Chapter 305: Lu Jiajie's Divorce (2)
Chapter 305: Lu Jiajie's Divorce (2)
Upon his return to the city, Lu Jiajie finds that Mari is willing to divorce him, but only if he swears that he is not leaving her for another woman.
Despite his reluctance, Lu Jiajie swears, "May I live a life of poverty and die destitute, with no one to mourn me in death, if I divorce because of another woman."
Mari continues, "You must also swear that even if you remarry, you will not have any children, or I will never leave you alone."
Lu Jiajie, feeling that she is pushing her luck, replies with annoyance, "If you truly cared for the children, we wouldn't be at this point. Make up your mind about going to the Civil Affairs Bureau. If you don't want to go, then forget it. I can afford to wait, but you can't. Let's see who will still want you when you're forty and past your prime."
Mari doesn't want to leave, but Lu Jiajie is no longer willing to continue their marriage. Even if he isn't seeing another woman at the moment, he probably will eventually, and who knows if he'll be persuaded to give their house and money to her in the future.
It must be said that Mari's parents have been quite successful in brainwashing her.
The two go to the Civil Affairs Bureau, where the staff tries to mediate, as divorces are quite rare these days.
Lu Jiajie interrupts, "Enough. I will not stay with a woman whose heart only belongs to her parental family. I will give her the house, and on top of that, I will give her an additional five thousand yuan. As long as she doesn't use this money to support her family, she can live comfortably with her job."
Concerned, the staff member asks, "But where will you and your child live if you give away your house to this comrade?"
Lu Jiajie replies, "I have an uncle who lives alone. I will stay with him temporarily and buy another place once I've earned enough money."
Mari, however, cannot bear to hear this: "Lu Jiajie, don't play the victim here. You've made enough money in the last two years to buy two or three houses."
Lu Jiajie refutes this: "I've made some money in business, but after buying a house and paying for laundry, cooking, and transportation services, and now with the additional five thousand yuan in compensation, I don't have much left."
Mari doesn't believe him, but she has no evidence to prove otherwise.
Hearing this, the staff member stops trying to persuade them. It seems that some people don't know a good thing when they have it—a large house and someone to do their laundry and cooking.
The two obtain their divorce certificates and walk out of the Civil Affairs Bureau. Mari wipes her tears and says to Lu Jiajie, "For the sake of our eight years of marriage, I beg you, if you remarry, please choose a woman who will treat our children well."
Lu Jiajie, initially annoyed, softens upon seeing her swollen, red eyes from crying. "You don't need to worry about that. If I remarry, I will definitely choose someone kind and good to the children."
Mari's heart twinges at his lack of assurance that he won't remarry, and her tears fall, making her look pitiful.
Sighing at the sight, Lu Jiajie says, "With your job, savings, and house, you should forget about remarrying and just find a man to marry into your family. If you can't find one in the city, look in the countryside. Have a son who takes your surname, and your parents will no longer exploit you to support Ma Jixiang."
Knowing Ma's parents as he does, Lu Jiajie is certain they will scheme to take Mari's money and somehow get the house under Ma Jixiang's name.
Lu Jiajie is no saint, and he knows that if Mari doesn't live well in the future, she will come running to Qiangqiang and Xiaofeng.
For the sake of his children, Lu Jiajie changes his approach and advises, "Ma Jixiang is lazy, greedy, and a thief. That good-for-nothing will be lucky if he doesn't end up a murderer or arsonist. How can he possibly support your parents in their old age? If you truly want to be filial, find a man to marry into your family, have a son with the Ma surname, and raise him well. That way, not only will the Ma family lineage continue, but your parents will also have something to look forward to in their old age."
Mari remained silent, her head bowed.
Seeing her like this, Lu Jiajie turned and left. He had said all he wanted to say, and if she chose to ignore his advice and end up alone and miserable in her old age, that was her decision.
Mari stood at the door for a good half-hour before finally returning to the Ma residence, divorce certificate in hand. Upon seeing it, Ma's mother grabbed her hand and consoled her, "He's a heartless man. It's better to be rid of him. You can find someone who will truly want to spend the rest of their life with you."
Hearing these words, Mari's mind involuntarily recalled Lu Jiajie's advice, and she said, "Mother, this time, I want to marry into another family."
If Lu Jiajie had married into her family in the first place, their children would have carried the Ma surname, and her parents wouldn't have constantly demanded money from her because of Ma Jixiang. Perhaps then, she and Jiajie would still be happily married. Unlike now, where divorce meant the children would be separated from their father.
Ma's mother was stunned, "You... what did you say?"
Mari became more convinced that this was the right path, "I want to marry into another family. That way, the children can keep the Ma surname, and you'll have more grandchildren to carry on the Ma family name."
"But at your age, what man would be willing to marry into our family?"
Without hesitation, Mari replied, "If I can't find one in the city, then I'll look in the countryside. I have a job, money, and a large house. There will be no shortage of men willing to marry into my family. I don't need someone extraordinary; I just need someone diligent who will listen to me."
Ma's mother found the idea unreliable and tried to persuade her daughter to be more practical. Mari used to feel guilty about not carrying on the Ma family line, which made her compliant to her parents' demands. But Lu Jiajie's words made her realize that she had been on the wrong path, and having a son with the Ma surname would relieve her of that guilt.
Ma's mother couldn't convince her otherwise, so she decided to seek Ma's father's opinion. Unexpectedly, he didn't object, "First, find a doctor to perform a surgery on her. If the surgery is successful and she can have more children, then marrying into another family is fine. Nowadays, the country only allows one child. Who knows if Jixiang will only give birth to daughters in the future? Having more grandchildren means more descendants for the Ma family line."
Ma's mother usually followed her husband's lead, and since he agreed, she dropped her opposition.
After starting his business, Lu Jiajie became more thorough in his actions. Even though he wasn't physically present, he asked a friend to rent a house near the elementary school, with the kindergarten also in the vicinity. This arrangement made it very convenient for the two children to get to and from school.
Once they had moved their belongings into the rented house, Lu Jiajie went to find Lu JiaGuang and informed him of the divorce, "Big Brother, wasn't JiaXin planning to buy a house for Third Uncle? I intend to buy a place nearby at that time."
"Big Brother, your family of seven is living in such a small space. Big Brother, why don't you buy a place together with us? I can help with the money."
Lu JiaGuang sighed, "The children are growing up, and the current house is indeed too small. JiaXin mentioned this matter the last time she was home, saying she wanted to give us a house. How could we accept that? So, your sister-in-law and I decided to borrow money from JiaXin to buy a house instead."
Borrowing money to buy a house in their child's name would avoid a lot of disputes and troubles, and they wouldn't be scolded for it either.
Lu Jiajie thought to himself that it was indeed his sister who was most capable of handling these matters; neither he nor Third Uncle could match her.
Lu JiaGuang said, "Let's not tell Third Uncle about this for now. We can inform him after we've bought the house."
Lu Jiajie nodded in agreement.
(End of Chapter)
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