Chapter 44: Pulled Into His Embrace

Tian Huasheng asked, “Sister Hao, what’s wrong with you?”

Hao Lidan didn’t respond. She leaned against the sofa, radiating a deep, deathly sadness. Her demeanor reminded Yao Jia of a phrase: “The greatest sorrow is a broken heart.”

At this moment, Hao Lidan seemed so heartbroken that it was as if her very soul had died, leaving her a mere shell on the sofa.

“Sister Hao, did something happen? Why don’t you tell us? Maybe we can help you figure it out,” Tian Huasheng suggested like a little angel. Despite Hao Lidan ignoring him, he persisted in trying to rescue her from her unhappiness. “Sister Hao, I went through something really tough before too. I kept it to myself and couldn’t find a solution. But when I shared it with Jia and Brother Meng, they came up with a solution in no time! What’s going on with you? Why not tell us and stop bottling it up?”

Meng Xingzhe had already returned to his room. Yao Jia and Tian Huasheng remained in the living room.

Yao Jia had planned to go back to her room to read, study, or play on her phone. But seeing Hao Lidan in such a state, she felt it was inappropriate to leave her alone with Tian Huasheng. If Hao Lidan fainted from crying, Tian Huasheng, being a man, might not know how to handle it.

However, Hao Lidan’s refusal to respond, lost in her own sadness, was not a solution either.

Yao Jia couldn’t stand seeing someone usually so arrogant and domineering become so deflated, like a puddle of mud.

How difficult could life be? Wasn’t she struggling too? Living here, experiencing poverty like never before, constantly being asked for money by an oddball. Wasn’t Xiao Tiantian struggling too? His family’s house was taken, his mother lived in a nursing home, and he was afraid to spend money on anything. His biggest entertainment investment was a yoga mat, and his greatest leisure activity was stretching on it. And Meng Xingzhe? Well, maybe not him.

But no matter how tough things were, it wasn’t enough to act like she was dying.

Yao Jia crossed her arms, looked at Hao Lidan, and said, “Hey, Hao Lidan, don’t just lie there. I have a score to settle with you.”

Hao Lidan finally moved, glancing up at Yao Jia. But she said nothing.

“Come on, get up. Let’s talk this out. Didn’t you accuse me of having connections above and below? Shouldn’t you apologize for that?”

Hao Lidan’s tears paused as she looked at Yao Jia.

Yao Jia continued to provoke her, “And when I was arguing with a customer, weren’t you the one making sarcastic comments? Look at you now, arguing with customers yourself! What did you say to me back then? That I needed to improve my skills, right? Well, I’m giving those words right back to you. Hao Lidan, don’t just gossip all the time. You need to improve your skills, or even a newbie like me will laugh at you!”

Finally, Hao Lidan reacted. She sat up straight, glaring at Yao Jia, and hoarsely shouted, “Yao Jia, can you stop settling scores with me right now? Can you give me a break?”

Hearing her shout, Yao Jia wasn’t angry. Instead, she laughed.

“Alright, if you can shout, it means you’re alive.”

Anger was the only thing that could pull someone out of deep sorrow. It seemed provoking her had worked.

“So, Sister Hao, do you want to tell us what happened? Maybe we can help!” Little angel Tian Huasheng, understanding Yao Jia’s good intentions, dropped his stance of trying to mediate and asked Hao Lidan kindly again.

Hao Lidan wiped her tears, her fingers brushing against a wound by her eye, causing her to wince in pain.

The pain seemed to give her resolve.

She looked up at Yao Jia and said, “If I tell you, you won’t take the chance to retaliate against me for how I’ve treated you, right?”

Yao Jia almost rolled her eyes. “Then just tell Xiao Tiantian. I’m going back to my room.”

As she turned to leave, her wrist was suddenly grabbed.

Yao Jia looked down to see it was Hao Lidan holding her wrist.

Hao Lidan looked up at her and said, “Tian Huasheng is a man. He won’t understand how I feel! You… stay.”

On the three-seater sofa, Hao Lidan sat in the middle. Yao Jia sat down next to her on the left, and Tian Huasheng on the right.

Once settled, they waited for Hao Lidan to speak.

But as she opened her mouth, the words she was about to say overwhelmed her with sadness again, and she burst into tears.

Meng Xingzhe, though he had returned to his room to work on some programming, hadn’t closed the door completely. He wasn’t sure why he did this. Perhaps subconsciously, he thought that since Hao Lidan often troubled Yao Jia, now that she was emotionally unstable, she might lash out at Yao Jia.

So the door remained ajar, allowing the sounds from the living room to flow in continuously.

Suddenly, he heard Hao Lidan crying loudly in the living room. He stood up instantly and stepped out into the living room.

It turned out that Hao Lidan was just overwhelmed by her own pain and hadn’t lost her mind to the point of attacking anyone.

Yao Jia and Tian Huasheng both watched as he suddenly walked out of the room.

Yao Jia raised an eyebrow at Tian Huasheng amidst Hao Lidan’s sobs and said, “He probably thinks we’re too noisy and is coming to tell us off.”

Tian Huasheng quickly called out to him, “Hey, come join us for a chat!”

He gave Yao Jia a knowing look: Let’s drag him into the conversation so he can’t complain about the noise anymore!

As he spoke, he got up and moved a chair from the dining room to the sofa, placing it right in front of Yao Jia. After setting it down, he mimicked the eager service of a waiter in an old tavern, dusting off the chair with exaggerated care and gesturing for him to sit.

Surprisingly, Meng Xingzhe didn’t refuse his gesture. He swaggered over, sat down in the chair, and casually picked up the remote to turn on the TV. After switching to the financial news channel, he muted the sound.

He acted as if he had come over just to watch the evening financial news, and even after sitting down, his face was full of impatience. “It’s too noisy, I can’t hear the TV!”

Yao Jia and Tian Huasheng both wanted to say, “Brother, you can’t hear it because you muted the TV yourself.”

However, Hao Lidan, affected by his impatient tone, gradually quieted her crying until she was calm.

Yao Jia realized that sometimes tears only flow more fiercely when indulged. They are especially meant for those who take them seriously. If ignored, they tend to dry up quickly.

People subconsciously use emotions to manipulate those who care more about them. For those who don’t care as much, they often offer infinite patience and even flattery.

Hao Lidan’s shattered emotions were gathered back together. With a lingering sob in her voice, she slowly spoke.

“Can you all keep a secret for me?” Hao Lidan asked.

Yao Jia felt that she was just asking out of routine, as her desire to confess and vent had already reached a point of no return.

Yao Jia was never afraid of keeping secrets because she knew she could do it.

She replied to Hao Lidan, “Yes.”

Hao Lidan looked at Tian Huasheng, who nodded emphatically.

Then she looked at Meng Xingzhe. He was staring intently at the TV screen, as if he could understand the news just by watching the images.

Yao Jia lightly kicked the leg of his chair, trying to get Meng Xingzhe’s attention so he would respond to Hao Lidan’s question. But the chair leg was loose, causing the chair to wobble. Meng Xingzhe, with his good coordination, quickly stood up, preventing both himself and the chair from falling.

Tian Huasheng hurriedly moved the chair to the end of the sofa by Yao Jia and quickly ran to the dining room to fetch a new chair for Meng Xingzhe. His keen eye and swift action almost made Meng Xingzhe consider recruiting him as a secretary at Xingbei Technology.

Sitting in the newly brought chair, he lazily responded to Yao Jia and the others, “I’m not interested in what you women talk about. I won’t remember it.”

“That means he’ll keep the secret,” Yao Jia translated his cryptic words for Hao Lidan.

Only then did Hao Lidan seem reassured, ready to reveal her secret.

“You all know that our company has a rule against hiring married women. But actually, when I joined, I was already married! I lied on the employee information form about my marital status.”

After she finished speaking, she looked at everyone with red eyes, waiting for their reaction. But the others in the room weren’t surprised at all by what she said.

At this point, Meng Xingzhe, who had been facing the TV, turned his head, and Yao Jia happened to meet his gaze.

In the exchange of their glances, the word “indeed” seemed to spark between them.

Indeed, Hao Lidan had a grapevine at home.

Unaware that they had deduced this conclusion after dinner, Hao Lidan looked at the silent trio, unsure if the shock was too great for them to react.

So, with red eyes and a nasal tone, she rephrased, “I’m what’s called secretly married.”

This time, Yao Jia responded, “Ah, so you’re secretly married.” But she felt her reaction was a bit dry and not surprised enough, so she quickly tried to cover it with another focus.

“Have you told Hou Wenwen and Tong Yumo about your secret marriage at work?” Yao Jia asked.

Hao Lidan sniffled, and Yao Jia turned to find her a tissue. After looking around, she saw the tissue box on the TV cabinet. She was about to nudge the chair leg to get Meng Xingzhe’s attention, but recalling the earlier incident, she quickly withdrew her foot.

Yet, as if sensing something, Meng Xingzhe turned his head on his own, as if he knew she wanted to call him.

They exchanged a glance.

Without a word, Meng Xingzhe turned, reached out to grab the tissue box from the TV cabinet, and handed it back to Yao Jia without looking.

Yao Jia naturally took it, pulled out a tissue for Hao Lidan to blow her nose.

Beside them, Tian Huasheng was a bit dumbfounded. These two hadn’t said a word, yet with just a glance, they knew what the other wanted and what they should give, their interactions seamless and in perfect harmony.

Tian Huasheng realized that at some point, despite their ongoing bickering, these two had quietly nurtured a little seed of understanding.

After blowing her nose, Hao Lidan replied to Yao Jia, “I didn’t tell them.” She paused and added, “They’re good for gossip, but not for keeping secrets.”

Yao Jia nodded, thinking that Hao Lidan had a clear sense of judgment.

Sometimes, acquaintances have a much stronger curiosity about you than strangers. Because they don’t know you well, they’re not interested in your affairs. But if they’re familiar, every little change in you piques their curiosity.

Perhaps that’s why Hao Lidan chose to confide in the three of them rather than going to Hou Wenwen.

“Let me start from the beginning. The company has only been hiring unmarried female employees in recent years, so when I joined, I hid the fact that I was already married. I heard that if you want to get married after joining, the company might consider not renewing your contract. They think that once a female employee starts taking marriage leave, it leads to maternity leave, and after the first child, there’s the second. Then, being tied up with family and children, she can’t fully commit to work. They see it as a waste of resources, so they stop renewing contracts and hire someone new.

“My husband and I were college classmates. He pursued me. At first, I thought he was too childish and unreliable, too handsome and attention-grabbing, so I didn’t agree to date him. But he pursued me from sophomore year through senior year. When I got sick while job hunting after graduation, he dropped everything to take care of me around the clock.”

As Hao Lidan recalled the past, the sweetness of those youthful days made her current situation seem even more bleak.

“After I recovered, I thought I might never find another man who would treat me as well as he did, so I agreed to be with him. He had pursued me for three years, and once I agreed, he quickly took me to get our marriage license, afraid I would change my mind.”

Yao Jia thought that if this were a fairy tale, this would be the end, where the princess or Cinderella lives happily ever after with her prince. But life is never a fairy tale.

“After we got our marriage license, I interviewed at Kunyu Electric, hiding my marital status, and got hired,” Hao Lidan continued.

“I originally thought that since he worked so hard to win me over, he would treat me well forever. But Yao Jia, do you know? A man’s affection is just a whim, a desire for novelty, a need to conquer. Once he has you, he won’t cherish you. But we women are different. It’s pitiful being a woman; either we don’t fall in love, or once we do, we fall hard and deep, unable to escape.” As she spoke, Hao Lidan began to wipe away her tears again.

Although Yao Jia had never been in a relationship and was a long-time single at twenty-two, she felt that Hao Lidan’s words… made some sense. Sometimes, the more you understand, the more cautious you become. Listening to Hao Lidan and seeing her sorrowful state, Yao Jia felt a bit scared of falling in love.

“Later, he quickly lost interest in me. Not long after our marriage, I discovered he was flirting with a female colleague at his company. She sat right across from his desk. I noticed some signs and, unable to believe it, confronted him. He got angry, accused me of being paranoid, and said I didn’t trust him. I was half-convinced, so I started looking for evidence. One day, while he was showering, I unlocked his phone and saw the chat history he hadn’t deleted. That woman talked about their ‘fleeting romance’! Can you believe it? ‘Fleeting romance’ is just a one-night stand! When I confronted him with the chat records, he slapped me in the face!” Hao Lidan let out a bitter laugh as she recounted this.

After finishing, she broke down into sobs, unable to speak.

Through her tears, she apologized to Yao Jia, “Yao Jia, I’m sorry for always giving you a hard time. Honestly, I couldn’t stand seeing you so close to male colleagues. It reminded me of my husband and his affair.”

Yao Jia: “…”

That was the reason? It was quite unexpected! But Xiao Tiantian and Meng Xingzhe were just her meal buddies. Xiao Tiantian was practically her best friend, and as for Meng Xingzhe… he was just someone who owed her money.

“Hao Lidan, listen to me,” Yao Jia said, wiping away her tears, “never go for handsome men. They’re all unreliable!”

Meng Xingzhe, who had been focused on watching the muted financial news on TV, slowly turned his head.

Hao Lidan wiped her tears and shot a fierce glance at Meng Xingzhe.

Then she confidently told Yao Jia, “Yes, there are no exceptions! Don’t be fooled by him standing up for you now. As soon as he turns around, he’ll be flirting with every single rich beauty in the company at Pizza Hut!”

Meng Xingzhe: “…?”

Meng Xingzhe frowned. The implication in Hao Lidan’s words was too obvious.

But he wasn’t taking those female colleagues out to flirt; he was trying to learn more about Kunyu Electric through them. However, he couldn’t say that out loud.

Yao Jia: “…”

Yao Jia wanted to tell Hao Lidan, “Don’t worry, I know exactly what kind of person Meng Xingzhe is. After all, the money he uses to treat those rich beauties at Pizza Hut is borrowed from me.”

But considering Meng Xingzhe was present, she decided to spare him some dignity.

Tian Huasheng couldn’t help but timidly say, “Even though I know who you’re talking about, Sister Hao, I don’t think he’s actually like that…”

But his soft voice seemed to go unheard, receiving no attention or response from Hao Lidan.

Hao Lidan continued to earnestly advise Yao Jia, “You have to trust me. Don’t fall for the sweet talk of handsome men, and don’t let yourself get emotionally involved with such people. No matter how much they say they love you or can’t live without you, it’s all nonsense! They’re just deceiving you! Every single one of these men is just waiting for the chance to climb the social ladder and get rich, hoping their wives will die so they can find someone new to help them rise even higher!”

Yao Jia listened, her heart pounding. She thought to herself that Hao Lidan, having experienced marriage, truly understood a lot. It seemed she could see right through people like Meng Xingzhe.

Beside them, Meng Xingzhe couldn’t stand her leading the conversation in such a direction any longer. He directly said, “Hao Lidan, just continue with your story. As for what kind of person someone else is, you don’t need to worry about it, okay?”

Tian Huasheng chimed in to support him, “Yes, yes, I think Brother Meng wouldn’t deceive anyone. He wouldn’t wish for his wife to die, at most he might hope to find someone new after a divorce.”

Meng Xingzhe was speechless. He wanted to tell Tian Huasheng to shut up and stop speaking on his behalf.

At this point, Yao Jia gave Meng Xingzhe a sidelong glance, rolling her eyes at him. That eye-roll was so genuine, it made Meng Xingzhe feel utterly exasperated. He wanted to clearly tell her, “Young Master Xing here either doesn’t get married, or if I do, I won’t divorce. Don’t listen to Tian Huasheng’s nonsense!”

But Hao Lidan, wiping her nose, continued with her story, “Later, I got pregnant, so I didn’t divorce him. He said he cut off contact with that woman for my sake, even quitting his job to make a clean break. But I later found out he quit because the woman’s husband came to his workplace and beat him up, making him too embarrassed to stay. So, he was unemployed at home and couldn’t find a new job for a while. This meant I couldn’t be without a job, or we wouldn’t be able to make ends meet. But being pregnant, my belly would soon show, and once it did, I couldn’t hide my marriage anymore. The company would fire me for falsifying personal information on my employment form. There had been cases of female employees in other departments getting fired for hidden marriages.”

Yao Jia listened, her mouth slightly open. She didn’t know if this rule was set by Yao Bingkun or the Human Resources Department. But regardless of who set it, as the Chairman, he couldn’t be unaware. She felt a mix of anger and sadness for her father allowing such a policy.

Isn’t this workplace gender discrimination? And he has two daughters of his own.

Her thoughts were pulled back by Hao Lidan.

Hao Lidan wiped away her tears, speaking with deep sorrow, “So, to keep the family going, Xia Luo made me go to the hospital to abort the child!”

Hao Lidan sobbed bitterly. Her tears, combined with the bruises on her face, made her look particularly pitiful.

Yao Jia asked, “Who?”

Hao Lidan replied with a thick nasal tone, “Xia Luo, as in ‘falling down’, that’s my scumbag husband.”

Yao Jia was exasperated. If there were a table in front of her, she would have flipped it.

Is this even a man? Not going out to find work, and to make his wife support the family, he takes her to abort their child???

Why do women still get married in this day and age? Not only do they have to support themselves, but also the man and the family. What’s the point?

“You really make me fear marriage!” She had once considered not having children, but now, thanks to Hao Lidan, she was almost against marriage entirely.

So the independence and singlehood of women are largely due to the abundance of lousy men in the world.

“You just killed a life like that?” It was too rash. Yao Jia couldn’t help but sigh.

“And you still stayed with him? Didn’t divorce?” Yao Jia sighed repeatedly as she asked.

Hao Lidan lowered her head, not daring to look at everyone’s expressions, nor did she want them to see hers.

She mumbled that she wanted some hot water.

There happened to be a kettle in the kitchen that had just boiled. Yao Jia got up, went to the kitchen, brought the kettle over, poured Hao Lidan a cup of hot water, and placed the kettle on the empty chair next to the sofa armrest.

Hao Lidan held the cup of hot water, speaking with a heavy nasal tone, “I still held some hope for him. I thought that after making such a big sacrifice for him, he would at least appreciate it and live well with me in the future…”

Yao Jia silently cursed her stupidity. Was it because she had never been in love? She truly didn’t understand why some women, once they fall into marriage and love, lose their self-respect and refuse to face reality, even when the other party treats them increasingly poorly. They continue with unrealistic expectations, making compromises and living in misery, which is simply degrading themselves.

“But things didn’t turn out the way you hoped, did they?”

Yao Jia was startled by the voice. It was Meng Xingzhe who had asked.

She turned to look at him. His face was expressionless, but his lack of expression conveyed that he had been listening all along.

Hao Lidan raised her head at the sound, nodded, and said, “Yes, later he became even worse. I really regretted not divorcing sooner! He eventually found a job, but not long after, he got involved with a female colleague who sat across from him! This woman even divorced her husband for him and then pressured him daily to divorce me!”

As Hao Lidan spoke, her expression turned hateful and fierce, “I didn’t want them to succeed. I didn’t want those two shameless people to live comfortably, so I refused to divorce! Do you know how shameless that woman was? She called me, saying if I didn’t divorce, we could all live together, she didn’t mind, and even asked if I preferred to be on top or bottom, offering to let me choose first! I’m sorry, Yao Jia, for using those words on you that day. I was just venting my anger on you, and I sincerely apologize now!”

Yao Jia clicked her tongue. The mistress Hao Lidan encountered was beyond her comprehension.

“Yesterday, this woman actually followed Xia Luo back to our house! Xia Luo forced me to agree to a divorce right in front of her, saying if I didn’t agree, he would tell the Human Resources Department at my workplace about our marriage and get me fired!”

“What a scumbag!” Yao Jia couldn’t help but exclaim.

“I refused. I told him that even if I lost my job, I wouldn’t let them have their way. Then Xia Luo rushed at me and hit me!” Hao Lidan’s tears fell again as she touched the wound at the corner of her mouth, overwhelmed with sorrow. “When I went to work today, that woman said she would come to my house again tonight. She even laughed and told me that I might be strangled in my sleep. I’m really scared, so I didn’t go home tonight.”

Yao Jia was almost speechless.

“Seriously, Hao Lidan, aren’t you usually quite capable? How can you let yourself be bullied like this at home? Use the same energy you use to deal with me to handle that mistress!”

Tian Huasheng shouted indignantly, “Exactly! Sister Hao, you’re too timid at home!”

Meng Xingzhe intervened rationally, “Let’s not make a fuss.” He asked Hao Lidan, “You were beaten like this yesterday, why didn’t you call the police?”

Hao Lidan wiped her tears and said, “I couldn’t bring myself to do it.”

Yao Jia was at a loss. Why is it that the victim of domestic violence feels ashamed? Shouldn’t it be the abusive husband who feels too embarrassed to face people?

“Hao Lidan, let me count the sins of your husband Xia Luo: domestic violence, infidelity, forcing you to have an abortion so he can freeload, threatening and intimidating you with his mistress… Why aren’t you divorcing him immediately?”

She was truly exasperated. In movies, it’s “Charlotte’s Troubles,” but in real life, it’s Xia Luo being particularly despicable.

Hao Lidan said, “Actually, after he hit me yesterday, I agreed to the divorce. It’s just…” She paused, taking a moment to calm down before continuing, “It’s just that he told me yesterday he has debts. He showed me an IOU, saying he owes money to a fellow villager, and that it’s a marital debt. He informed me that after the divorce, I would have to pay half of it!”

Yao Jia couldn’t hold back any longer and slammed her hand on the nearby chair, “Bastard!”

The chair wobbled under her slap, and a loose leg gave way. The kettle on the chair tipped over, sliding down the seat like a slide, heading straight for Yao Jia’s leg. The kettle was still half-full of freshly boiled water.

Yao Jia didn’t react in time, staring blankly as the kettle slid towards her. Tian Huasheng realized the danger, but he was sitting on the other side of the sofa and had to navigate around Hao Lidan and the coffee table to reach her. He could only shout urgently, “Jia, get out of the way!”

In the midst of his shouting, Yao Jia felt a sudden tightness in her arm and a blur before her eyes, as if a gust of wind had swept by.

The next second, she found herself being pulled forcefully by Meng Xingzhe.

She was pulled into his embrace, sitting sideways on his lap.

— Translator’s Notes —

– Charlotte’s Troubles: A reference to the 2015 Chinese comedy film ‘夏洛特烦恼’ (Xiàluòtè Fánnǎo), directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo, starring Shen Teng as a man who time-travels to redo his life, highlighting regrets in career and marriage; the title puns on the husband’s name ‘Xia Luo.’