Chapter 180: Incomplete and Imperfect

It was Hu Xiujie who initiated the divorce. Qin’s father and mother had repeatedly hinted and explicitly told her to leave Qin Boyu.

She had been married to Qin Boyu for so many years, their relationship was no longer what it used to be. He was busy with his career, oblivious to her struggles and cries for help in the quagmire of the Qin family.

They had argued countless times. She was no longer the young girl he had once tenderly and shyly wooed. Her attempts to confide in him were dismissed as unreasonable and unladylike.

After years of such a life, she felt numb.

She moved to a city more prosperous and open-minded than her hometown, yet she never received recognition. All she encountered was suppression and mental oppression.

The Qin family was another, even more terrifying and devouring place. She constantly doubted and denied herself, losing the confidence she once had.

Perhaps she truly wasn’t worthy of Qin Boyu. So, she fulfilled everyone’s wishes and divorced him.

During that period of constant struggle, she found a letter Hu Yao had written to her, clearly opened and carelessly thrown in a corner.

They always treated her with such disrespect.

They could be polite and courteous to everyone else, smiling brightly, but she was merely a wife in name only, someone they could easily disregard.

She told no one and went back to find Hu Yao. Over the years, she had also written to Hu Yao, but she never received a reply.

In Hu Xiujie’s heart, she had always considered Hu Yao as close as a sister. Without any news from her, she worried about what might have happened to her and wanted to go back to see her several times.

However, the Qin family forbade her from contacting her family. Back then, she was timid and cautious, trying to please them in every way. Out of selfishness, she had ultimately neglected Hu Yao.

After all these years, seeing her letter and learning about her ordeal, she felt a pang of regret and heartache. She should have gone back sooner to see her.

Unexpectedly, despite her hardships, Hu Yao still had good fortune. Jiang Han, the man who bought her, treated her well, and she had a sensible and caring child.

Upon closer observation, she realized that Hu Yao didn’t truly resist Jiang Han, but rather cared for him.

Seeing their happy marriage, Hu Xiujie felt relieved.

Everyone defined good days differently. In the past, she thought having enough to eat was enough. Now, with a broader perspective, her heart was no longer as simple and hopeful as it once was.

Hu Xiujie didn’t know if she was being too greedy and wishful. If she hadn’t met Qin Boyu, she might have married a man like her fellow villagers, only worrying about daily necessities.

After marrying Qin Boyu, she didn’t have to worry about the material things that ordinary families struggled with, but she was burdened by other things, things she couldn’t explain or articulate.

She left without a word. The Qin family didn’t care about her whereabouts. Qin Boyu did come looking for her. He was angry, questioning why she was wandering around when their son was sick. He took her back to Kyoto without a word, leaving her no time to say goodbye to Hu Yao.

Hu Xiujie felt that he still cared for her. He had come looking for her in a hurry, with dark circles under his eyes. Although he only spoke about their son, she could see the tension in his eyes when he looked at her.

She hesitated about the divorce again. But then she saw him with his childhood friend’s sister, the woman Qin’s father and mother truly approved of as Qin Boyu’s wife, surrounding Qin Siyuan.

They looked more like a family of three. Qin Siyuan treated that woman with more affection and respect than he did his own mother.

Qin Boyu said his feelings for that woman were purely brotherly, but when she questioned why, at the age of twenty-six, she wasn’t married and only revolved around him, he remained speechless.

He finally uttered a sentence that pierced her heart. He said that good families wouldn’t easily sell their daughters off like a commodity. That woman was different. She had received a good education, had a broad perspective, and came from a wealthy family. She had the capital to choose slowly. People in their circle didn’t rush into marriage. Many people in their twenties remained unmarried. Only those from rural areas…

In his words, that woman was perfect in every way. He even told her to be more understanding and not bring this up to avoid gossip.

At that moment, Hu Xiujie was speechless.

She had married him at the age of seventeen or eighteen. The fact that her family had asked for a large dowry was a thorn in her heart. He knew that the Qin family didn’t allow her to go back to her family, and he tacitly approved of it.

He looked down on her background. He rarely took her to social events or introduced her to his friends. Many of his friends knew he had a wife but didn’t know what she looked like.

If that woman was truly as good as he said, why would she covet a married man and even brazenly provoke her in front of her?

She didn’t say anything more hurtful, but he already showed signs of defending her.

Hu Xiujie suddenly felt a sense of meaninglessness. She didn’t want anything anymore. She interrupted him and asked for a divorce.

He was stunned, then his anger turned dark.

They argued for a long time, and finally, they divorced, with Qin Boyu agreeing to let her take Qin Siyuan.

In a month, he would likely start a new family with that woman. He wasn’t particularly close to Qin Siyuan. After returning to Kyoto and having Qin Siyuan, he was too busy, working late and coming home late. He spent very little time with his son.

Now that his career was stable, he would marry a new wife and have new children. That child would likely be treated much better than Qin Siyuan.

That woman was a perfect match for him, and they were childhood sweethearts. No matter what, he and the Qin family wouldn’t mistreat her.

Hu Xiujie stood firm, gazing at the moon in the sky, her eyes unreadable.

Mid-Autumn Festival hadn’t been long ago. Why was the moon incomplete and imperfect now?

Qin Siyuan followed behind her, his eyes still red. He pursed his lips, looking at the somewhat unfamiliar, thin figure in front of him. He said gruffly, “There are so many mosquitoes biting me! I don’t want to come here anymore!”

“Where do you want to go? If you don’t follow me, where can you go? Do you still have a home?” Hu Xiujie asked calmly, without turning around.

These were the same words Qin Boyu had said to her exactly the same.

Qin Siyuan clenched his fists, remaining silent. He didn’t yell about going back to the Qin family anymore.

His father had told him to be sensible when he left with Hu Xiujie, saying that he would take him back when Hu Xiujie softened.

He had seen Qin Bo angrily tell Hu Xiujie not to take him away that day. It was because Hu Xiujie always made the Qin family unhappy that they wanted to abandon him as well.

“Qin Siyuan, I will raise you. I don’t need you to repay me for anything. When you grow up, you can leave if you want. You don’t have to be my son anymore, and I’m not your mother.” She said solemnly to the six-year-old boy.