Don’t Want a Divorce (1)
Her wife.
After leaving the hospital and receiving the devastating news, Xu Jiao walked expressionless towards the pottery shop she had visited earlier.
As expected, she was met with a completely dark store and a large lock on the door.
After all, it was already past midnight.
The heavy rain continued to pour relentlessly, despite Xu Jiao buying an umbrella at the hospital entrance. Her clothes were now soaked, with one side almost transparently clinging to her body.
A car passed by her, creating a splash of water even higher than a person, spraying in all directions like a small waterfall and splattering mud on her.
Xu Jiao’s umbrella only covered the upper half, unable to shield her pants from being drenched.
She remained still. In this rain that was swallowing the city, no sound reached her ears. The pitter-patter of rain hitting the roof, although initially sounding cacophonous, soon brought a sense of utter stillness and solitude.
It was as if she had been isolated from the world by this rain.
At that moment, the voice of the system effortlessly conveyed into her mind: “Due to the death of the female protagonist, the modification of the book’s ending has failed. Would you like to leave immediately?”
Xu Jiao felt the dampness of her clothes clinging to her body, sending shivers of coldness. Her expression was pale and faint, as if she didn’t care at all about the possibility of catching a cold. She simply stood silently at the door, gazing outside with vacant eyes.
“Wait a moment,” she said, “Although I often do this task half-heartedly, I don’t like breaking promises when it comes to things I’ve agreed to for others.”
She could effortlessly say “I love you,” “I like you,” or other sweet words in order to leave these worlds ahead of time, but…
When it comes to keeping her promises, she always follows through on things she has agreed to.
For example, promising to be Shen Yelan’s girlfriend for a week.
And also, promising to make a clay figurine for Shen Yelan.
This task is actually not difficult for her. As long as she is willing, she can make anything in these books feel close to her, even the stones that originally blocked her path and prevented her from moving forward would quietly step aside when she approaches.
However, Xu Jiao doesn’t have such thoughts in her daily life, so most of the time she lives a normal life like an ordinary person in this world.
There are occasional exceptions.
After drawing the lowest card twice at the celebration organized by Su Xi earlier, Xu Jiao didn’t want to be asked about her emotions by anyone anymore. In fact, she never drew that card again before the effect of alcohol kicked in.
Because her emotional fluctuations are quite apparent, and she is the creator of this world, even a three of diamonds would not want to provoke her disgust.
It is the same now.
As long as Xu Jiao wants to complete the task of the clay figure, even if she just pinches a clump of mud on the pedestal, the mud will automatically change and present the perfect appearance she wants.
Xu Jiao glanced at the large wet marks on her pants and then looked at the heavy rain outside. She frowned and said in a slightly unhappy tone, “Why isn’t it dawn yet?”
In the next instant–
The pouring rain seemed to be paused by someone.
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Then, the intensity of the rain suddenly weakened at a visible speed, just like a time-lapse. In less than half a minute, the rain completely stopped.
Even the dense and ominous dark clouds that seemed capable of collapsing the entire city were pierced by sunlight, casting golden rays down from the clouds and adding a touch of light to the city.
It felt like the reboot after doomsday.
Xu Jiao took out her phone and checked the time, which was already 7 o’clock in the morning.
The roadside was quiet, with no pedestrians passing by on the street where she stood. Therefore, no one noticed that her clothes and pants had become spotless, as if all the dirt and grime had evaporated overnight.
……
“Oh, you’re Miss Xu, right? I remember now. We have a piece of artwork left for you here.”
Two hours later, Xu Jiao was waiting for the store employee to open. She had just finished registering her name and was waiting for the person to mark off a class session when she was suddenly called from behind.
She paused her steps and turned her head to look at the person.
The employee quickly opened a drawer, took out another stack of folders, flipped through them, looked up, and smiled at Xu Jiao, affirming, “Yes, we do have a piece of artwork left for you. The person who left it said that if we saw you again, we should remember to give it to you.”
Xu Jiao’s eyelashes flickered slightly, and she calmly asked, “Who left the artwork for me?”
“Let me see, the registered name is… Shen Yelan. I remember this young lady. She has exceptional talent. Our teachers here even said that after she learns for a while longer, she could come here and work part-time.”
Ripples appeared in Xu Jiao’s eyes.
She suddenly guessed what Shen Yelan had left for her.
……
“Look, it’s this one, very beautiful. When the finished product was baked, we all said that if it was colored and baked again, it would definitely be incredibly stunning.”
“I don’t know how she molded it.”
The shop assistant of the pottery store led Xu Jiao inside and went to the room where the students’ works were displayed. Using a key, they opened one of the cabinets and carefully took out something from inside.
A figure…
It was a lifelike, small clay figure that looked exactly like Shen Yelan.
Every feature, hairstyle, clothing, expression, and movement… are all identical.
Xu Jiao suddenly remembered what Shen Yelan said yesterday: “Whether I can live or not, you are free.”
And also when she said “we’re not finished yet,” Shen Yelan’s smiling and shaking her head.
So it turns out that…
Shen Yelan really wants to let go.
Her love was obsessive and stubborn, but when she let go, she did it completely without any hesitation. She didn’t leave any trouble or burden for Xu Jiao, truly intending to become a passing figure in her life.
She genuinely wished Xu Jiao a future without her, filled with peace, joy, and smoothness.
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——Humans created by God did not receive His favor, so she exiled herself from the Garden of Eden, leaving behind the forbidden fruit she once longed to taste.
……
Xu Jiao returned to the bedroom.
Another book flew out from the bookshelf, it was the one she had glimpsed before titled 《Absolute Control》. The thick book, originally radiating with golden light, seemed to have lost its vitality. The light dimmed in front of her, and the book cover turned gray once again.
“Unfortunately, you have failed to modify the ending again,” the voice of the system sounded at this moment.
Xu Jiao gently placed her hands on her abdomen, sitting on the ergonomically designed gaming chair. She leaned back slightly, her gaze fixed on the gray book.
For a moment, a thought flashed through her mind. She thought, these books turned gray as if they were dead.
Clearly, this world was not destroyed.
But just like a story without its protagonist, without the core of their souls, all the excitement comes to an abrupt end. No matter how outstanding the supporting roles are, they are like broken jade, unable to regain their original luster.
Noticing Xu Jiao’s silence, the system asked again, “Do you have any failed experiences that you want to summarize?”
Upon hearing the system’s further question, Xu Jiao, who had been silent, suddenly raised the corners of her lips and replied, “Yes.”
System: “?”
Xu Jiao: “I found that these protagonists, after encountering me, all become love-struck fools. It’s all because of my irresistible charm as the creator. Sigh.”
System: “…”
The virtual space fell silent.
Xu Jiao closed her eyes and lifted her right hand to touch the keyboard in front of her. She didn’t press any keys, but her fingertips gently rubbed against the heavily worn keycaps, as if this action could bring her a sense of security.
After a while, she suddenly said:
“I found that Shen Yelan is very similar to me.”
Xu Jiao thought that when she saw Shen Yelan wearing that black dress in the fitting room earlier, the description of herself looking in the mirror that came to her mind seemed not unfounded.
From Shen Yelan, she saw her own reflection.
“Xu Jiao, I don’t know if you are real or just my hallucination…” Shen Yelan said this to her before she died. At that time, Xu Jiao hadn’t realized it yet, but later she thought about Shen Yelan’s behavior when they met recently and slowly began to speculate in her heart.
This person seems to like her, to the point of experiencing hallucinations.
And she couldn’t distinguish what was real and what was illusion.
Until death came to help her differentiate.
Just like her, she once received the care of a beam of light. Later, she desperately chased after it, but could never catch up. And then, she learned to create things that would shine, but they were never as brilliant as that one in the past.
The only difference is——
She doesn’t have any emotions towards failures.
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But Shen Yelan… seems to treat her and the illusions with the same gentleness.
The voice of the system pulled Xu Jiao’s gaze back from the boundless void: “How is it similar?”
Xu Jiao smiled lightly and casually replied, “Equally pitiful, I suppose.”
But thinking about it, this person is a character she created in her writing, and Xu Jiao felt relieved. After all, words can best reflect a person’s personality, even if her writing skills and techniques are superb, the content between the lines always carries her imprint.
Those are the traces left by her growth, which cannot be erased no matter how hard she tries.
Before the system could ask again, Xu Jiao moved her hands away from the keyboard, stood up, stretched lazily, and her gaze returned to its usual clarity. Everything in the world honestly reflected in her eyes, but it seemed like she doesn’t see anyone.
Her emotions were so cold–
As if not even death could move her.
When leaving the world of 《Absolute Control》, she didn’t say goodbye to anyone or do anything related to farewells. She didn’t even ask the system how the entire world mechanism would function after her departure. When she received the clay figurine, she requested to leave.
Now, it’s the same. Xu Jiao turned to look at the row of bookshelves and asked aloud, “What’s the next world? Let’s start right away.”
