Chapter 39: Chapter 38: The Blind Date
...
In the bustling Qinghe District of South City, the dense lights of the night illuminated the winding Moat, transforming it into a forest serpent draped in torches.
On Rainbow Bridge, traffic flowed endlessly.
Yang Yixue opened her car window and took a breath of the hot, humid air.
"DING."
A message arrived on her phone.
Yang Yixue tapped it open expectantly.
Blind Date: "Are you here yet? I’m in a private room on the second floor of No. 1 Grill, room 288."
Blind Date: "Where are you now?"
Location sharing has ended.
Seeing the messages, Yang Yixue felt a faint sense of disappointment for some reason.
This wasn’t the message she had been waiting for.
She casually replied, "Almost there."
Seven minutes later, under the direction of the old man at the entrance of the "No. 1 Grill" barbecue restaurant, Yang Yixue parked her car.
She looked at her own haggard face in the vanity mirror.
She forced the corners of her mouth up, trying not to look so weighed down by her worries.
She went up to the second floor.
"KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK."
Yang Yixue pushed the door open and entered, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.
She wanted to throw up.
Inside the room, which was thick with the choking smell of smoke, sat a greasy, overweight man wearing a Rolex. His hair was slicked back, and a gold-colored cigarette box of a brand Yang Yixue didn’t recognize was tossed on the table.
They looked expensive, though.
When he saw Yang Yixue come in, his eyes lit up as he sized her up.
He then stood up, a little nervously, and extended his hand.
"Hello, I’m... My name is Zhu Shuhai."
Yang Yixue endured his sweaty hand, giving it a perfunctory shake.
She said coolly,
"Yang Yixue."
"Hehe, beautiful, please sit, please sit."
He eagerly pulled out a chair for her.
Yang Yixue felt even more disgusted.
They made small talk for five minutes.
Her date was Boss Zhu, who made tens of millions a year—"Pig Boss" for short.
This was because he was in the animal husbandry business, raising pigs, ducks, and chickens.
She didn’t know if it was just her imagination,
but every time Zhu Shuhai leaned in to speak, Yang Yixue could smell the stench of manure on him.
Watching him spray foul-smelling spittle with every word, his flabby flesh jiggling, sweat dripping down after just a few sentences...
Yang Yixue kept trying to console herself,
but she couldn’t help but compare him to Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu might not have had money, but he was handsome, smelled good, had a great body, and was amazing in... that department.
As for this guy...
In her mind, Yang Yixue marked him with an endless series of red X’s.
"Excuse me, my mother’s old illness acted up. She was just taken to the hospital, so I have to go."
Yang Yixue made up an excuse.
"What, your mother’s sick?! Then you should hurry. Do you need me to give you a ride? Oh, right, I have connections at the hospital. I know a director of orthopedics..."
Yang Yixue cut him off. "No, that’s okay. My mother has a heart condition. I’m leaving now."
Without waiting for Zhu Shuhai to say another word,
Yang Yixue grabbed her bag and fled in a bit of a panic.
She sat in her car for a while, calming down.
She unfriended her blind date.
Then she started her BMW and sped away.
As she passed South City Kindergarten, Yang Yixue couldn’t resist stopping the car.
She had been to this place before, but rarely.
She waited for a while but didn’t see the person she was hoping to see.
She shook her head with a self-deprecating laugh. ’What are you thinking? How could you possibly see Tongtong this late?’
Returning to her familiar apartment complex, she pushed the door to her home open.
Yang Yixue, who had expected to finally relax, was instantly furious.
Because the moment she stepped inside,
she was hit with a wall of foul odors.
A pile of stinking shoes was arranged on the shoe rack.
Her own shoes were carelessly crushed underneath them.
Then she looked at the living room.
Empty liquor bottles lay on the table amidst a mess of spoiled leftovers.
The drawers and cabinets had been rummaged through, and even the used condoms from her and Jiang Liu had been pulled out.
The smell of vomit and stomach acid wafted from the bathroom, where used toilet paper was overflowing from the trash can.
Just then, Li Xiaoyan walked out of Yang Yixue’s bedroom with her cross-eyed gaze, acting like she owned the place.
She was even wearing one of Yixue’s expensive face masks.
"You’re back, Yixue? Were you satisfied with your blind date today? Boss Zhu makes over ten million a year, and he’s a down-to-earth guy. Isn’t that great?"
"He was okay. Too fat, so I’m not satisfied!"
Yang Yixue suppressed her anger and changed the subject. "Mom! Why is the house such a mess?"
"Did you have guests over?"
Li Xiaoyan nonchalantly kicked a soda can out of her way, leaned back on the sofa, and smoothed out her face mask.
"Isn’t this all for the sake of your future? I got our relatives from my side of the family to help find you a rich, handsome young man. And when you ask people for favors, you have to treat them to a meal, don’t you?"
"Oh, right, they’re sleeping in the next room. Keep your voice down, don’t disturb them."
Yang Yixue couldn’t take it anymore and was on the verge of exploding.
"A meal is one thing, but look at this house! Is this a place for people to live?! Why didn’t you clean up? And another thing, I hate it when other people are in my home! Get them out of here now!!"
She pointed angrily at the door to the spare bedroom.
"Hey now! You ungrateful child, you’re blaming your own mother? I spent all day entertaining people, trying to find you a husband. I’m exhausted! You’re back now, so you can just clean it up, can’t you?"
"And aren’t our relatives your relatives too? Keep your voice down!"
"If you really can’t do it, just hire one of those, what’s-it-called, those cleaning services that are so popular now. A quick clean-up is all it needs. It’s not like we’re short on money."
Yang Yixue took a deep breath. "I already said, I don’t like other people in my home."
"Forget it. I’ll clean up. I beg Your Highness to go back to bed."
She suddenly missed Jiang Liu terribly.
’If Jiang Liu were here, none of this frustrating crap would be happening.’
’I could come home, breathe in the clean, fresh air, and relax on a soft, tidy sofa.’
’I could even have a delicious home-cooked meal.’
’And I’d have a lovely daughter...’
’What am I thinking? Can you eat handsome? He still didn’t have money. Nowadays, money is what determines a man’s quality.’
Yang Yixue tried to console herself.
’We’re divorced already, what’s there to miss? This isn’t my style. A good horse never returns to old pastures. As a strong, independent woman with her own opinions, I’d never do that.’
’I can absolutely do better. It’s just a matter of time. These current setbacks are just paving the way for a better future.’
Suppressing her nausea, Yang Yixue tidied up the room.
Then she washed the pile of accumulated clothes and bedding as well.
「Two hours later.」
She lay on the now relatively clean sofa, gasping for air.
’So tired... My whole body is sore and numb...’
’So this is how exhausting housework is. And having to take care of a mischievous child on top of it...’
Yang Yixue looked up at a square outline on the wall.
Just a few days ago, her wedding photo with Jiang Liu, taken at the beach, had hung there.
She had thrown it into the complex’s dumpster now; getting it back was impossible.
After a moment’s hesitation, Yang Yixue sent Jiang Liu a message.
"Have you paid Tongtong’s tuition yet?"
She hadn’t deleted Jiang Liu’s contact because she had visitation rights for their daughter.
She waited for half a minute. Jiang Liu didn’t reply.
An inexplicable rage flared in Yang Yixue’s eyes.
’What could you possibly be so busy with? Is it that hard to send a message back? You cripple...’
As she was typing, she froze, then held down the delete key.
’Right. They were divorced now. Why should Jiang Liu care about her feelings? He could reply if he wanted to, or not if he didn’t.’
"Big deal."
Yang Yixue muttered coldly to herself, vowing in her heart:
’I’ll find a man who’s just as handsome as Jiang Liu, but also rich and good to me. I’m this amazing, you think I can’t find a man?’
...
