Clearly, it wasn't just her who had been reborn; Wang Chaoying had as well.
So, the woman who had spent her time in the hospital complaining about how much she had suffered didn't actually want to suffer anymore, did she? That must be why she had set her sights on Xu Aijun, hoping to steal the life that belonged to her.
Sheng Xia sneered. If that was what she wanted, she would grant her wish. "Divorce!" she said.
The words had barely left her lips when Wang Chaoying, kneeling before her, looked up at once, her face filled with incredulous joy.
She had actually succeeded. She would never forget the last time she saw Sheng Xia at the hospital: a woman old enough to be a grandmother, yet still possessing a full head of raven hair and a slender figure, looking more like a sister than a mother when she stood next to her daughter.
As for herself, despite being two years younger than Sheng Xia, years of raising her son alone had left her looking like an old crone. To make matters worse, the son she had worked so hard to raise had become unfilial after marriage, spurred on by his wife to criticize her every single day.
She had meant to take some medicine just to frighten her son and daughter-in-law, but to her surprise, she had actually died—and returned to the time before she was ever married.
This time, she would be the one to become the academician's wife. She would be the one who remained young and slender into old age.
She would pay any price to become Xu Aijun's wife!
"No divorce!" Xu Aijun, who had just been moved by Wang Chaoying’s words, immediately shook his head upon hearing Sheng Xia’s demand.
He stood up and walked over to Sheng Xia. "Sheng Xia, I was wrong. I was just muddled for a moment. I’ll never dare to do it again!"
Seeing him act this way, Wang Chaoying felt a surge of intense hatred, though she played along with his words. "Sister Sheng Xia, please don't be angry with Brother Jun. If you must be angry, take it out on me..."
The term "Sister" almost made Sheng Xia sick to her stomach.
"Xu Aijun, if you won't divorce me, is it because you want to enjoy the favors of two women? Do you need your little concubine to serve tea and pay her respects to me, the legitimate wife?" Sheng Xia’s tongue was sharp.
"Sheng Xia, don't be like this!" Xu Aijun’s peach-blossom eyes reddened, his voice choked with pathetic, feigned sorrow.In the past, whenever he made a minor mistake, he only had to plead with Sister Sheng Xia in this pathetic way to be forgiven.
Unfortunately, seeing him like this now, all Sister Sheng Xia felt was disgust.
Back then, she had been young and naive, captivated by Xu Aijun’s handsome appearance. She had turned down a group of local village youths to marry him, a city boy sent down to the countryside as an educated youth.
It wasn't until after they were married that she realized he was nothing but a hollow shell—lazy and completely lacking ambition. He had married her with the intention of living off her family and letting her parents support him.
She certainly wasn't about to let him have his way. Why on earth should her parents support him?
From the moment they married, she had carried a small bamboo switch, chasing after him to push him toward self-improvement.
And, strangely enough, this fellow Xu Aijun must have been what her granddaughter called a masochist. Under her constant prodding, he had actually managed to get into university and excelled in his scientific research, eventually becoming an academician.
Yet, she had spent her entire life consumed by the task of pushing him to succeed.
Though her life had been smooth and peaceful, worthy of being called comfortable, and she had earned the respect of others, the very thought of living that life all over again was more than enough for her.
When she was reborn, she had initially intended to consider how to spend this lifetime. After all, in her previous life, while Xu Aijun had lacked ambition, he had been faithful in their marriage; it couldn't be said he was entirely without merit.
But now, with Wang Chaoying throwing herself into the mix, it was proof that in their previous life, he simply hadn't had the opportunity to betray her. In that case, this man—she didn't want him anymore!
"Brother Jun, it's all my fault..." Wang Chaoying, who had been feeling delighted upon hearing that Sister Sheng Xia wanted a divorce, grew anxious when she saw Xu Aijun's reaction. Terrified that Sister Sheng Xia might actually change her mind, she scrambled to her feet.
"If it weren't for me, Brother Jun, you wouldn't have to be spoken to like that by Sister. I'll just go and die now..."
As she spoke, she made a move to dash her head against the wall beside Xu Aijun.Seeing her like this, Xu Aijun hurried to embrace her from behind. "Yingzi!"
"Wuwu... Brother Jun... I'm sorry, Brother Jun..." Once held by Xu Aijun, Wang Chaoying immediately clung tightly to him, rubbing her lightly clad curves against him bit by bit.
Yet, out of the corner of her eye, she continued to cast provocative glances at Sheng Xia: *Do you see that? This man is the one heartbroken for me right now.*
"Custody of Qingqing belongs to me. Right now, all the cash and ration coupons in the house, as well as the bicycle, go to me. This house was allocated by the work unit, so I don't want it, but you must compensate me with an additional 300 yuan. Furthermore, the library job was arranged for your wife; I won't be doing it after the divorce, so you must compensate me another 500 yuan. From now on, one-third of your monthly salary will go toward Qingqing's child support."
Sheng Xia couldn't be bothered to look at the expression in Wang Chaoying's eyes. If she wanted to pick up a second-hand man that she herself didn't want, then let her. She simply and directly laid out the terms of the divorce.
Hearing Sheng Xia put forward the divorce conditions, Xu Aijun truly panicked. He let go of Wang Chaoying immediately and tried to stand up. "Sheng Xia..."
Wang Chaoying wasn't about to let him go and beg Sheng Xia. As soon as he loosened his grip, she let out a cry of pain and grabbed onto Xu Aijun, refusing to let go.
Sheng Xia, too lazy to look at them, walked straight into the bedroom. She unlocked the nightstand with a key and took out a biscuit tin.
Inside was their savings from the past few years. Xu Aijun had only graduated a year ago; although their combined salaries weren't low, they didn't have much in savings—only about 600 yuan in total, along with some remaining ration coupons and their marriage certificate.
"Tomorrow morning, we go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to process the paperwork." Sheng Xia took out the marriage certificate, packed the rest back into the biscuit tin, pulled a small suitcase from under the bed, placed the tin inside, and then added her clothes from the wardrobe.
There weren't many items in total; a single small suitcase was enough.
"Regarding the compensation for the job and the house, as well as Qingqing's future child support, we can just write up a formal agreement at the Civil Affairs Bureau." In less than two minutes, she had finished packing her things, lifted the case, and prepared to leave.
"Sheng Xia..." Xu Aijun still couldn't understand how things had turned out this way. Why had he been so foolish, so possessed, to end up with Wang Chaoying...?
Others might not know, but he knew clearly: he could not live without Sheng Xia!
"Brother Jun..." Wang Chaoying had seen the contents of the biscuit tin clearly when Sheng Xia opened it—not just cash and coupons, but a bankbook, too.
Even if they divorced, everything shouldn't go to Sheng Xia. At the very least, they should get half; otherwise, how would she and Brother Jun afford to get married?
Besides, she was still an unmarried woman, and Xu Aijun was a divorcee marrying her; he would have to give her a substantial bride price, or she would lose face.
At this point, she couldn't afford to keep up her act. She tugged at Xu Aijun, and seeing him standing there foolishly without saying a word, she had no choice but to speak up in a low voice. "Technically, since Sister and Brother Jun are divorcing, it shouldn't be my place to speak about how the assets are divided, but..."
"If you know it’s not your place to speak, then shut up!" Sheng Xia was most disgusted by this kind of "green tea" woman who pretended to be fragile, and she snapped back directly.
"Xu Aijun, hurry up. If you don't want to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau, then we can take a trip to the principal's office and have a good chat with him about what happened today!"
Did he have no idea what he had done? Wasting her time here—she was no fool who would wash a man's underwear with a cold face!
"I'll go!" Upon hearing that Sheng Xia was going to see the principal, Xu Aijun realized that her mind was made up. He finally squeezed his eyes shut and replied in a pained voice.