Bending down to enter the chess game

Chapter 26 Light and Fleeting

Why the sudden decision to withdraw the lawsuit?

Yu Xingge and Han Chichi arranged to meet at the law firm. After resting for a morning, she looked much better than yesterday.

"Isn't it a confirmed divorce? I called my parents and told them about it." She stirred her coffee cup, looking dejected.

"Is it because your uncle and aunt don't agree to your divorce?"

"No, of course they support me. It's just," she sighed, "that my parents are getting old and still have to worry about me. Going to court is never a good idea, and besides, what good would it do if I got divorced? I'm not interested in romantic relationships anyway, and I'll never get married again. Having someone always helps me avoid a lot of gossip; otherwise, when I go back home for the New Year, I'll definitely be bombarded with questions from all my relatives."

"That makes sense, but Sister Chichi, please allow me to address you so abruptly. Don't you ever think about yourself?" Yu Xingge was quite puzzled. "In this world, no one is supposed to do anything because of someone else. Even if you never marry someone else because of love in your life, it's still better than this, isn't it?"

"I don't think so," Han Chichi said. "At least he's putting on a decent act. Apart from not touching me, there's nothing wrong with him in front of outsiders."

"Is that enough?"

"Then what else is needed?" Han Chichi asked, puzzled. "What else does marriage need?"

Of course, love, care, and support. Yu Xingge didn't know how to put it. Even if she offered advice, Han Chichi probably wouldn't believe her, given that she hadn't even entered into marriage and didn't even want to date.

She steadied herself and said, "First of all, I want to assure you that although we signed a retainer agreement and I even filed a case for you, withdrawing the lawsuit is no problem at all, so you can rest assured. I can also fully refund your legal fees."

"I'm so sorry." Han Chichi's face was slightly flushed, and it was clear that bringing up this matter put her under some psychological pressure.

"It's alright, Sister Chichi. I'm just an observer, not a lawyer. Would you like to hear my opinion?"

Han nodded slowly.

"I've heard that even in blind dates, it's usually the man who first brings up marriage and shows you meticulous care that makes you think he's a good person to marry, is that right?"

"Um."

"I think it's possible that you, Sister Chichi, haven't encountered a marriage that brought you a pleasant experience. That's why you still have doubts now. But the problem isn't you; it's him who deceived you from the very beginning. In your view, this marriage hasn't caused you any other losses. But in my opinion, wasting your precious first marriage opportunity is the biggest loss. Although people say that a woman can have countless marriages if she wants to, the partners you can choose are different, aren't they? Perhaps with a different person, this marriage wouldn't just be flawless in the eyes of outsiders, but truly flawless?"

"Most importantly, have you forgotten? In this marriage, you are the biggest victim, because not only do you bear the burden of most of the men's work in supporting the family, but you also have to shoulder the social responsibility of caring for the family that women are expected to bear. These are all burdens you didn't have to bear at all!"

Han Chichi was somewhat touched, but still shook her head and said, "No, I like cooking. It's my hobby, and I'm very happy to have gained so many fans."

"You can have all this without him. In fact, because of your shared role as husband and wife, he has taken half of your wealth. Perhaps even more in the future? Please reconsider and give me your feedback anytime before the court hearing."

Han Chichi was much happier than when she arrived: "Xingge, thank you."

Yu Xingge had just seen her off and hadn't even had time to lament the lost legal fees when Fu Congnan called.

"Xiao Ge, your aunt is currently being held in the Fuming District Detention Center in Chongqing. Would you like to visit her?"

"I'll go!" she said decisively. "I'll go right now."

"Name?"

"Su Yun".

"Yes, go in." The detention center police officer ticked off the list in his hand, and a pale face turned out from behind the isolation door. Short hair, phoenix eyes under double eyelids that looked charming when he looked up, accompanied by a husky voice with a melodious ending: "Xiao Ge?" Yu Xingge's memory was almost pulled back to that autumn.

What are you shouting for? A sense of unfamiliarity filled the small meeting room. Yu Xingge turned her eyes to Fu Congnan beside her, gesturing with her eyes: Why don't you start?

Yu Dongdong followed her gaze to Fu Congnan: "Is this Xiao Nan?" Fu Congnan nodded: "Auntie."

"Wow, you've grown so much!" Before coming to the visiting room, the guards had already given her instructions, so she knew that one of the people coming was a police officer handling the case, and the other was a lawyer. Fu Congnan was still in her uniform, so it seemed that her child was now a lawyer.

That's amazing...

"Auntie hasn't changed at all, she's still so beautiful." Yu Dongdong said self-deprecatingly, "No way, I've aged terribly." She raised her hand to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. In her forties, she was slender, swaying in her blue and white striped prison uniform. However, her breasts were full and her neck firm, and the butterfly tattoo under her handcuffs revealed a woman at her most beautiful after her prime.

Silence fell again in the meeting room.

"Auntie, Xiaoge and I have come to ask you some questions..."

"Why did you get divorced in the first place? And why did you suddenly disappear without a trace?" Yu Xingge interrupted his small talk.

Yu Dongdong paused behind the bulletproof glass, then lowered her eyes and said, "It's all in the past."

"In the past? What's in the past? Is it the past of you abandoning your husband and daughter, or the past of my father's tragic death?" Yu Xingge asked, puzzled. She curled her lips into a cold smile and said, "You really speak so casually."

Yu Dongdong gazed at the face that so closely resembled her own. Even though the beauty was young, the well-defined joints of her hands spoke volumes about the hardships her owner had endured growing up. A hint of guilt and heartache flickered in her eyes. Yu Xingge noticed: "Are you looking at these hands?"

She raised her left hand and pressed it against the bulletproof glass: "So you can see it more clearly, can you see it?"

She pointed to the crescent-shaped white scar on her index finger: "This is from the year after you left, when Father was busy running around and couldn't take care of the family. I was cooking by myself and the piece of flesh got cut off by the knife. It hurt, so I pressed it back in. I never thought it would actually stay there."

She switched to her right hand, showing her the white flower on her little finger: "This was the second year after you left. My father committed suicide, and my grandfather passed away. My aunt kicked me out of the house. It was pouring rain that day, and I was picking at the cut marks on the iron gate. Doesn't it look like a flower?"

She pointed to her knuckles: "This is the third year since you left. I was in the orphanage. The winters were so cold, I had to wash all my roommates' clothes. I soaked them in cold water over and over again. The chilblains would heal and then regrow. After a year, my knuckles got thicker. Weren't they ugly?"

She pointed to the red, pierced scar on her hand: "This is the seventh year after you left. I got into a pretty good university, but I didn't have the money to go. I followed someone handing out flyers on the street to an electronics factory in Xingzhou. That summer, I couldn't get enough sleep. Once, I dozed off on the assembly line and got a hole punched in my skin by a punching machine. Can you see it? It's not very obvious now, but luckily the hole is quite small."

Actually, her ring fingernail hadn't fully grown back after she had it removed, and it looked quite ugly. But she didn't want to talk about it anymore: "Do you think I'm trying to gain sympathy? No. I'm just showing you this is my life, and you're the one who started this. You have to give the person involved a reason, right?"

Her expression was serious: "This isn't something you can just brush off with a casual remark. So, don't run away, don't be weak, how about taking on the responsibilities of being a mother?"

Fu Congnan tried several times to touch her back.

"I'm weak? Ha." Yu Dongdong covered her mouth and giggled, laughing until tears streamed down her face. She no longer wanted to talk about the past, and had never revealed her true feelings.

"Alright, since you want to know how your life came about, then I'll tell you."