He Lingchuan returned to his room with the divorce papers when Shen Yanxi came out of the bathroom. Her long hair was wet and hung over her shoulders, and her fair and flawless skin was flushed from the heat.

She walked over and sat down next to He Lingchuan, and casually ordered, "Help me blow-dry my hair."

"good."

He Lingchuan put down the divorce agreement and began to blow-dry her hair, his fingers weaving through her soft hair with practiced ease.

This is something he does almost every day, except when Shen Yanxi is away on a business trip.

Amid the hum of the hairdryer, He Lingchuan stared at the whorl of hair on Shen Yanxi's head and suddenly said, "Wife, let's get a divorce. I'll leave with nothing. You just need to sign the divorce agreement."

Shen Yanxi agreed without hesitation: "Okay."

After replying, she looked up from her phone, quickly flipped to the last page of the divorce agreement, and signed her name.

He Lingchuan was stunned when he saw her action without the slightest hesitation, and wondered if she hadn't heard what he said at all.

He turned off the hairdryer and was about to repeat himself to Shen Yanxi when he caught a glimpse of her replying to Zhou Mingyan's message with a smile on her lips.

From his angle, he could see their conversation. Zhou Mingyan asked her to accompany him back to his high school and then to a class reunion on the weekend.

Shen Yanxi immediately agreed and they even chatted about fun things from their high school days.

He Lingchuan felt as if he had been hit on the head with a stick, his head throbbing, the pain spreading throughout his body along his nerve endings.

He and Shen Yanxi attended the same university. A few days ago, the school sent them invitations to its centennial celebration, and he invited Shen Yanxi to go with him.

But Shen Yanxi refused without hesitation: "I'm so busy with work, how could I have time to accompany you to this kind of event?"

She frowned, warning him with barely concealed impatience, "Also, don't expose our marital relationship to anyone, lest you cause me trouble. You know I've never liked trouble."

He still vividly remembered the coldness of that day, but now that Zhou Mingyan was the one inviting her, she was willing to put aside all her work, accompany him to stroll around the campus, and even attend a class reunion.

He Lingchuan gave a self-deprecating smile. It wasn't that she disliked trouble; she just disliked herself.

So this is the difference between love and not love.

He Lingchuan suddenly felt like a clown, having performed a one-man show for so many years, it was time for the curtain to fall.

He glanced at the divorce agreement on the table and suddenly felt there was no need to repeat it. Anyway, Shen Yanxi was probably overjoyed that they were getting a divorce.

After drying Shen Yanxi's hair and putting away the divorce papers, the doorbell suddenly rang.

As soon as He Lingchuan came downstairs, he saw He Beichen run to open the door, and Zhou Mingyan came in carrying a bunch of things.

Upon seeing this, He Nanchen immediately threw himself into Zhou Mingyan's arms, exclaiming with delight, "Uncle Zhou, what brings you here?"

Zhou Mingyan bent down and picked them up, laughing, "Didn't you message me saying you hadn't eaten yet and didn't know what to order for takeout? So I bought you some food and brought it over."

He Beichen sensibly took the takeout from his hand, his eyes crinkling with a smile: "Uncle Zhou, you're so kind, I love you so much."

Zhou Mingyan said it was nothing and told them to eat while it was hot. When he looked up, he saw He Lingchuan standing to the side and was a little surprised, as if he had just noticed him.

He greeted him with a smile, "Mr. He, you don't mind that I came so late, do you?"

"What's there to mind about his failure as a father?"

Before He Lingchuan could speak, Shen Yanxi interrupted, saying with dissatisfaction, "Look at them, you're a father and you don't even care about your two children as much as they do. How dare you stand here?"

Zhou Mingyan said understandingly, "Don't say that. I just happened to be nearby and delivered it on my way. Besides, Mr. He was probably just tired and didn't want to cook. After all, everyone gets tired sometimes."

He walked over to He Lingchuan, nudged him with his elbow with a smile, and said, "Right?"

Zhou Mingyan's stab looked light, but it actually landed with force, hitting He Lingchuan's ribs squarely.

His face changed color in pain, and he instinctively reached out to push him away.

The next second, Zhou Mingyan fell directly to the ground with the force of his fall, wincing in pain, blinking blankly with an innocent look on his face.

He Lingchuan was stunned. He hadn't used much force just now, yet Zhou Mingyan, a grown man, was as weak as a willow in the wind, falling over with a single push. This fall looked too fake.

Unfortunately, Shen Yanxi and her two children believed it. They were startled and rushed over to help her up.

The three people kept circling around Zhou Mingyan, asking if he was injured anywhere.

Zhou Mingyan said he was fine, then looked up at He Lingchuan with a somber expression and said, "Mr. He, I know you don't like me, but it's not right for you to hit someone in front of the child, is it?"

"They are still young and can't distinguish right from wrong, so they are easily influenced by others."

He Lingchuan almost laughed out of anger. It was one thing for him to fake a fall, but now he was turning around and making sarcastic remarks about who he was talking to.

He said coldly, "I didn't use any force just now. You fell down on your own. Don't try to frame me!"

"You're talking nonsense!"

He Beichen stepped forward and stood in front of Zhou Mingyan, hands on his hips like a little adult, pointing at He Lingchuan: "I clearly saw you push Uncle Zhou just now."

"Yes, I saw it too, Dad. You're so mean! You did something wrong and you won't admit it or apologize..."

He Nanchen pounced on him and punched his thigh hard: "You bad guy, you're a big bad guy, I don't want a bad guy like you as my father!"

The children were small and posed no threat to He Lingchuan, but their words were like needles, piercing straight into his body and causing a sharp, tingling pain.

Shen Yanxi simply watched coldly from the sidelines, showing no intention of coming forward to stop them.

She stared coldly at He Lingchuan and commanded, "He Lingchuan, apologize to Mingyan!"

He Lingchuan met her cold gaze and suddenly felt as if something had struck his heart hard, making it hard for him to breathe.

He Lingchuan pursed his lips and insisted, "I didn't push anyone, why should I apologize?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he reached out with lightning speed and shoved Zhou Mingyan hard.

Zhou Mingyan didn't react for a moment and only staggered back two steps.

He Lingchuan gave a sarcastic laugh: "See? I pushed him much harder than before, so why didn't he fall this time? Do I need to say more?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Mingyan's expression changed.

Seeing that Shen Yanxi's gaze was a little strange, he immediately said, "Forget it, just pretend I lost my balance just now. I don't want you two to quarrel because of me."

After he said that, the three of them stopped pressuring He Lingchuan to apologize, but none of them apologized for wrongly accusing him.

They probably didn't feel they had wronged He Lingchuan, because whatever he did was wrong.

Zhou Mingyan and Shen Yanxi took the two children to eat, leaving him all alone there.

It was as if an invisible dividing line had been drawn between them; the four of them were the family, while He Lingchuan was the superfluous outsider.

The scene became increasingly jarring to look at, so He Lingchuan turned around and went back to the guest room on the second floor, leaving the downstairs space to them.