Chapter 22

"How is Bai Bai Ziling?" Jiang Jie didn't want to beat around the bush anymore; he just wanted to know how she was doing.

Xia Zhen said nothing, merely looking at him.

Jiang Jie looked back at her, but his mind was on Bai Bai Ziling, that night... He knew that only he had truly found pleasure and satisfaction. Because it was her first time, Bai Bai Ziling had cried from the pain, and combined with her hatred for him, he believed that night was certainly not a pleasant experience for her. When dawn broke and he woke up, Bai Bai Ziling was already gone.

In her room, she had taken everything that belonged to her, leaving nothing behind, as if she had never lived there at all. She hadn't even said goodbye to him. After he sobered up, only her words, "I will hate you until I die!" echoed endlessly in his ears.

Jiang Jie had thought about calling her, but usually, before he could finish dialing the number, he would pull his hand back. She wouldn't answer his call. Even if it was to handle the divorce, there were lawyers who could step in. Did he have any excuse to find her again?

"Jiang Jie..." Xia Zhen finally spoke. "Don't you think that's a very stupid, very funny question?"

"Is she okay?" he insisted on asking again.

"How could she possibly be okay?"

"She... what has she been busy with recently?" he asked, forcing himself to continue.

"Busy being heartbroken."

"Xia Zhen..." His whole body tensed, and he looked equally tormented. "I am being very serious—"

"Am I not being serious?" Xia Zhen mocked him. "Bai Bai Ziling can't eat well, can't sleep well, and has lost a huge amount of weight. Ask her anything and she won't say a word, only mentioning that the transaction ended early. Jiang Jie, how did you hurt her? How could you do such a thing?"

Jiang Jie admitted it; he didn't refute a single word.

"Bai Bai Ziling is a good girl; you have neither the qualification nor the right to torture her like this," Xia Zhen criticized angrily.

"Didn't you comfort her?" Jiang Jie asked with concern.

"How are we supposed to comfort her? You teach me!"

"I... I never intended to hurt her."

"I could say that too."

"I hope you can..."

"Jiang Jie, the mess you created, you must come out and clean it up yourself. It wasn't us who hurt Bai Bai Ziling, it wasn't us who treated her badly, it was you!" Xia Zhen accused him mercilessly. "You are the culprit."

"I paid the money, and many things were Bai Bai Ziling's willing choice..."

"Jiang Jie, if thinking this way makes your conscience feel better, then just think that way!" Xia Zhen became even more harsh. "Do only you have money? Three million isn't US dollars; it's just New Taiwan Dollars. I, or Chang Weiwei, or Sima Sima Xingchen, could easily have three million."

Jiang Jie decided to remain silent.

"And Bai Bai Ziling is not a gold digger!" Xia Zhen added.

"I never said she was!"

"But you seem to treat her like a gold digger as you trample on her!"

"Xia Zhen, I did not trample on her. From the first day until the day she left, I never treated her badly. You can ask her yourself; I am not some... demon or a lunatic," Jiang Jie said coldly, refusing unreasonable accusations.

"Yes! You are a rich master!" Xia Zhen mocked him to the fullest extent. "Bai Bai Ziling was right to leave you. If she had stayed any longer, I'm afraid... she wouldn't even know how she died."

Jiang Jie smiled bitterly, then turned and walked away. Since he couldn't get any answers, he might as well spare himself! He hadn't expected Lei Lei Hanyu's wife to be so sharp-tongued.

Only after Jiang Jie moved away from his wife did Lei Lei Hanyu approach him, and he did so somewhat sneakily, afraid that Xia Zhen would discover it and spark a family war.

"Learned the power of my wife, did you?" Lei Lei Hanyu patted Jiang Jie's shoulder, somewhat as a way of encouraging him.

"Can't blame her," Jiang Jie said with great grace.

"She was venting anger on behalf of Bai Bai Ziling."

"I understand."

"The four of them... are closer than real sisters," Lei Lei Hanyu said, having learned this lesson long ago. "If you offend one, you offend them all. So if you want to live your life peacefully, then by all means, do not provoke any one of them."

"Seems there's no chance for that anymore," Jiang Jie said expressionlessly.

"You and Bai Bai Ziling are done?"

"Done."

"Are you sure it's really over?" Lei Lei Hanyu wanted him to think it through again. "Once, I thought I was done with Xia Zhen too, but after losing her, I realized she had already invaded my blood, my marrow; I simply couldn't live without her. Stubbornness only tortures oneself. In the end, the one who raised the white flag was me; in the end, I still lost."

Jiang Jie just listened, offering no response.

"If you don't love her, then it doesn't matter, but if you do love her..." Lei Lei Hanyu spoke with the tone of someone who had been there. "Admit defeat early!"

Jiang Jie sighed. "I don't know."

"You don't know if you love her?!"

"I don't know if she will forgive me," Jiang Jie said, a thought-provoking remark.

"Jiang Jie, then you..."

"I still don't understand women."

"No man truly understands women. Do you know what Sima Sima Xingchen's husband, Lan Bowei, said?" Lei Lei Hanyu imitated Lan Bowei's tone. "Just love her; there's no need to understand her!"

Jiang Jie smiled.

"Those are words of gold," Lei Lei Hanyu said finally. "Many things are actually not difficult. The one thing women want has never changed from ancient times to the present."

"Love?" Jiang Jie asked.

"It is love!" Lei Lei Hanyu winked. "You've finally figured it out!"

Bai Bai Ziling prepared to use the three million Jiang Jie gave her to open an exquisite, distinctive coffee shop, because life had to go on. Although her heart was broken, she still had family and friends; she couldn't collapse. She couldn't be defeated for the rest of her life because of a heartless man; she wanted to live well just to show him!

To prepare for the coffee shop, Bai Bai Ziling was busy going in and out all day. Actually, this was good; being busy kept her from thinking about Jiang Jie, from thinking about the humiliation and hurt he brought her. As long as she was given a little more time, she believed she would definitely recover.

But the moment she stepped out of her home and saw Jiang Jie standing not far from her door, all her self-defense and psychological construction collapsed and crumbled. Immediately, she felt her heart sliced again by a sharp blade, bloody and raw, causing her to frown and grit her teeth in pain.

Jiang Jie stared straight at Bai Bai Ziling. Xia Zhen hadn't been wrong; she really had lost so much weight. Now, she seemed to have no flesh on her body at all, and even her eye sockets were somewhat sunken. She looked extremely exhausted and worn out.

"Bai Bai Ziling," he called her softly.

"Do you want me to sign the divorce papers?" The only possibility Bai Bai Ziling could think of was this. "Bring the things, I'll sign!"

"I didn't bring any divorce papers."

"Then why are you here?"

"I just came to..."

"Look at me?" Bai Bai Ziling glared at him coldly. "You see it now, I'm fine! So..."

"You're not fine." He interrupted her too.

"I only *look* not fine, but actually I've never been this good in my life, you know? That three million of yours still has some use; I'm going to open a coffee shop, so..." She sneered at him. "I should even thank you!"

"You're going to open a coffee shop?" Jiang Jie hadn't expected she had this plan.

"You forbid it?" she asked mockingly.

"Do you have experience?"

"I can learn!"

"That requires tuition." Jiang Jie didn't know if her coffee shop would succeed or how long it could last; many women wanted to open coffee shops, but amateurs often lost money until they cried without tears.

"Is that any of your business?" she asked numbly. "Even if my coffee shop eventually fails, I think it has nothing to do with you at all, right? That three million was after all earned by my own *ability*."

"Must it be like this?" he said patiently.

"Like what!" she retorted fiercely.

"We are still... husband and wife."

"Jiang Jie, my mood hasn't been good lately, so I don't want to smile. You and I were never truly husband and wife; don't insult such a sacred word. You did it for money, and I did it for money only; at best... we are a pair of mutually beneficial 'dog lovers'!" Bai Bai Ziling spoke in a way that would shock people, wanting to show him she could be rough.