Divorced at fifty, I embarked on my path to success.

Encountering Yuejiang Pavilion spoiled Mei Yusheng's mood. Qin Chu glanced at her and comforted her, "Just think of it as encountering a fly, don't worry about it."

Mei Yusheng gave a bitter laugh: "I really don't understand what that old guy is trying to do. We've been divorced for so long, can't he just pretend we don't know each other?"

Qin Chu pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "He won't be able to keep this up for long, don't worry."

Mei Yusheng looked at Qin Chu's strong profile and didn't ask any questions, only humming in response.

If Yue Jiangting commits a crime and is arrested, Yue Guangzhi will inevitably be implicated as well. It was already evident at Mei Zi's wedding that Yue Guangzhi and Sun Chengzhi have a deep relationship; none of these traitors will escape.

Mei Yusheng felt not sadness, but an indescribable feeling. The pain of the severing of family ties had numbed her senses.

Back home, Mei Yusheng was surprised to find Zhou Xia, Qin Zhan, and Youyou playing checkers around the coffee table—the kind with glass marbles.

They were so engrossed in their game that no one noticed the door open.

"Why are only the two of you back?" He Qingmin was sitting on the sofa wearing reading glasses and knitting a sweater. Hearing the voice, she looked up and looked over the frame of her glasses.

"They'll be watching a few more shows, it'll probably be quite late." Qin Chu took off his coat and walked straight towards Youyou.

Upon hearing her father's voice, Youyou looked up and cheered, "Dad, I won!"

Qin Zhan laughed and said, "Youyou is so smart, she can even do a cornering maneuver!"

Zhou Xia also had a faint smile on her face, her eyes sparkling with tiny starlight. She peeled an orange and fed the segments into Youyou's mouth.

Youyou naturally opened her small mouth and bit it, and even brought her chin close to Zhou Xia's face, asking her to help wipe the juice from her mouth.

Mei Yusheng wondered, when did the two of them become so close?

Since Zhou Xia came to this house, she has been quiet and reserved, never playing with Youyou, nor has she ever seen Youyou get close to her.

How did Zhou Xia and Youyou become friends after just one afternoon out?

Mei Yu handed the candied hawthorns to Youyou, who cheered and then distributed the candied hawthorns from the paper bag to his family, one for each person, keeping one strawberry one for himself.

"Where's Mingqi?" Mei Yusheng looked around but didn't see Xie Mingqi.

“She’s gone home.” He Qingmin put down the sweater in her hand and took the candied hawthorn that Youyou handed her. “She just left not long ago. Maybe she was worried about leaving Old Chen home alone.”

Mei Yusheng nodded, not paying any attention.

After changing into comfortable loungewear, he said to Zhou Xia, "Xiaxia, let's go deliver something to your mother together tomorrow morning."

Zhou Xia paused, her thin lips pursed, and she hesitated for a few seconds, as if she had done something wrong, before whispering, "Aunt Mei, I went there this morning. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Mei Yusheng was taken aback, then realized why Zhou Xia had left early in the morning and didn't return until after noon.

“It’s okay, we’ll go again tomorrow morning. Your mom will be so surprised.” Mei Yusheng said nonchalantly, and stepped forward to hold Zhou Xia’s hand. “You don’t have to report everything to me, and you don’t need my permission to visit your mother. Xiaxia, you are free here. Do whatever you want. If you are too reserved, I will feel bad.”

Tears welled up in Zhou Xia's eyes: "Okay."

Qin Zhan's gaze remained fixed on Zhou Xia, a smile playing on his lips.

Qin Chu continued playing checkers with Youyou, curious about what new skills Youyou had acquired.

Mei Yusheng was about to go to the kitchen when He Qingmin stopped her: "Yusheng, I asked Mingqi to take some New Year's things back with me. Qianqian will definitely go out with Cheng Peng this year. It's so lonely for the two of them."

“Okay,” Mei Yusheng replied with a smile, “They might be visiting relatives. We’ll ask them again in a couple of days if they’d like to come over and join in the fun.”

Qin Chu looked up and said, "Sister, we're not cooking tonight. I just called Manager Wang from Dongsheng and ordered some dishes, which will be delivered in a bit."

Mei Yusheng was secretly delighted, as she was too lazy to cook today and still had a manuscript to write.

Qin Chu always seemed to understand what she needed, and he could do everything just right, touching her heart.

"I ordered two extra roasted pigeons; I'll take them with me tomorrow morning," Qin Chu added.

Zhou Xia's eyes flashed with surprise.

“I’ll go together this morning too,” Qin Zhan said, glancing at Zhou Xia with a fleeting look.

Mei Yusheng keenly sensed that the atmosphere between the two was somewhat unusual, and curiously observed them for a moment.

With some time to spare before dinner, Mei Yusheng went straight upstairs to the second floor.

Her novel has reached 300,000 words and the feedback from readers has been very good. She can't stop updating during the Chinese New Year, so she writes more drafts whenever she has free time to avoid any unexpected events that might delay her updates.

She developed a habit: as soon as her hands touched the keyboard, she could immediately immerse herself in the story and forget everything around her.

This is said to be called the flow state, where you do what you love and are completely unaware of the passage of time.

Mei Yusheng thoroughly enjoyed the process.

……

Xie Mingqi entered the house and found it quiet. Startled, she quickly walked through the empty living room, opened the bedroom door, and found no one there.

I rushed to the bathroom again, but there was still no one there.

Turning around and standing in front of the study door, she suddenly stopped, pressed her hand against her rapidly heaving chest, bent her fingers as if to knock, but hesitated for a moment.

She couldn't explain why she wouldn't call out to Chen Juansheng. She felt a secret excitement, both afraid that Chen Juansheng wasn't home and hoping that he wasn't home.

Am I going crazy?

His absence confirms that I have ample reason not to trust him, and then I can arrogantly say, "See? I knew it!"

But she was also afraid. What would happen after she said it? Would they fall back into the entanglement of the past few months?

This continued, over and over again, until both of them were completely exhausted.

Xie Mingqi was unwilling to admit it, but suspicion was like a hibernating venomous snake that would suddenly leap out and gnaw at her heart during every sleepless night or at some unexpected moment.

She thought that after the car accident, they had gone through a life-or-death ordeal, had reconciled, and were starting anew.

Indeed, during her first week back home, she even experienced a sense of newlywed shyness and excitement.

Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. One sunny morning, Jiang Mei's delicate face appeared unexpectedly between her and Chen Juansheng, shattering the illusion she had been creating for herself.

She stared at Chen Juansheng for a long time until he raised his eyes warily, at which point she hurriedly lowered her gaze to hide her emotions.

Chen Juansheng was also very perceptive; he noticed it and intentionally or unintentionally kept his distance from her.

From then on, an invisible barrier separated them, and their conversations became more polite and cautious. Chen Juansheng, in particular, seemed to be carefully choosing his words, afraid that any word or tone might displease her, which only fueled her anger.

They began to test each other and speculate about each other's intentions. When Chen Qianqian wasn't home, it felt like the air in the house had been sucked out, and they both felt suffocated.

Xie Mingqi had no choice but to go out again to Mei Yusheng's place to pass the time. She thought that Chen Juansheng could only breathe freely when she was out.

At this moment, she really wanted to know if Chen Juansheng was inside the door, and what he was doing.

She knew it would be more polite to knock and ask for permission before going in, but she just didn't want to; she wanted to catch Chen Juansheng off guard.

I pushed the door hard, but it wouldn't budge; it was locked!