Back to April 8, 2018, at six o'clock in the afternoon, it was still drizzling in the south city.
The drizzle made traveling extremely difficult. Vehicles were rushing around on the streets, some moving and some stopped. Pedestrians were holding umbrellas and waving on the side of the road. Just like the rain, the whole city was in chaos.
Due to the rainy weather, many people at Fuqiang Real Estate did not leave after get off work, hoping to wait until then to avoid the peak travel period.
The idle employees gathered in twos and threes, waiting for takeout and chatting. Only Ye Sibei sat alone at his desk, wearing headphones to block out most of the sound, and concentrating on recording data.
"At 1 a.m. last night, a vicious criminal case occurred in Xinchun Street, Shanghe District, our city. The victim was a young woman wearing a black top, a hip-hugging short skirt, and red high heels. Surveillance showed that the victim was forcibly taken away by several men passing by at the intersection of Xinchun South Road and Binhe East Road. She has not returned home yet. The police have launched a city-wide search. Citizens with any clues can call our hotline..."
The latest local news was playing on the wall-mounted screen in the hall. Along with the news, Ye Sibei heard the delivery man shouting, "Ms. Ye, takeout."
"Hey!" Ye Sibei took off her headphones, stood up skillfully, trotted to the door in high heels, and took two large bags of lunch boxes from the courier.
"Thank you." Ye Sibei thanked him earnestly, and the delivery man said "It's my duty" and turned and ran out. Ye Sibei returned to his desk with the lunch box, opened the plastic bag, and began to distribute lunch boxes to the employees sitting there.
Only then did she hear the topic her colleagues were discussing.
"You said that little girl too. It was one in the morning and she was still hanging around outside. She had no sense of vigilance at all."
"Sister Tao, here's your twice-cooked pork." Ye Sibei put a box of twice-cooked pork in the hands of the middle-aged woman who was talking in front of him. The middle-aged woman named "Tao Jie" didn't even raise her head. She took the box of lunch and casually said "thank you". She continued to talk nonsense: "I have always told my daughter that she can't go out after 8 o'clock in the evening. A girl who is still hanging out outside in the middle of the night, what kind of woman can she be?"
"Xiaoyang, your Kung Pao Chicken."
"Thank you, Sister Ye." The young man who took the lunch box with both hands looked to be in his early twenties. His full name was Chen Xiaoyang. After enthusiastically taking the lunch box handed over by Ye Sibei, he immediately turned around and agreed with Tao Jie, "Sister Tao is right. Girls should be more attentive and educated well. In fact, men also look at people and serve them differently. I am not condemning that girl, but look at her at one o'clock in the night, wearing high heels, a hip skirt, and makeup. Isn't this a sheep among wolves, deliberately seducing?"
"Chen Xiaoyang, have you been seduced?"
A female voice joked, and when this was said, most of the boys and some of the girls laughed sporadically.
The laughter made Ye Sibei frown, but she had no intention of joining the discussion. She took the last lunch box to a place not far from her desk and placed it next to a beautiful girl.
The girl was wearing a work uniform from Fuqiang Real Estate. This uniform was specially customized by Fuqiang's boss and was very expensive. It was a hip skirt, a slim-fitting suit, and black stockings. She looked professional and sexy.
Ye Sibei always felt very restrained when wearing this work clothes. When his boss was not around, he would take out a cloak to cover himself. When he left the company, he would cover himself tightly with a coat no matter spring, summer, autumn or winter.
But this girl seemed to like this dress very much. She even shortened the length of the skirt on purpose. With her curvy figure and gorgeous makeup, she looked even more eye-catchingly beautiful.
When Ye Sibei walked to the side, the girl was putting on makeup. She was looking at the mirror on the table and painting her plump lips with bright lipstick.
When she was applying lipstick, her feet under the desk were also unstable, with one leg pressed on the other, and the shoe on her foot suspended in mid-air was half taken off and hanging on her toes, dangling as she moved back and forth, as if hooking into people's hearts.
Ye Sibei watched her movements and subconsciously turned his head to look at Tao Jie. Sure enough, he saw Tao Jie and a group of people whispering not far away.
Ye Sibei quickly withdrew his gaze, walked to the girl and put the lunch box on the table.
"Chu Chu, your tomato beef risotto."
"Hmm?" Zhao Chuchu looked up when she heard Ye Sibei's voice. Seeing Ye Sibei, she frowned and said, "Sister, why are you the one going to get the food again?"
Zhao Chuchu is the only person in this office who will stand up for her because she is the girlfriend of Ye Sibei's younger brother Ye Nianwen.
Ye Nianwen and Zhao Chuchu have been in love since high school and have been dating until now. Although Zhao Chuchu only got into a technical secondary school and does not have a stable job, because she is an only child and a local, she is a good match for Ye Nianwen who just became a lawyer, so the Ye family does not object.
Ye Sibei was her colleague and knew this girl's temper very well and liked her very much.
"It's not bad this time."
Ye Sibei smiled and said, "I'm going back to work."
"Wait a minute," Zhao Chuchu stopped her, "Didn't you tell me that you had finished your work this afternoon? Why are you still working overtime?"
"Sister Wang wants to pick up the child, so let me help."
"She picks up the kids every day, and I can't ask you to help her every day." Zhao Chuchu was quite dissatisfied. "I'll talk to her tomorrow."
"It's not a big deal..."
When Ye Sibei heard that Zhao Chuchu wanted to seek justice for her, she felt a little nervous.
She glanced at Zhao Chuchu's exposed legs, pursed her lips, and changed the subject: "Why don't you make your skirt longer."
Zhao Chuchu raised her eyebrows, and Ye Sibei bent down: "I heard that there is a pervert recently. A girl was dragged away in the middle of the night. Be careful."
Hearing this, Zhao Chuchu laughed: "If a person becomes abnormal, you can't be careful about what you wear."
"Then you have to be prepared, just in case." Ye Sibei frowned, "Why don't you let Nianwen come pick you up..."
"I'm on guard." Zhao Chuchu interrupted her, put her hand into her bag, and took something out of the bag with her fingers with a smile. Ye Sibei saw the thing popping out and was so shocked that he held her down, "What are you doing!"
"I read what the experts said," Zhao Chuchu came closer to her and lowered her voice, "Carry condoms with you. If you really encounter a criminal, take the initiative to provide them. This way, the other party will think you won't call the police. This can prevent infectious diseases and reduce harm, and increase the chance of survival."
"you… "
Ye Sibei's face flushed, and he was too embarrassed to continue talking to Zhao Chuchu: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Sister, I am serious."
As he said that, Zhao Chuchu patted her hands and said, "Go home and take one more and put it in your bag. There are many perverts now, so it's better to be prepared."
"Stop it."
Ye Sibei felt that her hands were burning after touching that thing. She turned around with a red face and said, "I'll go work overtime first."
"Hey sister," Zhao Chuchu called Ye Sibei. Ye Sibei turned around to look at her. Zhao Chuchu put away her smile. She pursed her lips for a long time before asking, "Brother-in-law... is he home?"
Ye Sibei's expression froze, and Zhao Chuchu showed some worry. Just as she was about to speak, she heard Ye Sibei say, "He said he'll be back tonight, nothing's wrong."
Zhao Chuchu seemed to be relieved, she smiled: "That's good, Nianwen and I are getting married soon, if you guys don't reconcile by then, I'd be embarrassed to upset you with a happy event."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ye Sibei consoled her. "It's normal for a couple to have quarrels. It's okay if you quarrel at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed."
"That's right," Zhao Chuchu nodded, but she couldn't help but ask again, "But sister, why did you quarrel with your brother-in-law?"
"It's just a trivial matter." Ye Sibei didn't give a direct answer, but said, "Hurry up and finish your work. Go home when the rain stops. Don't stay too late."
After saying that, Ye Sibei returned to her seat and began to complete the tasks that were not hers.
The rain had been falling for the entire afternoon and was coming to an end. After a while, it gradually subsided.
Zhao Chuchu left early, and there were fewer and fewer people in the office, leaving only a few salesmen still working overtime.
It was around eight o'clock when Ye Sibei finally finished her overtime work. She locked all the cabinets one by one and walked towards the door.
Chen Xiaoyang walked to his desk with tea in his hand. Seeing Ye Sibei, he glanced at the door and asked curiously, "Sister Ye, your husband didn't come to pick you up?"
"Ah," Ye Sibei nodded awkwardly, "He's been busy lately."
"Oh," Chen Xiaoyang realized that he seemed to have touched on some inappropriate topic. He scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. "Then be careful on the road."
Ye Sibei responded and hurried out of the door. After she left, Chen Xiaoyang leaned half-way on the partition of the desk, looking at the direction she disappeared, and curiously asked Tao Jie who was counting money next to her: "Sister Tao, has Sister Ye quarreled with her husband recently? Her husband used to come every day."
"It's more than just a quarrel. I'm afraid they're going to get a divorce."
Tao Jie pressed the calculator: "Aren't Zhao Chuchu and her brother Ye Nianwen in love? Now they are getting married, and the Ye family wants to buy a house. But Ye Nianwen just graduated this year, where can he get the money to buy a house? The two elders of the Ye family pooled their money and forced Ye Sibei to take out a 50,000 credit loan. The salary certificate he got from Mr. Fan two days ago was specifically told not to tell outsiders, especially Zhao Chuchu."
"Mr. Fan said it at the time," Tao Jie looked up at Chen Xiaoyang with disdain, "Ye Sibei has a problem with his brain. People like him who can't say 'no' to others will ruin themselves sooner or later."
It seems to be raining again.
Spring is saying goodbye to these unfaithful people who are about to usher in midsummer in the most disgusting way.
Ye Sibei dragged his tired body, held an umbrella, and squeezed onto the bus to go home.
It was no longer rush hour on the bus, and she found a window seat in the last row, which made her feel happy.
She felt very relieved to have a little bit of luck in her complicated life.
She leaned against the window, looking at the world outside that was blurred by the rain. It was shrouded in warm street lights, mixed with bright car lights and colorful billboards, making the whole world look splendid.
She looked at the people wearing raincoats and carrying children on motorcycles speeding past on the side of the road.
Looking at the people jogging by on the side of the road with their bags covering their heads.
She was like a spectator in the world. Everything had nothing to do with her. She didn't dare to think about complicated things in this moment of peace. Although she knew that there were many things that needed her to deal with, she didn't want to be disturbed at all in this rare quiet time.
But things did not go as she wished. Her phone vibrated slightly. She looked at the phone and found that it was a message from someone with the name "Qin Nan".
"Come back later."
He told me so.
Ye Sibei responded tiredly: "Okay."
In fact, she should ask him whether he has eaten and whether he has enough clothes to show her virtue as a wife.
But at that moment, she didn't want to at all.
At this time she will clearly realize that she does not love her husband and she is not happy in her marriage.
Even when she tried hard to convince herself that getting married was not a bad thing, she found that it was difficult for her to even picture in her mind what kind of person Qin Nan was.
They are not familiar.
We only knew each other for six months before marriage, and in those six months we only saw each other once a week on weekends for dinner. After marriage, we were together for a year, and both of us went out early and came back late. He was busy with work, so he often lay in bed when he came back.
He was a quiet person, and she was not good at expressing herself and was a little afraid of him, so after a year of marriage, all her knowledge of Qin Nan was limited to what could be described in words.
He was 28 years old, an only child from a rural area. His parents went out to work early and he was raised by his grandfather. His father died in an accident at a construction site when he was 17, and his mother eloped with a man for money. So he dropped out of high school, wandered around outside, learned some car repair skills, and returned to the south city to open a small shop. His grandfather passed away two years ago, leaving him alone.
His shop was called "Snowflake Auto Shop," and she guessed it was because he liked to drink Snow beer.
He is not talkative, likes boxing and smoking, will take the initiative to do housework, and does not like the Ye family.
Other than that, she knew nothing about him.
I don't want to understand either.
In fact, all she needs is this marriage.
—Let her not have an alien marriage.
She didn't know what the other party was thinking, but it was probably the same.
After all, in the cycle of time, the freer people are, the more numb they become.
When love is precious, people will yearn for it desperately, like Liang Zhu turning into butterflies and Romeo and Juliet.
But love has no obstacles. When it is within reach, it will return to its original appearance.
It is the most extravagant and useless of all emotions. Even if there are no obstacles, few people have it.
Ye Sibei felt that they were just getting together because of their age.
Their reluctance was visible to the naked eye, and they were so incompatible that even when they quarreled, they hardly spoke a word.
Every time they quarreled, she would say sorry and he would say he would go out and calm down, then sit on the balcony all night and smoke two packs of cigarettes.
This quarrel was caused by her financial support for Ye Nianwen's marriage. She secretly applied for a credit loan of 50,000 yuan to buy a house for Ye Nianwen.
When Qin Nan found out about this, he finally got angry. He held up his coat, clenched his fists, and stared at her.
"Ye Sibei, you think your life is like this, so you don't want to plan for yourself at all, right?"
She still only repeats: "I'm sorry."
He didn't reply to her, and for a moment, she thought he almost wanted to hit her.
She took a step back in fear, and he seemed to be angered by this action. He turned his head, kicked over a chair, rushed out of the house, and never came back.
It was not until today that he sent her a message saying that he would be home in the evening.
The bus arrived at the stop and Ye Sibei got off. She dragged her tired body into the community, thinking about what she should do in the evening to save her marriage.
Their home is in an old community in the suburbs. The buildings in the old community are different from the various buildings today. It is a complete rectangular block standing on the concrete ground, with eight households in a row. There is no elevator, only a corridor on the right side, which is the path to every house.
For Ye Sibei, the most difficult part every day is climbing this section of road.
She climbed up to the fifth floor in high heels, finally arriving at her door. She took out her key to open the door, then raised her hand and turned on the light.
The light filled the room, which was a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment of more than 70 square meters. There was no one else in the room. Ye Sibei put down his bag, went to the room to change his clothes, then went to the kitchen to cook, took out the vegetables from the refrigerator, and started cutting them.
One tomato and egg, one stir-fried pork with cucumber, and one seaweed egg drop soup.
They are all very simple dishes, and she doesn’t make anything too complicated.
After finishing, she put it on the table and began to wait boringly.
Heat up the cold food and clean the room if you have nothing to do.
At half past eleven, she was almost asleep on the dining table when she heard the door open with a click.
She woke up suddenly and saw a man standing at the door.
He looked to be about 27 or 28 years old, tall, with handsome features. He was wearing an army green T-shirt stained with motor oil, jeans stained with mud, a jacket hanging on his arm, and a muddy briefcase in his hand, as if he had crawled back from somewhere.
Ye Sibei stared at him blankly. He was also stunned when his eyes fell on the dining table. After a moment of silence, he spoke first: "I took a temporary job to help someone change a tire in the suburbs. There are many things to do on rainy days. If I don't take care of them, they will have to spend the night there."
"Oh," Ye Sibei came back to his senses and quickly stood up, "You haven't eaten yet? I'll heat it up for you."
Having said that, Ye Sibei went back to the kitchen with the dishes.
The man stood at the door and hesitated for a moment. Then he took off his clothes at the door, took out a document from his bag and put it on the chair beside the table, then walked into the bathroom barefoot.
She heated up the dishes, added more rice, and waited at the table.
After waiting for a while, the man put on his clothes and sat opposite her.
He was wearing his usual clothes, a blue T-shirt and white casual pants. There were water droplets in his half-dry hair, which slid down his bronze skin, making him look quite sexy.
Ye Sibei sensed something was wrong and smiled as if nothing had happened: "You're already home, why don't you change into pajamas?"
Qin Nan didn't reply to her. He looked at the food in front of him and said calmly, "Let's eat first."
Ye Sibei did not refute. The two of them lowered their heads to eat. Throughout the whole process, there was no communication except the chewing sounds and the occasional sound of touching porcelain.
After finishing eating, she stood up and cleaned up the dishes: "You go to sleep first, I'll clean up."
"Wait a minute," the man's voice was calm, "I need to tell you something."
Ye Sibei stopped moving, and the other party emphasized again: "Sit down."
Ye Sibei didn't say anything. She had a vague premonition. After a long time, she turned around and slowly sat down.
After she sat down, the other party did not say anything. In this seemingly endless silence, Qin Nan finally spoke.
"Ye Sibei," Qin Nan said in a low voice, "Let's get a divorce."