Ice is not averse to deception

The next morning, Sun Bing took Xiao Ni to school. As soon as he returned to the shop, Liu Qiang stormed in aggressively.

"Nini isn't here; she went to school."

"I'm not here to see Nini, I'm here to see you."

Seeing Liu Qiang's arrogant demeanor, Sun Bing inexplicably felt a sense of crisis.

Having trained in boxing, he wouldn't easily issue a challenge without absolute confidence in winning.

"What is it? Tell me." Sun Bing looked helpless.

"Actually, it's nothing much, I just wanted to tell you to get a divorce from my sister as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Sun Bing couldn't help but laugh.

This wasn't the first time Liu Qiang had brought up this matter over such a long period of time, and it wasn't the first time Sun Bing had refused. It turned out that Liu Qiang, despite his stubbornness as a boxer, was clearly not thinking clearly enough.

How could I possibly agree to something I wouldn't have agreed to before?

Seeing that Sun Bing did not reply for a long time, Liu Qiang did not get angry as before, but instead looked confident of victory.

Walking to the shelf, Liu Qiang picked up a trophy and asked Sun Bing with a smile, "Sun Bing, the most important thing for a person is to have self-awareness, I admit that." Putting down the trophy, Liu Qiang continued, "I admit you're good to my sister and have good character. But..."

Liu Qiang changed the subject: "You need to understand that there's a limit to how good you can be to my sister. The money you earn now can only barely cover her daily needs. Do you think that's fair to her?"

Unexpectedly, Liu Qiang, who is all brawn and no brains, is now playing a game of words instead of fighting with Sun Bing.

"I will get better, and it won't be long."

With Wu Dayong as a strong backer, Sun Bing inexplicably gained more confidence.

"Oh?" Liu Qiang smiled. "How long is 'not too long'? One or two years, or three years?"

"soon."

  

"You're talking about the ice sculptures. Is there any progress now?" Liu Qiang quickly realized the crux of the matter.

Sun Bing didn't hide anything, nodding with a confident expression.

Liu Qiang immediately scoffed, "So what? Now that the sun's shining and the rain's stopped, you think you're all set? Even if you earn this money, pay off your debts, and are debt-free, then what?"

Liu Qiang looked at Sun Bing with a serious expression: "Sun Bing, what about the future? How long are you planning to let Nini and my sister live in this dilapidated house that doesn't even have two bedrooms? Three years, five years, or ten years? Do you think you have the ability to do that?"

"That's not what your sister and Nini want," Sun Bing said without backing down.

"Is that so?" Liu Qiang scoffed again. "I think you're being too absolute. Yes, my sister isn't a materialistic woman. Materialistic, 'bad' women can enjoy a better life, while good, non-materialistic women can only endure hardship. Sun Bing, do you think that's fair?"

Liu Qiang is behaving very strangely today. His approach to dealing with Sun Bing has completely changed, and he doesn't seem like the same person at all.

Although Sun Bing kept refuting, he had clearly fallen into Liu Qiang's logical trap.

He couldn't refute it, nor did he have any way to refute it. Over the years, his relationship with Liu Ruo had always been very good, and he knew what a good woman Liu Ruo was, but just as Liu Qiang said, such a good woman's fate was to live a life of poverty with Sun Bing.

Is this fair?

Unable to refute, Sun Bing fell into deep thought. He knew that it was his own unfertile soil that caused Liu Ruo, this beautiful flower, to wither prematurely.

At this moment, Liu Qiang had already walked to the clothes rack and saw the dance costume that Sun Bing had bought for Sun Xiaoni.

"This dress must be expensive, I remember it cost over 800. Did you buy it?"

Faced with Liu Qiang's question, Sun Bing lost her confidence.

He didn't know what to say, but Liu Qiang spoke up: "Sun Bing, do you know that the dance costume you worked so hard to buy might just be a bouquet of flowers that someone else could buy casually? What did Xiao Ni and Liu Ru do wrong to deserve this kind of hardship with you?"

A bouquet of flowers?

Liu Qiang's words instantly reminded Sun Bing of the bouquet of flowers she had seen yesterday, and of course, Liu Ruo's evasive gaze.

"Did your sister send you?" Sun Bing suddenly asked.

Liu Qiang laughed, staring into Sun Bing's eyes, and said, "Does it still matter?"

At that moment, Sun Bing felt something inside him suddenly collapse, giving him an overwhelming sense of falling.

"What does that man do?" Sun Bing suddenly asked.

Liu Qiang was caught off guard. He guessed that Sun Bing had seen the man give flowers to his sister yesterday. "Fine," he said, seizing the opportunity, "He's in the import/export business, thirty-five years old, married. His wife was in a vegetative state for seven years, and he took care of her until she passed away two years ago. He's just come out of the shadow of grief. He has a daughter and is very good to my sister."

People don't suddenly become smart. Liu Qiang was like a completely different person today. Every word he said hit Sun Bing right where it hurt.

What Sun Bing didn't know was that his Bluetooth headset had been on the entire time Liu Qiang entered the room. His series of "extraordinary performances" were also the result of guidance from an expert.

Sun Bing was already somewhat wavering, but he still said in a low voice, "If it's your sister's wish, I... agree to the divorce."

Liu Qiang had achieved his goal, but his actions at this moment seemed somewhat strange.

With a solemn expression, she seemed to be resisting, but she still picked up the dance costume next to her and tore several rips with a little force.

Sun Bing was furious!

"Liu Qiang! What are you doing?!"

Seeing her daughter's beloved dance costume torn, Sun Bing instinctively grabbed Liu Qiang's collar, her bloodshot eyes looking like she wanted to devour him.

Liu Qiang had boxing experience, so Sun Bing was no match for him in terms of physical strength. But today, Liu Qiang seemed to have a sudden inspiration and deliberately didn't use his strength in punches, instead resorting to psychological tactics.

Liu Qiang did not resist, nor did he panic. He calmly took out a wad of money from his pocket and placed it in front of Sun Bing.

He said with a smile, "Look, clothes will wear out sooner or later. Just change into a new one, and Xiao Ni won't notice. And even if she does, what can she do?"

Liu Qiang's eyes flickered, and he seemed to pause deliberately for a moment before speaking according to the prompts in the earpiece: "Maybe I really will be sad for a while, after all, old clothes also have sentimental value, but how long can I be sad? The joy brought by the new clothes should be able to make up for it quickly, right?"

After saying that, Liu Qiang patted Sun Bing's hand, and Sun Bing inexplicably let go of his hand.

Then, amidst Sun Bing's shocked and desperate gaze, Liu Qiang strode away.

The despair brought by the defeat suffocated Sun Bing.

It was as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping his throat. The pain gradually subsided, and the blurring of vision made him slowly lose his way.

It was only at this moment that Sun Bing finally realized how much of a failure her life had been.

He married the woman he considered the most perfect in the world, but he couldn't provide her with basic living security.

He naively thought that as long as he solved the problem at hand and successfully obtained the ice sculpture fee from the Ice and Snow World, everything would be resolved.

In retrospect, he was too naive.

Subconsciously, Sun Bing had already made some decisions; perhaps it really was time for him to let go. Just like the clothes Liu Qiang tore, his departure might cause his daughter some pain, but the joy brought by the new clothes should quickly make up for it.

Such a lovely person deserves a better life.

When Sun Xiaoni and the others returned, Sun Bing had already left. Sun Xiaoni assumed that her father had gone out on something urgent and didn't think much of it, completely unaware of the dance costume that had fallen into the counter and the stack of money on the table that was covered by a notebook.

Sun Bing was not at ease at this moment. What was unexpected was that Liu Qiang, who had clearly defeated Sun Bing in the contest, did not have the joy of a victor on his face. Instead, he looked rather solemn.

He hailed a taxi and arrived at the entrance of an upscale residential community.

Soon, the flower delivery man appeared at Liu Qiang's door in a BMW 120.

"Brother Shan, isn't what we're doing a bit...?"

Just as Liu Qiang opened his mouth with a solemn expression, a car key suddenly appeared in front of him.

The man's name was Cai Shan. He was a businessman who had been in the import and export business for several years and was definitely wealthy. Of course, besides being a businessman, Cai Shan and Liu Ruo were also high school classmates.

However, at that time, Liu Ruo was completely unaware of Cai Shan's existence.

"Brother Shan, what's wrong with you...?"

Cai Shan patted Liu Qiang on the shoulder with a smile: "The most important thing in life is to be happy. Don't you like driving? This car is the one I used to drive. It's been sitting in the garage unused. You can take it and drive it."

"This...this isn't quite right, is it?"

The seriousness in his eyes was instantly masked by surprise. It has to be said that few people can resist temptation.

Cai Shan specifically emphasized, "This car has nothing to do with your sister, it's between the two of us. You can drive it however you want, I don't need it anyway, and it has full insurance, so you don't need to worry. Also..."

Cai Shan smiled and continued, "Whether your sister and I end up together or not has nothing to do with this car. We're friends, right?"

"Yes, yes, friend, friend."

Liu Qiang had no room to resist; his heart was filled with this sudden joy.