Wife, please behave yourself.

Chapter 8 I've never been married

An Zhaoran never imagined that she would learn about their divorce from Liu Changcun.

Shocked, she stood there for a long time, and after regaining her senses, she awkwardly picked up the pen again and casually ticked off items on the menu.

one more time.

In the empty private room, only the two figures stood between each other.

Seeing that the other party had already checked six or seven items on the menu, Liu Changcun suddenly felt that his wallet was about to become empty.

He hurriedly spoke up, hoping to stop An Zhaoran from continuing to tick the box.

"Have you ordered? If so, I'll ask them to add more dishes."

"Okay, all done..."

Startled by the question, An Zhaoran snapped out of her daze.

Seeing Liu Changcun get up to get the menu, she, who had been lost in thought, didn't even know what she had ordered.

She was still in shock from the news she had just received until the man left the private room.

Separated by a door.

Liu Changcun, who was holding the menu, immediately changed his expression.

Looking at the menu with more than a dozen checkmarks, I felt my heart was bleeding.

An Zhaoran must have some grudge against me, right? Otherwise, why would she kill me like this!
Why so much soup? Can just the two of us finish it?
And this mandarin fish, I always order the expensive kind.

Also, what does "oysters" mean? Does she need to replenish her energy?
damn it……

Turn around and stick the menu on the wall.

Holding the menu with one hand, he began to scribble on it with the pen in the other.

He had already ordered six dishes, and originally planned to let An Zhaoran order a few more when she arrived.

Who would have thought that the other party would treat him like a sucker and rip him off?

Paint it off, paint off these expensive ones.

The answer is that they're sold out.

"gentlemen?"

Liu Changcun was engrossed in applying the paint when a waiter behind him, who was preparing to serve the food, called him back.

Liu Changcun, the person involved, crossed out another line without changing his expression as he made the gesture.

Turn around and hand the menu and pen to the other person.

Looking at the waiter pushing the food cart, I gave him another special instruction.

"Those marked with an 'X' are the ones you ordered by mistake. If you order them, I won't pay you."

"..."

After saying that, he pushed the door of the private room open again, making sure to leave it wide open so that the waiter could bring the dishes into the room.

Back at their seats, dishes were plated and served one by one.

Once all the previously ordered dishes had been served, the private room, now closed again, contained only two people.

Liu Changcun turned the table around and placed the cold cucumber salad in front of the other person.

"Sometimes marriage is like this smashed cucumber; no matter how long or thick it is, it will break when you smash it with a knife."

"It might be harmonious when you're dating, but after marriage it'll be a complete mess. Marriage... nobody can say for sure."

An Zhaoran didn't touch her chopsticks, but instead looked at Liu Changcun, who had said those words.

Hearing the other person's explanation of the cucumber salad, she looked at the man with a strange expression after reflecting on it.

"So...you got divorced because you couldn't perform?"

"Bullshit!"

Men can be less concerned with details.

However, we must fight back against such unfounded slander.

Liu Changcun stood up straight, highlighting his strong physique.

"The conflict arose because of financial issues; to be precise, we divorced because she thought I had no money."

"Oh, that's how it is."

"Speaking of the economy, Ms. An, I heard you work at a television station, right?"

"Yes."

"Actually, since my divorce, I've realized that incompatible people being together is just mutual torture, so I felt compelled to write this..."

The topic was successfully brought back on track.

Although An Zhaoran had chopsticks in her hand, she didn't touch the dishes after they were served.

Liu Changcun pulled out a stack of papers from somewhere and placed them in front of him.

I glanced at the title above.

The Temptation to Go Home

"what is this?"

"script."

After responding, Liu Changcun continued.

"The story tells of Liu Pinru, who, after being betrayed by her husband and losing her child, undergoes a makeover and makes the adulterous couple regret their actions for the rest of their lives."

The sentences are concise yet provide a detailed summary.

"I saw on the internet that your station has a project like this, so I was thinking of asking you to help me submit it internally."

"Of course, I just hope that if it's difficult for you, you can just treat this meeting as a private reunion of old classmates."

Liu Changcun's words rang in An Zhaoran's ears.

The man was tactful in his words, and whether she refused or agreed, he didn't make the atmosphere at the dinner table awkward.

For An Zhaoran, helping with the inside scoring was just a casual thing to do.

Although they weren't in the same department, given her connections within the station, it was just a matter of talking to her.

Of course, she couldn't guarantee whether the script would be approved.

Liu Changcun's script also needs to be of high quality.

"No problem, I can help you."

"That felt great."

With a sigh of admiration, a smile spread across Liu Changcun's face.

He raised his hand and turned the table, quickly moving the smashed cucumber to the other person and presenting a plate of pan-fried pork ribs in front of them.

"Since you've helped me with this, I still owe you a meal, whether it's successful or not. Let's find some time another day and have another meal together with your husband."

Upon hearing this, An Zhaoran frowned immediately. She sized up Liu Changcun in front of her, and after a long while, her tone turned cold again.

"Who told you I have a husband?"

"what?"

"I have never been married."

An Zhaoran, who hadn't touched her food at all, immediately lost her appetite.

Put down the chopsticks in your hand.

"You didn't come to that class reunion five years ago, and neither did I, but Lin Wanran did. It was a rumor she spread."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Liu Changcun immediately felt embarrassed.

At the class reunion three years ago, he only heard that the other person had gotten married in a flash, never expecting it to be a rumor.

However, the woman in front of him was about the same age as him. In this day and age, it would be impossible for a normal person to be unmarried at this age.

It's no wonder he chose to believe it just because he'd only heard about it.

The originally harmonious atmosphere became somewhat awkward again because of this topic, and An Zhaoran felt inexplicably irritated.

"To be honest, I really dislike Lin Wanran. It was like this back in school; she was always revolving around you."

Liu Changcun raised an eyebrow, looking at An Zhaoran, who was unbelievably beautiful.

That sounds a bit ambiguous.

She... probably didn't like me before, right?

"Of course, I hate you even more!"

"what?"

The unexpected remark left Liu Changcun, who had been somewhat skeptical, completely dumbfounded.

"He hangs out with Lin Wanran all the time, yet his exam scores are consistently at the top of the list."

People only remember the first place.

Do you know who got second place in our class?

It's you.

"it's me."

As expected, after a pause, An Zhaoran gave the correct answer.

Her slender fingers curled up and clenched tightly, her two fists held firm.

The look in his eyes as he looked at Liu Changcun was full of resentment.

Do you know why I chose to keep the appointment and why I agreed to help you with the internal referral?

"do not know."

"Because I don't want to see you so down on your luck."

Unlike Liu Changcun, An Zhaoran has not seen her former classmates often in recent years, but she can occasionally hear them talking about the once-proud prodigy.

Liu Changcun was dazzling during his school days, not only for his excellent grades but also for his good looks.

Time has passed, and the once prominent figure now runs a bookstore, content with his modest achievements.

We were classmates for three years.

Liu Changcun was An Zhaoran's rival in high school, and he always outperformed her academically.

Over time, she set her sights on him.

An Zhaoran wanted to defeat him.

They rightfully won first place in terms of academic performance.

However, one of the test papers also received a perfect score.

An Zhaoran was only able to get a perfect score because of her abilities.

Liu Changcun, on the other hand, only received a perfect score on this exam paper.

A single word can make all the difference, and she knew very well that she had failed.

He was defeated by Liu Changcun, who spent all his time with Lin Wanran and seemed to have no interest in studying.

An Zhaoran has a very strong sense of self-esteem.

She had always held the top spot until she entered high school and became classmates with Liu Changcun.

The frustration from failure often gave her nightmares.

Even now, at 33 years old, she still occasionally dreams of returning to her high school classroom.

I was defeated by my opponent once again in the examination room.

An Zhaoran wanted to win.

But winning against the lackluster Liu Changcun doesn't count as a win at all.

Time has passed, and the one-sided competition between them has long ended. After all these years, An Zhaoran thought she had long since let go of the past.

However, the scenes she occasionally dreamed about made her realize that the man beside her had long become an indelible shadow in her life.

When Liu Changcun called her tonight, she was initially puzzled, but then she realized that this might be a good opportunity to fulfill her wish after many years.

Therefore, with the idea of ​​introducing the other party to a job at the TV station, I came to the dinner party.

Given Liu Changcun's abilities, even with only a high school education, he could still carve out his own niche in the television industry.

An Zhaoran trusted the other party, and trusted Liu Changcun, whom she had once regarded as a role model.

However, after meeting her, Liu Changcun took the initiative to ask her to help submit the script internally.

She didn't know if Liu Changcun's script would be approved.

But since the other party had asked her to do it first, she decided not to bring up the job introduction for now.

Thinking that if the script didn't pass muster, I would find a suitable opportunity to introduce him to a job at the TV station.

In this way, the two people in the same field can face off again.

As An Zhaoran finished speaking, the two people in the private room tacitly fell silent.

Until the woman broke the silence.

"Keep going, strive to become even better."

He paused, then added.

"Don't disappoint me again."

　Thank you to Han Tietie for the generous donation of 100 Qidian coins!
　　Old Liu really wants votes, all kinds of votes.

　　Can you satisfy me?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)