"Master Meng, these are the birth characters of my boyfriend, can you calculate for me where he is now?"
"I haven't been able to contact him for half a month!"
Inside a coffee shop at the corner of Beiyuan Street, Meng Xingluan was being stared at by a beautifully dressed woman with pleading eyes.
Normally, Meng Xingluan would never take such an ordinary fortune-telling request.
But today was different from the past.
Sigh.
Meng Xingluan put aside his distractions and closed his eyes to calculate based on the woman's provided birth characters.
After a short while, he opened his eyes.
"500 meters to the left on exiting, the Zero Degrees Bar, room 211 on the second floor."
Meng Xingluan spouted an exact address.
"Thank you, Master Meng!"
The woman cried with joy, picked up her bag, and was ready to leave, but she quickly turned around and looked back at Meng Xingluan.
"Master Meng, can you come with me? He hates it the most when I check on his whereabouts, and with you, I can say I'm here with a friend."
As she finished speaking, she quickly added in fear of Meng Xingluan's disapproval: "I will pay extra!"
Only then did Meng Xingluan reluctantly agree to accompany her.
She followed the woman, texting her husband as she walked.
【M: When are you coming home? I cooked your favorite pigeon soup.】
As usual, her message evaporated into the void.
Meng Xingluan had grown accustomed to this. She consoled herself that Zhou Yubai was simply too busy to read her messages.
Moreover, there was the time difference between here and abroad to consider.
They covered the 500-meter distance in a mere six minutes.
The woman, preoccupied with her boyfriend, headed straight for Room 211 in the bar. Meng Xingluan, who was following behind, walked leisurely.
The Zero Degree bar was ranked number one in Haicheng, frequented only by the rich and influential.
This was not Meng Xingluan’s first time at a bar. Before she was married, she would sneakily visit with friends without letting Zhou Yubai know. But since getting married, she had stopped.
She upheld womanly virtues as per the old internet adage.
She had given Zhou Yubai all the trust she could.
Even though he had never included her in public events, rarely come home, and was often embroiled in outside scandals, Meng Xingluan had never used her skills to dig deeper.
She believed that loving him meant trusting him.
And besides, Zhou Yubai was not the type of man to cheat.
Just as she was thinking this, her gaze suddenly landed on a particular spot.
The door of private room 209 was half-closed, from the position where she was standing, she could get a glimpse of half the interior decoration.
Inside the room appeared a figure she knew very well.
Her nominal husband—Zhou Yubai.
Meng Xingluan's hand was on the door handle, just about to step in, but then she paused because of the sudden appearance of a girl.
The girl snuggled her way into Zhou Yubai's arms and raised her wine glass in a flirtatious manner. Then, under the coaxing of the crowd, she and Zhou Yubai engaged in an intimate toast.
It felt like everything exploded.
The sight in front of her eyes rendered Meng Xingluan's mind blank, her hand shaking uncontrollably.
Why...Why didn't Zhou Yubai refuse?
He knew full well that she despised Meng Tingyao, so why did he have a clandestine meeting with her?
And even did something so intimate?
Meng Xingluan's face was pale, her hands clenched tight, and her gaze fixed intently inside the room.
Her chest felt like it was being compressed by something, making it hard for her to breathe.
"Yao Yao, when you come back this time, will you stay? If you ask me, the one who should have left was that Meng Xingluan!"
"So what if she's the real daughter of the Meng family? She spent the first fifteen years of her life in the mountains, compared to the peers in our circle, she already lost at the starting line. That she even brazenly wanted to marry Brother Bai, tsk, I've never seen such a thick-skinned person in my life!"
"Brother Bai, since you went abroad personally to fetch Yao Yao back, does this mean you plan to divorce Meng Xingluan?"
"Better to leave soon, right? I know why you agreed to marry Meng Xingluan in the first place. Weren't you just afraid that she would bully Yaoyao in the Meng family? Now that Yaoyao has become powerful, Brother Bai doesn't need to seek complete self-effacement anymore."
With his brother speaking openly like this, everyone's gaze fell on Zhou Yubai, waiting for his stance.
The young man had cold, stern features and deep eyes.
He had taken off his suit jacket and hung it aside, wearing only a white shirt underneath, with his sleeves rolled up a bit, holding an empty wine glass.
In response to the question, he furrows his handsome brows slightly.
He then says immediately: "I've already had my lawyer draft a divorce agreement."
His voice is low and deep, like a cello.
For Meng Xingluan, it was as if it was a judgment from hell.
Divorce?
Zhou Yubai wants to divorce her.
Upon arriving at this conclusion, Meng Xingluan felt dizzy.
Just now, it was as if she had been doused with cold water, from head to toe feeling bone-chilling cold.
Her thin body was swaying.
So Zhou Yubai had wanted to divorce her long ago, he even married her just to protect Meng Tingyao.
Her five years of naive infatuation plus two years of marriage now seemed like a joke.
Meng Xingluan suddenly understood.
Half a month ago.
She got H1N1 and felt so terrible all over, not unlike being at death's door.
She wanted Zhou Yubai to come back and take care of her.
But after making more than a dozen calls and hearing no reply, she got through the next day, only to find out it was Zhou Yubai's assistant on the other end.
He said that Mr Zhou had gone abroad for a business trip, and he didn't know when he would be back.
Looking at it now, Zhou Yubai's business trip was clearly a cover for meeting Meng Tingyao.
Her heart ached sharply, the feeling of suffocation spread throughout her body.
Everyone else knew the reason why Zhou Yubai married her, but she remained in the dark.
She felt like a total clown.
No wonder her master, upon learning of her impending marriage to Zhou Yubai, had said Zhou Yubai wasn't her match.
A bone-chilling cold swept over her.
Meng Xingluan suddenly felt so tired, she didn't want to hold on any further.
But she ought to at least give her first love a proper end.
Collecting herself again, Meng Xingluan swallowed the excruciating pain and barged into the room.
"You..."
The sudden intrusion displeased one of the young masters. He was about to curse when he caught a glimpse of the intruder's face and abruptly held back.
"Meng Xingluan?"
As his voice fell, everyone unanimously turned their heads toward the direction of the door.
The light in the box was not bright, hence, half of the beautiful lady's face seemed somewhat darkened.
She stood straight, her gaze only resting on Zhou Yubai.
A flash of surprise passed through the young man's eyes, but quickly returned to calm.
However, the Meng Tingyao in his arms panicked for a moment.
"Sister? Let me explain to you. Things aren't what you see. It was brother Wei who knew that I wanted to hold a welcome back party..."
The woman's voice was charming and a bit rushed, seemingly really worried that Meng Xingluan might misunderstand.
However, Meng Xingluan found it noisy.
Her temples throbbed painfully.
She raised her hand to rub them a few times, her pale face spoke with difficulty: "Zhou Yubai... Do you have anything to explain to me?"
She was giving Zhou Yubai one last chance.
Yet, all he did was to coldly utter: "You followed me?"
Her dignity and heart were shattered instantly.
Meng Xingluan suddenly laughed.
She forced back her urge to cry, her voice hoarse, "Zhou Yubai, let's divorce."