Chapter 51 The Hesitant Lover.

Shen Qingqing only found out about the release of Catastrophe through a promotional post on Wang Shu's WeChat Moments. She liked the post, and a moment later, a notification popped up. She clicked on it and found that Wang Shu had commented under the post he liked, "We've been working on it for nearly five years, and it's been incredibly hard. I hope everyone can help promote it. Thank you so much!"

When she opened Weibo, she saw that the publicity was overwhelming. Ruxi bought a trending search, and it gradually rose from the top 20 to the top. The KOLs on Chen Qingqing's homepage were also spreading the word. She liked and commented on Haojie's official Weibo and then uninstalled the Weibo account.

The advanced training class had already started, and Sun Ziyi didn't go online much. Chen Qingqing played at home alone for half a day. In the evening, it was Sasa who called her and congratulated her on her success. Chen Qingqing was playing Werewolf on her phone at home, slashing people and the ground with great enthusiasm. She asked Sasa what she was talking about.

The other party sent her Weibo homepage and sent a question mark to Shen Qingqing, “Didn’t you see that you gained more than 10,000 fans.”

Chen Qingqing replied with great ease, "I uninstalled it." But she couldn't help but click on the link to the homepage sent by Sasa, and slowly scrolled down with her finger. She usually posted some daily things on Weibo, and reposted the one before the catastrophe, which was about her own documentary. She suddenly found that her Weibo had more than 10,000 followers, and her first Weibo post had more than 30,000 likes. The comments also praised the boss lady as an independent woman.

It was obvious that Wang Shu had brought himself along when he bought the hot search, but at this moment Shen Qingqing's heart was surprisingly calm, neither surprised nor surprised, as if life always had a foreshadowing.

"I took a look and it seems that Mr. Wang's company bought the promotion in conjunction with the purchase." Sasa said.

"What do you mean by binding me?" Shen Qingqing asked knowingly.

"Netizens are very savvy nowadays. Will anyone buy into hard advertising? Everyone likes independent women. A down-to-earth boss lady like you who goes to the mountains and seas to shoot documentaries must be used for publicity. There's also a Weibo post from a Ruxi employee who started mentioning you a few months ago. They must have been supporting you for a long time. Qingqing, congratulations anyway. I checked the square, and Haojie has a good reputation among passers-by. After this, Mr. Wang's career will definitely reach a higher level." Sasa analyzed from a business perspective.

Shen Qingqing smiled happily. On the one hand, that strange employee Weibo post now had a home, and on the other hand, she was sincerely happy that Wang Shu would change for the better. "Okay, okay, thank you, Sasa."

-

Three days later, Wang Shu came back with dark circles under his eyes and a beard sprouting on his chin. Chen Qingqing no longer mentioned the previous awkwardness and went to the kitchen to cook porridge for him. While cooking, she listened to the sound of him shaving. In the buzzing sound, she suddenly remembered that when they first lived together, they lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the East Fourth Ring Road. The sound insulation was not as good as the current house. Wang Shu would wake her up every morning when he shave. She knew that he had gone out a long time ago and she endured it silently. Later, the sound stopped and she didn't take it seriously until one day she saw the razor on the center console. Then she realized that Wang Shu had put the razor in the car and shaved while being stuck in traffic every day.

Back then, we didn’t get as much as we do now, so we cared less than we do now, and no one would ask who paid more or less.

After eating, Wang Shu took a nap. When he woke up again, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon. At this time, Chen Qingqing had changed her clothes and put on makeup. When she heard the sound of Wang Shu getting up, she walked in and pulled the bedroom curtains. She was wearing a white shirt, jeans, a high ponytail, and the Jaeger-LeCoultre watch that Wang Shu gave her was on her wrist.

Wang Shu buried his face in his pillow and watched her slowly draw the curtains. It was already dusk outside the window. Looking at her back, Wang Shu suddenly hugged the pillow and said, "When I was in elementary school, I went home from school and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was still dark. I thought it was morning, so I carried my schoolbag to school, but the classroom was empty."

Shen Qingqing turned around and looked at him. "You idiot."

Today she was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. The moment she turned her head, the setting sun streaming in, Wang Shu felt as if she were standing in the empty classroom he'd mistakenly walked into, as beautiful as the class beauty, turning to smile at him from the back. And him? He was a good student with a bit of a swagger, the kind who would actively clean the blackboard after school to curry favor with the teacher. He sounded a lot like the class snitch, who, of course, later changed his life through hard work and, as fate would have it, married the class beauty.

Wang Shu suddenly threw the pillow away, waved at Chen Qingqing with his free hand, and said, "Wife, come here."

Shen Qingqing walked over, Wang Shu pulled her over, gave her a fierce kiss, then slowly combed the hair on her forehead and said, "You look really good today, Qingqing."

Shen Qingqing lay with him for a while, and Wang Shu suddenly touched her watch. He lifted her arm and took a look, and said, "This is the first time I see you wearing it."

Shen Qingqing’s eyes followed his raised arm and also looked at the watch, reaching out with her other hand to touch the dial.

Wang Shu put her hand down and asked, "Is there anything you like recently? I will buy it for you."

Chen Qingqing said no, and the two of them hugged each other and watched the sunset outside the window for a while. Finally, Chen Qingqing said, "Get up, let's go to Wang Mang's house for dinner today."

She could feel that Wang Shu behind her had obviously frozen.

Wang Shu was stunned for a moment and said, Wang Meng's family?

Shen Qingqing said I know everything!

"Who else is having dinner besides the two of us?" Wang Shu asked.

Shen Qingqing knew that Wang Shu was afraid that her father was still around.

Chen Qingqing said calmly, there is another one, a friend of me and Wang Mang.

-

The two of them sat in the car, the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Chen Qingqing's car was still at the 4S shop, Alpha was at the company, and Wang Shu finally drove the old BMW.

The two of them didn't say anything along the way. When they were almost there, Wang Shu thought carefully and started talking to Shen Qingqing.

"I just haven't found a good time to tell you about buying a house. Actually, I know you won't be angry about this, but I didn't tell you just because... I didn't want your family to know, Qingqing." Wang Shu said.

Wang Shu added, "So if you're angry, just vent it to me. I don't want you to feel upset."

Shen Qingqing said, "I don't have a bad temper. I just have a few questions to ask you."

Wang Shu said you ask.

"You said you were going to Macau to gamble. Did you really go? I've been thinking a lot lately. When you came back from Shanghai, you told me that Jiang Yong handled the collaborations that required scheming. How could it be your turn to accompany a client to gamble?"

"No, I used the money to buy a house for Wang Meng." Wang Shu's expression was very calm when he spoke. After all, the matter had been "exposed".

Shen Qingqing uttered an "oh." "If I were pregnant, would you still buy a house for Wang Meng?"

Wang Shu was silent for a moment, then finally said, "Actually, I will."

Shen Qingqing suddenly felt relaxed “Okay, I got it!”

Wang Shu couldn't help but ask Shen Qingqing. "Did your dad tell you? Dad knows about this. My mom let it slip when he came to Beijing last time. Dad asked me to find a good time to tell you and not keep it a secret from you."

Shen Qingqing suddenly understood what her father had said at her house: "Xiao Shu will communicate with you well."

Shen Qingqing said, "No, it was Wang Mang. Wang Mang transferred some money to me a few days ago. He said that you didn't give him an account number, so he could only transfer the rent to me."

Wang Shu stopped talking for a moment. The car happened to arrive downstairs of Wang Meng's house, and he parked it on the side of the road.

Shen Qingqing was silent for a while, and finally thought about it, and said, "Wang Shu, actually, the moment Wang Meng sent me a message, I was a little happy. It turns out that you are not only sincere to me, you are also sincere to your own brother."

Shen Qingqing got out of the car and walked towards Wang Meng's house alone.

Wang Shu froze in place for a long time before he got out of the car and walked upstairs.

-

Yuan Xin indeed bought a lot of seafood and steamed it for everyone. Yuan Xin and Wang Mang made the rice. After the dishes were served, the four people sat down. Wang Mang said directly, "Let's eat."

This was the first time Wang Shu met Yuan Xin formally. Last time he just glanced at her from afar. Today, when he looked at the girl up close, he felt that she was not as pretty as she had been from afar. She was too thin, had short hair, and did not have a round face like Chen Qingqing. When she was silent, she looked a little sharp and not as friendly as Chen Qingqing. She was quite tall, and when sitting down, she looked taller than Chen Qingqing. When Yuan Xin and Wang Mang sat together, they were really a good match, because Wang Mang was also thin and had a very cold face.

Seeing that Wang Meng was about to go straight to dinner, Wang Shu asked Wang Meng, "Wang Meng, won't you introduce yourself?"

Wang Meng was the type to move from place to place after a shoot. "Brother, this is my friend Yuan Xin."

Then he looked at Yuan Xin and said, "This is my brother."

Yuan Xin politely called him "Brother", and Wang Shu asked Yuan Xin "Where do you go to school?"

Yuan Xin said simply, "Brother, I won't go to school anymore."

Wang Shu picked up a piece of meat and gave it to Shen Qingqing, then asked Yuan Xin, "Where did you go to school before?"

"Pu Xia." Yuan Xin said.

Wang Shu glanced at Shen Qingqing blankly and asked her, "Pu Xia? Is there a university there? A 985 or 211 university?"

Yuan Xin didn't say anything, and Shen Qingqing didn't look up or respond, concentrating on eating. Wang Shu had no choice but to look at Wang Meng. Wang Meng said, "She didn't go to college. She dropped out before graduating from high school."

Wang Shu nodded and said, "I see."

The atmosphere at the dinner was quite boring. The four of them stopped talking after talking about this. Shen Qingqing had already anticipated this result, so she brought a new Switch. After finishing the meal, she took it out of her bag and gave it to Wang Mang, telling him that it was a moving gift.

While Wang Meng and Yuan Xin were taking out the trash, Chen Qingqing and Wang Shu sat on the floor in the living room to install the Switch.

Shen Qingqing and Wang Shu each held a handle and started to activate the game. The difference was that Shen Qingqing sat on the floor and Wang Shu sat on the sofa in the back. The shadows of the two people were a bit like a man and a golden retriever.

Wang Shu patted her shoulder and said, "Come up, the floor is cold."

Shen Qingqing didn't plan to get on the sofa, but sat on the floor, hugging her legs and controller, and asked Wang Shu, "Will there be a Switch version of Catastrophe?"

“Of course, it will be online next month.”

Shen Qingqing nodded, “That’s great, I’ll buy a few more game cards to support you when the time comes.”

Wang Shu didn't understand what Shen Qingqing meant, and wanted to liven up the atmosphere between them, so he reached out and ruffled her hair and complained. "Official, why don't you just go to the company and get a few cards back?"

Shen Qingqing held the handle intently and did not respond to his movements.

Wang Shu tried to find another topic, "You told me you bought a Switch for Wang Meng. The company has so many game cards that we can't even finish playing them all. When we're not in meetings, I'm always playing games."

Shen Qingqing suddenly turned around and looked up to ask Wang Shu, "Which game do you like best?"

"I can't really say. I'm so tired of playing. But I do have a game that I dislike the most." Wang Shu said, staring into her eyes.

Shen Qingqing turned back and continued to look at the game interface “It’s good to know what you don’t like.”

The little figure controlled by Shen Qingqing's controller couldn't get over the mountain. Wang Shu suddenly put down his controller, rested his chin on Shen Qingqing's head, and held her controller to help her get over the mountain. He said, "After the promotion period is over, let's go to Xinjiang and take wedding photos. I saw it a few days ago and it looks like Switzerland. I didn't have the chance to go to Switzerland, but Xinjiang is still possible."

“Virtue, you’ve been married for several years, and you still have a girlish heart.” Shen Qingqing said slowly.

Wang Shu kissed her on the head. "I just think it would be so beautiful if you were standing there. Qingqing, please don't think about the past, okay? Let's live a good life from now on."

Shen Qingqing chuckled. The lights in the living room were a little dim, and the bright light from the TV reflected into Qingqing's eyes, making them bright and shining.

-

For some reason, Wang Shu suddenly didn't want to go home tonight. He has been in high spirits recently and looks a few years younger. He couldn't help but recall the years before he got married, when Shen Qingqing was in college. He and Shen Qingqing often stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn next to the Communication University of China. She would always bring several facial masks with her, apply them before going to bed and after waking up, and pull him to apply them together. Sometimes she would also drink milk tea, one cup before going to bed and another cup after waking up. It seemed that when she was in the hotel, she was either sleeping or applying facial masks and drinking milk tea.

He envied Chen Qingqing's good sleep, because he couldn't fall asleep every time after drinking milk tea. He felt that Chen Qingqing was a little fool without any worries. Thinking of this, Wang Shu couldn't help but turn his head to look at Chen Qingqing's face. She didn't have the fatigue of working women, nor the sharp jawline and traces of medical beauty of overly delicate women. She looked so well-behaved and next door.

In how many years after marriage did she stop drinking milk tea?

At the fork in the road before getting on the highway, Wang Shu suddenly turned around and said, "Baby, how about we stay in a hotel?"

"Don't we have a home? Why should we stay in a hotel?"

"Isn't there a new Bulgari store in Beijing? We haven't been there yet."

"But I really want to go home today."

Wang Shu always felt that she was acting weird today.

Wang Shu started chatting with Shen Qingqing and said, "This is the first friend I've ever met, Wang Meng.

"Maybe they will fall in love." Shen Qingqing said.

"Will it? But it will end badly, right?"

"Why is it bad?" Shen Qingqing asked.

"A girl who hasn't even finished high school and a boy who's in college? They're not the same type of people. It's hard for them to have common topics."

Shen Qingqing didn’t respond, but in fact, she was also thinking about this question.

Wang Shu added, "That child is an orphan. I actually know that."

This surprised Shen Qingqing. "So you knew. Just now you pretended not to know and asked me where I went to university. You are a bad guy."

Wang Shu chuckled and said, "I just want to find something to talk about. Otherwise, it would be boring and boring at the dinner table."

He was smiling, and Shen Qingqing found that he looked like a mischievous little kid at the moment.

Wang Shu, as if seeking agreement, asked Shen Qingqing's opinion, "What do you think? Will they be happy together?"

Shen Qingqing looked out the window and said, "I don't know. Yuan Xin is a good person. He is very motivated, good at doing things, very hardworking, and can endure any hardship."

"It's not a good thing for girls to endure all kinds of hardships. It's okay for them to date. If they can, they should date. It's good to date. Love is a beautiful period. When we were in love, I was full of energy every day." Wang Shu stretched out his hand and held Shen Qingqing's fingers.

Shen Qingqing stopped playing with her phone, locked it, and then slowly said, "I think Wang Meng is not bad now. He can laugh and take the initiative to chat."

Wang Shu hummed. "But there will be girls who can make him smile in the future. Boys always have to develop a love for a girl once. He just developed it a little late, but he doesn't necessarily have to commit his whole life to her. Wang Meng hasn't entered society yet, hasn't experienced the hardships of work, and doesn't know how hard it is to move forward in this world. He doesn't know what kind of boss he'll face in the future, or how he'll be exploited in a big company. What if he works overtime until two o'clock one day and comes home to find his girlfriend, who hasn't even graduated from college, also coming home from work at the convenience store? How will he feel, and what can they talk about?"

Shen Qingqing didn't turn her head, but she could still imagine that when Wang Shu said this, he might be looking into the distance, or even a little mean...

She also knew that what Wang Shu said were all his own experiences, the hardship of making progress in his work and the difficulty of not communicating after returning home.

The car had already parked in the basement, but Shen Qingqing didn't move. Wang Shu said, "Let's go upstairs and go home."

Wang Shu turned around to help her unbuckle her seatbelt. Shen Qingqing looked at his face as he approached her and suddenly said, "Let's get a divorce, Wang Shu."

The seat belt suddenly popped open. Wang Shu, huh? He uttered a cry and looked at Shen Qingqing angrily, "Don't talk nonsense."

"That's not nonsense."

Wang Shu looked at her puzzledly. "Are you angry that I bought a house for Wang Meng?"

"Maybe." Shen Qingqing said.

"Maybe? Just a maybe, are you going to get a divorce?" Wang Shu looked a little angry.

"We don't have irreconcilable contradictions, nor conflicts that require divorce. In the words of others, we can still live together if we communicate well, but Wang Shu, I don't want my marriage to be like this. You can say I'm naive or idealistic, I accept it." Shen Qingqing said.

Wang Shu was shocked by her words and asked Chen Qingqing with a bit of amusement, "Then tell me, what is your ideal marriage like? Tell me. Our current situation is already the lucky majority. Do you think love is squeezing together in a shared apartment in Tongzhou, squeezing on the extremely congested Batong Line to go to work, and then having enough love every day?"

“I don’t know.” Shen Qingqing said.

"Calm down."

"But this is what happened after I calmed down. I'll find a lawyer tomorrow. I want half of Wang Meng's house. It's our marital property."

"What about our own system?" Wang Shu asked.

“Half.” Shen Qingqing said directly.

Wang Shu was so angry that he laughed. "I believe you have calmed down now, but Wang Meng's house cannot be bought or sold now. It is still in the holding period."

"Then give me the discount. Haojie will make you a lot of money." She said this in a calm tone.

Seeing her like this, Wang Shu pleaded with her. "Haojie will make a lot of money for you and me. I was just under a lot of pressure recently, and I believe you were also impulsive."

Shen Qingqing said, "I've thought about it for a long time. Don't force me. I don't have too many requirements for the divorce. Apart from the normal division of property, my biggest request is half of Wang Mang's house."

"The funds will be recovered in the later stages of the catastrophe," Wang Shu repeated.

Shen Qingqing mistakenly thought he was talking about the division of property. "You can give me the money anytime, just make sure it's clearly stated in the contract that I own half of Wang Meng's house." When she said this, her tone was calm.

"You keep holding on to that house. You're just being angry and immature. What I mean is that we will live better in the future than we do now," said Wang Shu.

Chen Qingqing smiled. "Wang Shu, I don't want better financially. Maybe you think I'm being sulky, and I do have complaints about you, but I don't regret marrying you. I once read a quote that goes, when two people are in love and living together, they shouldn't expect the other person to become the person you want. Instead, from the very beginning, you should find the person you want and spend your life with them. The best way for us to get along is for neither of us to compromise for the other. I think you did compromise with me at first, but later you didn't want to anymore. I tried to accommodate you, but found we had no room for communication. Divorce is for a better future for us. I'm afraid if this continues, we won't be able to separate with dignity. I'm really happy living with you, so I want to leave when we're both decent, not in an ugly way. Your project has been well-received, and you'll have a better future. Thirty-five is a great age for a man, and you can find a good new partner later."

Wang Shu himself hadn't expected Shen Qingqing to think this way. He thought she was just throwing a tantrum, but she had actually considered all the consequences. "You're like a saint, talking about divorce in a nice way. Have you ever considered the consequences of divorce? You're talking about divorce with just a few words. Divorce involves dividing property. Our names on all certificates will have to be changed to one person's. Even more difficult is the emotional aspect. Your parents, my parents, everyone will have to change for our divorce. How difficult is it to adapt to a son-in-law and daughter-in-law? How difficult is it to erase someone from your life? Also, after we got married, you changed your name. When the police station asked you to change the name on the marriage certificate, we didn't take it seriously because we thought we'd never be apart. We never thought one day... if we really divorced, you'd have to change your name back before you could renew the certificate."

Shen Qingqing said briskly, “Well, I’ve checked everything, so after I change my name, we’ll go get a new certificate, and I’ll just give you some information about finding a lawyer to divide the property.”

Wang Shu never expected that Shen Qingqing had considered every step carefully. He repeated her words self-deprecatingly, "Get a new certificate... Then how will you live alone after getting a new certificate? Will you go back to Dalian? Or buy another house in Beijing? You just think life is easy, so you don't cherish your marriage. We are living so well now, but you are still not satisfied and want a new life. Can you handle the many changes in a new life by yourself?"

"But what kind of changes can a person have? I'm really not satisfied with our life. My family loved me when I was a child, and I haven't had any setbacks since I got married. The reason for divorce sounds hypocritical to others, but..."

Shen Qingqing thought she could explain the reason for the divorce clearly, but she didn't expect that she would cry before she finished speaking. She turned back to look for tissue paper while crying, but the car hadn't been driven for a long time and there was none.

"But I can't accept that my partner is hiding so many things from me. I want so much to run a good family with you, but you make me feel like a failure."

Chen Qingqing could only wipe the tears from her face with the palm of her hand. The makeup she had carefully applied before going out was now smudged, making her look extremely embarrassed.

Chen Qingqing cried. "I thought we could break up peacefully, but why are you crying again? I'm telling you, Wang Shu, the scariest thing is not being able to find the problem. Your indifference to me, your family's indifference to me, even if you change in the future, will become a thorn in my side, a constant reminder. Just think of me as someone who is not brave enough to accept these things. So the best outcome for us is to end things respectfully now... and in the future, when we mention each other, we can still say a few words to each other."

He lit a cigarette irritably, opened the window and started smoking. Chen Qingqing sat next to him very quietly. The two of them didn't seem to be talking about divorce at all. After finishing the cigarette, he seemed to have figured it out. He didn't necessarily have to accept the question thrown to him by Chen Qingqing. Rejection was also an option.

"Marriage is a matter between two people. You can't make the decision alone, so I don't agree to divorce." -