Divorce Application - Chapter 26
Chapter 26: The Past
When she got in the car, the driver looked at her several times.
Whenever Liu Sinan went out, she wore sunglasses and a hat, loose clothing to conceal her body shape, and wrapped her head up tightly.
Her phone rang a few times. It was probably a message from someone.
Liu Sinan heard it, but she didn’t have the energy to check.
She leaned her head gently against the car window, closing her eyes to pull herself out of a certain sticky state.
She didn’t want to look at her phone, didn’t want to talk to anyone, didn’t want to go out, and didn’t want to work.
She didn’t want to have anything to do with Li Jinping anymore.
And she didn’t want Li Jinping to be hiding anything from her.
Two little people were tearing at each other in her heart, neither of them giving up.
She wasn’t that suspicious. She had never checked Li Jinping’s phone. Perhaps it was Li Jinping’s initial honesty and deep love that made her feel no need to pry into Li Jinping’s privacy.
Because all of Li Jinping’s private life was an open book to her.
She had felt the same way up until the moment they divorced, the moment she signed the divorce agreement.
But at this moment, her conviction was on the verge of crumbling.
Li Jinping had a past that she wasn’t part of, but Liu Sinan only wanted the truth about these seven years.
The driver tried to start a conversation a few times, but Liu Sinan didn’t respond. The driver, finding it uninteresting, could only focus on driving. After a little over forty minutes, he dropped her off at the Hengyue Hotel.
Liu Sinan opened her phone to pay for the ride. The moment she opened the WeChat interface, over a dozen messages popped up.
A white deer emoji, with a little red dot marked “13” in the top right corner.
Liu Sinan had never received so many messages from Li Jinping before.
Did Li Jinping send them to the wrong person? That was her immediate thought.
The topmost message was sent ten minutes after Liu Sinan didn’t reply.
Li: Have you met Lan Ling?
Liu Sinan still didn’t reply. Li Jinping disappeared for a while and then reappeared.
Li: Why aren’t you answering my calls?
Li: Were you with Lan Ling and them last night?
Li: What did Lan Ling say?
Li: Was she wearing that watch?
Li: Liu Sinan, reply to my messages.
Li: Sinan, did you see my messages? Reply to me.
Li: I wasn’t hiding anything from you. Don’t be angry with me. I have something very important to tell you.
Later, Li Jinping even called her twice, but Liu Sinan had her phone on silent and didn’t answer.
Just as Liu Sinan was dazed, scrolling through the chat history and not knowing how to reply, Li Jinping’s call came through again.
Liu Sinan bit her lip, hesitating before answering the call. “Li Jinping?”
Li Jinping’s tone was very bad. The first thing she said was a hurried question. “Why aren’t you replying to my messages?”
Liu Sinan mumbled an apology. “I didn’t see the messages just now. Sorry.”
Li Jinping’s tone was sharp, and she gave a direct order. “Stay away from Lan Ling. Do not get close to her.”
This sentence had different meanings in different people’s ears. The rationality Liu Sinan still had told her that Li Jinping was probably just worried about her safety. After all, Lan Ling had been mentally ill since she was a child, and when they met earlier, she was very aggressive. Dealing with such a person was not only mentally and emotionally taxing but also could easily lead to getting hurt.
But another pulsing nerve was only willing to take it literally.
Stay away from Lan Ling.
Was she afraid that Liu Sinan would hurt Lan Ling? Or was she hiding something?
Liu Sinan was silent for a few seconds, sniffled, and looked at the hotel in front of her. She said softly, “I understand.”
Li Jinping knew her too well. From the tone of her voice and the pause, she sensed something was wrong and pressed on. “Where are you right now?”
Liu Sinan held her phone and said nothing. Li Jinping became anxious and quickly said, “You’ve gone to see her?”
“Li Jinping,” Liu Sinan used her full name, wearily closed her eyes, and walked into the hotel. “I’m a little tired right now. We can talk later, okay?”
Normally, if she said something like that, Li Jinping wouldn’t disturb her again, no matter how important the matter was.
But today, Li Jinping not only didn’t hang up, but she also changed to a more anxious tone to persuade her.
“You can’t go see her. Lan Ling is a very dangerous person. Whatever you want to know, I’ll tell you…”
Liu Sinan took a step into the hotel. The revolving door at the entrance jammed as it turned, then started up again a little too quickly. Liu Sinan was pulled by the door, and her phone fell to the ground.
The screen shattered immediately.
She didn’t hear Li Jinping’s final words. She picked up the phone with a sigh, wrapped it in a tissue, and put it in her bag.
When Liu Sinan entered the private room, Lan Ling was already waiting inside.
Lan Ling was wearing an oversized blue hoodie, curled up in a single armchair, and looked at her coolly.
Liu Sinan glanced at her, walked to the round table in the middle of the room, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
“You know I don’t have much time to listen to you,” Liu Sinan said, skimming through the menu, then tossing it aside. She raised her hand to signal to the waiter. “Bring a pot of your best tea. Nothing else.”
After she said that, she raised her chin and gestured toward Lan Ling. “Do you want to order anything else?”
Lan Ling sat up straight and didn’t say a word.
Liu Sinan told the waiter, “Just that.”
Lan Ling suddenly stood up and walked a few steps toward Liu Sinan. “You came alone?”
That was a strange question. Liu Sinan remembered that last night in the bathroom, she had also told her to come alone.
Liu Sinan scoffed. “What, are you so afraid that I’ll bring some help and we’ll team up to beat you up?”
Lan Ling said in a cold voice, “You can try.”
“Or what?” Liu Sinan said dismissively. “Do you want to murder me and dispose of the body while no one’s around?”
Lan Ling’s pupils constricted. Liu Sinan looked at her and said sarcastically, “Little sister, you should read less sad, romantic fiction. I didn’t bring anyone else. I’ve given you enough time to self-reflect, but not too much. Say what you need to say quickly. I only have half an hour.”
Lan Ling’s eyes, which were similar in shape to Lan Qi’s but completely different in expression, were fixed on Liu Sinan’s face like a neurotic little animal.
Her clothes were very baggy, and her hands were in her pockets the whole time. The pockets were bulging, and it was unclear what she had inside.
Soon, a pot of Phoenix Dan Cong tea was brought out and placed right by Lan Ling’s hand. She silently poured a cup for both of them.
Liu Sinan smelled the tea in her cup and heard Lan Ling’s sinister, sharp voice slowly rise. “Jinping-jie is the best person in the world, and you hurt her.”
Liu Sinan raised an eyebrow. “For example?”
Lan Ling suddenly looked up, her body moving forward, forcing herself closer to Liu Sinan. “For example, the photos of you that the media took—in the bar, on the street, on set… Do I need to list them for you one by one?”
“Everyone was dancing in the bar. On the street, it was a hug before we separated. On set, it was just a scene. Which one can’t I explain clearly?” Liu Sinan lowered her gaze. “If that’s all you’re going to say, I’m afraid I don’t have time to play this game with you.”
In the first few years after she came back from abroad, she had a hard time fitting into life in China. She didn’t understand why she would be criticized for wearing a tank top, or what a drink at a bar had to do with sleeping together, or what sleeping together had to do with being in love.
These were all things Li Jinping had told her when Liu Sinan was constantly being photographed in compromising situations by the media.
But this was their business. Why should they have to explain it to others?
After she finished speaking, Liu Sinan wanted to leave. She must have been out of her mind to agree to meet with Lan Ling alone.
But before she could take a few steps, Lan Ling took out a white piece of paper from her pocket.
“Do you know the English on this?” Lan Ling said.
Liu Sinan glanced at it. The capital letters at the top were the name of a hospital in the United States.
It was a bill.