Volume One, Chapter Three: Does She Love Me?

At the beginning, when she gave up chess and returned to family life, Jiang Li was not willing.

But Shen Yechu said that the company was still in a period of rapid growth. If Jiang Li won, that would be one thing, but if she lost, the outside world would surely tie the loss to the company, and unfavorable talk about it would be unavoidable.

Yet Jiang Li still wanted to play chess.

Xie Ya’s words struck like a heavy blow: marriage had gone, love had gone, but her life could not be gone too.

The next day, Jiang Li went to visit her teacher, Cui Tao, a grandmaster of the national game, ranked ninth dan.

The moment Cui Tao saw her, his eyes turned red.

Before Jiang Li could even speak, he patted her shoulder and said, choked with emotion, “Good, good. Teacher knows what you’re thinking.”

It turned out that when Jiang Li announced her withdrawal, Cui Tao had withstood all the pressure from above and kept her position in the National Game Association.

Now, even though Jiang Li’s leave had ended.

Looking at her teacher, whose hair had gone completely white, she knew that her decision back then must have cost him a great deal of effort. Unable to bear it, she dropped to her knees.

“What are you doing, child!” Cui Tao hurriedly helped her up.

Jiang Li stubbornly bowed three times. “I was willful, Teacher. I owe you an apology for what happened before. I promise that from now on, I will make a proper name for myself and never bring shame to you!”

“Good!” Cui Tao pulled her up. “Tomorrow, come to the Go institute and spar with your senior brothers and junior brothers.”

Jiang Li nodded. Cui Tao then added, “Let me tell you this: next month there’s a small competition in the neighboring province. If your form comes back quickly, I can let you take part.”

At those words, Jiang Li was both excited and nervous. She gave Cui Tao a playful wink. “Yes, sir!”

Leaving her teacher’s house, Jiang Li felt lighter than she had in a very long time.

She sent Xie Ya a reply: [I’ll go to the reunion.]

This time, Jiang Li seemed to have returned to the person she had been before marriage. She would go and see what kind of fabricated stories they could invent to smear her.

As for Lu Jinye... perhaps she would apologize to him then.

The next morning, Jiang Li wore a set of Xie Ya’s sportswear. There was no helping it; all her own clothes were still at Shen Yechu’s apartment.

Suppressing her excitement, she rushed toward the Go institute building. Everything was still as it had been three years ago, and her fellow disciples welcomed her back with joy.

Time always passed especially fast when playing Go. Jiang Li felt as if she had returned to the days of endless practice at the dojo.

Recently, her form had rebounded quickly, and her sense of the game was strangely excellent.

Even her teacher said there would be no problem with next month’s competition.

Late at night, after returning to Xie Ya’s home, Xie Ya handed her a contract.

“Here. The little apartment you said you liked last time has been rented.”

For this period of time, Jiang Li had been busy practicing Go, and Xie Ya had gone to look at all the houses for her and taken photos. Even the contract had been handled by Xie Ya.

“Ya, thank you so much. These past few days I really have been...”

“Stop right there!” Xie Ya pushed away Jiang Li, who had thrown her arms around her. “Don’t even think about moving me, you iron-blooded woman.”

The two of them played around for quite a while before Xie Ya asked with a grin, “When are you planning to move? I’ll help you carry your things.”

Jiang Li thought about it. “Tomorrow, I’ll ask for leave from the Go institute.”

“Fine. Then do you want to ask over there too? In case you run into them...”

“...All right.”

Jiang Li did not want to run into Shen Yechu either, especially if Bai Nannan was there too.

[I’ll come at ten tomorrow to pack my things.]

After a moment, Shen Yechu replied: [All right.]

Xie Ya was not the only one helping Jiang Li move; she even enlisted her husband, Chen Junyu, who had only returned from a business trip at dawn.

“What if they start fighting? Are you really going to let two fragile women go up against Shen Yechu?”

That was how she put it to Chen Junyu, though Chen Junyu felt that even two Shen Yechus probably would not be a match for his wife.

Chen Junyu drove himself, and his understated BMW was parked beneath the apartment building.

Jiang Li had thought that since she had told Shen Yechu in advance, he would certainly avoid her. She had not expected that he would not only fail to avoid her, but even wait for her arrival together with Bai Nannan.

Xie Ya stepped in front of Jiang Li in a single stride. “Shen Yechu! What do you mean by this?”

Behind his frameless glasses, Shen Yechu’s dark eyes fixed on Jiang Li.

“You’re so eager to announce the divorce?”

“What?” Jiang Li was baffled.

“See for yourself.”

A newspaper was thrown down in front of her, its bold headline glaring up at her:

Shen Yechu and Jiang Li: High-Profile Marriage versus Low-Key Divorce

Beneath it was a photo of the two of them walking out of the civil affairs office with their heads bowed.

Jiang Li suddenly found it ridiculous. When they had married, they had also made the front page. Back then Shen Yechu had said, “Xiao Li, I’ll work hard and keep improving. I won’t let your sacrifice go to waste.”

But now...

“What are you laughing at?” Shen Yechu cut off her recollection. “You were the one who leaked this, weren’t you?”

He used a statement, because from the very beginning, he had been certain it was her doing.

“And if it was?” Jiang Li looked at him quietly. By now another woman sat beside him, while she stood on the opposite side from him.

“Jiang Li, do you know how much impact it will have on the company if this news gets out early?”

“Shen Yechu, we’re already divorced. That’s your company, and it has nothing to do with me.” Jiang Li’s answer was calmer than even she had expected.

“Miss Jiang,” Bai Nannan said sweetly, “Brother Yechu’s company was built up after you got married. You know how hard he’s worked. Even if you’re going to divorce, you should be more considerate of him, shouldn’t you?”

Jiang Li gave her a faint glance. “First, it’s none of your business. You want to rise in the world, but we’re not divorced yet. Second, built up after marriage? Does that mean I can still get a share of the money?”

Bai Nannan immediately fell silent. She certainly did not want Jiang Li dividing up Shen Yechu’s money; all of that would be hers in the future.

Shen Yechu patted Bai Nannan’s hand and smiled gently, telling her not to worry. Jiang Li felt a sharp pain in her chest at the sight.

So he could be tender. So his heart was not made of stone. Only the person to whom he opened it was someone else.

“Xiao Li,” Shen Yechu said, his tone softening, “I can personally take out five million to compensate you. The house can also be left to you. But you need to post on social media saying that we separated amicably, and that you also received financial compensation in the divorce.”

Jiang Li had not yet spoken when Xie Ya exploded.

“Shen Yechu, did your brains get flushed down the drain when you were washing your hair? What kind of bullshit are you spouting? I really want to—mmph! Mmph!”

Chen Junyu covered her mouth and pulled her back to his side. “Don’t make a scene. This is between the two of them. Xiao Li hasn’t even spoken yet. It’s not our turn to play our part.”

Xie Ya rolled her eyes and temporarily held her tongue.

Jiang Li’s sadness, already disordered by Xie Ya, suddenly turned into a feeling that Shen Yechu was somewhat laughable.

She smiled as she looked at the two people on the sofa, still holding hands. “Xie Ya was right just now. You really don’t have a brain.”

“Jiang Li!”

“Shen Yechu, five million is a lot, and the house is indeed very big. But the money that has passed through your hands makes me nauseous.”

Shen Yechu shot up from the sofa and glared at Jiang Li, veins bulging at his temple.

Chen Junyu still had some sense. He immediately stepped forward and stood between the two women, his tone carrying a warning. “President Shen, if you start hitting people in anger, tomorrow’s headline probably won’t be some minor ripple like a divorce.”

Chen Junyu was not afraid of him. After all, the Shen family’s business might rank among the best in the capital, but the Chen family dealt in exports from the capital to overseas markets.

In truth, Shen Yechu had no intention of hurting anyone. He simply could not bear hearing such words come out of Jiang Li’s mouth.

The Jiang Li in his memory was lively, cheerful, gentle, home-loving, courteous, and refined. Why... had she become like this?

And it had only been a little over a week, yet he could clearly feel that Jiang Li had already moved beyond the state she had been in on the day of the divorce.

“Xiao Li, come on. I’ll go up with you to get your things!” Xie Ya grabbed Jiang Li and strode past Shen Yechu.

Shen Yechu looked at Chen Junyu. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said to Bai Nannan, “Nannan, get Young Master Chen a cup of coffee.”

Bai Nannan looked at the two men for a long while before finally getting up and heading into the kitchen.

“President Shen, have you really thought it through?”

Shen Yechu looked toward the stairway, his expression dark and unreadable.

“I’m not meddling, but I’m worried you’ve been too busy to notice. Xiao Li, at least until today, loved you.”

The last few words Chen Junyu spoke were colder than the weather outside, which seemed close to snow, and each one pierced straight into Shen Yechu’s heart.

Jiang Li loved him? She...

Shen Yechu suddenly remembered how, every time he came home from working overtime, there was always a glass of honey water resting on the coaster, sweetened just right, because she worried he drank too much at social dinners.

Every morning when he got up, she always had a rich breakfast prepared with a smile.

At the front desk of the company, there would occasionally be afternoon tea she had brought by, all of it his favorite food.

...

Had she really done so many things?