Zhao Jiusi always believed that true love really existed, even if he couldn’t fully understand it.

To him, true love wasn’t the kind of affection from girls who sent him love letters at school, nor was it the self-indulgence chosen after a breakup in the news. In Zhao Jiusi’s view, true love should be like that between his father and dad—living together for years despite external disapproval, understanding each other with just a glance, and being perfectly in sync.

But today, his dad told him that he wanted to divorce his father.

Divorce!

Divorce!!

Even if his dad and father argued fiercely in the past, the word “divorce” would never come up. Both his dad and father considered it a profound disrespect to marriage to even utter the word lightly. There were many ways to express anger and threaten each other without resorting to divorce.

Zhao Louqin’s view was even more straightforward.

He had invested so much time and effort into bringing someone into his life, and now, because of a quarrel, he would be leaving? Absolutely not! He was determined to enjoy Zheng Yixu’s love for as long as he could, until the very end, to at least get some return on his investment.

However, no matter how hard he tried to believe otherwise, the words “divorce” were like a bolt from the blue, leaving Zhao Jiusi dazed and nearly unable to stand.

“Dad, don’t joke around,” Zhao Jiusi said with an unusually serious expression. He couldn’t ignore the fact that his dad and father were getting a divorce, especially since there had been no signs or warnings at all.

However, Zhao Jiusi could tell that his father was serious.

Even though he had lost his memory, his father was still the same person who always planned carefully before taking action. Until he was absolutely sure about the divorce, his father wouldn’t show even the slightest sign of it.

“I’m not joking.” Zheng Yixu sighed. For Zhao Jiusi, the fact that he and Zhao Louqin were getting a divorce was probably something difficult to accept. But he had no choice; he couldn’t delay It any longer.

Zhao Louqin wasn’t someone easy to deal with, and now Zhao Jiusi had been shown around in front of quite a few people. Fortunately, it was just a disguise for now. Once Zhao Jiusi was officially recognized by these people and labeled as the heir of the Zhao family, widely known by the public, it would be impossible for Zheng Yixu to take him away.

Zheng Yixu paused for a moment, then led Zhao Jiusi to a place where they could sit down. He no longer cared about his image—after all, what was the point of maintaining appearances when they were about to get divorced?

“You might not be able to accept this right away. But you’ve already turned sixteen, so you’re old enough to understand. As your father, it’s my duty to tell you everything. In return, I hope you’ll be willing to live with me,” Zheng Yixu said softly, gently patting Zhao Jiusi’s head.

“Dad, there must be some misunderstanding,” Zhao Jiusi said, growing more anxious the more he listened. He wished he could bring Zhao Louqin over right now to talk things through with his father and find out what had gone wrong.

Unfortunately, Zheng Yixu could see right through Zhao Jiusi’s thoughts. He held Zhao Jiusi’s hand tightly, making it impossible for him to run off, or even reach for his phone without being noticed.

“Don’t be anxious. Let me finish explaining everything, and then you can judge,” Zheng Yixu said with a faint smile, a trace of loneliness evident in his eyes.

“The story begins after I lost my memory. Well, I don’t remember anything from before, but I suspect that this family may not have been as perfect as you thought.” Considering the intelligence of my former self, it would have been impossible not to notice the situation between Zhao Louqin and Lin Ninghua. Not to mention, one was my husband, and the other was once my close friend.

Yet, this marriage continued until I lost my memory, giving Lin Ninghua an opportunity to intervene.”

“From the beginning, I found it suspicious. Why, as a member of the family who had lost his memory, did you not gather our relatives and friends to help me regain it when I returned home? And after living together for over ten years, there should have been photos, texts, emails, and such, but none of these were shown to me. It was as if there was something you didn’t want me to remember,” Zheng Yixu voiced his suspicions in a calm tone.

Zhao Jiusi, sitting beside him, turned pale. He was aware of his father’s intentions to some extent, but he wasn’t one of the people who helped his father regain his memory… He really had no ground to stand on in this conversation.

Zhao Jiusi had no intention of stopping him, and Zheng Yixu could roughly guess what he was thinking. After all, Zhao Jiusi rarely mentioned anything about the past in front of him, likely because Zhao Louqin had “warned” him not to. But Zheng Yixu could understand this behavior—Zhao Jiusi was so naïve that he had surely been deceived by Zhao Louqin. How could a clever little fox possibly outsmart an old hunter?

“And then, my relatives from the Zheng family came to our door. They’re not particularly smart, and I doubt they had any real impact on our lives before. They’re just a bunch of clowns, really, only good for adding a bit of drama to life. When I asked you for the surveillance cameras, it was actually because I had a feeling I was being watched, so I asked for them on purpose,” Zheng Yixu said with a slightly smug smile, as if to say, “Bet you didn’t see that coming.”

“And you really gave them to me, in all sorts of models. Zhao Louqin quickly admitted that he had installed surveillance cameras around me. What kind of family member installs surveillance on another? The truth is, Zhao Louqin was probably afraid I would come into contact with someone without his knowledge, which means he had a secret he didn’t want me to find out. Then I started wondering, what could that secret be? People’s secrets usually revolve around fame, fortune, or love. Your father doesn’t lack the first two, so it must be the third.”

Zhao Jiusi opened his mouth but still couldn’t say anything.

His father would reveal everything.

Although Zhao Jiusi didn’t fully understand the situation, he had some vague idea. His father truly didn’t want his dad to remember certain things, and those things might very well have something to do with that “big bad wolf” Lin Ninghua.

“In the end, I finally caught on,” Zheng Yixu’s voice suddenly dropped, carrying a clear tone of resignation. “Jiusi, do you know? Your father was actually entangled with someone else—he cheated during our marriage!”

Cheated during the marriage!

These four words were an even bigger blow to Zhao Jiusi’s fragile heart than the idea of divorce. He shook his head vigorously, like a drum being beaten, and said, “Dad, you must be mistaken. There’s no way Father would cheat. All those people involved in scandals with Father are just…”

“It’s not those people; they’re just a cover,” Zheng Yixu interrupted Zhao Jiusi. “If I’m saying this, it’s because I have evidence.”

With a contemptuous smile, Zheng Yixu pulled out his phone from his pocket. As he scrolled through it, he asked without looking up, “You’re certainly not unfamiliar with the name Lin Ninghua, right? I’m not talking about after I lost my memory, but before. He may have never come to our house, and he might not have even appeared at a single event we attended, so you rarely saw him. But you’ve definitely heard his name from your father’s mouth, more than once, haven’t you?”

Zhao Jiusi thought of the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf and nodded slightly. Could it really be that this Lin Ninghua was involved in the situation?

“I knew it,” Zheng Yixu said with a hint of sarcasm as his suspicion was confirmed. “The person your father had an affair with is Lin Ninghua!”

Huh?

Zhao Jiusi blinked in confusion. Something didn’t seem right.

No matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem likely that his father would be involved with Lin Ninghua. After all, according to his father, Lin Ninghua was like the Big Bad Wolf. If anything, it should be Lin Ninghua who had feelings for Dad, not the other way around.

Finally finding a point to argue, Zhao Jiusi immediately voiced the doubts in his heart.

“Silly boy,” Zheng Yixu teased, poking Zhao Jiusi’s forehead. “This is the adult world. Creating a false impression is a simple trick. Haven’t you heard the saying ‘saying one thing but meaning another’? Look at my face, then look at your father’s face, and then look at Lin Ninghua’s face. Honestly, there’s not much difference between your father and Lin Ninghua in terms of looks. Do you really think someone that beautiful would choose me over Zhao Louqin?”

“…”

Suddenly, it seemed quite convincing…

No, he couldn’t let Dad lead him astray.

“But you’re the one who married Father. You’re great, Dad. If it were up to me, I would definitely choose you,” Zhao Jiusi replied firmly.

“So you’re still not a dirty adult yet,” Zheng Yixu said, bending down to give Zhao Jiusi a kiss on the forehead and smiling. “While your father wasn’t around, Lin Ninghua contacted me many times. Each time, he would ask about the situation between Zhao Louqin and me. When he found out that I was separated from your father, he clearly became very pleased. Here, take a look at this post.”

Zheng Yixu handed his phone to Zhao Jiusi. On the screen was the post he had seen before—Lin Ninghua’s name at the top of a scandalous list, the first on the list of Zhao Louqin’s rumored partners!

“I’m only third on this list. The person ranked second, Sun Ai, I’ve met before. She’s the aunt you saw at the parent-teacher conference, Ma Chengyao’s parent. I’ve talked to her too. She seems to know a bit and is willing to help me with the divorce.”

Zheng Yixu spoke with such conviction that Zhao Jiusi was almost swayed from his beliefs.

“No, Dad, there must be some misunderstanding. Father could never betray you.” The idea of an affair just didn’t seem possible between his father and Zheng Yixu.

“Come to think of it, Lin Ninghua and your father might actually be a couple. I might just be the latecomer, maybe even the mistress,” Zheng Yixu said, his gaze drifting off as he seemed to imagine the scenario.

“Back then, your father and Lin Ninghua were probably very much in love. But later, for some unknown reason, they had a huge argument, and Lin Ninghua threatened to blacklist your father. It was probably an attempt to force your father into admitting his mistakes. But you know your father’s temper—Lin Ninghua ended up so angry that he went abroad. During this time, your father proposed to me and later adopted you. However, if you were to investigate, you’d find that Lin Ninghua had no romantic partners during those years. After we made your existence public, he immediately adopted a little boy. Who would believe there’s nothing fishy about that?

Before my amnesia, your father was truly a good partner and a good father, and our family was happy. Even if Lin Ninghua wanted to reconcile with your father, he was powerless to do so. But after my memory loss, Lin Ninghua saw an opportunity. Otherwise, he wouldn’t keep provoking me!”