Did My Wife Break Up With Me Today? - Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Extra IF Line — If Kongqing Had Never Lost His Memory

The day he re-established contact with Xu Jingmo was a typical, sweltering summer day.

Chen Kongqing stared at the friend request on his phone. He hadn’t accepted it yet. He wanted to leave Xu Jingmo hanging for a while—as a punishment!

So, the moment he returned to his rented apartment, he forced himself to put down his phone and play with his kitten. The little black cat was a stray he’d rescued at the school gate. He didn’t want to give it a generic name like “Lucky,” so he named it Black Cat Sheriff.

The Sheriff was very well-behaved and loved to cling to him. After feeding the cat and cleaning the litter box, Kongqing hopped into the shower. He did everything possible to distract himself, but his mind kept drifting back to his phone—and to the scene of meeting Xu Jingmo today.

Sigh. Why was he so lazy today? He hadn’t even fixed his hair before leaving the house. But who could have predicted a reunion under those circumstances? No one!

On his way home, Xu Jingmo was also reeling. He never imagined the person he had been searching for all these years would reappear in his life like that. The moment Kongqing appeared, his first thought was that he’d recognized the wrong person. But those eyes and that pale pink mouth with its natural slight curve—he was certain.

Back at his apartment, Xu Jingmo saw the request was still pending. He opened a group chat with a few close friends and started dropping a series of digital red envelopes (hongbao).

Zhou Mujun: 【??】 Lnk (Xu Jingmo): 【Thanks for inviting me to the BBQ, everyone.】 Zhou Mujun: 【Don’t tell me you found five million dollars on the way back.】 Hu Yuanyuan: 【Why is my luck always the worst?! Xu, send me a private one to compensate.】

Xu Jingmo simply sent an even larger one to the group.

Zhou Mujun: 【Did you find a treasure? @Lnk】

Xu Jingmo didn’t reply; he just kept dropping money. Even with the “worst luck,” Hu Yuanyuan managed to snag nearly a thousand yuan. Every few minutes, Xu Jingmo would exit the chat to check if his friend request had been accepted.

Finally, at 1:30 AM, he got the notification. A dialogue box between him and Chen Kongqing appeared.

In the quiet of the night, Xu Jingmo had no desire to sleep. He wanted to type something, but couldn’t find the words. He clicked on Kongqing’s profile picture—a cute little black cat. The Moments page was sparse: just holiday greetings and mandatory school links. He looked at those few posts over and over again.

Under the same moon, Chen Kongqing was also hugging his phone, scrolling through Xu Jingmo’s Moments. This guy… his posts are even more boring than mine. It was all hospital links and occasional landscape photos. But he learned one thing: Xu Jingmo was now a doctor at the Third Municipal Hospital.

Kongqing returned to the chat window. Hmph, he hasn’t even sent me a message. He pouted, then figured it was too late at night. Xu Jingmo was probably asleep.

…

The next morning, Kongqing had an 8:00 AM class. Just as he sat down in the classroom, a message arrived on time.

Xu Jingmo: 【Good morning.】 Xu Jingmo: 【Are you awake?】

Kongqing waited exactly thirty seconds before replying.

Azurite: 【I’ve been awake for a long time.】 Xu Jingmo: 【Do you have early classes today?】 Azurite: 【Mhm. I have to go, class is starting.】 (The teacher hadn’t actually arrived yet; he was just being difficult on purpose.) Xu Jingmo: 【Okay. Let’s talk after your class.】

Over the next few days, Xu Jingmo constantly looked for excuses to chat. Kongqing replied depending on his mood. Xu Jingmo also kept ordering him delivery—coffee, cakes—treating him like a child. He asked him out to dinner several times, but Kongqing refused every time.

He didn’t know why he was being so stubborn. Maybe it was the memory of the many tears he’d shed as a child because he missed him. Or the pain of wanting to study in Germany just to find him, only to be held back by reality. He just didn’t want to make things easy for Xu Jingmo.

Until Saturday.

Kongqing had been in the lab all day processing data and hadn’t checked his phone. By the time he finished, his brain was fried. It had rained heavily, and the streets were wet with puddles. As he walked up the stairs to his apartment, he finally checked his phone.

Xu Jingmo had messaged him at noon about lunch, again in the afternoon about the weather, and had tried to call him at 7:00 PM. As Kongqing started to type a reply, he heard a vibration. It wasn’t his phone.

He looked up. A familiar figure was standing by his door.

Xu Jingmo straightened up. Kongqing realized with a start that Xu Jingmo was now so tall he nearly hit the doorframe. He remembered Xu Jingmo telling him as a child that he’d grow just as tall, but now he was nearly a full head shorter than the man.

Xu Jingmo’s hair was damp, and his shoulders were soaked. He looked like a large, abandoned dog in the rain—his eyes misty, his handsome face covered in droplets.

“You’re okay… are you okay?” Xu Jingmo asked, his voice tight.

Kongqing blinked. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“As long as you’re okay.” Xu Jingmo let out a long breath, his tense expression softening.

“Are you okay? What happened to you?” Kongqing asked.

Xu Jingmo smiled faintly. “I’m fine. I couldn’t get a hold of you during the day and got worried… so I wanted to come check on you.”

“Then why are you soaking wet?”

“Oh… it started raining hard on my way over. I got caught in it.”

“Why didn’t you wait for the rain to stop?” Kongqing muttered.

“I couldn’t wait,” Xu Jingmo shook his head with a smile. “I only cared about whether something had happened to you. I didn’t care about the rain.”

Kongqing’s “hardened” heart began to crumble. A heavy silence filled the small stairwell.

“Since you’re okay, I’ll head back,” Xu Jingmo said, starting to turn away. “Remember to eat well. If you have time… please reply to my messages.”

Kongqing stood still as Xu Jingmo started to pass him. Then, he blurted out, “Wait… wait.”

Xu Jingmo froze. “What’s wrong?”

Kongqing avoided his eyes, his neck stiff as he walked to his door and fumbled with his keys. The lock clicked open.

“I don’t want to cook,” Kongqing said, finally opening his mouth. “How about… you help me make dinner?”

Before he could even finish the sentence, Xu Jingmo rushed to answer: “Okay… of course! I can definitely do that.”

“Then come in,” Kongqing commanded, trying to keep his voice flat.

Inside, Xu Jingmo immediately went to the tiny kitchen. He really intended to cook. Kongqing pouted and handed him some face towels. “Wipe yourself off. I’m not taking responsibility if you catch a cold.”

Xu Jingmo was washing tomatoes from the fridge. He looked at the towels, then at the running water. “My hands are a bit wet,” he said tentatively.

Kongqing frowned, then bit his lip. “Do you… want me to help you?”

Xu Jingmo quickly turned off the faucet and shook his wet hands. “No… I… I can do it myself.”

Kongqing bit his lip harder, looked down, and turned the faucet back on. He let the water run over Xu Jingmo’s hands.

“You’re so fussy,” Kongqing said airily. “I’ll help you, then.”