Chapter 231: Make a Clean Break and Divorce After Seeing the Truth

Lu Shijing smiled. "I didn’t help much, just made a phone call. It was really all you."

Though he said that, Lu Shijing was overjoyed inside. ’Shengsheng praised me... Does this mean she has a good impression of me now?’

Gu Shengsheng continued, "I noticed you were walking a little stiffly just now. Were you standing there the whole time?"

"Mhm." He nodded. "Watching your livestream."

He thought for a moment, feeling that was too blunt, and added, "It was great."

He sounded very serious, but also a little awkward.

He wasn’t a very expressive person to begin with, but after studying those *Chasing Wife Rules* online, he was forcing himself to be more talkative.

Gu Shengsheng: "..."

All things considered, today had gone very smoothly, and everything she needed to do was completed perfectly.

The only thing she worried about now was Mrs. Ma. The birth itself was fine, but what about the future?

Lost in thought, the two of them arrived at the hospital and found the room using the address Ma Yaowen had given them.

Ma Yaowen was just coming back with congee.

"Mr. Lu, Miss Gu," he said. "You’re here!"

Gu Shengsheng asked, "How is Mrs. Ma? Is she okay?"

"She’s fine, she’s fine. The baby’s been born. A beautiful little girl. She looks just like my wife," Ma Yaowen said, his face beaming with pride.

"It’s all thanks to you, Miss Gu. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have made it here in time to be with her for the birth. You handled the work perfectly, too." Ma Yaowen’s face was filled with admiration and gratitude.

Gu Shengsheng shook her head. "I was just doing my job, Mr. Ma."

"But I think there’s an issue you need to start thinking about right now."

"The issue between your wife and your mother. I assume you’re already clear on everything that happened today. Your mother wanted your child to be born on the first day of the lunar month and insisted on Mrs. Ma having a C-section. Not to mention all those other superstitious things."

"She wanted a boy, but Mrs. Ma had a girl. That’s another point of conflict."

"So, what are you going to do about all this?" Gu Shengsheng genuinely wanted to hear Ma Yaowen’s opinion.

After all, Gu Shengsheng had always believed that a major reason conflicts between a wife and her mother-in-law become so severe is the son’s failure to act.

Ma Yaowen hesitated. "Miss Gu, I... I don’t know."

Hearing this, Gu Shengsheng said nothing. She crossed her arms and waited for him to continue.

"One is my mother, and the other is my wife. When our child was stillborn years ago, my mother was devastated. For her to do something like this now... I don’t know what to do."

"Thankfully, my wife is safe. I think... if I just have a good talk with my mother later, she’ll change."

That was just what Gu Shengsheng expected to hear.

She was disappointed, but she also understood. Everyone chooses their own path.

Just as she was about to turn and leave, a nurse came out of the room pushing a cart. "You can all go in now. The patient said she’d like to speak with you."

"Her energy level is pretty good at the moment."

Gu Shengsheng nodded, and the three of them went inside.

Once inside, Gu Shengsheng saw Mrs. Ma lying on the bed, looking haggard. Her lips were completely colorless. Her eyes were full of broken blood vessels, likely from the strain.

Gu Shengsheng’s heart ached as she took her cold hand. "You need to rest and recover," she said.

Mrs. Ma nodded, her face filled with gratitude as she looked at Gu Shengsheng. "Miss Gu, my daughter and I will be indebted to you for the rest of our lives."

"No, no, it was nothing. I don’t deserve such thanks," Gu Shengsheng said quickly.

Then Mrs. Ma looked at her husband, hesitating for a moment. "I heard what you were saying outside," she said.

Ma Yaowen sighed. "About this, I’ll have Mom apologize to you."

"What she did was wrong!"

Mrs. Ma lowered her gaze. "I know. I figured that would be your solution."

"But, Yaowen, you have no idea what it feels like to be on the verge of death. You have no idea that your mom was driving me to my grave."

"For so long, I’ve genuinely treated her like my own mother. But in her eyes, I’m just an expendable outsider."

Seeing her grow hysterical, Ma Yaowen rushed over to hold her.

He rubbed her back to soothe her, murmuring, "It’s okay now, it’s okay..."

She was crying with utter despair, and Gu Shengsheng could feel that she was trying to let out all the grief she had been holding in.

But her despair was tinged with a bleak sadness. Because Ma Yaowen didn’t understand. As her husband, he had failed to protect her, and now, his attempt to make amends felt so utterly trivial.

As outsiders, Gu Shengsheng and Lu Shijing didn’t say much. This was something the couple had to resolve themselves.

Then Mrs. Ma said, "I think... I’ll go back to my parents’ home for my postpartum confinement."

"I’ll go home, and then after the three-month cooling-off period, we’ll get a divorce."

At her words, Ma Yaowen’s hand froze. "What did you say?" he asked.

"I told you, you need to understand Mom. Losing the baby was a huge blow to her too. In any case, no one got hurt in the end. Everything is fine now, isn’t it?"

Mrs. Ma flared up at once. "Fine? Just because nothing happened to me, the person who made the mistake doesn’t need to be punished?"

"Ma Yaowen, I even thought to myself that we could move out and just visit your mom regularly to care for her. I would have even been fine with sending her to a nursing home."

"But... you never even suggested it. I don’t think my requests have ever been unreasonable. I’ve always tried to be a good wife and a good daughter-in-law. But in the end, what do I have?"

"I don’t want my baby girl to grow up being despised by her own grandmother and treated differently by the family. Life is hard enough for girls as it is. Why should she have to endure that from your mom?"

"So, for my child’s sake, I want a divorce."

Ma Yaowen started to speak again, but Mrs. Ma cut him off. "Go. I want to be alone."

"Shengsheng, thank you. You stay. I’d like to talk with you alone for a moment."

Gu Shengsheng nodded.

Then she said, "Mrs. Ma, if you get a divorce... your future, your livelihood... have you really thought it all through?"

"I have." Mrs. Ma nodded. "After walking through the gates of hell and back, I’ve made up my mind. If I stay in that house, I think I’ll go crazy sooner or later and end up jumping off a building with my child in my arms."

"Since I know it will only end badly, there’s no point in forcing it." She seemed to have finally found release.

Gu Shengsheng nodded and gave her a hug. "If you need any help in the future, you can call me."

"Okay," Mrs. Ma said, taking her hand. "Shengsheng, the man next to you is Mr. Lu, right?"

"I can tell he’s very much in love with you."

Hearing that, Gu Shengsheng was suddenly flustered.

She said, "Between him and me... I think our connection is more tenuous than that."