3

3

The next morning, I took the divorce agreement to her room.

"What's this?" Lin Qingyu asked without looking up.

"Lele's report card needs a signature." I replied calmly.

"Oh."

Lin Qingyu casually signed her name on the paper.

I said nothing; if only she had looked at the contents of the paper seriously, cared a bit about her son's grades, she would have known it was the divorce agreement.

But she didn't.

After she signed it, I took the divorce agreement to the military compound.

The chief, hoping to reconcile rather than encourage separation, spoke sincerely: "Have you thought it over? You've been together for seven years, enduring so many ups and downs."

Yes, we've been together for seven years.

If Lele hadn't died, maybe there would be another seven years.

But now, it's impossible.

I shook my head resolutely, telling the chief that we were completely finished.

Seeing my firm attitude, the chief knew there was no turning back, and sighed deeply: "Qingyu, she's really something, insisting on maintaining two families; it's a new society now, those practices are outdated, and you've suffered a lot because of it."

She picked up the steel stamp and stamped a big red seal on the agreement.

But due to some internal procedures, the chief asked me to collect the divorce certificate a day later.

Leaving the military compound, I didn't rush home.

It was not until ten o'clock at night that I returned.

In the living room, Lin Qingyu was accompanying Ruru, teaching her how to read.

That attentive look, anyone unaware would probably think they were the real mother and daughter.

Even until the son passed away, she had never been so patient in teaching him; every time the son made a request, she would only say two things:

"Go find your dad" or "Ask the teacher."

I ignored them, turned directly to the son's room, and started packing up.

Holding her swaddling clothes in my hand, I couldn't help but start to cry again.

After calming my emotions, I threw all of the son's clothes into the charcoal burner.

Together with the letter I wrote to the son, I burned them for him.

Lele, if you receive dad's letter, please remember to come to dad's dreams often, okay? From today on, dad only has you.