Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 129 - 128: A Wise Move

Chapter 129: Chapter 128: A Wise Move

"We cheerfully arrived at Zhongnan Mountain, dropped off our luggage, and then went to grab some food, stumbling upon a hot pot restaurant."

"I ordered a ’yuan yang’ (dual broth) pot, and the waiter asked me whether I wanted a medium spicy or mild spicy broth. I hesitated for a moment, thinking that since it’s a ’yuan yang’ pot, medium spicy might be better. Plus, she normally loves spicy food."

"She noticed my hesitation and told the waiter to make it mild spicy. Then, she picked up the menu, casually selected a few dishes, and asked me to order some more."

"This seems pretty normal."

Unable to resist Jiang Lingling’s sorrowful puppy-dog eyes, Sun Wen leaned back in his chair, slowly sipped through his straw, and continued, "Right? Pretty normal?"

"Normal," Qin Guanglin and Yu Le nodded with Jiang Lingling. "And then things turned abnormal?"

"Heh, you guessed it. Right after the waiter left, she sat there, sulking with a dark face. I was too scared to even speak, just wondering what was wrong. Guess why?"

"How would I know?" Qin Guanglin smacked his lips. "Could it be that the menu didn’t have the dishes she liked?"

"Her period came, huh?" Yu Le was quick on the draw.

Jiang Lingling rolled her eyes silently, "Stop beating around the bush, just get on with it. What happened then?"

"Then I asked her what was wrong," Sun Wen said as he spread his hands, unable to hold back a laugh, "She said she sneezed while climbing the stairs."

???

All three wore puzzled expressions. What’s that got to do with anything?

"Is she upset about sneezing herself? That’s... a bit fantastical," Jiang Lingling was somewhat incredulous.

"No, it went like this," Sun Wen cleared his throat, lowered his voice, and imitated someone else, "’A sneeze indicates I’m going to catch a cold, which would make my throat uncomfortable, and I can’t eat anything too spicy. Yet you looked at the medium spicy option, hesitating..."

"Stop kidding around, be serious," Qin Guanglin interrupted him. "Tell us properly."

"But that’s the truth; I’m not joking," Sun Wen turned his head and spat his straw into the trash can then continued, "Then she kept talking and grew angrier. Her face turned so dark, her eyes so fierce; I felt like she wanted to strangle me right there and then."

Thinking back to the expression he saw then made him frown and click his tongue, pausing before he went on, "I said, ’If you have a cold, eating something spicy to sweat it out makes you get better faster, doesn’t it?’ Hearing that, she slammed the table, shouted ’Get lost,’ and left by herself, with the pot not even served yet."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three exchanged glances then all looked at Sun Wen, "This sounds..."

"Incredible, doesn’t it?" Sun Wen grinned, "If someone else told me, I wouldn’t believe it either... but it happened to me, heh, truly freaking incredible."

"What happened after that?" Jiang Lingling asked, "Did you chase after her?"

"Chase after her my ass, I sat there all by myself and happily finished off that big pot of hot pot."

Sun Wen licked his lips as if savoring that night’s hot pot, "I ate for a full two hours, haven’t had such a satisfying meal in a long time, stuffed myself so much that..."

"That was Saturday, right? I think I overate too," Qin Guanglin recalled his own swollen belly.

"Yeah, Saturday," Sun Wen nodded, "By the time I got back, her stuff in the hotel was gone. I made a call and found out she had checked into another room, said we were breaking up, and early the next day she was going back to Luo City. I figured, why wait till the next day? So I took a taxi and sent her home that same night."

"That taxi fare must’ve cost hundreds, like another hot pot," Qin Guanglin felt it was a bit of a shame.

"A breakup over a hot pot meal?" Yu Le pondered thoughtfully.

"Could it really be because she came?" Jiang Lingling found it unbelievable, "It’s just a meal, is it really worth it..."

"Heh, she didn’t come at all, this is standard procedure." Sun Wen shook his head, "It was the same a few days ago..." He suddenly paused, then changed the subject, "Anyway, a few hundred bucks for some peace of mind is worth it."

"Really, congratulations are in order." Qin Guanglin hugged his fists and shook them at him, "Congratulations, congratulations."

Better to end those days of small quarrels every three days and big ones every five, no need to be so distressed. In the two years since graduation, Sun Wen’s appearance had grown so much more weathered, he aged several years—heading out happy, only to end up like this over hesitating between medium spicy and mild spicy, really didn’t know what to say.

"Hey, the happy days are coming, drink when you want to drink, eat meat when you want to eat meat." Sun Wen chuckled, "Luckily I just got paid, I can rent another room, otherwise, I’d have to slink back and live at Xiao Yu’s for half a month."

He looked up, took a deep breath, and the smile gradually faded from his face. He stared at the ceiling fan in silence for a moment, then chuckled again, "Going for drinks tonight? Call Xiao Yu."

"Drink my ass, stay quiet for two months, save some money to recuperate." Qin Guanglin flatly refused, "Otherwise, in a couple of days, you’ll be back to gnawing on cabbages."

"Poor Brother Wen." Jiang Lingling looked at Sun Wen with sympathy, then ran to the bar and grabbed a bottle of cola for him, "Here’s another bottle for you."

"So nice." Sun Wen took it and guzzled down half the bottle, "These two guys don’t even know how to grab a cola."

"You drink, it’s all on me, drink the fridge dry." Qin Guanglin leaned back lazily in his chair, not wanting to move.

After Sun Wen finished his cola, the group stood up. Qin Guanglin went to the bar to pay for the five bottles of cola, and they all headed back to the company together.

The company’s central air conditioning was very effective, sweeping away the heat as soon as they entered the building, leaving them cool and refreshed.

"What does it feel like to have a broken heart?" Yu Le whispered to Sun Wen.

"I felt a lot lighter all at once." Sun Wen patted his shoulder, "Sooner or later, you’ll experience it too, no rush."

"..."

"Shouldn’t it be heart-wrenching sobs and shouting in the rain?" Qin Guanglin stroked his chin, pondering for a moment, "Too bad it didn’t rain, otherwise you could have put on a show."

Sun Wen scoffed, "Watch less stupid TV."

"Nowadays, the trend is to face sorrow with a smile and hide the scars inside. Big screaming scenes are so out of date." Jiang Lingling moved closer to Sun Wen, "Are you really sad right now, Brother Wen?"

"I’m not sad at all, I wish I could laugh up to the skies."

"Go ahead and laugh, I’ll record it." Qin Guanglin took out his phone and aimed it at him, "Start."

"..."

A bunch of lunatics.

Sun Wen quickly moved away from the elevator, keeping his distance from them.

He had felt some regret before, wondering if he was too impulsive that day, but now, after talking it over with them, he suddenly saw things clearly.

No one is indispensable to anyone else, everyone starts off alone, and now he’s just returned to that beginning—although losing something after having it is far harder than never having it at all, in essence, it’s still a return to the starting point, and time will always heal everything.

What needs to be let go should be let go sooner rather than later. Dragging it out will only make you sink deeper and then it will hurt even more. Cutting losses in time is the right choice.

It’s just... still a little hard to let go... How nice it used to be when the two of them were together.

How did it turn out like this?