Chapter 159: Divorce

"Her excuse was actually quite perfunctory, which suggests she never truly believed this matter would be one hundred percent successful. Yet, she specifically sought you out again. I suspect her primary goal wasn't just to cause trouble for me..."

"Is that so?" Qin Miaoyu murmured.

"Miaoyu, shall we go to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow?" Lu Qi'an asked.

Qin Miaoyu asked instinctively, "Why?"

Lu Qi'an replied, "I might get busy later on, and I'm not sure I'll have the time to go then."

Qin Miaoyu agreed immediately, "Then let's go tomorrow!"

The next morning, the two met at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

It was still September, but Lu Qi'an felt that while the sunlight had seemed bright and lovely last time, today it felt inexplicably harsh.

Looking at Lu Qi'an standing by his car, Qin Miaoyu suddenly recalled that back when they first registered their marriage, a globally limited-edition luxury car had been parked at the entrance of the bureau. At the time, she hadn't known his true identity and never linked him to that car. Who could have imagined it was his own?

The divorce proceedings were handled quickly.

Walking out of the bureau once again, clutching their divorce certificates, both of them felt a bit dazed. After a long moment, Qin Miaoyu spoke up, "Shall I be off, then?"

"Let me drive you to your studio. We’re not so far gone that we can’t even be friends, right?"

Qin Miaoyu shook her head. "Of course not, but will it interfere with your plans?"

"Not at all. Get in the car; there’s something I want to tell you on the way."

Once inside the car, Lu Qi'an said, "I’ll need to make some use of our divorce."

Qin Miaoyu immediately thought of Mrs. Gao. "What do you intend to do?"

"I will inform my family about it, and then make it known publicly that we have divorced. However, it won't come from me—my mother will be the one to announce it."

"Is it that simple?"

"No. My mother’s narrative will be that she doesn't know why we divorced, only that we had been having disagreements. We’ll let things drift in the direction Mrs. Gao likely wants to see."

"And then draw out her next move to see what she's really up to?"

"Exactly. You're very sharp!"

Qin Miaoyu was speechless at his comment and rolled her eyes at him slightly. Seeing her do that, a flicker of genuine pleasure rose in Lu Qi'an's heart; it felt as if they had returned to their sweetest days. But remembering the reason they had just been at the bureau, that joy faded away.

"Is there anything else you need my cooperation with later on?"

"No. Isn't your studio busy? Just focus on your own work; I can handle everything on my end."

"Do you have a plan?"

After Qin Miaoyu asked this and saw Lu Qi'an nod, she said nothing more.

Soon, they arrived at the studio.

Lu Qi'an asked again, "We'll still be friends, right?"

Qin Miaoyu looked back with a gentle smile. "Yes, didn't we just say that?"

Lu Qi'an felt a weight lift from his heart. "Good. I'll be off then."

Qin Miaoyu walked toward her studio in a rather good mood. Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoqi and Pei Yixue were waiting anxiously in her office. Seeing Qin Miaoyu push the door open, they stood up immediately, sensing a forced smile on her face.

Pei Yixue asked, "Miaoyu, are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" Qin Miaoyu blinked, looking at the two of them. "What’s with those expressions?"

Xu Xiaoqi added, "Miaoyu, if you're sad, don't hold it in. Just have a good cry; sometimes bottling it up makes it worse. Don't worry, we certainly won't laugh at you!"

Qin Miaoyu was full of question marks. "I'm perfectly fine, why would I cry?"

Seeing her like this, Pei Yixue grew even more worried. She had realized for some time that Qin Miaoyu and Lu Qi'an were not without feelings for each other. To reach this point with someone you love must be heartbreaking! She stepped forward and hugged Qin Miaoyu. "Miaoyu, go ahead and cry. Once you're done, I’ll take you out to find some handsome men!"

Only then did Qin Miaoyu understand their attitude. She took the divorce certificate out of her pocket. "Wish me a happy divorce, then!"

The two glanced at the certificate and asked hesitantly, "Are you really wishing yourself a happy divorce?"

Qin Miaoyu’s lips curled up. "Yes!"

Xu Xiaoqi asked again, "Are you really not sad?"

Qin Miaoyu replied truthfully, "I felt a bit melancholy earlier, that's true. But now, I’m truly not sad. This is a decision I made long ago."

Seeing how firm she was, both Xu Xiaoqi and Pei Yixue felt relieved. Xu Xiaoqi put an arm around Qin Miaoyu’s shoulder. "That's good. We’ve been thinking about this since we woke up this morning, trying to figure out how to comfort you!"

Qin Miaoyu was curious. "How were you planning to comfort me?"

"By letting you have a good cry and then taking you to find some handsome guys! I recently saw a group of men who are great in both looks and temperament, and I was thinking of taking you to check them out!"

Qin Miaoyu shook her head immediately. She had been dragged along once before, and it was simply more than she could handle; she’d leave such good fortune to Pei Yixue. Seeing Qin Miaoyu’s look of alarm, Xu Xiaoqi burst out laughing. "Pei Yixue, I told you that method wouldn't work!"

Pei Yixue huffed indignantly, "You two have no taste! Isn't it wonderful to be surrounded by handsome men?"

Qin Miaoyu and Xu Xiaoqi shared a smile. Rather than being dizzy from Chen Xuanyu’s sweet talk, it was better that Pei Yixue stayed in this state where looks were everything!

News of the divorce between Qin Miaoyu and Lu Qi'an spread throughout Jing City. Everyone was surprised, as most had only just heard that Lu Qi'an was married, and now they were hearing of his divorce, leading to all sorts of speculation.

Qin Miaoyu had expected Mrs. Gao to come looking for her, since that was presumably what she wanted—to see if she could get the shares—but unexpectedly, several days passed without a single call from her.

Instead, she heard news from Pei Yixue that Lu Qi'an was supposedly distraught over the relationship and, due to his depression over the divorce, had caused the Lu Corporation to miss out on a major project!

Upon hearing this, Qin Miaoyu became worried, as Pei Yixue mentioned that the Pei family had also wanted that project because the profit margins were significant. If it had been secured, the benefits would have been immense. If the project went to someone else and the Lu Corporation had missed out, wouldn't the losses be huge?

She immediately tried to contact Lu Qi'an, but the phone went unanswered.

She suddenly remembered what Pei Yixue had said about Lu Qi'an drinking heavily lately. Could it be true? Thinking of this, she couldn't sit still. After confirming there was nothing urgent at the studio, she grabbed her bag, left, and hailed a taxi toward Lu Qi'an’s residence.

He had told her he was still living in the same place as before.