Chapter 9: Starting a New Life

The next day, Yu Meijuan and Shen Zihan packed up their belongings. From today onward, they wouldn’t be returning to this place.

Everything they needed to do had already been taken care of during the quiet hours of the previous night. Only the Shen family remained clueless.

After breakfast, the Shen family stared at Yu Meijuan and Shen Zihan with eyes full of hatred, as if they were their sworn enemies.

Inwardly, the Shen family sneered. These two are unbelievably stupid. Weren’t they making a fuss about reclaiming all the money and property? How could they forget it all after just one night?

Are they planning to come back for it after the divorce? By then, we wouldn’t even give them a scrap of thread!

“Bah!” With a loud spit from the old Shen matriarch hitting the ground, the Shen family’s door slammed shut with a resounding bang.

Yu Meijuan and Shen Zihan headed to the village office, where they saw Shen Jianguo already seated behind his worn-out desk, the symbol of his authority.

“Have you made up your mind? For the sake of our years together—”

“Enough. What years together? There’s no bond between us, only hatred. Hurry up and write the statement,” Yu Meijuan cut him off sharply.

“You’ll regret this, Yu Meijuan.” Shen Jianguo felt his “kindness” had been spat upon, and he retorted bitterly.

“I’d rather see your hands move faster than hear your mouth,” Yu Meijuan quipped as she watched him carefully write the divorce document.

Her words made Shen Jianguo’s hands speed up. He didn’t want to hear another word from this infuriating woman. How had he never noticed how aggravating she could be?

They had left early, just as the first light of dawn broke.

Shen Jianguo drove the village tractor, while Yu Meijuan and Shen Zihan sat in the trailer at the back.

Ironically, this was the first—and last—time the three of them shared a ride as a family.

The bumpy ride to the township government was silent.

Shen Jianguo navigated his way easily to the civil affairs office. Once there, they stated their purpose, and the divorce certificate was issued quickly. Back then, a divorce certificate was nothing more than a piece of paper.

“I’m staying with my mom. Let’s transfer our household registration now,” Shen Zihan said, voicing what Yu Meijuan had been planning to say herself.

“What’s the rush? We’re still in the same village. It’s convenient to handle it anytime,” Shen Jianguo replied, holding the freshly issued divorce certificate, though his heart felt oddly hollow instead of relieved.

“Who has time to come back here again? Everyone’s already here—might as well handle it now. Or are you still clinging to something?” Yu Meijuan deliberately provoked him.

“Tch, don’t flatter yourself. As if you’re some prize. Like I’d miss you. Bah,” Shen Jianguo shot back, his words defiant, but his heart conflicted.

“If you’re so uninterested, just process the household registration already. Quit wasting time,” Yu Meijuan said bluntly.

Seeing that the mother and daughter were determined to transfer their registration, Shen Jianguo huffed angrily but still accompanied them to the police station to complete the process.

The new head of the household was now Yu Meijuan, and Shen Zihan changed her name to Yu Zihan. Furthermore, she had Shen Jianguo issue a certificate so she could update her school records with the new name. She couldn’t bear to keep the Shen surname even for a moment longer.

After obtaining the forms to apply for a new ID, the three of them walked out of the police station. Shen Jianguo turned to them and said, “Hurry up and get in the car! I’ve got things to do back home—don’t waste my time.”

His entitled demeanor made both mother and daughter burst into laughter.

“Who’s stopping you? If you’re in such a rush, leave on your own. Nobody’s holding you here,” Yu Meijuan said, covering her mouth as she chuckled.

“You’re not taking my ride? Are you planning to walk back?” Shen Jianguo asked, clearly frustrated.

“That’s none of your concern anymore. We have no ties to you now, understand?” Yu Meijuan said, pulling Yu Zihan with her as they turned and walked away.

“Bah! Trying to help, and this is the thanks I get? Hope your legs fall off walking back!” Shen Jianguo grumbled before driving off on his tractor.

Once Shen Jianguo was out of sight, Yu Meijuan pulled out the evidence and reports she and her daughter had prepared the night before. Carefully, they mailed them to various departments.

“I’d say, it won’t take more than a few months before Shen Jianguo and the Shen family are completely ruined,” Yu Meijuan said, watching the envelopes disappear into the mailbox.

“Mom, you’re amazing! You started preparing evidence against them so early. Did you always anticipate this day?”

Yu Zihan looked at her mother with admiration.

“Yes. Though I endured hardship in their family, I never stopped thinking about leaving. The only problem was finding the right opportunity.

Your changes gave me the courage to finally break free. After everything we’ve suffered, there’s no way I’d let them off the hook,” Yu Meijuan said, gently patting her daughter’s fluffy hair.

“Mom, you’re so farsighted. I thought the materials I gathered last night would be enough to send them all to prison. But with the evidence you’ve collected, I’m sure of it now—every single one of them is doomed. Even Li Cuihua and her family won’t escape the fallout.”

Yu Zihan gazed at her mother with eyes full of admiration.

“I never planned on dealing with Li Cuihua and her family, but since they’ve harmed my daughter, how could I let them get away with it?

Since they’re all part of Shen Jianguo’s family, then they should all fall together—no one gets to escape, right?”

From the moment Yu Meijuan received the divorce certificate, she seemed to have become more carefree and open-hearted.

“Mom, now that we’ve finished everything here, why don’t we just go straight to Qingcheng City? We could rent or buy a house there. Once I get into college, we can head to the capital together,” Yu Zihan suggested.

“I’ll follow whatever my daughter says,” Yu Meijuan responded with a joyful smile.

So, the mother and daughter walked to the bus station and bought tickets for the bus to Qingcheng. The fare was one yuan per person, which was quite expensive at the time.

At that time, there were buses that cost fifty cents and small minivans that cost one yuan. The buses ran infrequently, were overcrowded, and the minivans ran more often, were faster, and would stop on a dime.

Now that the mother and daughter didn’t have to worry about money, they opted for the relatively more comfortable minivan.

The minivans of the 80s and 90s might bring back some memories for the readers.

These minivans were usually staffed by two people: the driver, who was an expert at maneuvering the vehicle, swerving left and right to pick up passengers quickly, sometimes accelerating sharply to overtake others, then slamming the brakes so hard that passengers felt like they were on a rollercoaster.

The other person was the conductor, a sharp-eyed and articulate person who was much friendlier than the conductors on regular buses. Their goal was simple: to gather as many passengers as possible to make more money.

While riding such a vehicle, there was always a concern for safety. However, Yu Zihan and Yu Meijuan were both looking out the window, too engrossed in the sights to worry about it. Their eyes followed the various street vendors along the road.

“This is wonderful! Now people can freely do business,” Yu Meijuan said. After becoming a sent-down youth and marrying Shen Jianguo, she had always lived in the small mountain village. It was only in recent years that she had heard about the changes outside—about the freedom to do business, with many people starting their own ventures. But it was just hearsay until now. Seeing it with her own eyes stirred something inside her, something long dormant.

Perhaps it was in her blood to do business. She saw things differently than others.

“It’s still a small market, though. People’s demands are limited,” Yu Meijuan mused. Her words might have sounded ordinary to others, but Yu Zihan immediately understood—her mother’s insight was sharp and shrewd. She could see through the core of any issue at a glance.

“Exactly. It’s still in its early stages, which means there are lots of opportunities,” Yu Zihan said, her excitement growing as she looked out at the thriving scene outside.

“Mom, we’re going to be so happy,” Yu Zihan said, linking her arm through her mother’s and snuggling close to her.