Chapter 2: What Did I Do to Deserve This?
Chapter 2: What Did I Do to Deserve This?
Anran stares blankly for a moment. In the dimly lit space behind the curtain, the glow from the phone screen reflects on her pale and exhausted face. She looks at her ex-husband's phone number, her slender, fair fingers hovering over the green call button. She hesitates for a moment but ultimately doesn’t press it. She is still debating whether or not to tell her ex-husband that she has given birth to their child.
Maybe she shouldn’t say anything. After all, they no longer have any relationship. To appear before him now would feel like contradicting herself. But the child is still her ex-husband’s, and he has a right to know. Plus, whose household will the child be registered under in the future?
Come to think of it, today marks the seventh month since she divorced her ex-husband. Ten months ago, after traveling all the way to the northwest, they slept together one last time. Then, she gathered the courage to ask for a divorce. At the time, her ex-husband reacted quite strongly, both shocked and furious. They had a huge argument, and in a fit of anger, he practically forced her into a military vehicle and drove her to the airport. He personally put her and a pile of Northwestern specialty goods on a plane back to Xiangcheng.
In the following days, Zhan Lian starts calling her more frequently. But every time she brings up divorce, he explodes on the spot. And Anran, being stubborn herself, makes up her mind—she doesn’t want to live in this muddled situation any longer.
So, every time Zhan Lian calls, or she calls him, all they talk about is divorce. Zhan Lian, just as stubborn as she is, seems to have it all: good looks, a decent salary, and enough money to send Anran regularly. She can’t understand why someone like him wouldn’t just divorce her and marry a young model or internet celebrity, or even keep multiple mistresses. Why is he hanging on to someone as ordinary and talentless as her?
What has she done to deserve this?
So Anran ends up entangled with her ex-husband for three more months, truly arguing from a distance the entire time, before finally getting the divorce. Right after that, she barely has two days to enjoy being single again when she discovers she is pregnant—three months along.
When she filed for divorce, she already said every harsh word imaginable: that she would rather walk away with nothing than stay in this marriage, that their personalities are incompatible, that they are doomed to never cross paths again, and that she would never come to him even if she hits rock bottom.
In fact, none of those were real reasons. No matter what she said, her ex-husband refused to agree to the divorce. Being a soldier, he wouldn’t accept it. A divorce initiated by Anran alone is not valid without his consent.
Eventually, Anran can’t hold it together anymore. In their final phone call, she breaks down in tears, telling him that all she wants is a home, a husband who will care for her, and a child to worry about. She wants a man who, when she has a high fever in the middle of the night, can carry her unconscious body to the hospital. Instead, she nearly dies alone at home without anyone knowing. She knows Zhan Lian is a great man—really, he is. Handsome, well-paid, but he can’t give her what she needs. He can’t!
Zhan Lian is silent on the other end of the line for a long, long time. In the end, he says nothing and hangs up the phone. And just like that, the three-month divorce battle comes to a sudden end. Two days later, the signed divorce papers are sent to her by express mail.