Chapter 7: The Sister-in-law’s Visit
SWOOSH!
All eyes in the room fell upon Chen Jingjia!
The two people whispering inside the service window also looked over.
"Sister Wang, you were right. Even though I’m a woman, if the wife were the problem, I’d definitely make my son get a divorce too."
"See? No need to be so surprised. Quite a few people get these ’flash divorces’."
Watched by everyone in the room, Chen Jingjia clenched her fists. She wanted to lash out, but there was nothing she could do. It was a public place, after all.
Soon, the staff member returned.
Their attitude toward the couple was much calmer now.
In a situation like this, a flash divorce was understandable.
"Hello, I’d like to ask, is the cooling-off period mandatory for a divorce? Can we just finalize it directly?"
The staff member glanced at them. "Judging by your situation, this is a mutual divorce, right?"
"Yes, we’ve already agreed on everything."
"In that case, the cooling-off period is mandatory, unless there’s a major fault and you go through legal proceedings for a contested divorce."
"It hasn’t reached that point. It’s just that we can’t be together due to personality clashes."
"Then don’t be in such a hurry. You still have to go through the process. Just use the time to cool down a bit more."
Neither of them spoke, waiting for the staff member to complete the rest of the procedures.
After they filled out the forms, the other procedures were handled in a few minutes. All that was left was to wait for the cooling-off period to end.
"Even though there’s still the cooling-off period, you could say we’re divorced."
Chen Jingjia looked relieved and at ease.
"It’s been so many years since we graduated. You should understand that good looks can’t put food on the table. Everything I told you yesterday was from the heart. A man needs to have a career, or he won’t even be able to hold onto his own woman."
"You don’t need to worry about me. Just worry about yourself."
"I’m doing great right now."
Chen Jingjia looked ahead, her expression one of relief.
"Don’t worry, I’ll return the betrothal gift money to you. But it might take a day or two. You have to make an appointment for withdrawals over fifty thousand."
"No rush."
"Okay."
Clutching her handbag, Chen Jingjia’s flat shoes with square diamond buckles clicked as she descended the steps of the Civil Affairs Bureau and got into the passenger seat of a BMW X5.
The engine roared to life, and the car sped away.
Lin Jiang got back into his car, feeling incredibly refreshed.
’My wonderful single life is about to begin.’
He drove back to his small restaurant, ready to get back to work.
Even though he had a considerable sum of money coming in that afternoon, he still needed to earn a living.
Soon, the lunch rush began, and the small restaurant got busy. To save on labor costs, Lin Jiang hadn’t hired any staff.
He was the only one in the restaurant, so he had to do everything himself. Although it was tiring, the income was decent—just not enough to make him rich.
The rush lasted for over three hours. Once it was past mealtime, things quieted down around two in the afternoon.
Lin Jiang picked up a broom and started cleaning, waiting for the evening rush to arrive.
CREAK—
The restaurant door was pushed open and someone walked in from outside. Lin Jiang paused.
"Sis, what are you doing here? Come on, have a seat."
The person who came in wasn’t Lin Jiang’s own sister, but Chen Jingjia’s.
What Lin Jiang didn’t expect was that a daily task had appeared above her head!
Putting down the broom, Lin Jiang wiped a table and showed Chen Jingxian to a seat.
Chen Jingxian was three years older than Chen Jingjia, making her 32 this year.
Compared to her younger sister, Chen Jingxian’s style of dress was much plainer.
She wore a pair of charcoal-gray capri pants that revealed her fair ankles, and a beige short-sleeved blouse on top. Though she was slightly plump, this business-casual style didn’t look bulky on her.
Even though she was his older sister-in-law, Chen Jingxian had always been single—since birth, in fact.
To escape her family’s pressure to get married, she took out a loan, bought an apartment, and started living the solitary life of a single woman.
"It’s not busy in the restaurant right now, is it?"
Chen Jingxian’s voice was very gentle, putting people at ease.
"Not anymore, but it’ll get busy again during the dinner rush."
Lin Jiang turned around, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and placed it in front of Chen Jingxian.
"Sis, did you come looking for me for a reason?"
"I was on my way to deliver an invoice to another company and happened to be passing by. On the way, Jiajia told me you two finished the divorce procedures, so I wanted to come and talk to you."
Chen Jingxian looked at Lin Jiang and sighed.
"You know, you two were a good match. Is there really no chance of getting back together?"
"Our personalities don’t match, so there’s no point in being together. After all, you can’t force a melon to be sweet."
"Sigh. It’s her loss."
Chen Jingxian sighed, feeling sorry for her sister.
In her eyes, Lin Jiang was hardworking and ambitious, with good looks too. He really was a great guy.
"Getting divorced isn’t a big deal in this day and age. This isn’t the old days."
"We spoiled her since she was a child. She has a lot of little faults and quite a temper. If you both just cool down and she works on fixing those faults, maybe there’s still a chance."
Lin Jiang smiled and waved his hand dismissively.
"Please, don’t. It’s better that we’re separated. Besides, we really aren’t compatible. If we actually stayed together, life would be nothing but chaos. But that’s a separate issue. Even though we’re divorced, I still see you as my sister-in-law."
"Well, you two will be going your separate ways from now on."
Chen Jingxian smiled, no longer planning to persuade him, and stood up.
"As it happens, I don’t have to go back to the office. Let me help you clean up."
"Oh, I’d feel bad about that. I can do it myself."
"It’s fine. It’s just sweeping the floor and wiping tables. It won’t kill me. Don’t treat me like a guest."
Chen Jingxian was quick and deft. Without giving Lin Jiang a chance to refuse, she picked up the broom and started working.
Lin Jiang went back to the counter and busied himself with other tasks.
At the same time, he clicked on the question mark above Chen Jingxian’s head.
[Task Name: Chen Jingxian’s Dilemma]
[Task Description: She wants to enroll in an advanced accountant course but is short twenty thousand yuan for the training fee. She’s too embarrassed to ask her family for it.]
[Task Reward: Sports Card x1, 30 EXP]
...
To all my brothers out there, for a new book, keeping up with the releases is very important. Please don’t save up Chapters to binge later. Thank you, thank you.