Free Web NovelChapter 50: Chapter 50: A Bolt from the Blue
’Taking off his clothes the moment he walks into the room? Simply shameless!’
"Get..." Before Su Li could spit out the two words ’get out,’ she heard Tang Yuanxiao say, "Look."
He took off his outer jacket, set it aside, and pointed at the clothes he was wearing for Su Li to see.
Su Li stared at the sweater he was wearing and nearly choked.
’Her sweater!’
Tang Yuanxiao had brought the sweater with him when he returned. He couldn’t bring himself to wear it while rushing about on the train and on the road. It wasn’t until he was about to enter Xinghua Village that he thought for a moment and decided to put it on.
He pointed at his clothes, a hint of a smile in his eyes, awkwardly trying to ease the strange atmosphere between them.
Su Li stared at Tang Yuanxiao, her eyes wide with disbelief.
She couldn’t believe that Tang Yuanxiao had taken off his jacket just to show her the sweater he was wearing. What was even more unbelievable was that her sweater fit him so perfectly! It was as if it had been knitted specifically for him!
’How could this be...’
She had never taken Tang Yuanxiao’s comment about the clothes fitting well seriously, assuming it was just him being polite. She never imagined he was actually telling the truth.
"This... you..." Su Li glanced from the sweater on Tang Yuanxiao to the clothes on her own body, feeling utterly helpless and speechless.
Then she saw Tang Yuanxiao’s awkward, blushing face and nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
’Tang Yuanxiao, you’re a man on your second marriage, a supposed old hand at this, so what the hell are you acting so awkward for? What the hell is with the blushing?!’
It took Su Li a long moment to find her voice. With a weary wave of her hand, she decided to get straight to the point.
"Tang Yuanxiao, you received the letter I wrote you, right?"
Tang Yuanxiao nodded. "I did. Did you receive my reply?"
Thinking of that infuriating letter, Su Li gritted her teeth and nodded. "I did."
Hearing that they had both received the letters, they each breathed a sigh of relief.
Su Li didn’t look at Tang Yuanxiao’s expression and spoke directly.
"Since you received my letter and know what I want, let’s have a proper talk."
At this moment, it never occurred to Su Li that the letter Tang Yuanxiao had received was not the same one she was talking about.
"Alright." Hearing this, Tang Yuanxiao immediately gave a loud, firm response. He straightened his back even more, standing ramrod straight in front of Su Li.
Feeling helpless, Su Li could only remain standing as well. "So, what are your thoughts?"
Tang Yuanxiao’s gaze drifted slightly, and his ears turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye, but he still looked at Su Li with determination.
"I already stated my intentions in my reply. I understand your feelings, and from now on... let’s live a good life together. Let the past be the past."
He finished speaking in a low, strained voice. The moment he was done, he couldn’t stop his entire face from turning beet red, his heart pounding in his chest.
Tang Yuanxiao’s fists clenched and unclenched. Not daring to look Su Li in the eye, he lowered his head, took off his hat, wiped away some sweat, and quietly asked another question.
"What about you?"
Su Li’s expression was one of pure astonishment. She frowned, processed his words for a moment, and suppressed the strange feeling in her heart before replying.
"I’m sorry, but my desire to get a divorce hasn’t changed. So, living a good life together is impossible. We should talk about the divorce..."
Su Li’s words were cut off by Tang Yuanxiao’s shocked voice. "Wait..."
He tilted his head and touched his ear. "What... what did you just say? Divorce?"
’Did I hear that right?’ Tang Yuanxiao stared at Su Li, utterly incredulous. The deep blush rapidly drained from his face as he looked at her in disbelief.
"Huh?" Su Li was also taken aback for a second. "Yeah, divorce."
Tang Yuanxiao watched Su Li’s mouth open and close. His heart, which had been fluttering wildly, began to sink, growing heavier with each beat. The single word ’divorce’ hit him so hard that his head spun.
It was... a bolt from the blue.
He was completely stunned.
His entire world had been turned upside down, and for a moment, he just couldn’t process it. She had clearly shown her feelings with the sweater, and he had shown his in return. He was just waiting for her to give a clear ’yes’ so they could start their new life and live well together.
He had been looking forward to Su Li’s reply for so long. He had rushed home, full of anticipation, just so he could hear her response in person. All that anticipation... only to be met with the word ’divorce’.
The sheer gap between his expectations and reality... ’miserable’ didn’t even begin to cover it.
Looking at Tang Yuanxiao’s expression, Su Li began to suspect something and asked tentatively.
"Why are you so surprised? Didn’t you say you received my letter? I made it clear in the letter that I want a divorce."
Tang Yuanxiao froze on the spot. "I never received any letter about a divorce." freewёbnoνel.com
Su Li’s expression instantly became indescribable. "Then the letter you said you received was...?"
"The one that came with the package. I thought you were talking about that one."
Tang Yuanxiao’s jaw tightened, his expression growing colder and harder.
"I didn’t write the letter in the package. Your mother had someone write it, so I don’t even know what it says. The one I wrote was the one I sent afterward, about two days after the package. You didn’t receive that one?"
Su Li asked with difficulty. When Tang Yuanxiao had suddenly returned, she’d thought it might be because he’d received her divorce letter and rushed back. But she never expected...
"I didn’t receive it."
Hearing Tang Yuanxiao’s reply, Su Li closed her eyes in resignation.
’Those damn mail carriers! Did they just eat her letter? Why hasn’t he received it yet?!’
Inside the side room, the air suddenly froze.
Just as Su Li was about to break the tense silence and speak again, Tang Yuanxiao took a step forward, pointed at the sweater he was wearing, and asked her a question.
"Did you knit this sweater?"
’Knitting him a sweater one moment, then writing a letter to divorce him the next. No matter how he thought about it, none of this made sense.’
Hearing Tang Yuanxiao’s question, Su Li’s face twisted. She nodded with great difficulty. "Yes."
’She really wanted to deny it.’ Su Li took a deep breath and began to explain.
"There’s been a bit of a misunderstanding. I actually knitted this sweater for myself. Your mother saw it, got the wrong idea, and secretly mailed it to you."
Su Li paused for a moment. "I had no idea when she sent it. When I found out, I was afraid you’d misunderstand, so I rushed to send that follow-up letter."
Su Li’s tone was genuinely sincere, and she was telling the truth. To Tang Yuanxiao, however, her words lacked any real persuasive power.
Well, faced with a sweater that fit so perfectly it looked tailor-made for Tang Yuanxiao, even Su Li’s most sincere explanation was bound to fall flat.
Tang Yuanxiao looked down at the top of Su Li’s head, his gaze sweeping over her slender frame, then back at the green sweater on his own body. He simply couldn’t believe her story.
He didn’t say a word, but in that moment, his silence spoke volumes.
Su Li could read Tang Yuanxiao’s expression perfectly, and only one thought ran through her mind—’What terrible karma is this?!’
In an era before long sweaters and leggings had ever been seen, she felt like she couldn’t clear her name even if she jumped into the Yellow River. This blame... she had to take it, whether she wanted to or not.
"Alright, let’s move on from this. We need to talk about the important matter."
Su Li really didn’t want to dig herself into a deeper hole, so she decisively dropped the subject.
"Mm," Tang Yuanxiao agreed, then said after a moment of thought.
"I was in the wrong before, and I’ll slowly do better in the future. Su Li, if you have any grievances, just tell me. Whatever the problem is, we can solve it. Don’t talk about divorce just because you’re angry. That’s not something to joke about. For tonight, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it."
He said that last sentence with a grave tone, truly unwilling to hear the word ’divorce’.
In this day and age, divorce was more terrifying than murder. Once people got married, they endured it, no matter how hard it was.
