After The Divorce, My Ex-Wife Is Consumed By Regret - Chapter 1

“Goddess! You are so beautiful! I’m a huge CP fan of you and your wife. You two have to stay happy together forever!”

“Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan, I love you! The stories you write are seriously way, way too sweet. Yan-Yuan forever, sob sob.”

“You barely update these days, waah… It’s fine to enjoy your real life and be happy with your wife, but please don’t forget to feed us some content!”

Chu Yuan wore a face mask, her eyes crinkling into warm crescents as she earnestly signed autographs for every fan who had come for her. Each time she finished signing, she would politely and gently say, “Thank you.”

However, aside from “thank you,” she didn’t say another word.

This was the third year since her serialized online comic had blown up, and it was the second offline fan-signing event she had ever held.

She had always dreamed of making comics. Since her freshman year of college, she had serialized her work on various online platforms, though none had ever made much of a splash.

It wasn’t until the year she graduated from college, after marrying her wife Yan Dai, that inspiration suddenly struck. She decided to concept a dual-female protagonist comic based on herself, titled Heartbeat.

Chu Yuan had always been a woman of action. The very next day after the idea sparked, she registered the online pseudonym “Salt and Pepper Xiao Tangyuan,” created the fictional characters “Yan Yan” and “Xiao Yuan,” and focused the comic on the subtle, domestic flirtations of their post-marriage daily life.

Heartbeat was essentially a piece of creative fiction, an artistic re-engineering of her actual married life with Yan Dai.

Initially, Chu Yuan hadn’t held high expectations for the project. After all, a slice of life, post-marriage sweet treat of a comic was a fairly ordinary concept.

Furthermore, she was well-accustomed to her work flopping. Combined with the fact that her family was wealthy and she didn’t rely on comics to make a living, the project was mostly intended to document the sweet honeymoon phase she shared with her wife. She had fully prepared herself for the new comic to launch into total obscurity.

What she absolutely never expected was that by the third month of serialization, the comic would completely viralize across the internet.

The “Yan-Yuan” CP (couple pairing) within the comic exploded out of its niche. Fan-made edit videos racked up massive numbers of likes.

Fans obsessed with the Yan-Yuan CP flooded the comment sections: “Oh my god, they’re so real… their married life is too sweet, I’m crying…”

Back then, Chu Yuan had been incredibly smug.

After the work took off, Chu Yuan funded her very first fan-signing event out of her own pocket. With a beaming smile on her face, she practically bragged to every single fan she met.

“My wife is even prettier in real life, hehe!”

“I’m very happy in real life too.”

“I like my wife, and my wife likes me.”

She looked exactly like someone utterly steeped in a jar of honey.

In the beginning, some online trolls and unscrupulous marketing accounts tried to spread rumors, releasing videos claiming things like “Salt and Pepper Xiao Tangyuan is just clout-chasing” or “Xiao Tangyuan’s real-life marriage is actually miserable.”

Though fans fought back, defending them with “our Yan-Yuan is perfectly happy offline,” they couldn’t stop people from doxxing and digging up “Salt and Pepper Xiao Tangyuan’s” real identity.

But once the internet dug, they realized it wasn’t a scandal at all. It turned out the real-life identities behind Yan-Yuan both possessed massive backgrounds, both were socialite princesses from elite Beijing circles.

Though it was an arranged marriage for corporate alliance, the two were blissfully happy and perfectly in tune.

With that, the Yan-Yuan CP fans could completely hold their heads high. The pairing’s Super Topic engagement ranking held the number one spot firmly for three consecutive years, utterly crushing any celebrity CPs desperately trying to sell fan service in the entertainment industry.

People even joked: “Even a stray dog passing by a Yan-Yuan video would have to stop and take two bites of that sweet couple content.”

However, whether a marriage is truly happy is something only the person inside it knows.

To be fair, during the first six months after marrying Yan Dai, Chu Yuan had genuinely felt that her married life was excellent.

Even though her marriage to her wife, Yan Dai, was arranged, she had been incredibly satisfied with her partner.

Back then, she would brag to anyone who would listen about how gorgeous her wife was. But later on, whenever she described Yan Dai to others, she added a new word, cold.

Over the three years of their marriage, Yan Dai had never shown her a shred of warmth; it could even be described as outright indifference.

The more smugly she had bragged to her friends or to her readers as the comic author “Salt and Pepper Xiao Tangyuan” about how blissful her marriage was, the more foolish she felt about her actions in hindsight.

Now, Chu Yuan only felt that her current marriage was an absolute mess.

By the time the offline signing event concluded, Chu Yuan was exhausted to the point of collapse.

A private car had long been waiting for her outside the venue. She pulled open the back door and slid inside. Pulling out her phone, she discovered she had made it onto the trending topics on Weibo.

She wasn’t a celebrity or an artist, but likely due to her status as a comic author combined with her family background, she tended to trend whenever she made a public appearance.

Moreover, today was the day of her signing event, so trending was perfectly normal.

Facing the sudden influx of hot topics, Chu Yuan merely tapped in to glance through them casually.

#Salt and Pepper Xiao Tangyuan Signing Event

This hashtag was very standard, and she didn’t think much of it. But in the next second, two other hashtags caught her eye.

#Chu Yuan Yan Dai Suspected Marital Rift

#Yan-Yuan CP BE (Bad End)

Chu Yuan: “??”

She rarely spent time surfing the web, but she still clicked into those two tags to look. Immediately, she saw the comments left by netizens on the main feed.

“Ugh, why did I feel a faint sense of a Bad End from the Yan-Yuan CP today?”

“I felt it too. The comic Heartbeat was only serialized for half a year before it suddenly announced its conclusion. Since then, Xiao Tangyuan hasn’t updated anything about her life with her wife. Yan-Yuan fans have been eating stale leftovers for two and a half years!”

“What broke my heart the most was Xiao Tangyuan’s behavior at the signing today. She was so distant. The entire time, she only said ‘thank you’ and didn’t say a single other thing.”

“Exactly. During the first signing event, Xiao Tangyuan looked so full of happiness. She was incredibly lively sharing things with us, nine out of ten sentences were praising her wife.”

“Even though their real life might still be happy, I honestly can’t process this right now, sob sob…”

“The saddest part is that Xiao Tangyuan said this was her second signing event, but also her last. Did my CP really hit a Bad End?”

“And I heard rumors that in reality, the Yan-Yuan couple has already been living apart for half a year. It’s highly likely a marital rift.”

“Ahhh! Who did you hear that from? I’ll beat you up!”

“With this kind of wealthy family alliance, there isn’t much genuine affection to begin with. A marital rift is pretty normal.”

Chu Yuan skimmed through a few comments and exited the app directly.

Seeing her marriage being publicly discussed, Chu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh internally. Netizens truly were terrifyingly resourceful, how on earth did they even dig that up?

Then again, her alias had already been leaked six months ago. By now, who on the internet didn’t know that “Salt and Pepper Xiao Tangyuan” was her?

If the Yan-Yuan CP fans found out that they hadn’t just been living apart for half a year, but had barely even spoken a word to each other during those six months… they would probably lose their minds completely.

The moment Chu Yuan thought about how Yan Dai wouldn’t say a single word to her if she didn’t initiate contact, her teeth itched with resentment.

And what she regretted most was undoubtedly the beginning of their marriage, when she had pressed her warm face against Yan Dai’s cold shoulder for a solid six months, even serializing a comic based on the two of them during that time.

Stupid, stupid, she had been incredibly stupid!

Hmph. Her genuine heart had been utterly toyed with by that bad woman!

The more Chu Yuan thought about it, the angrier she got. She stamped her foot forcefully against the floor of the car to vent her frustration.

The stamping made quite a racket, causing the driver to look back automatically. “Miss, is everything alright?”

Chu Yuan crossed her arms over her chest and said coldly, “Sister Qian, turn around. Go to Wink Bar.”

Sister Qian naturally wouldn’t say anything against it. She was paid to do a job and never asked unnecessary questions, so she immediately turned the car around and drove Chu Yuan to Wink Bar.

Wink Bar was a lesbian bar owned by Ji Xiran. Ji Xiran was also a well-known second generation wealthy socialite in Beijing. With more money than she knew what to do with, she had invested in a lesbian bar. After operating for a few years, it hadn’t turned a profit, in fact, she had lost quite a bit of money on it.

After all, when Ji Xiran first opened this bar, she had famously stated: “Why go out to find pretty girls when you can just have the pretty girls come to you?”

In short, it was highly convenient for her to flirt with women.

If she saw a cute, sweet girl and felt in a good mood, she’d buy her drinks and treats. If she spotted a gentle, mature older woman, she’d wave her hand and comp the entire tab. Not only was she happily losing money, but she also righteously claimed, “Money is meant to be spent on girls.” Thus, she lived a carefree life, drifting through the world of romance year after year.

When Chu Yuan suddenly arrived, Ji Xiran was currently buried in a crowd of women, calling them “little sister” left and right, her smile practically reaching her temples.

Chu Yuan spotted Ji Xiran precisely amidst the crowd and walked over with a blank expression. “Do you have any private booths left?”

The moment Chu Yuan appeared, she drew the gaze of quite a few people.

Her face was small, only the size of a palm, but her features were exceptionally striking and distinct. Her nose wasn’t particularly high, but the tip was petite and delicate.

Her most prominent and eye catching feature was her eyes, large, round, with slightly downturned outer corners and bright, sparkling irises that gave her an incredibly innocent look.

She possessed the face of a sweet girl, yet her net height was a commanding 173 cm.

In short, she was flawless all over.

Several women in the room were already itching to approach Chu Yuan to ask for her contact information.

Seeing who it was, Ji Xiran let out a “yo” and teased, “Well, look who’s a rare guest! What brings you here? My business is booming every day, where would I find an empty booth for you? Why don’t you just join us?”

Wink Bar was indeed thriving. Everyone knew the owner was a stunning beauty who was rich, easygoing, and above all, generous. If you were lucky, your bill might get comped entirely, because the owner frequently covered the house whenever she was in a good mood.

As a result, Wink Bar was packed nearly every night, even if it lost money every year.

Before she got married, Chu Yuan used to come here often. However, early in the marriage, because Yan Dai had stared at a tipsy Chu Yuan and said, “You get drunk every time you go, maybe stop going,” Chu Yuan had naively assumed Yan Dai was jealous of all the pretty women at Wink Bar. Consequently, she actually reduced the frequency of her visits, holding out for a solid six months.

Because of this “abandoning friends for romance” behavior, Ji Xiran would always tease her with “what a rare guest” whenever she showed up.

Even later on, when Chu Yuan realized Yan Dai hadn’t been jealous at all but had just made a passing comment, she resumed coming to Wink Bar more frequently. Yet, Ji Xiran kept up the joke anyway.

Chu Yuan rolled her eyes. “Stop teasing me. Get an empty booth for me right now.”

“My dear princess, where am I supposed to conjure an empty booth for you? The private rooms are completely full.” Ji Xiran stood up, naturally slinging an arm around Chu Yuan’s shoulders to pull her down, guiding her straight into the seat next to her. “Come on, come on, play with us.”

Saying this, Ji Xiran lowered her voice, whispering into Chu Yuan’s ear so that only the two of them could hear: “There are so many pretty girls here, surely there’s one that fits your type?”

Chu Yuan replied with a deadpan expression, keeping her voice low: “I have a wife.”

Ji Xiran rolled her eyes. “That wife of yours is practically non-existent. She’s been abroad for half a year. Who knows how many girlfriends she’s found out there without you knowing.”

Chu Yuan felt an instant pang of heartache. She picked up a glass, took a sip of alcohol, and simultaneously rolled her eyes. “Can you stop stabbing me in the heart?”

“I’m just stating facts. Hasn’t your marriage been dead in all but name for a long time? That Yan Dai doesn’t even like you.” Ji Xiran didn’t mean to hurt Chu Yuan’s feelings on purpose. It was just that for people of their family backgrounds, most couldn’t love freely and had to comply with arranged family alliances.

Ji Xiran herself didn’t believe there could be any real affection in an arranged marriage. Even though she wasn’t married yet, she figured that once she did wed, she and her alliance wife would absolutely live their own separate lives after the wedding.

As long as no one pierced the illusion, everything would remain peaceful.

Chu Yuan fell silent, merely taking sip after sip of her drink, her face clouded with sullen discontent. She barely paid any attention to the girls nearby who actively tried to strike up a conversation with her.

To be honest, while Chu Yuan could handle some alcohol, her tolerance wasn’t fantastic. Furthermore, alcohol easily showed on her face; she flushed very quickly.

Ji Xiran couldn’t bear to watch any longer. Snatching the glass out of Chu Yuan’s hand, she said with exasperation, “Oh, my dear princess, don’t tell me you still like Yan Dai?”

The girls present glanced between the two of them. Not everyone knew their identities, so they all put on expressions ready to enjoy some gossip.

Chu Yuan hummed softly. “She’s my wife, of course I like her~”

Ji Xiran twisted the knife: “But she doesn’t like you.”

Chu Yuan pouted, suddenly feeling like crying, but she bit her lower lip hard, forcing herself to hold back the tears.

Yan Dai truly didn’t like her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have made her sign a prenuptial agreement right after they got married, where the very first clause stated: “A marriage of convenience, neither party shall interfere with the other’s private life.”

Yan Dai truly didn’t like her. Otherwise, during the first half-year of their marriage when Chu Yuan pressed her warm face against her cold shoulder, the woman wouldn’t have completely forgotten her birthday.

Yan Dai truly didn’t like her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have flown straight abroad and stayed there for over six months, never once initiating a message unless Chu Yuan texted her first.

The specific details were too numerous to count.

In short, Yan Dai simply didn’t like her.

Whether it was the fictional Yan-Yuan CP or their real-life marriage offline, it was all a joke.

As Chu Yuan thought about it, her nose grew sour, her throat felt tight, and even her heart felt as though it were being squeezed ruthlessly by something, aching with bitterness.

Eventually, her emotions broke past her control, and her eyes welled with red.

Ji Xiran sighed. She naturally felt terrible for her best friend and fiercely cursed Yan Dai several times in her mind.

Losing all interest in playing with the girls, she threw out a sentence to the room: “I’m taking my friend home. Drinks are half off tonight, have fun everyone~”

Amidst a burst of cheers, she grabbed Chu Yuan by the wrist and led her straight out the door and into her car.

Ji Xiran gripped the steering wheel. “Dropping you off at home?”

“You’re hurting me,” Chu Yuan said, shaking her wrist free. “Why did you drag me out?”

“You’re practically wasted. I have to get you home.”

“I’m not drunk.”

Ji Xiran turned and held up two fingers, asking, “How many is this?”

Chu Yuan rolled her eyes. “Screw off.”

Ji Xiran chuckled, confirming that Chu Yuan wasn’t entirely wasted. “Your state was wrong just now. If I hadn’t dragged you out, you were going to cry.”

Chu Yuan rolled her eyes again. “Who was going to cry?”

“Just keep acting tough. You know exactly how many times you’ve cried in front of me over that bad woman Yan Dai.”

Chu Yuan naturally knew.

Over these past three years, Chu Yuan had endured Yan Dai’s coldness while simultaneously coaxing herself to keep liking her, making her undisputed number one in the “simp” rankings.

As the eldest Miss of the Chu family, who had been showered with love and adoration since childhood, she had only ever suffered grievances from Yan Dai, and she had endured it for three long years.

Before, she could still rationalize it to herself. But now, perhaps under the influence of alcohol combined with the explosion of long-accumulated grievances, she grabbed her designer handbag from the side and slammed it down hard. “I’m done!”

Ji Xiran was startled. “My princess, what kind of fit are you throwing now?”

Chu Yuan treated the bag as if it were Yan Dai herself, shoving it down from the seat and even giving it a resentful kick. She hissed through gritted teeth, “I’m not going to like Yan Dai anymore. I want a divorce from Yan Dai!”