Ordinary World: Starting with a divorce from Tian Runye

"Xiangqian, if you want a drink, you can tell me and I'll get it for you. You're a grown man... it's easy for people to misunderstand."

Runye's tone softened slightly.

Li Xiangqian rolled his eyes at Runye, "I can't explain it to you. A good slow-cooked soup can't have the right flavor without three to five years of experience."

Runye, who had just suppressed her emotions, was about to break down, but she forced herself to put on a relatively normal expression.

"That was me being nosy."

After saying that, he flung open the curtain and left the kitchen.

Back in the living room, Runye's gaze returned to the bowl on the table with the plate upside down.

For Li Xiangqian's sake, Runye rushed home after school without even having time for a hot meal, and was starving. The strong aroma of chicken soup wafted through the living room.

Runye walked over and lifted the plate.

The bowl contained a small portion of chicken soup, with two red dates and a goji berry floating on top, and a chicken leg resting on it.

What did he leave for me?

Runye stood there for a while, holding the spoon, and then glanced towards the kitchen a few more times.

The sound of water being poured into an enamel basin came from the kitchen, and steam spread into the living room like mist.

Runye sat down, about to take a spoonful to taste, when she bumped into Li Xiangqian, who was holding hot water and walking out of the steam. Startled, she quickly threw the spoon aside.

"I saved this for you!"

After Li Xiangqian finished speaking, he continued walking towards the restroom.

"What did you put in?"

Runye scooped up a spoonful, held it up to her eyes to look at it, and then smelled it.

"They released poison."

Li Xiang carried water into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Seeing this, Runye slightly turned down the corners of her mouth, and only brought the soup to her lips after hearing the sound of running water from the bathroom.

fresh.

Runye had never tasted such sweet and delicious chicken soup before. The rich chicken soup had the sweetness of red dates, and the sweet, salty and fresh taste lingered in her mouth.

Who did Li Xiangqian learn this from?

Runye took another spoonful.

Without saying a word, he drank it sip by sip until only the chicken leg was left at the bottom of the bowl.

Runye hesitated for a moment, feeling even hungrier after drinking the soup.

I haven't had a proper meal in the past two days because of him.

With that thought in mind, Runye grabbed it with her hand and started biting into it.

After finishing gnawing on the bones, she spat them into the bowl and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

"Oh, you're really hungry?"

Li Xiangqian emerged from the bathroom shirtless, his hair dripping wet.

Runye was taken aback, and quickly wiped her mouth with the back of her hand again. "A grown man, lying at home all day, doing nothing, and taking a shower every day."

Runye muttered a complaint under her breath, then got up, collected the bowls, and headed to the kitchen.

Li Xiangqian felt extremely wronged.

"Hey, I'm on paid leave, it's paid leave."

Runye ignored him and went to the stove. She stood there blankly for a while, and only breathed a slight sigh of relief when she heard the bedroom door open.

……

The next day, in the teachers' office of Chengguan Elementary School.

Just as Runye opened her lesson preparation book, Wang Guiqin floated over carrying an enamel mug.

"Runye".

"Um."

"I heard about it, congratulations!"

Runye paused in turning the page.

"What's the congratulations for?"

"Stop pretending. Sister Zhang from the supply and marketing cooperative told me that your husband has been going there a lot lately, buying nothing but red dates, goji berries, and eggs. It's not a holiday, why is he buying all this stuff..."

"Also, Sister Zhao from the family compound told me, hey, they've already started making chicken soup, Xiangqian is doing great."

After Wang Guiqin finished speaking, she nudged Runye with her elbow and smiled from ear to ear.

Runye slowly closed her lesson preparation book, feeling a throbbing pain in her temples.

"Teacher Wang, as I said, these are all rumors spread by the neighbors. I am not pregnant."

"I know, I know, it has to be kept secret for the first three months."

"I'm not keeping it a secret, it's true..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Huifen from the next table leaned over, patted her hand, and said, "Runye, the first three months of pregnancy are the most important. Don't stand for too long. I'll cover for you if you have a lot of classes."

Zhao Huifen, like Runye, teaches Chinese, but her students are a year ahead of Runye's.

Runye removed Zhao Huifen's hand: "Teacher Zhao, I'm really not pregnant."

Runye's tone was resolute.

"He's throwing a tantrum with Xiangqian again."

Wang Guiqin immediately grasped the crux of the problem, and Zhao Huifen, who was standing beside her, nodded in understanding.

Li Suzhen, who was standing next to Runye, came over with an enamel mug. Li Suzhen had only been at Chengguan Elementary School for a short time and was two years younger than Runye.

"It's normal to be irritable when you're newly pregnant. My sister-in-law is a gynecologist, and she told me that when she first got pregnant, there was a surge in some hormones that made her mood swing up and down."

"Oh, I see?" Zhao Huifen suddenly realized.

"That's right." Wang Guiqin said seriously, "When I was pregnant with my first child, I wanted to hit my husband with a broom whenever I saw him."

"And Xiangqian, how could he make his wife angry at such a crucial time?"

"Young people are often naive and don't know any better, so we should be more tolerant of them."

The topic swung from "Runye's pregnancy" to "emotional management during pregnancy," then from "emotional management" to "outrageous experiences during our respective pregnancies," and finally somehow veered into "gynecological knowledge lectures."

Several female teachers gathered in a circle, chatting animatedly with flushed faces.

Runye was completely sidelined and sat in the very center.

"It's all Li Xiangqian's fault!"

Runye stood up abruptly, uttered a single sentence, and walked out of the office with her lesson preparation book tucked in her arm.

Behind her, Wang Guiqin was still describing her heroic feat of eating three catties of vinegar-soaked peanuts in one go while she was pregnant.

……

Runye left the office with her lesson preparation book, neither returning to the classroom nor to her family compound.

She got on her Phoenix brand bicycle and turned onto the stone-paved road leading to the county cultural center.

Runye's only friend in Yuanxi County was Du Lili. Du Lili worked at the county cultural center, but her job was really just helping her father, Du Zhengxian, with tasks like organizing materials and arranging program schedules. Du Lili herself didn't care; what she cared about were the few literary magazines in the cultural center's reading room and the "Huangyuan Literature" magazine that was sent from Huangyuan every month.

The courtyard of the cultural center was quiet, with the doors of several cave dwellings half-closed, and the midday sun making the brick walls scorching hot.

Runye peeked into the doorway of the third cave dwelling.

Du Lili was sitting at her desk with an open copy of "Yanhe" on her side and an enamel mug next to her with eight red characters printed on it: "Unity, Tension, Seriousness, and Liveliness".

"Lili".

Du Lili looked up and saw Runye. She was initially delighted, but then noticed that Runye's expression was a little off, and her smile instantly vanished.

What's wrong with you?

"I can't live like this anymore. I really can't stay in Yuanxi County."

Runye walked in, put her lesson preparation book on the table, and plopped down on the wooden chair next to her.

Du Lili sized her up for a moment, then tentatively asked, "You've finally figured it out?"

Runye knew what she meant.

Du Lili was her best friend in Yuanxi County and the only one who knew the details of her marriage to Li Xiangqian. From the very beginning, Du Lili opposed the marriage.

"Arranged marriages are the dregs of the old society. Why should a modern woman like you be tied down by a man?" She said this more than once.

"It's not that I've figured it out."

Runye took a deep breath.

"They've been driven mad."