The 99th Divorce

“She said it’s time for us to eat dinner, and here you are still lying down. Come on. Get up.” Ye Qianqian pulled at him. “It seems like Grandmother’s quite domineering. I’m a little intimidated.”

“Nothing to be afraid of.” Shen Zhilie continued to lie in bed, feeling drained and a little bored.

Wouldn’t it have been perfect for just the two of them to spend some quality time alone in Kingstown?

But now they couldn’t do anything. What a shame.

Ye Qianqian didn’t know what he was thinking. She looked around and said, “How could Grandmother have known? I mean, is there a hidden camera or something in this room?”

Shen Zhilie couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “No way. My grandma isn’t that perverted.”

“But why did she come to knock on our door all of a sudden…”

“Coincidence, coincidence.” Shen Zhilie got up and glanced at Ye Qianqian. He was speechless. “How can you be so paranoid? You blow things out of proportion. You amaze me.”

Ye Qianqian pouted her lips and said, “But this is too big of a coincidence. It’s terrible.”

Of all the opportunities she had to knock on their door, why do it right as they were doing something indecent? Of all the opportunities she had to call them for dinner, why inform them ten minutes in advance?

The more Ye Qianqian thought about it, the more she felt uncomfortable about the whole thing. “Old Shen?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think it’s okay for me to stay in your house like this without good reason.”

Shen Zhilie looked straight at her with a funny expression on his face. At the same time, he had a threatening look in his eyes.

“I don’t think it’s very appropriate,” Ye Qianqian said, a little scared. “I’ll just…”

“Grandmother is actually very nice. Now she’s finally beginning to loosen up. You can’t back off like this all of a sudden.” Shen Zhilie sighed. “If you back off now, you’ll let go of a good sign and make things worse.”

But… but what could they do?

She always thought the old woman was very mysterious. If she let Shen Zhilie stay here by himself, would he see the devil at midnight?

Or even experience something like sleep paralysis demons? That would be even more horrifying to deal with.

Ye Qianqian hesitated. Shen Zhilie reached over and pulled her close. He said softly, “Hey there, don’t think about it too much now. It’s not a big deal. You’re just nervous.”

Ye Qianqian didn’t believe that. “Is that so?”

Shen Zhilie gave her a determined look and said seriously, “Of course it is. Let’s go have our dinner now.”

“All right then… is it okay for me to wear something like this?”

Ye Qianqian was wearing a simple mint-green turtleneck. It looked warm enough. If she didn’t wear a coat outside, would she look weird?

Shen Zhilie didn’t mind. “They’re my family. It really doesn’t matter. My grandmother’s liked you from the beginning, so don’t be nervous. And my parents have a pretty good opinion of you.”

“All right,” Ye Qianqian answered, lowering her guard slightly.

Shen Zhilie stood up and said, “If you don’t know what to say, don’t say anything. If they ask you a question, answer the question and nothing else. Got it?”

“Well, I’ll try.”

Shen Zhilie felt a little uneasy, but their time was up. If they didn’t go outside now, Grandmother would think worse of them.

When they walked outside, his whole family was already waiting there.

It seemed that Shen Luoan had just come home. He was still wearing a coat and looked a little wet.

Shen Luoan looked at Ye Qianqian. For a brief moment, he didn’t recognize her as the girl who had held onto Shen Manting’s cellphone once before.

He smiled at her, nodded, and said, “Hello.”

Ye Qianqian was a little nervous and stiffly replied, “Hello.”