Volume 1, Chapter 28: A Little Rain Won't Hurt

At this moment, Xie Yanchen’s phone suddenly rang.

He picked it up for a glance, his brows knitting together, and he subconsciously looked toward Su Wanqing. He tapped his finger to silence the device, assuming that would be the end of it. To his surprise, Wang Zhengzhen’s phone rang a second later. Wang glanced at his phone, then at Xie Yanchen, before finally handing it over with a fawning expression. "Mr. Xie, it’s a call from the Grandmother."

Xie Yanchen hadn’t expected that he would be thinking of his grandmother just moments before she called. Assuming it was a simple inquiry, and seeing that Su Wanqing was still searching for her documents, he handed his own ID and marriage certificate to Wang Zhengzhen and stepped aside to answer.

Meanwhile, as Su Wanqing rummaged through her bag for the third time, she finally confirmed that while she had her marriage certificate, her ID card was truly missing. Flushed with anxiety, she stepped aside to make room for the people behind her. "I’m sorry, please go ahead."

She was certain she had put it in her bag. How could it be gone?

Su Wanqing suddenly remembered that her bag had fallen to the floor of the car earlier. She had been driving at the time and didn’t pay it much mind, simply picking it up immediately. The ID must have slipped out then.

She hurried to say to Secretary Wang, "Secretary Wang, please wait for me a moment. My ID card fell in the car. I’ll go get it right now! Five minutes at most!"

Without waiting for a response, she ignored the torrential rain outside and dashed out.

Just then, Xie Yanchen finished his call. He tossed his phone to Wang Zhengzhen and said coldly, "Enough! Stop the act! Su Wanqing, I knew you never really wanted a divorce!"

Su Wanqing felt like crying. She did want it! She wanted this divorce more than anything! How could he think she was faking it? Still, she knew her behavior had been clumsy; a man as meticulous as Xie Yanchen would surely think she had done it on purpose. But if he wanted to misunderstand, let him. This was the last time anyway.

Gritting her teeth, she said, "Just wait here for me! Five minutes!" With that, she bolted out into the rain.

Her slender figure sprinted through the downpour, drawing the gaze of Wang Zhengzhen and the onlookers. Wang Zhengzhen reached for an umbrella to follow her, but a hand shot out to stop him.

"Mr. Xie?" He looked at Xie Yanchen in confusion. The rain was heavy; even a five-minute trip would be enough to give his wife a cold.

Xie Yanchen merely watched Su Wanqing’s receding back, sneering, "She’s so cunning, a little rain won’t break her."

Su Wanqing reached the car, already quite soaked, but she paid it no mind. She spotted her ID card wedged in the gap between the passenger seat and the center console and hurriedly fished it out. After finally retrieving it, she scrambled back. The round trip took exactly five minutes, not a second over.

"I—I got it!" she gasped for air, handing the ID to Xie Yanchen to prove she hadn’t lied.

However, Xie Yanchen didn’t even look at it. He stared at her, his eyes filled with undisguised fury. "Su Wanqing, your acting is truly impressive!"

With that, he turned and walked away. Wang Zhengzhen, unsure of what had transpired, looked between Su Wanqing and Xie Yanchen’s retreating figure before eventually picking up an umbrella and following him.

Su Wanqing held up her ID. "Hey, what are you doing? I got it! Let’s get the divorce!" She was growing anxious. It was just a minor setback—was there any need to walk away?

As her voice trailed off, the man who had been walking away suddenly pivoted and strode back toward her. She blinked in astonishment, a wave of relief washing over her. Thank goodness, they were still going through with it! She had to take care of Xie Kexin and handle her work; it would be incredibly difficult to find another weekday to come back to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

However, the man only walked a few steps closer. Seeing the lingering anger in his eyes, he said something to Wang Zhengzhen, who then approached her.

"Secretary Wang, did he ask you to handle it for him?" Su Wanqing asked.

Wang Zhengzhen saw the expectant look in her eyes and offered an awkward smile. "Well, the Grandmother has returned and asked for you both to return. Mr. Xie told me to come and get you."

Su Wanqing didn’t understand why the grandmother had returned all the way until she was sitting in the back seat. Wasn’t she supposed to be in Ming City, retired? She nervously fidgeted with her fingers. Could she have found out that she and Xie Yanchen were divorcing?

Thinking of the grandmother’s kind face—and the fact that she had practically threatened to die to force Xie Yanchen to marry her—Su Wanqing felt a sharp pain in her heart. Whether in the Su family or the Xie family, that little old lady was the only one who had ever been truly kind to her.

But... she had really tried. Xie Yanchen’s heart was like stone; she couldn’t break through it. Plus, with the issues discovered with Xie Kexin last night, if the Xie family found out, it would only lead to more mockery.

Whether for herself or for the child, she no longer wanted to maintain this marriage. She glanced at the man beside her who was busy working, pursed her lips, and asked out of curiosity, "Why did Grandmother come back so suddenly?"

At these words, Xie Yanchen’s fingers, which had been flying across the keyboard, abruptly stopped. He responded as if he had heard a laughable joke. "You’re asking me?"

Seeing the look in his eyes that suggested he might devour her, Su Wanqing shrank back. Forget it; there was no talking to this man. She would know everything once she saw the grandmother.

She looked out the window, sighing with regret. If only she had checked more carefully when she got out of the car, they might have already started the thirty-day cooling-off period.

She sighed softly, unaware that Xie Yanchen was observing her through the reflection in his tilted screen. Hearing her sigh, he only assumed she was relieved that the divorce hadn’t gone through, which fueled his anger even more—though he remained silent.

The "clack-clack-clack" of the keyboard filled the car.

Half an hour later, Su Wanqing followed Xie Yanchen to the old Xie family estate. It had been half a year since her last visit.

In truth, in the five years of their marriage, she had rarely stepped foot here. In the beginning, she had tried to please the Xie family, bringing them their favorite foods or small handmade trinkets. But after discovering that they would toss her gifts directly into the trash without even a glance, she stopped wasting her effort.

The butler came over and informed them that Min Yuanhua was waiting for them in the study. Xie Yanchen didn’t suspect anything and headed straight upstairs, with Su Wanqing following behind.

They didn’t expect to run into Xie Yanchen’s younger sister, Xie Siwei, at the corner. If the entire Xie family treated her poorly, the worst of them was certainly this Xie Siwei. She seemed to have known they were coming and was waiting there on purpose. Upon seeing Xie Yanchen, she greeted him warmly, "Brother, you’re back?"

She glanced behind him and asked loudly, "Where is Sister A-Ning? Why didn’t she come with you?"

Xie Yanchen was very doting toward his sister. He patted her head and said, "Weiwei, I’ll tell you later. Grandmother is looking for us."

Xie Siwei’s eyes darted, and a sharp, fierce glare shot toward Su Wanqing. "You wretch! I was wondering why Grandmother came back so suddenly! You must have been the one to complain!"