Chapter 12
Edward Quan ·
The apartment was my separate premarital property. The loan agreement Zhao Ming had produced lacked supporting evidence and had problems with its date of creation. It could not establish that he had contributed to the purchase.
During divorce mediation, I asked for the children to live with me, for Zhao Ming to pay monthly child support, and for the apartment to remain mine.
He refused.
The judge informed us that if mediation failed, the court would decide according to law.
When I left the courthouse, his mother stood at the foot of the steps.
She hadn’t gone to the hospital or returned to Zhao Xue’s.
She blocked Zhao Ming’s path and gripped his arm.
“Mingming, you can’t agree. If she gets the apartment, where are we going to live?”
He looked at her.
“Mom, it was never mine.”
She froze.
“You’re her husband.”
“But I don’t own it.”
“If you don’t have a home, how will you take care of me?”
He said nothing.
Zhao Xue came over.
“You can’t abandon Mom. She was thrown out because of you.”
“She has nowhere to live because you took her apartment.”
“Mom gave it to me.”
“Then you need to take responsibility.”
Her face changed.
Their mother immediately seized his hand.
“Mingming, you’re all I have.”
Slowly, he loosened her fingers.
“You have Xiaoxue too.”
She stared, wide-eyed.
He turned and walked toward the parking lot.
I stayed where I was and watched him disappear into the crowd.
This time, he didn’t look back.
10.
Before the judgment, Zhao Ming moved into a studio apartment near his company.
Occasionally he came to collect the children, always messaging a day in advance. He never mentioned the apartment again.
His mother moved into the old apartment Zhao Xue had transferred back to her.
It wasn’t large, but it was in her name.
At first, Zhao Xue refused to hand over the keys. Then Zhou Kaichuan’s mother came by and summoned her home.
With no alternative, Zhao Xue tidied the apartment and made it ready.
After moving in, my mother-in-law posted in the family group every day.
She said her life was miserable. That daughters were no match for sons. That her daughter-in-law had driven her to this.
Gradually, the relatives stopped replying.
The more she posted, the clearer it became what she really wanted.
Zhao Ming paid child support each month in accordance with the judgment.
On the first transfer, he put both children’s names in the reference.
I didn’t thank him.
The second time he came to pick them up, he brought two new outfits.
Zhao Nian accepted hers and thanked him.
He looked at her.
“Have you been doing well?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to go out for a meal with me?”
“Mom said it’s okay. Ask her.”
He looked at me.
I nodded.
The two of them went out. Zhao Heng stayed home to do his homework.
“Mom, are you and Dad really never going to live together again?”
“No, we’re not.”
“Does that make you sad?”
“Sometimes.”
“Then why do you still have to get divorced?”
I put down the clothes I was holding.
“Because living together takes respect. Putting up with everything isn’t enough.”
He bent over his writing.
After a while, he said:
“I won’t be like Dad.”
“Start by learning to take care of yourself.”
The judgment confirmed that the apartment belonged to me and that the children would live with me. Zhao Ming would pay monthly child support and half their education and medical expenses.
When we finished the divorce formalities, he lingered outside the Civil Affairs Bureau.
“Wanqing, won’t you reconsider?”
“Reconsider what?”
“Starting over.”
I looked at the document folder in his hand.
“Do you want to start over because you miss me, or because your mother needs a home?”
“I’ve moved out. Mom has somewhere to live too.”
“Then why come back?”
He didn’t answer.
I answered for him.
“You’ve just discovered that life without this family is harder than you expected.”
“I’ll change.”
“What will you change?”
“I’ll keep Mom elsewhere. I won’t force you anymore.”
“Will you still give me your salary?”
“Yes.”
“Will you make your sister’s debts my problem again?”
“No.”
“Will you acknowledge, in front of the children, how much I’ve carried all these years?”
He looked at me.
“I can do that.”
“You no longer have the right to ask me to trust you again.”
He lowered his head.
“Wanqing, I know I was wrong.”
“That’s for you to deal with.”
I turned toward the parking lot.
That evening, his mother called.
“You and Mingming are divorced now. The children need to come back to the Zhao family.”
“The judgment is quite clear.”
“How will a woman with two children ever remarry?”
“I don’t intend to depend on another marriage to survive.”
“Keep talking tough. When you’re old, you’ll regret it.”
“Take care of yourself first.”
“I’m your mother-in-law.”
“We no longer have any legal relationship.”