Su Qing's Second Marriage

Su Qing said to her middle school classmate, the top student and school heartthrob, "I'm pregnant."

The handsome guy, a Tsinghua master's graduate, said, "Let's get married. I can support you and the baby."

For those words, Su Qing gave up her job, her household registration, and even her parents, and moved from Shanghai to Beijing.

Two years later, Su Qing looked up and saw her traveling husband's blue trench coat fluttering on the neighboring balcony. It was the home of a divorced female colleague from his office.

Her husband firmly denied it. He swore up and down. He quit his job. He sold their house. Su Qing looked at the man she had loved for ten years, then at Nannan, who was just learning to walk. Then she decided to forgive him once.

Su Qing received a text message containing chat logs. Su Qing received a text message containing photos of plane tickets. Su Qing received another text message...

That woman asked Su Qing to meet her at a cafe and said, "Get a divorce. The child should stay with her own mother. Otherwise, she'll easily grow up crooked. She could turn into a little delinquent and end up hating her mother."

Her mother came from Shanghai to help her pack. "I told you long ago that he was no good, but you wouldn't listen. Well, now you can go back to Shanghai, find another man, have another child, and turn the page."

At their final meeting before she left, her mother-in-law rolled her eyes and walked away with Nannan in her arms. Her phone lay on the table, and Nannan's babbling voice came from it: "Grandma, I have a secret to tell you. You absolutely mustn't tell Mom. Don't make Mom sad. My dad and Mom got divorced."

Nannan said, "Grandma, I hit Dad today. When he carried me outside, I hit him really hard twice. He was mean to Mom."

In the end, Su Qing did not return to Shanghai. She stayed in Beijing, without a job, household registration, or home, just so she could see Nannan often. She couldn't let Nannan become another page turned in her life.

The new director was a Tsinghua graduate with a master's degree from the United States. He was two years younger than Su Qing, had been married briefly, and had no children.

Zhao Chengxu said, "Blind dates? Isn't that just being a hooligan under the pretext of getting married?"

Zhao Chengxu said, "Dating? Is it just to save two hundred yuan on a prostitute?"

Zhao Chengxu said, "Marriage? I've already done something that stupid once. I was young and foolish back then."

Zhao Chengxu said, "Are you kidding me? I'm not interested in being a biological father, let alone a stepfather."