Back at the simple rental house where she lived temporarily, Xu Xiaoai changed out of the clothes and pants that were already drenched but almost dried out by the body temperature.
After washing her hair and taking a shower, she rubbed her hair half dry, and then cooked a bowl of instant noodles with eggs.
After eating and drinking, Xu Xiaoai lay on the bed in a daze.
At only twenty-two years old, she was already a woman who had been married for three years and then divorced.
What is left of her now
Xu Xiaoai raised her arm and looked at her swollen and fat arm like a steamed bun.
She gritted her back molars bitterly.
Liu Qin's misdiagnosis caused Xu Xiaoai to take endless anti-inflammatory drugs in the past three years. The side effects of the medicine turned her healthy and slender body into the bloated and obese appearance she is now...
And when she agreed to divorce with Lu Zhijun, she also signed the divorce agreement to get out of the game.
Now she has nothing left except this fat body.
Fortunately, lawyer Fang said that she and Lu Zhijun divorced within less than a month, and it is still possible to get their property back.
The phone suddenly rang.
The younger brother Xu Xiaohui sent her a text message, saying that this weekend, he would come back for dinner tonight.
Xu Xiaoai finally had some motivation again.
She got up from the bed and went to the market to buy vegetables.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Xiaohui arrived.
Seeing her sister busy in the simple kitchen, Xu Xiaohui hesitated and said, "...sister, I've made up my mind, then... I won't go to university. I have a classmate who has a large orchard in the countryside... we The couple agreed, let’s go to his house to open an online store to buy souvenirs... In fact, you don’t have to go to college to start a business... E-commerce is also very promising."
Xu Xiaoai, who was chopping vegetables, froze.
"Can't you pass the three exams?" She asked back.
Xu Xiaohui blushed, "That's not it!"
"It's not that you can't pass the exam with bad grades, why don't you study?"
Hearing what his sister said, the boy's hands clenched into fists, his face flushed red.
After a long while, he finally mustered up the courage to say, "Sister... But our family's financial conditions... Now you are divorced from your brother-in-law..."
"Did I tell you about the tuition fees? You just need to worry about what you should worry about!" Xu Xiaoai's tone was a little aggressive.
Xu Xiaohui turned and left the kitchen.
Dinner is very simple.
Tomato scrambled eggs, green pepper scrambled eggs, mustard scrambled eggs, plus seaweed egg drop soup.
The siblings finished their dinner in silence.
Xu Xiaoai's rental house is a single room, and there is no place for Xu Xiaohui to stay overnight.
So after dinner, Xu Xiaohui said he was going back to school.
Xu Xiaoai took out all the money in his pocket and handed it to Xu Xiaohui.
"Persist a little longer..." she said softly, "Persist a little longer, and you'll get better soon."
I don't know if she told her brother or herself.
Xu Xiaohui let out a "huh", clutching the hundred and ten dollars tightly in his hand, and fled away.
After her brother left, Xu Xiaoai washed the dishes and smoked another cigarette before picking up her cell phone and calling Lawyer Fang.
"Lawyer Fang, I'm sorry to disturb you so late, can you call Lu Zhijun? Yes, I mean, please negotiate with Lu Zhijun first, I can accept mediation... If he is willing to compensate me... Yes. "
Attorney Fang on the other end of the phone didn't know what to say.
Xu Xiaoai hesitated for a while, then whispered, "...I mean, please call him now."
After a while, she added.
"I'm short of money recently."
After putting down the phone, Xu Xiaoai fell into a daze.
After an unknown amount of time, her cell phone rang.
The call was from Attorney Fang.
"Miss Xu, I have conveyed your opinion to Mr. Lu Zhijun... He asked me to tell you that he will not compensate you any money... because he hopes to continue the relationship with you. Miss Xu, I can send your phone number Did you tell Mr. Lu the number?"
The corner of Xu Xiaoai's mouth twitched.
"Can't."
After a pause, she reported a number to Lawyer Fang, and then continued, "Please continue to contact him tomorrow."
Putting down the phone, Xu Xiaoai took out a pack of cigarettes.
The cigarette box is soft and fluffy...
Only one last cigarette left.
Xu Xiaoai didn't give up after all, and put away the pack of cigarettes very carefully.
**
It has to be said that Attorney Fang's work efficiency is still very high.
In the following days, Lu Zhijun proposed to lawyer Fang several times that he wanted to have an interview with Xu Xiaoai. Lawyer Fang conveyed it several times, but Xu Xiaoai did not agree. Soon, Attorney Fang understood Xu Xiaoai's attitude, and began to negotiate with Lu Zhijun forcefully.
At the end of June, probably Lu Zhijun also felt that for Xu Xiaoai...he was really irreparable, so he readily paid Xu Xiaoai a sum of money.
Xu Xiaoai finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At the beginning of July, Xu Xiaohui's college entrance examination results came out—the scores were not bad, and he didn't get the first one, but he should be fine in the second one. Immediately afterwards, news came that Xu Xiaohui had been admitted to a local engineering college.
Xu Xiaoai was completely relieved.
The money Lu Zhijun gave can be used as his brother's four-year college tuition and living expenses.
But then...
She became a pauper again.
But it doesn't matter.
In such a metropolis, young people with hands and feet will never starve to death.
Xu Xiaoai stood at the window of the rental house, looking at the bustling street market downstairs, a little lost in thought.
After hesitating for a while, she went out.
Ten minutes later, she came back with a plastic bag.
Xu Xiaoai put the contents of the plastic bag one by one on the single bed in the rental house.
Cheap powders, lipsticks, nail polishes, eyebrow pencils…
All kinds of beds were spread out.
Xu Xiaoai looked at these things with special eyes.
After hesitating for a while, she brought a plastic low stool over, sat in front of the bed, and began to draw carefully with the small mirror in the powder box.
After painting, Xu Xiaoai looked at herself with heavy makeup through the small mirror, and couldn't help smiling.
She went to the bathroom to wash off her makeup, and then sat on the small stool again, continuing to fiddle with those cheap cosmetics that exuded a strong fragrance.
At nightfall, the lights come on.
In Xu Xiaoai's rental house, the light was dim.
She didn't turn on the light, and couldn't find a comb, so she just tied a ponytail casually and went out with heavy makeup on her face.
Stop and go, go and stop.
Xu Xiaoai stopped in front of a luxurious nightclub that was as elegant as an ancient Greek temple.
She wants to try the taste of love.