Chapter 47: Do You Believe I’m a Decent Person?

Chen Lie stood ramrod straight, ignoring the last thing she’d said. He simply nodded, all seriousness. “Go ahead.”

That attitude was infuriating. Su Qinghu glared at him. “Go ahead with what? There’s nothing to say! Can you not be so stubborn? Do I have to say whatever you want to hear?”

She said she had a lot of theoretical knowledge, and he just believed her? “So if I said I was a goblin, would you believe that too?”

Chen Lie’s expression tightened, his gaze turning sharp. “Su Qinghu, you know you’re not telling the truth.”

Su Qinghu was fuming. Yes, she hadn’t reacted quickly enough just now, and that split-second pause while recalling things had given her away.

She hadn’t told the truth because the truth was hard to say.

She’d gotten careless—really careless. She was used to being unrestrained, and for a moment, she’d let her guard down.

Now it was just awkward. Really awkward. Whatever she said would be wrong. She glanced at Chen Lie and sighed. In the future, if things got intimate between them, would he always wonder if she’d seen those things before?

Or worse… would he ask her for advice? Ask where she’d learned it?

Heavens!

Just imagining it made a chill run up Su Qinghu’s spine. She shivered, and her gaze at Chen Lie turned wary.

Terrifying! This was way too terrifying!

Maybe they should just get a divorce?

Chen Lie noticed the hesitation in her eyes slowly hardening into resolve, as if she was really considering leaving. He frowned. “I just asked you a question. What are you thinking about?”

Su Qinghu answered honestly, “I’m thinking about whether I should divorce you.”

Chen Lie: “…”

He pressed his lips together, forcing down the surge of anger rising inside him. He took a step forward, looking down at her, his eyes flickering with fire. “What does marriage mean to you?”

Su Qinghu’s heart thudded wildly. Oh god, Chen Lie was scary like this.

She was just talking—she hadn’t actually done anything!

Besides, hadn’t he… already been divorced himself? Why was he so worked up? During the whole divorce and remarriage process, he’d never shown this much emotion…

The more she thought about it, the more deflated Su Qinghu felt. She wanted to snap back at him, but his imposing aura made her swallow the words.

“You want a divorce?” Chen Lie regained his composure, but his voice was still icy, the chill unmistakable. He wasn’t loud, but his presence was overwhelming. “Why?”

They’d both had their own reasons for marrying. She didn’t have feelings for him, so it wasn’t surprising she could bring up divorce so casually.

Chen Lie told himself this and calmed down. Now, he just wanted to know her reason.

After all… she’d clearly had other feelings for him before.

Su Qinghu was exasperated. Why? Wasn’t it just because she was afraid he’d bring up the past and slap her with a “not-decent” label…

All those flirtatious words she’d said—would she have to become some model of virtue and propriety in front of him from now on?!

She didn’t dare imagine it any further. She swallowed, shook her head, and just thinking about that kind of life made her feel suffocated.

She didn’t want to live like that…

Her head-shaking, in Chen Lie’s eyes, was a refusal to answer.

He was silent for a moment. “Have you made up your mind?”

Su Qinghu suddenly looked up at him, meeting his eyes. For a moment, she felt reluctant. Something her best friend once said popped into her mind.

Her friend had said, if she ever met a husband who was good-looking, fit, had good habits, was ambitious, and didn’t fool around, she’d spoil him rotten. Maybe not be totally submissive, but if they ever fought, she’d be the first to kneel on a washboard and apologize…

Now, looking at Chen Lie, Su Qinghu suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

He had sharp brows and eyes, was tall and upright, clean, and would even take the initiative to bathe the kids. She didn’t know if he was ambitious, but he definitely didn’t fool around—otherwise, he wouldn’t have reacted so strongly when she kissed his nose just now…

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head decisively. “No, I haven’t made up my mind!”

Forget it, forget it. No need to think so far ahead. She hadn’t even gotten her hands on this “swan” yet—why worry about the future?

Chen Lie had already prepared himself, even thinking about how to fill out the divorce application so soon after marriage, and how to get it processed quickly. But her answer left him momentarily speechless.

“I was thinking about divorce just now because I was afraid you’d think I…” Su Qinghu carefully chose her words, “…wasn’t doing anything serious~~~”

Yes, “not doing anything serious” sounded better than “not decent.”

Chen Lie was truly exasperated by her. He raised his hand and pointed at her in the air, but couldn’t get a word out.

“Don’t even think about it. You think you can get divorced just because you want to?” Da Dan, wearing his boxer shorts, walked out from behind the bedroom door he shared with Er Dan, looking at Su Qinghu with a mocking grin. “As long as my dad hasn’t done anything wrong, you can forget about it.”

Su Qinghu’s face went blank. How long had this kid been eavesdropping?

“If you mess up during the marriage, as long as my dad wants to, you’ll be in court in no time,” Da Dan sneered. “Otherwise, Yao Yingying wouldn’t have behaved herself before the divorce.”

Su Qinghu ignored the brat’s comments for now and turned to Chen Lie, whispering, “How long has he been listening?”

Chen Lie glanced at her and lowered his voice as well. “…Since you started thinking about divorce.”

Phew—

Su Qinghu let out a sigh of relief. Good, good. At least the kid hadn’t heard anything inappropriate.

“Who’s Yao Yingying?” Now that she’d gotten what she wanted and Chen Lie wasn’t sulking or giving her the cold shoulder, Su Qinghu had the energy to be curious about other things. “Your ex-wife?”

Da Dan: “…”

He really wanted to ask if Su Qinghu was a bit slow—why did she always see things differently from them?

“Well?” Su Qinghu pressed. “Is she?”

Da Dan glanced at Chen Lie. Seeing his dad wasn’t stopping him, he reluctantly answered, “Yeah.”

Su Qinghu crossed her arms, pinching her chin, her eyes starting to wander.

Seeing this, Chen Lie immediately interrupted her train of thought, calling out, “Su Qinghu.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it was deep and magnetic, snapping her back to attention.

Once she looked over, Chen Lie continued, “Go wash up.”

Su Qinghu blinked. Though she found his calling her name a bit odd, she still went to wash up.

Now was the perfect time to escape, before he started interrogating her about where her “theoretical knowledge” came from!

Once she was gone, Da Dan stood there, lips pursed, watching Su Qinghu’s back with a complicated mix of disappointment and resignation.

Chen Lie walked over and ruffled his hair. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Er Dan fell asleep as soon as he lay down. I was about to doze off too, but then I remembered I hadn’t checked his backpack,” Da Dan grumbled. “So I got up.”

And then he’d overheard them talking about divorce.

“Don’t be upset,” Chen Lie smiled. “She just graduated college, she’s still young—still a bit childish…”

Da Dan looked up. “But she’s not a kid! She’s already twenty!”

(Author’s note: Posting one chapter first, another will be posted tonight.)"