Seeing the table full of food, I didn't wait for the hosts to speak and immediately dug in, my mouth getting all greased up.
"You get injured and suddenly you don't even care about basic manners anymore? Other people act like humble servants when they get hurt, but you're acting like some big lord," Chang Sheng started taunting again. I ignored him completely and buried my head in my food.
Seeing that I was only stuffing my face and hadn't invited anyone else to eat, Father Chang and Mother Chang had no choice but to pick up their chopsticks.
Once everyone had started eating, I felt it was too quiet, so I began smacking my lips noisily.
Chang Sheng looked ready to scold me again, but this time Mother Chang spoke up: "Zhi and Changxia, you two have been married for over two years now, haven't you?"
I knew it!
"Is that so? I can't even remember." That's right, I did it on purpose.
Mother Chang frowned slightly. "When are you planning to have children?"
"Brother Chang Sheng doesn't have kids yet either, no need to rush!"
"Xu Zhi, what the hell is wrong with you? Giving you an inch and you take a mile, huh?" Chang Sheng predictably flared up.
"Enough!" As soon as Father Chang spoke, Chang Sheng shrank back into silence.
Judging by this attitude, they were dead set on us having a baby.
After bolting down my food, I announced I had things to do and left immediately, not even taking Changxia with me.
Back at Liang Ze's place, I sprawled out lazily and let my mind go blank.
There, now the whole family must despise me. Take that, you snobs.
"Host, why did you do that?" Little System asked, thoroughly confused.
"To get a divorce!" I had no intention of wasting a few short years on making and raising babies.
"Still, that seemed a bit excessive. Even if Xu Zhi is a playboy, he usually maintains basic courtesy. High-society families have the strictest rules, after all—behaving too abnormally is bound to raise suspicion."
"I know, but this way I can make the Chang family dissatisfied and disappointed with me, which speeds up my divorce process."
"After the divorce, are you going to go look for Director Qu yourself?"
"Of course not. I need to make good use of Xu Zhi's wealthy identity."
"You're Xu Zhi right now, wanting only the power and benefits that come with being him while refusing to shoulder his duties. Do you really think you can have it both ways?" Little System sounded unusually stern. "Besides, do you think offending the Chang family will end well for you?"
Right. I remembered Qin Di, who still hadn't replied, as well as Father Xu and Mother Xu, who hadn't even come to visit when I was severely beaten. I truly couldn't afford to offend the Chang family.
"Then what should I do? Am I supposed to have a baby with Changxia?" I wore a miserable expression.
"Since you want to use Xu Zhi's identity to find someone, you have to play the part properly. You must do what he's supposed to do and bear what he's supposed to bear. There's no escaping it," Little System said with a helpless tone.
I took a taxi back to Father Chang and Mother Chang's house.
This time, I bought some fruit. As soon as I walked through the door, I fawned over the old couple shamelessly: "Mom, Dad, I just went out to buy some fruit. It's so hot out, and fruit helps with digestion and keeps you refreshed..."
Seeing my sudden about-face, the four members of the Chang family couldn't figure out what kind of medicine I was selling in my gourd.
I pulled Changxia, who looked as though she had been crying, into my arms and told Father Chang and Mother Chang, "Mom, Dad, my wife and I have our own plans regarding children."
Father Chang was the first to recover his wits. "Fine then. We've already said everything we needed to say to Changxia. Since you two are married, you can head back now."
Back at their villa, Changxia stayed completely silent.
After a long while, she asked, "Were you doing that on purpose?"
I hadn't expected her to figure it out, and I was left speechless for a moment.
"Why?" Changxia stared right at me, unblinking.
I thought about it for a bit. "You like A-Ze, don't you?"
"Didn't you already know that?" Changxia said with a hint of disdain. "If you hadn't played your little tricks back then, would we have ever gotten married?"
That, honestly, was news to me. The stories from both Xu Bai and Xu Zhi were that they had pursued their goddess for years, and when she was finally touched, she agreed to marry them. Only Changxia had always insisted that it was Xu Zhi who had resorted to scheming.
I said nothing, as I had no way of knowing which of the spouses was lying.
"Are you playing innocent now?" Changxia grew angry. "Back then, you clearly promised to help me win over Liang Ze. That night, you invited both me and Liang Ze out and got us both drunk. You claimed you were going to corner Liang Ze into taking responsibility, but when I woke up, it was you in my bed! For the sake of my reputation, my parents swallowed their anger and married me off to a playboy like you."
I remained silent. After all, this was only Changxia's side of the story.
"You knew I liked Liang Ze before you married me, and now that you don't want to have kids, you're planning to turn things around and blame me?" Changxia listed off many more grievances about enduring Xu Zhi, rambling on through tears and sobs while I had no way to tell truth from falsehood.
When she finally grew tired of talking and crying, I poured her a glass of water.
"You've really changed," Changxia said, wiping away a sob as she drank. "In the past, if I went on and on complaining about you like this, you would have flown into a rage and emphasized how much you loved me and how well you treated me."
I didn't say anything.
"You're so calm now—you must have lost interest in me, right?" Changxia added.
Having heard Changxia express suspicions about my change of heart several times already, I felt a bit drained and decided to change the subject. "What did Mom and Dad say to you today?"
"What else could it be? Pressuring us to have a baby."
"What do you think?"
"I don't want one."
"Did you tell your parents that directly?"
"How could I be that direct? I just told them what you told me—that we have our own plans."
"Then what are you crying about?"
"Because of you! You left without any explanation and dumped me at my parents' house."
"Do you still like Liang Ze?"
"Why are you bringing that up again?" Changxia demanded, displeased.
"I'm being serious."
After a moment of locking eyes, Changxia said nothing, which I took as tacit agreement.
"I can help you pursue him," I offered.
"You think I'd still believe you?"
"You don't love me anyway. What do you have to lose by trusting that I'll help? If it works out, you get to marry the person you love. Why not?"
Changxia looked intently into my eyes, but I remained utterly unfazed.
"Whether I love you or not aside, you definitely don't love me anymore," Changxia said calmly.
"..."
"It hasn't even been three years, and your heart has already changed. Men are truly fickle."
"..."
"Who is she?"
"There's nobody."
"You'd change your mind for no reason?"
"I just think you and Liang Ze make a good match."
"He's much better than you. Aside from having more money, you couldn't catch up to him if you rode a fast horse, and your money isn't even something you earned yourself."
"..."
Under another wave of Changxia's taunts and endless nagging, even though I wasn't the real Xu Zhi, I started to feel annoyed.
I clenched my fists. Seeing this, Changxia mocked me even more viciously.
"Are you ever going to shut up?" I grabbed her arm and glared at her furiously.
"You're glaring at me? You actually dare to glare at me? I'm the daughter of a wealthy family, tricked into marrying you by your little schemes, and not only do you not cherish me, but you glare at me? I'm going to fight you!" Suddenly losing control, Changxia went wild, punching me with her hands and hurling objects at my head.
The situation spiraled out of hand. Under her fierce assault, I sustained cuts in several places. At first, I kept blocking, but when I saw my own wounds starting to bleed, a surge of hostility slowly welled up from the bottom of my heart. Finally, I threw a punch right at her, and Changxia abruptly stopped moving.
Blood began to trickle from the corner of her mouth, and she slumped to the side, wailing loudly.
I stared at my hand, made a fist, and then loosened it, realizing what a bastardly thing I had done.
With one person sobbing loudly and the other breathing heavily, we stayed like that for I don't know how long, until the sky outside had turned completely dark.