Chapter 10: Divorce No Matter The Reason
Old Mrs. Li’s gold ring was lost. She said she took it off and placed it on the bedside the night before, but it was gone by morning.
She insisted that the second daughter-in-law stole it.
Because the second daughter-in-law had asked her for this gold ring, but she wasn’t willing to give it.
The Li family’s second daughter-in-law was also formidable, firmly refusing to admit it, even urging the old woman to report it to the police. Then the neighborhood committee helped look for it too, but unfortunately, it wasn’t found.
Thus, this dispute was shelved for several days.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law resented and accused each other, on the verge of becoming enemies.
Lu Qiaoge shifted her gaze away from the swallow’s nest, smiled warmly, and introduced herself to Qi Shuang, then went into the house with her.
Seeing Qi Shuang’s troubled expression tinged with pain, Lu Qiaoge got straight to the point: “This morning, I summarized several possibilities for why he doesn’t touch you. Sister Qi, take a look.”
With that, she took the paper from her pocket and handed it to Qi Shuang.
Qi Shuang glanced suspiciously at Lu Qiaoge. Unlike others who would ask all sorts of questions upon entering, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Taking the paper, she unfolded it and immediately widened her eyes. The earlier pain was gone, replaced only by disbelief.
On the ordinary white paper were written 12345……29 items.
This wasn’t just a few.
Qi Shuang covered her chest, her eyes full of confusion.
How could there be so many possibilities?
“Sister Qi, how many can you rule out?”
With that, Lu Qiaoge took out a pencil stub: “Cross out the ones you think are impossible.”
Qi Shuang hesitated, then nodded.
While Lu Qiaoge drank some water, Qi Shuang had already frowned and crossed out half, leaving half remaining.
Lu Qiaoge asked softly: “When your mother-in-law said you couldn’t have children, what was your husband’s attitude?”
Qi Shuang gritted her teeth: “He doesn’t care, letting his mother scold me.”
Lu Qiaoge:……
Regardless of the reason, such a marriage was too suffocating.
She glanced impassively at Qi Shuang and asked again: “If he told you the reason and still wanted to continue with you, what would your attitude be?”
Qi Shuang: “One of those reasons above?”
Lu Qiaoge nodded.
Qi Shuang hesitated, then gritted her teeth: “Divorce, no matter the reason.”
This made it straightforward.
Lu Qiaoge suggested: “Then write a divorce application. If he doesn’t agree, go to the Women’s Federation.”
Before leaving, Lu Qiaoge took the paper back, though Qi Shuang had copied it down.
Qi Shuang decided to confront Yao Kai point by point.
At that moment, Lu Qiaoge had just reached the doorway when she suddenly jumped forward. This action pulled Qi Shuang’s wandering attention back, and immediately a bird dropping splattered onto the ground at the doorway.
It was right where Lu Qiaoge had been standing moments before.
Qi Shuang quickly asked: “Qiao Ge, are you okay?”
Fortunately, she dodged in time, or it would have landed on her head.
Lu Qiaoge looked up at the swallow’s nest.
A swallow flew overhead: 【Oh no, missed.】.
Another swallow poked its little head out from the nest, saying intimately: 【Darling, you’re being naughty again. Hurry and find me some food.】
In this season, it should be the swallows’ incubation period; the baby swallows hadn’t hatched yet.
Lu Qiaoge’s eyes turned, and she glanced at the gathering neighbors.
She said: “Sister Qi, your swallows are too mischievous. I’ll go up and teach them a lesson.”
Without waiting for Qi Shuang to stop her, Lu Qiaoge had already moved the ladder from the corner of the wall, placed it under the eaves, and climbed up.
The swallows were still watching the excitement, but didn’t expect that human to climb up and stare them down.
【Ah……ahhh!】
Lu Qiaoge: “No more ah-ing. Is your darling that naughty?”
【Ah?】 The swallow’s entire body stiffened.
Lu Qiaoge peered inside and, besides three bird eggs, there really was a gold ring on the side.
Lu Qiaoge didn’t take it, but whispered to the swallow: “I can understand you speaking. Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you, but don’t touch the gold ring—someone will come to retrieve it soon.”
【You……you really can understand?】
Lu Qiaoge hummed in affirmation, then pointed at the swallow: “Tell your husband, if it dares fly over my head and shit again, I’ll pluck all its feathers!”
The swallow stared with its black bean eyes: 【Mm mm……it it……it definitely won’t dare.】
Lu Qiaoge thought for a moment, then smiled warmly: “Have your naughty husband fly to Guzi Village north of the city and check what vegetables are in the members’ vegetable gardens. If he does it well, I’ll give you millet to eat.”
Guzi Village was the production brigade closest to the military factory, in the northern suburbs.
Every household had vegetable gardens and private plots.
Lu Qiaoge liked eating meat, but also liked vegetables.
But nowadays, forget meat—even vegetables weren’t as easy to get as imagined.
Not to mention the apartment building; even the bungalow area had no vegetable gardens.
The Lu family only had a row of scallions planted in the corner of the wall, which were almost all eaten now.
The food store actually received leafy greens every day, but they couldn’t be grabbed—rumor was they were all taken through backdoor deals. Only a few hundred pounds made it to the counter, but there were thousands wanting to buy.
As for why they didn’t stock more, the food store had a new manager this year, and no one knew what was going on.
Anyway, they restocked every day, and people had to rush every day……
Lu Qiaoge had the sudden idea to have the Naughty Swallow fly over to check.
Whether it worked or not, they’d only know after trying.
Upon hearing this, the swallow’s eyes lit up—they often went there—so it nodded vigorously in agreement.
Lu Qiaoge climbed down the ladder, pulled Qi Shuang aside, and whispered: “Do you know about your neighbor losing a gold ring?”
Qi Shuang: “Yes.”
Lu Qiaoge pointed at the swallow’s nest: “There’s a gold ring inside that.”
Qi Shuang shockingly covered her mouth.
—
When Lu Qiaoge got home, Su Hui, who had returned from odd jobs, was cooking.
Because of the rush back, Old Mrs. Lu and Lu Qiaoling were very tired and were sleeping at that moment.
It was almost the end of May, and the weather was getting hot. Lu Qiaoge hurried to fetch water to wash her face.
Old Lu arrived right after Lu Qiaoge, holding a lunchbox containing braised pork with potatoes.
Meng Xia took the lunchbox and pointed to the west room: “Mom and Qiao Ling are back.”
Before Old Lu could show any emotion, Meng Xia rapidly explained the whole story of their return.
At the end, Meng Xia frowned: “I don’t know which busybody called Qiao Ling about this—it was too malicious.”
Old Lu thought for a moment and waved it off: “This phone call won’t be easy to trace. Let’s leave it for now.”
Then he said: “I think Qiao Ge has become much more sensible after falling into the water. Even if they have no jobs, they won’t starve doing paper boxes at home for now. I’ll apply for overtime tomorrow.” Then he frowned: “As for Qiao Ling, how was it handled back in the hometown?”
Meng Xia rolled her eyes: “Your mom lay in the brigade office clutching her chest, saying neither she nor Qiao Ling could go on. Fifth Great-uncle didn’t dare keep them and sent them on the train overnight…”
Old Lu widened his eyes: “How could she lie like that?”
Meng Xia ignored him: “Then go report her!”
Old Lu always abided by the law and responded to calls, never seeking favors through backdoors—otherwise, they wouldn’t be in such difficulty.
Old Lu felt a headache and was about to say something when Meng Xia said: “Don’t forget to borrow some grain from the Jiang family tonight. With Mom and Qiao Ling back, we don’t have enough food—we’ll return it next month.”
