Chapter 93

Her mentor's wife told her to go to Cui Zhai first.

An hour later, Jiang Lai arrived at Cui Zhai; her mentor's wife and Uncle Deng were standing at the gate, waiting for her.

The evening wind was very cold.

Jiang Lai shrank her neck when she got out of the car and trotted over.

"Mentor's wife, Uncle Deng, it's so cold outside, why did you come out?"

She reached out to support her mentor's wife as they walked inside.

Wang Ruohua looked calm and patted her hand: "I'm wearing plenty, I won't get cold. You, on the other hand, are dressed a bit thinly. The temperature has already started to drop significantly today, you need to be careful."

"Okay."

"You should have told me earlier that you were going to get the divorce certificate today. Uncle Deng and I would have gone to pick you up in style, so the Shen family wouldn't look down on you."

"It's alright." Jiang Lai didn't care anymore.

"So, does Shen Xun know?" Wang Ruohua was a bit worried that Shen Xun would retaliate against Jiang Lai, since this divorce was done in secret.

Even with Shen Xun's parents involved, Shen Xun certainly wouldn't blame his parents too much and would naturally vent his anger on Jiang Lai.

What man could endure being secretly divorced?

Jiang Lai shook her head: "No, Shen Xun's parents wouldn't let me tell him, saying I have to wait until he finishes this bidding project."

The three of them had already walked into the residence.

Her mentor's wife was elderly and sensitive to the cold, so the air conditioning had been turned on early in the house.

As soon as she sat on the sofa, her mentor's wife asked her to take out the divorce certificate and then handed it to Uncle Deng.

"I'll be able to check it soon." Uncle Deng turned to make a phone call.

Jiang Lai was so nervous that her palms were sweating.

"Drink some water." Wang Ruohua poured her water herself and comforted her, "Don't worry, this divorce certificate was handled by the Shen family, it's one hundred percent real."

If it were Shen Xun, that might not be the case.

Shen Xun was the type to eat from the pot while looking at the bowl, coaxing both sides and unwilling to let go of either.

How could there be such a beautiful thing in the world?

"Mm." Jiang Lai nodded, but she still felt a bit uneasy, not because she thought the Shen family would lie to her and use a fake certificate.

After all, in the eyes of the Shen family, she had no value at all; she couldn't bring prestige to Shen Xun, nor could she provide help for his career.

It was just that when she married Shen Xun, she had never thought there would be a day of divorce.

Now, the divorce certificate was right before her eyes.

Jiang Lai pursed her lips slightly, watching Uncle Deng walk over with the divorce certificate and shake his head at them.

Her heart jumped into her throat.

Fake?

"The divorce certificate was issued today, so it can't be checked online for the time being." Uncle Deng's voice paused slightly, "Miss Jiang Lai, how about I make a trip to the offline Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow?"

Jiang Lai's heart settled slightly; she took the divorce certificate and immediately went online to search for how to verify the authenticity of a divorce certificate.

Checking carefully from the cover, inner pages, and anti-counterfeiting marks, hers was real.

But since it couldn't be found in the system, she still felt uneasy.

There wasn't much time left.

The project contract would be signed next week, and her patent would be issued at the same time.

"Uncle Deng, I'll go check it myself tomorrow. I won't trouble you to make the trip. I've resigned from the Ke Clan, so I have more free time this week." Jiang Lai smiled faintly, "Thank you, Uncle Deng."

Uncle Deng: "Didn't Miss Jiang Lai say you were going to buy gifts for your colleagues tomorrow? Buying gifts, getting your hair and makeup done, and going to the Eden Garden for dinner with colleagues in the evening all take time. It's better if I go check."

Jiang Lai only then remembered that she had told her mentor's wife and Uncle Deng about her plans for tomorrow when she got off work.

Her mentor's wife said: "Let Uncle Deng handle the matter of checking the divorce certificate, so you don't have to stay so tense. You should do something relaxing now. Go shopping tomorrow, get your hair done, buy new clothes, put on some makeup, and have a good dinner with your colleagues in the evening."

Jiang Lai thought about it and nodded.

After taking a photo of the divorce certificate, she handed it back to Uncle Deng and said: "Uncle Deng, you don't have to go early in the morning. It's very cold, and I'm not in such a hurry for this moment."

Uncle Deng smiled: "Miss Jiang Lai hasn't had dinner yet, right?"

"I'm not hungry." Jiang Lai truly didn't feel hungry, probably because she had so much on her mind.

Divorced.

She really had divorced Shen Xun.

"Eat at least a little." Wang Ruohua looked at Uncle Deng, "Have the kitchen make a bowl of seafood porridge."

After Jiang Lai finished the seafood porridge, she returned to her room to wash up, turned off the lights, and lay in bed, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

Many scenes from the past flashed through her mind, as did many plans for what was to come.

She had to go to the home where she and Shen Xun had lived for four years and collect her things.

She didn't have many things, and Shen Xun wouldn't notice if she took them.

From now on, Shen Xun was her ex-husband.

Tomorrow she had to go buy gifts for Secretary Cen, Secretary Guan, and Special Assistant Zhou. Secretary Cen liked cosmetics and high heels, Secretary Guan liked desserts and dolls, and Special Assistant Zhou...

She hadn't paid attention to what Special Assistant Zhou liked, but she saw that he frequently changed into all sorts of glasses, so maybe she should give him an eyeglass chain.

And Ke Zhongyu.

What did Ke Zhongyu like?

He didn't lack anything.

Jiang Lai had no experience in giving gifts to men; her only experience was with Shen Xun.

Shen Xun's clothes and shoes, ties and tie clips.

Shen Xun's toothbrush and razor, shoe polish and shoehorn.

Shen Xun's umbrella and fountain pen...

Shen Xun was in her mind again. Jiang Lai opened her eyes, forcing herself not to think about it.

She turned over, fished out the phone on the nightstand, and searched online again.

What's a good gift to give a superior?

The nuances were quite deep; it couldn't look like a bribe, so she couldn't give anything too expensive. Since it was for a superior, she couldn't give anything too cheap either. The internet suggested giving local specialties.

No.

She didn't have many local specialties left, and if she gave them away, she wouldn't have any for herself.

Next were tea, cigarettes, and alcohol.

Jiang Lai decided on this. She specifically did her homework on tea, cigarettes, and alcohol, and while looking, she... fell asleep.

Until her biological clock woke her up.

The sun was out today.

It wasn't cold where the sunlight hit. Jiang Lai went to accompany her mentor's wife to bask in the sun and went to buy gifts in the afternoon.

A set of cosmetics for Secretary Cen, a doll for Secretary Guan, an eyeglass chain for Special Assistant Zhou, and next was the tea for Ke Zhongyu.

She didn't plan to buy cigarettes or alcohol; Ke Zhongyu had many collections of alcohol that she couldn't buy even if she wanted to.

Cigarettes, purely because she didn't like them.

When buying tea, the clerk asked her: "Ma'am, are you buying this for an elder?"

"A leader." Jiang Lai wasn't used to saying "superior," she was used to saying "leader."

The clerk understood immediately and recommended Silver Needle white tea, saying: "This tea is especially suitable for business hospitality."

Jiang Lai nodded and took the Silver Needle.

Just as she walked out of the store, a new employee in the tea shop asked: "Sister, why did you recommend Silver Needle to a leader?"

"Didn't you hear the second part of what I said? Silver Needle is suitable for business hospitality. In the future, every time her leader uses this tea to host guests, they will think of her. Doesn't that mean they'll think about promoting her? There's a lot of human sophistication in tea; you should learn."

Jiang Lai had walked far away and didn't hear it.

Passing by a store selling thermos cups, she remembered that her teacher and Professor Cheng both liked to use thermos cups to steep tea in the autumn and winter, so she walked in.

The clerk asked her what kind of thermos cup she wanted to buy and who it was for.

Jiang Lai: "For a leader."

The clerk nodded; they must be quite old.

"This black thermos cup with a tea-water separator is especially suitable for leaders, very classic." Not only do leaders like it, but old men also like it very much.

Jiang Lai: "That's the one, please wrap it up for me."