EBE Chapter 441 The Playboy's Divorced Woman 37
Chapter 441 The Playboy's Divorced Woman 37
Based on the timeline, Gu Shenbai knew how outrageous he was about to become.
'I ran into my second sister when I went out, and she said my husband has been having many affairs lately.'
This sentence is unfinished; there's even a stroke left unwritten, and I don't know what to write next.
Gu Shenbai dared not imagine what Xie Qingyu was thinking at this moment.
He knew that his second sister wasn't very kind with her words, as he had learned when they celebrated the old lady of the Xie family's birthday last time.
I imagine they probably made some sarcastic remarks about Xie Qingyu back then.
His behavior made Xie Qingyu feel ashamed in front of her sisters.
Xie Qingyu didn't leave any other words here, but it seemed as if she had said a thousand words, making Gu Shenbai regret his foolishness back then.
The following pages had no annotations, but the paper was crumpled and wrinkled, as if it could feel the reader's anxiety and unease at the time.
There's a single annotation three or four pages later.
The plot here is that the misunderstanding between the male and female protagonists is resolved, and the two live happily together.
Xie Qingyu commented here, 'Then let's try one last time. If that doesn't work, I'll just be the matriarch in charge of managing the household affairs; I won't force anything else.'
The sentence was incomplete and without a time stamp, so Gu Shenbai didn't know under what circumstances Xie Qingyu had annotated it.
I have no idea when she meant the last time.
Gu Shenbai had no choice but to recall it himself.
Has anything happened since then?
Calming down like this, it seemed to have actually brought back a memory.
It was when he went to pay his respects to the First Madam in the morning that Xie Qingyu, who usually didn't come in the afternoon, suddenly came to pay her respects.
At that time, he was being nagged by his first wife to be sensible after getting married, which annoyed him greatly.
Hearing the maid announce Xie Qingyu's arrival only intensified his annoyance, so he went straight out.
Xie Qingyu seemed to be holding something in her hand when she came over.
Gu Shenbai didn't even open his eyes to look at Xie Qingyu. He only remembered that she seemed to stop and bow to him. He walked over quickly without stopping.
Was that that time?
Gu Shenbai turned the page uncertainly.
'The belt... burned. He seems to hate my power and has given up on his fantasies.'
A belt... So, was that a belt Xie Qingyu was holding for him? Gu Shenbai hadn't seen it clearly, and now, thinking back, he could only recall it being a black and gold item. Was it a belt for him? Did she embroider it herself?
Gu Shenbai didn't know that the belt had been burned.
And it was from this moment that Xie Qingyu said she would stop indulging in wishful thinking.
There were no annotations for several pages after that, so much so that Gu Shenbai even thought that was the end of the text, and he had to flip through a few more pages before he saw the rest.
'He brought back a courtesan, intending to take her as a concubine. It's utterly ridiculous! If he disliked her so much, why did he marry in the first place?'
Xie Qingyu's writing here is very forceful.
They always knew perfectly well that this marriage was bestowed by the Emperor, and even if Gu Shenbai didn't like it, there was nothing he could do; no one could refuse.
However, when Gu Shenbai recalled the scene of bringing that courtesan back, he realized that it was truly a slap in Xie Qingyu's face.
No husband brings a courtesan home just two months after his new wife enters the household.
'If it's truly impossible, then don't beg. But if I were to return home now, I fear I would be homeless. It would be better to spend my days in quiet solitude, without tarnishing the reputation of my sisters. Divorce is a terrible thing to do; it's better to just get a divorce.'
This is the longest annotation on this page.
Gu Shenbai felt the divorce papers in his arms become scalding hot.
Often accompanied by a dim lamp.
Often accompanied by a dim lamp.
So that's the kind of determination she had back then, that led her to go to the ancestral hall alone in the middle of the night with the courage of burning her boats, to make him sign the divorce papers?
The wound from the sharp teeth piercing his finger seemed never to have healed, the stinging pain was so intense that Gu Shenbai almost dropped the storybook.
A tear slid down the corner of her eye, past her temple, and into her hair.
He gasped for breath, too afraid to think about it.
Yes, yes.
How could he be so naive as to think that divorce means a peaceful separation? No Xie family woman ever returns home after a divorce. She should either suffer the humiliation by committing suicide or become a nun to pray for blessings, so as to protect the Xie family's good reputation.
He is so stupid.
How could anyone have thought that Xie Qingyu was genuinely willing to divorce back then, and that the two could part amicably?
No, Xie Qingyu has already decided that her future will not be easy. The last month is just the beginning of her good life.
He suddenly understood why Xie Qingyu was willing to go out and see more of the world with him.
If she doesn't go out and see what's going on, she'll never have another chance to go out once the divorce is announced.
So she wanted to seize the last bit of time to go out for a stroll.
A soft laugh escaped Gu Shenbai's throat; it was a mockery of his own utter foolishness.
Only now did he realize how much he owed Xie Qingyu.
After a long while, Gu Shenbai picked up the storybook again and continued reading.
"He actually came to Grandmother's birthday banquet! My second sister was hoping to see me make a fool of myself, and now she's furious. I just wonder how she'll laugh at me when the divorce news comes out. Oh well, let her laugh all she wants then. I bet she'll be nervous then."
The Xie family's daughters share in each other's glory; it's not good for anyone's reputation to be ruined. So, if they really get a divorce, the second sister might not necessarily be happy.
This was the meaning Xie Qingyu conveyed, and Gu Shenbai understood it.
'Today he took me to meet his friends. Miss Cai is indeed different from us. No wonder he likes her. If Miss Cai's background were better, the two of them might have gotten together. It turns out I'm the one breaking up their relationship. No wonder he dislikes me so much.'
Gu Shenbai could hardly remember the first time he introduced Xie Qingyu to Cai Kun and Cai Yue.
However, he can say with certainty that he only admired Cai Yue before and never had any romantic feelings for her.
But was that really what Xie Qingyu thought at the time? If so, what were her feelings back then?
"He came to my courtyard. Tao Hong was very happy. I didn't tell them about the divorce agreement. Seeing their excitement, I didn't know what to say. They were happy for me, but they didn't know that Gu Shenbai came only because the divorce agreement had been signed. He wasn't afraid that I would cling to him."
Gu Shenbai wanted to say no.
He never thought of it that way.
He just wanted to come over, and even regretted not coming to her yard sooner.
He felt an indescribable sense of security in this room, even just lying on the couch, so he came back for various reasons, not only the first time but also a second and a third time.
"Today, my mother-in-law asked me to inspect the shops. I happened to see Miss Cai holding a martial arts contest to find a husband. He seemed about to go up, but Granny Lai saw him and reminded him. I don't know if it was because of Granny Lai's reminder, but he didn't go on stage. He probably thought it was because of me. I should have divorced him sooner rather than later, so as not to hold him back."
When Gu Shenbai saw this, he suddenly recalled the scene he witnessed while sitting in the restaurant. Was this what Xie Qingyu was thinking when she sat there, assuming that he, a married man, was going to go on stage?
'He's a very good person, he just doesn't like me, so never mind.'
This is the last sentence of the entire story, on the last page of this story.
Gu Shenbai glanced at the entire storybook in disbelief, then said nothing more.
"Am I a good person?" Gu Shenbai's face showed a mixture of crying and laughing.
Judging from this story, he is not good at all, even utterly wicked.
But Xie Qingyu said in the end that he was a good person.
She even lost her life trying to save him.
Gu Shenbai couldn't cry out loud. With trembling hands, he flipped through all the other storybooks, only this one had annotations.
He could tell from the cover that this storybook hadn't been there before. It must have been on the bed before, and after the maids cleaned it up, it was taken out and mixed with the other storybooks on the bed.
He clutched the storybook tightly in one hand and clutched his clothes in the other, his eyes staring into the void, completely overwhelmed by sorrow.
Xie Qingyu, watching from the air, breathed a sigh of relief.