Chapter 29: You’re the one who wants the divorce more, Xu.

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After taking a break, they set off again.

It seemed Zhang Qidong had truly regained much of his presence. Chen Linye and Pan Yun both still seemed to have considerable faith in him.

As they rode on, the large group gradually began to split apart.

Before they knew it, Xu Shujian and Song Yue had reached the very front, several hundred meters ahead of the others.

Huang Lingling had started out riding at the back. Pan Yun kept coming up with new whims and insisted that Chen Linye take photos of him. Perhaps encouraged by Zhang Qidong, Chen Linye refused, saying there was nothing worth photographing here and that they had already taken plenty. They could take more when they reached somewhere scenic.

But Pan Yun would not let it go. He immediately turned it into an issue of attitude, leaving Chen Linye no choice but to give in. The two of them ended up at the very back instead.

Yu Hui gradually fell into step with Huang Lingling, and the four couples slowly began riding forward in family units.

After humming to himself for a while, Zhang Qidong suddenly turned to Lin Xiaoxian beside him.

“How is that? Impressive, right?”

Lin Xiaoxian withdrew her gaze from Qionghai. “What is?”

“Look at Yu Hui. That guy’s clearly gotten used to being treated like a lord. He was still carrying Lingling’s bag just now. I gave him a little reminder, and he understood immediately. Now he’s pestering Lingling to give him the bag.”

Lin Xiaoxian glanced back. The bag that had been on Huang Lingling’s back was already hanging from Yu Hui’s shoulders.

She rolled her eyes at Zhang Qidong, finding him inexplicable. Even an idiot could see that Yu Hui truly did not love Huang Lingling. Why meddle in all this?

For now, Lin Xiaoxian was the one with the least emotional turbulence. She even felt rather happy.

Her life with Zhang Qidong had always been completely beyond that of ordinary people. Wherever they went, they were surrounded by a crowd of subordinates and assistants. In that kind of environment, Zhang Qidong was someone Lin Xiaoxian had no room to defy.

Here, however, Yu Hui occasionally snapped back at him, while Xu Shujian and Song Yue hardly paid him any attention at all.

This atmosphere was novel to Lin Xiaoxian. Her main thought was that perhaps she, too, could express herself more instead of merely listening to her husband. Had Zhang Qidong not advised Chen Linye to do the same earlier?

Zhang Qidong continued, “Now look at the two at the back. Linye has already started expressing what bothers him. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Lin Xiaoxian said, “Is it?”

“Of course it is. Don’t you think they have serious problems? I’m helping them resolve those problems. If Linye never says anything, what’s the point of coming here?”

Lin Xiaoxian recalled that just last night, Zhang Qidong had said there was nothing wrong with them. And now they suddenly had a whole pile of problems?

“Forget it. You wouldn’t understand. This is good too.”

Zhang Qidong continued humming.

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What Zhang Qidong had said was not what mattered most to him. He felt he should mention it in front of the cameras, certainly, but what he cared about most was that the rhythm of the situation had returned to his control.

Humming as he looked ahead, Zhang Qidong even wondered whether he should meddle in the problems between Xu Shujian and Song Yue. He did not believe Song Yue had no complaints about Xu Shujian whatsoever. By the same token, Xu Shujian surely had complaints about Song Yue as well.

It was just that, compared with the others, the two of them were a little more clear-headed. They were unwilling to expose their unpleasant sides before the cameras—or perhaps they were burdened by the image of being idols.

Zhang Qidong admitted that Song Yue had genuine ability in business, but her experience of life was certainly inferior to his own. If he wanted to interfere, he was sure he could find an opening.

The people who had come here all had plenty of tricks, far more than Zhang Qidong had expected.

Still, it did not matter. He could handle them.

…

Up ahead, Xu Shujian and Song Yue rode onward at the same steady pace.

Song Yue glanced back at the others from time to time. She felt rather uncomfortable. She was the sort of person who wanted to solve a problem whenever one arose. She and Old Xu had not even finished sorting out their own affairs, yet these people were having such a grand time stirring things up.

Especially that Zhang Qidong. Had he solved his own problems yet? How had he managed to stretch his meddling hand hundreds of meters back, all while trying to lord it over Old Xu at every turn? The key was that Old Xu had ignored him from the very beginning. What was this—did he think Old Xu was easy to bully?

Song Yue admitted that, over the years, she had held plenty of opinions about Xu Shujian. But she had never allowed anyone else to bully him.

There were quite a few people in her own family who disapproved of Xu Shujian. When dealing with them, Song Yue’s attitude had always been: your opinions are your own, and I will not interfere. But you were not allowed to express them against Old Xu. If they looked down on Xu Shujian, then they were looking down on Song Yue herself.

And now this thoroughly paternalistic Zhang Qidong wanted to keep trying to manipulate Old Xu. He was clearly out of his mind.

“Old Xu, don’t you think Sister Xiaoxian is being too passive?” Song Yue suddenly asked.

Xu Shujian gave it little thought and glanced back. “Have some confidence. She’s far more than passive.”

Xu Shujian had observed Lin Xiaoxian as well. There was a somewhat unkind phrase that described her perfectly: a canary in a cage.

The person who kept a canary would certainly provide it with food and shelter, clean its cage, and occasionally amuse himself by teasing it. But the canary could not leave the cage. Even if it did, it still had to remain within his sight.

That was Lin Xiaoxian.

From what Xu Shujian had learned so far, Zhang Qidong’s greatest achievement was not his career. It was locking Lin Xiaoxian inside his cage—and building a textbook-perfect cage around her.

As for his business abilities, Zhang Qidong was, at best, on the level of a corporate executive. He could never be the one steering the ship, nor did he have the ability to start a business on his own.

“Then what do you think the final outcome will be for those two?”

Xu Shujian smiled. “Hard to say.”

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Song Yue nodded in agreement. Indeed, it was hard to say.

Song Yue had shared a room with Lin Xiaoxian for two nights and had spoken with her at length. She understood Lin Xiaoxian better than Xu Shujian did.

From Song Yue’s perspective, Zhang Qidong was a paper tiger. In the past, that paper tiger had believed himself to be a real tiger. Now, however, Zhang Qidong had realized that he was only a paper tiger. Otherwise, he would not have come on this reality show and claimed that he intended to retreat behind the scenes.

His retreat behind the scenes was merely a way of pushing Lin Xiaoxian into the spotlight. He had recognized the insufficiency of his own value, yet he was unwilling to step down from his lofty position.

It was a very hollow state of affairs.

Since Zhang Qidong wanted to make trouble, Song Yue would let him see reality clearly.

Once she had made up her mind, Song Yue gradually turned her attention back to Xu Shujian. After thinking for a moment, she smiled.

“Old Xu, I’ve figured it out. You’ve been playing a little undercover game with me, haven’t you? You clearly understand everything, but you never showed it before. So you’re actually the one who wants a divorce more, aren’t you?”

Xu Shujian turned to her. “What are you talking about?”

Song Yue snorted twice. “Keep pretending. Go on, keep pretending.”

Judging by their behavior on the show, Xu Shujian was indeed the one who seemed more eager for a divorce.

But both he and Song Yue understood that, in truth, Song Yue was the one who wanted a divorce more. She had merely been guiding Xu Shujian toward taking the initiative.

That had been Song Yue’s thinking in the past. But after spending the past few days together, she increasingly felt that something was not right.

Xu Shujian possessed the ability to read people’s expressions and moods, as well as the ability to handle these complicated situations in the present. Had he merely been pretending to be a helpless little lamb all along?

At first, Xu Shujian did not quite understand what she meant. He was still pondering how to make Zhang Qidong suffer a spectacular fall. Had Song Yue not been discussing Zhang Qidong and Lin Xiaoxian just a moment ago? Her sudden turn back to him left him somewhat bewildered.

After thinking it over, Xu Shujian understood. Lowering his voice, he sighed.

“I’m not stupid. Did you forget that I once had a dispute with my agency? What was I pretending for? Ever since you insisted on focusing on your career first and having children later, I’ve felt that we really started drifting apart. Your career is important, of course, but couldn’t you spare a thought for me too? I did the math. Even if pregnancy takes ten months, would it really delay your work for all ten of them? Take Sister Yang from your company, for instance. Didn’t she keep working until she was seven months pregnant?”

“You’re already thirty-three. That’s considered an advanced maternal age pregnancy. What, are you planning to put it off for several more years? Isn’t that dangerous? Or do you truly not want children anymore? Even taking the worst-case scenario, am I dead while you’re pregnant? Wouldn’t I help you? Do you really think I couldn’t take good care of you? Never mind the other people who could help with your work—I could at least handle most of your day-to-day responsibilities, couldn’t I? You would still make the decisions. I’d simply be your assistant.”

“But back then, you wouldn’t listen to anything I said. What was I supposed to do? How could I have held on all these years if I hadn’t lived inside my own little world? We were already destined to spend more time apart than together in the years ahead. You changed, so why wasn’t I allowed to change too? And you still say I was pretending…”

At first, Song Yue had worn an expression suggesting that she was watching Xu Shujian make excuses. Gradually, however, her face fell. The more she listened, the worse she felt inside.

She interrupted him.

“All right, I was joking. It was my fault. I’m sorry.”