Madam, Please Behave-Chapter 3: An Yuan Yao

Liu Xiazhi was feeling downcast.

At her young age, she didn’t fully understand that her once-happy family had already fallen apart.

In her mind, she was still living in the blissful fantasy of a loving family of four—her mom, dad, older brother, and herself.

Though she didn’t know why her mother had left without a word, her memories of her mother were nothing short of perfect.

To her, Mom was elegant, beautiful, and gentle—the best mother in the world.

Deep down, she harbored a small grudge against her father. It had to be his fault. He must have argued with Mom, and that’s why she left and never came back.

Ever since Mom left, Dad would drink at home all day long, filling the house with an unpleasant smell of alcohol.

Dad was awful.

As the teacher left the classroom, the school day officially came to an end.

With her pink backpack slung over her shoulders, Liu Xiazhi walked slowly out of the classroom, her head hanging low as if lost in thought.

Outside the school gates, Liu Zhiyue was waiting.

The moment he saw his sister, standing out from the crowd with her downcast expression, he approached her.

Taking a few steps forward, he grabbed her by the arm. Startled, Liu Xiazhi flinched and looked up. Seeing it was her brother, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Ugh, geez, can’t you stop scaring me like that, big brother?”

“What were you thinking about? You were so lost in thought.”

Liu Zhiyue smiled, his chubby cheeks squeezing his facial features together.

Shaking her head, Liu Xiazhi didn’t say anything. Instead, she lowered her head again and continued walking forward.

She didn’t like their current home either. It felt old and broken, nothing like their previous one.

“I don’t want to go back. The house is so shabby.”

Hearing this, Liu Zhiyue’s expression dimmed.

Compared to their previous home, their current house was indeed dilapidated. Back then, their dad had been doing great, running his own clothing factory. But business had declined this year, leading to financial ruin, bankruptcy, and then their mother’s departure…

Shaking off these thoughts, Liu Zhiyue didn’t want his young sister to bear the weight of such burdens.

“Even if I pick you up, you’re still not happy?”

“It’s not that… I’m happy, but…”

“Don’t think too much about it. Dad gave me 100 yuan today—let’s go eat something delicious!”

“Something delicious!”

Hearing this, Liu Xiazhi’s eyes lit up, and she could almost feel herself drooling.

Hot pot, burgers, fried chicken, cupcakes!!

“Big brother, what are we eating? What are we eating?”

Smiling at his excited little sister, Liu Zhiyue patted her on the head.

“Silly girl.”

“Lanzhou noodles.”

“…”

The reason Liu Zhiyue was tasked with picking up his sister was that Liu Changqing had been invited to meet someone—a somewhat familiar acquaintance.

The woman sitting across from him was fashionably dressed, wearing large black-rimmed glasses. Her sleek black hair was tied back and draped over her left shoulder, giving her a quiet, gentle demeanor.

However, her face looked pale and weary, as if she hadn’t had a proper night’s sleep in a long time.

The two of them sat in a café, with two cups of coffee on the table between them.

Liu Changqing wasn’t particularly fond of drinks like this—ones you couldn’t gulp down all at once.

“Chongming hasn’t been home in a long time...”

Her voice sounded hoarse, as though she had been crying for hours, leaving her barely able to speak.

The "Chongming" she mentioned was none other than Liu Changqing’s ex-wife’s affair partner.

And the woman sitting across from him was once a close friend of his ex-wife.

In the memories of this body’s original owner, she had even attended their wedding.

The two of them, who should have had little reason to interact, now sat face-to-face. What connected them was the fact that their respective partners had both cheated on them.

Two downtrodden souls in relationships, huddling together like shivering creatures in the coldest winter.

That was their current state.

Before Liu Changqing replaced the original owner of this body, the two would often communicate, sharing information about their unfaithful partners’ whereabouts and teaming up to catch them in the act.

They never succeeded.

But even if they had, what difference would it have made? Some things were destined to remain unchanged.

Her eyes, red and puffy from crying, struggled to stay open. They burned, and tears threatened to fall again.

She stared at Liu Changqing, her gaze empty and lost. She didn’t know if there was anything left to salvage.

“Why haven’t you contacted me lately? Why haven’t you updated me on her whereabouts?”

The "her" in An Yuan Yao’s question referred to Liu Changqing’s ex-wife.

As she spoke, her voice sounded hollow, her eyes dull as if her soul had left her body.

Liu Changqing felt utterly exhausted.

The previous Liu Changqing might have endured years of humiliation, but it was nothing to be proud of.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at the woman sitting before him.

“I’m divorced.”

He stated it plainly.

An Yuan Yao’s blank eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him, her expression morphing into one of astonishment.

“W-what did you just say?”

“I got divorced. Three days ago.”

“Y-you… how could you get divorced?”

Hearing this, An Yuan Yao froze, feeling as though the sky was falling.

He was divorced—he had divorced Li Wanran.

Why? He loved her, didn’t he?

This scruffy, unkempt man, who had been at her beck and call, treating her like a precious jewel—how could he get divorced?

She suddenly stood up, her eyes wild with panic. Grabbing Liu Changqing’s collar, she pleaded desperately.

“No… you can’t divorce her… They’re together now, aren’t they? You love her! Why didn’t you try to keep her?”

Since marrying Li Chongming, An Yuan Yao had never had children. Every day felt like living in his shadow, haunted by the fear that he would leave her. She had played the role of the perfect wife, pouring all her love into him.

“Why would you let go? We agreed back then, didn’t we? How could you abandon me first?”

“Did you call me here just to show me how pitiful you are now?”

Liu Changqing’s voice was calm as he spoke.

He raised his hand and gently pried her grip off his collar, his gaze cold.

Straightening his faded shirt, he looked at her stunned face and said firmly, “If it doesn’t work, you divorce. There’s no ‘why.’”

“That’s impossible... In high school, you were so crazy about her. You loved her so much. There’s no way you’d let go.”

It sounded like she was denying reality. The news of Liu Changqing’s divorce hit her so hard that she couldn’t process it.

She thought: If he lets go, she’ll be left completely alone, without anyone to stand by her side.

Liu Changqing glanced at An Yuan Yao, who sat dazed, staring blankly into her coffee cup.

Softly, he said, “If it wasn’t real love, who would willingly degrade themselves?”

Her wide eyes slowly rose to meet his.

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Standing up, Liu Changqing looked down at her.

“But that was the old Liu Changqing. You can think of it as the Liu Changqing who loved Li Wanran dying three days ago.

Now? If I saw her get hit by a car, I wouldn’t even blink.”

An Yuan Yao had never seen such an expression before.

This scruffy, weathered man with a slight paunch—why did he exude such an intimidating aura when he spoke?

His eyes…

“One more thing: stop making your life so difficult.”

Liu Changqing stepped aside and walked toward the exit.

“Eat well, take care of yourself, and leave him. Find someone you love who loves you back. There’s no point in clinging to a man who doesn’t deserve it.”

Her eyes followed his retreating figure, his final words echoing in her ears.

“A woman shouldn’t live like you do.”

Standing outside the café, Liu Changqing glanced back at An Yuan Yao, still sitting in a daze with her head bowed. A trace of pity flickered across his face.

Letting out a soft sigh, he muttered to himself, “At least she didn’t make me pay. Time to get out of here.”

With that, he quickly left the area.