After Divorce, My Ex-Wife Became My Creditor - Chapter 4 - A New Beginning
Han Qian maintained a rather optimistic outlook. After buying a pack of cigarettes, he headed to a real estate agency to look for an apartment. He eventually settled on a top-floor duplex that was a bit on the pricey side. With a debt of four million hanging over him, simply scrimping and saving wouldn’t be enough to pay it off.
The landlady was a kind woman. During their conversation, she learned that Han Qian was job hunting and didn’t have a stable income yet. She made an exception and allowed him to pay the rent monthly, though he still had to put down a month’s deposit, which amounted to two thousand five hundred yuan.
When Han Qian handed over five thousand yuan to the landlady, his heart ached. Through their chat, he also learned about her situation. She was a single mother with a child in the ninth grade. Her husband had made some money in business but squandered it all on women and gambling. In just a few years, he lost everything and, in a moment of despair, jumped to his death, leaving behind two apartments. The landlady and her son lived on the second floor, while the eleventh floor was rented out to Han Qian.
Upon entering, Han Qian found himself in a modest living room. To the left was a washbasin, and further in was the bathroom. On the right was a shoe cabinet screen, leading into the kitchen. Behind the wall separating the kitchen from the living room was a staircase to the second floor, which had two bedrooms, one to the north and one to the south, with a bathroom in between. There was also a bedroom on the first floor behind the TV wall.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom duplex was quite satisfactory to Han Qian, considering the rent was two thousand five hundred a month. He was grateful he wasn’t in a first-tier city like Beijing or Shanghai, where even finding a place to live would be a challenge. The apartment was fully furnished with a TV, sofa, and new dishes in the cabinets, though it lacked bedding, which Han Qian wouldn’t have used anyway.
After surveying the apartment, Han Qian was about to go downstairs to buy some essentials when there was a knock on the door. Curious, he opened it to find the landlady holding some household items.
“I work at a supermarket,” she said, “so these didn’t cost much. If you don’t mind, you can use them. They’re all new.”
Seeing the toothbrush and towels in her hands, Han Qian accepted them with a smile, refraining from offering money. He smiled at the landlady and said, “Meeting you is better than meeting relatives. I won’t be shy about it. If your child ever needs help with studies, feel free to send them over. I did pretty well in middle and high school.”
“Great! I can tell you’re a good young man. When you find a girl you like, let me know. I’ll introduce you to someone nice. I’ll leave you to it now.”
The landlady came and went in a hurry. Holding the toothbrush, Han Qian smiled again, not thinking he had overpaid, but rather appreciating the kindness of people.
Having spent the past three years as a ‘stay-at-home husband,’ Han Qian hadn’t interacted much with others. That afternoon, he roamed around outside, suddenly feeling that this kind of life was quite pleasant. Without Wen Nuan, he wouldn’t have been able to gather the money for his mother’s surgery, nor would he have the freedom he now enjoyed. Although the past three years had been confining, the starting point he had now was higher than that of someone just stepping out of school.
After purchasing a set of bedding, Han Qian gritted his teeth and painfully spent seven hundred yuan on a third-hand laptop. It seemed only capable of accessing the internet, and even if he had other interests, Han Qian wasn’t knowledgeable about computers.
During this time, he made a trip to the bank and transferred eight thousand yuan to his mother, without mentioning his divorce from Wen Nuan.
His mother treated Wen Nuan much like Li Jinhe treated Han Qian. Although she didn’t provide Wen Nuan with material satisfaction, she offered her a mother’s warmth that Wen Nuan had never experienced. Conversely, Li Jinhe made Han Qian feel a strictness he had never felt before.
Twisting ears and slapping shoulders were common occurrences. Li Jinhe was not only like this with Han Qian but also with Wen Nuan and Mr. Wen.
Han Qian was left with only two thousand yuan, with one thousand set aside for living expenses and the rest for emergencies. The first thing he did upon turning on the computer was search for Rongyao Group, a rising star capable of competing with Changxiang Group.
Rongyao had industries in every sector that Changxiang was involved in: real estate, shopping malls, electronics, dining, and pharmaceuticals.
The Planning Department of Rongyao Group.
This was Han Qian’s ultimate goal. He planned to return to his old profession, but he wouldn’t take reckless risks under pressure anymore. He also wouldn’t make himself too conspicuous at Rongyao, having learned that lesson at Changxiang.
On the other side, Wen Nuan was on the verge of collapse.
The house had been sold, and Li Jinhe casually told Wen Nuan that she had lost it in a mahjong game to her Aunt Zhao. If she had any objections, she should take it up with the Zhao family.
Wen Nuan had always maintained a respectful distance from Aunt Zhao, who had forced her to call her Zhao-Jie1 since childhood. This disrespectful elder would even ask her about Han Qian’s stamina, leaving Wen Nuan, inexperienced in such matters, at a loss for words.
In this regard, Wen Nuan was as pure as a blank sheet of paper.
Feeling agitated, she dialed Lin Zongheng’s number, hoping for some comfort and to ask when he would return. But after three consecutive calls were hung up, Wen Nuan sent a message telling Lin Zongheng that if he didn’t answer, there was no need to contact her anymore.
Then the phone rang, but Wen Nuan hung up after just three seconds.
She didn’t mind Lin Zongheng having women abroad, but she couldn’t accept him answering her calls while engaged in such activities. Shortly after, the phone rang again, and Wen Nuan expressed her grievances, but Lin Zongheng kept questioning why another man had answered the phone, asking if anything had happened between them.
Instead of finding comfort, Wen Nuan faced suspicion, which made her angrily hang up and question herself.
Did she really like Lin Zongheng? Or was he just a mental crutch?
Three years had passed since he went abroad.
In truth, time had already diluted everything.
When Wen Nuan and Han Qian had just gotten married, a long-distance call would last deep into the night. As time went by, those nights shortened to an hour, eventually ending with Han Qian calling her to dinner.
Suddenly, an image of Han Qian appeared in her mind-when a pervert, pretending to be a delivery man, broke in, Han Qian, covered in soap suds, stood in front of her and drove the intruder away.
During those difficult days each month, Han Qian would get up early to cook a bowl of fish head tofu soup or rib soup, and he would prepare ginger and goji berry water in a thermos for her to take to the office.
In an instant, Wen Nuan felt lost.
Lin Zongheng’s image was becoming increasingly blurred, while Han Qian’s figure grew clearer.
Wen Nuan couldn’t bear this realization.
She had been dumped by Han Qian, and she couldn’t allow herself to think of him in such circumstances. Feeling on the brink of collapse, Wen Nuan grabbed her keys and phone and rushed out of the house.
On the road, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio sped down the empty street at 120 mph, like a ghostly specter.
The bright red Alfa Romeo stopped in front of a bar, immediately drawing attention-not because the car was particularly expensive, but because the woman stepping out of it made the onlookers stare in awe.
A white T-shirt paired with light-colored jeans accentuated her long legs, and her simple ponytail and bare face made her stand out in stark contrast to the surroundings.
Wen Nuan looked at this unfamiliar place and summoned the courage to enter this venue she had never visited and felt deeply resistant to.
But she needed to vent.
Wen Nuan had no friends.
Footnote:
- -Jie(-姐):In Chinese culture, using “xx姐” (pronounced as “xx jie”) to address someone is quite common, especially in Mainland China and other Chinese-speaking communities. The term “jie” means “older sister” and, when used in this context, typically carries a sense of affection and friendliness. It indicates respect and amiability towards the person, similar to calling someone “sis” or “big sister” in English.