Chapter 28: “Don’t Worry, Your Sister Didn’t Suffer a Loss”

That was the best doctor at Haicheng Hospital. As long as he didn’t make some huge mistake, how could he possibly not live a comfortable life even with his eyes closed? Everyone here knew that Xie Yunshu and Lu Zhiyuan had a falling out and she lost her job, but as for the real reason, no one knew.

So they couldn’t understand—how did Xie Yunshu dare to get a divorce?

Xie Yunshu spoke slowly, “He spends most of his salary every month on another woman. I can’t accept that, so I decided to divorce him.”

She didn’t say much else—this reason alone was enough. She wanted to make it known: the divorce wasn’t her fault. The one in the wrong was Lu Zhiyuan.

What?

Did that mean Lu Zhiyuan was supporting another woman outside?

Aunt Liu’s temper flared immediately. Although the Liu family wasn’t especially close with the Xies, they’d been neighbors for over ten years. Wasn’t the Lu family just blatantly bullying them? Taking advantage of the fact that the Xie family was from the lower class, and that Yunshu had no father?

“Disgusting! I thought Lu Zhiyuan was a decent guy. How could he do something like this? This is a moral issue! Didn’t you raise hell with his superiors over this?”

Madam Zhao, sitting next to her, clenched her fists. “Our Yunshu has such a good temper. If it were me, I’d have beaten that bastard half to death! That jerk, walking around like he’s somebody, and he’s out there keeping another woman?”

Madam Zhao had always been a tough, blunt woman. She had been steaming buns for Xie Yunshu these past few days and naturally sided with her. Her hometown accent even came out from anger…

Xie Jiancheng, who had been watching TV, slowly lost the smile on his face. His handsome features turned dark, his fists clenched tightly. He was already planning to confront Lu Zhiyuan the next day. That bastard! He had thought Lu was just cold to his sister—but to do something so shameless?

After the others had vented their outrage, Xie Yunshu continued, still calm, “That woman—she’s supposedly a great benefactor to the Lu family. She came with a child, a widow, quite pitiful. I couldn’t exactly stop them, right? But they gave her our marital home to live in, spent money on her, and now even want to move her kid’s household registration in. I’m not broad-minded enough for that, so I proposed divorce.”

“Aunt Liu, Aunt Zhao, it’s my fault. I’m just not a generous person. If I can’t go on living like this, isn’t divorce the only option? They say it’s about repaying a debt of gratitude, but that debt cost me my job. If I keep going, I’m afraid I’ll lose my life too!”

She even wiped her eyes dramatically, though unfortunately, she wasn’t good at acting—she tried hard but couldn’t squeeze out any tears.

Zhou Xinyue could play the pitiful act—Xie Yunshu couldn’t. So she laid out the facts clearly. The people from the family housing might be biased, but they weren’t blind. Anyone who wasn’t already prejudiced would clearly see who was actually in the wrong here.

Besides, whether they were truly sincere or not, the people from this tube-style building were more inclined to side with her.

Even if Xie Yunshu couldn’t act pitiful, Li Finlan didn’t need to act—she naturally carried a gentle and vulnerable air. After all, she had been raising two kids on her own for years in this old building, and that was already pitiful enough.

“My poor girl has suffered so much!” Li Finlan’s tears flowed fast—crying even more convincingly than Zhou Xinyue. She covered her face and sobbed, “If her heart wasn’t really broken, Yunshu wouldn’t divorce him. Who repays kindness by costing someone their job? That job was bought with our lives! That woman might be pitiful, but she’s still alive and well, isn’t she?”

“She’s living in a big house, was given a proper job, doesn’t even have to work and still makes forty yuan a month!”

When she looked up again, her red eyes made her look even more pitiful. She wasn’t pretending—she truly felt that her daughter had been wronged.

Xie Jiancheng reached out and grabbed his sister’s hand, his lips tightly pressed together. “Sis…”

Xie Yunshu, afraid he’d take it too seriously, quickly hugged him and whispered, “I’m not that heartbroken. I was just acting!”

Xie Jiancheng’s reddened eyes filled with momentary confusion. “Sis?”

Xie Yunshu patted his shoulder. “Go comfort Mom or she won’t let us finish Journey to the West later!”

But he didn’t even need to say anything—several of the women around were already taking turns to comfort Li Finlan:

“Finlan, don’t be too upset. This marriage had to end! Otherwise, what kind of future could there be?”

“Ugh, I didn’t expect Dr. Lu to look like a decent guy but have such a messed-up mind. You can’t just raise someone else’s kid like that.”

“Family planning is so strict now—how is this even a proper way to repay kindness? He gave her money and a job, wasn’t that enough?”

“I’m telling you, that woman isn’t simple—she must have her own ideas.”

“No wonder Yunshu moved the TV here. If it were me, I’d have moved the whole house back! Otherwise, wouldn’t the other woman get everything after the divorce?”

Most of those who came to watch TV—besides the kids—were women. Just from what Xie Yunshu said, they could all sense that this so-called “benefactor” wasn’t as simple as she seemed. There were plenty of widows with children—if everyone helped others this way, wouldn’t society be in chaos?

Xie Yunshu was quite satisfied. Since Zhou Xinyue liked using morality to manipulate, then she would expose the truth—showing everyone who actually had no morals.

But with all this talking, Journey to the West had already reached the ending.

The adults were too caught up in the gossip to pay attention, but the kids didn’t miss a second. They stayed until the closing credits finished before reluctantly leaving. Before they left, Lin Cuixiang and her brother grabbed Xie Yunshu’s hand.

“Sister Yunshu, can we come watch TV again tomorrow?”

Xie Yunshu clicked her tongue. “Of course, but your sister’s not allowed.”

She and Lin Cuiping always fought as soon as they saw each other—nothing new. Lin Cuixiang quickly nodded and sold out her own sister: “She won’t watch, I promise! I won’t even tell her what’s on!”

Little Lin Xiaohai nodded furiously. “We won’t tell her!”

Xie Yunshu burst out laughing. “Go on home, you two little traitors!”

She knew they’d run home and repeat everything to Lin Cuiping—and Lin would be so mad she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Ha! That was perfect—if she couldn’t sleep, Xie Yunshu would sleep even better.

Once everyone was gone, Xie Jiancheng silently stood up and started cleaning up, a heavy aura surrounding him.

Xie Yunshu poked him in the back. “What’s wrong? Are you mad at me?”

“No,” Xie Jiancheng replied softly. He was already eighteen, and he understood what class differences meant.

The Lu family dared to treat his sister like this because their own family was insignificant—no one to stand up for her! One day, he would rise above, gain more power than the Lu family ever had, and make them regret bullying his sister for the rest of their lives!

Xie Yunshu sighed. “Don’t be angry. I lost my job, but they paid me five thousand. Lu Zhiyuan gave me three thousand. Think about it—how much money is that? Don’t worry, your sister didn’t suffer a loss!”