Volume 1, Chapter 6: Divorce—Shall We Meet at the Civil Affairs Bureau?

After Pei Jingmo finished speaking, he crossed his arms, ready to savor the sight of Shen Shuhe’s panic and fear.

To his surprise, the next second he heard Shen Shuhe’s voice, which was remarkably calm and even tinged with a hint of delight: “Divorce? Sure, when?”

“I’m free the day after tomorrow. Shall we meet at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau?”

Shen Shuhe thought to herself that she would be returning to Jiugang tomorrow, so she certainly wouldn’t have time then. If Pei Jingmo wanted a divorce, the earliest possible time would be the day after tomorrow. It worked out perfectly; she could save on the lawyer’s fees.

As she spoke, Shen Shuhe was so immersed in the joy of an impending divorce that would require neither time nor effort on her part, that she completely failed to notice Pei Jingmo’s stunned expression.

Pei Jingmo frowned, his probing gaze fixed intently on the woman before him. He was trying to figure out how much of her words were true and how much were false. Back then, she had exhausted every effort to climb from being his secretary to the position of Mrs. Pei. Would she really divorce him so easily? Could it be that this woman was now playing the game of "hard to get" with him?

Pei Jingmo’s eyes darkened. Just as he was about to speak to test her intentions, He Wanrong stepped out of the room. Seeing the two standing together in apparent harmony, she instantly beamed. So, Jingmo did care about Shuhe after all.

“Jingmo, you’re back?”

Because of He Wanrong’s appearance, Pei Jingmo swallowed his unspoken words. He glanced at Shen Shuhe beside him, then walked over to greet her: “Grandmother.”

“How long has it been since you brought little Yu back? Do you even remember you have a grandmother like me?” He Wanrong feigned dissatisfaction, but she allowed Pei Jingmo to help her sit down.

Seeing the grandmother and grandson talking, Shen Shuhe knew Pei Jingmo didn’t like her hovering around. Since she had some cooking on the stove, she greeted He Wanrong and turned into the kitchen.

As her silhouette disappeared, He Wanrong withdrew her gaze and resumed their previous conversation.

“Jingmo, Shuhe is a good girl—she is beautiful and has a fine character. Otherwise, even if she were pregnant with your child, I would never have let her through the doors of the Pei family.” He Wanrong looked at Pei Jingmo’s sullen profile, patted the back of his hand, and continued earnestly, “I know you can’t let go of that Song girl, but what’s missed is missed. Shuhe is your wife now. You should respect and cherish her, instead of spending all day taking little Yu to get close to other women…”

“Grandmother!” Pei Jingmo interrupted, his tone deepening. “Qinyin is the person I love. I like being close to her.”

“As for Shen Shuhe, if it weren’t for you, I would never have married her.”

“So, are you blaming your grandmother?” He Wanrong asked.

Pei Jingmo pursed his lips. After a few seconds of silence, he replied coldly: “I wouldn’t dare.”

“It was Shen Shuhe who was greedy for vanity and schemed to get pregnant by me first.”

Hearing this, He Wanrong’s breath hitched. She let out a long sigh. “Enough. You have too deep a bias against Shuhe, and you’ve never even tried to understand her.”

“Enough, enough…”

He Wanrong repeated the words twice, then waved for him to go upstairs and freshen up. Pei Jingmo rose, nodded, and headed upstairs with his coat.

He Wanrong watched his retreating figure, sighing repeatedly. She had noticed today that the girl Shuhe had developed some disheartening thoughts, which was why she had wanted to reason with Jingmo. It seemed his prejudice against Shuhe was too deep-seated. If that was the case, it would all depend on the fate of these two children.

…

Pei Jingmo went upstairs enveloped in a cold aura; the servants he passed gave him a wide berth.

With a loud “bang,” the door shut. Pei Jingmo pulled off his tie expressionlessly and tossed it onto the sofa. He sat down and poured himself a glass of liquor. The fiery drink went down his throat, dispelling some of his irritation. His grandmother’s words echoed in his mind, making him increasingly restless.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door, followed by a cheerful voice.

“Brother! It’s you, right? I’m coming in!”

Pei Jingmo turned his head to see Pei Leyao bouncing into the room.

“Brother, dinner is almost ready. Why are you drinking now?” Although she said that, Pei Leyao reached for a glass to pour herself one.

She was met with a cold glare from Pei Jingmo: “Minors are not allowed to drink.”

Pei Leyao: “…I—I’m almost an adult!”

“Almost?”

Pei Jingmo asked with a single word, and Pei Leyao surrendered immediately.

“Fine, fine, I won’t drink, okay?” Pei Leyao pushed the glass away, grabbed a cushion, and sat down, grumbling with annoyance: “It’s not like I’m the one who upset you, so why take it out on me!”

“Shen Shuhe is such a troublemaker!”

Hearing this, Pei Jingmo looked over, frowning in confusion: “Why do you say that?”

Pei Leyao had called him earlier, but he had been in a meeting and missed it. It was only after seeing her message that Shen Shuhe was there, combined with a call from Aunt Pei, that he had come over. Judging by Pei Leyao’s behavior, had something happened before he arrived?

“Because she’s the best at ‘bewitching’ Grandmother!” Once the topic of Shen Shuhe’s “crimes” was brought up, Pei Leyao had a whole basket of complaints.

“She clearly pushed me, but Grandmother still took her side! Made me apologize to her—what right does she have!”

“And she deliberately acts weak to make Grandmother pity her!”

“And there’s more! Brother, you took little Yu and Qinyin out yesterday, right? Shen Shuhe was angry and unbalanced, so she played the victim to Grandmother, making Grandmother unhappy with Sister Qinyin!”

Pei Leyao sat nearby, chattering incessantly about how Shen Shuhe wouldn’t help her get her clothes, gave her the cold shoulder, and other acts of disrespect.

Pei Jingmo eventually lost the patience to listen. He remained skeptical about Pei Leyao’s claim that Shen Shuhe pushed her. Although he didn’t like the woman, she wouldn’t have the nerve to do such a thing in the Pei household.

But the other matter…

A cold sneer touched Pei Jingmo’s lips. No wonder his grandmother had said those things to him and specifically mentioned Qinyin; it turned out Shen Shuhe had been bad-mouthing her behind her back.

Pei Leyao was still excitedly accusing her when a sudden “bang” echoed in the room. Her shoulders jerked, and she fell silent. She looked up to see her brother, exuding an aura that said “do not approach,” stomping into the bathroom.

She blinked, then shrank her neck, rose quietly, and fled the suffocating killing field.

After closing the door, she took a deep breath. She glared resentfully toward the floor below: “It’s all your fault, Shen Shuhe! You are the jinx of our family!”

…

Half an hour later, dinner was served. Shen Shuhe went upstairs to call Pei Qiongyu. He hadn’t come down since he arrived, and she didn’t know what he was doing in his room.

After knocking and receiving a response, Shen Shuhe entered to find little Yu sitting cross-legged on the carpet, tossing a Rubik’s cube in one hand while holding his small phone in the other. She heard him sweetly call the person on the other end “Mommy Yinyin.”

Pei Qiongyu assumed it was his father and paid no mind. But when he didn’t hear footsteps for a few seconds, he turned around and saw Shen Shuhe standing not far away.

The smile on his face froze instantly.

Little Yu quickly covered the microphone and said hurriedly: “Mommy Yinyin, my mother is here to call me. I’ll play with you again tomorrow~”

After hanging up, he looked slowly at Shen Shuhe, a nonchalant curve tugging at his lips, and said with dissatisfaction: “Mom, why didn’t you speak when you came in? Don’t you know that eavesdropping is very impolite?”

Shen Shuhe looked at him calmly: “You were too absorbed in your phone call to notice I was here.”

“Wash your hands and come down for dinner.”

She turned to leave, but little Yu called out to her.

“Mom, help me wash them. Also, I accidentally got my jacket dirty at school today. Can you help me wash it?”

Shen Shuhe shifted her gaze to see little Yu pointing at the jacket on the sofa, looking at her with feigned innocence.