The 99th Divorce

When Ye Qianqian saw the expression on Shen Zhilie’s face, she knew that the incident wasn’t as simple as it seemed anymore. However, Ye Qianqian didn’t dare to ask Shen Zhilie any more questions, and simply held him tighter when she heard his reply.

“Get some sleep.”

Ye Qianqian closed her eyes, but sleep refused to come. After a long while, Shen Zhilie suddenly spoke. “Can’t sleep?” he asked.

Ye Qianqian opened her eyes. Her surroundings were shrouded in darkness, but she knew without a doubt that Shen Zhilie’s face was right in front of hers. “Yeah,” she replied.

Ye Qianqian switched her posture and stretched her back. She said, “I’m just wondering… Am I supposed to hide away like this now? If the police aren’t able to catch that hoodlum, are we supposed to stay in hiding forever just because of him?”

“That’s not going to happen. It’s only a matter of time before he gets caught.”

“But what if he doesn’t? There are so many criminals nowadays guilty of drugs, burglary, and murder that don’t get caught.” The more Ye Qianqian talked about it, the more afraid she became. “Don’t be so confident just because you see on television the number of serial killers and criminals that are reportedly caught. In reality, if they weren’t caught, it wouldn’t have been reported publicly!”

Shen Zhilie had no reply to that. He reached out and tapped Ye Qianqian on her head and said, “What on earth is in that head of yours? Justice always prevails eventually. The law will catch up with that guy one day.”

“But what if it doesn’t? I want to be prepared for the worst. That way, if the worst does come to pass, I won’t be caught unawares. If I’m at least prepared for it, won’t it be less scary?”

Shen Zhilie was quiet again and replied after a while, “Why did I never realize that you’re actually a pessimist?”

“I simply believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!”

“Haven’t you heard the saying ‘the fear of ills exceeds the ills we fear’?”

Ye Qianqian was about to say something else, but Shen Zhilie pressed his finger to her lips and said, “All right. Let’s stop discussing this. Shall we go to sleep? We have to make preparations tomorrow to go back and give our testimony.”

“Why do we have to give a testimony? We’re not the ones who committed the crime!”

“It’s a necessary procedure. We also have to see what’s damaged or missing in the house.”

“Ugh…” Ye Qianqian was already exhausted, but when she heard Shen Zhilie’s words, she felt even more drained. She closed her eyes and said, “We’d better go to sleep.”

She had assumed that it would take a long time after closing her eyes before she would actually fall asleep. However, either because Shen Zhilie’s words had effectively reassured her, or because of some other unknown reason, Ye Qianqian’s mind went blank the moment she closed her eyes.

Her breathing gradually slowed into a steady rhythm, and Shen Zhilie heaved a sigh of relief. Regardless of what time she slept, he was grateful as long as she managed to fall asleep.

Shen Zhilie closed his eyes and held Ye Qianqian tightly in his arms as he drifted off to sleep too.

Shen Zhilie rarely dreamed, much less experienced nightmares. However, he experienced an extremely bizarre dream that night.

He was on a cliff, and the entire place was covered in a fog. The sounds of birds and eagles calling could be heard, and the indistinct sound of birds flapping their wings could be heard in the distance.

Shen Zhilie stood on high ground and looked around but found himself isolated. Wasn’t he supposed to be sleeping in the hotel with Ye Qianqian? What was he doing here?

Shen Zhilie began to panic. “Ye Qianqian, where are you?”

However, his words simply echoed around him before disappearing altogether. The calls of the eagles increased in volume, and Shen Zhilie’s sense of urgency intensified accordingly. Suddenly, an angry voice rang out, “Zhilie, you’d better get back here!”

It was his grandmother’s voice. Shen Zhilie turned around and his grandmother rushed over to him. However, the ground in front of him suddenly gave way, and the old lady fell straight down.

…