Chapter Seven: Processing

The main house was quite spacious, covering over thirty square meters. The old man had bought some bricks and built the walls himself, dividing one room into three separate spaces.

Upon entering, there was a small sitting room furnished with a square eight-immortal table and four chairs. In the center stood a coal-burning stove, its chimney extending out through the window. There was also a cabinet.

On either side of the sitting room lay two small bedrooms. When the old man was alive, he and another person each occupied one side.

Approaching the side where the old man used to live, Li Yancheng opened the cabinet against the wall and rummaged inside for a while, finally pulling out the household register and a marriage certificate.

Having found what he needed, just as he was about to close the cabinet door, something occurred to him. He crouched down, feeling along the bottom shelf, and pried up a wooden panel. Sliding his hand beneath, he retrieved a modest-sized redwood box.

Without even glancing at it, the moment the redwood box was removed, it vanished instantly.

Inside that redwood box was his entire inheritance left by the old man—three large yellow croaker fish, several pieces of gold jewelry, and a bankbook containing over four thousand yuan, most of which he had saved while serving in the military.

During his time in the army, he hardly spent money. Aside from buying cigarettes and daily necessities, there was little need for cash.

He carefully replaced the wooden panel and closed the cabinet. Then, from a nearby bookshelf, he took two traditional Chinese medicine books left by the old man. Returning to his own room, he dug out a military-style shoulder bag, packed the books and household register inside, and slung it over his shoulder.

“Brother Cheng, are you ready yet?”

Jin Wenning, already home and dressed in a smock, lifted the curtain and stepped inside.

“All set. Let’s go.”

“You said you’re going to the neighborhood office, right?”

“Yeah.”

“For what?”

“Uh... to get a divorce certificate. I forgot to handle it earlier. Yesterday I remembered and figured it’s best to get it done quickly, so no one can use it against me later.”

The two left the room. Li Yancheng locked the door behind them and, walking toward the front courtyard, said,

“Since you’re going to get the divorce certificate, will her family’s affairs still affect you?”

“It’s been a year; it shouldn’t have any more impact. The reason I want to get the paperwork done is just to avoid any sticky situations in the future.”

Thinking about his ex-wife’s family, Li Yancheng could barely restrain his urge to drag the original owner out and give him a good beating.

The guy was just too careless.

Sure, the person was introduced by the neighborhood director, and trusting Director Fang was understandable, but this was his own lifelong matter—shouldn’t he have been more attentive and done some research?

If it weren’t for the fact that the ex ran away earlier this year, he wouldn’t even have known that the cotton mill in Dianhai District used to belong to her family.

He could pick up clues just by sifting through memories, but the original owner foolishly thought her family was just an ordinary textile worker’s household—truly naive.

“Brother Cheng, when will your rural medical support end?”

“Next month. Why?”

“Well... I want you to tutor me. Our school is closed now, and we don’t know when classes will resume. I’m about to start middle school, and my brother lent me some textbooks, but I don’t understand much.”

“Wanting to learn is a good thing.” Li Yancheng reached out and patted the girl’s head. “No problem. When I get back next month, I’ll help you.”

“Hehe, thanks, Brother Cheng.” The girl turned her head and smiled, showing her teeth.

Judging by her age, the girl was about twelve. By the time college entrance exams resumed, she would be only twenty-two—well positioned to pursue a university education and strive for a different future.

Li Yancheng, after all, had a master’s degree in accounting from 211 University, so tutoring students was second nature.

The two—one grown, one young—walked and talked together, greeting neighbors along the alleyways. By half-past eleven, they arrived at the Coal Mountain neighborhood office.

The staff there were well aware of his situation. The old director had been dismissed; no one wanted to get involved in this mess. When they heard he was there to handle divorce procedures, they acted swiftly.

They even waived the need for a work unit introduction letter, instead issuing one on the spot with the neighborhood office’s official seal. After a flurry of stamping, in under ten minutes, the marriage certificate—looking much like an award certificate—was exchanged for an equally official-looking divorce certificate.

The marital status on the household register was also updated to “divorced.”

Holding the thin divorce certificate, Li Yancheng examined it closely and exhaled deeply.

“Yancheng, you feel relieved now, right?”

“Sister Song, you don’t know how I couldn’t sleep at night thinking I forgot to formally handle it. Now I can finally rest easy.”

“Haha, I understand. From now on, always be more cautious, so you don’t get betrayed and end up helping the wrong people count their money.”

“You’re right. Carelessness is definitely unacceptable.” Li Yancheng nodded in agreement, then asked, “Sister Song, where’s the phone here? I want to call Zhihai and tell him Wenning and I will eat out for lunch, so we won’t be going to their station.”

“The duty room has one.”

“Okay, I’ll head over then. You go ahead with your work.”

“Go ahead.”

“Goodbye, Sister Song!”

“Goodbye, Wenning.”

Most of the staff at the office lived nearby, so they saw each other constantly and were well acquainted.

Last year, Li Yancheng’s marriage had been so swift that hardly anyone knew about it. Even the marriage certificate was handled personally by Director Fang.

Furthermore, the ex-wife’s family had always been in Dianhai District, so few in the East City District knew much about the Chen family. Those who did, upon learning the marriage was official, kept quiet, which later led to the complications.

Li Yancheng took Jin Wenning to the duty room to call her brother. When Jin Zhihai heard he was back and that his sister would be eating out, he immediately decided to come, repeatedly urging them to wait at the neighborhood office.

From the sounds of the call, he seemed almost drooling.

“Ningning, do you think we should wait for your brother?”

After the call, standing at the office gate, Li Yancheng lit a cigarette and asked with a mischievous grin.

“Hehe, if we just leave, my brother will definitely give me a scolding tonight.”

“No worries. With your sister-in-law around, he won’t dare do anything to you.”

Jin Zhihai’s wife doted on this little sister-in-law, who had lost her mother at birth and her father at four years old. She truly raised her as her own daughter.

Before marrying in two years ago, the girl had been thin and dark-skinned. Now, thanks to her sister-in-law’s care, she was fair-skinned, adorable, and pretty—neighbors who saw her couldn’t help but praise her.

Truly, the sister-in-law was exemplary.