Chapter 617: Chen Lan Overestimated Human Nature!

County Party Committee Compound.

Tang Ye finished processing some documents and was just about to get up to brew a cup of coffee.

Liaison Officer Lin Heng knocked and entered: "County Magistrate Tang, Ms. Chen would like to see you."

"Ms. Chen?" Tang Ye was stunned for a long moment, unable to react.

Lin Heng reminded him: "Chen Lan."

Only then did Tang Ye snap back to his senses: "Please ask her to come in."

Chen Lan walked into the office. Today, she was dressed in black, wearing sunglasses, and exuded an icy coldness that kept people at a distance.

After taking off her sunglasses, heavy sorrow surged within her clear eyes.

Tang Ye invited her to sit on the sofa, picked up a white porcelain cup, poured a cup of tea, and handed it to her.

He then sat down beside her, holding his own thermos cup filled with goji berries.

"Sister Lan, what brings you here to see me today?"

"Tang Ye, there is something I want to ask for your help with."

Tang Ye noticed the tears welling up in her eyes and sighed inwardly: "Go ahead, as long as I can help, I certainly will."

Chen Lan took a deep breath: "I want to divorce Shen Mingcheng."

Tang Ye looked at her in surprise: "As the saying goes, it is better to persuade a couple to reconcile than to separate. I know you are in a bad mood right now, but I still hope you can calm down before making a decision." Chen Lan seemed to have expected him to say this; she calmly took an envelope from her bag and gently tapped it on the coffee table.

Tang Ye picked up the envelope, pulled out the photos inside, and flipped through them one by one.

In the photos, Shen Mingcheng walked into a hotel room, and ten minutes later, he came out of the room and entered the elevator.

Immediately after, a woman also walked out of that room.

Whether it was Shen Mingcheng or that woman, both were wrapped up tightly; hats and masks covered their entire faces completely.

But based on their familiar figures, Tang Ye recognized Shen Mingcheng at a glance.

He put down the photos and sighed: "These are just a few photos; they cannot serve as solid evidence that he has wronged you."

Tang Ye carefully calculated the time Shen Mingcheng spent entering and leaving the room; it was less than ten minutes in total.

By common sense, one would at least exchange a few pleasantries upon entering a room, and if they were really going to do something, they would need to wash up.

Ending it in ten minutes was simply ridiculously fast!

The corners of Chen Lan's mouth curled into a bitter smile: "Actually, I have also tried to convince myself to let it go."

Tang Ye advised: "Why don't you have a good talk with him? Perhaps there is some misunderstanding."

Chen Lan shook her head in disappointment and gave a wry smile: "I have been married to Shen Mingcheng for so many years, and I lost faith in him long ago. After my mother fell ill, I tried to convince myself to give him a chance to turn over a new leaf. But what about him? On the surface, he is extremely caring toward me, but behind my back, he still can't change his old habits."

Tang Ye gripped the photo of the woman and remained silent for a moment, then suddenly stood up and took another photo from his drawer to compare them carefully.

After a long while, he placed the photo in front of Chen Lan, deliberately blocking the woman's face on the photo with his finger.

A flash of surprise appeared in Chen Lan's eyes: "That's right, even without seeing her face, I can be sure it's the same person. Who exactly is this woman?"

Tang Ye slowly moved his finger away, and the woman's true face was exposed before Chen Lan.

"Her name is Gao Xiaoqing, and she is a public servant in Tianling County."

Chen Lan's breathing suddenly became rapid.

Her towering chest heaved violently, and her teeth bit down hard on her lip.

"How do you have photos of her?"

Tang Ye did not hide it and said truthfully: "I have a friend who is a lawyer for Gu Lanping. Although Gu Lanping has already been arrested and imprisoned, her family is still fighting for a sentence reduction for her. Many of the charges were originally forced upon Gu Lanping, and like Gu Lanping, Gao Xiaoqing previously had an ambiguous relationship with Shen Mingcheng, so the lawyer collected information on her."

Chen Lan's gaze instantly became dull, and her body leaned back abruptly, resting heavily against the sofa.

Tang Ye was startled and quickly stood up, wanting to step forward to check on her, but he saw a stream of clear tears sliding from the corners of her eyes.

He bent down and placed the entire pack of tissues in front of Chen Lan.

Chen Lan took the tissues to wipe her tears, her voice trembling: "Do you think I am ridiculous?"

Tang Ye paused for a moment and shook his head gently: "I have never had such a thought."

In his heart, Chen Lan was merely the cousin of his wife, Du Xi, just an ordinary relative.

Whether she lived well or poorly seemed to have little to do with him.

The reason he paid attention to Shen Mingcheng was mainly because this guy had previously played dirty tricks on Sun Hai.

But in Chen Lan's view, Tang Ye's investigation into Shen Mingcheng must have been because of her.

"I beg you to do me a favor; you must promise me." Chen Lan asked again.

"Go ahead, as long as I can do it."

Tang Ye looked at her tear-streaked face and couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy.

Chen Lan had indeed been miserable lately—her mother was still in recovery, her husband was so troublesome, and her marriage had reached a dead end.

Chen Lan didn't say exactly what she wanted him to help with, but she dialed Shen Mingcheng's number right in front of him.

Seeing that it was Chen Lan calling, Shen Mingcheng's tone carried a hint of surprise: "Wife, calling me at this time, is something the matter? Is there some situation with Mom?"

Chen Lan's voice was icy and piercing: "My mother is fine. I want to meet with you."

Shen Mingcheng was somewhat surprised: "I have a meeting to attend later."

Chen Lan said in a deep voice: "After you get off work tonight, we will meet. I will send you the address later. If you don't come, you will bear the consequences."

Shen Mingcheng heard the warning in her tone and quickly replied with a smile: "Got it, got it. We really haven't eaten together in a long time."

After hanging up, Chen Lan turned to Tang Ye: "I would like to ask you to accompany me to the appointment tonight. Also, please don't tell Du Xi about this. To be honest, I envy her, but I'm also afraid that if she knows about these things, she will look down on me."

Seeing her wiping her tears again, Tang Ye nodded slightly: "Fine, I promise you."

After Chen Lan left the office, Tang Ye immediately dialed Du Xi's number.

"I have something to tell you. Chen Lan made an appointment with Shen Mingcheng tonight, intending to have a showdown with him for divorce negotiations, and she wants me to accompany her."

Du Xi was somewhat puzzled: "Why do you need to get involved in their business as a married couple?"

Tang Ye said with a solemn expression, "I think Chen Lan is actually quite afraid of Shen Mingcheng."

Du Xi reacted immediately, "That's right, Shen Mingcheng has a history of domestic violence! You should go with her, I agree to it."

Tang Ye added, "There is one more thing I need to make clear to you; Chen Lan asked me not to tell you about this, so you must pretend you don't know when the time comes."

Du Xi frowned, "Why does she want to hide it from me?"

Tang Ye analyzed, "Chen Lan has always carried a sense of superiority when she is with you since you were young, so she doesn't want you to see her at her most wretched."

Tang Ye really is a snake!

He promised Chen Lan to keep it a secret just a moment ago.

And sold Chen Lan out the very next second!

Du Xi couldn't help but laugh and cry, "Then why are you telling me?"

Tang Ye said sincerely, "Chen Lan still overestimated human nature. We are husband and wife, we cannot have secrets between us, otherwise it's easy for conflicts to arise."

Du Xi was silent for a few seconds, and a gentle, water-like smile gradually rippled across her face.

"Husband, thank you, thank you for being so honest with me."