“If it’s already reached the stage of slitting his wrists, your friend is likely suffering from severe psychological depression. He needs timely help from his family and friends, good communication, and companionship. If possible, it’s best to take him for a psychological evaluation to consider whether drug treatment is needed. Oh, also try to have him avoid living alone and instead in a sunny room if possible. If you can identify the source of it is… divorce? It’s very common for one partner in a relationship to experience depression. There’s a variety of reasons. The most common being self-doubt and rejection caused by the other party’s gaslighting and cheating. It’ll also lead to inconsistencies in words and deeds, duplicity, and etc.”
“Alright, I understand. I’ve troubled you.”
Zhao Nao hung up the phone and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the office, looking at the bright night composed of thousands of lights in the distance. His eyes were deep and desolate.
Recalling what the psychiatrist said, he thought about the situation at the apartment. The dazzling red on Xia Ke’s wrist made him pull his hair in distress. His forehead pressed against the glass and his mind was filled with thoughts.
“So what do you think?” Pei Jue, his childhood friend, layed on the sofa carelessly. He chattered nonsense before throwing the phone in his hand away. “Even though he’s determined to divorce you?”
“The psychiatrist said that divorce would worsen his condition.” Zhao Nao disapprovingly frowned. “Even if you don’t count my past with him, this is still a human life. And also, it’s very likely that it was my fault that caused his current mental condition. I can’t just sit back and do nothing.”
Pei Jue pouted very disapprovingly. But he understood Zhao Nao’s character, so he didn’t persuade him just asked out of curiosity, “Then what are you going to do?”
Zhao Nao had no clue. He thought for a moment and hesitantly said, “We have to get Xia Ke to move out of that basement first anyway. What do you think about winning the lottery? Or send someone to draw gifts at a small store near his place. Let him win a special prize to go on a luxurious two-month trip to Hainan?”
The more he thought about it, the more reliable the method became. Zhao Nao immediately started arranging it. First, more than ten people were sent disguised as lottery players and event organizers. To be on the safer side, he promoted the content of this event on the company’s official website. Then, he lurked between the shops and the street near Xia Ke’s house, just waiting to give it to Xia Ke.
One week later.
“How could someone be such a homebody?” Zhao Nao collapsed. “Seven whole days! He didn’t go out for seven whole days!”
Pei Jue was laughing and rolling on the camel hair carpet in his office.
“What should I do? We can’t delay it any longer,” Zhao Nao was so anxious that he couldn’t help complaining, “Xia Ke has already called me twice to ask about the divorce agreement. Last time he even asked me if I needed him to find a reliable lawyer! Can you imagine? Me, actually being questioned about the professionalism of the company’s legal team!”
If this got out, anyone who had read financial reports’ eyes would pop out. Pei Jue smiled even happier.
“This little lover of yours is truly talented.”
He laughed until he could hardly breathe before carefully wiping his tears away.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Maybe this was the reason why you didn’t bring him out to meet us in the first place. He didn’t want to go out at all.”
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“Speaking of which, I really do have an idea. But you have to consider whether he’s worth sacrificing yourself for.”
……
There was a knock on the door.
Xia ke flipped his right hand lightly, putting away the white crystal ball floating in the palm of his hand. He quickly typed a line on his phone and clicked send. After completing another divination, he reached out to rub the little mouse’s head happily.
“The customer has paid. We’ve got enough money for next week’s instant noodles.”
The little mouse grabbed his hand and pointed at the door with its paw, signaling to Xia Ke that someone was knocking on the door.
“It should be Zhao Nao coming to deliver the divorce agreement right?” Xia Ke whispered, “After dragging it on for so long, he’s finally brought it. I don’t know why he was dawdling so much.”
The little mice giggled. Their claws made the shape of a dagger and vividly imitated the way Xia Ke ran to open the door with a knife in hand that day.
“I later explained that I accidentally cut myself while peeling an apple so that I wouldn’t scare him.”
Xia Ke became angry from the shame and summoned a breeze with a wave of his hand. It blew the three little mice into the back room.
“Besides, if he really thought I had mental problems, shouldn’t it be simpler to get a divorce?” He said while hiding all of the magical items in the house.
The eccentric painting, in particular, was warned to not show up again without permission. Finally Xia Ke opened the door. Looking at Zhao Nao outside, he forced out a polite smile.
“Hello.”
Zhao Nao ruffled his hair, trying to make himself look more haggard. With a hoarse voice, he said, “Have you watched the news?”
Xia Ke was stunned.
Walking sideways into the door, only then did Zhao Nao realize that Xia Ke had neither a TV nor computer at home. He couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing at home every day. But now was not the time to dwell on this. He took out his mobile phone and opened the Weibo hot search, then handed it to Xia Ke.
He got straight to the point, “Some media exposed my marriage with you.”
“What?”
Xia Ke’s eyes shook. He hurriedly took Zhao Nao’s cell phone and clicked on the breaking news. He saw that the accompanying picture was a marriage certificate and a blurry marriage oath photo. Because it didn’t show his face, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Then what do we do? Do you need my cooperation in publishing proof of our separation?”
Zhao Nao smiled bitterly, “Our wedding date was also revealed. If we get divorced after just a few days, it’ll have a great impact on my personal image and the company reputation.”
Seeing that Xia Ke seemed to understand but also not understand, he eloquently explained, from crises in public relations to stock price’s rise and fall. All the while mixing in countless obscure words and alarmism. Thus, coming to the conclusion that the duration of their marriage was closely related to his company’s loss and profit. If they got divorced now, it was very likely that Zhao Nao would fall off of the rich list.
Take any adult who had received the nine years of compulsory education and they would be able to find all kinds of extremely irrational logic in Zhao Nao’s sophistry. But Xia Ke was a magician who hadn’t even finished kindergarten after being adopted by his master from an orphanage. He was indeed a fish that slipped through the nine-year compulsory education net. Hearing what Zhao Nao said so seriously, his eyes opened wide.
Xia Ke blamed himself and anxiously asked, “How are you going to handle this? Do you need my cooperation to clarify it? As long as I can compensate for your losses, my reputation doesn’t matter.”
Zhao Nao rubbed his nose. He had gained a new understanding of how easy it was to deceive Xia Ke. Such a simple and kind person, no wonder he was deceived by his pre-amnesia self.
“So far, only one solution remains.”
Thinking silently in his heart that this was to save Xia Ke’s life, Zhao Nao spoke out against his conscience, “You have to move into my house and live with me. Then, we’ll pretend to be a loving couple and wait until the public opinion subsides before considering anything else.”
Xia Ke was silent for a moment.
“Can’t you say that I cheated?”
Xia Ke scratched his hair in annoyance, obviously resisting the idea of moving into Zhao Nao’s house. Not to mention the awkwardness of living with a stranger, he was a magician who carried a lot of dangerous magical items and three little mice. By living together, it was impossible not to cross paths. Who knows when his identity would be exposed? If he were to violate the International Magic Alliance Agreement, he would be in even greater trouble given due to his current situation.
“Don’t worry, even if we move in together you’ll have your own room. I won’t go in without permission,” Zhao Nao thought that he understood Xia Ke’s dilemma, “and don’t worry about filling a husband’s duties. You know I have lost my memory. In my memory, well, I have never—”
Halfway through his neck turned a tomato color. He shyly looked away and made a few blind gestures with his fingers in the air. He hesitantly said, “That, you know. Y-you understand what I mean?”
Is this boss so innocent? Xia Ke blinked. He was actually a little curious, but in order to not trigger Zhao Nao, who was already on the verge of fuming out air, he was considerate enough to not ask about it.
“That’s not the point,” Xia Ke rubbed the tips of his ears, trying to get back to the topic, “Since there’s no direct photo of me in the public, you can definitely find someone to replace me. You don’t have to let me live with you in order to solve this problem, right?”
Zhao Nao’s heart felt suffocated. He was once again overwhelmed with feelings of self-blame. It turned out that the action of my pre-amnesia self, not letting any of my friends see Xia Ke, was understood like this in his eyes? He was actually an underground lover who could be replaced by others at any time!
Zhao Nao said, “It was impossible to find anyone called Xia Ke with the right age and height for a while.” He had prepared these words before he came, responding with reason and evidence.
His eyes fell on the instant noodle box not far away and was reminded of Xia Ke’s tight financial situation. He added, “This time, us living together counts as you doing me a favor. So, all food and accommodation is free. This place also won’t be rented to anyone else. Wait until public opinion calms down. Then you can come back to live here whenever you want.”
He wanted to say that he wouldn’t interfere with Xia Ke’s freedom, but thinking about this guy’s astounding feat of not leaving the house for a week, he just swallowed his words silently.
“Don’t rent it to others?”
Xia Ke was a little excited about the free food and accommodation but tilted his head in confusion.
“But I only paid this month’s rent. You want to help me pay rent?”
“No need for it to be so troublesome.”
Zhao Nao wore a victorious smile on his face. He raised his chin and said, in a reserved tone, “I’ve already bought this residential area. Now your landlord is actually me.”
Xia Ke: “…”
After such a long time he finally felt that the man in front of him was super rich.
Landlord husband is richer than instant noodle magician for sure! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️
Thank you for the chapter 😍 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
Thank you the chapter! 🤣
It is actually possible not to go out for a week. Xia Ke, let’s become best buddies!! 🤭
💖🌸💖🌸
HAHAHA OMG- the misunderstanding 🤣🤣🤣💜
Btw thanks for the chapter 💜💜💜💜☺️
Waiting for the next chapter
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Pei Jue is a good wingman XD
Damn it i need more!😭
Should have stopped myself from starting it so early….🍂