Chapter 92: Jiang Lai gets the divorce certificate

Shen family.

Jiang Lai hadn't been back here for a while.

Looking at the spring couplets pasted on the Shen family's door, she couldn't help but think of every New Year's Eve, when she stood on a stool alone pasting spring couplets, the front door wide open, and she could see the joyful atmosphere inside the house.

Shen's father and Shen Xun sat on the sofa, Shen's mother brought out freshly washed fruit, and Shen Xi jumped and followed behind, picking up a fruit and taking a bite, then sitting on the sofa and falling onto her brother Shen Xun.

Jiang Lai closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and raised her hand to ring the doorbell.

It was Shen's mother who opened the door.

"Here." Shen's mother's expression today was very amiable, leading her directly to the study.

Shen's father pulled open the drawer and placed four red books on the table.

Two were marriage certificates, with gold-stamped characters.

Two were divorce certificates, with silver-stamped characters.

Jiang Lai's gaze was fixed on them, holding her breath slightly.

She reached out to take them.

Shen's father took them one step faster, his gaze like a torch: "Jiang Lai, do you still remember what you promised me?"

"I remember." Jiang Lai moved her gaze away from the red books and looked at Shen's father calmly, "I won't go out and show off. For those who don't know I had a marriage with Shen Xun, I won't mention that we had a marriage; for those who know I had a marriage with Shen Xun, I won't take the initiative to mention the divorce." 【92

Mother Shen stood beside Father Shen, staring just as intently at Jiang Lai: "You guarantee that you won't affect my son's future, and swear that you won't say a single word to anyone about him and Shutong."

Jiang Lai didn't speak, just watched them quietly.

"I won't bring it up myself."

It's a different matter if someone asks.

Mother Shen caught the implication: "You guarantee that you won't tell anyone at all!"

Before the divorce certificate was issued, Jiang Lai wasn't particularly afraid of their threats, let alone now that the certificate was already in hand.

"I can't guarantee that," Jiang Lai said. "My mentor's wife, my Dean Mom, and the friends who care about me—they should know. I have no reason to hide it from them."

That was a very reasonable point.

Mother Shen couldn't find a rebuttal, and Father Shen signaled for her not to keep harping on it.

He said decisively: "You can tell your side, but you cannot tell Shen Xun for now. He is at a critical moment; don't go distracting him."

"If you can't do that, I won't give you the divorce certificate for the time being."

Seeing that Father Shen was about to put the divorce certificate back into the drawer and lock it, Jiang Lai immediately promised: "I can do it."

Father Shen stopped the motion of putting the certificate away.

"Before Shen Xun's project bidding ends, I won't tell him that we have already divorced." Jiang Lai reached out her hand.

Father Shen said sternly: "Jiang Lai, in consideration of you taking care of Shen Xun these past few years, I'll trust you this once. In the future, marry whoever you like, but don't go dragging our Shen family into it again."

Mother Shen stopped pretending as well, letting out a cold snort: "Our family was never someone you could climb up to from the very beginning."

Jiang Lai's attention was entirely on the divorce certificate; she reached out and took it.

She opened it to look.

Certificate Holder: Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai's gaze swept over the registration date, the divorce certificate serial number, and the photo with the red background pasted on it.

It was her from last year's New Year's Eve.

She could tell at a glance that it had been cropped from a group photo.

Many of Shen Xun's documents were kept here with his parents, and even her marriage certificate had been kept here from the start, which was why Father Shen hadn't asked her for it when he agreed to handle the divorce.

There was an embossed seal on the photo.

Jiang Lai opened the marriage certificate again, and a row of red characters greeted her eyes.

Both parties divorced, certificate invalid.

Jiang Lai tugged at her lips, intending to smile, but her cheeks felt as if they were being clamped shut; she couldn't manage a smile, and her eyes drooped slightly.

To Father and Mother Shen, this appearance looked like she was forcing a smile, and the gaze she directed at them also seemed like a forced attempt at composure.

Mother Shen let out a cold laugh, her mouth full of thick mockery.

With Jiang Lai's background as an orphan and her status as a divorcee, surely no one would want her. Even if she did remarry, it would just be to become the second wife of some old man, to be a stepmother to someone else's children.

She seemed to see Jiang Lai's miserable future, and the smile in her eyes was almost impossible to hide.

See? Away from the Shen family, away from her son, Jiang Lai was nothing.

"Alright, you've got the divorce certificate, hurry up and leave." Mother Shen urged her impatiently.

Jiang Lai only took her own marriage certificate and divorce certificate.

"Remember to give Shen Xun his. If you don't give him the divorce certificate, how can he marry Lin Shutong?"

Father Shen: "We don't need you to remind us. When the right time comes, we will give it to him ourselves."

"Very well." Jiang Lai gripped the two booklets tightly and turned to leave the study.

Shen Xi had just returned from outside carrying bags of all sizes; she froze upon seeing her, then immediately questioned her angrily: "What are you doing at my house? And going into the study—did you steal something!"

During the first year she was married into the Shen family, Shen Xi had also wrongly accused her of stealing.

It was a weekend, the whole family was eating together, and Shen Xi arrived late, sitting down on her chair with an angry thud: "Why does my bottle of three-thousand-plus face cream feel like it's missing so much? Which one of you used my cream?"

She had said it directly to her.

She might as well have written "you stole my three-thousand-plus face cream" on her face.

The Shen family was all looking at her, only Shen Xun asked Shen Xi: "What does it look like?"

"It's this one." Shen Xi pulled up a picture.

Jiang Lai saw it and wanted to say that there was no such face cream in the public bathroom outside.

Father Shen, Mother Shen, and Shen Xi's rooms had private bathrooms, but the one she and Shen Xun slept in didn't, so she used the public one.

But Shen Xun quickly said: "I used it."

Shen Xi didn't believe it at all, even sneering, her look of disdain landing on her repeatedly.

She felt a lump in her throat, wanting to say something, but Shen Xun signaled for her to eat, and the matter was left unsettled.

She had also thought that it was better not to put Shen Xun in a difficult position in the middle, so she never defended herself.

Today, Shen Xi's slander came just as easily.

Jiang Lai looked at her with a cold face: "If you don't want that mouth of yours, I can tear it apart for you."

"You!" Shen Xi stared at her with wide eyes.

Jiang Lai smiled faintly: "You're welcome."

This made Shen Xi even more furious, but the next second she saw her parents coming out of the study and immediately froze.

"Dad? Mom?" She put her things on the sofa and walked over to ask, "Why did you call Jiang Lai to the house?"

Mother Shen said: "There's a matter."

Shen Xi didn't care: "What could there be? Every time she comes to my house, it's like polluting the air!"

"Not as much as you," Jiang Lai said. "With you here, the Shen family has always been a foul atmosphere."

Shen Xi was angered again.

Mother Shen grabbed her daughter, glaring at Jiang Lai: "You aren't welcome here, hurry up and leave."

Shen Xi lifted her chin triumphantly: "Did you hear that? Jiang Lai, you aren't welcome here, get lost."

"Shen Xi." Jiang Lai looked at Shen Xi and smiled slightly, "The day after tomorrow at ten in the evening, remember to be on time at Lin Ge in the Ke Lin Hotel to apologize to me. Apologize, and I'll withdraw the lawsuit."

Shen Xi looked at her smile, feeling a chill run through her.

At the same time and place, Jiang Lai wouldn't be using the same methods to deal with her, would she?

"Dad, Mom..."

As she closed the door, Jiang Lai heard the faint sound of Shen Xi crying.

After going downstairs, she immediately called her mentor's wife: "Mentor's wife, I have the divorce certificate."

Her voice was trembling slightly.

"But I don't know if it's real or fake. Could you ask Uncle Deng to help me check?"