Volume One, Chapter 19: Still Divorce?

Su Qingya silently put down the breakfast in her hand. In an almost pleading tone, she asked me, “So… it’s okay if we don’t get a divorce for now, right?”

I didn’t answer. Su Qingya packed up the breakfast and sat beside me, chattering about the events of the past few days. I responded half-heartedly.

Perhaps because of what had just happened, Su Qingya deliberately avoided mentioning Xu Zixuan during our conversation.

The door creaked open quietly. Seeing Su Qingya sitting on a stool nearby, Lu Feng, who had been cautious at first, suddenly furrowed his brows.

“Gu Ze… I’m heading back first. I’ll come see you later,” Su Qingya said as she grabbed the bag, but Lu Feng stopped her.

“Su Qingya! What did you feed Gu Ze this time?!” Upon seeing the takeout bag, Lu Feng’s face darkened. He immediately shouted, “Are you insane? Gu Ze just had his stomach pumped yesterday. What exactly are you trying to do?! What more do you want to do to him?!”

Su Qingya’s face turned pale as she explained, “I didn’t… I bought this from the restaurant. I tried it myself and thought it was okay…”

Lu Feng interrupted her angrily, “What does ‘okay’ mean? Does your stomach bleed? Do you have cancer? Or are you better than my junior Liuying, thinking you can ignore doctors’ advice and eat whatever you want?”

“I just… wanted to do my part, to help Gu Ze.”

Su Qingya hesitated, hiding the bag behind her back. Hearing Lu Feng mention Liuying, she suddenly lost all energy, as if doused with cold water.

Lu Feng sneered at her retreating figure, “Just take your pretty boy and get far away, and that alone would be a huge help. By the way, that mistress is waiting for you in the lobby.”

After Su Qingya left, I gave Lu Feng a disapproving look. “Lu Feng, there’s no need to get so angry.”

Lu Feng slammed the breakfast down on the table. “Gu Ze, do you really believe that woman has changed her mind?”

“… I don’t care anymore,” I said, eyes lowered. “I just want to live out the last days well.”

“So, still going through with the divorce?” Lu Feng asked casually.

I chuckled softly. My childhood friend has always been an open book; there’s no hiding what he’s thinking.

Although I no longer feel any emotional stirrings because of Su Qingya, I don’t want to see her so lonely and forlorn.

Whether to divorce or not, I found myself wavering.

I hadn’t answered Lu Feng’s question, so he asked anxiously, “Gu Ze, even after all this, do you still love her?”

I shook my head. “I don’t even know anymore. I don’t feel anything from her actions now. Is this love or isn’t it?”

Lu Feng gave me a puzzled look, and I almost laughed.

My childhood friend has been single for twenty years—why would I ask him about love?

“Lu Feng, don’t worry. No matter what, I won’t let anyone hurt me again. I don’t know how much longer I have, but this time, I want to truly love myself.”

Lu Feng still looked a bit lost, but after I finished speaking, he nodded firmly. After we finished breakfast, he made me promise repeatedly not to eat anything reckless before finally leaving.

After Lu Feng left, I vaguely felt like I had forgotten something. When I saw the eggshells in the trash, I remembered that my mother was still in this city and hadn’t returned home.

There was no choice—I had the nurse contact Su Qingya to ask about my mother’s situation.

Soon, Su Qingya appeared at the hospital with Xu Zixuan.

Xu Zixuan smiled triumphantly at me from a corner where Su Qingya didn’t notice, while Su Qingya looked at me with a concerned expression.

Xu Zixuan’s smile was utterly disgusting to me, so I closed my eyes.

Noticing this, Su Qingya asked Xu Zixuan to wait outside first.

“But sister, I’m worried about you,” Xu Zixuan said with a hint of grievance. “You haven’t been eating or sleeping well because of Gu Ze, and you’re not even taking your medicine. What if you faint in the ward? Gu Ze won’t be able to help you up.”

I thought Su Qingya would ask the nurse to bring in another chair or at least soothe him with some kind words, but instead, she outright refused Xu Zixuan’s request.

“Zixuan, from now on, remember to call Gu Ze ‘brother-in-law’ when you see him.”

Not only was Xu Zixuan surprised, but I was stunned as well.

No joke, Su Qingya practically doted on Xu Zixuan like a precious treasure because of his face.

Not long ago, she even made me, weak as I was, donate blood for Xu Zixuan, who had congenital anemia but barely showed symptoms.

Such a change was earth-shattering for both me and Xu Zixuan.

Xu Zixuan seemed not to hear clearly at first, frowning slightly, but when he saw Su Qingya’s serious expression, he left obediently.

“Gu Ze, are you okay?” Su Qingya asked timidly, then explained, “I didn’t want Zixuan to come, but my stomach acted up this morning, and your call was too sudden, so he had to bring me here first.”

I smiled indifferently. “It’s fine. You don’t have to explain so much to someone who’s about to die.”

The moment I finished speaking, Su Qingya looked at me with pleading eyes. “Gu Ze… please don’t say that.”

I didn’t reply and went straight to the point. “My mother came to see you yesterday, right?”

Su Qingya nodded silently.

“So, what about today?” I asked. “Has she been staying at home all day?”

Su Qingya hesitated, then said, “Originally, I wanted to come with Mom this morning, but she said everyone was there. After what happened yesterday with the stomach pumping, no one would want to see her, so she decided not to come.”

That made sense. My mother wouldn’t have come to see me if she didn’t have money.

“I ordered breakfast for her too. After eating, she said she had to go back… I thought she might not be used to staying here alone, so I didn’t stop her.”

This puzzled me—would my mother leave so easily without money?

“Qingya, did you transfer money to my mother?”

Su Qingya nodded. “Fifty thousand, under my name.”

Fifty thousand. I did the math silently.

“My father’s investments don’t seem to be going well either. You gave me ten million for treatment, transferred fifty thousand to my mother, and yet… can we really afford this?”

As expected, Su Qingya’s expression darkened. She glanced at Xu Zixuan outside the door and said, “Zixuan saved some of the money I gave him over the years. He said we could use that for now. My dad said not to worry—it’ll be fine after some financial juggling.”

Juggling finances again and again won’t solve anything. I thought to myself. No matter how much shuffling there is, it can’t cover tens of millions in losses, especially since my illness is like a bottomless pit.

I reassured her, “Qingya, you don’t need to transfer money to my mother anymore. I’ll give her what she needs.”

Su Qingya nodded. “She’s our mother after all. We’ve been married for so many years without much recognition, so this time I transferred a bit more.”

I lowered my eyes and spoke softly, “It’s okay. Later, I’ll transfer all my assets into your name.”

Su Qingya pretended not to understand and gently held my hand, smiling at me. “It’s alright, Gu Ze. Once you get better, we’ll run this family together.”