Paper Lover At Old Town Bookstore Chapter 7

Divorce

My eyes, fixed on the screen, were stinging, my fingertips dug fiercely into the edge of my phone case, and even my back molars were clenched tight—this passage of text was like a red-hot branding iron, searing my heart.

When Xu Xingruo said, “Let’s get a divorce,” I could vividly imagine her appearance.

She was sitting at the dining table, having barely touched the food in front of her. Her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes no longer held the previous timidity, only cold determination.

Yang Changwen had just returned from work, still holding his briefcase. Hearing the words, the hand holding his chopsticks froze mid-air. A few seconds later, he slammed his bowl and chopsticks down with a loud crash!

The book described the porcelain bowl flying past Xu Xingruo’s cheek, smashing heavily against the wall behind her, shattering into sharp shards on the floor. A few drops of hot soup splashed onto her face, making her jerk her neck back from the burn.

Next came the chopsticks. One poked her arm, leaving a red mark, and the other flew into the cradle, landing mere centimeters from An’an’s face.

The words “painful sting” made me tremble all over. I could imagine the terror of the flying porcelain shards, the searing pain of the hot soup, and, even more, the sheer malice required for a man to treat a woman he once loved with such cruelty.

Xu Xingruo didn’t cry. Instead, she shot up, covering her scalded face, her eyes blazing with towering fury. She cursed Yang Changwen, “Yang Changwen, you’re fucking disgusting! So disgusting I want to vomit!”

She cursed quickly and viciously, carrying the accumulated grievances and anger of over a year, as if trying to pour out all the harm she had suffered through this single outburst.

But Yang Changwen laughed—a contemptuous, indifferent laugh. He wiped his mouth and slowly said, “So what if you know?”

That single sentence completely tore away the last shred of warmth. Xu Xingruo stared at him blankly for a few seconds, as if truly seeing the man before her for the first time. Then she spat fiercely, “Pah!”

That sound, “Pah,” was satisfyingly defiant, yet carried an unspeakable sorrow.

The following scene was so chaotic I didn’t dare look closely. An’an in the cradle was terrified by the commotion outside and cried loudly, the sound sharp as a knife, cutting through the shouting in the living room.

Yang Changwen was completely enraged by the “Pah.” He reached out to grab Xu Xingruo’s hair. Xu Xingruo refused to back down, raising her hand to claw at his face, her nails leaving several bloody scratches on his cheek.

The living room instantly turned into a battlefield. Pots and pans were overturned, soup and water spilled everywhere, glass cups and porcelain plates were smashed to pieces, shards scattering everywhere, crunching underfoot with an abrasive sound.

Xu Xingruo grabbed the water kettle from the table and threw it at Yang Changwen. Yang Changwen dodged, pushing her back with a swift hand. Xu Xingruo stumbled backward, her back slamming heavily into the armrest of the sofa. She let out a muffled groan of pain but struggled to get up, grabbing a nearby vase and throwing that too.

The book described Xu Xingruo’s clothes being torn. A deep cut from a porcelain shard marked her arm, and blood dripped down her fingertips, staining the shards on the floor a blinding red.

Yang Changwen was no better off. His face was scratched, his shirt was ripped and askew, and his hair was messy, like an out-of-control beast.

“You can have the divorce,” Yang Changwen gasped, grabbing Xu Xingruo’s collar, his eyes vicious. “But An’an stays with me! How will a woman who doesn’t even have a job survive with a child? Also, don’t even think about taking a single cent of the family assets—I earned all of that!”

“Dream on!” Xu Xingruo pushed him away forcefully, her voice hoarse with fury. “An’an is my son, and he has nothing to do with scum like you! Assets? I don’t know how many people you cheated to earn that money—I find it filthy!”

They wrestled together, tearing and cursing at each other. Everything in the living room was utterly destroyed.

An’an’s cries grew louder, filled with endless terror, but no one paid him any mind.

The floor covered in glass shards, overturned food, scattered furniture, and two red-eyed people fighting for their lives formed an extremely tragic and desperate scene.

I stared at the screen, tears streaming down my face again without realizing it. My heart ached with anger and pain—anger at Yang Changwen’s brutality and selfishness, and pain for Xu Xingruo’s ordeal and stubbornness.

She was so fragile, yet in this moment, she erupted with astonishing courage, determined to fight this scumbag to the end, even if she was bruised and battered.

I thought of the old Xu Xingruo, the woman who was decisive, calm, and rational in the workplace.

If not for this disastrous relationship, she might still be shining in her career, living a free, confident, and unrestrained life.

But now, she was trapped in this home full of violence and betrayal, forced to fight like a shrew for her and her child’s future.

The phone trembled slightly in my hand. I could almost hear An’an’s heart-wrenching cries, the sound of breaking dishes, Xu Xingruo’s furious shouts, and Yang Changwen’s vicious curses.

It was all too real, so real that I felt cold all over.

I suddenly thought of myself, of the old Song Qiusheng who would shrink back and feel afraid over the smallest setback.

But now, watching Xu Xingruo fight back in desperation, a strange surge of strength rose within me.

If she could refuse to bow down in such a predicament, what reason did I have to revert to my old self because of a few setbacks?

I wiped away my tears and scrolled down, feeling both nervous and expectant.

What would happen to Xu Xingruo next? Could she defeat Yang Changwen? Could she successfully take An’an and escape this terrible place?