“What plans do you have for your future?” Li Mu asked.

Du Xinzhu’s gaze turned a little empty as she said with a smile, “What other plans could I possibly have? I guess I’ll just see how it goes.”

“It’s not like you’re seventy or eighty years old. You’re still young. If you decide to just go with the flow at this age, do you plan to live like this for the rest of your life?”

Du Xinzhu’s reply made Li Mu scoff in disdain. Her attitude towards marriage was so negative. Could it possibly be because Fang Qiang still had a special spot in her heart?

“Do you still love him?”

“Brother Mu, things are over between me and him. You don’t know how disgusting he is. There was a time when I found him in the bathroom. Well, you know what. He was doing something disgusting while looking at Lin Wan’s picture. That’s when I knew that we were never going back.”

“Lin Wan’s picture? What picture?”

“It was a picture of her in a bikini. When we used to go swimming together, he took photos of Lin Wan without anyone noticing. There were a lot of pictures like these on his phone. I deleted them secretly once, but he went crazy mad and beat me up so bad when he found out what I did! After that, he retrieved the deleted pictures. I’m guessing that he has a backup for these pictures!”

“D*mn it!” Li Mu couldn’t help but curse and punch hard at the wall.

“Brother Mu, we are never getting back together. If he has the audacity to treat his childhood friend like this, I don’t expect him to treat me any better.”

“Are you really going to put up with this?” Li Mu asked worriedly.

Du Xinzhu smiled bitterly, “I dated him since I was in college and married him without a doubt after graduation despite my family’s objections. I even quit my job for him to focus on being a full-time housewife.”

“I used to think that he’s a man I could trust for life. Who knows that he’s such a b*st*rd? He even, he even forced me to exchange myself!” Du Xinzhu covered her face and sobbed profusely before she could even finish her sentence.

“What the f**k. He’s such a d*mn b*st*rd!” Li Mu cursed fiercely. He was so angry that veins were seen visibly on his forehead.

“Li Mu!” He Xiaoyu came to his side at some point and grabbed hold of his hand, gesturing for him to calm down.

Li Mu took a deep breath to calm himself down as quickly as possible.

“Du Xinzhu, people always advise couples to stay together than to break up when it comes to relationship matters, but I’d advise you to leave him as soon as possible. You’ll never be happy with that b*st*rd. Don’t waste your life by putting up with him for the rest of your life and plan things for yourself as soon as possible.”

Du Xinzhu wiped her tears and said with hatred, “I’ll be honest with you. I’ve always wanted to leave him, but I can’t leave just like that! If I do so, it’s as if I were pouring all my youth, dedication, and innocence into the sea! I won’t let him get away with this!”

“What’s your plan?”

“I want money, lots of money. The more the better! That’s all that matters between me and him anyway. As soon as I get enough money I’ll leave him and get this piece of garbage out of my world for good!”

Li Mu shook his head and persuaded out of kindness, “Du Xinzhu, I have befriended him for more than twenty years and I know him well. Ruthlessness is pretty much engraved on his bones. You’ll never win this fight. In fact, it might even be dangerous for you if you insist to stay with him.”

“I don’t want to spend my life like this either, but I have no choice. I’m unemployed and have been a housewife for too long. If I don’t find a way to get myself some money, I won’t be able to even support myself after the divorce.”

“Xinzhu, how about working in my company? You can try to adjust yourself to the new norms of society, and don’t worry about your working skills as those can be developed eventually. As long as you have the passion, I guarantee you’ll be happy and in good hands.”

“Your company?” Confused, Du Xinzhu asked.

Li Mu smiled and said, “Let me introduce you to He Xiaoyu, the precious daughter of President He from Dongyang Group. I suggest you give it some serious consideration since she has already extended an offer to you.”

Du Xinzhu finally understood the whole situation and glanced at them with deep thoughts.

Li Mu continued, “But we can’t just let him go that easily. Du Xinzhu is right. We should get as much money as we can from him so she doesn’t need to worry about her future. He Xiaoyu, do you have any skillful lawyers that you can recommend to us? I want to help Xinzhu with the divorce lawsuit.”

“I sure do!” He Xiaoyu replied without any hesitation, “Xinzhu, if you want to file a divorce lawsuit, you can come to me anytime. I’ll ask the most famous divorce lawyer in Shanyang City to help you win this lawsuit. Don’t worry about the fees as I’ll pay for them. I’m sure you’ll walk away happy.”

Du Xinzhu nodded profusely and said in excitement, “That’s awesome, thank you so much, Xiaoyu. I’ll go back with the two of you tomorrow. Can you help me make an appointment with the lawyer?”

He Xiaoyu giggled. “No problem. I’ll contact him for you this instance. By the way, do you have any evidence of him abusing you or forcing you to do shameful things you didn’t want to? You’ll have a bigger advantage in the lawsuit if you can provide such evidence.”

“Yes, I’ve kept a lot of evidence and it’s all locked up in the bank’s safe. I’m not too sure if that evidence is considered useful or not though.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll let the lawyer judge tomorrow. Xinzhu, you’d better think twice, as there’s no turning back. Are you sure you want to leave him?” He Xiaoyu asked.

Du Xinzhu nodded without hesitation and said, “He Xiaoyu, I want to leave him all the time. Don’t worry. I won’t regret it.”

“Alright then!” He Xiaoyu contacted a lawyer in front of Du Xinzhu. After giving a heads up to the lawyer, she handed the phone to Du Xinzhu, “Lawyer Zhaoyang is best at divorce lawsuits. He wants to have a brief chat with you. Don’t worry. You can be frank with him.”

Du Xinzhu thanked her and took over the phone to talk to the lawyer.

Li Mu didn’t want to eavesdrop as it involved her privacy, so he dragged He Xiaoyu to the other end of the corridor.

“Why would you have the contact of a divorce lawyer? Seems like your social circle is pretty big,” Li Mu said casually.

He Xiaoyu snickered and responded wistfully, “Li Mu, I prepared this for you actually. Who’d know she’ll use it first.”

“Sh*t, why would you wish the worst for me? Keep it for yourself instead. I don’t need it!”

He Xiaoyu smiled cheekily, “It’s better to have it with me first, so I can use it when I need it. Who knows. You might need it at some point. Li Mu, don’t let my efforts go to waste.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll never need it. I will love Lin Wan for the rest of my life, and we’ll grow old together, so it’s best for you to give up now.” Li Mu replied without any hesitation.

He Xiaoyu didn’t bother about what he said. She just smiled and kept quiet.

Du Xinzhu was on the phone for a long time before walking over with a smile on her face.

Li Mu couldn’t help but ask, “How did it go? What did the lawyer say?”

“He wants to have a look at the evidence first, but he told me that for now, I’m extremely at advantage and would get at least half of his assets.” Du Xinzhu said happily.

“Perfect! Serves him right for being a b*st*rd. Let this serve as a lesson to him. Let him know that well-behaved people would strike back twice as hard when they’re bullied.”

Li Mu felt relieved. Since he could not revenge him physically, having him suffer a significant loss financially. This would act as an extra strike on Fang Qiang especially after he had been rejected by Lin Wan.

After some time, the sound of a car engine could be heard, which was followed by a knock on the front door. The three of them headed downstairs together and realized that it was Lin Wan and Mrs. Hong who had returned.

Ms. Hong carried a large round package that was wrapped in three layers of plastic bags. No one had any idea what was inside.

When Du Xinzhu opened the door, Lin Wan was surprised and asked, “Xinzhu, why are you here too?”

“I was scared, so I’m hiding here with Brother Mu and Xiaoyu.”

Lin Wan smiled and didn’t say anything.

Li Mu who was standing aside asked, “Did you catch him?”

Lin Wan shook her head and said with a hint of regret, “We were very close, but his car fell into the mountain stream. Even if he did not die, I reckon he won’t pose a threat to us anymore.”

“What is Mrs. Hong holding? It’s so round. Is it a watermelon?” Li Mu asked curiously.

Mrs. Hong couldn’t hold back her chuckle and shoved the plastic bag into Li Mu’s arms, “Yes, it’s a watermelon. Go cut it up so we can all have some watermelon!”

Lin Wan hurriedly stopped him from doing so, “Mrs. Hong, stop teasing him!”

She then explained to Li Mu, “It’s a helmet that has the name of the club on it. Mrs. Hong wants to ask someone to identify it when she gets back to see if we could finally track down that lunatic!”

“Don’t just stand there. Come in!” Du Xinzhu made a way for them.

Lin Wan shook her head and said, “I’ve discussed with Mrs. Hong. We’d better go back now. This place is too unsafe. We’d better head back to the city just to be sure.”

The others had no problem with it, especially Li Mu who had long wanted to go back. This shitty place had both killers and backstabbers. He simply did not want to stay here any longer.

Hence the few of them packed their bags and returned to Shanyang overnight in two cars respectively. The journey back was smooth with no accidents nor unexpected events.

Li Mu secretly breathed a sigh of relief as his worries were finally gone.

After entering the city, Mrs. Hong drove off alone. Li Mu intended to drive He Xiaoyu and Du Xinzhu home, but when he asked the latter’s opinion, Du Xinzhu stammered and refused to give an answer.

He Xiaoyu smiled and said, “Li Mu, just head straight to my house. Xinzhu can stay with me in the meantime. It’s great to have company anyways!”

Du Xinzhu had no problem with this arrangement at all and immediately nodded her head.

After dropping them off, Li Mu drove back home while Lin Wan asked curiously, “What’s the matter with Du Xinzhu? Why doesn’t she want to go back to her own house?”

“She’s going to file a divorce lawsuit, and it was Xiaoyu who helped her find a lawyer. Xiaoyu is now considered her savior, so of course, she is willing to follow Xiaoyu.”

The news of Du Xinzhu wanting a divorce did not surprise Lin Wan. Any woman in her right mind would definitely not be able to live with her husband in peace once she knows that he has such a bad moral etiquette.

Well, of course, there would be people who’d put up with it, either for the money, for the sake of their children, for the fellowship, or even for love!

Never mind. Forget about that last reason. Let’s take it out. Nevertheless, there are all kinds of people in the world, so we shouldn’t over-generalize.

“Have you told her everything about what Fang Qiang did?” Lin Wan asked.

“You’re wrong. She was the one who told me all about Fang Qiang’s crap,” Li Mu corrected her immediately.

“There’s other crappy stuff he’s been up to? Honey, tell me about it,” Lin Wan was flooded with curiosity and immediately asked her husband.

“Don’t be such a busybody, okay? Although Du Xinzhu didn’t instruct me to do so, she certainly doesn’t want these to be spread around. It’s not something to be proud of anyways. Stop asking.”

“Come on. Tell me, please. I’m really curious.” Lin Wan continued to ask.

“Are you sure you want to know? You’re included in the story too, and it’s pretty disgusting!”

“Oh, there’s even something about me? Then you must tell me about it. Quick, tell me!”

Since his wife wanted to listen to what happened, he’ll tell her everything then. It’s also a good opportunity for her to see through that pervert Fang Qiang thoroughly so she would not accidentally fall into his trap again in the future.