—An abandoned wife.
The sarcastic implication of this evaluation was simply a perfect ten.
Yan Xun felt that he ought to be angry, but he truly couldn’t relate to the labels “married” and “abandoned wife” at all.
So at this very moment, his strongest internal feeling was wondering if Zhou Ze had swallowed gunpowder today. Why else would he be speaking so harshly and sarcastically?
The “abandoned wife” on the hospital bed stared at him for a few seconds before speaking indifferently:
“No smoking in the hospital.”
“…”
The man’s cool cigarette-lighting posture instantly stiffened.
“Fine—”
He originally intended to put the cigarette back into the pack, but halfway through, his hand froze, and he tossed it into the trash can with feigned casualness.
Yan Xun watched him throw the cigarette away before continuing:
“Keep going.”
Zhou Ze quickly tossed aside the awkwardness from just now and snorted:
“I told you long ago that pretty boys like him aren’t reliable, but you were completely obsessed back then, as if your very soul had been snatched away by him. And what’s the result now?”
By this time, Zhou Ze finally deigned to sit down on the chair, casually crossing his legs in a leisurely manner as he gloated:
“Ha, you’re lying in the hospital with your life hanging in the balance, and he’s out there living it up. You can’t even get through to him on the phone, not at all!”
“…”
With his memory completely blank, Yan Xun naturally had nothing to say in response.
After a long while, he stared expressionlessly at Zhou Ze and asked:
“Are you done laughing?”
“…”
Being stared at by Yan Xun like this, Zhou Ze subconsciously uncrossed his legs and planted his feet back on the floor.
Many years ago, when Zhou Ze was still a chubby kid, he was constantly extorted and bullied by a group of teenage delinquents. At the time, Yan Xun, wearing a backpack and a red scarf, happened to pass by and beat the seven or eight big guys until they cried for their parents.
From then on, Zhou Ze harbored an inexplicable hero worship for Yan Xun, much like a pubescent boy acknowledging his boss. He had even forcibly worn down the solitary Yan Xun into a close friend of over a decade.
So even though he was angry, Zhou Ze didn’t really want to kick his once-best friend while he was down.
He fell silent for a moment before finally speaking up:
“Anyway, back then you really did get into Capital University, but I… I went abroad. So you went to college domestically, and I studied abroad.”
“I remember you were quite famous in college. You participated in some competitions, won awards, and later did some other work. In short, you made a lot of money.”
“Later on, you sent Aunt Lin and Lin Ran abroad. You said you wanted her to accompany your brother for treatment overseas, get him fitted for a prosthetic limb, undergo rehab training, and so on.”
This was probably the absolute best news Yan Xun had heard since waking up. His heart suddenly beat very fast, and his whole body grew warm.
“Really?”
Zhou Ze looked at him steadily for a few seconds, his tone softening slightly: “Yeah, really.”
As a friend who grew up with him, he couldn’t be more familiar with Yan Xun’s family situation, and he knew that had always been Yan Xun’s greatest wish.
“Later, when I returned to the country, I was planning to hang out and have a good time with you, but what do you do? You say you had to keep your girlfriend company. Fucking throwing your bros under the bus for romance.”
Zhou Ze got angry just talking about it.
“What?” Yan Xun paused. “…Girlfriend?”
“Yeah, that senior you had a crush on in high school.” Zhou Ze snorted. “Back then I said you liked her, and you wouldn’t even let me say it. But that’s nothing. I really didn’t expect you to harbor a crush on her for years, only to dump her a few months after finally getting together.”
“…”
Yan Xun felt like he was listening to someone else’s story; it was completely bizarre.
“Why?”
“Because you jump to the next best thing the moment you see it, you scumbag.” Zhou Ze’s eyes and tone were full of contempt.
Yan Xun: “……..”
“Jump to the next best thing?”
Zhou Ze rolled his eyes: “Otherwise, who do you think you’re married to now?”
Yan Xun: “…That makes sense.”
Even now, he didn’t know the name of his marriage partner because the news of being married had shocked him so much that he had forgotten to ask.
“Then, that person and I…?”
Zhou Ze clicked his tongue in disgust.
“You fell in love with him at first sight, then you were completely shameless, relentlessly pursued him, took him by force, and even forced yourself upon him. Anyway, after a series of outrageous moves, you won the beauty over.”
Yan Xun: “……???”
He had just won the “Three Good Student” award last year, and only yesterday he had helped an old lady cross the street. How could he possibly do such scummy things?!
Yan Xun absolutely didn’t believe it: “That’s impossible!”
“Why is it impossible?” Zhou Ze sneered. “You told me that yourself back then. You even said your man didn’t like you being too close to others and that you wanted to cut ties with me.”
Speaking of this, Zhou Ze practically gnashed his teeth, every word dripping with resentment.
“And then you, motherfucker… actually deleted me for that dog of a man!”
“…”
It wasn’t until this moment that Yan Xun finally understood why Zhou Ze’s attitude was so strange today.
This was simply unbelievable, absurd, and outrageous.
The young man on the hospital bed remained stiff for a long time before speaking again:
“I’m sorry, Zhou Ze.”
His first sentence wasn’t to question the authenticity of those claims, but to apologize to his good friend.
“I was wrong to cut ties with you.”
“…”
Zhou Ze was stunned.
He had been angry for years, bottled it up for years, and been sad for years. But he never expected Yan Xun to apologize to him so easily.
For a moment, he didn’t know how to react.
The previously lively ward suddenly went dead silent…
Just then, Zhou Ze’s phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID; it was another unknown number, and it was calling his private line.
Zhou Ze originally intended to hang up, but after a second thought, he answered it.
“Hello? Who is it?”
“—Chu Tingyun.”
A man’s clear and pleasant voice came from the receiver, carrying a magnetic quality unique to mature men. Even Zhou Ze felt a slight tickle in his ear.
But he quickly realized who Chu Tingyun was.
Zhou Ze’s expression changed: “You…”
But before he could say anything, the other party continued speaking on his own.
“Please tell Yan Xun that since he’s awake, come to the Civil Affairs Bureau at 2 PM tomorrow afternoon. Let’s get the divorce done as soon as possible.”
“Divorce?!”
Zhou Ze shot up from his chair, his face immediately turning black.
“Chu Tingyun, are you a fucking human being?! Yan Xun was in a car crash, he just woke up not long ago, and right now he…” has amnesia.
But the other party cut him off directly, said a couple more things, and hung up.
Yan Xun heard the entire process from the side. He looked at the phone in Zhou Ze’s hand and thought:
—So that person is named Chu Tingyun.
But Zhou Ze didn’t notice Yan Xun’s reaction. He seemed to have been shocked by the man’s last two sentences and took a few seconds to recover.
However, the next second, he gritted his teeth and immediately prepared to dial back.
Ding—
The sound of a text message interrupted his dialing.
Chu Tingyun had sent a specific location, a cafe next to the Civil Affairs Bureau. The implication was that before going through the official procedures, he and Yan Xun still had some things to talk about.
This bossy, arrogant attitude infuriated Zhou Ze to death. Yet, when he tried to call back, Chu Tingyun had actually blocked him!
“Fuck—!”
This married couple really is a perfect match!
The last time Yan Xun blocked him, it was this exact same process. One phone call, one text message, and then blocked.
History was repeating itself, and Zhou Ze felt like his hair was about to stand on end.
Yan Xun looked at his good friend standing by the bed. A dark cloud hung over his face, and his chest was heaving exaggeratedly; it was obvious he was extremely angry.
Thinking back to what Zhou Ze had just said in reply, Yan Xun quickly guessed the caller’s identity.
“He called?”
Although he asked, Yan Xun was actually already certain.
“He wants to… divorce me?”
When saying this, the amnesiac Yan Xun didn’t actually feel very sad. But Zhou Ze didn’t think so; he genuinely believed that Yan Xun loved that man to the point of madness.
If they got divorced now, would Yan Xun even want to live?
However, the incident happened so suddenly, and Zhou Ze had answered the phone right in front of Yan Xun, so he couldn’t hide it from him even if he wanted to.
He agonized over it for a long time, eventually deciding to just tell the truth:
“Yeah, he said the divorce was something you guys had decided on a long time ago. It was only delayed for so long because of your car crash.”
Zhou Ze took a deep breath and sat down again.
“Tomorrow at 2 PM, go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to handle the divorce procedures.”
“…Divorce, huh.”
Yan Xun fell into deep thought.
“He didn’t even talk to me directly about the divorce, but had you relay the message.”
In reality, this sentence was just a statement made while Yan Xun was thinking, but to Zhou Ze’s ears, it sounded like a heartbroken monologue.
“Yan Xun, don’t panic yet.”
Zhou Ze didn’t realize that by this point, he had already thrown his previous resentment to the back of his mind and was wracking his brains trying to figure out how to comfort his brother.
“Actually, I think your divorce might not be a bad thing…”
Yan Xun didn’t reply; he was thinking—
The current situation was that he woke up to find he was married to a man, that he had gone crazy for love, dumped the ex-girlfriend he’d crushed on for years, and cut ties with the good friend he grew up with.
And finally, he got dumped by the other party and was about to become a divorced man…
This was truly outrageous enough.
Yan Xun closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and asked:
“The reason? Why does he insist on divorcing me?”
“…”
Zhou Ze looked troubled, hesitating again and again as if it was hard to speak of.
Yan Xun pressed: “Why?”
Zhou Ze hemmed and hawed:
“Xun, actually it’s just… the two of you, well… aren’t very harmonious…”
Yan Xun didn’t understand: “Not very harmonious?”
Zhou Ze scratched his head and ears in distress: “Ugh, you know, that…”
Even though they were the only two people in the entire room, he leaned in closer and whispered to Yan Xun like a thief:
“You know… that.”
Yan Xun expressionlessly pushed him away. “I don’t understand, speak clearly.”
“It’s just…” Zhou Ze was very anxious, but he kept his voice suppressed low,
“It’s just that married couples… guys who are married, after being together for a long time, their sex lives will more or less have some disharmony. This kind of thing is very normal, don’t be sad, and don’t obsess over it too much.”
Yan Xun furrowed his brows slightly: “Just because of some conflicts and friction in everyday life?”
Zhou Ze was speechless: “…Not that kind of friction!”
Yan Xun: “What exactly are you trying to say?”
“…Tsk, since you insist on asking so clearly.”
Zhou Ze stayed silent for a few seconds, suddenly patted Yan Xun’s shoulder, and glanced down at Yan Xun’s lower half very sympathetically—
“Because you’re still so young, but that part of you doesn’t work anymore.”
Yan Xun: “…….?”
I’m liking this so far but super confused why the husband would call ZZ if they haven’t been friend for 4 yrs.
Lets not mind the small details XD. But a reasonable explanation would be: since the nurse called the husband who just called ZZ, so the nurse could have told the husband that ZZ was with our MC.