I took a look at the quest rewards. The experience points were nothing to write home about—accumulate 100 and you get to pick a treasure.
But the Breathing Card was rather intriguing, so I casually tapped on it.
[After using this Item, you will earn one yuan for every breath you take. Duration: 24 hours. The reward will be distributed after the timer ends.]
"A reward like this actually exists!"
I took out my phone and did a quick search on Baidu.
The average person breathes about 23,000 to 28,000 times a day.
That meant as long as I completed this quest, I'd get at least 23,000 yuan in cash!
Next, Lin Jiang turned his attention to the "Evaluation Label."
[Upon receiving the reward, you can view the Evaluation Labels others have for you. Duration: seven days.]
'What the hell?'
'View the Evaluation Labels others have for me?'
'What kind of garbage is that?'
'Well, at least there's the Breathing Card. Over twenty thousand yuan is a decent amount no matter how you slice it.'
CREAK—
Just then, the sound of the door being pushed open broke the silence.
He thought it was a customer, but it turned out to be Chen Jingjia. She was faster than he'd expected.
Chen Jingjia wore a bohemian, blue floral dress with black Dior flats. Her entire demeanor seemed much more mature.
But after entering, she just stood by the door, keeping as much distance from Lin Jiang as possible.
Xu Lin, who was in the middle of eating her noodles, glanced back, her eyes lingering for a few seconds.
As the next-door neighbor who often brought her kid over for noodles, she had naturally attended Lin Jiang's wedding last week.
She recognized Chen Jingjia the moment she walked in, but then she just lowered her head and went back to her noodles.
"I've packed up all your things. They're in the hallway; you'll see them on your way out," Lin Jiang said, taking the initiative. His voice was devoid of emotion.
You might dodge Hiroshima, but you can't dodge Nagasaki. What's coming will eventually arrive.
Even though the wedding was off, they were bound to see each other again. After all, she still hadn't collected her things, and the divorce papers weren't signed yet.
Marriage was like that. The best you could hope for was to part on good terms. You can't force things to work if they're not meant to be.
In terms of looks and figure, Chen Jingjia was definitely above average. She would turn a lot of heads on the street.
But for some reason, over the last six months, she'd gotten obsessed with those scripted couples on Douyin. Her temper had gotten shorter and her moods more volatile.
It got to the point where, on their wedding day, she demanded he give every one of her relatives a red envelope with 1,888 yuan, or she'd call the whole thing off.
It was the kind of unreasonable demand that, aside from a total simp, even a dog would find ridiculous. The conflict blew up at the wedding, and they never actually got married.
"I asked around, there's a one-month cooling-off period for a divorce. Are you free tomorrow? Let's go to the Civil Affairs Bureau and get the process started."
"Okay."
"Even though we're divorcing, I don't think we need to act like enemies. Let's have an amicable split and both be mature about this."
"Isn't the atmosphere between us pretty harmonious right now? I'd say this is pretty good."
"If you get the chance, you should try to strive for more. A man can't spend his whole life like this. There's no future in running a noodle shop."
"I think it's fine. It makes money, and I'm my own boss," Lin Jiang replied calmly.
Chen Jingjia shook her head in resignation. "I've already drafted the agreement. We don't have any shared assets, so there's nothing to divide. What's yours is yours, and what's mine is mine. No splitting anything, so neither of us is taking advantage of the other."
With that, she took the divorce agreement out of her bag. Lin Jiang glanced at it; the main point was about the division of property.
Since the marital relationship technically continues during the cooling-off period, the agreement stipulated that any assets acquired by either party during this time would remain their sole property, not marital property.
Lin Jiang found it a little amusing. Including the one-month cooling-off period, their entire "marriage" would last less than two months, yet she was being so formal about it. 'Still, this is for the best,' he thought. 'It's better for both of us to have everything spelled out clearly.'
After reading it over and seeing no issues, Lin Jiang signed his name.
The agreement was in duplicate. After he signed, Chen Jingjia took her copy and left. By then, Xu Lin had also finished her meal.
"You can make a little less for me next time. I'm already feeling a bit stuffed."
"This is already half a portion," Lin Jiang said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Xu Lin's expression was a bit helpless as she said self-deprecatingly,
"Well, a woman has to watch her weight. Especially one my age. My metabolism isn't what it used to be like with the young girls, so I have to be extra careful."
"That can't be right. I'd say an 18-year-old's metabolism is supposed to be at its peak, isn't it?"
"You certainly have a way with words. Such a sweet-talker."
Xu Lin was shaking with laughter, but she didn't dare laugh too loudly, afraid of getting crow's feet.
[Received praise from your female neighbor. Charm +1.]
The sudden notification took Lin Jiang by surprise. 'So there's a hidden feature like this, too.'
"It's all true. My greatest virtue is honesty," Lin Jiang said with a chuckle.
"I'll take your word for it, then."
They chatted and laughed, growing a little closer. Lin Jiang had achieved his goal.
Xu Lin stood up, straightened her dress, and checked her reflection in her phone one last time to make sure her makeup was still perfect. Only then did she pick up the bag of fruit she'd bought and get ready to head home.
"I've sent the payment. I'm heading back now."
Seeing the exclamation mark over Xu Lin's head, Lin Jiang frowned, feeling a bit anxious.
It was already three in the afternoon. Her son was in elementary school; he remembered her mentioning once that the boy went to Huaihe Second Primary School, which seemed to let out at five.
That meant he only had two hours left on the quest timer.
If he missed this chance, the quest would fail!
"Sister Lin, let me help you with that. I was just about to close up and head home myself."
"Closing up this early?"
"I've been feeling a bit under the weather the last couple of days. Figured I'd head home and rest," Lin Jiang said, making up a quick excuse.
"Well, in that case, I won't refuse your kindness."
Lin Jiang noticed that Xu Lin was quite beautiful when she smiled, possessing the distinct charm of a mature woman.
"We're neighbors. Don't mention it."
Lin Jiang gathered the dishes, closed and locked up the shop at lightning speed, then walked home with Xu Lin.
As they walked through the residential complex, Lin Jiang carried her bags, his mind racing, trying to figure out how to complete the quest.
Just then, Lin Jiang saw a BMW X5 drive out from deeper in the complex and head toward them.
Lin Jiang hadn't paid any attention to the car at first, but then he did a double-take—Chen Jingjia was sitting in the passenger seat.
A man was driving, wearing sunglasses and a white polo shirt. He stared straight ahead, as if the rest of the world didn't exist.
Lin Jiang chuckled. 'What a seamless transition.'
Still, this whole "divorce right out of the gate" scenario...
...doesn't it feel a lot like the classic "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west; do not scorn a young man for his poverty" trope?