Chapter 7
Cheng Jun suspected Tao Zhi was setting a trap, and he didn't dare jump in, so he said firmly: "Mom, I want this one."
"really?"
Cheng Jun couldn't wait: "I'm sure."
Seeing this, Tao Zhi felt that although he was her son, it was not easy to force him. She could only say that everyone had different aesthetic tastes.
She took another look at the pickup truck and still thought it was ugly. Never mind, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Thinking of her daughter-in-law again, Tao Zhi sighed.
No matter what she thought, Tao Zhi still took out the money and bought Cheng Jun his favorite car.
Cheng Jun was so happy that he stroked the car body with an intoxicated look on his face.
Tao Zhi couldn't bear to watch it and shouted at him, "Stop embarrassing yourself and send me back quickly."
When they arrived at the hotel, Cheng Jun wanted to leave, but Tao Zhi stopped him: "You have to take care of the baby today."
"What about my sister?"
"She and I will go move the things."
Cheng Jun started to roll up his sleeves, "I'll go get some brothers to join us."
Tao Zhi glared at him: "Don't air your dirty laundry in public. Just shut up."
Cheng Jun touched his nose and went back to his room in embarrassment.
Tao Zhi and Cheng Xing specially chose noon to return to the staff dormitory in a low-key manner.
The sun was scorching overhead, everything was quiet, and the door of room 603 was closed.
Cheng Xing took out the key and turned it, but the door lock couldn't be opened.
Tao Zhi's heart skipped a beat. Could Cheng Xiangmei be so quick?
She was about to go find the security guard when the door opened from the inside. Zhao Jun rubbed his sleepy eyes, slowly put on his clothes, and walked out without haste.
It happened that Tao Zhi took two steps away, and the person standing inside the door could not see her.
Zhao Jun looked up and saw Cheng Xing, and said sarcastically, "You're still willing to come back? Why, my dear mother-in-law, didn't settle you down?"
Cheng Xing asked him, "Did you change the lock?"
"I asked someone to change it." An old female voice came from the room.
When Cheng Xing heard this, she wanted to turn around and leave. Tao Zhi quickly gave her a wink and then hid a little further against the wall.
Cheng Xing had no choice but to stand at the door.
As the footsteps got closer, Cheng Xing's mother-in-law, Old Lady Chen, appeared before her. She stood there, blocking the doorway and said, "Since you've already left, why are you back?"
Cheng Xing bit his lower lip: "I'll get my things."
Old Lady Chen sneered, "What can you possibly have? In this house, isn't there anything that Xiaojun didn't buy?"
Cheng Xing's face flushed red. She once again witnessed the shamelessness of this family. She said angrily, "He spent my money."
Old Lady Chen raised her eyelids and said, "If you don't spend your money on Xiaojun, who else do you want to spend it on?"
Cheng Xing's face turned cold: "I can't reason with you." She raised her foot to go inside, but Old Lady Chen refused to budge. Cheng Xing tried to reach out and pull her away. Before she could even stretch out her hand, Zhao Jun saw her and kicked her from the side. Cheng Xing lost her balance in pain and fell to the ground with a thud.
Old Mrs. Chen laughed heartily: "Xiaojun, well done."
Before she could finish her words, her vision blurred and she was slapped several times on the face. The pain was so severe that she saw stars. She was dizzy and tried to hold on to something, but her head suddenly tightened and a sharp pain shot all the way to the top of her head. She was being dragged by her hair. She felt like her scalp was being ripped off and she kept crying out in pain.
Tao Zhi was annoyed by the noise and threw her to the ground with a loud thud, which showed her anger. She turned around and faced Zhao Jun, just looking at him without saying a word.
Zhao Jun could only feel the sweat on his back, dripping down like rain, soaking his clothes. He couldn't see through his mother-in-law, so he had always concealed it well, but somehow, she had witnessed the scene both times.
Fear often comes from the unknown. Although Zhao Jun was shouting loudly, he never dared to act presumptuously in front of his mother-in-law.
Tao Zhi was furious with herself. She felt she was too kind and should have just beaten the man into submission last time. She broke the mop next to her and held the broken stick tightly.
She deliberately avoided looking at Cheng Xing, letting her anger rage and erode her rationality. She followed her heart, holding the stick high, using all her strength in each blow. After avoiding the vital points, she aimed it at Zhao Jun.
Zhao Jun stood still at first, thinking that a beating might appease his mother-in-law. But when he saw Tao Zhi's relentless attack, the pain was unbearable, and he became furious and wanted nothing more than to fight back.
He first raised his hand to block the stick, then kicked Tao Zhi's wrist, creating a gust of wind, as if Tao Zhi's hand would be in danger if she didn't dodge. Tao Zhi reacted quickly, immediately switching the stick from her right hand to her left, and then dropped her right hand, cleverly avoiding the kick.
Zhao Jun's kick missed, and because he had used too much force, he couldn't hold back and rushed forward, falling on Old Lady Chen. The two rolled into a ball. There was a loud "crack", and Old Lady Chen was really injured.
Cheng Xing didn't get hurt when she fell, and she stood up on her own. Tao Zhi asked her to come in and close the door to prevent any more curious people from coming to watch.
Tao Zhi didn't intend to be polite after the initial confrontation. She told Cheng Xing to pack up his belongings and ask if there was anything locked up or missing, or if he could find anything, he should ask Old Lady Chen.
Tao Zhi pulled over a chair and sat there with his arms and legs spread out, like a god of death.
Old lady Chen wanted to rush over and stop Cheng Xing from rummaging through the drawers, but unfortunately her tailbone wouldn't let her, so she could only sit on the ground and curse.
As for Zhao Jun, after being beaten up, he is now angry but dares not say anything.
Just as Tao Zhi said, some small things were nowhere to be found. However, none of Xiao Jinhe's things were missing. I guess she didn't want them, so Cheng Xing put them all away.
She searched the cabinet twice but didn't see any gold jewelry. She asked Zhao Jun, "Where is my dowry?"
"You collected it yourself, how would I know?" Zhao Jun said unhappily.
Cheng Xing looked at Old Lady Chen, but she was speechless at this time, and she closed her mouth without saying a word.
Tao Zhi stepped forward and pinched her chin, "Speak."
Old Lady Chen shook her head desperately, but she couldn't break free. She was horrified at Tao Zhi's strength and had to answer honestly, "I took her back home."
Cheng Xing asked in surprise: "When, how long have you taken it back?"
"Half a year ago, I went back to my hometown."
Cheng Xing slumped down on the sofa. It had been so long, and everyone knew exactly what kind of person his brother-in-law was. Now, he was afraid that not even a trace of him was left.
Tao Zhi pulled her up and straightened her back. "It's no big deal."
She said to Zhao Jun, "Then I'll give you a discount. You should give me back as much as you took. Isn't that fair?"
Before Zhao Jun could say anything, Old Lady Chen started yelling, "We're all family, why are we being so divided?"
Tao Zhi looked at them and said, "Speaking of this, Zhao Jun, you and Cheng Xing should divorce."
Old Lady Chen jumped up and said, "What kind of divorce is this? She married into our Zhao family and is a member of our family..."
Tao Zhi didn't want to listen to her rant, so he slapped her in the face, and the world suddenly became quiet.
She just looked at Zhao Jun quietly.
Zhao Jun went from surprise, to disbelief, to understanding, to relief, and finally he breathed a sigh of relief.
He nodded. "Okay."
Zhao Jun was so straightforward that not only Cheng Xing but even Tao Zhi didn't believe it.
She asked cautiously, "How do we leave?"
"Everything is up to Cheng Xing."
"The deposit will be split in half. Cheng Xing will take the dowry. We don't want anything else." Tao Zhi paused and said, "Jin He and Cheng Xing."
"no problem."
Although Tao Zhi had her doubts, she didn't want to delay any further and said, "Then take all the documents and go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to apply for a divorce."
Cheng Xing put his ID card, household registration booklet, and marriage certificate in a bag.
By the time Old Lady Chen realized what was happening, she had already reached the stairs. From a distance, she could hear her calling Zhao Jun, "Son, we can't get a divorce."
Zhao Jun didn't look back, and Tao Zhi became more and more certain that something must have happened to this kid.
When they arrived at the Civil Affairs Bureau, Cheng Xing and Zhao Jun signed the divorce agreement respectively, then signed the divorce registration, and waited for the Civil Affairs Bureau to review and approve it before they could finally receive the divorce certificate.
They had all the necessary documents, no disputes, and it was a peaceful divorce, so the divorce certificate was quickly processed.
Cheng Xing held her brand-new ID and watched Zhao Jun's retreating figure, a mixture of emotions that took a long time to calm down. She was happy for the new life, yet also heartbroken by Zhao Jun's ruthlessness. Their relationship of nearly three years had ended like this, without even a chance to see each other.
Back at the hotel, Tao Zhi instructed Cheng Jun to check on Zhao Jun. Something was out of the ordinary, and she worried that Zhao Jun was hiding something. Although Cheng Xing was divorced, Jin He was still deeply hurt. If he made a mistake and killed the mouse and damaged the jade bottle, it would be a disaster.
Cheng Jun responded readily. He threw Jin He to his mother and drove away.
Tao Zhi held the baby in her arms, smelling the milk scent on her body, and asked the front desk to help book a table. She was going to celebrate tonight.
She went back to her room and called her sister-in-law, inviting her family to come over for dinner.
That night, Cheng Xiangmei came with her niece Li Yan. When she saw little Jinhe, she first presented her with a big red envelope and teased her with a smile as bright as a flower: "Little baby, I am your aunt, aunt, aunt, aunt."
Tao Zhi laughed: "She can't speak yet."
Cheng Xing and Li Yan were also very familiar with each other, having often played together when they were young. Li Yan clapped her hands and said to little Jin He, "Give your cousin a hug?"
Little Jinhe babbled, looked at his mother, then at his aunt, and actually reached out to let Li Yan hold him.
Li Yan happily grabbed the child and said, "What a good baby."
Cheng Xiangmei and Tao Zhi confessed: "The three of them, father and son, left on a business trip early."
"I didn't think about it and forgot about it. Please don't blame me."
Cheng Xiangmei said coquettishly, "What's going on between us, sister-in-law and me?"
Tao Zhi replied angrily, "I don't know who started it first."
At this time, Cheng Jun and Yu Sifei also arrived. He introduced his friends to his aunt, while Tao Zhi went to tell the waiter to serve the dishes.
After everyone was seated, Tao Zhi raised her glass and said, "This toast is to congratulate Cheng Xing on his divorce. From today on, he is entering a new stage in his life."
Cheng Xiangmei swallowed the wine in his mouth and asked in surprise, "Cheng Xing is divorced? Lao Li is on a business trip, and I haven't had time to explain the personnel matters. Does Cheng Xing still need to resign?"
Tao Zhi was also stunned: "Cheng Xing hasn't resigned yet?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com