Chapter 28: Mediation

No one understood Sun Xiaojuan's worries.

They say impulse is the devil. After a night had passed, the Leng family members all felt a bit of regret for having spoken too harshly the previous night.

However, Tang Lin was not about to give them a chance to repent. After finishing breakfast, she urged Leng Yongkang to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau with her.

"What! It's just a divorce, why do we have to go to the subdistrict office to get a certificate first?"

Tang Lin was stunned. She thought a divorce was simple—the couple would just show up, complete the formalities, and be done with it.

The staff member replied, "Without a certificate from the subdistrict office, how am I supposed to know if your situation is truthful?"

In this era, there were no ID cards. While household registration booklets could prove identity, they could not prove that the person standing there was indeed the individual listed in the booklet.

Therefore, all formalities required a certificate from the subdistrict office, much like how people coming from the countryside to the city required an introduction letter from their village committee.

Hearing this, Leng Yongkang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that divorce wasn't that easy worked in his favor.

In an instant, he straightened his back. "Don't just stand here like an idiot. Are we going to the subdistrict office or not?"

Noticing the smugness in his eyes, Tang Lin gritted her teeth and said, "Go! Don't delay, let's go now!"

Leng Hui also thought the process for getting a divorce certificate would be simple, so she didn't follow them. Instead, she sat at the entrance of the alley waiting for Tang Lin to return.

As it turned out, before long, Tang Lin returned with a dark expression.

Leng Hui hurried to meet her. "Mom, what happened? Did Comrade Leng Yongkang bully you?"

Upon hearing this, Leng Yongkang's expression mirrored Leng Hui's as he said with a dark face, "You're so eager for us to divorce that now you won't even call me 'Dad'?"

"Hmph!"

Leng Hui ignored him, her gaze falling on Tang Lin's face, waiting for an answer.

Tang Lin said, "We have to go to the subdistrict office first."

The subdistrict office was not far from the alley where they lived, less than three hundred meters away.

Soon, the family of three arrived at the subdistrict office.

When the staff member in charge of receiving residents heard that a couple had come to get a certificate for divorce, they stood up in a panic.

"Wait a moment, I'll go notify the director."

Watching the clerk hurry away, Tang Lin muttered, "It's just a certificate, why does the director have to handle it personally?"

Leng Yongkang sat to the side, waiting with leisure, which couldn't help but draw more glances from Leng Hui.

They didn't have to wait long before the clerk returned, leading a thin woman.

Leng Hui observed this so-called director. The woman had a long, narrow face with high, protruding cheekbones, and her skin was in poor condition—sallow and coarse. She wore a faded blue cloth shirt and matching trousers.

Her hair was not cut short like the women of the current era, but was instead tightly bunched at the back of her head, perfectly neat.

If one didn't know better, they might have mistaken her for a rural woman who spent her days working the fields; she didn't fit the image of a "director" at all.

Furthermore, looking at her features, she lacked any sense of approachability, giving off an impression of being somewhat acerbic and old-fashioned.

"This is the Women's Director of our subdistrict office. You can call her Director Song."

Following the clerk's introduction, Song Zhishan also observed the family of three. "Your child is already this old, and you've spent most of your lives together. Why are you still making a fuss about marriage? Tell me about your situation."

Leng Yongkang did not want to discuss his private family matters with outsiders; it was embarrassing.

But seeing the director asking, he had no choice but to brace himself and say, "It's simple. We just can't live together anymore."

Song Zhishan invited the family to sit on nearby chairs and poured a cup of water for each of them before saying earnestly, "Between husband and wife, is there nothing that can be discussed properly? Why must it escalate to the point of leaving? Marriage is no joke; we must be cautious."

"I know marriage is no joke. It's this woman making a scene," Leng Yongkang said, shifting the blame to Tang Lin.

Tang Lin and her daughter glared at him in anger.

Meeting Song Zhishan's gaze, Tang Lin did not flinch. "Director Song, you might advise us that marriage is difficult and that we should cherish what we have. But that premise requires a man to be responsible and able to shield his small family from the wind and rain. If a man cannot do that, and his wife and daughter are exhausted both physically and mentally, then this marriage is better off ended."

Before Song Zhishan could say anything, Leng Yongkang grew anxious.

He retorted, "How am I irresponsible? I don't spend a single cent of my monthly salary on myself; I use it all to support the family. I even pick the cheapest cigarettes to smoke. A man doing as much as I do is plenty. If you're still dissatisfied, then you're just ungrateful!"

Having said his piece, he even complained to Director Song: "Director Song, listen to her. She doesn't consider my feelings at all."

"What do you mean you don't spend on yourself and support the whole family? You support your brother's family! Have you spent a single cent on me? When I had my accident and needed surgery, your family wouldn't even part with the money. If it weren't for Mannv, I'd probably have been sent to the funeral parlor to be turned into ashes by now."

Tang Lin grew angry just thinking about this, and even angrier for the original owner of this body. Why, with such good personal conditions, did she have to find a man to support like a charity case?

"Director, let me tell you our situation. I have my own job, and my salary is higher than both the men in their house combined. My salary is enough to support myself and Mannv, and I can even contribute to the household. But he—"

Tang Lin pointed at Leng Yongkang. "His entire salary goes to his mother and is used to subsidize his brother's family. I haven't enjoyed a single benefit from him since I married him. Not only that, I suffer from their temper daily. This injury has finally allowed me to see the true faces of everyone in his family."

Thus, Tang Lin rattled off the entire sequence of events regarding her injury and hospitalization.

Leng Yongkang wanted to argue further.

Song Zhishan waved him off and began to play the mediator. "A man's work is hard, and naturally, he should be understood. However, it is also very hard for a wife to work and take care of the family at the same time. If you want her to understand your hardships, you must also understand hers.

You must realize that between husband and wife, you should support each other in both life and work. That is what a life partner is, not a maid you marry just to command and make work tirelessly."

"Our family doesn't treat her like a maid. Most of the housework is handled by my sister-in-law; she only lends a hand when she gets home from work. Even my sister-in-law, who works the hardest, doesn't make a fuss. She complains about doing only light housework and even brings this to you. I can't afford a wife like that," Leng Yongkang said, turning his head away.

Tang Lin lost her temper. Leng Yongkang actually had the nerve to look down on her. "If you know you can't afford me, then at least you have some self-awareness. If you're a man, be quick about it. Let's divorce immediately, live our own lives, and each be well."

"Impulse is the easiest way to do irrational things. It is not easy to form a family, and having made it through all these years makes it even more significant.

Think back to when you first got married; there must be many beautiful memories. A young couple becomes old companions. Half a lifetime has passed; if everyone shows a little more understanding and tolerance, life can still go on. To cause a divorce over trivial family matters is such a pity."

Song Zhishan had worked in the Women's Federation for over a decade and was highly experienced. She was adept at mediating family and marital conflicts.

Whenever she gave advice, she always appeared sincere and heartfelt, which often caused the parties involved to reflect on themselves and temporarily settle down to save face.

The three parties went back and forth for a long time without reaching a resolution.

Listening from the side, Leng Hui was secretly impressed. This Women's Director was highly skilled; during her mediation, she would speak from the man's perspective, then from the woman's, and finally conclude by stating that everyone has it hard and that mutual understanding and tolerance could resolve the entire conflict and the various contradictions.

Once the emotions of both sides were stirred, she would guide them to recall their past loving and beautiful life together.

With the memory of past sweetness, she believed many couples would reconsider the necessity of continuing the marriage.

It could be said that through her mediation, eighty to ninety percent of people would go back and grit their teeth to persevere.

But Tang Lin was not among that eighty to ninety percent. If she had been the original owner, she might have been swayed and the matter would have been dropped.

However, Tang Lin had a firm will and was not the original owner; she had no feelings for Leng Yongkang, so Song Zhishan's persuasion had no effect on her at all.

Tang Lin insisted that she could not go on and asked Song Zhishan to help issue the certificate so she could end this marriage.

Song Zhishan was also encountering a woman who was impossible to sway for the first time. Having no other choice, she resorted to stalling tactics, telling them to calm down and think things through before deciding.

(End of Chapter)