Chapter 5: If You Really Want a Divorce

“Wife, look, Shixu is so handsome! He’s even on TV.” Fu Shiyuan said as he pulled her hand.

“Yeah, but you’re the most handsome!”

“No way, I’m not as handsome as Shixu.”

“In my heart, you’re more handsome than him!”

“Really? So, Wife, does that mean you like me more than Shixu now?”

Su An’an suddenly turned her head to look at Qiao Yanyan. What did Brother-in-law just say? Her sister liked Fu Shixu?

Qiao Yanyan quickly refuted: “How could I possibly like Fu Shixu? I don’t like him at all!”

Fu Shiyuan beamed with joy. “Then, Wife, do you only like me now?”

“Mm, I guess so.” Qiao Yanyan really had no way to deal with Fu Shiyuan.

“That’s great! Wife only likes one person!” Fu Shiyuan said, grinning like a child.

Su An’an let out a sigh. Maybe she was overthinking. Her sister wasn’t that kind of person. How could she still like her Brother-in-law’s brother after getting married?

At that moment, someone opened the door outside. After entering, the person began changing shoes at the entrance and loudly called out: “Mom, Sis, I’m home!”

Su An’an stood up and said: “Sister, Little Brother is back.”

Qiao Yanyan thought for a moment—ah, the female lead had a Little Brother. Yes, the female lead had a younger brother, about sixteen years old?

Su An’an went to greet him at the door. “Su Jingyi, you’re back. You’re only coming home now, and it’s almost lunchtime. Where did you go? Gaming again?”

“Aiyo, Sis, why are you so annoying?” Su Jingyi said as he walked toward the living room.

“Sister brought Brother-in-law home, so show some manners. Don’t be so disrespectful.” Su An’an whispered sternly beside Su Jingyi.

“Got it, Sis!”

A boy around 1.68 meters tall walked into the living room, smiling as he greeted: “Sis, you’re back!”

Qiao Yanyan looked at him. The young man was actually quite good-looking. She greeted him too: “Mm, Jingyi.”

Su Jingyi casually glanced at Fu Shiyuan and greeted: “Brother-in-law is here too.”

Qiao Yanyan could tell that Su Jingyi seemed to look down on Fu Shiyuan a bit.

Fu Shiyuan smiled and greeted him warmly: “Hello, you’re my Wife’s Little Brother, huh?”

Su Jingyi looked at Fu Shiyuan with dissatisfaction.

To be honest, he didn’t really like this Brother-in-law. In fact, he strongly disliked him. His Sister Yanyan was so smart, beautiful, and academically outstanding—yet she actually married a fool!

Su Jingyi didn’t want to respond.

Su An’an smacked Su Jingyi on the head. “Brother-in-law is talking to you. Why aren’t you responding?”

Su Jingyi quickly shielded his head. “Sis, you can break my bones, you can make me bleed, but you cannot mess up my hairstyle! Hands off my hair!”

Su An’an gave his mushroom haircut another pat. “Just look at your ugly hairstyle. It looks like a mushroom, or like the lid of a pot in our kitchen. I seriously suspect you grabbed a bowl from home and had your friend trim your hair along the edge!”

Su Jingyi got angry at once. He stood up and shot back: “This is called fashion! Do you even understand fashion? Whatever, you 2000s-borns will never understand the world of post-2005s!”

“Hey, you brat! Are you calling me old now?”

Su An’an and Su Jingyi started bickering, then began tossing pillows at each other.

Qiao Yanyan’s lips curved into a smile.

What a heartwarming family atmosphere.

Suddenly, a pillow flew over from Su Jingyi and almost hit Qiao Yanyan. Fu Shiyuan, seeing it about to strike his Wife, immediately shielded her with his body, and the pillow landed on his back.

At that moment, the two of them were in a posture where Fu Shiyuan was embracing Qiao Yanyan. He asked her: “Wife, does it hurt?”

In that instant, Fu Shiyuan didn’t even think before shielding her from the flying pillow. He did it purely out of instinct.

“I’m fine. You’re the one who got hit. Does it hurt?” Qiao Yanyan pushed him away from the hug.

Fu Shiyuan rubbed his head and shook it. “Not even a little.”

Su An’an glared at her Little Brother. “Didn’t I tell you not to throw things around? What if you hit someone?”

“I did hit someone, but it’s just a pillow. It doesn’t hurt!” Su Jingyi argued back.

“Huh? You dare talk back to me?” Su An’an pinned Su Jingyi down on the sofa and started pulling his hair hard.

Su Jingyi broke down. “Ahhh! My hair! Ahhh… it cost 300 yuan at the salon! Su An’an, just wait!”

“This crappy haircut actually cost 300 yuan?”

From the kitchen, Aunt Ning came out and said: “Enough already. Clean the table, it’s time to eat.”

Only then did Su An’an let go of Su Jingyi. At this point, Su Jingyi’s hair looked like a bird’s nest. Su An’an covered her mouth and laughed.

Qiao Yanyan also laughed. This Little Brother was quite funny.

Su An’an went to wipe the table, while Su Jingyi went into the kitchen to bring out the dishes. Qiao Yanyan helped Fu Shiyuan settle into a seat before going to the kitchen herself to bring out more food.

Aunt Ning handed her a dish and said: “Yanyan, just take this one. You can go accompany Shiyuan afterward and take good care of him.”

“Oh.”

There were five dishes and a soup: steamed fish, stir-fried tomatoes with eggs, braised pork, potato chicken stew, stir-fried greens, and corn pork rib soup.

The colors, aromas, and presentation were all excellent—it looked incredibly appetizing.

Aunt Ning said: “Everyone, let’s eat. Shiyuan, don’t be shy. It’s all just home cooking.”

Fu Shiyuan smiled and said: “Thank you, Aunt. I’ll eat a whole lot!”

“Aunt, aren’t we waiting for Uncle?” Qiao Yanyan asked.

Su An’an, sitting next to her, replied: “Dad went on a business trip to the next city. He won’t be home for the next few days.”

“That’s right. He’s away for the next few days. Yanyan, eat. You used to love these dishes. They’re all Auntie’s home cooking—you always said it tasted like home.” Aunt Ning said while serving Qiao Yanyan some food.

“Thank you, Auntie.”

Su Jingyi chimed in: “Sister Yanyan, don’t you love corn? Little Brother will get you some.”

Watching Su Jingyi serve her food, Qiao Yanyan felt incredibly relieved that she had entered the story early. If she’d been dropped into the later part of the plot—where Qiao Yanyan constantly opposed the female lead Su An’an for a man and even framed her—the outcome wouldn’t have been far from death.

But now, it seemed like her relationship with Auntie’s family was pretty good.

After the meal, Auntie started clearing the table and brought the dishes into the kitchen to wash them. She looked at Qiao Yanyan and said: “Yanyan, come with me for a moment.”

Qiao Yanyan followed her into the kitchen. Seeing Aunt Ning doing the dishes, she stepped forward to help, but Auntie nudged her away. “Let me wash these. You don’t need to. I actually want to talk to you.”

“Oh? What is it, Auntie?” Qiao Yanyan stood to the side.

While scrubbing, Aunt Ning asked: “Yanyan, how has it been since you got married?”

Qiao Yanyan thought to herself: I wasn’t the one who married him. I just arrived here yesterday. How am I supposed to answer this?

She smiled and replied: “Pretty good.”

Aunt Ning glanced outside at her son-in-law talking with her daughter. “And how is Shiyuan treating you?”

“He treats me well.”

Aunt Ning let out a sigh. “Yanyan, if one day you regret this marriage, if you don’t want to stay with him anymore, you can come back. We haven’t touched any of the bride price they gave. If you want a divorce, we’ll return it all.”

Qiao Yanyan hadn’t expected Auntie to say this to her. This wasn’t in the book’s plot!

Aunt Ning continued: “It’s not that I look down on Shiyuan—it’s just that he… he… sigh. He’s tall, decent-looking, energetic, and his family’s wealthy. But… his mind isn’t quite right. I’m afraid you’ll regret it someday… Anyway, I want you to know that if the time comes and you want to leave him, you can. If the other side refuses, we’ll return the full bride price.”

In real life, Qiao Yanyan’s family had always favored sons over daughters. Her father didn’t care for her, and her mother didn’t love her. She had barely made it through high school.

When she went to university and asked her parents for money, they refused. They said: “What’s the point of girls studying so much? You’ll just get married anyway.” So, she left home. To pay her tuition, she worked jobs. She paid for her college tuition by herself. Thanks to her skills, by her third year, she had saved 200,000 yuan. Right after graduating, she bought a house and a car. She had endured so much hardship to get to where she was.

Now that she had entered the book and heard Aunt Ning say these words, she felt deeply moved.

Was this what care from an elder felt like?

She had never experienced such affection from any elder her whole life.

Qiao Yanyan pressed her lips together and smiled as she nodded. “I understand, Auntie. You’re really kind.”

“Silly child, you came to live with us when you were five. I practically raised you. You’re like my own child—of course I treat you well.”

Just then, Fu Shiyuan, noticing that his Wife hadn’t come back yet, got up to look for her in the kitchen.

Su Jingyi, watching Fu Shiyuan’s back, muttered to Su An’an: “Fu Shiyuan is good-looking, but his brain’s not right. Sister Yanyan marrying him is such a loss! Sigh!”

Su An’an nudged Su Jingyi. “Su Jingyi, do you have any manners? He’s our Brother-in-law. No matter what, he’s still our Brother-in-law!”

At the kitchen doorway, Fu Shiyuan grinned as he looked at Qiao Yanyan. “Wife, why are you in here so long? What are you chatting about with Auntie?”

Aunt Ning looked at her son-in-law and sighed. Sigh, such a shame about the mental issues…

“Nothing. Why did you come in?” Qiao Yanyan’s face turned red. She had already told Fu Shiyuan not to call her “Wife” in front of others, yet he still did.

“I came to find my Wife, of course.”

Aunt Ning laughed. “Yanyan, go accompany Shiyuan.”

“Alright.”

Just as Qiao Yanyan reached the kitchen doorway, Fu Shiyuan grabbed her hand.

“What are you doing?”

“I missed you.”

“Missed what? I’m right here.”

“I haven’t seen you in a few minutes.”

Qiao Yanyan was speechless. Fu Shiyuan was even clingier than a puppy.

They returned to the sofa and sat down. Just then, Fu Shiyuan’s phone rang.

He took it out of his pocket and happily showed Qiao Yanyan. “Wife, Shixu is calling me.”

“Oh? Then you should answer it.”

Qiao Yanyan wasn’t sure if she imagined it, but when Fu Shiyuan mentioned that Fu Shixu was calling, Su An’an’s eyes seemed to light up.

Then she stood up and went into the kitchen.

Fu Shiyuan answered the phone. “Hello? Shixu?”

“I ate already—ate a whole lot!”

“Me? I’m at Auntie Yanyan’s house.”

“You want to come over? Sure, sure!” Then he hung up.

Fu Shiyuan put the phone back in his pocket and said: “Yanyan, Shixu said he’s coming over to Auntie’s place. He said he’ll give us a ride back home too.”