JR Chapter 2

When Mo Lin returned home, the community security guard was standing at her door. Looking at the pile of cardboard boxes at her door, he said to her with some difficulty: “Madam, our property management has a rule that the hallway cannot be used to store miscellaneous items..”

The miscellaneous items were Jiang Yuanmu’s things.

Jiang Yuanmu had not returned home during the previous week. To ensure that he could move out smoothly on the day of the divorce, Mo Lin considerately took the time to pack up his things during that week. She carefully sorted his belongings into different categories and placed them in cardboard boxes, meticulously labeling each box with a marker.

After all, they had been married for five years, they shouldn’t cause trouble to each other.
Mo Lin initially thought that she handled the divorce quite well. She didn’t expect that she would cause trouble for the property management.

“Sorry.” Mo Lin apologized to the security guard, then took a look at her phone. It was exactly 8:30 in the evening. According to Jiang Yuanmu’s temper, after receiving the divorce agreement today, someone would be sent to pick up the things in the evening. “I need at most one and a half hours. If my ex-husband doesn’t send someone back to pick up the things, I will move them back in the house.”

The security guard was stunned for a moment. He kept blinking at Mo Lin, obviously shocked by the words “ex-husband” and “send someone”.

Their community, though located in the city center, wasn’t particularly high-end. It consisted of tall buildings with relatively small apartment units, typically traditional two-bedroom, one-living room layouts, catering to basic housing needs. The owner of apartment 1503 was quite well-known in the community.

 

After all, there was only one household in their building that lived in such an apartment yet drove an Aston Martin to work every day. Security guard Hu still couldn’t remember the full name of the car, he just knew it was expensive.

There were many speculations about the owners of apartment 1503. Some say they are just putting on a show of wealth, spending all their money on the house and the car. Others say that the female is a kept woman. And some say that even if they are truly wealthy, they must be unhappy since the male owner doesn’t come home often.

“Well, then…” Hu turned and left. He sighed in his heart, who said having money makes everything perfect? Even the wealthy can get divorced, and their lives might not be as comfortable as his. Look at how deep the hatred is, all the things are already packed up at the door, they must be disgusted with each other!

Mo Lin watched the security guard leave, and she calmly opened the door, went inside and sat on the sofa.

After packing away Jiang Yuanmu’s things, the room seemed to suddenly become a little bigger, and suddenly became emptier.

Mo Lin sat quietly for a while, and suddenly felt that the room was a little too quiet. She wanted to turn on the TV, but she hadn’t turned on the TV for a long time, and she had to look for the remote control for a long time. Finally, in a drawer that hadn’t been opened for a long time, Mo Lin saw the remote control. The moment she found it, Mo Lin suddenly realized that she seemed to have not been in such a state of mind for a long time.

Feeling quiet, bored, feeling… that something was missing.

Every day before marriage, she seemed to sleep with the TV on…

Afterwards, Jiang Yuanmu came back to the apartment to work at night. They didn’t have a study room, so they occupied one of the two rooms in the house.

 

Jiang Yuanmu, on the other hand, is a person with a strong sense of spatial planning. The bedroom is strictly for sleeping; he won’t work there. Work is done in the office, and he won’t eat while working.

So after they got married, Jiang Yuanmu would clean up the table in the living room after dinner and then use it as a workspace. The area was limited, and the dining table was used as a desk. This was Jiang Yuanmu’s final compromise.

And during this time, if Mo Lin watched TV, it would disturb him. So, Mo Lin developed the habit of reading books and drawing designs on the coffee table while Jiang Yuanmu was working.

To be honest, Mo Lin doesn’t think of herself as a diligent person. Deep down, she is lazy. If she can rest for an extra second, she definitely won’t get up at the 59-second mark.

In the past few years, under the leadership of Jiang Yuanmu, Mo Lin felt that she had been accomplishing 1.5 times her usual workload every day. Mo Lin vaguely remembered reading somewhere that a good marriage should help you grow. From this perspective, her marriage with Jiang Yuanmu had been extraordinarily successful- almost excessively so. If she could study, she would never put down her book; if she could work hard, she would never lie down to sleep.

But even so, her excellent roommate, husband, leader in striving, tireless forward-mover, perpetual learning machine—Jiang “Stays Up Late Without Losing Hair” Yuanmu, had said to her—

“In fact, with your talent, you can do better.”

No, she doesnt think she can.

Now it`s good; she just wanted to rest.

And every time she refused Jiang Yuanmu’s suggestion to make her better, Jiang Yuanmu would not force it, but would only nod: “You are indeed good enough.”

Mo Lin thought about this, and a smile suddenly appeared at the corners of her mouth. She subconsciously turned her head to look at the dining table .

 

It was empty. There stood only a dirty cup from the morning that she didn’t have the time to wash.

It was a dining table.

Mo Lin turned back to watching TV, where a variety show was playing. There was a lot of laughter, yelling, and noise, and the audience was laughing out loud. But there was no smile on Mo Lin’s face. She was thinking to herself, “The divorce agreement… he signed it, he should send a copy back to me, right?”

At the same time, on the other side of the city, in an empty office, a man who seemed calm and composed was flipping through the contract he signed five years ago.

The more he read, te more agitated he became.

Jiang Yuanmu hadn’t scrutinized a contract so carefully in a long time, going over it repeatedly and thoroughly, even checking the punctuation. And then he realized…
The contract was very well-drafted.

Five years ago, he hadn’t left any loopholes for his future self to exploit! Truly worthy of him!

Jiang Yuanmu slapped the contract down on the table, his forehead throbbing slightly from staring at so many black and white words and red fingerprints. He rubbed his temples.

Once, Jiang Yuanmu had thought that their prenuptial agreement was the smoothest, most hassle-free, and perfect contract he had ever signed. It was clear in structure, detailed, and defined responsibilities clearly…

Who would have thought… he forgot to include the renewal clause!

Jiang Yuanmu’s headache worsened. There was no other way but to face it directly—he didn’t want to divorce.

Why?

Jiang Yuanmu didn’t know why either. Changing his marital status had no downside for him at the moment, nor did it have any benefits.

Why do something with no benefit?

Because the contract says so?

Contracts are signed by people, so he decided to discuss a supplementary agreement with Mo Lin. No matter what, he needed to renew the agreement first. Jiang Yuanmu made up his mind, put on a light jacket, took the documents and his phone, and left his office.

On the way, he mentally prepared his speech, confidently believing that, given his current cooperation with Mo Lin, she had no reason to refuse his renewal terms. However, when he arrived downstairs, he found that his parking spot had been taken by someone else!
It was a green Beetle?[mfn]about the green colour. There is a saying “to wear a green hat” and it means to be cheated on[/mfn]

It felt like it was hinting at something…

Jiang Yuanmu frowned, feeling as if he had been hit before even starting his mission, inexplicably annoyed.

After talking with the property management for a while, they contacted the car owner, who hurried downstairs. Seeing that the car owner was a woman, Jiang Yuanmu’s emotions calmed slightly, and he forgave the green paint of the Beetle.

The car owner unexpectedly apologized politely before moving the car: “I’m sorry, I only parked here for a short time a few days ago. No one said anything, so I thought the owner of this parking spot no longer lived here…”

Jiang Yuanmu’s mood fluctuated once again.

What did she mean by “thought he didn’t live here”?

He had only been away on a business trip for a week, did she think he was dead? He didn’t say anything and just parked his car back in his spot. As Jiang Yuanmu was in the elevator, watching the numbers rise to the fifteenth floor, he thought to himself, “I’ve been living in this apartment for five years now, without even realizing it.”

The house was bought by Mo Lin. When they first met on the blind date, she had already owned it for two years. She paid the down payment and the mortgage with her own abilities, and she single-handedly managed the interior decorations as well.

Jiang Yuanmu did not own any property previously. After leaving his family, he always stayed in hotels.

For his lifestyle as a lone wolf, he didnt really require a house. A hotel could meet all his daily needs and was even better than a home. A five-star hotel came with five-star chefs, a gym, room service, and maintaining such a system at home might not be as cost-effective as staying in a hotel.

So he bought an apartment, not far from Mo Lin’s place, but the community was vastly different. It was a top-notch flat with better housing, property management, and greenery in every aspect compared to Mo Lin’s neighborhood.

He bought it right after they got married, spent the first year waiting for the house to be ready, the second year for renovations, and the third year letting it air out. By the fourth year… he wasn’t so keen on moving in anymore.

Moving was too much trouble, Mo Lin had said.

So the house remained empty, and to this day, he hadn’t even gone to see it.

He always lived at Mo Lin’s place and paid rent every month.

After all, it was Mo Lin’s house. In their contractual marriage, nothing was taken for free. Rent, utilities, and living expenses were shared equally every month.

Everything was accounted for, clear, and precise.

“Ding,” the elevator doors opened.

Jiang Yuanmu straightened his tie, holding his documents, and walked out calmly.

Then…

He saw the cardboard boxes in the hallway.

Each box was clearly labeled—clothes, shoes, bedding, office supplies…

Everything was packed neatly, accounted for, and perfectly clear.

Jiang Yuanmu stood there, stunned at the doorway.

His head started to ache again.

The “Fu” character for good fortune posted on the door for the Spring Festival seemed to transform into a big “Get Out.”

He walked to the door and stood by the cardboard boxes. Inside, the sound of a variety show on TV was filled with laughter and chatter. This was a sound he rarely heard when he was around.

So Mo Lin liked watching variety shows?

At that moment, Jiang Yuanmu suddenly realized that although he thought he had been fair and meticulous over the years, he had unknowingly encroached upon much of Mo Lin’s personal life.

So… did Mo Lin actually want a divorce to return to her own rhythm of life?

Jiang Yuanmu pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the boxes beside him.

He turned back and returned to the elevator, making a call to Xiao Li: “Arrange for some people to come and move these things.”

“Now!?”

“Now.”

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yuanmu looked at the documents in his hand. Mo Lin’s neat handwriting was on the document, as if she were standing in front of him, politely reaching out her hand and saying, “Thank you for the pleasant cooperation over the years.”

But Jiang Yuanmu hesitated to extend his hand.

On the document, the section where his name should be remained blank.