Does everyone treat her like a fool?
Qi Sui thought, she's done with this.
What love and romance, what hatred and passion? If they love acting so much, why don't they become actors?
The other end of the line was silent at first, then slowly the man's hesitant voice sounded,
"Qi Sui... I—"
"You know I'm Qi Sui?"
Qi Sui interrupted him bluntly.
There was no response. Qi Sui simply interpreted the silence as guilt.
She continued, "I'm handling the divorce procedures with Qian Jin tomorrow. Congratulations."
"Xiang-Yu."
"I thought you would remember," the man said suddenly. "We've contacted before, a long time ago. I thought you would remember me."
So what? So you had to intrude into my marriage? In such a shameful and despicable way?
At that thought, she sneered and hung up decisively.
The fine rain lashed her face, a thread of coolness seeping through her trench coat collar. She wrapped herself tighter and headed home.
There were far more people handling divorce than Qi Sui had imagined. Every man and woman present wore a numb expression. Qi Sui stood out conspicuously among them. She was as cold as ice, her face pale to the point of transparency, but she wore a bright red lip glaze, as if she had come to a joyous occasion rather than a divorce. Yet, for Qi Sui, this was indeed the happiest of events.
"Once this stamp is applied, it's done. Have you both thought it through?" the civil affairs staff member asked routinely.
Every day, countless couples sat before the counter only to back out at the last minute, so they had to ask.
"Stamp it." The woman's red lips parted, her expression calm.
The staff member marveled. There were plenty of people divorcing every day, but not many women were as calm and indifferent as she was. Everyone knew that women gave more and took less in marriage. Some women couldn't accept the huge sunk cost that marriage brought.
They gave everything to their marriage, their faces turning sallow, yet in the end, they didn't find happiness—only a divorce certificate.
It was good to be free-spirited. The staff member quickly stamped the papers.
Qi Sui took them. At the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau, she slapped the two sets of documents onto Qian Jin's face with a "smack," as if publicly slapping him.
During the entire procedure, he had been like a soulless appendage, signing wherever asked, unable to speak.
"Alright, congratulations, you're free."
Qi Sui's eyes were like a still well, utterly different from the wailing and sorrow around them. They were as cold as strangers.
This coldness stung Qian Jin. He stepped closer, struggling to speak: "Suisui, we... we really—"
"Suisui is not for you to call." Qi Sui put her copy of the document into her bag and continued, "We have nothing to do with each other anymore."
"I hope you can still cooperate with me in a month."
Qian Jin lowered his head in dejection.
"Okay, I will—I'll come, whenever you call me, I'll be there on time."
Qi Sui shot him a glance and made no comment on his words. She turned and left.
Her back was still as slender and frail as before. Qian Jin took a few difficult steps forward, trying to call her name, as if that might make her change her mind. But he knew it was impossible. Qi Sui was a determined person. She was easy to talk to and soft-natured, but once she decided to do something, she worked hard to do it well. This marriage, which had lost all value in her heart, Qi Sui had already abandoned. She would not choose to look back and save it, nor would she stop and wait for anyone. Ahead was where she was headed.
On Thursday, she returned to the company. The first thing Qi Sui did was submit her resignation. Of course, she would leave only after finishing all her current work, so the resignation letter set the departure date for the same day next month.
She could, of course, hold her nose and stay in the company, but it felt too disgusting. She couldn't accept staying with a man who had cheated in his marriage and another man who had intruded on hers, becoming a pitiful divorced woman forced to endure their kinks.
She calmed her mind, not thinking about anyone or anything, immersing herself in work.
After the morning, there was a joint meeting between the International Department and the Planning Department in the afternoon. She tidied up the documents on her desk, picked them up, and walked away without greeting anyone in the office.
"Guan Guan, is Xiao Qi okay?" someone poked Guan Guan's shoulder and asked.
Guan Guan turned around irritably, "None of my damn business."
Supervisor Tang's divorce hadn't gone through. His wife disagreed with the property division in the divorce agreement and quarreled with him all day and night. Even Guan Guan's relationship with Supervisor Tang had been exposed.
That crazy woman... Guan Guan gritted her teeth, remembering the slap she had received yesterday, feeling her face still hurt. But suddenly, she thought of Qi Sui. Guan Guan's heart settled, and she sat at her desk lazily, praising with hidden criticism: "Suisui probably has important business."
Qi Sui knew nothing about the storm brewing against her, nor why someone would inexplicably hate her.
Clutching the documents, she first reported the current progress to the director of the International Department, then handed the summary of information obtained from the Sample Factory to Selina's office.
Selina skimmed through it and nodded, "Okay, take it to LEO for his review."
Qi Sui stood still.
Selina looked up in confusion, "What's wrong? Something else?"
"No." Qi Sui lowered her eyes, her gaze on the floor. Picking up the documents, she turned and left.
"If you're in a bad mood, take a few days off," Selina's voice came from behind. "The company doesn't want to exploit employees; it wants to win together."
Qi Sui's hand rested on the doorknob. She opened her mouth. For a moment, she wanted to ask Sister S if she knew—why Xiang Yu didn't date. But she stopped herself.
Qi Sui knew clearly: whoever hurt her, she should confront them, not hurt the innocent people around them.
At first, she only whispered, "Thank you, Sister S."