After the divorce, my ex-husband's cousin tricked me into getting a marriage certificate.

Qi Muci looked at Qiao Ran and asked, "You also like playing tennis?"

Qiao Ran countered, "Brother Qi, do you like him too?"

Qi Muci: "Sometimes when I'm tired from filming, I like to play tennis to relax my muscles and bones."

Upon hearing this, Ding Ding immediately asked, "Brother Qi, shall we go together tomorrow?"

Qi Muci: "Okay, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning so we can go together."

Zhao Mengmeng pouted, "But I have a schedule tomorrow, so I can't go with you guys."

Ding Ding patted Zhao Mengmeng sympathetically, "Making money is the most important thing. We'll take you next time, okay?"

Zhao Mengmeng: "Okay, cheers, thanks, Brother Qi."

Let's all drink!

Qi Muci took a sip and was about to put down his cup when Qiao Ran raised her cup to toast him: "Brother Qi, I'd like to toast you. I'm truly grateful for your help during this time. I have no way to repay you, so I'll drink this first as a sign of my respect."

"You can offer yourself to me," Ding Ding blurted out out of the blue.

"Stop fooling around," Qiao Ran said, blushing.

“It’s not impossible,” Qi Muci said with a smile. “Just take a sip as a token. Your stomach isn’t good, so you should eat more vegetables. If you’re full from drinking, you won’t be able to eat any more vegetables.”

Qiao Ran lowered her head shyly and took a small sip of wine.

Zhao Mengmeng rested her chin on her hand and gazed at Qi Muci. "Brother Qi, whoever marries you will be very happy. You are gentle and considerate. You can't find a good man even with a lantern."

Ding Ding was about to stuff meat into her mouth when she heard Zhao Mengmeng's words. Curious, she winked at Qi Muci and asked with a smile, "Brother Qi, if I may be so bold as to ask a question, why are you still single?"

"Or do you actually have a girlfriend, but you're just hiding it?"

"I don't have a girlfriend," Qi Muci quickly denied, showing a strong desire to survive. "It's not that I want to be single. When it comes to relationships, I think timing and opportunity are very important. I'm still waiting for her."

Zhao Mengmeng and Ding Ding exchanged a smile, both understanding each other perfectly. Only Qiao Ran didn't react, saying naively, "Brother Qi is right. Timing and opportunity are both very important. Better to have nothing than something bad."

"Let's wish Brother Qi finds the one he loves soon."

Qi Muci looked at Qiao Ran with a black line on his face, wanting to ask her, "Are you really not understanding or are you pretending?"

Zhao Mengmeng and Ding Ding were extremely anxious. How could this girl be so stupid?

Qi Muci smiled helplessly, picked up a piece of fish and put it into Qiao Ran's bowl, "Eat more fish, it's easy to digest."

Zhao Mengmeng interjected, "It's good for the brain too. When I was in school, my mom always loved to cook fish for me. She said that eating more fish makes you smarter."

Qiao Ran: ...I feel like Zhao Mengmeng is calling her stupid.

-

Lin Mengchuan sat in the smoky private room, letting the deafening music numb his ears.

He took a drag of his cigarette, paused for a moment, then tilted his head back and downed the glass of wine in his left hand in one gulp.

A woman in a tight red miniskirt hesitated for a moment, then walked over and sat down next to him, asking sweetly, "Young Master Lin, why are you sitting here drinking alone? Let me drink with you."

Lin Mengchuan glanced at the woman and coldly cursed, "Get lost."

The woman, feeling rebuffed, walked away dejectedly.

Upon seeing this, the man who was drinking with two women got up, walked over, and sat down. He poured drinks into both his own and Lin Mengchuan's glasses, raised his glass to toast Lin Mengchuan, and said, "Brother Chuan, you've been sitting here for an hour."

“If anything’s wrong, talk to your brother. Don’t keep it bottled up inside, it’ll make you sick. You don’t believe me? My mother was always arguing with my dad, and guess what? She was diagnosed with breast cancer last month.”

Lin Mengchuan rolled his eyes at Xu Qing, "Are you fucking kidding me? Do I even have that kind of thing?"

Xu Qing: "No, I was just giving an example. It's not necessarily breast cancer. There are other cancers, like lung cancer, liver cancer, or prostate cancer. They are also possible."

Lin Mengchuan: "Shut your crow's mouth. You should be worried about yourself. Cancer can be hereditary."

Xu Qing: "So, I'll speak my mind and not keep it to myself. Tell my brother what happened?"

Lin Mengchuan was indeed feeling very bored, so he told everyone about his drunken outburst abroad, how he slept with Qiao Ran's childhood friend Lin Fei, and how he got that woman pregnant.

Lin Mengchuan said with a bitter face, "Lin Fei's parents came to our house today, forcing me to divorce Qiao Ran and marry Lin Fei. They want a dowry of 30 million yuan, as well as a villa in the suburbs and a car."

Xu Qing stared in disbelief. "Holy crap, that's ruthless! I don't remember Qiao Ran asking for such a large dowry back then, right?"

Lin Mengchuan: "I've fallen into a den of bandits. Lin Fei and his family won't be satisfied until they skin me alive. I told them I could give them 30 million on the condition that Lin Fei aborts the child, but they wouldn't agree."

Xu Qing: "Of course they disagree. What they want is the position of the young mistress of the Lin family. They want to enjoy endless wealth and luxury for the rest of their lives. If they spend 30 million, it will definitely not be enough for them to squander."

"Brother Chuan, I think you're in big trouble this time. This woman named Lin Fei is too scheming. Look, she knows you're her childhood friend's husband, but she still deliberately chased you abroad."

"Just based on this, this woman is no ordinary person. If a woman like this were to enter your home, you'd be in for a world of trouble. She would definitely turn your home upside down and you'd never have a peaceful day."

Lin Mengchuan's face grew increasingly grim, and he wished he could slap himself across the face. If a time machine existed, he would buy it at any cost and travel back to that night to avoid going to that bar.

Xu Qing lit a cigarette, squinted, and asked casually, "What was Qiao Ran's reaction? She must be furious, right? If it were me, I'd probably pull out a knife and kill you and that Lin Fei together."

Lin Mengchuan felt a bitter taste in his mouth. "She didn't make a fuss. She secretly packed her things and left the night I got back."

Xu Qing was surprised, "You just left like that?"

Lin Mengchuan: "Yeah, she's gone. It's probably because I forced her to sign the divorce papers, which broke her heart."

Xu Qing's eyes widened. "You forced her to sign a divorce agreement? Holy crap, Brother Chuan, you're such a scumbag! How much compensation did you give her? No, I mean alimony, how much did you give her?"

Lin Mengchuan: "She won't get a single penny. I'll make her leave with nothing."

Xu Qing became agitated. "What? You actually want her to leave with nothing? Brother Chuan, you're being too stingy. You should at least give her some compensation for emotional distress."

"She retired from the entertainment industry for you, and in this whole affair, Qiao Ran is the victim. Her husband didn't come home for two years, and when he did, he brought two other people home to demand a divorce. This is really despicable."

Lin Mengchuan: ...

After hearing Xu Qing's words, the women nearby all stared at Lin Mengchuan, whispering among themselves, their faces showing disgust and contempt.

Lin Mengchuan was furious. He glared at Xu Qing and said, "Do you want me to give you a megaphone so you can go outside and advertise for me on the main street?"

Xu Qing then realized that she had been too emotional and quickly apologized, "Sorry, Brother Chuan, I'm a very emotional person and I'm easily swayed by feelings, especially when it comes to things like this, I just like to stand up for what's right."

Lin Mengchuan slammed his wine glass down on the table and stood up.

Xu Qing quickly stood up as well, "Brother Chuan, where are you going?"

Lin Mengchuan said irritably, "Going home is boring."

Xu Qing pressed further, "You're not going to find Qiao Ran, are you?"