The 99th Divorce

“He couldn’t free himself from his overthinking and was far too stressed out. He brought it upon himself,” said Lao Wu with a smile as he gave her a ‘you know what I mean’ look before continuing on, “It’s not very serious. At worst, he’ll just swallow a few sleeping pills.”

“… You can forget about this month’s salary if I hear any more bullshit from you,” threatened Shen Luo’an.

“Hey!” Jin Yang protested. However, he was not intimidated at all and continued on, “We’re just explaining things to your wife. Look, you guys haven’t been together in such a long time and you’ve suppressed your sexual instincts for two years. Think about it. How could a normal man put up with that for so long?”

“Exactly,” Lao Wu chimed in. “We’re just explaining on your behalf. What if your wife misunderstands the situation? It’ll be serious,” he said.

“Yes,” Jin Yang agreed.

When Shen Manting saw how they both had the same train of thought, she could not help but interrupt and ask, “Wouldn’t you die from consuming sleeping pills?”

“Pfft!” Jing Yang erupted in laughter.

“Ehem,” Lao Wu coughed lightly twice. “How should I put this? He only wants to sleep. Since he still has a son to feed, he couldn’t bear to die,” said Lao Wu.

“Oh…” said Shen Manting. Her heart suddenly ached upon hearing this and she hugged Shen Luo’an’s arm.

Shen Luo’an’s face had darkened completely despite remaining silent through their banter and finally he could not bear it any longer and roared, “That’s enough!”

“Don’t be like that. Sister-in-law is still here,” said Lao Wu as he nudged Jin Yang.

Jin Yang immediately nodded and tried to steer the conversation, “Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name’s Jin Yang and I’ve been here for two years.”

“Have you guys had lunch? We have yet to eat. Come here and help us out so we can eat our lunch,” said Lao Wu as he removed his gloves and mask to reveal a face full of beard.

Shen Manting never expected to see such a face under the mask and she blinked, evidently shocked.

She also found his face vaguely familiar but could not seem to pinpoint why.

Lao Wu sensed her staring. He stroked his beard and said, “It grew longer again. Looks sexier than two years ago, don’t you think?”

“Sexier?” Shen Manting mused.

She felt like laughing.

Just as she was about to say something else, Shen Luo’an pulled her to the side.

“Don’t talk to them. They’re full of nonsense,” he said as he walked over to the disinfection cabinet. After he took out a mask and a pair of gloves, he warned, “Sit there and don’t touch anything. Many of the items in the laboratory are quite dangerous.”

“Got it,” said Shen Manting and sat by the side obediently.

After Jin Yang handed his work over to Shen Luo’an and explained what experiment they were conducting, he went off with Lao Wu to eat lunch.

Shen Manting sat at the bar counter meant for guests. She propped her head up with her hands and watched Shen Luo’an, who was engrossed in his work. She was smitten by him.

He had been taking such good care of her since she had regained consciousness.

He was gentle, considerate and understanding.

She simply took everything he had done for her for granted.

She never expected him to have suffered from depression before.

Shen Manting had a particularly bad impression of depression. She does not know where her belief came from but she strongly believed that people die easily when they suffer from depression.

Her heart ached as she thought this while looking at him.

Shen Luo’an had his gloves on and was holding onto a little white rat. Shen Manting had no idea what he was doing but she still found him extremely dashing no matter how much she looked at him.

She could not help but smile sweetly and she felt a sudden urge to call out to him. The moment this thought popped up in her mind, her body reacted quicker than her consciousness and she immediately called out to him, “Dear.”

Shen Luo’an looked up and glanced at her. His mouth was covered but his eyes were not covered and so, she saw them crinkle.

He was smiling at her.

Shen Manting suddenly felt shy and balled her hands up into fists. She shielded her face with her hands and softly said, “I love you.”