Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After that day, the already taciturn Zhou Chi became even more withdrawn.

He often stayed away from home for days on end. Even when he did return, it was late at night, long after I had fallen asleep.

I failed to catch him several times, so naturally, I had no idea if the injuries on his body had healed.

[Stop thinking about it. The male lead has already met the female lead and they’re starting to develop feelings for each other. The divorce plot point is coming up soon, so get ready.]

Get ready for what? It wasn’t exactly something worth celebrating.

I pursed my lips and remained silent.

The day of the divorce was a sunny one.

I sat in the living room early that morning, staring blankly at the floor.

Zhou Chi didn’t mention it when he woke up, nor did he bring it up when he returned at noon to pick up some things.

In the afternoon, we went to eat the hot pot meal we had missed out on that other day.

Perhaps the broth was too spicy, because my eyes felt perpetually red.

I forced myself to turn my head away, avoiding Zhou Chi’s gaze as I searched for something to say.

“Why did you get off work so early today? This spicy pot isn’t as good as they say online. It’s too hot; you can’t even taste the original flavor of the ingredients.”

Zhou Chi agreed with me.

“Then next time, we’ll just order the tomato broth.”

There wouldn’t be a next time.

After we paid and stepped outside, we happened to run into a mall promotion.

Someone thrust a sticky note into my hand.

“You can make a wish! Any wish written on here will be granted by the gods.”

I glanced sideways at Zhou Chi. He was writing seriously, stroke by stroke.

On the way back, I couldn’t help but ask, “What wish did you write?”

I didn’t expect an answer. After all, Zhou Chi was so reserved, so silent.

But I heard his reply.

“I don’t want you to cry anymore.”

Fragmented moonlight reflected in Zhou Chi’s eyes as he looked at my stunned face.

“I want you to be happy. I want you to wear beautiful clothes and pretty bracelets. I want you to be joyful, and I want you to never have to worry about money.”

“I’ve tried my hardest to fulfill all your demands. That manual labor really isn’t much to me. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and I wanted to trade granting those wishes for your smile. It seemed fair.”

The air grew still. For once, Zhou Chi looked defeated and lost.

“But I can never seem to do it.”

He asked softly, “Lin Miao, am I really that useless?”

“Being with me… you’re never happy.”