Chapter 120: Divorce or Change

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: Divorce or Change

"I’m sorry, I troubled you." Chen Xiu had just returned home and tidied up the kitchen. The two kids shouted that they were hungry, so she quickly started cooking again, making two more dishes, just in time for the children to eat as she finished stir-frying them.

Li Si ran out of the room, looked at the two green vegetable dishes on the table, and disdainfully picked through them with his chopsticks.

Chen Xiu glanced at him and said, "Don’t pick at the food. If you pick it apart like this, how can the rest of us eat?"

As soon as Chen Xiu said that, Li Si angrily flipped the table over. Li Lei and Li Sen hadn’t even taken a bite, and they were frightened by Li Si’s outburst, who had already started making things difficult for Chen Xiu.

The two children listened to Li Si criticize Chen Xiu, complaining about there being only vegetables and no meat, that the vegetables were overcooked, oil was too little, and salt was too much.

Yet, as they ate, they found nothing wrong with it. Besides, Chen Xiu’s cooking had always been like this; they had grown accustomed to it over the years.

"Scared you, didn’t it?" Fu Xiaoxiao came out carrying three large bowls of noodles and placed them in front of Chen Xiu and the two kids.

"Thank you! Sis." Chen Xiu looked gratefully at Fu Xiaoxiao. If it weren’t for her, she wouldn’t know where to take the kids.

The meal she had painstakingly prepared, Li Si didn’t eat, but instead had overturned, leaving her chest aching with anger.

"Sis-in-law, don’t be polite, quickly eat! You must all be starving by now." Fu Xiaoxiao urged them to dig in quickly; the noodles would taste bad if they turned mushy.

Chen Xiu looked at the two silent children, knowing that today’s events had taken a toll on them, and gestured for them to eat the noodles.

Though she was originally too angry to eat, the fragrance wafting to her nose tempted her appetite, and she obediently picked up her chopsticks to eat.

Soon after, only the sound of slurping noodles was left among the three.

Li Lei and Li Sen took bite after bite; having eaten nothing since getting up in the morning, starving through the afternoon, and with their dinner ruined by Li Si, they finally got a taste of hot soup, bringing tears to their eyes as they ate.

"Mom, call Uncle and Grandma!" Li Lei finished eating, put down his chopsticks, and loudly told his mother.

"This matter..." If her mother knew, there would be no room for turning back.

Chen Xiu glanced at the two children. Would Li Si be willing to give her both kids? Clearly, that was unlikely.

"We want to stay with you, not him." Li Sen looked at Chen Xiu, patting his chest.

"Alright." Chen Xiu ruffled the two children’s heads, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

Fu Xiaoxiao watching Chen Xiu like this, pulled Chen Xiu back to her room.

Meanwhile, Li Sen and Li Lei were outside in the courtyard playing with Lu Lin and the others.

"Sis, I’m not afraid to say it, I really want a divorce. But... would Li Si really agree to let me have both children?" Today, Li Si had broken Chen Xiu’s heart, but she knew it was impossible for Li Si to let her leave with both kids as she wished.

Fu Xiaoxiao understood the situation and comfortingly patted Chen Xiu. "He absolutely doesn’t have the time to take care of the kids. Even if they stay with him, he won’t last long."

"But he’ll always use that as an excuse to force you to stay." Fu Xiaoxiao’s next words made Chen Xiu freeze.

Because it was indeed something Li Si would do, using the children to force her to stay.

"If nothing out of the ordinary happens, the Women’s Federation will come and try to dissuade you from divorcing too." Fu Xiaoxiao understood that in today’s society, divorce is a significant issue. Unless there’s a major fault, it’s not simply a matter of deciding to divorce and going through with it.

Moreover, Chen Xiu’s marriage is a military marriage, protected by the army.

In other words, it’s not feasible to just divorce as one pleases.

The military would also conduct a review.

"So there really is no hope for divorce..." Chen Xiu sighed, as she thought the same.

"Though that’s the reality, you absolutely can’t show any weakness, you must let him see your stance on divorce." Fu Xiaoxiao patted Chen Xiu’s hand, suggesting that if divorce wasn’t possible, then change would be the option.

"What do you mean, Sis?" Chen Xiu looked at Fu Xiaoxiao, wanting to know her thoughts.

"No matter who tries to dissuade you, insist on wanting a divorce, let Li Si know you’re not so easily swayed back by others’ persuasion, show him your determination... and then we’ll..." Fu Xiaoxiao whispered in Chen Xiu’s ear, using a voice only the two of them could hear, offering her advice and strategy.

"Do you think it’ll work?" Chen Xiu looked at Fu Xiaoxiao, her eyes bright.

"It’s worth a try, isn’t it? He’s just been spoiled by you. You’ve been accommodating him too much over the years. The more you don’t show a temper, the more he thinks you’re easy to bully, raising issues unnecessarily." Fu Xiaoxiao pointed out the core of the problem.

Essentially, Li Si has been spoiled by Chen Xiu.

"In the future, don’t make excuses for him, thinking he’s too tired from training, or that he needs to be taken care of when he returns from a mission." Fu Xiaoxiao earnestly told Chen Xiu. "Respect is mutual. You’re his wife, not his servant."

"Uh-huh." Chen Xiu nodded, "Now that you say it, I understand. In the past, I did tend to think he was tired from training, so I didn’t let him help with anything, that was my mistake."

When they first got married, they were affectionate, and she always sympathized with how hard his training was, so she didn’t let him touch anything.

Over time, he got used to it, and even when he saw her busy, he wouldn’t come over to help.

Fu Xiaoxiao is right, it was her mistake, spoiling him too much.

"So now everything has to change. In this household, no one has it easy. You’ve also contributed, but he simply doesn’t see it and takes it for granted." Fu Xiaoxiao told Chen Xiu seriously.

"Food doesn’t cook itself, floors don’t clean themselves, clothes don’t fold themselves, doing one thing alone might not seem like a big deal, but what about when they all add up?" Fu Xiaoxiao’s words made Chen Xiu pause.

This was a problem she had never considered.

Everything seemed like a small matter, something she could just do with ease.

"You wash one set of clothes, and elsewhere Li Si dirties them again, and you have to wash them again, aren’t there plenty of such situations?" Fu Xiaoxiao had witnessed Chen Xiu repeating the same tasks more than once.

Chen Xiu fell silent, indeed... it was just as she described.

"You tidy up in the front, and they make a mess in the back. Things you’ve just organized quickly become cluttered again; all your time at home is spent on these chores, aren’t you exhausted? Just watching you makes me tired for you." Fu Xiaoxiao shook her head, feeling drained just watching her.

Being too capable is sometimes not a good thing.

Chen Xiu is the type that can’t stand the sight of any mess.

"So from now on, just pretend you don’t see it and make them learn to tidy up." Fu Xiaoxiao advised earnestly.

"But they’re so young! How could they do chores?" Chen Xiu found it hard to believe the two kids could handle housework, not to mention that kids today mainly focused on playing.

"If you don’t teach them, how will they learn? Look at my family, haven’t you always envied us? Now I’m giving you a chance to have sons like mine, do you want it?" Fu Xiaoxiao looked at Chen Xiu, tempting her.

Chen Xiu swallowed her saliva, imagining her two mischievous boys obediently tidying the house, doing laundry, mopping, and handling chores?

"...Sis, just tell me! Whatever you say, I’ll do." Chen Xiu decided resolutely.