After the Divorce, My Wife and I Were Both Reborn

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Sister, Don’t Divorce Brother, Okay?

The wind blew through the streets. Sunlight streamed down from between the rustling leaves, forming a tapestry of dancing light and shadows.

Jiang Xia on the left and Lin Yanwan on the right, they each held one of Lin Xiaoman’s hands, just as they had when they used to go on outings together.

"I’m sorry. After I saw you before, I wasn’t sure if you were like me, so..." Lin Yanwan pursed her lips, looking away as she said softly, "So, I didn’t dare approach you."

"I know. Besides, didn’t we already agree to get a divorce? This is for the best." Jiang Xia was surprisingly calm about the matter. ’Not bothering each other is the best way to handle this.’

"Mm..." Lin Yanwan responded in a low voice, but hearing these words from Jiang Xia, her heart still felt a little hollow.

"To be honest, I’m really happy to know that you were reborn too."

She watched Jiang Xia’s slightly younger-looking profile out of the corner of her eye and silently added in her heart: ’Thank you for throwing yourself over me to save me during the earthquake without a second thought.’

Some feelings can’t be so easily severed by rebirth or divorce. They can remain etched in your heart for a lifetime.

"Me too."

"Um... Mom... Dad... Are they doing okay?" Lin Yanwan’s face flushed slightly.

After all, her in-laws had treated her wonderfully after she married Jiang Xia. Even though they hadn’t had children after several years of marriage, her in-laws had never been harsh with her, neither openly nor behind her back.

The divorce was just between the two of them. How she should address his parents after the divorce was another matter. ’Perhaps if his parents hadn’t passed away, one after the other, we might not have drifted toward divorce.’

"Sister, Mom and Dad are doing great~" Lin Xiaoman chirped, hopping and playing in the dancing shadows, her voice soft and cute.

Jiang Xia gave a helpless smile. "They’re fine. In the future, you..."

He paused, took a deep breath, and then said slowly, "You don’t have to call them that anymore."

’A failed marriage is a failed marriage. Still using those terms of address is just awkward. Besides, we’ve both been reborn. We need a clean slate to have a new future.’

Lin Yanwan was silent for a moment before nodding lightly. "Okay. You too."

In this world, there was no trace of the two of them ever having been married. It was best to let that memory from their past life remain a fond thought tucked away in their hearts.

"Right, about Dad... I mean, your parents... you need to be really careful," she reminded him.

"I won’t let that tragedy happen again," Jiang Xia said, his gaze firm and his voice resolute.

"Mm, that’s good."

He turned his head to look at Lin Yanwan’s beautiful and delicate face, then said suddenly, "I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this world... it’s very different from our original one."

"Mm, I know. At this point in time, with all the new trends, you could say there are opportunities everywhere." Lin Yanwan looked at him, her eyes curving as she broke into a smile. "Think you can fly?"

Jiang Xia smiled too, his hair fluttering lightly. His face was filled with the high-spirited vigor of a high school student.

"Does soaring to the heavens count?"

"I’ll be waiting to see it."

When they reached the intersection, Jiang Xia crouched down and patted Lin Xiaoman’s head. "Xiao Man, be a good girl and go home with your sister, okay?"

Lin Xiaoman looked up, stunned. "Didn’t Sister say she was going to take me to the amusement park?"

"How about Sister takes you next time? Xiao Man needs to listen to the doctor. For now, let’s go home, take a bath, change into some clean clothes, and rest up. That way your hand won’t hurt, ’kay?"

"Oh."

She nodded emphatically, then clutched Jiang Xia’s sleeve tightly, not letting go. "Isn’t Big Brother coming home with me?"

"Xiao Man, Big Brother still has to go to school. Be good, okay~" Lin Yanwan said softly.

"But..." The little girl looked around fearfully. "What if another big black dog comes and bites Xiao Man? Xiao Man’s scared."

"Don’t be scared, Xiao Man. Actually, a lot of doggies are very cute. That bad doggie just now was an exception, you know?" Jiang Xia said with a smile.

"I... I... Xiao Man isn’t scared! Xiao Man likes good doggies, not bad doggies!" she said, mustering her courage. "Xiao Man will go home and take a bath first. We can go out to play next time."

"Such a good girl!"

Jiang Xia patted the little girl’s head again. He stood up, looked at his ex-wife, and slowly extended his hand, his face beaming with a smile.

"Happy breakup."

Lin Yanwan froze for a second, then extended her own hand and said with a matching smile, "I wish you happiness."

Their two hands slowly clasped together. In each other’s eyes, they both saw a sense of relief, of having completely let go.

Then, Jiang Xia turned and walked away with a carefree air, disappearing into the crowd in the blink of an eye.

Lin Yanwan stared blankly at his departing figure as a single, clear tear welled up uncontrollably in the corner of her eye.

’In our past life, even after signing the divorce papers, we still had to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to make it official. But now...’

Eight years of marriage, and with just a single, simple phrase, it was as if the two of them had nothing to do with each other anymore.

Two lines that had just intersected were now extending infinitely, the distance between them growing ever wider.

Lin Xiaoman looked at the departing "big brother," then looked up at her own sister and asked innocently, "Sister, why are you crying?"

"Nonsense, Sister’s not crying. Sister just... got some sand in her eye."

She silently wiped the tear from the corner of her eye and led her little sister to the roadside to hail a taxi home.

In the car, Lin Yanwan stared blankly out the window.

She silently repeated "Happy breakup" to herself over and over. If her heart weren’t already old beyond its years, she might have cried her heart out like a young girl to commemorate her lost love.

As if sensing her sister’s low spirits, Lin Xiaoman hugged her arm and snuggled up against her.

"Sister, is it because you and Big Brother got a divorce that he’s not coming home with us? Sister, please don’t divorce Big Brother, okay?" fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Lin Yanwan’s heart clenched. Unexpectedly, she didn’t refute it. Her complicated emotions finally melted into a deep sigh.

"Sister, if you’re unhappy because Big Brother left, Xiao Man can go find him and bring him back, okay? If Sister is unhappy, Xiao Man will be unhappy too." Lin Xiaoman crossed her arms, pouted, and puffed out her cheeks.

Lin Yanwan gently took her small hand. "Don’t worry, Xiao Man. Sister is fine now."

"Okay!"

"Sister, if you and Big Brother are divorced, can I still see him in the future?" The little girl looked up, her watery eyes filled with hope.

"I... think so..." Lin Yanwan continued, "Xiao Man, Big Brother and I are just classmates, not husband and wife."

Hearing this, the driver glanced in the rearview mirror. The young lady was wearing the uniform of a nearby high school, yet she was talking about divorce and marriage. ’Are high schoolers these days really this wild?’

"Sister is lying!"

Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t expected a child’s intuition to be so sharp.

"Anyway, you can’t just say whatever you want when you get home, understand?"

Outside the window, the scenery flew backward, just like their eight years of marriage, now buried in the deepest part of her heart.

Saying goodbye to the past, she suddenly remembered the lyrics of that song and couldn’t help but sing softly.

"You swear you’ll live your life with a smile."