The divorce comeback system arrived right after I was born.

Chen Zhi had no idea that his own mother was watching him closely in the supermarket.

As the car turned into the residential area, he glanced out the window.

It was the same old neighborhood. Several old bicycles were piled up at the entrance of the building, and there was a notice from the property management company on the wall. An old man sat under the shade of a tree, fanning himself with a palm leaf fan.

Pei Ningxue was also looking out the window, without saying a word.

"What's wrong?" Chen Zhi turned his head.

"It's nothing," Pei Ningxue said, looking away. "I just think...it's pretty good."

"What's so good about it?"

"The place where you grew up."

Chen Zhi paused for a moment, then didn't reply.

Old Zhao parked the car downstairs at the apartment building, and Chen Zhi got out and opened the trunk to get his things. Pei Ningxue also got out and reached for the bags.

"Don't take it, I'll do it."

"I'm not disabled." Pei Ningxue picked up a bag of fruit and held a milk in her other hand.

Chen Zhi couldn't persuade her otherwise, so he carried the rest of the things himself, and the two of them walked into the stairwell.

Pei Ningxue followed slowly behind Chen Zhi.

Are you nervous?

"Who's nervous?"

Chen Zhi chuckled and continued walking uphill.

We arrived at our doorstep.

Chen Zhi reached out one hand to press the doorbell.

No one answered.

He pressed it again.

Still no one.

"My dad should be home..." Chen Zhi took out his keys and opened the door.

When the door was pushed open, the living room was empty, the TV was off, and there was a half-cold cup of tea on the coffee table.

"dad?"

No one responded.

Chen Zhi put his things in the entryway, changed into slippers, and went inside. No one was in the kitchen, and no one was in the bedroom either.

He took out his phone, ready to make a call, when he suddenly noticed a note on the coffee table.

"I went fishing, I'll be back tonight."

Chen Zhi turned the note over; there was another line of text on the back, which his mother had added.

"There's mung bean soup in the pot, help yourself. Your dad went fishing, don't worry about him, he'll probably fail again."

Chen Zhi put the note down and turned around to wave at Pei Ningxue.

"Come in, no one's home. My dad went fishing, and my mom probably went out to buy groceries."

Pei Ningxue changed into the slippers Chen Zhi had found, and walked into the living room wearing those cotton slippers that were clearly two sizes too big.

The house wasn't big, just two bedrooms and a living room, typical of an old neighborhood, but it was kept very clean. A family photo hung on the living room wall; Chen Zhi looked about twelve or thirteen years old, standing between his parents with a smug grin.

Pei Ningxue stood in front of the photo and looked at it for a few seconds.

"Were you like this when you were a kid?"

"What kind of behavior is this?"

"That arrogant attitude."

Chen Zhi ignored her and began sorting the groceries from the supermarket and putting them into the refrigerator. She washed a plate of cherries and placed it on the coffee table.

Pei Ningxue sat on the sofa, picked up a cherry, and looked around.

"Where is your room?"

"The innermost one."

"Can I take a look?"

"Look around as you like."

Pei Ningxue got up, walked over, and pushed open the door to the room.

A single bed, a desk, and bookshelves crammed with high school textbooks and reference books. Next to the desk drawer stands an old pen holder with several worn-out pencils inside.

Pei Ningxue stood in front of the desk for a while, then reached out and touched the scratches on the surface.

"How many years have you been doing your homework at this table?"

"From elementary school to high school, twelve years." Chen Zhi leaned against the door frame.

Pei Ningxue didn't speak, her fingers slowly sliding along the scratches.

"Let's go, stop looking, it's nothing special." Chen Zhi patted the door frame.

Pei Ningxue returned to the living room, sat down, and ate two cherries.

Chen Zhi went to the kitchen, ladled out two bowls of mung bean soup, and handed one to her.

"Let's have something to eat first, and then my mom will cook dinner when she gets back."

Pei Ningxue took the bowl and took a sip.

"So sweet."

"My mom always puts rock sugar in her mung bean soup because she thinks white sugar is unhealthy."

The two sat on the sofa drinking mung bean soup. The TV wasn't on, and the living room was quiet.

The window was open, and the sound of cicadas chirping could be heard outside, along with Peking Opera playing on the radio from the old man downstairs.

Pei Ningxue suddenly asked, "Does your mother dislike me?"

"How could that be?"

"I'm serious." Pei Ningxue put down her bowl. "Your mother knows Lin Wanwan, and the two families are neighbors. If I suddenly appeared, I would feel uncomfortable too if I were your mother."

Chen Zhi thought for a moment but couldn't find a reason to refute it.

"Then...you should behave a little better?"

Pei Ningxue glanced at him.

"When have I ever been naughty?"

Chen Zhi wisely chose to keep quiet.

Just then, the sound of a key unlocking the door came from the doorway.

Both of them looked towards the entrance at the same time.

The door opened.

Zhang Guifang stood at the door with shopping bags in her hand, her expression calm.

It's too peaceful.

Chen Zhi stood up: "Mom, you're back?"

Zhang Guifang changed into slippers, put the shopping bag on the shoe cabinet, and looked up at the living room.

Her gaze shifted from Chen Zhi to Pei Ningxue on the sofa, pausing for two seconds.

Then it was moved back to Chen Zhi.

"You didn't even call ahead when you got back." Zhang Guifang's tone was unreadable.

"I want to give you a surprise—"

"It was quite a surprise indeed." Zhang Guifang carried the shopping bags into the kitchen, her voice coming from inside. "Did you have your mung bean soup?"

"I drank it."

"Wash your own dishes."

Chen Zhi turned and glanced at Pei Ningxue.

Pei Ningxue had already stood up, her hands folded in front of her, her posture upright.

Chen Zhi took a deep breath and walked to the kitchen door.

"Mom, let me introduce you—"

"I don't need your introduction."

Zhang Guifang came out of the kitchen, still clutching the bunch of scallions she had just bought at the supermarket. She stood in the middle of the living room, looking Pei Ningxue up and down.

"Young lady, what's your name?"

"Hello, Auntie, my name is Pei Ningxue."

Pei Ningxue's voice was much softer than usual, carrying a kind of docile quality that Chen Zhi had never heard before in the company.

"Pei Ningxue." Zhang Guifang repeated the name, nodded, and said, "Sit down, don't stand."

Pei Ningxue sat back down on the sofa.

Zhang Guifang didn't immediately ask any further questions, but turned around and went into the kitchen to start preparing the vegetables.

Chen Zhi followed him inside.

"mom--"

"Take out the cutting board."

"Mom, listen to me—"

"The knife is in the second drawer."

"mom!"

Zhang Guifang put down the scallions in her hand and turned around.

She stared at Chen Zhi's face, her voice very low.

"You broke up with Wanwan?"

"no."

Zhang Guifang wiped her hands on her apron.

"If you haven't broken up, then who's that person outside?"

"She's also my girlfriend."

There was a three-second silence in the kitchen.

Zhang Guifang picked up the cutting board and slammed it onto the stove with a "smack".

"Chen Zhi, say that again?"

Chen Zhi took half a step back.

"Mom, please calm down—"

"Why should I get so worked up? My son is two-timing me, what's there to be upset about?" Zhang Guifang wanted to curse, but she was afraid Pei Ningxue outside would hear. "What's wrong with you? Is this how your father and I raised you?"

"Mom, it's a long story—"

"Make it quick."

Chen Zhi organized his thoughts.

"She's my business partner, a graduate of Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, and comes from a very well-off family. We—"

"Did I ask about your family's financial situation?" Zhang Guifang interrupted him. "What I'm asking is, what exactly is going on between you and Wanwan? That girl from the Lin family grew up with you since you were little, and now you've found someone else outside. How can you face her?"

"I haven't dated anyone else, Wanwan is still my girlfriend."

Zhang Guifang was stunned.

It took her several seconds to process what she was saying.

"You mean...both?"

Chen Zhi remained silent.

Zhang Guifang took a deep breath, then picked up a kitchen knife and began chopping scallions.

"Thump thump thump thump" - the sound of the knife chopping on the cutting board was urgent and heavy.