Chapter 41: Divorce Doesn’t Necessarily Require a Head-On Confrontation Part 1

On the way back to the hotel, Li Wuhui was very quiet, while Qiu Yiran lowered her head in thought.

As a result, when Qiu Yiran slowly followed in Li Wuhui’s footsteps and realized they were standing at the doors of adjacent hotel rooms, with Li Wuhui about to swipe her keycard—

She suddenly remembered that matter.

“Right, the prosthetic leg is still with me,” Qiu Yiran asked out of habit.

“Do you still want to take it tonight?”

The corridor lights were half bright, half dim. Li Wuhui stood in front of her door, and her movements suddenly stopped.

It was as if she had suddenly lost her train of thought because of Qiu Yiran’s question.

“Li Wuhui?” Qiu Yiran called out.

She couldn’t help but feel a bit worried—

Because Li Wuhui had been off ever since she saw those two kissing fish they couldn’t buy.

“No need.”

After a long while, Li Wuhui finally spoke.

Qiu Yiran didn’t react at first.

“Beep beep beep beep—”

Li Wuhui swiped open her door and shook her head. “Maybe there’s really no need.”

Her voice sounded very tired, but she still explained to Qiu Yiran,

“Even without the prosthetic leg, if you want to run, you can still get away.”

Qiu Yiran froze.

She wasn’t sure why Li Wuhui had suddenly changed her mind, and this change left her somewhat at a loss.

But she quickly suppressed that unease and said softly,

“I won’t run away.”

Li Wuhui let out an “mm,” pushed open her door, and walked inside. Her figure vanished into the darkness.

“Sleep well, Li Wuhui.” Before the door closed, Qiu Yiran mustered courage from somewhere and added, “You haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time.”

Li Wuhui still didn’t respond.

But the door didn’t close either.

Qiu Yiran was lost in thought. She mechanically swiped open her own door—could it really be because of those two kissing fish they couldn’t take with them?

With that in mind,

Qiu Yiran’s step toward the door suddenly halted. She leaned on her crutches, shuffled two steps toward Li Wuhui’s door, and asked again,

“Are you okay, Li Wuhui?”

“I’m fine.”

Li Wuhui’s voice drifted out from inside the room. “You too—sleep well.”

With that, Li Wuhui gently closed her door.

Qiu Yiran felt slightly relieved.

Back at her own door, hand on the handle and just about to push it open, she paused again—

And glanced at Li Wuhui’s door.

After a moment of hesitation,

Qiu Yiran sighed, then closed her own door again.

Leaning on her crutches,

She slowly made her way toward the elevator.

–

After entering her room, Li Wuhui received a voice call from Feng Yu.

Feng Yu asked where they were now.

“Still in Kazakhstan,” Li Wuhui said.

She took off her coat and slipped on the hotel’s thin-soled disposable slippers.

Her constitution wasn’t great.

In winter, her feet never felt warm easily, and stepping on the floor felt like stepping on ice.

“You’ve been in Kazakhstan this long?” Feng Yu exclaimed in surprise. “Did something happen to you?”

“Some problems came up.” Li Wuhui turned on the light and squinted against the glare.

When she opened her eyes again—

There was no sign of Qiu Yiran’s conspicuous prosthetic leg in her line of sight. She walked emptily to the window.

“But it’s all resolved. We’ll head to Russia in a few days.”

“So it’ll take almost a month to reach Paris?” Feng Yu muttered over the phone.

“Honestly, though, I’m surprised you’ve made it this far.”

“Surprised about what?” Li Wuhui asked absentmindedly.

Then she pulled open the curtains—

She suddenly froze, feeling as if a needle was stabbing straight into her eyeball.

“I thought Qiu Yiran would’ve run off ages ago.”

Feng Yu said bluntly over the phone. “After all, when she left Paris back then, she must’ve decided never to come back. I’m surprised she even agreed to go with you, and even more surprised she hasn’t bolted yet…”

Feng Yu’s voice floated in her ear.

But Li Wuhui could no longer hear it. She closed her eyes briefly, then slowly opened them again.

The scene through the glass window remained the same—

It was already night. Warm yellow streetlights illuminated the road, and Qiu Yiran was hunched over, shrunk into a small white figure.

She was struggling hard to support her thin, exhausted body with her crutches, resting every few steps, but she still persisted in inching out of Li Wuhui’s line of sight, bit by bit.

“I gotta go.”

Li Wuhui hung up on Feng Yu.

She hurried toward the door.

But the hotel’s disposable slippers were of such poor quality.

In her rush, she stumbled along unsteadily.

She tripped and fell.

Hitting the icy floor, she didn’t have time to care. She scrambled up messily, propping herself on the ground.

The moment she opened the door,

Cold air rushed in, startling her. She suddenly realized she wasn’t wearing her coat.

She turned back to grab it.

But as soon as she picked up the coat, she froze in place.

Would Qiu Yiran really just leave her like this?

—A question popped into her mind.

If Qiu Yiran was so desperate to escape her, seizing every opportunity, abandoning her on the very first day without using the prosthetic leg as leverage…

Then what was the point of chasing after her again?

The door was still open.

Wind gusts blew in from outside.

It chilled the sweat Li Wuhui had just broken into, sticking it coldly to her back. She stood woodenly in the empty room, gradually calming down.

Her eyes were red.

She set the hastily grabbed coat back down, closed the door, and slowly walked to the window.

This process took some time.

In the time it took Li Wuhui—with her perfectly good legs—to fall, get up, open the door, turn back for her coat, and then freeze in place…

Qiu Yiran downstairs had stopped and started repeatedly but hadn’t gone far.

By the time Li Wuhui returned to the window, Qiu Yiran had only covered less than ten meters.

She stopped sluggishly, panting out white breaths, like a snail crawling through the human world.

Upstairs—

Afraid Qiu Yiran would spot her if she looked up, Li Wuhui turned off the light and hid behind the curtains.

She stared intently at Qiu Yiran’s shrinking figure and couldn’t help but cover her damp eyes with her hand.

This idiot.

She knew full well how poor her health was, yet she still tried to slip away when Li Wuhui wasn’t looking.

She had no idea where she even planned to go this late.

–

When she stopped again,

Qiu Yiran exhaled a shaky white breath, then instinctively glanced up at the building—

The hotel room windows were neatly arranged, like countless little caves.

She laboriously counted them, and when she reached Li Wuhui’s room number, she breathed a sigh of relief…

It was dark.

Li Wuhui should be able to get a good night’s sleep tonight.

With that thought,

Qiu Yiran finally lowered her head with peace of mind, leaned on her crutches, and made her way step by step toward the market.

Even after years of training, walking with crutches was still quite difficult.

And she truly hadn’t taken good care of herself these past few years—her health was poor, with frequent minor ailments.

Something as simple as standing took a lot of effort for her, which a normal person wouldn’t even think about.

So she had to focus her attention.

She had no idea—

That as she trudged head down toward the market, someone in that dark cave upstairs was watching her intently from behind the curtains.

Only when she was out of sight did that person rasp quietly at her back, “Idiot.”

–

“Idiot” Qiu Yiran returned to the market.

As she passed the fish stall,

The boss thought she was back because she’d changed her mind and started chattering at her again.

Qiu Yiran just shook her head.

She wandered aimlessly around the market for two loops, and half an hour later, returned to the fish stall and handed over two bills of local currency.

The boss cheerfully started to bag the fish for her.

She shook her head.

She stopped the boss’s movements.

Then, under the boss’s puzzled gaze, she carefully put the two bagged fish back.

The two kissing fish swam happily in the tank.

The boss scratched his head in confusion.

Qiu Yiran smiled.

Then, just like that, leaning on her crutches, she stared at the tank for half an hour.

Making absolutely sure she memorized the features of these two kissing fish.

She bowed slightly to the language-barrier boss in polite thanks, then left the fish stall.

The boss watched this odd customer leave and pocketed the two bills in a daze.

Then he said to the souvenir shop owner next door,

“Today, a one-legged customer left two kissing fish here with me. No idea when she’ll come pick them up.”

Qiu Yiran didn’t know her actions had been misinterpreted by the fish stall boss due to the language barrier. She just felt that since she’d taken up so much of his time in the shop, she needed to pay a little something.

She left the fish stall.

Browsed the market for another two loops, then returned to the hotel carrying a small bag.

By now, she was exhausted and had no energy to notice anything else. So she also didn’t know—

As she slowly made her way back,

In that little dark cave upstairs in the hotel, Li Wuhui—who hadn’t even dared blink while hiding behind the curtains—finally breathed a sigh of relief when her figure appeared.

The distance between floors was too great.

Li Wuhui could see the small bag in Qiu Yiran’s hand but couldn’t make out what was inside.

But whatever it was, she didn’t care.

As long as Qiu Yiran came back, that was enough.

Li Wuhui thought calmly.

After that, she watched Qiu Yiran make her way back step by step until she vanished from view.

Only then did she walk to the door.

She sat against the cold floor, hugging her knees, ear stubbornly pressed to the door—

The temperature of her ear gradually cooled from the cold air outside.

Li Wuhui paid it no mind.

She kept it pressed tight. Through the thick door, she finally heard the neighboring door go “beep beep beep beep”—

Qiu Yiran had returned safe and sound.

Li Wuhui let out a breath.

She was about to stand up.

But just then—

Qiu Yiran outside didn’t enter her room right away. Instead, she hesitated again and walked toward Li Wuhui’s door.

“Thud—thud—”

The sound of the crutches grew closer and closer, stopping right at the nearest point.

Li Wuhui held her breath.

The room was dark, and Qiu Yiran surely knew that, so she wouldn’t be coming to knock and check on her after going out.

As expected.

Qiu Yiran outside didn’t knock.

But there were no other movements either—she just stood at the door for a long time.

After quite a while,

“Thud—thud—”

The crutches sounded again, slowly retreating.

Qiu Yiran left.

Then, a heavy “thud.”

Qiu Yiran’s door closed.

Li Wuhui deliberately waited a full two minutes before standing up from the floor.

Then, with her stiff and numb limbs, she gently opened her door—

There was nothing outside.

Li Wuhui was a bit surprised.

So what had Qiu Yiran been doing standing at her door for so long?

Just staring blankly at it?

Li Wuhui couldn’t figure it out no matter what.

She could only close the door again, feeling empty.

But that wasn’t something she needed to worry about. As long as Qiu Yiran didn’t run off midway through the trip.

She didn’t need to worry.

Li Wuhui thought wearily.

And Qiu Yiran was right—

Ever since leaving the country, they’d been caught in the rain on the road, and then the car broke down. They truly hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in ages, and even a comfortable hot shower had been rare.

That night, Li Wuhui didn’t have a chance to think too much.

She took a hot shower, and before her hair was fully dry, she fell into a heavy sleep.

Qiu Yiran must have slept deeply too, because she didn’t leave her room until late the next day.

The car wouldn’t be ready for another day.

They ate lunch downstairs in the hotel.

Halfway through the meal, Qiu Yiran yawned, looking listless.

“What did you do last night instead of sleeping?” Li Wuhui asked directly.

Qiu Yiran looked baffled.

“I saw you—” Li Wuhui’s words stopped halfway.

She didn’t want to reveal that she had been secretly keeping tabs on Qiu Yiran again, even though that’s exactly what she had done.

Perhaps after learning about it, Qiu Yiran would secretly resent this behavior of hers but hold back from saying anything so as not to hurt her.

“I saw you yawning all morning.” Li Wuhui changed her words.

Qiu Yiran rubbed her eyes. “I didn’t do anything; I just didn’t sleep well.”

“Should we switch hotels?”

Li Wuhui recalled how, the night before last in the yurt, Qiu Yiran had whimpered from nightmares in the middle of the night. She dug her nails into her palm, knowing Qiu Yiran would never agree to share a room with her.

So even after leaving her, Qiu Yiran still had these nightmares frequently?

“No need.” Qiu Yiran shook her head. “Too much trouble.”

“Switching back and forth is all the same anyway,” she explained to Li Wuhui. “Yesterday might’ve been because it was the first day and I wasn’t used to it. It’ll get better today.”