Chapter 109: As If a Lifetime Has Passed

It was a sun-dappled afternoon. The plane trees lining the street were lush and green, their canopies like umbrellas.

On his way back to the company, Chen Feng picked up a file folder. He opened it and glanced inside; it contained some official documents stamped with a public seal. He didn’t look closely and put it away.

This kind of thing was worthless to others, but to the person and the organization that had lost it, it was clearly quite important.

So, Chen Feng decided to be a good person for once. He stood on the spot and waited.

About ten minutes later, a woman with a pretty face and the air of a college student came looking for it, riding a small electric scooter in a hurry.

This woman was Shen Lin. She had just passed the exam and joined her work unit two months prior. Today, her superior had asked her to retrieve some files from a sister unit. She had gone to get them on her scooter and placed them in the rear storage box.

On the way back, the file had miraculously fallen out of the box and disappeared.

So she rushed back along the path she had come, and saw Chen Feng standing by the roadside, holding the file folder, waiting for the owner.

That’s how the two of them met. Shen Lin thanked him profusely.

One could imagine that if she had lost that file, she would have certainly been disciplined, and might have even lost her job.

Chen Feng’s first impression of such a beautiful girl was also very good.

They didn’t talk much during their first meeting; both had to get to work.

But at Shen Lin’s insistence, they exchanged contact information.

That evening, Shen Lin took the initiative to invite Chen Feng out for dinner as a thank you. This was their first date. They talked happily and quickly developed a mutual affection.

One thing led to another, and the two naturally got together.

After dating for two years, Shen Lin insisted on marrying him despite her family’s opposition.

Their wedding was held in Chen Feng’s hometown and wasn’t particularly grand.

None of her relatives attended. She only invited two of her best friends from college to be her bridesmaids. No other relatives or friends were invited.

One reason was the distance; the other, of course, was that Chen Feng’s hometown was in a somewhat remote, rural area. Inviting all her friends and relatives to the wedding was unrealistic and would have made her lose face.

Shen Lin was from Xiuzhou, and although not from the city proper, she was from the county seat of a county under Xiuzhou’s jurisdiction.

Marrying a poor boy like Chen Feng back then was definitely marrying down. Coupled with her parents’ and family’s opposition to the marriage, she decided not to invite any guests from her side.

Therefore, many of Shen Lin’s relatives and friends didn’t even know she was married, while on Chen Feng’s side, everyone knew he was married.

It wasn’t easy for the two of them, who had fallen in love freely, to finally get married.

From the very beginning, Chen Feng had adored her. Not only was she beautiful, but her personality wasn’t overbearing; at most, she was gentle with an inner strength. Furthermore, her job was excellent, a secure “iron rice bowl.”

Therefore, Chen Feng took this relationship very seriously. Especially after she insisted on marrying him against her family’s wishes, Chen Feng was even more grateful and once secretly vowed in his heart that he would make something of himself in the future and make her proud in front of her family.

Unfortunately, fate played a cruel joke on him.

After they were married, Chen Feng’s career plummeted. He was beaten down by a group of petty people at his company to the point of doubting his life, becoming dejected and sinking into despair.

Conversely, Shen Lin’s career was flourishing. Less than a year after their marriage, she was promoted to deputy section chief.

Comparing the two, Chen Feng, the husband, was a complete failure.

At first, the two could still communicate well, but at some point, the time they spent talking and communicating with each other grew less and less. They both intentionally or unintentionally avoided each other.

Neither of them said it out loud, but they both knew there was a problem with their relationship.

They were both dragging it out, both waiting for the other to take the initiative to speak first.

This dragged on until Chen Feng was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

If it weren’t for this terminal illness, Chen Feng would absolutely not have agreed to a divorce.

Generally speaking, in today’s society, as long as one’s wife isn’t too unreasonable or excessive, men will basically not take the initiative to propose a divorce.

Even if the man has several mistresses outside, he will rarely take the initiative to divorce his original wife.

Don’t you see that many of our male compatriots, even after their wives have put several “green hats” on them, still choose to compromise, not to divorce, and to forgive?

Whether for the sake of the children or for love.

In short, in today’s society, men live much more憋屈 (aggrieved/repressed) than women.

It can be said that in many divorces now, the majority are initiated by the wife. It is the wife who insists on divorcing, making all sorts of trouble, and the man agrees only because he has no other choice.

In Chen Feng’s case, before his diagnosis, as a man, he certainly had no intention of actively divorcing Shen Lin.

On the contrary, he had long made up his mind that even if Shen Lin wanted a divorce, he would resolutely refuse.

But the terminal illness diagnosis shattered his resolve, and he eventually took the initiative to propose a divorce.

In a word, after being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Chen Feng had a sudden attack of conscience. He felt he owed Shen Lin too much, didn’t want to be a burden to her, and didn’t want to hold her back.

But who knew that right after divorcing her, he would be possessed by the “Emperor’s Luck,” with good fortune coming one after another, to the point where his net worth was now in the tens of millions.

He had bought the Red Villa Bay villa they had always dreamed of, and even had a storefront that could support three generations.

Chen Feng’s current life was what the two of them had once fantasized about and longed for.

The irony was that after their divorce, Chen Feng had achieved all this, but the woman by his side was not Shen Lin.

First, it was Sun Xiaorui, then Xiao Ya, and now his nominal official girlfriend, Wu Mengting.

Now, the two people who had once sworn eternal love met here by chance.

Even though they had been separated for less than two months, it felt as if a lifetime had passed.

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Shen Lin was with her colleagues from work. Including her, there were four people, two men and two women.

Among them, Tang Yue and Kong Tianlu, who she was relatively close with, were a couple. They were twenty-five or twenty-six years old, both locals from Xiuzhou. They were high school classmates, went to the same university for the same major, and after graduation, they also passed the exam to work in the same unit.

Of course, this might have something to do with the fact that Kong Tianlu’s uncle was the director of the unit.

The two got married last year, and the woman’s dowry was a 120-square-meter marital home. Now, the two were actively trying for a baby, the envy of others.

The other man, Yuan Dawei, was thirty-one years old, a section chief at the unit. He had been divorced for two years and had a daughter who was being raised by his ex-wife, but he often had her over.

Two years ago, after Yuan Dawei’s divorce, he had secretly and tactfully expressed his interest in Shen Lin several times. Out of respect for his leadership position, Shen Lin could only tactfully refuse.

Back then, Shen Lin was a married woman, so Yuan Dawei couldn’t pursue her openly. He could only do it secretly, trying to undermine her marriage.

But ever since he heard the news of Shen Lin’s divorce from Tang Yue and her husband a month ago, he had launched a continuous and fierce pursuit of her.

He would ask about her well-being every day, showing great care and concern.

And he would invite her on a date every day.
Shen Lin had refused him countless times, growing weary of it. At first, she was tactful, but later, when she got annoyed, she refused very directly.

So, Yuan Dawei adopted a roundabout strategy, roping in Tang Yue and her husband.

Tang Yue was Shen Lin’s best colleague at work, practically her best friend. Moreover, her husband’s uncle was a high-level leader in the unit.

Although Shen Lin was somewhat reluctant, she was still dragged out by Tang Yue, and the four of them had gone on a few dates together.

Today was the same. Tang Yue had asked her to go shopping at the mall. After refusing several times to no avail, she had to go.

As it turned out, when they met, Yuan Dawei had come along as well.

Shen Lin was a little annoyed by this, but more so, she felt helpless.

The work at their unit was very good—an iron rice bowl, secure regardless of the economy, with great benefits—but the interpersonal relationships were somewhat complicated.

It was a good thing she was already a deputy section chief; otherwise, she would have to be even more cautious at work.

She absentmindedly followed the three of them into Delong Mall, her eyes wandering around, and then she saw her ex-husband, Chen Feng, and Wu Mengting, who was holding his arm with a sweet expression.

They were coming out of a jewelry store. The woman had a faintly sparkling necklace around her neck. After all, it was inlaid with small diamonds, and worn over her clothes, it was very conspicuous under the lights.

At that moment, Shen Lin was suddenly reminded of the time Chen Feng bought her a necklace.

It was at the Century Mall, not far from here. That day, Chen Feng had just received his salary and excitedly pulled her to pick out a necklace. It was a birthday gift he had promised her long ago.

The two of them had spent a long time choosing. In the end, Shen Lin, being considerate, chose a gold necklace that cost just over two thousand yuan. In fact, she had her eye on a platinum necklace that cost over eight thousand.

However, when Chen Feng personally put that gold necklace around her neck, she still smiled very happily. She had also held his arm with great sweetness and bliss as they walked out of the jewelry store, talking and laughing.

And now, Chen Feng was still that Chen Feng, but the woman holding his arm so intimately was not her.

Heh, scumbag!
No wonder he divorced so decisively! No wonder it was useless even when I tried to make him stay!
Shen Lin’s sharp gaze fixed on Chen Feng, then shifted to Wu Mengting, and she couldn’t help but make a comparison in her mind.

Shorter than me, chest not as big as mine, figure not as good as mine, hair not as long as mine, skin… is okay, looks… barely on par with me, age…

Beast! Robbing the cradle!
Shen Lin’s gaze, sharp as a knife, once again fixed on Chen Feng.

The moment Chen Feng saw her, his body couldn’t help but stiffen, and his feet almost tripped.

Then, he suddenly felt like he had been caught cheating in bed, his heart pounding with panic.

When he subconsciously wanted to push away Wu Mengting who was beside him, he suddenly realized that he had already divorced Shen Lin. They had nothing to do with each other anymore.

So… what was he panicking about!?

Thus, Chen Feng bravely met her gaze, trying his best to remain calm.

After all, they had been together for four or five years. Chen Feng could feel the anger in Shen Lin’s eyes at this moment.

So, it was better to have less trouble than more. He decisively averted his eyes, looking at the ground.

Let’s just treat each other as strangers, as if we don’t know each other.

Just as they were about to brush past each other in a few seconds.

“Hey, what a coincidence! Chen Feng! Fancy meeting you here. How have you been lately?”

The one who called out was Kong Tianlu.

Because of Shen Lin and Tang Yue’s relationship, the two couples had gone out for dinner together a few times before, so of course, they all knew each other.

Moreover, Kong Tianlu and Chen Feng had gotten along well, and he had a deep impression of Chen Feng. They had even added each other on WeChat.

Previously, after learning that Chen Feng and Shen Lin had divorced, Kong Tianlu had even messaged him on WeChat to ask him out for a drink, but Chen Feng hadn’t replied and had even deleted him.

One could imagine how Kong Tianlu felt at that time, when he found that his well-intentioned contact with Chen Feng had resulted in being deleted as a WeChat friend.

This time, when they met, Kong Tianlu had also thought about pretending not to see him, or pretending they didn’t know each other. But when he saw the beauty of Wu Mengting holding Chen Feng’s arm so intimately, he admitted he was jealous.

This was the kind of jealousy that any normal man would have; it was very normal.

Moreover, Chen Feng had previously had a great beauty like Shen Lin as his wife, and now, right after the divorce, he had a younger, more beautiful woman by his side.

Just thinking about it made him feel that Chen Feng was going too far. We’re both men, why do you have such good luck with women?
At the same time, Kong Tianlu also felt a little indignant for Shen Lin.

Shen Lin had been single since the divorce, and she had even given the cold shoulder to a “diamond bachelor” like Yuan Dawei who was pursuing her.

And now, Chen Feng had already found a new love.

So, in the end, Kong Tianlu couldn’t hold it in and directly called out to Chen Feng.

“What’s the matter? Didn’t you see he already has a new companion?” Tang Yue followed up with a cold face, speaking up for Shen Lin. “Men are really all no good.”

Kong Tianlu pretended to be innocent and said, “Yueyue, you’re painting everyone with the same brush. I’m being wronged here.”

Yuan Dawei glanced at Shen Lin, who was still staring intently at Chen Feng, coughed with a bit of embarrassment, and asked, “You know each other? This is…”

“He is Sister Shen’s ex-husband,” Kong Tianlu introduced with a smile, and then introduced the stern-faced Chen Feng, “This is Section Chief Yuan from our unit. He’s pursuing Sister Shen right now.”

Yuan Dawei thought to himself, So that’s it. Just as he was about to step forward and shake hands with Chen Feng with feigned magnanimity, Shen Lin suddenly took a few steps forward and stood in front of Chen Feng, less than a meter apart.

Chen Feng subconsciously wanted to take a step back, but because his arm was being held tightly by Wu Mengting, he didn’t succeed.

“I need an explanation!”

Shen Lin’s gaze was icy, and she spat out these words one by one.

Chen Feng, feeling somewhat guilty, avoided her gaze. Just as he was about to explain, he heard Wu Mengting, who was beside him, suddenly step forward to block him, extending her hand towards Shen Lin with a smile.

“Hello, my name is Wu Mengting. I’m Chen Feng’s girlfriend. Are you his ex-wife?”

Shen Lin didn’t shake her hand. She just stared at her and said with a mocking tone, “You don’t look stupid. How did you end up being his girlfriend? What do you see in him? He has no money, no house. Are you after his fat?”

Hearing this, Wu Mengting’s eyes narrowed slightly. She withdrew her outstretched hand, but her face still wore a very friendly smile. Her tone was light as she said, “Whatever you were after in him before, that’s what I’m after.”

Shen Lin’s anger suddenly surged, and her right hand unconsciously rose.

Wu Mengting acted as if she didn’t see it, still smiling in response.

Chen Feng knew Shen Lin’s temper. Although she was gentle most of the time, if she got angry, she could get physical.

He immediately reached out and pulled Wu Mengting behind him, facing Shen Lin with a calm expression. “If you want an explanation, I’ll give you one. Let’s sit down, the three of us, and talk calmly.”

After saying that, Chen Feng pulled Wu Mengting and walked towards the main entrance.