Chapter 101: Divorce
The next day, Zhang Minzhen naturally didn’t travel with Zhang Wei Qiang and Gu Nuan Nuan. She woke up an hour earlier than usual, washed up, ate breakfast, and then set out for town on foot with her parents. They had no choice but to leave early, as the divorce proceedings had to be handled in the city.
She remained in a good mood the entire way. Even when Wen Xiu started complaining after they’d walked for a bit, "Why are we going to the Gu Family’s house first? Wouldn’t it have been better if you’d told your sister-in-law yesterday that we should all just meet at the station?" it failed to dampen her spirits. She patiently explained to her mother, "It’s fine. It’s just a few extra steps. This way, we avoid getting to the station only to wait and wait for the Gu family, getting more anxious when they don’t show."
"SIGH—"
Although Wen Xiu had accepted her daughter’s impending divorce, she still felt a bit sullen seeing her walking ahead so happily. She slowed down, falling behind to mutter quietly to Zhang Dazhuang, "It’s such a disgraceful matter. I don’t know what she has to be so happy about. Seeing her like this just makes me feel uneasy. She’s out early and back late every day, so she has no idea the news has spread all over the village. A number of people have already approached me, hinting around, trying to find out why she and the little one are still living with us. I can be vague and brush off the ones who don’t matter, but what about the people we’re close to? The elders of our own family? Can I keep my mouth shut with them, too?"
"Who goes through life without being gossiped about at some point? If you didn’t let her get this divorce, do you think people wouldn’t talk about her then?"
"..."
"You live your life for yourself, not for others. Since our daughter is happy, we shouldn’t rain on her parade." Zhang Dazhuang sighed and tried to persuade her again. In truth, he’d also noticed the villagers whispering behind his back more often lately. He knew what was going on but didn’t pay it much mind. ’If it’s like this for me, my wife has probably heard even more idle gossip these past few days. It must be hard on her...’
"Forget it, forget it. I won’t talk about it anymore. How many years do I have left? I can’t bring myself to force our daughter to keep suffering in that wolf’s den just because I feel too ashamed to hold my head high." Wen Xiu let out another long sigh. "Actually, having them move to Lihua Village later won’t be without its advantages. At least they’ll be far from these busybodies. But you and Qiangzi still need to go over there and give a stern warning to all those unsavory characters. Our granddaughter’s safety is the most important thing. And we can’t have any more baseless rumors starting up, giving people something to wag their tongues about."
"Don’t worry. Qiangzi and I will handle it properly." The good-natured Zhang Dazhuang smiled and nodded.
Before long, they arrived at the Gu Family’s home. Gu Wu, Chen Suxiang, and Gu Lihui were all there. Seeing Zhang Minzhen accompanied by her parents, Chen Suxiang sneered, "Well, aren’t you precious? Needing mommy and daddy to escort you for such a trivial matter."
"That’s right. That’s the difference, isn’t it? Any decent person is precious. Only some wretch who crawled out of a lowly dog’s womb—someone who should’ve been beaten to death at birth—has no right to call anyone else precious." Wen Xiu had been stewing over the village gossip for days, just looking for an outlet for her frustration. Seeing that Chen Suxiang clearly hadn’t learned her lesson and was starting trouble again, she struck back without holding anything back.
"You’re the one who came from a dog’s—" When it came to arguing, Chen Suxiang was never one to be outdone. Back in her youth, her most legendary shouting match had her standing in one spot for a day and a night, without food or water, cursing out a person’s entire family tree for eighteen generations. After that famous battle, no one from the neighboring families dared come to her parents’ home to ask for her hand in marriage. In the end, she had to scheme her own way into latching onto Gu Wu. Seeing that Wen Xiu hadn’t brought her eldest son today, she had no reason to be afraid. She planted her hands on her hips, ready to start a screaming match. But she had barely begun when a slap from Gu Wu sent her staggering.
"Get your mother the hell out of here and wait! Have you gotten so comfortable on the outside that you want to go eat free meals in jail?" Gu Wu roared at Gu Lihui after slapping Chen Suxiang. Gu Lihui jolted. Forgetting all about watching the drama unfold, he rushed over without a word and dragged his mother away.
"I’m sorry you had to see that. She’s even more hopeless than I imagined." Gu Wu shook his head. ’Suddenly, I feel like Zhang Minzhen was right to refuse my earlier proposal,’ he thought. ’This wife of mine has only gotten worse with her self-destructive behavior. I’ve explained all the consequences to her. I haven’t held back on the yelling or the hitting. But the moment I take my eyes off her, she can’t resist jumping out to stir up more trouble.’
’And to think I made them such a firm promise. It’s clear now that it’s a promise I can’t possibly keep.’
"You still need to go to the city to handle the paperwork, so I won’t delay you any longer. Here are the deeds for the two properties in Lihua Village; the names have already been changed. And take this five hundred yuan. For all these years... the Gu Family has wronged you."
Gu Wu handed everything to Zhang Minzhen. He waited until she had taken them, looked them over, and put them away safely before speaking again. "Nuannuan’s room is all tidied up. It’s upstairs and hasn’t been changed—it’s still the large room we’d always planned for her to use when she got a little older. But the house is a mess right now. Her father is about to marry that other woman and bring her two little ones home. So for the next two months, don’t bring Nuannuan over yet. We can talk again once September starts."
"Okay." Zhang Minzhen hesitated for a moment, then gave Gu Wu a deep bow, her eyes welling with tears. "I’m afraid I won’t be able to visit you anymore. You... please take care of yourself."
"Go on, go. You’ll have more peace after leaving a place like this. You’re still young. If you find a suitable man in the future, don’t miss your chance." Gu Wu sighed, his own eyes reddening. "I’m being selfish, too. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be asking for Nuannuan to come back at all."
"Now, don’t say that," Wen Xiu chimed in. "Nuannuan is part of your bloodline, after all. Even if her father is... well, he’s still her biological father. Blood ties aren’t like a marriage; you can’t just sever them." Watching Gu Wu give her daughter another five hundred yuan and speak so kindly, Wen Xiu’s opinion of him improved significantly. She could no longer take out the anger Chen Suxiang had caused on him.
Other than Gu Lihui himself, no one else from the Gu Family went with them to the city.
How could Gu Lihui not feel resentful toward Zhang Minzhen? But she had leverage over him, her parents were watching him like hawks, and the formidable Zhang Wei Qiang was looming in the background. In the end, he lost his nerve and just kept a stony face the entire trip. The once-married couple kept their distance from one another, not bothering to exchange a single word.
「And so, the trip to the Civil Affairs Bureau was uneventful.」
As they were writing up the agreement and sorting out child custody and the division of assets, Gu Lihui suddenly said to Zhang Minzhen, "That money we kept at home... you can’t just take it all for yourself. You have to give me half, right?"