Chapter 2: Choosing You Was the Biggest Mistake of My Life

Qin Yun stared at the virtual panel before him, momentarily dumbfounded.

He blinked, and with a thought, the panel before his eyes suddenly vanished; then with another thought, it reappeared.

It was now 2026, and he read web novels, so he naturally knew what a "system" was all about. He used to dismiss them as brainless power fantasies, but now that the thing had landed on his own head, didn't that make him the protagonist of one of those stories?

It wasn't that he had never fantasized about it, but he was a rational 28-year-old young man, not an 8-year-old child—how could a brainless setup like a system possibly be real?

Qin Yun summoned and dismissed the panel over and over again, back and forth several times, and finally confirmed he wasn't dreaming—everything was real.

Old Heaven had truly opened those big, beautiful eyes of his, and his favor fell upon Qin Yun.

He was just about to study it, but a sound from behind made him abandon the idea on the spot.

"You've got some nerve now, haven't you? Fine, leave then. Once you walk out that door, don't come back."

"I, Song Ya, must have been blind to ever fancy you. Back in school, so many people chased me—Wang Tianfang, Li Yang—which of them isn't doing better than you now?"

Seeing Qin Yun continue packing his things unmoved, Song Ya grew even angrier and kept firing.

"Without me, you couldn't even get a Beijing hukou."

"Choosing you was the biggest mistake of my life. You'll regret this."

"Let me tell you, without you, I can find someone better."

Song Ya's voice went in Qin Yun's left ear and out his right. He suddenly realized that after three years in this home, his own belongings could be counted on one hand—he didn't even have many sets of clothes, and a 25-inch suitcase could fit everything he owned.

After stuffing everything in, he finally placed the marriage certificate into the suitcase as well. Qin Yun looked up at Song Ya, who was still firing at him, and said calmly, "There are things I've held in for a long time. Before I leave, I just want to tell you—our marriage was truly a wrong start. You weren't happy, and I wasn't happy either. Since that's the case, let's just let each other go."

"What do you mean?"

Song Ya suddenly felt a sharp wave of humiliation, and her breathing involuntarily grew heavy and labored.

Qin Yun looked at her—Song Ya was still beautiful, still had a good figure, but after three years of sharing a bed with her, none of it held any attraction for him anymore.

Song Ya had ground away every ounce of his passion.

"We come from different family backgrounds, and our values shaped since childhood are different. You have your way of dealing with people, and I have mine. But these three years, I was always the one accommodating you, while you never once considered me, not even a little."

"I thought time might change you a little—even that little I thought was the result of my effort. But no. The more you fell short of others, the more you had to compare; the more you compared, the more you looked down on me."

"I don't want the next few decades of my life spent in belittlement and comparison. So, Song Ya, I'm serious—let's get a divorce."

Song Ya felt a sudden tug inside her chest. Her fingers unconsciously tightened on the hem of her clothes. She stared blankly at the man who had always yielded to her, now speaking such resolute words. She instinctively said, "You're blaming me? You think it's my fault? Isn't it just that you haven't tried hard enough?"

Qin Yun smiled—a silent smile. He suddenly understood that some people were never going to change for you, and that such a person should never have been your other half.

He dragged his suitcase and walked past Song Ya.

"Find a time to go to the Minzheng Bureau and handle the paperwork. Don't worry—I don't want anything."

Song Ya shouted after him, "If you've got the guts, once you walk out that door, never come back."

The only response she got was the heavy thud of a door closing.

……

Qin Yun dragged his suitcase and left the Changchunli residential compound without the slightest hesitation.

It was already past nine in the evening. From the entrance of the compound to the West bus stop at the Changchun Street intersection was roughly a kilometer.

When Qin Yun arrived, he happened to see a Route 44 outer-loop bus pulling away. He didn't really mind—no rush.

He often took the buses here. He remembered Route 44 ran all night, with a bus roughly every quarter hour.

At this hour, there weren't many people at the stop. He set his suitcase beside the seat and began to zone out.

The thought of divorce had actually been lingering in his mind for a long time.

The reason he brought it up today—maybe it was the system, maybe his emotions had finally built up to a breaking point. In any case, he felt no regret about choosing divorce.

He was only 28 now, still in his prime. If he kept enduring, he didn't know what he'd become, but a person's spirit was worn away bit by bit in this kind of endless grind.

He didn't want that.

"Hey, this isn't bad either."

Qin Yun suddenly let out a laugh. The moment he focused his attention, the system panel popped up at once, and he began studying it with keen interest.

He discovered that he was currently at the system's check-in location, but couldn't check in yet. He needed to take the Route 44 outer-loop back to the starting point to activate the check-in—and the range just had to be within the bus stop.

In other words, as long as he followed the system's requirement and took the bus around the city once, he could complete the check-in and receive a reward.

Just then, his phone suddenly rang. Qin Yun glanced at it and immediately slapped his forehead—how could he have forgotten to return the call?

"Hello, Manager. Sorry, I just finished up and was about to call you."

"No worries, Xiao Qin. There's been a bit of a change in the situation."

Qin Yun's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition immediately washed over him.

"Honestly, I think the company's decision is pretty unfair. You are the backbone of the company after all, but there's no helping it—it's a decision from above. The best I could fight for you is an n+1 severance. That's already the best I could do."

In the moment of his disappointment, Qin Yun felt, for some reason, a bit of relief. He smiled and said, "Thank you, Manager. I'm willing to accept the company's decision. I'll come in on Monday to handle the paperwork."

The manager clearly breathed a sigh of relief: "Someone with your talent will shine anywhere. If this place won't keep you, there'll be plenty that will."

Qin Yun couldn't be bothered to say more to the guy and quickly hung up.

The company he worked for was a SaaS services firm—neither big nor small, with over three hundred employees, and it had a decent reputation in the industry.

He had been recruited right after graduation through the campus hiring program. His university wasn't anything particularly impressive in Beijing—just a non-"211" or "985" undergraduate institution—but it had solid achievements in computer science, so its students were quite popular with internet companies during campus recruitment.

"Four years, plus one month—that's five years. The severance is 125,000 yuan. Enough to take it easy for a while."

Muttering to himself, Qin Yun looked up in the other direction and saw a Route 44 outer-loop bus slowly approaching.

He picked up his suitcase, swiped his card to board, and found a window seat.

Qin Yun began thinking about what came next.

His family was in a small county town in Zhejiang. When he was little, nothing was particularly different—except his father had passed away from illness when he was fifteen.

His mother was a cashier at a factory and had been there for quite some years; she had a chance to take early retirement within her contract term in the next year or two.

He didn't know yet whether he would stay in Beijing, and a divorce like this had to be mentioned to his mother at some point.

Thinking of this, he took out his phone to call his mother.

But soon the bus arrived at the station; Qin Yun looked around and finally realized that the next stop for Route 44 Outer Loop was the terminal.

He didn't get off—who knew if the system would still count his check-in if he stepped out.

The driver noticed, asked once, then ignored him; after all, the bus would depart again in half an hour.

The bus lights went out quickly after the engine shut off; only the station's dim glow faintly lit the interior.

Qin Yun dialed the familiar number; normally, by this hour, his mother would already be in bed.

But soon, the call was answered.

A familiar voice came from the other end: "Hello, Xiao Yun? It's so late—why are you calling? Is something wrong?"

Qin Yun smiled: "Yeah, Mom, you're still awake?"

"I just lay down when I heard your phone ring."

By age, Qin Yun's mother was only a post-70s woman, just fifty-three; women of her generation were educated and cultured.

The education she received and the information she accessed were no different from the young.

She even mastered TikTok shorts like a pro—his mother was just like that.

Qin Yun didn't beat around the bush; he said calmly: "Mom, I quit my job. I also divorced Song Ya."

There was a clear pause in the breathing on the other end; after a moment, his mother's voice came slowly: "Tired? If you're tired, come home. Mom will cook you something delicious. I believe my son will definitely meet someone better in the future."

No blame, no interrogation—only care. A simple sentence made Qin Yun, who thought himself composed, tear up.

Clearly, his mother knew his situation; daily calls between her and Song Ya had likely revealed everything through the latter's impatient tone.

Yet she said nothing.

"Mm!"

The mother and son talked for a long time; when they hung up, the bus was just pulling out.

Qin Yun's lips curled into a smile; for the first time, he truly let go, truly felt at peace.

The understanding he never got from Song Ya was perfectly normal here—with his mother.

He watched the scenery blur past the window, felt the city's nighttime breath, and his heart was utterly calm.

More than an hour later, the familiar Changchun Street intersection west bus stop slowly came into view.

Qin Yun felt nervous yet excited, picked up his suitcase, and stepped off the bus.

The instant he stood on the bus stop platform, a pleasant system chime sounded.

【Congratulations, Host! Check-in successful. Random reward obtained: Instrument Repair +1】

【Instrument Repair Skill LV1: Magic Fingers Tuning—repair damaged instruments instantly, restore all instruments to perfect tone upon touch】

As the chime faded, a flood of knowledge surged into Qin Yun's mind—all related to repairing and maintaining musical instruments from ancient and modern times, East and West.

Including invisible repair of guqin lacquer cracks, techniques for replacing rusted or broken zheng strings, reinforcing loose violin chin rests, tuning and realigning pianos, diagnosing guitar pickup faults, preventing pipa cracks…

He stood on the bus stop platform, dumbfounded, absorbing these knowledge.

The process didn't last long—only about a minute—before all the knowledge perfectly merged into his mind and body.

He raised his hand, clenched his fist; his fingertips seemed to carry an innate precision. Even if a broken guqin lay before him now, he could instantly identify the crack's location, the repair method, and know exactly which tools and materials were needed.

He walked over and sat on a nearby bench, pondered for a long time, and after confirming beyond doubt that the knowledge in his mind was real, an overwhelming excitement surged uncontrollably within him.

He stood up and walked on foot toward a nearby budget hotel; though he wanted to treat himself, his balance didn't allow it.

After checking in, he pulled the curtains shut and went straight to sleep; soon, he fell into a deep slumber.

When he woke again, his phone had over a dozen calls from Song Ya and countless WeChat messages, mostly saying: "Qin Yun, are you crazy?" "Answer the phone!" "Do you really think you'll find someone better after leaving?"

He ignored them, put down his phone, stood up, and walked to the window. He pulled back the curtains; bright sunlight poured in, hot and dazzling.

"Huh… What a beautiful day!"

A smile graced his face; the knowledge of instrument repair remained crystal clear in his mind. At last, he was utterly certain—he had truly been favored by heaven.