Chapter 20

“Rich families really have the best dramas,” Tan Xingchen sighed. “Compared to that, my dad just cheated. So weak.” 

“Uh. are you okay?” Yu Jiaxiao asked, concerned. 

“I’ll tell you about it some other time,” Tan Xingchen waved it off, then turned to Lin Yuxi again. “So, you agreed?” 

Lin Yuxi tugged at the corner of her mouth. It was supposed to be a bitter smile, but it was so faint that it carried a sense of detached calm in the face of fate. 

Unlike someone like Tan Xingchen, who grew up sheltered, Lin Yuxi had lost her parents at a young age and had a difficult life. All she ever wanted was peace and stability. 

If she had a choice, she wouldn’t have gotten involved in such a mess. 

At the time, she wanted to refuse, but Ling Yaqiong, already frustrated by her mother-in-law, spoke harshly: “Yuxi, we raised you and funded your education. Now that the Zhou family needs you, you don’t have the right to say no.” 

Tan Xingchen, who had been spoiled her whole life, didn’t care about all that nonsense. 

“So what? You’ve got to be selfish. Who cares about some stupid gratitude? If you want to repay it, fine, but if you don’t, screw them!”  

“If it were me, and my parents had died because of someone else, would I still repay them? If I didn’t extort them for a billion, I’d consider myself useless!” 

Her words were a bit too naive. Extorting the Zhou family? Even if you could get the money, you’d need to stay alive long enough to spend it. 

Lin Yuxi just felt exhausted mentally exhausted. She responded absentmindedly, “Sure, next time.” 

But there would be no next time. 

Yu Jiaxiao, noticing Lin Yuxi’s low mood, stopped bickering with Tan Xingchen and dragged her off to dinner. 

At the dinner table, when Lin Yuxi mentioned that she had already asked Zhou Yanjing for a divorce, Yu Jiaxiao was so shocked that the piece of meat fell off her chopsticks. 

“Girl, you’ve finally come to your senses! You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this day!” 

Lin Yuxi smiled. “Why does it feel like the whole world has been waiting for us to get divorced?” 

“Who else besides me?” 

“My mother-in-law, Shi Tang, the media…” Lin Yuxi paused. “And him.” 

Zhou Yanjing had probably wanted the divorce for a long time. 

Although Yu Jiaxiao had been hoping for the divorce too, hearing this still made her feel a bit bitter. She wanted Lin Yuxi to divorce because she had seen what Lin Yuxi had gone through these past years. No one else cared, but she did. 

“Zhou Yanjing’s just good-looking and rich, what else is there?” Yu Jiaxiao waved her hand dismissively. “It’s better to be free. Let’s go find some young college boys for you!” 

“Do you know what’s harder than diamonds?” Yu Jiaxiao asked, with a mischievous glint in her eye. 

Lin Yuxi, not paying attention, didn’t anticipate the direction of the conversation and didn’t stop her in time. Yu Jiaxiao’s loud voice rose above the soft violin music in the restaurant, clear and decisive: 

“An 18-year-old high school boy’s!” 

The violinist’s note went off-key, the waiter holding a tray gaped in shock, and the girl in a white dress at the next table, who had been looking all sweet and innocent all evening, spat her drink all over her date. 

Bathed in the shocked stares from all directions, Lin Yuxi could no longer feel sad. 

She propped her forehead on her hand, trying to hide from the gazes, and muttered, “Thank you for your ‘comfort.’ I’m not sad at all anymore.” 

Because the embarrassment was now overwhelming. 

Yu Jiaxiao, unconcerned, glared back at anyone staring. Proudly, she said, “Just tell me, did it work or not?” 

By the time they finished dinner, it was already late. Since Yu Jiaxiao wasn’t heading in the same direction, they parted ways outside the restaurant, and Lin Yuxi took a taxi back to the villa in Songyun Bay. 

As night deepened, the car weaved through the glittering traffic and neon lights. After some time, the vibrant cityscape outside the window gave way to quiet scenery. 

Lin Yuxi glanced out the window. The night sky held only a few scattered stars, and in the distance, the faint outline of the northern mountains stood against the horizon. 

Her gaze lingered there for a long time. 

In the beginning, she never expected that she would fall in love with Zhou Yanjing. 

Although Lin Yuxi grew up under the same roof as Zhou Yanjing, she didn’t like him. 

She even kind of hated him. 

To this day, Lin Yuxi still doesn’t like watermelon because every time she sees one, it reminds her of the “watermelon hat.” 

Back in school, Zhou Yanjing was a rebellious troublemaker, constantly getting into relationships and fights. Once, he beat up a school bully so badly that the kid ended up in the hospital. When the school demanded his parents be called in, Zhou Yanjing, with a bruised face, arrogantly said: 

“My parents are too busy to deal with these little things. If you have something to say, just tell me directly. I can take responsibility for myself.” 

The teacher ended up calling Lin Yuxi instead. 

They didn’t dare be too harsh on Zhou Yanjing, but with her, they were far from gentle. They were strict and stern, insisting she contact someone from the Zhou family. 

Lin Yuxi had no choice but to call Ling Yaqiong. However, Ling Yaqiong thought it was Lin Yuxi who had caused the trouble and gave her a harsh scolding. 

So, to Lin Yuxi, Zhou Yanjing was always summed up in eight words: frivolous and heartless, constantly stirring up trouble. 

To someone like Lin Yuxi, who just wanted to avoid any complications and live a peaceful life, he was nothing but a huge headache. 

There was no love between them, and in the early days of their marriage, they were like strangers. They slept in separate rooms from their wedding night, and because of Zhou Yanjing’s work, there was no honeymoon either. 

Gradually, over time, they became more familiar with each other and less like roommates. 

Married Zhou Yanjing was completely different from the one Lin Yuxi remembered. He was gentle, always smiling, and quite good at coaxing people. 

Zhou Yanjing had a knack for making you feel happy if he wanted to. 

After winter set in, Zhou Yanjing finally found some time and said they should go on a honeymoon. He even booked a trip to Iceland. But on the day they were supposed to leave, a huge snowstorm hit, and their flight was canceled. 

They ended up staying at a villa in the northern suburbs, planning to wait for the next day’s flight. But overnight, the roads were buried in snow, and they were stuck there. 

That winter, the snow was heavy. Lin Yuxi and Zhou Yanjing spent those days together in a villa deep in the mountains, snow swirling outside while warmth filled the inside. It was just the two of them, alone, day in and day out. 

It was during that time that they were intimate for the first time. 

Lin Yuxi still remembers one day when she was feeling a little bored, leaning against the window and watching the blanket of white snow outside. Zhou Yanjing walked up behind her, glanced in the direction she was looking, and asked: 

“Do you want to go down and build a snowman?” 

Lin Yuxi wasn’t sure if he had read her mind or if he just wanted to play, but it was exactly what she had in mind. After her parents passed away, it had been years since anyone had played in the snow with her. 

That afternoon, she had a lot of fun. Zhou Yanjing built a snowman beside hers, intentionally making it taller than hers. 

Her mild OCD was triggered by the mismatched sizes, and Zhou Yanjing said, “If I’m not taller than yours, how can I be your husband?” 

She froze for a second. 

Then Zhou Yanjing placed two black grapes on her snowman’s head for eyes, while his own snowman had two raisins. 

“I’m taller, and your eyes are bigger. How’s that?” 

Lin Yuxi replied, “My eyes aren’t that big.” 

Zhou Yanjing laughed. “Not big? They’ve practically bewitched me.” 

Lin Yuxi turned to look at him. 

Snow had fallen on Zhou Yanjing’s dark eyelashes, and his brown eyes were filled with warmth as he smiled and said slowly, “Lin Yuxi, stop looking. If you keep staring, I’m going to blush.”