Just in Time Chapter 100
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 100 Divorce
Yun Fang bent down to pick up the exam papers that had fallen on the floor. Yi Chenliang hugged him from behind, wrapping his long legs around him.
Yun Fang irritably slapped Yi Chenliang's thigh, saying, "I just took a shower."
Yi Chenliang rested his chin on Yun Fang's shoulder, tilting his head to kiss his neck. "Didn't you say you haven't showered yet?"
Yun Fang put the exam papers back on the coffee table. His neck tickled from Yi Chenliang's hair, and he laughed, "I thought you were more capable than that."
Yi Chenliang narrowed his eyes, lifted his head, and blew a breath into Yun Fang's ear. "I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of bed for school tomorrow."
Yun Fang slapped Yi Chenliang's face, saying, "Is this what you learned in your year away?"
Before he could finish speaking, Yi Chenliang suddenly licked his palm. Yun Fang pulled his hand back as if electrocuted and glared at Yi Chenliang. "You bastard—"
Yi Chenliang hugged him from behind, his whole body leaning on Yun Fang's back. He whispered in his ear, "Help me one more time, or I can help you if you prefer."
Yun Fang felt he shouldn't indulge this bad habit and spoke in the most righteous tone possible, "Don't push it."
"Brother, please."
…..
When Yi Chenliang came out after showering again, it was almost midnight. Yun Fang was standing in the living room, drying his hair.
Yi Chenliang approached to hug him, but Yun Fang dodged warily to the side.
Yi Chenliang looked at him with a resentful gaze.
Yun Fang entered the bedroom, unfazed. Yi Chenliang followed him closely, like a little tail attached to him.
"It's late, go to sleep quickly," Yun Fang said, lying on the bed and gesturing for Yi Chenliang to turn off the light.
Yi Chenliang turned off the bedroom light without turning on the bedside lamp, and crawled onto the bed in the dark.
Yun Fang was really tired and was about to fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Just as his consciousness was fading, someone suddenly hugged him by the waist and pulled him into an embrace.
"What?" he asked, half-asleep.
Yi Chenliang pulled him into his arms and kissed the corner of his mouth in the darkness. "I'm back."
"Mm." Yun Fang smiled with his eyes closed. "You're back."
Yi Chenliang let Yun Fang rest his head on his arm, casually stroking his damp hair. "Do I look exactly like you did before now?"
"Mm, pretty much," Yun Fang was about to fall asleep, but his mind involuntarily recalled his own image in the mirror from his previous life. "You'd look even more like me if you were a bit fiercer."
"I can't be fierce with you," Yi Chenliang said, reaching out to pinch Yun Fang's earlobe. "With you, I only get hard—"
Before he could finish, Yun Fang pinched his mouth shut. "Ancestor, just be quiet for today."
Yi Chenliang bit Yun Fang's hand in discontent.
The little wolf cub, having grown a bit, seemed to finally confirm he had returned to familiar territory. He gradually became more active and increasingly unrestrained. After being free-range for a year, his fierce nature began to show as he aggressively marked his territory, even eagerly trying to challenge the alpha wolf.
Then the alpha wolf swatted him into submission with one paw.
Yi Chenliang rubbed his forehead where he had been hit, looking pitiful.
"If you don't sleep now, I'll throw you on the couch," Yun Fang said, already too sleepy to open his eyes. After the threat, he offered an incentive, giving Yi Chenliang a kiss. "Be good, sleep."
The little wolf cub finally settled down, pulling Yun Fang into his arms and falling asleep contentedly in his own territory.
The next day, they almost woke up late. Yun Fang stuffed the exam papers from the coffee table into his backpack, a toothbrush in his mouth.
Yi Chenliang came out of the bathroom wiping his face with a towel, his school uniform pants hanging loosely around his waist. He hadn't had time to put on a shirt yet. Yun Fang calmly glanced at him.
Yi Chenliang patted his abs. "Look, four-pack now."
Yun Fang pretended not to hear.
"Let me see yours," Yi Chenliang said, reaching to lift Yun Fang's shirt, but Yun Fang slapped his hand away.
"What's there to see? Hurry up and get dressed so we can leave," Yun Fang said with toothpaste still in his mouth as he went to the bathroom to finish washing up.
"I should have looked last night," Yi Chenliang said regretfully for a moment, then leaned against the bathroom door frame with a mischievous smile. "Brother, don't tell me you can't build any muscle?"
Yun Fang rinsed his mouth, staring at Yi Chenliang through the mirror. He calmly deflated Yi Chenliang's overconfident attitude. "Even without muscles, I could still take you down with one hand."
Yi Chenliang stared at the person in the mirror, smiling meaningfully.
Perhaps the unfamiliarity brought by time and distance was hard to eliminate immediately, but the familiarity and tacit understanding between them were innate. The similarity and intimacy of their souls couldn't be diluted even by time.
Yi Chenliang sat on the back seat, a piece of bread in his mouth. Yun Fang, worried about being late, rode a bit fast, the wind making his school uniform jacket flap loudly.
"Eat when we get to school!" Yun Fang shouted, looking at the rearview mirror. "Aren't you afraid of choking, eating in this wind?"
Yi Chenliang swallowed the bread in two or three bites. "I want to save time for studying!"
Yun Fang didn't believe his nonsense. "You're just greedy!"
"Don't talk about yourself like that!" Yi Chenliang laughed heartily.
But soon, Yi Chenliang couldn't laugh anymore.
He had missed the entire second year of high school compared to his classmates. What he had learned in the past year was basically useless here, and even his English hadn't improved much.
"It's different—" Yi Chenliang drawled. "The bearded guy never taught adverbial clauses or post-modifiers. He just told jokes all day!"
Yun Fang sighed. "Then you better catch up quickly. The first round of revision has already started."
Yi Chenliang felt despair. "I can't do this. Maybe I should repeat a year?"
"That's not impossible," Yun Fang patted his head. "I'll wait for you in university."
Yi Chenliang immediately sat up straight and picked up his English notes to study seriously. "I think I can read one more page."
Ten minutes later, Yi Chenliang lay lifeless on the desk, like a melted marshmallow. He closed his eyes, feeling hopeless. "Just kill me."
Yun Fang squeezed the back of his neck encouragingly. "The beginning is always the hardest."
Yi Chenliang felt somewhat inspired and struggled to lift his head, only to hear Yun Fang continue calmly, "The middle is hard, and so is the end."
Yi Chenliang: "...Thanks a lot."
Although Yun Fang's words were discouraging, he had meticulously planned out a revision schedule for Yi Chenliang. Looking at the tutoring list that went up to midnight, Yi Chenliang asked carefully, "You're not doing this on purpose, are you?"
Yun Fang smiled slightly, "How could I?"
If his boyfriend had too much energy, studying would be good for him.
And so, Yi Chenliang began his grueling life as a third-year high school student.
****
The lawsuit was filed and accepted a week after Yi Chenliang's return.
Su Shengwen only realized Yi Chenliang had returned to Wu City when he received the court summons. He looked at the summons on the table and laughed coldly.
Zhou Ang stood nearby. "Sir, do we need to bring the little young master back?"
"No need." Su Shengwen sat in his chair, picking up the summons to look at it. "This has caused quite a stir. Everyone's watching to see how I'll handle this. The old man has called me three times about it."
"Then..." Zhou Ang asked carefully, "What should we do next?"
"We'll do what needs to be done," Su Shengwen said. "It's been so many years. Even if they have this leverage, what can they do? I've never acknowledged him as that child from back then. That child died at birth, so of course, he can't come back to life now."
Zhou Ang understood his meaning. "So I should instruct the lawyers to proceed with the adoption angle?"
"He won't acknowledge me and Chu Xia. Keeping him forcibly will only cause bigger problems for me in the future." Su Shengwen tapped the table. "Let him go."
Because of this incident causing such a commotion, he wouldn't be able to advance further, at least for the next two years. But as long as the old man's side remained stable, no one could touch him. It was just a matter of waiting patiently.
Although he said this, Su Shengwen was somewhat displeased. "I underestimated him. He managed to come back from Switzerland on his own."
He had some ability after all.
Zhou Ang listened respectfully on the side.
"Qingbai is in his third year of high school now, right?" Su Shengwen asked.
"Yes," Zhou Ang answered. "Young Master's grades at school have always been excellent."
Su Shengwen nodded, "Qingbai has always been sensible."
"Madam's condition has stabilized now," Zhou Ang said. "Should we send her back to the young master or to the old residence?"
"Qingbai is at a crucial time. Let's not have Xia Xia disturb him," Su Shengwen said. "Send her back to the old residence."
"But this way, the Chu family—" Zhou Ang reminded him, "Old Mr. Chu has called several times."
"I'll go explain in person," Su Shengwen said. "If she hadn't been so impatient and impulsive this time, I wouldn't be in such a passive position now."
"Yes," Zhou Ang nodded.
Su Shengwen's gaze swept over the summons, finding it somewhat irritating, but rationality still led him to make the final decision. "Finish the lawsuit as quickly as possible. If he doesn't want to acknowledge us, then let it be. There won't be any relationship in the future."
When Su Shengwen pushed open the door, Chu Xia was curled up on the sofa, her face pale, with thick white gauze wrapped around her wrist—the wound from her suicide attempt. Su Shengwen gestured for the nurse to leave and crouched down in front of the sofa.
Chu Xia remained silent and motionless.
"Xia Xia," Su Shengwen stroked her hair. "That child wants to sue us to terminate the parent-child relationship. Because we adopted him back then, he has a lot of evidence against us. We can't win this lawsuit... Even if we did, he would hate us for the rest of his life."
Chu Xia looked at him with empty eyes. "Then why didn't we acknowledge him back then?"
"The circumstances didn't allow it," Su Shengwen said. "Although the outcome is still terrible now, that was the best solution I could think of at the time."
"Su Shengwen, I'm only asking you this once," Chu Xia looked at him with sad eyes, asking the question she had been afraid to ask for over a decade. "When your father sent Liang Liang away back then, did he have your consent?"
Su Shengwen remained silent for a long time before slowly speaking. "Yes."
Chu Xia asked him again. "Did you know where Liang Liang was sent?"
"No," Su Shengwen said with difficulty. "My father wanted to tell me, but I refused."
"I was afraid I would tell you, and also afraid that I wouldn't be able to resist going to find him."
Chu Xia finally began to cry.
It was as if she finally saw clearly what this man she had loved so deeply truly valued. Her mind, clouded for over a decade, had never been as clear as it was now.
"Su Shengwen, you're a coward."
Su Shengwen loved her, but more than loving her, he loved himself.
Such a person, from the moment fame and fortune were placed upon him, was destined to be unable to extricate himself from the vortex of power.
She recalled their first encounter on the university campus, the handsome young man in faded jeans helping her pick up her fallen bicycle, flashing her a bright and radiant smile.
She thought she was a princess in a fairy tale, destined to live happily ever after with her loved one, even if he wasn't a prince.
But she forgot that life isn't a fairy tale, and not everyone puts love first like she did.
Perhaps her insistence on finding her Liang Liang was just an attempt to prove that Su Shengwen loved her more than his pursuit of power. Yet even now, when things had come to this point, his first action was still to protect himself.
She had struggled for over a decade, never getting what she wanted, only to end up in such a miserable state.
Even though she had broken ties with her own father for this man years ago, proudly and stubbornly holding his arm, believing he loved her above all else.
"Su Shengwen," Chu Xia slowly said to the man before her, whose face showed deep affection and guilt, "Let's get a divorce."
Su Shengwen looked at her in shock. "Xia Xia?"
Chu Xia closed her eyes, no longer looking at him. "While I'm still clear-headed."
"Xia Xia! Do you know what you're saying?" Su Shengwen, unusually, lost his calm and composure. He grabbed Chu Xia's hand. "You want to divorce me!?"
"We should have divorced long ago," Chu Xia murmured. "We should have divorced when you refused to let Qingbai take the Chu surname."
They loved each other, but they also tormented each other equally.
"Su Shengwen, I wish you success in your career," Chu Xia said, more clear-headed than ever before, giving this man the blessing he desired most.
Then she dialed a number she hadn't called in over a decade. An unfamiliar, aged voice came through, filled with disbelief, "Is this Xia Xia?"
"Dad, I want to come home."