Chapter 53
He was already enraged to the extreme, feeling as though the whole world was laughing at him. He had always liked to be admired, to receive praise from others, and he hated being humiliated or looked down upon.
Yet, at this very moment, after a phone call from Duan Songtao, he was told to divorce Shen Yan. Duan Songtao claimed it was his only way out, that if not, Shen Yan would definitely sue him and he would end up in prison.
Not only that, but Duan Songtao also insisted that he apologize to Shen Yan and seek his forgiveness, saying it was something he owed Shen Yan.
It sounded as though he had willingly married that guy in the first place!
If it weren’t for the old man’s meddling, and that guy shamelessly refusing to reject him, would he have married such a person?
Now, with Su Yunzhe by his side, he would use any underhanded means to get the divorce, and he was even told to apologize? Has Shen Yan forgotten how desperately he begged for him to look at him back then?
The more Duan Yang thought about it, the angrier he became, but he didn’t dare to yell at Duan Songtao. He could only storm out of the mansion, driving furiously back to his place, but the anger still hadn’t dissipated in the slightest.
He headed straight for the guest room, not even glancing at it before starting to smash things!
This had been the original owner’s room, and because Duan Yang had treated the original owner with cold indifference—ignoring him—he had never shared a room with him. The original owner, being quite perceptive, had immediately moved into the guest room on their wedding night. After that, it had become the original owner’s bedroom.
When Shen Yan arrived, he immediately proposed a divorce, and Duan Yang locked him away in a villa the next day. Shen Yan had only slept there for one night, so naturally, all the belongings were still the original owner’s.
Duan Yang was now seething with rage, but since Shen Yan wasn’t in front of him, he couldn’t vent his anger directly on him. He could only take out his fury on these things, smashing them while cursing, “Lowly thing, when I spoke a single word to you, you were as happy as it was New Year’s. Now you’re messing with me, getting involved with some other man? Who the hell do you think you are, that you deserve an apology from me?”
Before long, the small room was in utter chaos, with even the simple desk by the window being turned over. He rifled through the drawers, throwing everything out. Among the things he found, most were notebooks filled with writing. He found the words disturbing and, pulling out a lighter, he was about to set them on fire.
However, when he randomly picked up one of the notebooks, he opened the first page, only to find a portrait of himself drawn in ink. The drawing was so lifelike that Duan Yang immediately recognized it as being based on a photo of himself.
Next to the portrait were words—a film review of a movie he had starred in. It wasn’t really a review, but more of a detailed evaluation of the character he portrayed. It was obvious from reading it that the person who wrote it had watched the film multiple times.
Duan Yang involuntarily began flipping through it, and the entire book was filled with thoughts on his works, the variety shows he had participated in, and even his commercial performances. Classic scenes were also sketched out.
The whole book was almost a comprehensive collection of his works.
And it wasn’t just this one. Duan Yang flipped through other notebooks, some containing simple cartoons based on him, others filled with photos of him that had been secretly taken without his knowledge. They were all about him.
As Duan Yang turned page after page, his anger slowly subsided, and he lost track of time. He spent the entire afternoon in the messy guest room, carefully reading through every single notebook, until he reached the last one, which was a locked diary.
Those locked diaries were usually used by students as a way to deceive themselves, but they could be opened in many ways.
Suddenly, Duan Yang had the impulse to try to open it with a password. He entered his own birthday, and as expected, the diary opened.
It was a journal.
The first entry was from two years ago, the first time the original owner had met Duan Yang.
Duan Yang had never noticed the original owner before, and later, he had disliked him. So, he never bothered to explore when or how the original owner had fallen for him.
The diary gave a complete account.
It was at a banquet held by the Shen family, the first time Duan Yang had visited the Shen family. He didn’t know about the original owner’s awkward position there, so when the original owner was ridiculed and mocked, looking helpless, Duan Yang happened to pass by, casually pulling him aside and asking, “Are you alright?”
The diary conveyed the original owner’s emotions, stating that Duan Yang had been incredibly kind, but Duan Yang didn’t remember it that way.
After reading that part, Duan Yang tried to recall, and indeed, he vaguely remembered the scene. But at the time, it was really just a casual question, and the so-called kindness was probably just the original owner’s over-imagining.
But it was this misunderstanding that made the original owner fall in love with him at first sight.
The rest of the diary was filled with the original owner’s secret feelings for him. Even just watching him from afar across the garden, the original owner would fill a whole page with happiness and joy.
In the first half of the diary, there were almost only entries about the original owner’s quiet happiness from secretly liking him. The original owner had never expected to have any real interaction with Duan Yang.
Until Duan Songtao proposed their marriage, the diary clearly showed the original owner’s hesitation.
His love for Duan Yang wasn’t a lie, but he had never dared to dream of being with him because he knew that Duan Yang was already with Shen Jiaqi. He had no chance and shouldn’t harbor such delusions.
But when Duan Songtao put the opportunity in front of him, all he had to do was nod, and he could marry Duan Yang.
He was moved.
But his conscience was uneasy, feeling that by doing so, he would become the third party who ruined someone else’s relationship, a despicable person who stole his brother’s man.
In the end, it was Duan Songtao who convinced him. Duan Songtao said, “Give yourself a chance, and give Duan Yang a chance. He will see the good in you. I believe you both will be happy.”
Moreover, Duan Yang had not refused!
This gave him a tremendous boost of confidence. He believed that, just as Duan Songtao said, Duan Yang would see his good qualities.
So, he agreed to marry Duan Yang.
The entries in the diary after the marriage were sparse, sometimes only a single sentence.
“Today, he didn’t come back. He probably doesn’t want to see me.”
“Today, he came back, with Jiaqi.”
“Today, I’ll go to bed early.”
…
As time passed, the entries became even more meaningless, until just before he ran away from home, the diary hadn’t had a single word written in it for a week.
What’s more, Duan Yang noticed that the diary didn’t mention how he had treated the original owner, nor did it mention that Duan Yang had brought Shen Jiaqi back to deliberately provoke him. Behind the bedroom door, he and Shen Jiaqi had been intimate, but Shen Yan never mentioned anything in the diary.
In other words, the diary, along with those notebooks, never contained a single negative word about Duan Yang.
By the time he had finished reading, it was already dark outside. Duan Yang stood by the window, gazing out into the pitch-black night, feeling an inexplicable sensation in his heart.
After a long while, he shook off this strange feeling, then thought of something, carefully tidied up the notebooks, and a strange smile flashed in his eyes. He turned and left the room, ordering the servants to restore the guest room to its original state.
Then he called Duan Songtao, sincerely apologizing, saying that he now understood his mistakes, and would contact Shen Yan to discuss the appropriate time for the divorce. He would also apologize to Shen Yan and seek his forgiveness.
Duan Songtao, upon hearing this, was very pleased, offering him heartfelt advice, saying he was still young, and that admitting his mistakes and correcting them was the most important thing.
After hanging up the phone, Duan Yang curled his lips into a strange smile.
Admitting his mistakes and correcting them? What mistakes? What did he even do wrong?
Shen Yan and Su Yunzhe stayed in B City until the seventh day of the new year before returning to H City. The next day, they went to visit Su Yunzhe’s grandparents to celebrate the New Year. Su Yunzhe had already called ahead to Su Mubai, so Su Mubai would also be there.
Shen Yan had met them before, but at that time, he was still a girl. Su Yunzhe’s grandmother had pulled him aside, giving him a long lecture about how a girl living alone should pay attention to safety and how hard it was for a girl working outside. His grandfather also repeatedly referred to him as “little girl,” and when Shen Yan visited the Su family last time, Su Mubai had even made him bird’s nest soup, saying it would be good for his skin.
Thinking about this now, Shen Yan instantly felt too embarrassed to face them!
“Su Yunzhe, can I not go?” he had already asked Su Yunzhe this question for the eighth time since they left that morning.
At that moment, their car had stopped outside the entrance of Yucai Middle School. Su Yunzhe was taking things out of the trunk and grabbed Shen Yan’s hand, pulling him inside with a smile, “What are you afraid of? Ugly wives always have to meet their in-laws; you can’t escape!”
Shen Yan kicked him, “You’re the ugly one…”
“Yan Yan’s here!”
Before Shen Yan could retract his foot, Su Yunzhe’s grandparents, having heard they were coming, could no longer wait and had already come out to meet them. They saw him just as he was kicking Su Yunzhe.
Shen Yan was instantly embarrassed and wanted to find a hole to crawl into, but obviously, there was no hole, so he could only force a smile and greet his grandparents, “Grandpa, Grandma, happy New Year. I was just… joking around.”
At that moment, Shen Yan didn’t even know why he was so nervous. It was as if he genuinely felt the awkwardness of meeting elders.
Although he had been here before, that time he was just playing the role of Su Yunzhe’s girlfriend, so it didn’t feel like meeting parents. But now, their relationship was different, and the meaning of this meeting was entirely different.
However, his grandparents were just as warm as before. Especially his grandmother, who immediately grabbed his hand and handed him a red envelope, calling it “lucky money,” and then pulled him along, saying, “You two probably didn’t get to enjoy good food during the New Year, huh? I made all your favorites today. Eat more! Look at you…”
She gave him a thorough look, “You’ve lost weight, your chin’s sharper now. You must not be eating well. Come visit Grandma more often, and I’ll make sure you gain some weight and get healthy.”
“Thank you, Grandma, but I’m just the type who doesn’t gain weight.”
The elderly were as warm and loving as always, but Shen Yan still felt a bit stiff, even paying attention to the curve of his smile.
Grandma looked at him, then patted his hand gently, “What’s with you? Are you nervous? Are you worried that your Grandpa and I will be upset because you’re a boy? Don’t worry, we’re very open-minded. As long as you two are happy, that’s all that matters. We don’t care about passing down the family name. Besides, with today’s medical advancements, men can have children too, right?”
Er…
Shen Yan was at a loss for words.
What did she mean, men can have children too?
Although he knew that in the setting of this world, men could get pregnant and give birth after a simple procedure, and it was quite normal here, the original owner had become pregnant and miscarried because of this very procedure.
However, he decided to let this matter go.
