Chapter 21: Departure

Song Qingli looked at Zhou Yuheng, stunned for a moment before asking, "Are you playing with me? You’ve been trying to get a divorce for so long and still haven't succeeded."

Zhou Yuheng’s patience regarding this matter had long since run out; he wanted the divorce more than anyone else now.

"No matter how much I promise, it’s useless. Just wait for the results."

Having said that, Zhou Yuheng walked away.

-

In the hospital room, Lin Xingmian lay on the bed, looking at Lin Xilan with a pitiful expression. "Sister, why didn't I have the surgery?"

"Is my illness too bad? Is there no hope left?"

Hearing this, Lin Xilan felt a stinging sensation in her nose, and she struggled to hold back her tears.

"Xingxing, don't overthink it. Just listen to the doctor's arrangements."

Lin Xingmian furrowed her brows. "But Sister, I’m in so much pain. I want to get better quickly. I want to go back to school."

"Sister, please save me, will you?"

Lin Xingmian’s will to live was incredibly strong. The more she acted this way, the more Lin Xilan blamed herself.

"Don't worry, Sister will save you."

"I will save you."

Lin Xilan reached out to stroke Lin Xingmian’s pale face, swallowing all her bitterness and grievances.

There was no suitable kidney donor currently, and no one knew what the future held.

Lin Xilan gripped Lin Xingmian’s hand tightly, afraid to let go.

Suddenly, the door to the room was pushed open, and Zhou Yuheng walked in.

Lin Xingmian called out with some excitement, "Brother-in-law."

Zhou Yuheng was expressionless. He simply said coldly to Lin Xilan, "Come out. I have something to say to you."

Lin Xilan wiped away her tears, tucked the blanket around Lin Xingmian, and followed Zhou Yuheng out.

"Are you still refusing to divorce even at this point?"

Zhou Yuheng stood by the window, his back to Lin Xilan, radiating a sense of disgust as if looking at her for even a second was too much.

"I don't want to talk about this."

No sooner had Lin Xilan finished speaking than Zhou Yuheng turned around, grabbed her by the throat, and filled his eyes with murderous intent.

"Do you really think I have no way to deal with you?"

Lin Xilan stood there. She did not fight back, only looking at Zhou Yuheng with an indescribable gaze.

"..."

Zhou Yuheng tightened his grip on her throat.

"What is the point of dragging this out? Do you think I will ever love you again?"

"..."

Hearing this, Lin Xilan suddenly laughed. Zhou Yuheng let go.

Lin Xilan kept her head down, waiting for the feeling of suffocation to pass before she spoke.

"Your love? Even dogs wouldn't care for it. But why should I grant you and Song Qingli your wish?"

"After all the filthy things you two have done, you still want me to bless your union? On what grounds?"

"Zhou Yuheng, do you even know what Song Qingli has done?"

Lin Xilan wanted to tell him, but Zhou Yuheng did not give her the chance.

"I won't believe a single word you say anymore. Lin Xilan, you are so wicked that even if you were to die suddenly one day, it wouldn't be an injustice."

Lin Xilan laughed. "Wicked? Fine. Then I simply won't let Song Qingli have an easy life. As long as I don't divorce you, she will always be the one living in the shadows."

"..."

Lin Xilan was taking revenge on Song Qingli for hurting Lin Xingmian. However, Zhou Yuheng knew nothing of this; he only saw Lin Xilan as a madwoman.

"You are truly unreasonable. Disgusting."

Lin Xilan laughed, a heart-wrenching sound. "Yes, I am disgusting. I’m disgusted that I believed in you, disgusted that I gave you my heart, and disgusted that I ever fell in love with a man like you."

Zhou Yuheng had no desire to listen to this. He knew that the path with Lin Xilan was a dead end, so he would have to choose his own way forward.

Zhou Yuheng initiated the divorce through legal proceedings. The Zhou family only found out once the court accepted the case.

Zhou Jinshang was furious. He summoned Zhou Yuheng back to the Zhou estate and proceeded to beat and berate him.

"How could I have birthed a son like you, Zhou Yuheng!"

Zhou Yuheng knelt on the floor, his white shirt soaked through with blood, his back torn with gashes where the flesh had split open from the whipping.

"Mr. Zhou, please stop! I beg you, stop hitting him!"

Zhou Yuheng’s biological mother, Lu Jia, knelt beside him, pleading. Her face was streaked with tears, her eyes full of heartache.

This was the second time Zhou Yuheng had been beaten over the divorce, but this time was far more brutal. In a society governed by law, not even a stray dog on the street would be beaten like this.

Lu Jia tried to beg Zhou Jinshang, but was kicked aside. Zhou Yuheng glanced back, suddenly rose to his feet, snatched the whip from Zhou Jinshang’s hand, and struck him across the face with it.

"You... you unfilial son!"

Zhou Yuheng helped Lu Jia up, his eyes filled with the iron resolve to leave this house.

Just then, the elderly Master Zhou, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "If you leave, don't ever come back."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jia immediately pushed Zhou Yuheng away. She stumbled over to Master Zhou and knelt down; her groveling posture pierced Zhou Yuheng’s heart.

"Please forgive Yuheng. He was just being impulsive. Let me talk to him, please?"

Lu Jia continued to plead with Master Zhou. It had been like this for so many years that the members of the Zhou family viewed her as nothing more than a dog.

"I will persuade him not to divorce Xilan."

Lu Jia kept kowtowing to Master Zhou, eventually using her own dignity to buy Zhou Yuheng his life and the right to remain in the Zhou family.

-

In a cramped, dark room, Zhou Yuheng and Lu Jia sat on a clean bed.

The mother and son sat in silence until Lu Jia finally spoke. "Yuheng, do not divorce. You cannot divorce."

Lu Jia reached out to hold Zhou Yuheng’s hand, but as soon as she touched him, she was met with a sudden, violent reaction.

"Why not? I am a human being, not a dog. Why don't I have the right to choose my own life?"

Lu Jia remained calm. She looked at Zhou Yuheng and said with finality, "You don't. Because you were born into the wrong womb. I brought you into this world as an unfortunate illegitimate child, and you were born into the Zhou family. That is why you are different from everyone else."

Zhou Yuheng found it absurd, just as he could not understand why Lu Jia remained in the Zhou family after being humiliated to such an extent.