Divorced - Chapter 20

()x11-13 minutes 25.05.2022

The rain in the mountain did not stop the next day and only grew heavier and heavier. With the rain, the mountain road became slippery and difficult to traverse. As a result, the car could not go down the mountain and so Chen Yuchuan and Lu Yang ended up temporarily staying longer.

The area that had collapsed was the guest auditorium still under construction, which was also the last construction project. It was also associated with several surrounding leisure and entertainment venues.

In fact, Lu Yang and Chen Yuchuan had already made guesses in their hearts. The reason for the collapse was likely due to material quality. The other projects did not have such problems, but this last project did.

There was a lot of rain on the mountain, filling it with heavy moisture. and this prolonged build-up resulted in the collapse.

Among the people in charge of this project, two people’s mouths had loosened with the promise of money and said that they had lost contact with the two people in charge of purchasing materials and conducting safety testing. Jian Yongxin had told them this last night, and so they promptly informed the police of this newest development.

Lu Yang has already dispatched some people to investigate the movements of these two people. Disappearing right after such a problem was very obvious and clumsy, and this showed that they were not afraid of being exposed at all. Unless they could really hide in the cracks in the ground, they would be found.

“Blame me. I didn’t notice any problems when I visited some time ago,” Chen Yuchuan said.

“I’m also responsible,” Lu Yang said. “I’ve been a little slack during this time. I won’t talk about it now. I’ll solve the current problem first, and I’ll make a statement after the results of the specific investigative report come out. I have already made a copy, and we can discuss plans for the follow-up development later.”

Lu Xianfeng called Lu Yang when he saw the news in the morning and asked him about the resort.

Lu Yang and Chen Yuchuan were having breakfast in the dining room in their suite.

Lu Yang picked up his dad’s call and briefly explained the matter.

“Do you want me to go back and deal with it?” Lu Xianfeng asked.

“Dad, we don’t need you to come back,”Lu Yang said. “You and mom enjoy yourself on the island. Have fun. Xiao Chuan’er and I can handle this. It’s basically almost over.”

Lu Xianfeng said ok, and Lu Yang listened carefully as he made some suggestions on the phone.

After Lu Xianfeng finished his business, Man Yunxin took over the call. She wanted to speak to Chen Yuchuan too so Lu Yang put the phone on the table and turned on the speakerphone.

“Xiao Yang, Xiao Chuan, I read on the weather forecast that there is rain. Youmust pay attention to safety on the mountain,” Man Yunxin said.

“Okay mom, you don’t have to worry about us. Lu Yang and I will pay attention.”

Man Yunxin reminded them on the phone to pay attention to their health and to eat well. Chen Yuchuan responded obediently. She then asked them if there are any gifts they want.

Chen Yuchuan said, “Mom, you don’t have to worry about us. You and Dad just have a good time.”

Man Yunxin laughed and said yes, and then hung up the phone after a few words.

Phone call over, the two of them continued to eat quietly.

As he was eating, Chen Yuchuan suddenly remembered what happened last night. Yet, he couldn’t recall how he’d fallen asleep. His last memory was of himself lying on the edge of the bed, messaging Lu Yang’s leg. But later, when he suddenly woke up, he found himself lying on the bed with his head on Lu Yang’s shoulder.

Chen Yuchuan naturally didn’t think that he would climb onto the bed by himself in his sleep. There was no one else there but Lu Yang.

After he was finished eating, Lu Yang went to the bathroom. When his cell phone rang, Chen Yuchuan looked toward the bathroom but didn’t wait for Lu Yang to come out.

He picked up Lu Yang’s phone and saw that there was no caller ID. Fearing that it might be an important call, he directly answered.

He’d just barely answered the call when a strange, clearly male’s voice sounded.

“Lu Yang, good morning. I just saw the news this morning. How are you doing?”

Chen Yuchuan glanced at the closed bathroom door from the corner of his eyes, hesitated, and asked, “May I ask who this is?”

The voice was quiet for two seconds before saying, “You are Lu Yang’s lover, Mr. Chen?”

“Yes, I’m Chen Yuchuan,” Chen Yuchuan said. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Ye Guanghe,” the man introduced himself. “I was Lu Yang’s old classmate.”

“Hello…”

As soon as he said this, he heard the sound of the bathroom door opening and Lu Yang came out.

His thumb on the edge of the phone rubbed it up and down, but when Li Yang came over, he still handed it over to him.

“It’s your old classmate.”

Lu Yang took the phone, glanced at the incoming call on the screen and said “hello” into the phone.

The person on the other end must have said something but Chen Yuchuan could no longer hear it. Lu Yang sat down and asked, “Guanghe, what’s the matter?”

Chen Yichuan picked up the glass of warm milk from the dining table and took a large mouthful. When he put the cup down, there was a bit of force as the bottom of the cup slammed onto the dining table. With a bang, the milk sloshed over the edge of the cup onto the back of his hand and dripped down from his hand onto the white dining table.

Lu Yang looked up at Chen Yuchuan, who immediately grabbed a napkin and began to wipe away the milk. He said with a smile, “The cup is too slippery, so I couldn’t hold it in my hand. You continue.”

Lu Yang spoke intermittently into the phone.

“Thank you, it’s fine. I don’t have a big problem here.”

“The dinner appointment for tomorrow night will have to be canceled.”

“Okay.”

“We’ll reschedule for some other time.”

Five minutes later, when Lu Yang put down his phone, Chen Yuchuan grabbed the milk and gulped it down.

There were milk stains on his mouth, with a drop of white liquid hanging from the corner. Seeing that Lu Yang was looking at him, he stuck out his tongue and ran the tip of his tongue over his lips. Then, retracting his tongue, he gave Lu Yang a half smile.

“Lu Yang, when was Ye Guanghe your classmate?” Chen Yuchuan asked in a seemingly casual way.

“High school.”

“What’s your classmate’s name? Gunaghe?”

“Ye Guanghe.”

“I heard you call him Guanghe, so I thought his surname is Guang,” Chen Yuchuan said. “I was just thinking earlier, does the Book of Family Names have this name listed as a surname? This surname is quite rare.”

This time, Lu Yang didn’t answer, and kept his head down as he continued to eat.

Chen Yuchuan picked up the egg pancake, took a large bite, and after swallowing, said, “Why haven’t I heard you mention this classmate before?”

“I haven’t been in contact with him since high school,” Lu Yang said. “He just returned to China some time ago.”

“Do you both have work connections?” Chen Yuchuan said, sounding him out. “I’m just asking casually. I heard that you made an appointment with him for dinner.”

“Yes, he’s an architect now and several of our designs are from his firm.”

“Then you should have a good relationship, right? Listening to the way you’re addressing him, it seems that you’re both quite close.” Chen Yuchuan took another bite of the egg cake, as if it was particularly delicious.

Finished with eating, Lu Yang put his chopsticks down, slowly wiped his mouth with a napkin, and just as Chen Yuchuan was thinking that he wasn’t going to continue chatting with him, he heard him ask, “You’ve been asking for so long. What is it that you really want to ask?”

Chen Yuchuan said, “I was just asking casually.”

On the day of the divorce, Chen Yuchuan still had a reason to ask, but now, there was no longer any reason to. If he hadn’t asked that day, then all the more reason now not to ask.

The room was deathly quiet, except for the sound of Chen Yuchuan’s chopsticks hitting the edge of dishes and bowls.

He thought that Lu Yang was done with this topic, but Lu Yang suddenly spoke again, “We sat at the same table in high school, and our relationship wasn’t too bad at the time.”

Chen Yuchuan put his chopsticks down, prepared to listen carefully. However, Lu Yang only said this, and then he stood up and entered the study.

Chen Yuchuan had said that he was just asking casually, and so Lu Yang also answered casually.

He was simply answering Chen Yuchuan’s last question.

But this was Chen Yuchuan. Lu Yang’s words were no different from as if he’d stopped speaking halfway through. There was a hook at the end of his words, hooking onto Chen Yuchuan’s chest, not ready to make him feel better.

The study door was open, and when Chen Yuchuan turned his head, he could see Lu Yang sitting upright in front of the computer. From this angle, the computer only covered half of Lu Yang’s face.

You have no fucking reason, Chen Yuchuan scolded himself in his head. But after holding back this question for so long, he now finally had an opportunity and so he couldn’t hold back any longer. He couldn’t hold back now.

He rubbed his nose, got up, and strode into the study. Walking straight up to the desk, he put his hands on the desk, leaned forward, and asked, “Brother Yang, are you busy right now?”

“Just looking at emails,” Lu Yang said. “It’s not very important.”

Chen Yuchuan asked directly, “You and your classmate, Ye Guanghe who just called you, did you two date in high school?”

Still looking at the computer screen, Lu Yang answered, “What do you think?”

Chen Yuchuan scratched his head. “Lu Yang, can you stop wasting time? Didn’t I just ask? Is it really that hard to answer? It’s either two words, we did, or three words, we did not.”

Lu Yang finally looked up from the computer. Turning to the side to face Chen Yuchuan full on, he put his hands on the table and said, “We did not.”

Chen Yuchuan sat down. “Then that’s fine.”

“Chen Yuchuan, how long have you been holding this in?” Lu Yang could ask questions accurately every time.

Chen Yuchuan snapped his fingers. “A week before the divorce, I saw you having dinner with him. I knew about him from Ling Qun before, and I also saw him in your high school class photo. Ye Guanghe was really handsome, so I wanted to ask now.”

“Why didn’t you ask at that time?” Lu Yang asked.

“At the time, I didn’t ask, and later, I just couldn’t find an opportunity,” Chen Yuchuan replied.

After finding an opportunity, before he could even open his mouth, the opportunity was gone, Chen Yuchuan added in his heart.

Lu Yang said indifferently, “Although we’ve never dated, he confessed to me in high school.”

When Chen Yuchuan heard Lu Yang’s words, his heart that had just risen, fell once more.

“He’s married now,” Lu Yang added indifferently, “Just now, he was using his lover’s phone to call.”

Chen Yuchuan’s heart that had just landed on the ground again with a thud, was finally stabilized