NOVPUB
Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Can’t Be Spoiled
Li Meiyu was not expecting Liu Haisheng to defend others instead of her. Her features contorted in anger as she glared at him, "Liu Haisheng, tell me, do you fancy that little siren, have you set your sights on her?"
"What are you babbling about?" Liu Haisheng was taken aback and quickly covered Li Meiyu’s mouth, rebuking, "Can you just make such wild accusations? Aren’t you grown enough to measure your words?"
It would be disastrous if Si Chen and his wife heard this. If the word spread, he wouldn’t even be able to carry on with life. He had always indulged Li Meiyu’s slightly rambunctious nature, but now she dared to speak her mind about such things.
Li Meiyu too realized she had potentially overstepped the line, but she couldn’t contain her rage and refused to back down. Persistently, she continued, "Who exactly is your wife? Who is your family? I am aggrieved, and instead of consoling me, you are siding with others to upset me further. Can we continue living like this? You treat me this way before we even have a child, what will happen when we do? I can’t live this life any more, I want a divorce."
The couple had been married for two or three years and every time they argued, Li Meiyu would threaten divorce. It had become her catchphrase. At first, Liu Haisheng would placate her by buying gold, silver, clothes, but now he had become numb. He found it highly annoying whenever she mentioned divorce. With their marriage reaching a plateau, he was busy with work and middle-aged; he had lost his patience with her daily tantrums.
Upon further thought, he decided to swallow his annoyance and spoke in a soft tone, "You are my wife, of course, I’m closer to you than to anyone else. I’m not siding with anyone else; Dr. Si is not someone we can afford to offend at this time."
"What do you mean?" Li Meiyu was taken aback, staring at Liu Haisheng and retorting, "What makes him so invincible? Has he sprouted horns or something?"
Her words carried a hint of sarcasm.
Discussing this matter was also a bit exasperating for Liu Haisheng. He sighed and said, "Professor Qu from Kyoto thinks very highly of Si Chen. When he leaves the day after tomorrow, he intends to take Si Chen along. A stint at the Kyoto University Hospital would essentially mean a Midas touch for Si Chen’s career, making him too high up for us to reach."
Liu Haisheng knew that with his abilities, there was no way he could impress Professor Qu. Having already been divorced once, he could only expect to remain an average department doctor for the rest of his life. He had never imagined that the person to claim the spotlight this time would be Si Chen, not Si Jun.
AFTER ALL, SI JUN IS CURRENTLY BEING CONSIDERED AS YU ZHENGGXIONG’S FUTURE SON-IN-LAW. By every criterion, it feels like Si Jun should have been the one to go. While it is true Si Chen is extraordinarily talented in the field of medicine, Si Jun has an equally good educational background as well. On the grounds of respect for the Dean, Professor Qu should have chosen Si Jun, not Si Chen.
"Are you deliberately trying to upset me?" Li Meiyu was already furious. More than anything, she wanted to trample Si Chen and his wife into the dirt. All she wanted to hear was bad news about them. On the other hand, Liu Haisheng not only didn’t mention any such news but had brought up the good ones.
Was he trying to piss her off on purpose?
Liu Haisheng sighed grimly, "I’m not trying to upset you, I just want to let you know that we should avoid stirring the pot with the Si Chen couple. Tong Yao also held her own in front of Professor Qu, he seems quite impressed with both of them. In my opinion, Si Chen won’t stay in our hospital for too many years. It’s better if we maintain our distance from them; avoiding trouble is better than inviting it."
Si Chen is certainly talented, and it turns out he’s pretty lucky as well. Looking at the current scenario, as long as Si Chen stays hardworking, he will likely be in Kyoto in a couple of years. And there was no need for them to offend Si Chen.
He was telling Li Meiyu all this to make her realize she shouldn’t keep getting into unnecessary tiffs with Tong Yao. Tong Yao had been living with them for almost two months now; it wasn’t a long time, but it wasn’t short either. He had noticed she doesn’t cause trouble unless provoked. There was no need to keep messing with Tong Yao for no reason, it didn’t benefit them in any way.
Li Meiyu understood what Liu Haisheng was implying; he was advising her to swallow her pride and stay quiet. She was furious; her lips trembled as she jabbed her finger on his forehead and shrieked, "You’re a coward. Any other man would defend his wife while you’re defending those who are offending your wife. Are you even a man?"
"Can’t you, as a teacher, speak a little more graciously?" Liu Haisheng’s ego was bruised, and he flushed crimson.
Li Meiyu glared at him furiously, "If I wasn’t a teacher, I would’ve ripped that vixen’s mouth into shreds by now."
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and she didn’t want to converse with Liu Haisheng anymore. She flopped onto the bed, wailing at the top of her voice while she continued to bemoan marrying Liu Haisheng.
Liu Haisheng couldn’t take it anymore and decided to ignore her. He took his bedding and laid it out in the living room. Lately, every time Li Meiyu returned home, she would cause a commotion, big or small, which led him to feel that he was better off when she wasn’t home.
He was middle-aged and didn’t have the energy to deal with Li Meiyu’s incessant agitation. Sometimes, he even missed the days when he was with his ex-wife.
He used to believe his former wife, due to her lack of education, was beneath him. However, his ex-wife took excellent care of his daily needs, managed all household affairs, handled social interactions and gifts with relatives, with the relatives praising her often. Most importantly, she never dared to fuss in front of him.
His ex-wife was also extremely frugal, leading to a relatively comfortable life and even minor savings. During their divorce, all the relatives advised him against it, but he didn’t listen. He stubbornly divorced in pursuit of happiness. During the divorce, except for a small part taken by his ex-wife, the rest of the savings were all spent by Li Meiyu and by the end of each month, they were borrowing money to get by.
Liu Haisheng couldn’t understand why their passionate love had deteriorated to such a state after involving day-to-day matters.
"It sounds like there’s crying next door. Li Meiyu couldn’t have cried in frustration, could she?" Hearing the commotion, Tong Yao hastily pressed her ear against the wall corner, trying to ascertain if it was indeed Li Meiyu who was crying.
Si Chen, who was about to pick his clothes to take a shower, paused and in a mild tone said, "Li Meiyu is very proud and hates it when people mention her marrying a divorcee."
Tong Yao squinted at him and said laughingly, "Knowing her weakness, you still poke at it till it hurts. You managed to upset a respectable teacher to the point of tears. I usually see you as a person of calm demeanor; I never expected you to be so cunning."
Si Chen replied seriously, "Normally, if they don’t say anything in my presence, it doesn’t matter. If someone insults another in front of me, I won’t let it slide."
"That reminds me of myself." Tong Yao said in her good-natured tone, "I’ll make some Pickles Dumplings for you tomorrow."
