Chapter 1
10 p.m.
Rain slams against the windows like loose gravel.
Jian Ning lifts the last spoon of red-bean porridge into a plastic soup box, snaps the lid shut, and fires off a text:
—Still coming home? Porridge is hot.
Five minutes later, one cold reply:
—Busy. Not coming.
No sorry, no emoji, not even a period.
She stares at the screen, thumb hovering over the word "Okay." In the end she types nothing, just locks the phone.
Into the fridge goes the porridge. She smooths the sleeve of the dark-gray suit hanging on the door—custom-made, cost her three months of skipped lattes. Tomorrow Jiang Lianping will wear it to pick up his "Actor of the Year" trophy.
The TV suddenly flashes a breaking-news banner:
[TOP-TIER IDOL JIANG LIANPING SPOTTED AT AIRPORT, GREETS RETURNING ACTRESS LIN XIAOMAN]
Live footage: Jiang Lianping in a hoodie, a rare, crooked smile on his face. Lin Xiaoman jumps into his arms; he catches her like it's the most natural thing in the world.
A gust of wind shoves rain through the half-open window and slaps cold drops onto Jian Ning's bare feet. She remembers the text Lin Xiaoman sent three days ago:
—You remember every loose button on his shirts, but does he remember you at all?
3 a.m.
Jian Ning stands in the kitchen frying an egg. The pan hisses; her stomach twists like a wet rag. She doubles over, retching, and presses a hand to her left side—hard as a rock.
Hands shaking, she speed-dials her best friend Su Xiao.
"Xiao, I think… I'm in trouble."
Half an hour later Su Xiao screeches into the ER driveway, half carries Jian Ning inside, and yells for a doctor.
While they wait for test results, Jian Ning sits on a plastic bench, staring at the poster across the hallway: Jiang Lianping endorsing a luxury watch—the same watch she gave him last year for his birthday.
The doctor walks over, mask down.
"Stomach cancer, middle–late stage. We need to schedule treatment right away."
Five casual words feel like a death sentence.
2 p.m.
Back home, sun blazing like nothing happened.
Jian Ning prints out a divorce agreement, slides it into Jiang Lianping's copy of *The Sorrows of Young Werther*, right on the page where Werther is about to eat a bullet for unrequited love.
Tucked between the pages is the gray-blue scarf she was knitting—one last row left. She meant to wrap it around his neck on his birthday. Not anymore.
She drags a small suitcase to the door, takes one last look: his jacket on the couch, signed photos on the floor, cold red-bean porridge in the fridge.
The click of the door closing sounds softer than a heartbeat.
7 p.m.
Jiang Lianping finally comes home. The apartment is dark.
"Jian Ning? Power out?"
No answer.
The table is empty—no porridge, no sticky note, not even her favorite glass.
He opens the fridge, sees the soup box, frowns. "Waste."
He fishes out his phone—seventeen missed calls, all from her. He hits redial: *The number you have called is switched off.*
Something cold crawls up his spine.
He walks into the study, opens *Werther*. A piece of paper flutters out—divorce papers.
First line, her tidy handwriting:
Jiang Lianping, I'm letting you go.
Underneath, a PS:
Porridge is in the fridge—eat it or don't. Suit is on the balcony—iron it yourself. Don't ask why I left; ask why I stayed this long.
He stands frozen, rain-soaked sneakers leaving muddy prints on the floor.
Midnight.
Bar downtown.
Su Xiao shoves a whiskey toward Jian Ning. "You sure about the divorce?"
Jian Ning clinks the glass with her water bottle. "Sure as chemo side effects."
"What now?"
"Sell the condo, start treatment, maybe find a cute junior to flirt with. Live large."
"To freedom."
"To kicking jerks to the curb."
Same night.
Jiang Lianping sits on the edge of their—now his—bed, spooning cold red-bean porridge into his mouth. Too sweet, too salty. He remembers the first time she cooked it, grinning like a kid:
"Red beans mean longing. Eat more, think of me, not other women."
He'd rolled his eyes: "It's just porridge."
Now the bowl is empty and so is the apartment.
Next morning.
Weibo crashes.
#1 trending: *Jiang Lianping's Wife Vanished*
#2 trending: *Jiang Lianping Sprinting Through Airport*
Video: blood-shot eyes, hoodie inside-out, yelling at security:
"Jian Ning! Come back! I'm not signing the papers!"
Top comment with 400k likes:
—Cold porridge finally got reheated, but the cook is gone. Too late, bro.
Hospital ward.
Jian Ning laughs so hard at the video the IV line wiggles.
Su Xiao peels an apple. "Chemo in twenty minutes. Still laughing?"
She shuts off her phone, stretches. "Let's go. By the time my hair falls out, that man will be begging to buy me wigs."
Outside the window the sky is blindingly blue.
New life starts today—with or without the man who never learned how to say sorry.