After she called An Nuan, she directly called Xiao Nanchen.
It had been half a month.
Xiao Nanchen hadn't called her once, not even a greeting between friends.
Of course they hadn't met either.
She felt that men like Xiao Nanchen were really only suitable to grow old alone.
The phone connected and the familiar male voice came through, "Hello."
"Let's get a divorce tomorrow," Xia Qiqi's voice was calm and cool.
The other end didn't hesitate at all, "Okay."
"What time do you have available?" Xia Qiqi asked.
Xiao Nanchen thought for a moment.
He had rehab at the hospital tomorrow morning.
At 2pm he had a video conference call.
After all, he had a small company that he needed to check in on occasionally.
The meeting would probably last 2 hours, because it involved summarizing this month and making arrangements for next month.
He said, "4:30pm, I can go to the marriage registry."
"Then I'll wait for you at the entrance at 4:30pm," said Xia Qiqi.
"Okay."
Xia Qiqi immediately hung up.
Xiao Nanchen stared blankly at the phone after she hung up.
He actually thought Xia Qiqi would have come looking for a divorce from him long ago.
It had already been half a month, almost beyond what he had anticipated.
Fortunately, she had finally come.
For him, ending it sooner rather than later meant not having to hold on to any shred of hope.
...
The next afternoon at 4:30 sharp.
Xiao Nanchen arrived at the marriage registry entrance right on time.
He came walking with a cane.
His gait was much more steady.
It seemed like before long, Xiao Nanchen would be able to walk normally again.
Xia Qiqi was standing at the entrance, just watching expressionlessly as Xiao Nanchen approached.
Xiao Nanchen walked over to Xia Qiqi's side, his whole demeanor very calm.
To be precise, both of them were very calm.
"Let's go in," Xiao Nanchen said to Xia Qiqi.
Xia Qiqi, who was always late, was exceptionally enthusiastic about this matter.
"Okay," Xia Qiqi responded.
The two of them walked into the lobby together.
There were two windows, one for marriage and one for divorce.
They took a number.
Who could have known that even at 4:30 in the afternoon, there would still be so many people getting divorces.
There were even more people lined up for divorce than marriage.
After all, people getting married generally went in the morning, for the auspiciousness.
People who came in the afternoon were basically there to process divorce paperwork.
So-called love grows old.
Naturally, they would choose dusk.
The two of them waited around twenty minutes.
The staff member called them in.
Xia Qiqi sat down first.
Because of his leg issues, it took Xiao Nanchen quite a while longer to sit down.
Xia Qiqi watched the whole process with indifference.
Even the auntie processing the divorce paperwork couldn't help but say, "No wonder you're getting divorced, when there's not even the most basic care between husband and wife. There's no meaning to staying together."
Xia Qiqi's expression changed slightly.
Wasn't she supposed to try and persuade them not to divorce?
Not only did this lady not persuade them, she was trying to drive a wedge between them.
And she was obviously targeting her.
Damn it.
She didn't have any feelings left for Xiao Nanchen, so why should she care whether he could sit down properly or not.
Besides, when she had treated him well before, had he appreciated it?!
Just now when she saw his clumsy movements, she had started to reach out to help him, but then drawn back.
She had sworn to herself that she would never humiliate herself in front of Xiao Nanchen again.
"ID card, household register, marriage certificate, divorce agreement," the staff member said coldly.
Xia Qiqi hurriedly took out her ID card, household register, and marriage certificate.
As for the divorce agreement, she had completely forgotten that she needed to prepare that.
Just as she was about to ask if they could write one on the spot, she saw that Xiao Nanchen had already taken one out.
He very politely asked the staff member, "Could I borrow your pen?"
The staff member nodded. "Go ahead."
Her tone was quite nice.
She seemed to like Xiao Nanchen quite a bit.
There was no denying that pretty boys like Xiao Nanchen were always most popular with older ladies.
"Thank you," Xiao Nanchen took the pen and handed it to Xia Qiqi, "Since there's no property or children for us to split, the agreement is very simple. Take a look, if there are no issues you can sign here, and stamp your fingerprint, and that will do."
Xia Qiqi raised her head to look at Xiao Nanchen.
For some reason, in that moment she suddenly recalled when Xiao Nanchen was little and would help her with her homework.
Because her grades were so bad, she was always kept after school for extra tutoring, so she'd get home very late every day. One time, Xiao Nanchen seemed to have finally had enough, after all the whole family would wait for her to get home before starting dinner. She had stubbornly believed at the time that Xiao Nanchen wasn't really trying to help her, he just wanted to be able to eat dinner earlier.
She remembered it was the night before a physics test.
Xiao Nanchen had brought out an exercise book and came into her room, saying to her, "I went over tomorrow's test questions, there's probably an 80% chance these will be on it. I circled them, so do them tonight and write down the answers, and you should at least pass."
Xia Qiqi was skeptical, but thinking of the prospect of more lengthy one-on-one tutoring if she failed, she decided to give it a shot.
She carefully worked through each question.
Xiao Nanchen sat next to her the whole time.
In the end she did finish them all, but basically got 0 points.
Xiao Nanchen truly didn't know how someone could be so bad that they couldn't even guess a single multiple choice question right.
He picked up Xia Qiqi's pages of wrong answers, and went through explaining each question to her.
Xiao Nanchen's voice had always been nice to listen to, since he was little. Even through puberty it never got ugly, it had stayed pleasant up until now. When he explained the questions he was very serious and patient, his long lashes continuously fluttering before her.
As for whether she had felt anything for Xiao Nanchen back then...
She didn't dare to definitively say no.
"Xia Qiqi," Xiao Nanchen called her, clearly noticing her zoning out, "Is there a problem with the agreement?"
Only then did Xia Qiqi hurriedly regain her focus.
Where had her mind gone just now?
She quickly signed her name on the agreement and stamped her fingerprint.
The two of them respectively handed over their documents and the agreement to the staff member.
After the staff member verified everything was in order.
"Clack clack," two seals stamped down.
A liver-colored divorce certificate was placed before them, one copy each.
Xia Qiqi took the divorce certificate and looked over it carefully.
So divorce really could be so simple, accomplished so easily.
From now on, she would truly have nothing more to do with Xiao Nanchen.
Xiao Nanchen watched Xia Qiqi closely examining the divorce certificate, taking in her expression.
He recalled when they had gotten married, Xia Qiqi hadn't even glanced at the certificate, she had even wanted to rip it up. The contrast between that scene and this one was stark.
As expected, for both of them, this marriage had only ever been a farce.
In the end, the show had to come to an end, the actors scattering.
Xiao Nanchen took up his cane and left first.
He didn't say a single word to Xia Qiqi.
He was afraid if he opened his mouth, the tears would start falling.
