was born in the midst of July herself, yet she dreaded to have her child be born on the same day.
Right smack in the middle of July, her fetus was more than nine months old.
She was nearing the end of her last trimester; her due date was approaching.
That morning, Mr. and Mrs. Gu, Gu Beicheng, as well as Gu Dongcheng arrived at the hospital An Xiaoning was residing in.
Due to the fact that An Xiaoning was about to deliver any time soon, they decided to arrive a few days in advance.
Mei Yangyang was rather eager to tag along as well. However, she was four months pregnant at the moment.
Thus, An Xiaoning refused to allow her to board such a long flight to come visit her.
Besides, Mei Yangyang could not find a suitable excuse to convince Long Tianze, who had been watching her closely, to allow her to go overseas.
She was relieved to hear from An Xiaoning that the Gu family had gone to visit the latter.
Mei Yangyang prayed silently in her heart for a safe and smooth delivery of the child. An Xiaoning had been consistently injecting herself with daily doses of tocolytic and had gone through a ton of suffering to keep the child. She prayed for there to be no hiccups in the remaining few days and for An Xiaoning’s efforts to finally pay off.
In fact, An Xiaoning was the most nervous of them all.
As long as I push through the 15th of July, everything will be fine, An Xiaoning thought to herself.
She did not want her child to share the same birthday as her.
That must not happen at all!
Yet, what she dreaded most had arrived, ironically.
At around eight in the evening, An Xiaoning felt a sudden contraction in her stomach after dinner. She had an ominous feeling and, soon after, she began to feel an immense, acute pain in her abdomen.
Gu Beicheng was the only one accompanying her while the rest had gone back to their hotel rooms to rest.
An Xiaoning did not make a sound and instead tried to sit up straight. Noticing that she appeared to be in discomfort, Gu Beicheng asked worriedly, “What’s the matter?”
“Beicheng, I think I’m going into labor very soon.”
“I’ll call the doctor then,” said Gu Beicheng as he reached out in an attempt to press the assistance bell.
An Xiaoning quickly stopped him and said, “Hold it. Do you know what day it is today?”
“Yes, it’s your birthday.”
An Xiaoning was filled with tension from head to toe. “I don’t wish to give birth to him today. I’d like to wait until past midnight, everything will be fine by then. Beicheng, the child can’t be born today, do you understand what I mean!” An Xiaoning struggled to speak in between sobs due to the unbearable pain.
Gu Beicheng was flustered and at a loss of what to do. “But how are you going to bear with it until midnight? If the fetus is intentionally denied delivery, it might suffocate to death in your womb.”
“How… how did you know about that so clearly?”
“Because I’ve read books about it.”
“Let’s call the doctor then.”
An Xiaoning was far more concerned about her child’s life compared to his birth date.
If he was destined to be born on this day, then she had no choice but to just accept that it’s fate.
“Alright.” Gu Beicheng pressed the alarm for assistance and said hurriedly in the native language of M Nation, “She’s going into labor very soon. Hurry here please.”
“Got it,” the nurse answered.
Although Gu Beicheng had made the necessary preparations beforehand, he still ended up being extremely flustered. “Shall I just carry you to the delivery room?”
Grabbing his hand tightly, An Xiaoning said, “No, I doubt I can move about now. Aren’t I supposed to experience cervix dilation before labor? Why do I feel like the baby is going to pop out real soon?”
Gu Beicheng stared at her stomach as his mind went into a whirlwind.
All he could manage to do was to grab her hand tightly and give her moral support while waiting for the nurses and doctor to arrive.
“Xiaoning, take deep breaths. Follow me. It’ll help ease the pain,” said Gu Beicheng as he demonstrated what he learned from the pregnancy books.
