The divorce comeback system arrived right after I was born.

As Chen Zhi rushed out of the apartment building, he missed a step and fell forward, his knee hitting the concrete ground, making him wince in pain.

He didn't even bother to look at his wound; he got up and ran towards the entrance of the residential area.

He took out his phone and dialed Pei Ningxue's number.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently switched off."

He forced himself to stand still and catch his breath, then scrolled down his contacts and found a contact named "Old Zhao".

Pei Ningxue's private driver.

"Mr. Chen...?"

There was a hint of hesitation in Lao Zhao's voice.

"Old Zhao, where is Pei Ningxue?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"President Pei..."

"explain."

Old Zhao sighed, a heavy sigh coming through the receiver.

"Half an hour ago, President Pei asked me to book the next available flight to Beijing."

"Where are they? Where are they now?"

"On their way to Tianhe Airport. President Pei didn't ask me to drive him; he called a ride-hailing service himself."

What time is the flight?

"Let me check... It's 11:20."

Chen Zhi glanced down at the time in the upper right corner of his phone.

Ten seventeen.

One hour.

It normally takes 40 minutes to drive from the old residential area to Tianhe Airport.

"Old Zhao, can you get in touch with her?"

"I called three times, but President Pei didn't answer." Old Zhao paused for a moment, "President Chen, before President Pei got into the car, I heard her voice sounded off on the phone."

"What do you mean?"

"It looks like...he's been crying."

Chen Zhi took the phone away from his ear and looked up at the sky.

Dark, heavy clouds loomed overhead, making it hard to breathe.

"Thank you, Lao Zhao."

He hung up the phone and ran to the road at the entrance of the residential area.

The old residential area is in the east of the city, in a remote location. At this hour, there's hardly a soul on the road, let alone a taxi. Chen Zhi stood under a streetlamp, looking to both sides, but there wasn't a single car in sight.

He opened his phone and called a ride-hailing service.

Estimated arrival time: 47 minutes.

There are three people ahead of me in the queue...

"Hold."

Chen Zhi closed the software, stood directly in the middle of the road, and stared in the direction where the car lights appeared in the distance.

Thirty seconds later, the roof light of a taxi swayed in from a distance.

He rushed forward, almost leaping onto the hood, and stopped the car.

The driver was so startled that he slammed on the brakes, rolled down the window, leaned out, and cursed halfway through. But after seeing Chen Zhi's expression, he swallowed his curse.

"Young man, are you out of your mind?"

Chen Zhi opened the back door and climbed in, took out his wallet from his pocket, pulled out a wad of red bills, and slapped them directly onto the passenger seat.

"Get to Tianhe Airport as quickly as possible. I'll cover all the points deductions and fines for running red lights."

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

The young man, his T-shirt was half-soaked, his knees were scraped, and his hair was a mess, looking like a madman.

"Hold on tight."

The driver stepped on the gas, and the car shot forward.

As soon as we got onto the main road, the sky seemed to crack.

A bolt of lightning struck, followed by a thunderclap, and then large raindrops pounded on the car roof.

Even with the wipers on their highest setting, they still couldn't keep up with the rain. The windshield was completely covered in water, making visibility extremely poor.

"Young man, this rain... needs to slow down."

"How much will it be reduced?"

"Sixty kilometers per hour is the maximum speed; any faster and I can't even see the road."

Chen Zhi closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the back of the front seat.

The pair of red ropes I was clutching were digging painfully into my palms.

I bought it by the sea in Shichahai.

It was made by an old lady.

She said something later.

"I will never take off what you gave me in my entire life."

The pair of red ropes now lie on the desk in the guest room, next to a box of takeout food that has barely been touched.

He wondered what Pei Ningxue had gone through that day.

In the morning, when he left, she didn't come out of the guest room.

She didn't say a word the entire time she ate noodles for lunch.

In the afternoon, he went to pick up Lin Wanwan.

That evening, he toasted with both families at the hotel, offering a toast to Lin Shuxian.

She was alone in the guest room.

I got hit on the foot by a fishing rod, the light bulb is broken, and the takeout is cold.

Then his mother came back, carrying a takeout bag inside. She stood up, bowed, and said, "Auntie, thank you for the trouble."

Chen Zhi loosened the red rope with his right hand, raised it, and slapped himself hard across the face.

"Snap—"

A crisp sound exploded in the carriage.

The driver was startled when he looked in the rearview mirror and almost swerved the steering wheel.

"Bro! What are you doing?!"

Chen Zhi ignored him.

His left cheek was burning with pain, which cleared his mind a bit.

"Master, how much further?"

"Normally it takes twenty-five minutes, but with this rain... it'll take half an hour."

10:32.

The flight departs at 11:20.

Check-in closes 45 minutes in advance.

That means he has a maximum of thirteen minutes left.

Thirteen minutes.

"Master, please."

The driver didn't say anything, but pressed the accelerator even harder.

The streetlights and neon lights outside the car window all turned into blurry halos of light, rushing past rapidly.

Chen Zhi turned down the brightness of his phone, opened WeChat, searched for Pei Ningxue's number, and sent a friend request.

He sent another WeChat message to Lao Zhao: "Could you help me find out which terminal President Pei's flight is at?"

Old Zhao replied quickly: "T2, China Southern Airlines CZ6586."

"Which section is the check-in counter in?"

"Section F, near the security checkpoint."

10:41.

The car drove onto the airport expressway ramp.

The rain had lessened a bit, but the water on the road was still deep. As the wheels rolled over it, water splashed onto the car windows, obscuring the view again.

Chen Zhi gripped his phone, repeatedly refreshing WeChat.

The status of the friend request remained unchanged.

She didn't pass.

They did not refuse.

10:48.

"We've arrived! Terminal 2 is just ahead."

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Chen Zhi pushed open the car door and jumped out.

The torrential rain poured down on him, soaking him from head to toe in just three seconds.

He ran towards the terminal gate.

The moment he stepped inside, the cold air from the air conditioner hit his soaked clothes, sending a shiver down his spine. He didn't care and rushed straight to the check-in counter in section F.

When I got to the counter, there was no one in line.

Check-in is closed.

He turned his head to look in the direction of the security checkpoint.

Even from a distance of several dozen meters, the line in front of the security checkpoint was already quite short.

Then he saw it.

At the end of the crowd, a figure wearing a beige trench coat, dragging a silver suitcase, was handing his ID card to the security personnel.

Her hair was loose over her shoulders, slightly curly, and her back was straight.

Chen Zhi's legs went weak for a moment, then he ran desperately in that direction.

The leather shoes stepped onto the marble floor, leaving a long trail of water stains.

He ran to the security checkpoint and shouted through that damned yellow line.

"Pei Ningxue!!"

The terminal was so big that echoes reverberated under the dome.

The surrounding passengers all turned to look at him.

A young man, soaking wet, stood outside the security checkpoint and called out a woman's name.

Pei Ningxue stopped in her tracks.

It paused for about a second.

Chen Zhi saw her shoulders tense slightly, then relax.

She didn't turn around.

The security personnel handed her her ID. She took it and walked straight through the turnstile.

The glass swivel doors of the turnstile slowly closed behind her.

Chen Zhi took two steps forward, but was grabbed by the arm by a hand.

"Sir! Sir, you can't go through! You can't enter the security checkpoint without a boarding pass!"

The airport security guards used an absurdly strong grip.

Chen Zhi tried to shake them off, but another one came.

Two uniformed security guards grabbed his arms, one on each side.

"Sir, please calm down!"

Chen Zhi did not struggle.

He was pressed to the spot, his eyes fixed on the receding figure in the security checkpoint.

Getting smaller and smaller.

further and further.

Then it turned a corner and disappeared.

When the two security guards released him, he fell directly to the ground.

The marble floor was cold, and my soaked trousers clung to my legs.

He lowered his head.

He gripped the red string in his palm too tightly, and the edge of the safety buckle on the knot was cut. Blood seeped from between his fingers, mingling with the rain and dripping onto the bright white floor.

He just sat there for about two or three minutes.

Passengers walked around him, some secretly taking photos with their phones, others muttering, "He's had too much to drink."

My phone rang in my pocket.

Chen Zhi mechanically took it out.

Lin Wanwan.

"Chen Zhi! How's everything going at the company? It's raining so hard outside, are you alright?"

Sweet and soft.

Chen Zhi opened his mouth.

"...It's all done."

"That's good! Why is your voice hoarse?"

"I got a little rained on."

"Oh? Why aren't you using an umbrella? Go home and take a hot shower right away, or you'll catch a cold!"

"Um."

"Then you should get some rest. I'll come visit you tomorrow! Goodnight!"

"……Good night."

The phone hangs up.

Chen Zhi sat on the floor of the airport terminal, holding his phone. He was surrounded by the stark white light of incandescent bulbs, and the flight information was being broadcast on a loop above his head.

He heard the boarding announcement for Pei Ningxue's flight.

"Attention passengers traveling to Beijing Daxing Airport, boarding for China Southern Airlines flight CZ6586 is now commenced..."

Chen Zhi closed his eyes briefly.

Then he pushed himself up from the ground.

He walked to the check-in counter.

When is the next flight to Beijing?

"Sir, the next bus is at 6:15 tomorrow morning."

"No more tonight?"

"The 11:20 PM flight is the last one tonight; check-in is already closed."

Chen Zhi stood in front of the counter, his hands supporting him on the countertop.

"Give me a ticket at 6:15 tomorrow morning."

The staff member glanced at him but didn't ask any further questions.

Please show me your ID card.

Chen Zhi took out his ID card and handed it over.

My phone rang again just as my boarding pass was being printed.

It was a momentous event.

Chen Zhi clicked on it, and a line of text popped up.

[Brother Zhi, President Pei just logged into the company intranet and transferred all CFO privileges to me. Is she going to withdraw her investment?!]