Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Cheng Dongge, I really am not worth doing all this for. The fact that you got dragged into this scandal has made me incredibly guilty. If you had said nothing, the focus of the scandal will be on me. Jian Yi’s target is me. This is mine to bear. Why did you dig yourself a deeper hole? I know you want to help, but I don’t want you caught in the crossfire. I am a soon-to-be divorcee, married for only a few months. My husband cheated on me and my reputation has been soiled since then. I no longer care if my image is tarnished further, but you, why are you jumping into this puddle of mud?”
Cheng Dongge was expressionless—it was impossible to gather anything from his face. His pupil darkened and looked at her deeply. After seeing tears gushing out of her eye—tears that she could not hold back anymore—he slowly lifted his clean and long hand but pulled back as it reached her shoulder’s height.
Qi Chengyue felt a twist in her gut.
“How long have you been waiting here for?” Cheng Dongge’s voice was smooth and solid.
Qi Chengyue shook her head and thought about how he raised his hand but refused to touch her in the end. Did he plan to keep his distance from a soon-to-be divorcee as well?
Even if he did not say it—regardless of how well he treated her, he still had reservations about her married status.
“Have you eaten?” His voice came from the top of her head.
“Yes I did,” Qi Chengyue answered simply.
“Let me take you home,” Cheng Dongge said.
Qi Chengyue sniffed and said, “I drove here myself. I came here to tell you to stop doing stupid things.”
She clenched her fist and her thumb squeezed against the back of her index finger. “Being like this, you will attract a lot of criticisms. People will say you ruined a couple’s relationship, and say you’re sucking up to me for a promotion. All these years of your hard work have gone down the drain because of what you said today.”
She turned around and walked back a few steps to get into the car. Just as she wanted to close the door, it was blocked by Cheng Dongge.
Qi Chengyue looked up in shock and saw his pale hand holding onto the car door. Four of his long fingers were pointed towards her—his nails were short and clean.
“What I said today was to help you, but I meant every word. You’ve always said I’m nice, but actually, I’m not—I don’t usually give my all to help someone. I would still offer my support even if it was someone I didn’t care about—but I won’t take all responsibilities as if they were my own. If I care about someone, I will do it,” Cheng Dongge said softly.
Qi Chengyue looked at him in shock, her heart was racing so fast it felt like it was up in her throat.
She sat in the car in the dark, and Cheng Dongge stood up straight. He looked down at her but everything above his nose was blocked by the roof of the car. She could only see his moving lips—they were exceptionally good-looking.
“Jian Yi accused you because of those photos. So before you successfully get a divorce, for your sake, I cannot do anything that will give Jian Yi leverage over you.” His voice was deep and steady, and it calmed her down.
Even though she could not see his eyes, but she knew he was looking deeply at her.
He then closed the door for her and walked away.
To her surprise, he did not go home—he went back into his black Touareg and started the car. The headlights were on but it was stationary.
Qi Chengyue knew he wanted to send her home.
Her heart warmed as she started her car. True enough—she drove out and the Touareg followed.
She drove back to Jade Field Park and looked into her rearview mirror—Cheng Dongge stopped his car at the entrance of the Garden. Qi Chengyue parked her car in the garage—she did not go inside the house through the garage door; she walked out of it instead.
Seeing Cheng Dongge’s car was still there, and the lights in his car were on—Qi Chengyue rang the doorbell.
“Where did you go?” Guan Liya asked caringly as Qi Chengyue entered.
“Nothing much, I just went to see a friend,” Qi Chengyue said. Guan Liya looked at her suspiciously as she walked to the window and lifted the curtains a little to look outside—the Touareg was already gone.
Qi Chengyue went back to her room. Guan Liya looked outside out of curiosity—she did not see anything.
…
…
Qi Chengyue did not expect to have the public on her side the next day—eighty percent of them. Especially after what Cheng Dongge said yesterday, she received nearly all women’s compassion and support. They thought no matter what was going on between her and Cheng Dongge, she had already exposed Jian Yi—even if she had a thing with Cheng Dongge, they understood and supported it.
They were also touched by what Cheng Dongge said yesterday—they thought he was a good and loyal man.
According to rumors, Cheng Dongge had an ex-girlfriend who he dated for three years. Not long after saying yes to his proposal, she cheated on him to date an heir of some family. It was all for money and power.
Hence, Cheng Dongge and Qi Chengyue became two peas in a pot—they were helping each other. It was reasonable to develop feelings while being there for each other.
Moreover, Jian Yi was the one who cheated on her initially, and Qi Chengyue had already asked for a divorce before all of this—was it not?
Therefore, those who suspected that Qi Chengyue cheated on Jian Yi and accused her of having a rich girl’s attitude had since changed their views. They began supporting her online.
Opposing voices were inevitable. There were also conspiracy theorists who claimed to be smart and are able to see through things. They said it was not as simple as how it seemed and both parties were pulling an act—the public should not be buying into it.
Others also claimed that Cheng Dongge wanted a piece of Qi Chengyue’s money and wanted to use this opportunity to gain power—this meant that what Qi Chengyue had been worrying about was coming true.
However, these voices were in the minority—the situation was better than what Qi Chengyue imagined.
Nearly all criticisms were targeted at Guan Xiaolin and Jian Yi—and Guan Xiaolin was having it the worst.
An unknown source leaked an audio recording of Guan Xiaolin confronting Qi Chengyue, but Qi Chengyue was sure that it was done by Qi Chengzhi.
On top of that, Cheng Dongge definitely had the permission of Qi Chengzhi to expose Guan Xiaolin in front of reporters yesterday.
“You shameless mistress!”
“She must be drunk being so public with her status as a mistress.”
“That Jian Yi must be retarded to be attracted to a woman like Guan Xiaolin.”
The comments did not hold back on degrading the duo.
“That Jian Yi was already aiming for the Qi family’s money—that was definitely no true love.”
“It’s unbelievable how women are attracted to this man and even became his mistress willingly. She must have mental issues!”
Qi Chengyue closed the browser window—she did not want to care about this anymore.
…
…
It was court day on Thursday. Other than Grandpa and Grandma from the Qi family, everyone was present and sitting at the gallery.
Qi Chengyue sat next to her lawyer and looked at Jian Yi coldly.
Jian Yi’s lawyer whipped out the photos they claimed to be evidence of Qi Chengyue cheating on him.
Jian Yi initially thought that even after the divorce, Qi Chengyue could not get much out of it. At this moment, Qi Chengyue’s lawyer presented new evidence to the court—proving that before he separated with Qi Chengyue, he had already lived together with Guan Xiaolin. After Qi Chengyue asked for a divorce, he moved into Guan Xiaolin’s apartment.
Moreover, the DNA report of Guan Xiaolin’s baby proved that Jian Yi was the father.
Jian Yi’s face darkened. He did not expect that they could get their hands on the DNA report—his lawyer was unhappy as well. He looked over at Jian Yi and blamed him for not telling him about it.
The court eventually ruled that Qi Chengyue was to divorce Jian Yi. On top of that, the duo had no shared assets—the house and the car Jian Yi drove was already under Qi Chengyue’s name before they got married. The assets under Qi Chengyue’s name were also hers before the marriage. According to the New Marriage Act, Jian Yi was not entitled to any of it—let alone half of the Qilin shares.
Jian Yi eventually got nothing other than the small amount of money in his bank account and investments.
As they left the court, Jian Yi looked particularly pissed—he stared angrily at Qi Chengyue. As he turned around, his eyes met with Song Yu.
Song Yu stood next to Qi Chengzhi and saw the disappointment on his face.
Seeing Jian Yi like this, being friends with him when they were young seemed like a dream.
She even doubted that if the younger him was the real him.
Jian Yi looked away coldly and walked out of the court with Jian Shifu and Zhou Mingyan. A huge group of reporters surrounded them—the cameras were all up in their faces.
Jian Shifu was thoroughly embarrassed. His son had done such an immoral thing—not only did he ruin the happiness of someone’s daughter, but he also attempted to blackmail the Qi family for money. As for Zhou Mingyan, she went as far as making a scene at their company and ruined the reputation of Qi Chengyue.
He had no say in the family home either—he could only hold in his anger. He felt it was hard to go on with his daily life.
“Mister Jian, the court ruled that you receive nothing. What are your future plans?”
“Will you marry Miss Guan right away?”
“The public is condemning you and Miss Guan, do you have anything to say to that?”
“Did no one from the Guan family come today?”
“Today in court, the Qi family’s lawyer presented the DNA report of Miss Guan’s baby as evidence. If Miss Guan did not go to the hospital herself, the DNA test could not have been done. Does this indicate the Guan family’s stand on this issue? Did the Guan family object your relationship with Miss Guan?”
Jian Yi clenched his jaw together. Guan Xiaolin had said that she did not attend the court session because the Guan family was worried about creating more rumors and negative news—that was why none of them was present.
He knew the Guan family would not reveal their true intentions easily. But as Guan Xiaolin was carrying his child, and it would be harder to abort the baby as time goes by—the Guan family would have to agree to his marriage with Guan Xiaolin eventually if they did not want their daughter to give birth to a bastard.
“Madam Zhou, it was exposed online that you were one of the reasons Mister Jian and Miss Qi’s marriage failed. Do you have anything to say to that?”
“Madam Zhou, Mister Cheng said while Mister Jian and Miss Qi were still married, you had gone shopping with Miss Guan while using Miss Qi’s money. As you are so dissatisfied with Miss Qi? Why were you spending her money?”
“Madam Zhou, the day you exposed the alleged photo of Miss Qi cheating in Qilin, Wang Chao and that Japanese restaurant also presented their CCTV footage to prove that Miss Qi and Mister Cheng did not do anything inappropriate—contrary to what you said. The Qi family might press charges on this matter, what do you think about this?”
“Whatever I think or feel is none of your business! Go away! All of you, go away! The cameras are hitting my face, stop taking photos! Stop taking photos!” Zhou Mingyan yelled angrily as she used her hand to block the cameras.
But she only had two hands—she could not block all of them.
“Madam Zhou, why did you wrongly accuse Miss Qi? Does Mister Jian know about this? Or did he ask you to do this?”
Jian Yi squinted his eyes and looked at the reporter who was asking the question. In this group of reporters, there were two of them who seemed like they were siding Qi Chengyue—they must be sent here by Qi Chengzhi.
“Madam Zhou, don’t you feel a little remorseful? Does this mean you are more satisfied with Miss Guan being your daughter-in-law? We heard that no matter what Miss Qi did, she could not satisfy you, so can Miss Guan do that?”
“Go away! Yes, I don’t like Qi Chengyue! The Qi family is cocky because of their money—but to marry into the Jian family as a daughter-in-law, she must listen to me! She must do as I say!” Zhou Mingyan blurted under pressure.
At this moment, a reporter yelled, “The Qi family is out!”
All reporters ran towards the Qi family and left the Jian family behind.
Qi Chengzhi frowned and put his arm around Song Yu’s waist to protect her from the reporters.
Jian Shifu had been keeping his head low—especially when Zhou Mingyan was speaking, he really wanted to dig a hole for himself.
He looked in the direction of the Qi family and clenched his fists. He decided to walk over.
“What are you doing?” a surprised Zhou Mingyan ran after him.
Jian Shifu ignored her and approached Qi Zhongxun and Guan Liya—he bowed before the entire family.
“Mister and Missus Qi, Chengyue, I’m sorry. My son is an asshole, and my wife is in the wrong. I apologize on their behalf. Chengyue, I’m sorry you were bullied by your mother-in-law while you were with us—and I could not do anything for you,” Jian Shifu spoke with his head low.
The reporters who surrounded the Qi family exclaimed—if Jian Yi’s father could reveal all of these, one could not imagine how miserable Qi Chengyue was in the Jian family!
Qi Chengyue had tears in her eyes as she said, “I was naïve, I did not serve you well. You were always good to me.”
Jian Shifu’s eyes swelled up. Soon after, he was hit hard on his back and dragged by his arms to straighten his body.
“Jian Shifu, what are you doing! What have I done to wrong her? Why are you apologizing to her on our behalf! I didn’t do anything wrong—did you come here to bow and all to get some benefits from the Qi family? Don’t make me look like I’m begging!” Zhou Mingyan’s screams were so sharp it hurt everyone’s ears—especially the ones who were holding megaphones. Zhou Mingyan’s voice was amplified by the megaphones.
“You shut up! Haven’t you embarrassed yourself and hurt people enough? Look what you’ve done to a good girl! What does this have to do with money! You always talk about their money—this exposes your attitude and how you degrade yourself. You can’t blame others! Jian Yi was the one who cheated on her. If you were a good mother-in-law, you would’ve scolded your son once in a while and helped your daughter-in-law, then they would not have gotten a divorce! Jian Yi is the one in the wrong, how could you try to say otherwise? Are you really that unreasonable?” Jian Shifu yelled angrily—it was as if he finally let out the years’ worth of frustrations and anger in him.
He was facing Zhou Mingyan and his saliva flew everywhere—he was so mad that he could not get enough of letting out his anger. He could not comprehend why Zhou Mingyan could be so unreasonable and stubborn!
“What are you doing! Jian Shifu how could you side outsiders and yell at me here. So you have the courage now do you! Jian Yi is your son, who else should you side other than him? We can’t live like this! I’m telling you Jian Shifu, you need to shut up, otherwise, we cannot live like this anymore! If you don’t love me, we could get a divorce—don’t you dare rub your nose in my face!” Zhou Mingyan said angrily as she kept pointing her finger at Jian Shifu’s nose.
Jian Shifu had always been an honest man—he did whatever he said. Exposing her in front of the Qi family and reporters today, he really had to have the courage to do that!
On top of that, she could not stand the fact that he defended Qi Chengyue—and apologized to Qi Chengyue on behalf of her!
She did not do anything to betray Qi Chengyue, and she did not need him to apologize on her behalf!
Jian Shifu’s face was flushed as he was being yelled and pointed at by her in front of everyone. His male ego could not take it anymore—he thought about how she had disrespected him over the years, and how he gradually felt less of a need to speak at home—it was all about her. Her words had never gone into his head. Life was so depressing every day—the marriage was already over before he knew it.
He knew she blurted out the divorce idea because she thought he was an easy man. She would not have expected him to follow through—he would have continued tolerating her. That was why she was cocky about it.
Having such an unreasonable wife—he did not want to sin with her anymore.
Jian Shifu pushed Zhou Mingyan’s hand off with force and said angrily, “Let’s divorce then! I am done living a life like this. Go ahead and continue to sin yourself! If I stayed with you, I’m afraid karma would bite!”
Zhou Mingyan was shocked. She did not expect Jian Shifu to be so decisive this time.
But she thought through it—he could not let go of his ego in front of everyone and it was just an act.
Zhou Mingyan laughed coldly and said nonchalantly, “Alright!”
Jian Shifu pushed Zhou Mingyan out of the way and walked without turning back.
Zhou Mingyan also scoffed at the Qi family before going back for Jian Yi.
Qi Chengzhi held Song Yu and walked her down the steps in front of the court, while Chang Lai was standing next to the Benz. Qi Chengzhi nodded, and Chang Lai brought out a baseball bat from the car boot before walking towards Jian Yi’s Cayenne.
As Jian Yi and Zhou Mingyan were getting into the car, Chang Lai swung the bat onto its windscreen and smashed it into pieces—they fell all over the bonnet.
Chang Lai then walked over to the driver’s side and smashed both the front and back windows.
“What are you doing!” Zhou Mingyan was going crazy. All the windows of the car were smashed as she was trying to get into the car.
The reporters, who were left in shock, clicked on the cameras’ shutters repeatedly.
Qi Chenglin walked over slowly as reporters followed. After the crowd dispersed on Qi Chengzhi’s side, he got Song Yu into the car.
Qi Chenglin had one hand in his pocket and held his phone with the other. He laughed coldly and said, “This car’s certificate is under Chengyue’s name, and now that Chengyue does not want it anymore, we are just smashing our own car for fun—what can you do about it?”
Zhou Mingyan was left speechless. Her lips moved—but no words came out of them.
Qi Chenglin called the towing company in front of them to have the car towed away.
“You… you… you’re bullies!” Zhou Mingyan yelled with all her might.
Qi Chenglin wiped the smug off his face and put on a serious expression. It was so intimidating that Zhou Mingyan stepped back from him unconsciously.
He scoffed and said, “Is this bullying? We are smashing our own car, how does that constitute bullying? Madam Zhou, there are many more ways to bully you in the future. The Qi family will make you pay for how you bullied my sister.”
He nodded in her direction in mockery, glanced at Jian Yi, and walked back.
Qi Chenglin held Qi Chengyue by her back and escorted her into the car. The family went back to the Qi family’s mansion.
…
…
Grandpa and Grandma were still waiting at home—especially Grandma. She knew with the power of her family, there would not be any unexpected turns with the ruling today—but she could only ease her worries if she heard the news herself.
She kept standing and looking out the window. Even though Grandpa did not say it, but he did not go out to play chess today. The chess set and its pieces were placed on the coffee table outside—but none of it was touched.
“They’re back! They’re back!” Grandma saw the Range Rover that stopped in front of the door, as well as the Benz behind it.
Grandpa could not keep his calm anymore. He stood up and followed behind Grandma—he waited at the entrance.
As Qi Chengzhi and the lot walked in, Grandma asked, “How was it?”
“Everything went well,” Qi Chengzhi said.
Grandma let out a sigh of relief. She pulled Qi Chengyue by her hand and said, “It’s finally settled, there will not be such depressing matters in the future again. I will go ahead and find some fine young men and introduce them to you. This time, Grandma will take the screening seriously—I will never let my granddaughter be miserable again!”
“Uncle, Aunty, let’s discuss the matters regarding the Guan family in the study,” Qi Chengzhi turned around and said.
Qi Chengyue finally divorced Jian Yi and got rid of him. It was great news to both the Qi family and Qi Chengyue herself—that was why Grandma had Aunty Liew cook a full table of dishes to celebrate.
“It’s finally solved.” Grandma took a sip of red wine and exhaled in satisfaction. “It’s also the wedding of Chengzhi and Little Song the day after tomorrow. Great things are happening one after another—just in time to rid the house of bad luck. Chengyue got divorced, and the burden in my heart is finally relieved. I can now attend the wedding without any worry.”
