Chapter 2 Coming Back to Prepare for Divorce

With a creak, the door was pulled open from within. The man who opened it saw Lu Yan and called out excitedly into the house, “Dad, Mom, Second Brother is back!”

“Lu Yan is back! At this hour? We thought you wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow!”

Lu’s father and mother came out of their room, hastily pulling on their clothes.

Lu Yan felt dazed, but his mother rushed over and pulled him inside. “What are you standing there for, lost in thought?”

She then turned to her third daughter, who was emerging groggily from her room. “Your second brother is home, go make him a bowl of brown sugar egg custard.”

Half-asleep, the third sister of the Lu family yawned and shuffled to the kitchen.

Lu Yan put his bag on the table, found a chair, and sat down. “When did you get here? Where is Qingyi?”

Before he left, his parents had been living in the country, and the one staying here was Shen Qingyi.

Qian Guihua, seeing her son ask about that woman the moment he returned, showed her displeasure. “Why are you still calling her so affectionately? That woman moved out four years ago.”

“Four years ago? Why did no one tell me?” Lu Yan knew she had little affection for him, but he had promised his teacher to take care of her for a lifetime.

Qian Guihua replied, annoyed, “Do you even know what she did wrong? Your work is so important—who would dare tell you the truth? What if it affected your mood?”

Lu Yan thought of Shen Qingyi’s appearance. She had been taught well by the professor, intelligent and proper. Though a city girl, she had never been spoiled. “What could she have possibly done?”

Qian Guihua believed her son’s studies had made him foolish. “With her seductive looks, only you would believe she was virtuous. If your mother hadn’t felt responsible for you and come by to check on her, we’d never have known she was already two months pregnant.

You brought her home for the wedding barely half a month before, and you left for the base the day after the ceremony—how could the child be yours? Yet she insisted it was. Isn’t this just taking advantage of us country folk?”

She knew all too well what her second son was like—dedicated to his studies and research, clueless about men and women, and far too principled to have done anything before marriage.

Lu Yan felt as if lightning had struck him. He asked, voice taut with anxiety, “So… without even asking me, you just drove her away?”

They had registered their marriage in the capital over a month before returning home for the wedding. That night, he’d had a bit to drink, and when he came back…

Qian Guihua responded, full of self-righteousness, “So what if we sent her away? Who could swallow that humiliation? Now that you’re back, you must divorce her, no matter what.”

Lu Yan’s chest tightened. “Where is she?”

He could hardly imagine it—being driven out while pregnant, forced to leave with such shame, and with the professor’s reputation at stake, there was no way she could remain among those who knew her.

“What are you worried about her for? When she left, a man came to pick her up in a car. Maybe he was her lover,” Qian Guihua said through gritted teeth.

At that moment, the egg custard was ready and placed before Lu Yan. Qian Guihua, displeased that her son’s first questions were all about that woman, snapped, “Eat, wash up, and sleep. If you don’t believe me, ask around tomorrow.”

Only then did Lu Yan realize he hadn’t eaten all day.

“You all should go about your business,” Qian Guihua ordered, used to commanding the house. Then she turned to her youngest son, “There’s no spare room. You’ll sleep with your second brother tonight.”

Lu Fan nodded and went back to his room.

Lu Yan, absentminded, sipped the egg custard. His gaze swept over the house—once warm and comfortable under her care, now cluttered with all sorts of things. The once white lime walls were stained and mottled.

The old wooden table, darkened with age, gave off a faint smell of rancid oil.

His mother remained as domineering as ever, and the rest of the family knew only to echo or obey.

He checked his watch—it was four in the morning. Though anxious, there was no way to find anyone at this hour. He went to Lu Fan’s room, where his brother was already snoring thunderously, socks and shoes tossed carelessly aside.

After a day’s journey, he was exhausted, but sleep was impossible—his mind was filled with thoughts of Shen Qingyi.

…

The next morning, as soon as Lu Yan stepped out, the early-rising neighbors recognized him. They greeted him with enthusiasm, “Engineer Lu is back, isn’t he? It’s been years, but you haven’t changed a bit—still as handsome as ever.”

“He works with his mind, not his hands—of course he hasn’t changed,” another chimed in. “Are you staying for good this time?”

Lu Yan replied politely, “For now, I’m not leaving.”

He answered when he could, and smiled when he couldn’t.

As soon as he walked away, the neighbors began to gossip behind his back. “What a pity about Lu Yan. He’s truly one in a million.”

“What’s to pity? I heard he’s back to get a divorce.”

“Still a pity. A second marriage will never be as good as the first. And his teacher wasn’t being fair, forcing that debt of gratitude on him and harming someone else in the process.”

“You just don’t understand. With Lu Yan’s qualities, once he divorces, women will be lining up at their door. Not only is he outstanding, he earns a top national salary.”

“Exactly! He was the provincial top scholar back in the day. Imagine how clever his children would be.”

“That’s why the child Shen gave birth to can’t possibly be Lu Yan’s. I heard the boy’s always in a daze, doesn’t talk much to anyone.”

“But the child’s good-looking—red lips, white teeth. And, to be honest, his brows do resemble Lu Yan’s.”

“You’ve seen him?”

“Saw him once not long ago.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. The Lu family said Shen Qingyi was pregnant before marriage! Her father must have been desperate to find someone to take responsibility for her…”

“What a shame. Why should Lu Yan repay such a debt?”

Lu Yan had spent the whole night wondering where Shen Qingyi might have gone. He decided to visit the old apartment where the professor used to live.

After five stops on the bus, he arrived at the residential complex. He hadn’t been there in over four years, but everything felt familiar.

From a distance, he saw a black jeep parked at the entrance, and his heart sank.

He walked past the jeep to see a tall man holding a child, surrounded by a small crowd. The child clung to the man's shoulder, tears streaming down his face, but he remained stubbornly silent, refusing to cry aloud. As he looked up, his eyes met Lu Yan’s.

In that instant, Lu Yan’s mind burst with realization—the child’s nose and eyes were exactly like his own as a boy.

Just one glance, and perhaps some subtle intuition, but Lu Yan was utterly certain this child was his.

He pushed through the crowd and saw Shen Qingyi—her black hair and sapphire scarf braided into a long ponytail down her back, a snow-white blouse paired with a sapphire skirt that fell below her knees, elegant and simple. Apricot-colored heels made her figure appear even more refined.

She was as beautiful as ever, perhaps even more so, with a mature, graceful charm.

Lu Yan was about to call out to her when, from the crowd, a shrill voice rang out, “Shen Ping’an, come down and apologize to Doudou!”