The Husband From the Original Pairing is Now Divorced - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Turning Point – He Cannot Be With Zhou Zifei

With a great thud—

It was as if Yu Xianghang had been struck by lightning. His long-held sense of security was like a wall being demolished by an excavator, debris scattering everywhere in a chaotic mess.

“What did you say?” he asked back, incredulous.

“I said, I want to break up with you.”

Chen Lekang sat on the sofa and repeated his point. Yu Xianghang was completely stunned. Then, he snapped out of it and suddenly grabbed a throw pillow, hurling it at him.

“I’m the one who caught you cheating! How do you have the nerve to say you want to break up with me?!”

Yu Xianghang’s face was flushed with rage. He had just returned home from work this evening when Chen Lekang slipped into the bathroom to shower. This suspicious behavior had persisted for a week, leading Yu Xianghang to harbor dark thoughts. He had quietly checked Chen Lekang’s phone—something he usually disdained doing, yet he couldn’t put his mind at ease.

Because Chen Lekang’s recent words and actions were far too similar to his own back then: the phone he wouldn’t put down, the frequent outings, the passionless sex…

So when Yu Xianghang saw the flirtatious messages on the phone, his first reaction was: I knew it.

When Chen Lekang came out, before Yu Xianghang could even bring it up, Chen Lekang snatched the phone back and announced the breakup as casually as if he were asking for a glass of water.

“Why wouldn’t I have the nerve? You managed to get a whole divorce back then; what’s a breakup compared to that?”

Chen Lekang tilted his head to dodge the pillow, his tone remaining casual.

“I—”

Yu Xianghang wanted to argue, but he was speechless.

“Fine, look at you, panicking like crazy. If you don’t want to break up, then we won’t.”

Chen Lekang laughed, standing up to stretch as if nothing had happened.

Yu Xianghang was baffled. What did he mean, “If you don’t want to, then we won’t”? Chen Lekang had cheated! He had betrayed him, found someone else—shouldn’t they have to break up?

“Wait! What do you mean? Why are you acting like I’m the one being unreasonable?”

“Chen Lekang, make yourself clear. If you’ve fallen for someone else, just tell me honestly. I’m not the kind of person who clings!”

Yu Xianghang grabbed Chen Lekang’s hand, stopping him from heading to the bedroom.

Chen Lekang turned around and sneered. “I haven’t fallen for anyone else. I’m just bored of being with you. I want to try someone new for a change.”

“Try someone new? What do you think our relationship is?” Yu Xianghang gripped Chen Lekang’s wrist, staring into his mocking face.

“Weren’t we just playing around from the start? Did you actually think I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life?”

Hearing this, Yu Xianghang felt a sharp pain in his chest. He blurted out, “Playing around? Do you have any idea that I got a divorce for you? And now you tell me it was just playing around?”

“Chen Lekang, do you even have a heart? You—”

Chen Lekang’s expression went cold, and he cut him off. “Get one thing straight, okay? I didn’t tell you to get a divorce. You were the one in a hurry to get divorced.”

“How was I in a hurry?” Yu Xianghang retorted.

“You weren’t in a hurry? Then why did you ask me to come over to your place to do it several times? Weren’t you just waiting for your ex-husband to find out so you could bring up the divorce?”

“On the day of the divorce, you were still clinging to me in the car. Don’t try to tell me you were forced into it.”

Yu Xianghang felt his temples throbbing. He stung Chen Lekang with his words: “You were the one who approached me first. If you hadn’t kept looking for me, how would I have cheated and gotten divorced? Now you want to just walk away and deny everything?”

Fury rose in Chen Lekang. Seeing Yu Xianghang’s self-righteous act, the insults came flying out.

“Yu Xianghang, who are you trying to impress with this noble act?”

“The first time we slept together, you were the one who said you wanted it. You claimed to love your husband, yet the next moment you wouldn’t let go of my clothes.”

“After the divorce, you had the gall to tell me everything was Sheng Jia’s fault. Where do you get the face to push all the blame onto others?”

Chen Lekang shook off Yu Xianghang’s hand and grabbed his phone to leave. Yu Xianghang couldn’t stop him and could only keep throwing things at him.

“Chen Lekang, if you leave today, don’t you ever come back!”

“I’ll find someone else! You’ll never be with me again!”

Chen Lekang paused. He turned back and gave Yu Xianghang a fake smile.

“That’s exactly what I want. Go find whoever you want. I don’t want to be with a second-hand piece of goods like you anyway. The smell of ‘cheap’ on you makes me want to vomit!”

With a bang, an ashtray thrown by Yu Xianghang hit the door that Chen Lekang had just slammed shut.

The house fell silent, leaving only a scattered mess.

Yu Xianghang’s shoulders slumped. He sat on the sofa, covering his face, wondering in agony: Why did it turn out like this?

Was it because Chen Lekang fell for someone else? Had Chen Lekang changed?

Or… was it a mistake from the moment he agreed to the divorce?

…

“We will contact you if there are any further issues.”

“Alright, thank you for arriving so quickly.”

Sheng Jia didn’t speak. He let Zhou Zifei handle everything. Aside from a few sentences during the statement, he remained with his head bowed.

Even now, having finished the statement and walked out, Sheng Jia remained silent. But Zhou Zifei acted as if nothing had happened, treating him exactly as before.

No, there was a difference.

Sheng Jia’s gaze fell on his right hand. Zhou Zifei was holding it firmly; the grip wasn’t heavy, yet he hadn’t let go. The warm, dry palm against Sheng Jia’s cold hand made him feel, for a moment, as if they were already together.

He had no memory of how he got to the police station. He only remembered being in a daze after Zhou Zifei’s confession, a faint ringing in his ears and a vast blankness before his eyes.

When he finally came to, he was sitting in an interrogation room. A policewoman was looking at him with concern, a cup of hot tea had been pushed into his hands, and Zhou Zifei’s eyes were filled with hidden worry.

“Teacher Sheng, we can’t go home tonight. The scene is being preserved, and they asked us not to go back yet.”

Zhou Zifei spoke softly as he zipped up Sheng Jia’s coat. The autumn sky darkened quickly, and the temperature had plummeted.

“Go home?” Sheng Jia asked, his voice parched.

Where was his home? That was just a building, a temporary place to stay, not a home.

Zhou Zifei smoothed Sheng Jia’s wind-tousled hair and, as if treating a child, rubbed his head. “How about you come to my place? Stay there for one night, and I’ll accompany you back tomorrow.”

Sheng Jia didn’t speak. Zhou Zifei didn’t ask further and simply called a driver to take them to one of his small apartments.

Once there, Zhou Zifei ordered some hot food, but Sheng Jia didn’t eat much. He didn’t force him, instead providing clean clothes and telling him to take a hot shower and rest early.

Lying in bed that night, Sheng Jia still felt as if he were in a dream, his whole body light and airy. His emotions weren’t actually that bad—he was just exhausted. That hoarse, soul-baring confrontation seemed to have hollowed him out, leaving him empty and too tired to react.

All those thoughts had been suppressed for too long; once a crack appeared, he couldn’t stop them from pouring out. He had thought he didn’t need anyone to understand him, that his words were just a vent, but Zhou Zifei understood everything.

After saying “I like you,” Zhou Zifei hadn’t mentioned it again. By holding Sheng Jia’s hand, he showed he didn’t care about those sharp words. Bringing him home was just to ensure he had a warm, comfortable place to rest.

Sheng Jia realized that he still wanted someone to see through his mask of calm, someone to silently show they wouldn’t leave him. He turned over, curling up under the covers, and slowly closed his eyes.

A night’s sleep will fix it. I’ll be better tomorrow. I just need to rest.

…

Sheng Jia didn’t know how long he slept. When he regained consciousness, he was still half-awake. He felt a warm, large hand with slight calluses stroking his cheek. It felt comfortable and reassuring; Sheng Jia instinctively leaned his face into it.

Then he heard someone softly calling his name.

“Sheng Jia, wake up.”

“Baby, wake up. You can’t sleep anymore.”

The infinite tolerance and tenderness in that tone made Sheng Jia want to keep his eyes closed. He gave a soft hum, wanting the hand to keep stroking his cheek, but the person stood up and moved away.

Light hit his eyelids. The bright daylight finally made him frown and open his eyes.

Zhou Zifei was sitting by the bed, looking down at him, one hand resting gently on the crown of his head. Sheng Jia froze. The man’s gaze was quiet and full of longing, showing a direct concern that Sheng Jia wasn’t used to.

“Teacher Sheng, it’s past 1:00 PM. You can’t sleep any longer.”

Zhou Zifei’s fingertips and the back of his hand lingered from Sheng Jia’s temple down to his chin. His voice was very soft, a coaxing tone. Sheng Jia instinctively turned his face away, burying himself deeper into the quilt, feeling suddenly embarrassed.

“Get up and get ready. How about some noodles in a bit?”

“Mm…”

Sheng Jia gave a small response from under the covers. He then heard the sound of footsteps receding and the door closing. Only then did he sit up. His steps were unsteady, his vision dizzy, and his temples throbbed with a dull ache. He nearly lost his footing.

In the bathroom, cold water splashed on his face brought a hint of clarity. Sheng Jia looked at himself in the mirror. Droplets rolled down his thin cheeks; his face was pale and his eyes were swollen, likely from crying so long yesterday.

He pulled back his collar to look at his old scars, then rolled up his sleeves to touch the uneven skin. Looking at the wreck in the mirror, Sheng Jia asked with a bitter smile:

“What do you like about me? What is there to like?”

I’m ten years older than you. I’m covered in scars. I have a failed marriage. I can’t handle intimacy in bed.

I have nothing to give you.

Why do you like me?

Zhou Zifei’s sudden confession made Sheng Jia think, for the first time after an encounter with Sheng Qianlong, not about the past, but about someone else’s feelings.

Sheng Jia took a deep breath. He thought he had to make things clear to Zhou Zifei: he could not be with him.

Pushing open the bedroom door, he saw Zhou Zifei standing by the dining table on a phone call. Just as Sheng Jia opened his mouth to speak, the man turned around, looking at him with a serious expression.

“Teacher Sheng, someone reported Sheng Qianlong for fraud. The police station wants us to go over.”