Chapter 15: Anyone Can Live Well After Divorce

It wasn’t even one o’clock yet, and all the vegetables had sold out completely. Xie Yunshu was still hoping to keep some leftovers for herself, but now it seemed she would just have to eat at home.

She wasn’t in a hurry anymore. She leisurely pedaled her bike toward the apartment block, quietly calculating in her mind how much she had earned today. There was still some meat at home, so when she passed the market, she turned in to buy some potatoes, planning to stew them with vermicelli and meat tomorrow, and stir-fry the leftover cabbage with vinegar…

Just as she entered the market, she ran into an acquaintance.

Chen Xue was carrying a basket of vegetables and bargaining with a vendor. When she looked up and saw Xie Yunshu riding her brand-new tricycle, she immediately started throwing cold remarks: “Oh, look who it is—our Yunshu! No job, no house chores, life’s going really smoothly, huh? Poor Dr. Lu, coming home from work to cook for himself! Luckily, Nurse Zhou helps him out…”

Xie Yunshu gave her a cold glance: “I’m definitely not as busy as Sister Zhang, who has endless chores every day and even has to worry about other people’s business. Don’t overwork yourself. Even doctor’s families have to pay for medical care.”

In her past life, Chen Xue was the loudest in spreading rumors, accusing Xie Yunshu of having a mental illness—claiming she often saw her at home going crazy and smashing things. Over time, the ‘mental illness’ rumor spread until it was taken as truth…

Thinking of this made Xie Yunshu’s eyes grow colder. She didn’t know what benefits Zhou Zhouyue had given Chen Xue to make her—a doctor’s family member—willing to act as a lapdog.

Chen Xue hadn’t expected Xie Yunshu, almost a divorced woman now, to still be so sharp-tongued, and she angrily snapped back: “What are you so proud of? Yesterday, Zhou Xianzhi even went home with Dr. Lu—they’re a real couple! Ha, you don’t even have a job now, what if Dr. Lu doesn’t want you anymore…”

“I’m the one who doesn’t want him,” Xie Yunshu raised her long eyebrow and smirked, “By the way, Dr. Lu’s conduct isn’t proper—you might want to report that to the hospital leadership.”

Before, Chen Xue’s words had been sharp and mean. Since Lu Zhixing called her ‘sister-in-law’ and Zhang Qingshan was his boss, Xie Yunshu tolerated it, not wanting to cause trouble for Lu Zhixing. Now, she wasn’t going to put up with it anymore!

Why should she suffer for a clueless man?

Chen Xue was left speechless by Xie Yunshu’s retort. Matters of personal relationships weren’t huge, but if they were twisted into ‘conduct issues,’ that would be serious! Whether or not Xie Yunshu really had mental problems, she was still Dr. Lu’s wife…

But Chen Xue didn’t believe Xie Yunshu would really divorce Dr. Lu!

After leaving the market, Li Fenlan hurried over, first feeling her daughter’s hand to check the temperature, then looking at the big iron pot on the tricycle.

Xie Yunshu proudly said, “Mom, don’t look, everything’s sold out!”

“All sold out?” Li Fenlan was stunned, hardly believing it—it hadn’t even taken that long!

Xie Yunshu carried the potatoes inside, her mood unaffected by Zhang Xue’s words: “Not even a drop of soup left. I have to make more tomorrow, at least enough for forty people!”

She didn’t dare cook too much at once since she wasn’t sure how many people would come.

Li Fenlan took a deep breath. Forty people eating lunch could earn at least four yuan!

“More than that!” Xie Yunshu closed the door, took out the money from her pocket, and said, “I already calculated on the way here. After paying Aunt Zhao her cut, I still earned this much today!”

She held up four fingers, smiling broadly: “Four yuan! That’s more than twenty a month! Twice what I earned working at the packaging factory!”

Lu Zhixing’s monthly salary was only about sixty yuan, even though he was an attending physician with good benefits and bonuses. The family didn’t need to buy rice, flour, or oil, and the annual bonus was about twenty yuan paid at year-end.

Lu Zhixing’s father worked at the Land Bureau, his mother was an accountant at the steel mill—a respectable, well-paid family. That was why people said Xie Yunshu had ‘married up’…

Li Fenlan smiled until tears came, covering her eyes so her daughter wouldn’t see. She murmured, “Yes, my girl is really capable!”

Anyone can live well after divorce…

Xie Yunshu felt a wave of bitterness. Inevitably, she thought about her dreams—why in her past life had she been so lost as to want to hang herself with a rope on Lu Zhixing? She once thought she loved him so much she couldn’t live without him. But after that big dream, she realized he was never worth it.

Her love, even if crazy, was precious—so why was it trampled on by him like this?

After comfortably finishing a bowl of noodles, Xie Yunshu got on her bike and went out. “Mom, I’m going to Huaxia Bookstore to browse. I’ll come back tonight!”

She had always done well in school but had to drop out to take over the family business. Before marrying Lu Zhixing, she kept the habit of reading books. Later, her thoughts were consumed by Lu Zhixing, and she gave up this habit.

Also, she planned to return to the family housing estate again. She had left in a hurry last time and hadn’t taken everything. She needed to get all her things and discuss when to file for divorce with Lu Zhixing.

He was busy raising another woman’s child and playing the role of “father”—she couldn’t delay him from repaying that favor!

Xie Yunshu stayed at the Huaxia Bookstore for over three hours, reluctantly putting down a book titled “Architecture Engineering.” As a girl, she loved building houses. As a child, she used sticks to draw on the ground, then on walls after she learned to write, sketching tall buildings in all shapes.

Before her father’s accident, he would smile and say, “When our Yunshu goes to university, she’ll go to Jingbei, study architecture, and become an architect!”

But she never got the chance to go to university, let alone become an architect…

Exiting the bookstore, Xie Yunshu sighed. Books cost more than one yuan each, so she couldn’t afford to buy many. Coming every afternoon to read a bit felt like a bargain—and it was quite nice.

Winter nights came early. She guessed Lu Zhixing would be off work by now and rode toward the hospital family housing estate.

About ten households lived there, all doctors or nurses at Haicheng Hospital. Not everyone qualified to live there—only chief doctors or senior staff.

Seeing Xie Yunshu ride in, everyone’s expressions were mixed as they awkwardly greeted her, “Yunshu’s back!”

Xie Yunshu nodded without changing her expression.

Standing at the door, Chen Xue sneered, “I knew she wouldn’t dare stay at her mother’s place. Just all talk!”

Lu Zhixing’s house was brightly lit. When Xie Yunshu entered, she instinctively narrowed her eyes.

At the small dining table sat Lu Zhixing’s parents, his sister Lu Xueting, and Zhou Zhouyue’s son, Xiaowei. Everyone had smiles on their faces.