The 99th Divorce

Li Jinnan thought, How had I naively believed that my mother was a conservative woman with traditional values? I never expected her words to be even more shameless than my thoughts!

However, they hadn’t been using any protection lately. And, it would be a lie to say that the idea had never occurred to him. Furthermore, he’d been keeping a close eye on Ye Youyou. He was certain that she hadn’t had the chance to obtain any pills…

When Qin Shuhua heard Li Jinnan’s words, she defended herself, “I’m only doing this for your good! Listen to your mother, and you won’t go wrong.”

She had barely finished her sentence when they heard Ye Youyou’s footsteps coming from inside the kitchen. The moment Qin Shuhua heard it, she immediately closed her mouth and didn’t utter another word.

Ye Youyou felt a little unsettled. She had just heard them conversing with each other. Although she couldn’t hear what they were saying, she knew that the conversation hadn’t stopped at all.

Why did it become silent the moment I appeared? Were they talking about me?

Ye Youyou had her suspicions, but she didn’t voice them out. She placed the tray of breakfast in her hands on the table and said, “Time for breakfast, Auntie.”

Li Jinnan stood up and walked over. “What did you prepare?” he asked.

As he spoke, he casually reached his hand out and placed it around her waist.

Ye Youyou’s immediate reaction was to push him off. She scolded, “Your mom is still here! Go away!”

Although her volume was low, Qin Shuhua heard her clearly. She pretended not to have heard anything and walked over.

She eyed the breakfast that Ye Youyou had just prepared. It was a simple breakfast, including a pot of plain porridge, three simple accompanying condiments, a fried egg, and some sausages. However, the condiments had a story behind them. They looked like regular accompanying condiments, but Qin Shuhua couldn’t identify what exactly they were.

Ye Youyou headed into the kitchen to wash her hands before re-emerging with bowls and chopsticks. She quickly began to apportion the porridge. She served each person a bowl of porridge.

She sat beside Li Jinnan without a second thought and said, “This dish is a specialty from my hometown. Try it. You probably won’t be able to obtain it in Kingstown. The original recipe was from my dad. I added my own twist to it.”

The dish was piping hot. Qin Shuhua took a mouthful. Her eyes lit up in surprise as she asked, “What is this?”

Ye Youyou didn’t really know what it was either. She replied, “In the dialect of my hometown, it’s called ‘yunkang,’ but I’m not sure what it’s called in Mandarin. My dad used to make them by hand. I was told that the recipe was passed down from my ancestors.”

Qin Shuhua nodded her head and answered, “It’s indeed delicious.” She scooped a mouthful of porridge with her spoon and tasted it. “The porridge is pretty good too. The egg is done beautifully.”

Ye Youyou was a little embarrassed by the compliments. She was also surprised by Qin Shuhua’s reaction to her cooking.

She had assumed from Li Jinnan’s prior warning that his mother would be very difficult to get along with. She had prepared herself to be on the receiving end of her criticisms and hadn’t expected that none would be thrown her way.

Ye Youyou gave a sigh of relief, but she didn’t allow herself to let her guard down either. She said, “Thank you, Auntie. Please have more if you like it. I made quite a few.”

“Sure. Have some for yourself too.” Qin Shuhua smiled amiably at her.

After breakfast was over, she sat for a while longer and chatted with Ye Youyou in a bid to get to know her better before finally reluctantly leaving.

Her chauffeur, Chen, had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Qin Shuhua emerge, he hurried forward to escort her and open the car door.

Qin Shuhua sat in the back passenger seat behind and instructed, “Chen, find out more about Jinnan’s girlfriend for me. There’s a nagging feeling in my heart that won’t go away. I keep feeling as if I’ve seen the lady somewhere before. She looks quite familiar.”