Chapter 40: I Want Them to Divorce

Jing Xi finished reading the letter, but instead of feeling satisfied, a strange feeling settled in her heart.

Everything had gone too smoothly—so smoothly that she found it hard to believe. It had also happened too quickly.

Would the Zhang family really agree so easily?

Was there something else going on behind the scenes?

Given Wang Cuihua’s temper, she should have stormed over in a rage upon hearing Jing Xi’s demands. How could she have simply agreed to a public apology without a fight?

This was definitely suspicious.

Holding the paper in her hand, she frowned, her face serious. Even Xie Aiguo couldn’t quite read her expression.

“Xiao Jing, do you think there’s something wrong with the letter? I can rewrite it if necessary.”

Jing Xi glanced at him and handed the letter back. “It’s written well. As expected from the village head of Fucha Village.”

Xie Aiguo hadn’t expected her to compliment him.

“Well, it’s decent, I suppose. If you think it’s acceptable, then I’ll have Zhang Qiang—”

“Wait!”

Before he could finish, Jing Xi interrupted him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ve changed my mind.”

“Ah? You mean you want to add something?”

Jing Xi shook her head. “No.”

She paused for a moment. “Village Head, do you remember how Zhang Qiang said he wanted to take me as his concubine? He even promised to rent me an apartment in town and buy me meat every month?”

Xie Aiguo and Wu Jun exchanged glances.

“Uh… Xiao Jing, I’m not sure what you mean.”

Was she actually taking that nonsense about being a concubine seriously?

A sly smile spread across Jing Xi’s face, the cunning in her eyes impossible to hide.

“I’ll be direct—I want Zhang Qiang and Wang Cuihua to divorce.”

Both Xie Aiguo and Wu Jun gasped in shock.

“What?! You want them to get divorced?”

“That’s right.”

“Are you sure you heard yourself?”

“I’m sure. And there’s no ‘but’—this is my condition. Forget the apology letter—I just want them to divorce.”

Xie Aiguo and Wu Jun’s expressions became even more bizarre.

Jing Xi added, “As long as they get divorced, my grudge against the Zhang family will be settled once and for all.”

“…..”

With that, Jing Xi turned and went back inside, leaving the two men standing at the door in stunned silence.

“Old Xie, did I hear that right?”

“Old Wu, I was about to ask you the same thing!”

“…..”

They stared at each other, trapped in a long, bewildered silence.

What were they supposed to do now?

Since when was it their job to persuade a married couple to split up?

And what exactly did Jing Xi mean by this? Could it be that once Zhang Qiang divorced Wang Cuihua, she actually would become his concubine? This… this… this was absurd!

Now, Xie Aiguo was truly in a tough spot. Zhang Qiang and Wang Cuihua had been married for over twenty years—what kind of logic would justify asking them to separate?

Jing Xi was being completely unreasonable!

No matter how he looked at it, this was not something he could agree to.

There was an old saying: Better to tear down a temple than break up a marriage.

Encouraging a divorce? That was just immoral!

But when he lay in bed that night, he couldn’t sleep.

What if Jing Xi contacted some journalist and started spreading rumors? What if the higher-ups caught wind of it?

Xie Aiguo found himself caught in a dilemma.

For several days, he lost his appetite and couldn’t sleep well. Every time he spotted Jing Xi from a distance, he would quickly hide, afraid that she would corner him and ask if he had gone to persuade Zhang Qiang and Wang Cuihua to divorce.

On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Jing Xi showed up at Xie Aiguo’s house with a bag of fried meatballs.

Xie Aiguo had been avoiding her for days, but he never expected that she would come knocking on his door.

After looking around the room for a while and finding nowhere to hide, Xie Aiguo’s wife, Yu Juan, sighed. “Just look at you! Is this really necessary? It’s not like she’s going to eat you. I’ll go open the door.”

“Hey… wait a second!”

But Yu Juan had already stepped out.

Xie Aiguo got off the heated kang bed, put on his shoes, and thought about hiding in the outhouse. But just as he reached the kitchen door, he saw that Jingxi had already entered, so he turned right back around.

He cursed himself inwardly for being so spineless. A man his age, yet scared of a little girl like this?

Jingxi looked at Xie Aiguo, who was standing with his hands behind his back, trying to appear calm and composed. She greeted him warmly. “Village Chief! You’re home! What a coincidence! I fried a bunch of tofu balls today and brought some over for you to try!”

“Oh, come on, why did you bring these? We don’t lack food here. Take them back, take them back!”

Jingxi grabbed Yu Juan’s hand. “Auntie, see? I told you Uncle Xie is a righteous and upright man! In that case, I’ll just leave these tofu balls for you, and Uncle Xie won’t get any. That way, no one will have anything to gossip about!”

Yu Juan chuckled. “Haha, you’re a clever one! Don’t worry, I’ll take them. Come on in and sit for a bit.”

Jingxi followed Yu Juan into the house.

She had noticed before that Yu Juan often chatted with Aunt Liu and Aunt Wang, which led her to guess that she was easy to get along with. Now, she realized Yu Juan was indeed someone who could take a joke.

Yu Juan was about the same age as Xie Aiguo, with short, neatly trimmed hair. She wore a black-and-white outfit and worked as a teacher at the village elementary school. Both she and Xie Aiguo were educated people.

However, since she was a teacher, Jingxi didn’t see her around the village often. It was only because of the winter break that they had run into each other a few times.

Yu Juan pulled Jingxi onto the kang bed and handed her a cup of hot tea.

“Thank you, Auntie.”

“You’re welcome! Hey, Xiao Jing, tell me, how do you pickle dihuan (earth rings)? I went to Old Liu’s house last time, and Zhang Rui gave me some to try. It was delicious!”

Jingxi replied, “It’s actually pretty simple. You just add the right amount of salt, soy sauce, and water to pickle it. But I can’t give you the exact ratio.”

Yu Juan was curious. “Just salt and soy sauce? Nothing else?”

“Yep! I remember you have some unsold dihuan at home, right? You can try pickling them yourself!”

Yu Juan thought for a moment. “Back when Liu’s family was buying them, I didn’t sell mine because I thought I could pickle them myself. But then school got busy, and I forgot all about it. I don’t have a lot left—just over twenty pounds. Xiao Jing, if you don’t mind, could you teach me? Pickled dihuan goes great with porridge!”

Yu Juan kept talking nonstop.

Xie Aiguo, sitting on the side, didn’t say a word.

But he was thinking that if this pickling method worked, even if they couldn’t sell the dihuan, at least they could eat them themselves.

And honestly, seeing how Old Liu’s family kept hauling cartloads of pickled dihuan to sell at the power plant made him more than a little envious.

Jingxi casually glanced at Xie Aiguo’s expression, then replied, “No problem, Auntie! I just told you the method—just follow it, and it’ll be fine. Oh, and use a clay jar, not a bowl. Seal it tightly and store it in a cool place. If the temperature is too high, it’ll spoil quickly and grow mold.”

Yu Juan quickly took out a notebook and jotted everything down, double-checking with Jingxi to make sure she got it right.

“Alright, I’ll get started on it right away. If I wait too long and the weather gets warmer, it won’t work anymore.”

Jingxi nodded. “Sounds good, Auntie. If you have any questions, just ask me. It’s getting late—I should head back now.”

Jingxi stood up to leave, but Yu Juan quickly held her back. “I’ll walk you out!”

Xie Aiguo hadn’t expected that Jingxi wouldn’t bring up the Zhang family matter at all. Instead, she had just taught his wife how to pickle vegetables.

So, he followed along with Yu Juan to see her off.

After Jingxi left, Yu Juan nudged Xie Aiguo and winked. “Old Xie, you haven’t tried Liu’s pickled dihuan—it’s amazing! They sell it to the power plant for fifty cents a pound. If we learn how to make it, we can sell it too. And then, we won’t have to worry about the Long family not buying our dihuan anymore. This is a foolproof business!”