◎ Third update ◎ 

The news of Zhou Guoping and Liu Nianhua’s divorce spread like wildfire. 

Everyone in the courtyard, and even the entire Crescent Alley, was surprised. 

Zhang Rong was eating lunch at home with her son Zhou Qingdang who had just returned from working as an educated youth in the countryside. The three of them talked about what happened to Liu Nianhua and felt worried about her. 

“How could they divorce? Divorce was rare. In the countryside, it was almost unheard of—perhaps there were a few cases in the city, but those typically involved have serious problems.” 

Right now, the director of the neighborhood committee and the women’s director were at Liu Nianhua’s house trying to talk some sense into her. Whenever someone in the neighborhood wanted a divorce, the committee had to follow protocol and conduct a counseling session. Everyone was encouraged to reconcile rather than separate, and they would rarely allow a divorce to proceed. 

Besides, a divorce would reflect poorly on the committee’s evaluation for the year. While other neighborhoods were praised for progressive thinking and unity, how could theirs have a divorce? 

It would clearly be seen as a failure by the committee and the women’s director in their efforts to mediate. 

But this time, Liu Nianhua refused to budge, and Zhou Guoping was nowhere to be seen. After three days of work, with their mouths dry from talking, they still couldn’t get Liu Nianhua to change her mind. 

When it came to stubbornness, the director and the women’s director of the committee finally admitted defeat. 

Only then did they agree to their divorce application. 

People in the courtyard had also tried to persuade her. Life was going well, so why get divorced? Liu Nianhua never explained the reason and kept silent no matter how they asked. But her depressed look could not deceive anyone, so they turned to Zhou Guoping, believing he must have angered his wife. 

Zhou Guoping was caught red-handed by Liu Nianhua and couldn’t defend himself, so he simply packed his things and hid away at his own place. 

The children in the courtyard didn’t fully understand the concept of divorce. Zhou Long and Zhou Hu watched their father packing up to leave, and they held on to Zhou Guoping’s legs and refused to let go. 

“Father, where are you going?” 

Zhou Guoping looked at his two sons, and he felt a rare moment of reluctance to let them go. But when he thought of Liu Nianhua’s ruthlessness, the reluctance faded and was replaced by a surge of anger. “Your mother doesn’t want to live with me anymore, and she wants to break up our family. From now on, you won’t have a father.” 

Liu Nianhua, who had been cooking at the stove, couldn’t let them go hungry no matter what. When she heard Zhou Guoping’s words, she threw the spoon on the stove and rushed into the house. “What nonsense are you talking about with Xiaolong and Xiaohu?” 

“What did I say wrong?” Even though Zhou Guoping was about to leave, he didn’t want Liu Nianhua to have an easier time. He continued to stoke the fire in front of his younger sons, “Xiao Hu, remember this: it’s your mother who insisted on making your father leave and breaking up our family!” 

“Zhou Guoping!” What Liu Nianhua cared about most was the children, but this person insisted on letting the children who knew nothing get involved. 

“Mother, mother, don’t let father leave.” 

“Mother, let father stay with us. I don’t want to be without a father!” 

The two children cried at the top of their lungs. Their faces soon turned red with tears, and then they hugged Liu Nianhua’s legs and cried loudly. 

Zhou Guoping watched intently and hoped that Liu Nianhua might reconsider. After all, he still had a chance to get his job back since the divorce papers wouldn’t be finalized until tomorrow. For the sake of the children, there might still be hope. “Nianhua, think about how much Xiaolong and Xiaohu would suffer without a father. It will be challenging for you to raise two kids on your own, and a household without a man isn’t ideal.” 

Listening to the crying at her feet, Liu Nianhua took a deep breath. “You don’t need to worry about how the three of us will live in the future. I have hands and feet and can work to earn money. Just remember to come and sign the divorce papers tomorrow morning.” 

After saying that, she slammed the door shut, leaving Zhou Guoping outside. 

“Fine, Liu Nianhua! I’ll see how you, a woman, plan to raise these boys on your own. Don’t come running back to me later!” 

In the room, Xiaolong and Xiaohu cried for a long time. Liu Nianhua looked at them, wiped their tears, and spoke to the children calmly. “Mother and Father will live separately in the future…”

“Mother! No!” 

“I want father!” 

Liu Nianhua hardened her heart and wanted to end it all as soon as possible. “If you want to follow your father, open the door now and go after him. You should be able to catch up. If you want to stay with your mother, then you can continue to live here in the future.” 

She had spent so many years dedicating her life to her family. But from now on, she didn’t want to compromise her life for the sake of her children. 

Xiaolong and Xiaohu cried and sobbed. Should they live with their father or mother? They didn’t want to be without a father, but their mother was the best. It was their mother who fed them, clothed them, and took care of them when they were sick. 

Although they liked their father, they liked their mother more. 

“Mother, I want to live with you.” Xiaohu threw himself into his mother’s arms and continued to sob. “Wuwuwu, but I don’t have a father anymore.” 

Xiaolong also lay on his mother’s lap, crying and wailing, “I want to stay with you too, Mother.” 

“Your dad did something wrong, so he has to be punished, you know? When you make mistakes, don’t you also get your palms smacked?” 

“Yes!” Xiaolong replied. “When we do something wrong, we get our palms smacked. My teacher told me that. So, if father did something wrong, he should also be spanked on the palm of his hand.” 

Liu Nianhua looked at the house, which seemed a little empty without one person in it, but it didn’t matter; she could just live her own life from now on. 

The next day, she took the entire two hundred yuan from the family’s savings book. Zhou Guoping must have had more than two hundred yuan, but that was all he had handed over. As for the rest that he had secretly hidden away, she didn’t bother with it, especially since Wang Fang’s husband would be back soon. 

After completing the divorce procedures, Liu Nianhua watched Zhou Guoping leave without looking back. The last thing he said to her was that she would regret it, and he would wait for her to go back and beg him. 

As she watched him walk away, Liu Nianhua told herself that no matter how tough or difficult it got, she would never bow down to this man again. 

The news of the divorce spread widely. The only thing she was thankful for was that her parents didn’t know about it yet. Liu Nianhua hadn’t figured out how to tell them. She was worried that her parents might fall ill from anger, so she decided to keep it a secret for as long as possible. 

*** 

Seven days later, Liu Nianhua was cleaning the house. Zhou Guoping had not taken away all his things, and there were still a few of his clothes left. Just as he pulled the clothes out, Cheng Caili’s voice was heard outside. 

“Liu Nianhua! Liu Nianhua!” 

Putting down his clothes, Liu Nianhua went out and watched Cheng Caili hurriedly run into the house. 

“Caili, what’s wrong?” 

Cheng Caili looked at Liu Nianhua with a mix of sympathy and pity. “Is Zhou Guoping even human?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“He’s having an affair outside, right? He’s such a shameless person!” Cheng Caili just found out about this today and immediately understood why Liu Nianhua wanted to divorce him. “You’ve been wronged!” 

“How do you know that?” 

“Did you know that the long-distance bus driver who lived in the tube building on Songshan Street broke Zhou Guoping’s hand? He said that his wife was having an affair with Zhou Guoping, and Zhou Guoping was beaten half to death by him.” 

Cheng Caili originally went back to her parents home today. Her next-door neighbor is a long-distance truck driver. He came back while having lunch. 

The two places were some distance apart. But the man mention that he went to help a driver beat someone up this morning. That driver was driving his truck outside. When he returned home, he found another man’s belt in the crack of his bed. There was a smell of cigarettes on it. He asked and found out that his wife was having an affair with a bus driver! 

How could he tolerate this? The long-distance driver didn’t want people to know that his wife was having an affair and felt ashamed, but he couldn’t bear it, so he wanted to beat the man up immediately. 

What is the most valuable thing for a driver? Of course, it’s the hands holding the steering wheel. The long-distance driver took a steel bar and broke the hand of the bus driver! 

He was also a driver and knew where to hit him so that he could never drive again. He hit him with the stick again and again, causing Zhou Guoping to cry for help in pain. 

The other long-distance drivers were not idle either. They are more united than ordinary people and are willing to help whenever they can. 

“Later, she heard him say that the man was from Crescent Alley and his last name was Zhou! Then she understood what was going on!” 

Cheng Caili really didn’t expect Zhou Guoping to be such a person, and she felt more and more distressed for Liu Nianhua. She had always thought that Liu Nianhua was stupid, and now it was even more so! 

“What can I say about you? You’re really miserable!” Cheng Caili held Liu Nianhua’s hand. “You should live well with Xiaolong and Xiaohu from now on. Don’t be polite if you need anything, remember to call us!”

 

“Thank you, Caili.” Liu Nianhua heard from Cheng Caili that Zhou Guoping’s hand was broken and that he was hit so hard that he would never be able to drive again. Her eyelids twitched. She didn’t expect Zhao Qiang to be so ruthless… But a sense of relief rose in her heart. 

To this day, Liu Nianhua still has complicated feelings towards Zhou Guoping. Hearing about his current situation, she wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. 

There is no wall that is impenetrable. Zhao Qiang did not tell anyone about this matter, but the news that he broke the hand of a bus driver named Zhou was still spread to some places. 

People in other places may not know, but the people in the courtyard realized something. 

After breakfast, a group of people gathered outside to talk, and they all expressed their sympathy for Liu Nianhua. 

“How could Zhou Guoping be such a person!” 

“It’s true that we misjudged him! But Nianhua and the two kids have suffered!” 

“He’s really heartless. Liu Nianhua has struggled for this family, and he goes around fooling around! He got what he deserved; his hand should be broken!” Zhang Rong was especially disgusted. Such a person should be thrown out with the trash! It was infuriating that he wasn’t here, otherwise, she would have spat on him! 

“That’s impossible! Could he have made a mistake?” Aunt Luo shook her head, not quite believing it. She had praised Zhou Guoping a lot in the past, but how could this guy actually go out and fool around? 

“A mistake? A bus driver, named Zhou, lives in Crescent Alley! Do you think there’s another one like him?” 

Aunt Li had just returned from the vegetable market, and she rushed into the courtyard. “I… I just saw Zhou Guoping!” 

“What? Where? I heard he was half dead and didn’t know where he had gone.” 

Li Zhengxia rushed into the crowd and talked about Zhou Guoping hurriedly. 

“Oh, he was in a mess. I saw that he was on his way to the hospital. His hair was messy, his clothes and pants were covered in blood and mud, and his right hand was hanging down, as if he were in great pain!”

Aunt Luo poked her head out and murmured, “So it really was him!” 

“Of course! He avoided my gaze and pretended not to see me! Bah! I scolded him a few times, and then he went into the hospital.” 

Liu Nianhua just came out of the house when she heard what the aunt in the courtyard said. She felt much calmer. She thought that if a person makes a mistake, they should be punished. 

“Nianhua, come here. I knew there was a reason why you insisted on a divorce. Zhou Guoping is such a coward, and he still managed to cause such trouble!” 

“Nianhua, remember to ask for help when needed. It’s not easy for you to raise two kids on your own.” Zhang Rong truly felt for her. 

During all these years Liu Nianhua has been in the courtyard, she has never had a quarrel with anyone and is always polite to everyone she meets. Now that something has happened at home, everyone wants her to live a good life. 

“Thank you, everyone. I just have one request. Please don’t tell this to the children. I’m worried about what will happen to Xiaolong and Xiaohu in the future…”

Everyone understood. Children can be blunt and don’t grasp the complexities of such matters. If word got out, Xiao Long and Xiao Hu might be ridiculed for life. 

They’d be called names like “the children of a cheating father,” and Liu Nianhua had seen that kind of thing before, so she didn’t want it to be a big issue. 

Now, with Zhao Qiang’s help, Zhou Guoping has been taught a lesson. As for what happens to him in the future, she would remain indifferent. 

She kept the agreements that stated he had an affair, gave up his job, and would not fight for custody of the children. She made sure to keep these agreements safe in case Zhou Guoping came to complain if he couldn’t make ends meet in the future. 

Whether he would struggle through his difficulties or have his shame exposed and face worse situations, Zhou Guoping should have some sense of it. 

“Okay, we understand even if you don’t say it. Everyone, be careful when you go home and don’t mention it in front of the kids. They can’t keep a secret.” 

“But these days…” Qian Jingjing was very worried and feared that Liu Nianhua would have a hard time raising her children alone. 

Liu Nianhua, however, was determined, “I’ve got a job as a bus conductor now. I have both hands and feet. As long as I work hard, everything will be fine.” 

“That’s good. It’s a decent job, just take it slowly.” 

“In a few days, when we buy the cabbage, you can come with us.” Zhang Rong thought that Liu Nianhua was a single woman at home with two young sons, so how could she carry hundreds of pounds of cabbage? 

Before Liu Nianhua could reply, Liang Baozhen came first and said to Zhang Rong with a smile, “Aunt Zhang, I have already agreed with Sister Hua that we should go buy cabbage together. Don’t fight with me.” 

The author has something to say: 

Ms. Liu Nianhua is ready to embrace a new life~ 

In these chapters, the male and female leads have less screen time, so let’s have Zhenzhen make an appearance at the end, hahaha.