The Groveling Arc You Can't Catch Up To

Su You was the lucky one in everyone's eyes.

Her husband was handsome and gentle, a rising star in the business world, and he spoiled her rotten.

In truth, she was even luckier than outsiders imagined.

They had met in high school. Back then, she was an ordinary, lazy student who struggled with her studies, while Lu You was the handsome top student secretly admired by every girl. Yet Lu You had eyes only for her, the underachiever. He confessed to her at graduation. His gaze had been nervous, his ears bright red, while she had stared at him wide-eyed, at a loss for words.

They got together amid the cheers and blessings of all their classmates.

Lu You had always been the one to give more in their relationship.

During college, they lived in different cities, but Lu You made the exhausting trip to her school by high-speed train every week, spending hours on the journey just to see her. After graduation, he braved his family's disapproval and proposed to her without hesitation. Though he had lost his family's support, Lu You started a business from nothing. He never let her struggle financially, and still spoiled her rotten at home, never once making her cook or wash the dishes.

She didn't want children, so he went and got a vasectomy himself. She didn't like drying her hair, so even when he was exhausted, he would dry it for her before going to bed. He gave her all his pay to look after, put the house in her name, and gave her everything a man could give a woman.

By their tenth year together, their sixth year of marriage, she had grown accustomed to his attentive love and tenderness.

It was their wedding anniversary once again. Su You lazily slept until the afternoon, then ate the candlelit dinner Lu You had spent all afternoon preparing, still in her pajamas. Afterward, she waited for her husband to kiss her as usual, carry her back to bed, and do the dishes himself.

Instead, the handsome man sitting across from her took out a divorce agreement and said in his usual gentle voice, "Youyou, let's get divorced."

Su You thought he was joking.

She never imagined Lu You would be so resolute. He moved out of the home they'd shared for six years and had a notice of his divorce lawsuit delivered to her. She saw him dining with another woman at a Western restaurant. The woman tended to him gently, and he basked in her care.

She cried, begged, and pleaded with him to stay.

Though she'd never cooked before, she clumsily made him lunch and brought it to his office, only for him to coldly toss it into the trash.

She refused to give up, coming back again and again to try to win him over.

One night, she went to his office to plead with him. Clutching his sleeve, she promised she would change. She had made a whole table of dishes. It was her birthday, and through her tears, she begged him to come home and try them.

The lights came on. His coworkers stood there awkwardly, holding party poppers. In the darkness sat a huge cake, with a message celebrating the one-month anniversary of the boss and the general manager being together.

Su You looked at Lu You, who stared back at her coldly. Trembling all over, she finally gave up and agreed to the divorce.

--

A young boxer moved in next door. He was cold and withdrawn, had no family, and fought as if he didn't care whether he lived or died.

It was the tenth day after she'd been asked for a divorce. Su Xue was in a panic as she tried to stew a pot of chicken. Her home was filled with smoke from all the commotion. She opened the door to air the place out and hurried to find someone to put out the fire, only to run into her neighbor.

The cold boxer helped deal with the fire.

Embarrassed, Su You invited him to eat the other dishes she'd made.

The young wolf-dog finished eating and coldly remarked, "It's awful."

From then on, the young wolf-dog polished off every dish Su You learned to make. The whole spread she'd prepared for her birthday was eaten by the two of them together.

The day their divorce was finalized, Lu You drove away from the Civil Affairs Bureau with his new girlfriend, while she sat on the back of the young wolf-dog's motorcycle, holding his waist stiffly as tears streamed down her face.

"You drive," he said.

"Huh?"

Su You hurried to the driver's seat. Her nerves helped dull her grief.

The young wolf-dog wrapped his arms around Su You from behind.

Once he held on, he wouldn't let go.

--

Lu You always gave everything when he loved someone, but drew a clear line when he stopped. That was true of family, and it was true of love. He thought he could put Su You behind him for good.

But he regretted it.

He regretted it so much he went mad.

Theme: Relationships need communication