Chapter 39: If You Hit Him, You Can’t Hit Me

The smile on Xie Yunshu’s face vanished instantly. Crossing her arms, she gave no sign of letting him in. “What are you here for? To take it out on your sister?”

Lu Zhiyin nodded slightly at Li Fenlan as a greeting but didn’t even say “Mom.” Instead, he looked at Xie Yunshu: “I’m here to take you home. If you want to leave the TV here, that’s fine, I won’t mind.”

Although she had completely let go of this man, no longer seeing him through the filter of love, Xie Yunshu saw more clearly now. He, like his sister, had no respect for his own family. It was just that Lu Xueting’s contempt was out in the open, while he hid his arrogance deep in his bones.

She had really been such a fool before, to have liked such a man!

Coldness filled Xie Yunshu’s raised brows: “TV? Lu Zhiyin, you’re the one in debt now. What right do you have to say you don’t mind? That TV costs two thousand yuan. Now either you pay up a thousand yuan, or you can get lost!”

His words were too blunt. Lu Zhiyin tightly pressed his lips: “The nurse who locked you in the storeroom has already been punished, and Zhao Lingling, who deliberately made things difficult for you, was fired. If there’s still something bothering you, tell me. That day wasn’t my intention.”

Li Fenlan only knew her daughter had been put in the psychiatric ward, but she had no idea how that day had unfolded. Hearing these words, she looked at Xie Yunshu: “Yunshu…”

“Mom, it’s nothing, it’s all in the past.” Since it had happened, speaking of it again would only make her mother cry and suffer.

Xie Yunshu comforted Li Fenlan, stood up, and walked outside: “Let’s talk outside.”

Standing in such a dark, damp room, Lu Zhiyin also felt uneasy. In front of Li Fenlan, some things were hard to say, so he nodded, and they walked out one after another.

Outside the door, they spotted the sneaky Lin Cuiping. Xie Yunshu glanced at her sideways but said nothing, only flexing her wrist slightly.

Lin Cuiping immediately cursed, turning around and heading upstairs. “Hmph, who do you think you’re threatening? Serves Lu doctor right to divorce her!”

But after two steps, seeing Xie Yunshu and Lu Zhiyin walking further away, she quietly crept back down, hoping to catch Xie Yunshu begging Lu Zhiyin not to divorce her. If she heard even one sentence, she could mock Xie Yunshu for life!

Xie Yunshu strode forward, hands tucked into her down jacket pockets, walking across the alley. At this time, there were no old folks sunbathing, and no one else was around.

Lu Zhiyin’s expression softened. He reached out to touch Xie Yunshu’s shoulder but was slapped away with disgust.

Not caring about Li Fenlan’s presence, the harshness in Xie Yunshu’s eyes was unmistakable: “Don’t make me slap you!”

What did she say?

Lu Zhiyin took two steps back in disbelief, panic showing on his face: “What did you say?”

“Deaf? Yesterday afternoon, I slapped your sister right across the face. Are you deaf too?” Xie Yunshu sneered, curling her lips: “Tell me, when are you signing the divorce papers? You don’t want to ruin the New Year by dragging this to court, right?”

Was she really dead set on divorcing?

Lu Zhiyin struggled to find his voice after a while. His tone was dry: “Yunshu, I’m not holding your hitting Xueting against you. As long as you apologize, we can go back to how things were…”

Xie Yunshu thought he was crazy: “Apologize? What a ridiculous dream! Your sister came to my house and talked trash. I was already holding back!”

The woman before him had no trace of former tenderness or love—only icy hatred and disgust. Such a look made it almost impossible for Lu Zhiyin to meet her gaze.

“I won’t interfere with Zhou Xiaoyue anymore. She’s moved out of the marital home.” After a pause, Lu Zhiyin pressed his lips: “About the wages she spent, she gave me an IOU yesterday…”

He didn’t want a divorce; even thinking about it made his heart ache. So he didn’t hesitate to take out the IOU from the day Zhou Xiaoyue hit someone: “A total of 650 yuan, Yunshu. I’ve already rectified it.”

Xie Yunshu took the IOU rudely. She didn’t care who would repay that money later; once it was given to her, it was hers!

“I’ll try to find you work, and about the thousand yuan, I’ll gather it as soon as possible…” This time, Lu Zhiyin lowered his tone. He could go home to get the money; a thousand yuan wasn’t much for the Lu family.

Xie Yunshu squinted: “Before the New Year, then?”

She still held a grudge because she had given money to Zhou Xiaoyue. That’s why she kept making a fuss and even hit Xueting. All this meant she still cared about him.

Warmth flickered in Lu Zhiyin’s eyes as he looked at Xie Yunshu, a faint smile appearing: “Yunshu, I never break my promises.”

Xie Yunshu scoffed: “I don’t dare trust you. After all, you locked me in the psychiatric ward because of Zhou Xiaoyue, took your salary to support her and her kid. If you do it again, won’t I just kill you and your hospital?”

“I’ll arrange for others to take care of Zhou Xiaoyue and her child. If you don’t want to see her, you won’t have to.” Lu Zhiyin’s voice softened. He missed her a bit: “You hit Xueting. Mom’s very angry. Come apologize to her with me, and this matter will be over.”

Lin Cuiping, hiding at the alley corner, widened her eyes. What did she just hear?

Lu Zhiyin was keeping a mistress outside and had locked Xie Yunshu in the psychiatric hospital because of her?! She only knew Xie Yunshu was fired for hitting someone, but didn’t know this whole story. So the one Xie Yunshu hit before was Lu Zhiyin’s mistress?!

Xie Yunshu felt deeply ironic inside. If he could arrange for others to take care of Zhou Xiaoyue, then why did he personally handle everything for a whole year, when he must have known it bothered him?

In the end, he just enjoyed Zhou Xiaoyue’s dependence on him and loved playing the hero saving others. Beneath the cold, arrogant exterior, he was a hypocrite through and through!

“Enough with the nonsense. Write an IOU for the remaining thousand yuan.” Xie Yunshu took out the IOU Zhou Xiaoyue had made and glanced at the corner of the wall. “Is there a pen?”

Lin Cuiping was stunned. Was she being called?

Xie Yunshu snorted: “Lin Cuiping, been standing there all day, if you’re alive, say something.”

Lin Cuiping grit her teeth. She actually had a pen in her pocket!

After hearing all this, she reluctantly crawled out from the wall corner: “Xie Yunshu, when he writes the IOU, don’t you go apologizing like a fool. I heard your little sister cursed terribly yesterday. You hit her many times and never apologized once. Why should you apologize to her now?”

Xie Yunshu ignored her, putting the pen in front of Lu Zhiyin: “Write the IOU, sign it!”

Lu Zhiyin didn’t hesitate. He quickly wrote a sum, signed his name, and then looked at Xie Yunshu, slowly smiling: “Come with me? Don’t worry about apologizing to Xueting. I won’t make mom trouble you.”

“Make trouble for your mom!”

Xie Yunshu didn’t even reply. She slapped Lu Zhiyin hard across his gentle, handsome face: “Lu Zhiyin, I’m giving you one week. If you don’t divorce me, see you in court!”

Lin Cuiping was so scared she instinctively stepped back two paces, covering her face, then swallowed hard: “You hit him, but you can’t hit me now.”