Chapter 3: Couldn’t Get Hard

The man didn’t seem to understand what she meant. The smile that had lingered on his lips slowly disappeared.

“What did you say?”

Back when they had just started dating, they made a promise: never bring up breaking up easily.

So when their parents opposed, when her mother tried to set her up with someone else, when there were misunderstandings—they never brought up the idea of parting ways.

They held on all the way until they had the means to marry. Tomorrow would mark their first wedding anniversary.

They hadn’t even fought recently, and now she wanted a divorce?

In the next moment, Pei Jinyang’s eyes locked onto Jiang Mingzhi like a hunting leopard. The air around them was frozen, until his low chuckle broke the silence. “Zhizhi, that’s not a funny joke.”

Jiang Mingzhi repeated herself: “I’m not joking. Let’s get a divorce, Pei Jinyang.”

They were sitting close enough to hear each other’s breaths, deep and shallow.

Time seemed to come to a halt.

Pei Jinyang exhaled heavily, rubbed his face, then sat at the edge of the bed, still staring at Jiang Mingzhi. “Give me a reason.”

Jiang Mingzhi felt like a stone was lodged in her throat as she forced the words out. “You don’t love me anymore.”

Pei Jinyang looked confused, his brows creasing slightly. “Why would you say that?”

Then suddenly, it clicked. “Is it because I didn’t get hard just now?”

He grabbed her wrist again, trying to pull her into his arms. “Zhizhi, I’ve just been really tired lately. Don’t overthink it.”

But even before seeing his WeChat messages, she’d already sensed it—his passion had rapidly faded.

Looking back, it had already been three months since they last had sex.

That wasn’t normal.

But he always had excuses, so she hadn’t pushed the issue.

It wasn’t that she thought too much—it was that she thought too little.

There was that time he had a lipstick stain on his shirt sleeve. And the occasional lingering scent of women’s perfume on him.

He’d explained it away—said it was from helping a drunk female subordinate and accidentally brushing against her.

Jiang Mingzhi let him hold her. She didn’t struggle.

Her mind was a mess. Sweet moments flickered in and out, only to be replaced by signs that Pei Jinyang no longer loved her.

Her head throbbed harder.

She pushed out of his embrace and said calmly, “Lie to me if you want, but don’t lie to yourself. Yesterday, you told Sheng Qiaoxi you don’t feel anything for me anymore—was that a lie?”

Pei Jinyang frowned. “You looked at my phone?”

He’d had a feeling yesterday. Normally, he locked his phone from the main screen, but when he came out of the bathroom, he found it unlocked, still on the WeChat screen.

“Mm.”

Silence fell again. But this time, it wasn’t the same. The air felt ready to combust.

Pei Jinyang suddenly asked, “Where did you go last night?”

Under the harsh light, they stared at each other. Jiang Mingzhi knew exactly what he meant.

He was suspicious of her.

She had lied about spending the night with Fu Xueli. A single phone call would expose her.

And she had a history. Back when they were still dating, in their second year, their parents didn’t know about the relationship. To keep things secret, Pei Jinyang had brought another girl home and claimed she was his girlfriend.

Jiang Mingzhi, overwhelmed with jealousy, went on a date with another guy out of spite, returning home in the middle of the night.

It led to a huge fight, followed by a two-month cold war.

So now, Pei Jinyang thought she had gone on a date with a man last night just to provoke him.

Jiang Mingzhi could guess all of this and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Still, she explained, “After seeing the messages you sent to Sheng Qiaoxi, I couldn’t stay in the house anymore. So I went to a hotel.”

Pei Jinyang let out a long breath, clearly holding back his anger. “You were alone?”

Jiang Mingzhi looked him in the eyes, voice tired. “Yes. Don’t you believe me?”

—

Jiang Mingzhi lay alone on the soft bed. The room was dark, lit only by a sliver of moonlight streaming through the window and casting a faint glow on her.

Her eyes, still clear after crying, stared into the darkness.

She had cried. She had argued. Now she felt drained—utterly exhausted, but unable to sleep.

An hour earlier, she had had a major fight with Pei Jinyang.

He spoke of how good he had been to her over the years, wondering why she was always so difficult.

She countered with how many women had hovered around him all that time, and how she had looked the other way again and again.

He recited all he had sacrificed for this relationship.

She listed every grievance she had swallowed.

It was as if neither of them had gained anything from the relationship.

They dredged up old arguments, and in the end, parted on bad terms—Pei Jinyang slamming the door on his way out.

Jiang Mingzhi called out to him behind his back: “The divorce agreement will be sent to you tomorrow morning.”

—“This relationship isn’t worth my hesitation. Not worth my time. Not worth the love I gave you.”

With a sorrowful song playing in the background, Jiang Mingzhi got up and found a bottle of whiskey in the wine cabinet.

To the music, through the heartbreak, she downed glass after glass until she passed out drunk.

Even in her dreams, she saw Pei Jinyang.

She dreamed of that winter break in her first year of high school, the first time she met Pei Jinyang.

After her parents divorced, she had lived with her father. But at sixteen, her father passed away from illness.

Custody then went to her mother.

Jiang Mingzhi felt uneasy. Ever since the divorce, her contact with her mother had been minimal—just the occasional message over WeChat.

Part of it was distance. Her mother had moved north, while she lived in a small southern town.

The other part was her grandparents—they disapproved of her having any connection with her mother.

Her mother had remarried long ago. Now, Jiang Mingzhi would be living with her and her new husband.

Her mother told her that the stepfather had a son, one year older than her.

“You used to always say you wanted a big brother when you were little. Now that you’re coming to Jingshi, you’ll have one.”

Qiu Tang was overjoyed to have her daughter back.

With a mix of nervousness and anticipation, Jiang Mingzhi arrived in Jingshi.

Getting off the plane, she followed her mother—now a little unfamiliar. They hadn’t seen each other in two years, and her mother looked even younger now. Her skin was smooth, her hands soft.

Her mother pulled her into an obviously expensive car, weaving through skyscrapers until they reached one of the city’s most prestigious wealthy neighborhoods.

Jiang Mingzhi had seen villas before—she had even lived in one with her father.

But the villa her mother had spoken of was nothing like what she expected.

This was more like a manor. By the grand wrought iron gate stood an old-fashioned wooden plaque that read: Mingyue ● Pei Residence.

Her mother, Qiu Tang, beamed. “Zhizhi, this will be your home from now on.”

Jiang Mingzhi unconsciously gripped her backpack straps, surveying the massive living room—big enough to play basketball in—and thought, Mom sure is amazing, finding someone this rich.

Her grandmother had always said that no one wanted a divorced woman. Clearly, Grandma was wrong.

After sitting in the living room for a while, her mother’s husband—Uncle Pei—arrived.

She had seen his photos before, even video chatted with him. In person, he looked even more handsome—dashing and charming, with a faint scent of cologne.

A magnetic older man.

He smiled kindly at her. “Hello, Zhizhi. No need to be shy. This is your home now.”

He and Qiu Tang gave her a full tour of the house.

Three floors, over 1,600 square meters. Aside from three servant rooms in the side wing, the second and third floors had a total of seven bedrooms.

The house was enormous, the hallways long. On the second floor, Qiu Tang pointed to one end of the corridor. “That’s Uncle Pei’s son’s room. His name is Pei Jinyang. He’s away at a competition. I’ll introduce you two when he gets back.”

—