No sooner had Lin Wanyi left than Liu Chunlan began searching everywhere in the pediatric inpatient department.
She checked the wards one by one.
Finally, she spotted Lin Jiajun coming out to fetch water.
She didn't make a sound, but quietly slipped into the ward.
Li Suhua immediately tensed up when she saw her.
Just as expected.
She really came; that scumbag Wang Hao was indeed using a diversion tactic.
Fortunately, she had stayed behind.
She vigilantly blocked Wang Keke's bed:
"Liu Chunlan, what do you want?"
Liu Chunlan lacked her usual arrogance. She handed some bananas to Li Suhua:
"I came to see Keke. Is she feeling any better?"
Li Suhua didn't believe her at all:
"Get out, Liu Chunlan. Don't play the weasel paying respects to the hen.
"Who would dare eat anything from you? Last time Keke ate one of your steamed buns, she nearly lost her life.
"You vicious old hag, take these bananas and get out of here right now!"
Liu Chunlan put on a rare smiling face:
"In-law, what are you saying? I genuinely came to see Keke.
"After all, no matter what, she is still my, Liu Chunlan's, biological granddaughter, isn't she?
"Don't worry, she has the Wang family's blood running through her veins; I couldn't possibly actually harm her."
"Get out!"
Li Suhua gave her no face at all:
"Get out right now. Keke doesn't want to see you, and none of us want to see you.
"Get out!"
Liu Chunlan looked left and right:
"Where is Wanyi? Tell her to come out, I have something to discuss with her.
"I'll leave as soon as I talk to her."
Before Li Suhua could speak, Lin Jiajun returned from fetching water and blew up the moment he saw Liu Chunlan:
"You old witch, why are you here?
"Big Brother Liu was right, you and Wang Hao really are playing a diversion game.
"He pretends to go get a divorce, and you? You want to sneak in and steal Keke while my sister isn't here, right?
"Old witch, don't even think about it. I'm telling you, don't even dream of taking Keke away again."
"What?"
The bananas in Liu Chunlan's hands dropped to the floor:
"Divorce? What divorce?
"Did Wang Hao really go to get a divorce?
"Lin Jiajun, is what you're saying true?"
She ran out the door as she spoke.
They can't get a divorce!
She screamed in her heart.
They absolutely cannot divorce. If they do, where would they ever find another woman like Lin Wanyi?
If they divorce, where would she find Wang Hao another wife?
She had talked to matchmakers so many times before, and none of them worked out.
Every single one demanded hundreds of thousands of yuan, plus a house and a car. Where was she supposed to get all that?
They can't divorce. He absolutely cannot divorce Lin Wanyi.
At the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau.
Wang Hao hesitated, unwilling to go inside.
He had been impulsive this morning, but now he was feeling some regret.
He pleaded with Lin Wanyi:
"Honey, I don't want to..."
Lin Wanyi was burning with anger:
"Are you messing with me? Wang Hao, are you playing me again?
"Do you think this is fun? Is it fun to treat me like a joke?"
"No."
Wang Hao sighed and finally stepped through the doors.
It had already come to this point; dragging it out any further was meaningless.
Backing out now would only make him look even more shameless.
Having been with Lin Wanyi for ten years, he didn't want their final step to be so unbearable.
He wanted to leave her with at least one last good memory.
The two sat in front of the staff member.
Liu Renzhi was waiting for them not far away.
The cooling-off period had passed long ago; this time, they only needed to complete the formalities.
The staff member asked, "Are you both sure you've thought this through?"
Lin Wanyi nodded firmly:
"Yes."
Wang Hao hesitated, but also nodded:
"I... have thought it through as well."
"Alright, please wait a moment."
A moment of silence followed.
Everything from the past ten years flashed through Lin Wanyi's mind like a kaleidoscope.
The romance that started in her sophomore year of college, the eight years of marriage.
Her father's opposition, her mother's tears.
Her own stubbornness, Liu Chunlan's cruelty, Wang Jianguo's deliberate difficulties.
Everything, absolutely everything, was finally coming to an end.
It was all going to end.
She could finally go back to her own home.
Wang Hao felt infinitely sad in his heart, his eyes even turning red.
He wanted to say something, but ultimately kept his mouth shut.
He was also reminiscing—thinking about the first time he saw Lin Wanyi at school.
Thinking about how he tried every possible way to pursue her.
Thinking about how he nervously went to her home to meet her parents.
His thoughts drifted from their wedding to her pregnancy, and then to the birth of Wang Keke.
He originally liked his daughter very much, and he didn't favor boys over girls.
But Liu Chunlan talked about it every single day, so much that he began to resent Wang Keke too.
He also started blaming Lin Wanyi for not giving him a son.
But despite all that, he never thought he and Lin Wanyi would divorce.
He never imagined it; he had always wanted to spend his whole life with her.
Lin Wanyi watched the staff member work, waiting anxiously.
In just a few minutes, she would be free.
She would no longer be controlled by the Wang family.
Liu Renzhi's palms, resting on his lap, were sweating too.
He was waiting for Lin Wanyi's divorce certificate.
As long as she got divorced, he could openly and properly pursue her.
Lin Wanyi would no longer have any constraints; she would be free.
She would have one less reason to reject him.
Liu Renzhi's heart thumped loudly; he was more nervous than when signing a multimillion-dollar contract.
Just when they all thought nothing else could go wrong, Liu Chunlan suddenly burst into the hall.
She looked around frantically until she finally spotted Wang Hao and Lin Wanyi.
She ran toward them, shouting:
"No divorcing! You can't divorce!
"Who agreed to let you divorce?"
At her shout, everyone looked in her direction, and the staff member's hands stopped moving.
Wang Hao hadn't expected her to show up and quickly stood up:
"Mom, why are you here?"
Liu Chunlan pushed him angrily:
"Why do you think I'm here? If I didn't come, you wouldn't have a wife for the rest of your life.
"Haohao, what did I tell you at home? I said you can't divorce, absolutely not.
"Why won't you listen to me? Why did you still come here?"
Wang Hao felt humiliated. He tried to push Liu Chunlan out:
"Get out, Mom. This is my business, my marriage. I don't need you meddling.
"Leave right now."
"How can I not meddle? I am your mother!
"Wang Hao, I said you can't divorce, so you can't divorce."
"Is it up to you?"
Wang Hao raised his voice too:
"It's not up to you. This divorce is happening for sure."
Liu Chunlan turned to look at the staff member:
"Comrade, they aren't divorcing anymore. I am their mother, and I say they aren't divorcing.
"Don't process it. Thanks for your trouble."
"I can't do that, Ma'am."
The older woman processing the paperwork looked at Wang Hao and Lin Wanyi:
"Ma'am, it's their divorce. I have to listen to them."
"Bullshit!"
Liu Chunlan's voice grew even louder:
"I am their mother! I am the head of the household, and I have the final say in family matters.
"No divorcing! You are not allowed to process their paperwork, do you hear me?"
The clerk ignored her entirely, turning to ask Lin Wanyi:
"What do you two say?"
"Divorce!"
"Divorce!"
Lin Wanyi and Wang Hao said simultaneously, but in the next second, Liu Chunlan pointed at Liu Renzhi, who was sitting off to the side, and began to curse loudly:
"Come here, everyone, come and look! This is the adulterer who seduced my daughter-in-law!
"He's the one who cuckolded my son, and that's why my daughter-in-law wants a divorce!
"Plainly speaking, he's just a male homewrecker!
"Everyone, please judge this for my son. Have you ever seen such an arrogant male homewrecker and such a shameless woman?
"She even brought her paramour to get a divorce! Who has ever seen such filthy trash?"
