Classmate Li Zhuangsheng doesn’t want to be reborn

“Sister Jiang Qing, do you know…” Hu Mengke gripped the kitchen knife, her smile gradually fading, “I’m not worthy of happiness, and I’ve never thought I would be. No one has ever truly loved me, not since I was little. Someone like me doesn’t deserve happiness… But my brother-in-law is different. He gave me a place to stay without expecting anything in return, making me feel that I can be cared for. I finally have my own happiness…”

As she spoke, Hu Mengke tilted her head and smiled, "But do you want to ruin my happiness? Do you even want to take away this little bit of my happiness?"

Beneath the smile, Hu Mengke's voice seemed to carry a chilling coldness. Xie Jiangqing shivered, staring at the knife in the other's hand, stammering, "No, no, I, I didn't mean that..."

"Hehe, thank you. I know Sister Jiang Qing is the best, she will definitely keep it a secret for us." Hu Mengke laughed, her eyes curving into bright moons, and turned back to continue chopping vegetables, as if nothing had happened. "I know you care about my sister, she's just immature now, she will know how good my brother-in-law is. My brother-in-law will be happy too, because he has the two sisters who love him the most in the world."

"How...how could she..."

"She'll find out," Hu Mengke repeated with a smile, the cleaver clattering on the cutting board.

Xie Jiangqing's lips trembled slightly: "You, you mustn't be impulsive..."

Hu Mengke looked back and smiled, "I'm very happy now, why would I act impulsively?"

……

"Jiang Qing, why are you only eating rice and not vegetables?" Hu Mengdie asked, tilting her head.

"No, it's nothing."

Xie Jiangqing glanced at Hu Mengke, then lowered her head and silently ate her rice, feeling quite uncomfortable.

"Sister Jiang Qing, is it because the food I cooked didn't suit your taste?" Hu Mengke asked apologetically.

"No no!"

Xie Jiangqing picked up a chicken wing and shoved it into her bowl.

"Oh, by the way, I heard you ran into Zhang Xu today. How did you resolve it?" Xie Jiangqing asked again.

"Who is Zhang Xu?" Hu Mengdie asked, puzzled.

Xie Jiangqing glanced at Hu Mengdie for a strange reason: "It's that scumbag..."

Hu Mengdie paused for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Oh... what's he doing here? Is he trying to take the child?"

"Who knows, you're crazy," Hu Mengke said nonchalantly. "Anyway, they won't be coming back."

“Yeah, they probably won’t dare to come back,” Li Zhuangsheng replied.

"Sister, how's work lately?" Hu Mengke asked.

"It's alright, you'll get used to it." Hu Mengdie smiled.

"Where is Li Xiuyu?" Xie Jiangqing asked.

“She went out with her friends,” Li Zhuangsheng replied.

"Oh...I see." Xie Jiangqing nodded.

Li Xiuyu isn't home, and you guys are already having this much fun?
After dinner, Xie Jiangqing didn't stay the night but went straight home. Hu Mengke is in danger; her current mental state seems to resemble that of a yandere.

Lying in bed, Xie Jiangqing pondered for a long time. She realized she still couldn't hand Li Zhuangsheng over to Hu Mengke; the two were simply not a good match—it was too frightening!

As for a threesome or something... that's just too shameless! Li Zhuangsheng, you've got some pretty good ideas!
Besides, how could Hu Mengdie possibly agree to that! If there was even the slightest possibility that the Hu Mengdie before her amnesia might turn a blind eye to this matter, then the current Hu Mengdie would absolutely never agree!

Although Hu Mengke said that, Xie Jiangqing felt that it was just a way for the other party to keep her calm. Regardless of whether Hu Mengke was willing or not, this matter was doomed to fail!
Hu Mengke was definitely lying to her, trying to stall for time. But this was useless; the longer it dragged on, the more harm it would cause to everyone.

Well, we still need to have a good talk with Li Zhuangsheng... The focus should still be on Li Zhuangsheng!
……

"Haven't you gone to driving lessons these past two days?" Hu Mengdie asked, knocking on the study door as she returned home in the evening.

"Oh, that's about it... I've been learning for three or four days." Li Zhuangsheng was stunned. He hadn't expected that the first thing his ex-wife would say to him after the divorce was this.

"Is it because I didn't go to driving lessons?" Hu Mengdie frowned slightly. "Let's go to lessons together today."

It's true that walking every day is quite inconvenient. There's really no need to get angry over it. It would be a waste not to use a car I have.

"Huh?" Li Zhuangsheng was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. "Oh, okay. I'll call the coach now and ask if he's free."

"Thank you." Hu Mengdie nodded.

"Haha, no need to thank me!" Li Zhuangsheng waved his hand.

He called the coach, who was still available and soon arrived downstairs in the coach's car.

Li Zhuangsheng found Hu Mengdie downstairs; the training car was parked outside the residential area.

"Wow, what a beautiful woman!" The coach's eyes lit up, and he turned to look at Li Zhuangsheng. "And who is this?"

"Oh, oh, she is..." Li Zhuangsheng scratched his head, blinking awkwardly, "She, she is..."

Who is she, and how should I introduce her? If I say she's my wife, will it make her angry?

Hu Mengdie glanced at Li Zhuangsheng and saw him stammering without saying a word.

"She, she is my wife!" Li Zhuangsheng finally said.

The instructor was taken aback, then slapped his forehead: "Oh, right, this is the wife you told me about before, the one who wanted to learn to drive with you, right?"

Li Zhuangsheng chuckled twice, neither denying nor admitting, and simply said vaguely, "Coach, then you can train her today."

Hu Mengdie glared at him: "Aren't you going to practice?"

Li Zhuangsheng was slightly taken aback, thinking that Hu Mengdie was so beautiful, it would indeed make her feel unsafe to be alone in a car with a strange man late at night.

"Uh, I've already practiced, now it's your turn to practice driving, I'll sit in the back!"

Hu Mengdie practiced for an hour, while Li Zhuangsheng sat in the back of the car the whole time. The coach smiled inexplicably, but understood and didn't say anything.

Thinking to himself, with such a beautiful wife, what man could feel at ease?

He was introduced to this job to earn extra money by someone else. Before coming, he had heard about Li Zhuangsheng's family background, so he suppressed his lustful thoughts, especially since her husband was watching him closely.

"I find reversing into a parking space quite difficult."

On her way home, Hu Mengdie couldn't help but complain a little.

"Yes, it is indeed quite difficult." Li Zhuangsheng nodded in affirmation.

"My mom called me and asked when we're coming over for dinner."

"Anything's fine... whichever is convenient for you!" "Have you decided on the rent yet?"

"I think we don't need to pay the rent..."

Why should I collect rent from my sister-in-law? If I collect rent from my sister-in-law, what about Mengke's rent? Are you going to pay it together with her? Won't that put too much financial pressure on you?
Besides, how can I charge Meng Ke rent?

"Why not? We're already divorced!" Hu Mengdie stopped and stared straight at him.

"We can still be friends even after a divorce..." Li Zhuangsheng stammered, "Do you still have to pay rent if you stay overnight at Xie Jiangqing's house?"

Hu Mengdie stared silently at Li Zhuangsheng. Every word Li Zhuangsheng said seemed to make sense, but Hu Mengdie was still very annoyed.

Ultimately, she was just annoyed. She was upset that Li Zhuangsheng had brought up divorce, which made her feel inexplicably like she had been dumped.

Although she knew that Li Zhuangsheng wanted to let go selflessly, she also disliked this behavior of making decisions for her.

I never said I wanted a divorce, yet you brought it up!

This matter has been weighing on her mind, making her even more irritable than with menstrual irregularities.

She felt like she wasn't ready for anything, and then she got married out of nowhere, and then got divorced out of nowhere... It's so annoying, so annoying!

Every time she felt annoyed, she wanted to punch Li Zhuangsheng a few times, but when she calmed down, she thought that Li Zhuangsheng was also a victim. He hadn't done anything wrong, and he had already done enough.

Well, in the end, it's because Li Zhuangsheng did an excellent job!
If Li Zhuangsheng weren't such a gentle and reliable man, she wouldn't be so troubled!

"Whatever you want," Hu Mengdie scoffed.

What could she say now? Her salary this month was all Li Zhuangsheng's own money. She thought to herself, how hypocritical she was, using Li Zhuangsheng's money to pay his rent... She knew everything, yet she pretended not to.

Even more frightening is that Hu Mengdie would often have a strange, inappropriate thought that shouldn't exist:

It's only right that he treats me well, after all, I'm his wife... This thought would occasionally pop into Hu Mengdie's mind.

Especially after they signed the divorce papers, this thought not only didn't subside, but tormented her even more. Now that they're practically estranged, can she still accept Li Zhuangsheng's kindness with a clear conscience?

She has already lost that reason, so what reason will she use to convince herself in the future?
She knew she shouldn't continue to rely on Li Zhuangsheng, but she couldn't bear to leave his help.

She deeply hated this version of herself... or perhaps not hate, but a sense of bewilderment and helplessness. She knew neither the past nor the future.

After three or four days of practice, Hu Mengdie finally mastered reversing into a parking space and began practicing parallel parking.

The coach explained the key points from the front, while Li Zhuangsheng leaned back the whole time, listening to music with headphones on.

"Li Zhuangsheng." Hu Mengdie couldn't help but frown, turned around and gently patted him, "You should listen carefully to what the coach says, right? You've probably only mastered reversing into a parking space, haven't you?"

Li Zhuangsheng paused the music in his headphones, a look of confusion in his eyes.

“Oh, I’ve already mastered this,” Li Zhuangsheng said.

Hu Mengdie was slightly taken aback, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on her face: "Oh...oh...you said you only practiced for three or four days. I thought you were at the same pace as me. I didn't expect you to be so fast. You've already learned the lateral positioning."

The instructor, who was listening nearby, burst out laughing: "Hahaha, didn't your husband tell you? He's already finished learning his driving test!"

"Huh?" Hu Mengdie was startled, seemingly unable to understand the meaning of the sentence.

The coach was also taken aback, then turned around and laughed, "Didn't you tell your wife?"

Li Zhuangsheng just smiled and shook his head. He was already a bit carsick, and Hu Mengdie's swaying driving made him even less inclined to talk.

Hu Mengdie's gaze was filled with surprise and doubt: "He... he's not just a beginner..."

The instructor clicked his tongue: "Yes, your husband is really talented at learning to drive! He only studies for an hour a day, and he mastered the second stage of the driving test in less than two days, and the third stage in just one day! I've almost never seen such a talented person!"

Hu Mengdie stared in astonishment at Li Zhuangsheng in the back seat, who could only manage a forced smile: "I barely know how to drive."

"Haha, you're being modest now. If you were to take your driving test now, you'd pass as long as you performed normally!"

Li Zhuangsheng thought to himself, "Actually, I do have a driver's license."

Hu Mengdie finished her driving lesson in silence. The instructor seemed to want to give Li Zhuangsheng a chance to impress his wife, so he drove back to the neighborhood.

Li Zhuangsheng carefully drove the car back to the apartment building, got out, and opened the car door for Hu Mengdie.

"Thank you..." Hu Mengdie said, "You're really amazing."

"You mean I learned to drive quickly?" Li Zhuangsheng blinked and said self-deprecatingly, "Even Da Xiong is good at cat's cradle and shooting. Nobody is completely useless!"

"I'm probably the one who's completely useless," Hu Mengdie thought to herself.

She knew Li Zhuangsheng got carsick as early as when they went to Nanjing. He must have been suffering a lot these past few days sitting in the back, even though he had already learned to drive, he still silently wasted time sitting in the car with her.

“I didn’t know you had learned it, so tomorrow…” Hu Mengdie licked her lips, “you don’t need to come tomorrow, right?”

"It's alright. You're so beautiful, what if something happens if you stay in the car?"

After blowing in the cold wind outside the car, a trace of color finally returned to Li Zhuangsheng's pale cheeks.

“Oh…” Hu Mengdie said softly.

She felt a surge of irritation. She wanted nothing more than to grab Li Zhuangsheng and shake him violently, yelling at him: "Can you stop being so nice to me? Can you stop liking me like this? We're divorced! Why are you still being so nice to me after the divorce? It's so annoying! Why did you even bring up divorce in the first place?"

Hu Mengdie was used to boys trying to please her, but Li Zhuangsheng gave her a completely different feeling.

She never cared about the favors shown to her by her students, as they were like small gifts. She always adhered to her family's teachings and resolutely refused to accept anything that did not belong to her.

But Li Zhuangsheng's kindness to her was exactly what she needed most and couldn't refuse... Just like she knew she shouldn't let Li Zhuangsheng continue to waste his time and let him, who was carsick, accompany her, but she couldn't truly refuse.

This feeling was very uncomfortable; she felt like a frog in lukewarm water, so uncomfortable that she even somewhat agreed with the saying, "A little kindness is appreciated, but too much kindness breeds resentment."

Her life was finally starting to stabilize and get back on track, but she always felt like something was missing. It was really uncomfortable; she felt uneasy all over!
No, I can't go on like this!

Hu Mengdie bit her lip, feeling that she had to make some changes.

"Mengke, I plan to contact Qi Haoyu tomorrow," Hu Mengdie said earnestly in the bedroom.

"Contact Qi Haoyu... it's up to you." Hu Mengke smiled.

Hu Mengdie's eyes flickered, as if she were guiltily making excuses for herself: "Actually, I didn't want anything to happen between us... but as you know, Li Zhuangsheng and I are already divorced." (End of Chapter)