Chapter 67 Prepare to File for Divorce
Meng Weishen had wanted to delay moving for a few days, claiming he was packing his luggage. However, Jiang Ranxu was incredibly efficient and packed his luggage that evening and drove it to the basement of the apartment building.
Should he praise Jiang Ranxu for being so thoughtful? But he felt like a stray dog that had been kicked out of its home, but its owner still had a conscience and left him a cardboard box to shelter him from the wind and rain.
Should he blame Jiang Ranxu for his mood swings? But the other party's physical and mental condition seemed to be worse than his, so it was hard to say who abandoned whom.
Meng Weishen carried his suitcase upstairs, unsure of what Jiang Ranxu had stuffed into his pocket. The weight in his hand felt so heavy that he felt like he was sinking into a quagmire. Everything in the quagmire was unknown, and he felt panicked and lost amidst all the unknowns.
The suitcase was the same one he'd used when he graduated with his master's degree. It had accompanied him from the dorm to his rental apartment, and then moved with him two or three more times. It was the same today. The capital was clearly large enough to accommodate tens of millions, yet he still hadn't found a stable place to live.
Meng Weishen's urge to buy a house reached its peak.
In the future, he would live frugally, save money, work hard, and make good money... Most importantly, he had to cheat one million yuan from the old Meng family for the down payment.
While his thoughts were in chaos, Jiang Ranxu followed him upstairs and even followed him into the entrance of the rental house.
The two of them didn't quarrel, but it was better than quarreling. Meng Weishen felt uncomfortable all over: "Jiang Ranxu, you should go back first. It's already late. Go to bed early and don't get sick."
"That's okay. Check your luggage to see if you're missing anything essential. I'll bring it back to you."
Jiang Ranxu was as attentive as ever, even a bit eerily so. Meng Weishen didn't want to disappoint him, so he unrolled the suitcase and took a quick inventory. The seasonal clothing, toiletries, and electronics were all there. "Nothing's missing, don't worry."
Jiang Ranxu suspected that he was deliberately delaying, so he helped him check the water, electricity, and gas supplies, even the radiator that had just started heating. He asked him:
"That's good. Also, are you planning to apply for a new payroll card? Which card would be best for me to transfer the money to?"
"You don't have to pay me back. After all, we signed a contract, and I did trouble you. And Qin Shi Huang has to stay downstairs in your house for now. I've found a dog walking service for him, but I'd like you to keep an eye on him."
"But you probably need money now."
"Jiang Ranxu, we haven't really broken up yet, and you want to settle accounts with me?"
Jiang Ranxu really compromised: "No...Okay, leave the money with me for now, I will continue to save it for you."
Meng Wei couldn't fathom what Jiang Ranxu was thinking. He was clearly trying to push him away, yet the moment he mentioned breaking up, he became desperate to keep him. This pointless struggle left him feeling particularly exhausted.
An animal stuck in a quagmire hates struggling haphazardly. The unknown quagmire still lay before Meng Weishen, and he was sinking deeper and deeper in his struggle.
"If you have nothing else, go back first. Good night."
Jiang Ranxu didn't move, but instead tightened his grip on the doorframe: "Are you still used to sleeping alone? Are you afraid?"
"...Who on earth wouldn't be used to it?" Meng Weishen laughed. He grabbed Jiang Ranxu's cold wrist and led him into the house. "If you want to stay, just tell me. Is it that difficult? I won't chase you away. As long as you want to stay, just stay with me."
Jiang Ranxu didn't give him a chance to regret. He immediately locked the door behind him, held his arm, and kissed his ear.
On the first night of being forced to move, Meng Weishen still slept with Jiang Ranxu.
The sheets and quilt covers were brought from home by Jiang Ranxu, who lay beside him, his arm still wrapped around his waist. Meng Weishen was surrounded by the familiar scent of laundry detergent, and he didn't lose sleep over his bed. Only the clattering car horns and the glaring neon lights outside the window reminded him that he was in the bustling city.
In a half-asleep state, Meng Weishen seemed to say something in his sleep: "Something must have happened to you, or you are sick, Jiang Ranxu. Tell me everything, I really want to know."
A crimson streetlight swept across the terrace, and Jiang Ranxu trembled suddenly, a tsunami sweeping through his body. Meng Weishen woke up with a start, and subconsciously stroked Jiang Ranxu's back, but he waited for no answer.
——
During the days of living alone, Meng Weishen seemed to be single again, moving back and forth between the company and the apartment.
Regardless of Jiang Ranxu's original intentions, the move did save Meng Weishen from the dreaded commuting. Coupled with the lingering stalemate in his relationship with Jiang Ranxu, he desperately needed a distraction, and he poured almost all his energy into work. Arriving first and leaving last, he was a company security guard, saving himself fifty years of detours.
Jiang Ranxu explained that the hospital was facing revenue pressure by the end of the year and urged him not to return to Haidian too often, lest he miss the trip. He had no choice but to return every Wednesday and Sunday, and his relationship with Qin Shihuang had become strained.
Jiang Ranxu would also come to Chaoyang to see him, but his frequency was extremely irregular. Sometimes he would come for several days in a row, and sometimes he couldn't contact him for a week.
The last time they met, Jiang Ranxu had a severe black eye, spoke very slowly, and looked haggard. Meng Weishen felt that he had delayed his rest time and even felt a little guilty. After dinner, he said goodbye to him in a hurry.
Perhaps he had been so frustrated during this period that even fate couldn't stand it anymore. At the end of the year, Kuang Jia visited his office with good news.
"Wesley, I showed the academic tool you created earlier to a client as a case study. Recently, a pharmaceutical company actually contacted me, wanting us to customize a small AI model."
Meng Weishen only cared about one question: "What price is offered?"
Kuang Jia smiled. "Mr. Chen from the marketing department and I have personally gone there several times. How can the price be low?"
"That's good. As long as you pay, I can do anything."
"I'll send you the client's requirements later. You should first understand the situation, and then we'll have a meeting to discuss it." Kuang Jia has been very busy lately. After giving a few instructions, she hurried off. "The development prospects of small models in this industry are good. If you handle this order well, there will be many opportunities in the future."
Not long after Kuang Jia left, Yan Cunrui arrived. Meng Weishen was about to ask why he came, but Yan Cunrui had already rushed over and hugged his neck, and the metal zipper on the shoulder bag almost scratched him blind:
"Xiao Meng, where did you go at noon? Why didn't I see you? Did you go to the gym? I can tell by just smelling it."
Meng Weishen was terrified and tried to hide away: "Boss Yan, I'm already married, why don't you go touch the lawyer!"
"It's boring. All you talk about is marriage."
Yan Cunrui finally let him go and returned to his seat across the table. He crossed his legs and asked, "I'm just here to do an employee survey. What benefits would you like for New Year's Day? How about we take a break early and go to Tokyo for team building?"
Meng Weishen wanted to take advantage of the New Year's Day holiday to have a good chat with Jiang Ranxu. He had no intention of having fun, so he said perfunctorily, "I have no objection. We can go anywhere. Beijing, Tokyo, and Nanjing are all the same."
"What's wrong with you? You seem absent-minded." Yan Cunrui gently kicked him from under the desk and thought carefully. "A few days ago, I took my son to see the dentist, and Dr. Jiang looked at me like you. Did you two have a fight?"
“…There was no quarrel.”
"That's the cold war. Keeping everything bottled up is worse than just arguing."
Meng Weishen had no intention of discussing relationship issues with outsiders, so he ordered them to leave: "Boss Yan, why don't you ask others where they want to go for team building?"
Yan Cunrui also felt that he was being stubborn and snorted coldly, "I know, why don't I go find Li Lu?"
As work was about to end, Li Yingxuan also visited his office. Seeing that he was dressed fairly neatly, Meng Weishen asked without thinking, "Didn't Mr. Yan come to see you?"
Li Yingxuan looked at him and called him an idiot. Thanks to their paid commission relationship, he was protected. The other party remained patient for the time being and only asked him:
"Wesley, the prenuptial agreement you and Jiang Ranxu signed is about to expire. What are your plans for the future?"
Prenuptial agreement… Meng Weishen hadn't heard that term in a long time. He'd almost forgotten the fake marriage farce at the beginning of the year. "Agreement… I thought the agreement was already invalid. Jiang Ranxu said he felt insecure about keeping it, so I burned both copies and had him watch."
Li Yingxuan seemed to secretly curse him for being ignorant of the law. "Burned it? You're so smart! I don't think you have any plans. Just wait to be swindled out of your money."
Meng Weishen quickly clarified on Jiang Ranxu's behalf: "After I resigned, Jiang Ranxu no longer asked me to pay him 10,000 yuan a month for living expenses. He also wanted to return the money I paid him before, but I refused."
"You didn't take it? You're really good..."
"So don't suspect I've been scammed. Jiang Ranxu and I don't have any financial disputes." Meng Weishen sighed slowly, "But we do have emotional issues. To be honest, I've felt like Jiang Ranxu has become very unfamiliar lately."
"Lawyers don't solve relationship problems. But you haven't often asked me to solve legal problems, so you can talk to me about it. It'll be a value-added service."
After listening to his incoherent story, Li Yingxuan nodded slightly and warned him seriously:
"I understand. Then what are you hesitating about? Hurry and divorce Jiang Ranxu."
Meng Wei was stunned: "Why?"
The other party opened his mouth like thunder: "It is obvious that Jiang Ranxu concealed his history of mental illness from you before marriage."
"At the moment, I only suspect it's obsessive-compulsive disorder..."
"Being moody and hot and cold suggests the person may be suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. These two mental illnesses can lead to aggressive behavior. To put it bluntly, they could kill you without any legal responsibility."
Meng Weishen was struck by lightning, his body tender inside and burnt outside. He was about to defend Jiang Ranxu when the lawyer continued:
"Also, the fact that he suddenly asked you to move out recently proves that he might have been married before. Either the divorce wasn't complete, or they just had a wedding banquet but didn't get a marriage certificate. It was recently revealed that his original wife came looking for him, and maybe they're about to have their second child. He's trying to hide it from both sides."
Meng Weishen even started to have a headache. He pulled hard at the hair on his temples. "That's not right. Where did this eight o'clock drama script come from? How come it's about the original wife and the second child?"
"Going back to the original question of fraud, giving victims cash back is also a common scam. They want your unwavering loyalty. If they return tens of thousands of yuan to you, you'll be willing to pay them back for hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan in the future."
"Even more outrageous, right?"
"I told you a long time ago not to get married rashly. People don't necessarily change. It's you who didn't know each other well enough from the beginning to the end, and you rashly entered into an intimate relationship. If not you, who will be unlucky?" Li Yingxuan paused, then said lightly, "It's a blessing in disguise that neither of you can have children, otherwise your life would be ruined."
A few strands of dead hair fell into Meng Weishen's palm. He was extremely tired and just wanted to put an end to today's legal consultation: "That's it, I'm going to leave work."
Li Yingxuan still refused to let him go: "If you ask for a divorce, Jiang Ranxu will definitely refuse. You can start collecting evidence and prepare for the lawsuit to dissolve the marriage."
Meng Weishen picked up his coat, stood up, and turned off the fluorescent lights and heating and air conditioning in the office.
"Lawyer Li, I've decided to terminate our legal client relationship. You don't need to come to me anymore."
Li Yingxuan's face rarely showed a look of surprise. He followed him all the way to the elevator and out of the building. Meng Weishen became increasingly upset. He lit a cigarette and walked quickly to the apartment.
In the misty smoke, the lawyer came over again:
"Wesley, are you possessed? I've seen too many divorce cases where the parties were madly in love at the beginning, but ended up like enemies in court. Start collecting evidence as soon as possible, and don't wait until you go to court to regret it..."
"I understand, and thank you for your advice. But that's enough. I don't want to hear this right now. And don't follow me anymore. I won't ask you to refund your legal fees."
Living too close to work has its drawbacks. The lawyer instructed him on how to gather evidence, including unlocking his partner's phone while he was asleep, asking friends, colleagues, and family for information, and conducting surprise inspections of both partners' homes. He even nearly walked with him to the basement of the apartment building.
Meng Weishen's head was swollen and aching, and he couldn't hear a word. He just wanted to take a hot shower, change into pajamas, lie in bed, eat a pistachio bar with yogurt, and then call Jiang Ranxu.
He stopped and said to Li Yingxuan, "Let's call it a day today." However, before he could successfully persuade Li Yingxuan to leave, he saw Jiang Ranxu's figure in the distance.
Jiang Ranxu was waiting for him downstairs of the apartment building. His face was pale, and his outer clothes were thin, like a lonely soul.
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