Chapter 41 Tearing Up the Marriage Certificate

The young man hadn’t expected that what was originally a chance to curry favor with the leadership would now nearly become a case of his job negligence. He suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and blurted out, “It was her! The woman inside told me they were husband and wife. She said she forgot to bring their marriage certificate and was just delivering food and would leave immediately, so I let her in!”

Kang Ying, who had been trapped in panic moments ago, immediately got angry and shouted, “You’re lying! I never said that. You only told me the room number and let me in after I paid you ten yuan!”

“Oh? Confessing without being asked! Miss, you knew that man had a fiancée, yet you still came to his room in broad daylight. Don’t you have any shame? Do you even know what propriety and decency mean?” A woman who couldn’t stand this began yelling at Kang Ying.

With Cen Yue present, Cen Bowen didn’t dare say a word. Plus, after lunch, he felt unwell; everything seemed unreal to him now. He was hot and just wanted to take off his clothes. Whatever others said sounded like buzzing bees—he couldn’t hear a thing.

Seeing that Cen Bowen was no help, Kang Ying anxiously tried to clear her name: “What do you know! They broke off the engagement this morning. He doesn’t have a fiancée!”

The crowd murmured.

“Oh my, whose daughter is she? She ruined someone’s wedding this morning and came running to seduce him in the afternoon! Doing this kind of thing at the guesthouse in broad daylight—it’s just… it’s really the decline of morality!”

From the moment Song Yiyi came into the crowd, she had been quietly crying. She couldn’t shed any real tears, so she pinched her thigh hard and recalled all the unhappy things from her past lives. At first, it was all false feelings, but the more she cried, the sadder she got—mourning her fate of being trapped in a book without any advantages or magical space. She missed local delicacies like snail noodles, hotpot, fried skewers, barbecue, and all kinds of foods she couldn’t get here. Before, her phone was her constant companion to sleep, but now she could only silently count sheep in her heart every night. The future was uncertain!

Seeing her cry so heartbrokenly, kind-hearted aunties nearby comforted her while cursing the two inside.

“Girl, wipe your tears! Such a pretty face all ruined by crying. Some men think the crap outside is fragrant! This isn’t your fault—that dog of a man is blind! Such a lovely girl—he doesn’t deserve you. Frogs with three legs are hard to find, but men with two legs are everywhere. Auntie can introduce you to one! No, ten!”

“Yeah, sister, you gotta think like this. Luckily, you didn’t marry him yet. If you had, your life would really be over!”

“Is he a soldier? Girl, go to the military district and find the leaders, let them help you get justice!”

“Yes, his conduct is improper and the army should discipline him!”

Cen Bowen, who had been dazed for a while, finally sobered up hearing these words. He shook his head and struggled to walk toward Song Yiyi, “Yiyi, it’s not what you think. It’s a misunderstanding. I can explain.”

Song Yiyi looked at him with terrified eyes and dodged backward, whispering, “Don’t come near me, don’t come near me!”

At her shout, several people in front immediately stepped forward to block Cen Bowen’s way.

Cen Bowen held his forehead with one hand, feeling dizzy, and said weakly, “Kang Ying just came to deliver medicine. She’s injured too, I was just applying some ointment.”

“Does applying medicine require using your mouth?” Song Yiyi’s tear-filled eyes flashed with fury.

The crowd erupted with noise.

Ignoring Cen Bowen, Song Yiyi took a paper out of her pocket and unfolded it in front of everyone.

“Cen Bowen, from now on, I have nothing to do with you!”

Then, with a “crack” sound, she tore the paper in half, then ripped it further into pieces, and threw them all at Cen Bowen’s face.

“Good! This young lady is decisive. Such a bad man deserves to be lonely forever!” someone shouted from the crowd.

Immediately, others chimed in, “Yeah, don’t worry, miss, we’re all witnesses today. If you want to report him to the military district, we can all testify!”

Song Yiyi lowered her gaze, heartbroken and utterly lost.

Cen Bowen almost got stunned by the flying scraps of the broken marriage contract. But he still caught a few key words: Song Yiyi was going to report him to the military district? And the guesthouse people were witnesses? That wouldn’t do! He’d just received a verbal reprimand. If this got blown up, it would affect his promotion!

Forcing himself to calm down, Cen Bowen looked coldly at Song Yiyi not far away and said, “We’re already broken off. I’m not two-timing. Song Yiyi, you don’t have the right to accuse me.”

Before Song Yiyi could speak, the onlookers couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Nonsense! If you’re broken off, why do you still have the marriage contract in her hands?”

Cen Bowen frowned angrily, “I forgot to take it this morning in the rush!”

“So you broke off verbally in the morning but are fooling around in the guesthouse this afternoon? Which unit are you from to act so arrogantly?”

Cen Bowen clenched his fists, grinding his teeth, “I said, nothing happened.”

“The woman inside sure doesn’t look like nothing happened.”

Cen Bowen glared at the man who spoke, a vein bulging on his forehead: “None of your business!”

“Heh, you’re ridiculous. Caught red-handed and still trying to deny it!”

“Yeah, show some responsibility. If you said you’d marry the woman inside, we might even praise you!”

“The woman inside, you better look closely. That man’s no good. Even if you take her, you won’t have a good life.”

Cen Bowen’s eyes turned fierce like he wanted to eat someone alive, red in the face as he shouted, “I didn’t! She wanted to break off. I was forced!”

He regretted it now. After lunch, Kang Ying spilled braised pork sauce on Cen’s mother, almost causing a fight. Cen Bowen stopped her.

“Mom, isn’t there a public bath here? You can wash up and change clothes,” Cen Bowen rubbed his tired forehead. “I’m exhausted.”

His mother immediately changed her tone, “Fine, I’ll wash up. You rest now. You won’t return to the unit today.”

Before leaving, she dragged Kang Ying out as well. Kang Ying supported herself along the wall to avoid falling.

Once the door closed, Cen’s mother warned her, “Leave quickly! I’m sick of seeing you. Don’t think because our Cen Bowen has no partner now, you have a chance. He’s going to marry a good girl. You’re not worthy!”

Cen’s mother left with the basin. Kang Ying was flushed from the insult, with many rooms away neighbors peeking out to watch.

Just as she was about to leave, she realized she forgot her crutch in the room. Cen Bowen opened the door again for her.

Seeing the wounds on her neck, he couldn’t bear to let her leave like that.

“Yingzi, sit down. I’ll apply some medicine for you.”