After sending her daughter back to school, Li Man took out her phone and made a call to Chen Xiao Hui.
Li Man had three good friends that she frequently hung out with. They were Gu Ya, Tan Xi Yuan and Chen Xiao Hui. Gu Ya and Tan Xi Yuan were Li Man's university classmates and roommates. After graduating, they stayed in Shenzhen to develop their careers.
Chen Xiao Hui was Li Man's former colleague. She was two years older than Li Man. The two got along very well and kept in touch.
Chen Xiao Hui was 39 years old. One year after her divorce, she married a lawyer and had a 14-year-old daughter who was very beautiful and lived with her.
Gu Ya was the same age as Li Man, both 37 years old. Gu Ya was determined to marry into a wealthy family, so she didn't find her Mr. Right until she was 32. Her husband was 25 years older than her. They had been married for 4 years and had three children, but all were daughters. She was still trying for a fourth child, vowing not to stop until she gave birth to a son to inherit her husband's family business.
Tan Xi Yuan was the youngest at 36 years old. She had been married for 10 years but was unable to conceive a child.
"Why are you calling me so early in the morning? Do you have something going on?" Chen Xiao Hui's cheerful voice came through the phone.
"Have you had breakfast yet? Let's go out and I'll treat you," Li Man said.
"Bearing gifts for no reason, you must be up to something. Tell me, what do you need my help with?" Chen Xiao Hui saw right through her.
Li Man rubbed her nose helplessly and said, "I really can't hide anything from you. Let's meet up and I'll explain."
"Alright, where should we eat?"
"Qiang Ji!"
"Okay, see you in a bit."
After hanging up, Li Man drove to Qiang Ji.
She found a window seat and ordered a milk tea, rice noodles with intestine, and barbecued pork with rice.
Not long after sitting down, Chen Xiao Hui arrived. Since Li Man had chosen a window seat, she was very easy to spot as soon as Chen Xiao Hui entered.
"What's going on that you can't even tell me over the phone and have to treat me to breakfast?"
Chen Xiao Hui sat down across from Li Man and asked impatiently.
Li Man slid the menu in front of Chen Xiao Hui and said, "Order whatever you want, let's eat our fill first before we talk."
Chen Xiao Hui picked up the menu, muttering, "So mysterious, just trying to keep me in suspense."
Li Man smiled and said, "I'm afraid if I tell you now, we won't have any appetite left for breakfast."
"Why?" Chen Xiao Hui's eyes were gleaming with curiosity.
"Because we'll be too angry to eat."
Chen Xiao Hui was even more intrigued now. She urged, "Just tell me, tell me now. I don't care if I eat or not, I'm trying to lose weight anyway."
Li Man rolled her eyes. "Let me eat and drink my fill first. How will I have the energy to tell you otherwise?"
Chen Xiao Hui scoffed and ordered wonton noodles and lemon honey grapefruit tea.
After eating their fill, Li Man wiped her mouth with a napkin and slowly said, "My husband cheated on me!"
"Pffft..." The tea Chen Xiao Hui had just sipped spewed out of her mouth. She immediately burst into a fit of coughs. "Cough cough... what did you just say?"
Luckily Li Man dodged quickly, otherwise she would have been sprayed. She handed Chen Xiao Hui a napkin and scolded, "Disgusting, spewing all over the place. Hurry and wipe it up."
Chen Xiao Hui took the napkin and wiped her mouth while carefully asking again, "Your husband really cheated on you?"
Li Man took out her phone and played the audio recording from her dash cam for Chen Xiao Hui.
After listening, Chen Xiao Hui was furious. She ranted indignantly, "What a despicable pig of a man! All these years you dutifully served his mother, yet he was out philandering and having fun. Such a playboy, why didn't he just die from some venereal disease and put himself out of his misery? Men like this, death would be better than life!"
Li Man's nose soured as all the grievances welled up inside her and came pouring out with her tears.
Chen Xiao Hui quickly grabbed another napkin and handed it to her saying, "Go ahead and cry it out, you'll feel better after letting it all out."
Li Man took the napkin as stifled sobs escaped from her throat.