The 99th Divorce

Very quickly, Jiao Ziqing switched her phone off and turned her head. A look of surprise appeared on her face when she saw Ou Ming. She remarked, “You’ve finally remembered to come home?”

“I just got here,” Ou Ming said. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Did you expect me to be waiting for you?” Jiao Ziqing asked sarcastically. She gave Yu Lili a onceover and refrained from making a snarky comment. “Have you guys not eaten yet?”

“We had breakfast. We came over to prepare lunch and have it together,” Ou Ming said matter-of-factly as he held on to Yu Lili’s hand. It was as if he didn’t feel sense anything amiss with what he just said. “Let Yu Lili prepare lunch with Nanny Zhang. Her cooking is awesome.”

Jiao Ziqing looked at Ou Ming with disdain written all over her face as she retorted, “It’s just passable. It’s barely palatable.”

Well, it’s still better than yours… Ou Ming thought himself quietly. He held Yu Lili’s hand as he followed Jiao Ziqing out the door.

“Nanny Zhang, this lady here says she wants to help with the lunch preparations. Take her with you to do the grocery shopping.” Jiao Ziqing stretched her back, portraying an air of indifference.

Nanny Zhang was surprised and asked, “Young Madam wants to prepare lunch? That’s not necessary! I can do it on my own.”

“Young Madam?” Jiao Ziqing turned her head when she heard Nanny Zhang address Yu Lili as such. “You shouldn’t just call anyone that! It’ll be awkward if she really thinks she’s one.”

Although this statement was directed toward Nanny Zhang, Yu Lili’s face reddened even more than anyone else’s. Nanny Zhang glanced at Yu Lili and hesitated, at a loss of what to say in that moment.

Realizing that Yu Lili was having a hard time maintaining her expression, Ou Ming shielded Yu Lili behind him and said, “Mom, she’s my woman. Can’t you be a little more respectful when you speak?”

Jiao Ziqing snorted and glanced at Yu Lili in apparent ignorance. “If she can’t even take such a jibe, how can she even think of becoming our daughter-in-law?”

“Alright, alright.” Ou Huojin appeared to smoothen things over. “Weren’t you supposed to go grocery shopping? Go on, then. Xiao Ou, let’s have a good game of chess together!”

“I haven’t seen the both of you play chess in a long time. Come one, let’s go up to the study.” Jiao Ziqing sounded a little happy. When she spoke, she deliberately brushed past Yu Lili’s shoulder, excluding her from the conversation.

Ou Huojin shook his head when he heard that. “What are you going for? Father and son are going to have a heart to heart talk. You should go grocery shopping, too. You spend so much time at home, you’re almost rotting away. Go on. You three women should get going.”

The three women naturally referred to Jiao Ziqing, Yu Lili, and Nanny Zhang. Jiao Ziqing knew she was being sent away. She was a little unhappy. When she saw how resolute her husband was being, she nodded her head and said, “Alright then. Let’s go grocery shopping.”

Nanny Zhang felt a little overwhelmed by the honor. She usually accomplished the errand on her own. Now, all of a sudden, a young lady and the mistress of the home were going with her to shop for groceries.

But, she didn’t dare voice any objection. She led them through the door. Once out the door, Nanny Zhang immediately walked toward the main gate.

Jiao Ziqing stopped in her steps at the entrance and asked, “Aren’t we going by car?”

Nanny Zhang turned her head and explained, “The market is only a little more than a 10-minute walk from here. We don’t need to go by car.”

“More than 10 minutes?” Jiao Ziqing asked in surprise. “That near? Why didn’t I know of it? Is it a supermarket or a wet market?”

“A wet market,” Nanny Zhang replied.

A look of disdain appeared on Jiao Ziqing’s face. “Won’t it be very dirty?”

Yu Lili saw her expression and knew that she’d never been to a wet market before. She said, “Auntie, many things in the supermarket aren’t fresh. Naturally, when cooked, they won’t be as tasty as the fresh ingredients from a wet market.”