After Divorce, She Astonished the World - chapter 2

A bittersweet mix of emotions surged in Su Hua’s heart. She didn’t know how to reply.

She slowly turned her head and looked at Gu Beixian.

He rarely smiled, but when he did, it was truly captivating-like the tenderness of a spring breeze stretching for miles. His eyes were deep, dark, and clear, sparkling as if they held the stars and the sea.

He was about to be with the one he loved. He must be happy.

Su Hua also smiled-a brittle smile, the kind left behind after heartbreak.

“I wish you happiness too.” With that, she turned and got into the car.

The moment the door closed, her tears poured down. The new pain mingled with old wounds, aching so much that all she wanted was to curl up.

The driver lifted her suitcase into the trunk, got in, and started the car.

Watching the car speed away, the smile on Gu Beixian’s lips froze in place, and the light in his eyes gradually faded.

Back at the Su family home.

Su Hua dragged her suitcase inside.

Su Peilan noticed her swollen, red eyes and glanced at the suitcase in her hand, startled. “Sweetheart, what happened to you?”

Su Hua lowered her head to change shoes and forced herself to sound calm. “Mom, I’m moving back in.”

Su Peilan sprang up from the sofa. “You’re going to live apart from Gu Beixian?”

“Yeah. His ex-girlfriend has come back.”

Su Peilan’s anger flared at once. “Three years ago, Gu Beixian had a car accident. The doctors said he’d be in a wheelchair for life, and that ex-girlfriend of his ran off! You were the one who stayed by his side, seeking medical help at home and abroad, massaging his legs, helping with rehabilitation, taking care of him day and night like a nurse! And now that he can walk and run again, that woman just comes back-has she no shame? And Gu Beixian, too! For a woman that heartless, he’s willing to give you up? Is he blind?”

Su Hua bent down, took a check out of her suitcase, and handed it to her mother. “This is the compensation he gave.”

Su Peilan stared at the long string of zeros on the check, her eyes widening in shock.

She counted-one followed by eight zeros!

Her expression softened a bit. “It’s not about the money. Does he think he can treat you this way just because he has money?”

Su Hua lowered her eyes and said softly, “Plenty of couples get divorced and the man doesn’t give a cent, even tries to cheat the woman out of what’s hers. Some men, just to avoid splitting property, would even kill their wives. Compared to that, Gu Beixian could have been worse.”

“But can you swallow this?”

Su Hua gave a bitter smile. “What else is there? Make a scene, cry, threaten to take my own life? Would making it ugly do any good? It wouldn’t. His heart isn’t with me. Forcing him to stay makes no sense, and I can’t keep him. Mom, I’m tired. I want to sleep for a while.”

“Go on, get some rest.” Su Peilan watched her with pain in her heart and sighed.

This child is too undemanding-it makes one ache to see it.

Su Hua turned and went to her bedroom.

She slept for two days and two nights.

Su Peilan was so worried she kept coming in to check if Su Hua was still breathing.

In truth, Su Hua hardly slept at all. She just didn’t want to move, didn’t feel hungry, her whole body weak and aching, her heart as if a huge chunk had been ripped out.

It felt like the sky had fallen.

On the third day, Su Hua finally forced herself to get up.

After freshening up, she called Gu Beixian. “Is the divorce agreement ready? When are we going to handle the paperwork?”

Gu Beixian paused a moment before saying, “I’m on a business trip. We’ll talk when I get back.”

“All right. I’ll be at work-call me ahead of time when you’re ready.”

“You found a job so soon? Where?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“At Antique Studio. They’ve been calling me for a while.”

“Don’t work too hard. If you need money, just tell me.” His voice was low and gentle, as if brushed with moonlight, enough to make anyone’s heart ache.

A sharp pain ran through Su Hua’s heart. She answered distantly, “No need, thank you.”

After breakfast, Su Hua took a taxi to Antique Studio.

She was greeted by the Young Shop Manager, Shen Huai.

He wore a light blue shirt and khaki trousers, tall and slender, with a clean, warm presence-gentle and refined.

After introducing Su Hua to the staff downstairs, Shen Huai led her upstairs to meet the store’s senior appraiser, Cui Shousheng.

“Mr. Cui, this is Su Hua, the successor to the Master Restorer, skilled in restoring ancient calligraphy and paintings. From now on, she’ll be our store’s cultural relics restorer. If there’s anything you’re unsure about, you can consult her.”

Cui Shousheng, nearly sixty, peered at Su Hua through his reading glasses.

A girl in her early twenties-how could she be a cultural relics restorer?

At her age, he had still been an apprentice.

Yet the Young Shop Manager praised her so highly, even telling him to consult her!

He agreed politely on the surface, but inwardly he wasn’t convinced at all.

As soon as Shen Huai left, he asked Su Hua, “Xiao Su, you’re so young-how many years have you been in this profession?”
Su Hua gave a faint smile. “More than ten years, I suppose.”

Cui Shousheng was incredulous. “How old are you this year?”

“Twenty-three.”

Cui Shousheng thought to himself, This little girl is quite good at boasting for her age. Just wait and see-she’s bound to embarrass herself!

In this line of work, real skill is what matters. Talking big gets you nowhere!

As they spoke, a shop assistant came upstairs to call them down.

Su Hua and Cui Shousheng went downstairs.

They saw a man in his thirties holding a dirty, old painting, asking if it could be restored.

Cui Shousheng took a glance at it.

Could that even be called a painting anymore? It was a blackened mess, torn and ragged, wrinkled and full of wormholes.

With damage this severe, only the top restorers in the country might have a chance.

He looked at Su Hua with schadenfreude. “Little Su, everyone is watching you. Don’t let them down!”

Su Hua walked over, picked up the painting, and examined it carefully. Then she told the customer, “It can be restored.”

The customer was overjoyed. “Who will do it? How long will it take?”

“I will. Three days is enough.”

“You?” The customer looked doubtfully at Su Hua, who looked barely in her twenties and quite delicate.

“This is an authentic piece by Wang Jian, one of the ‘Four Wangs’ from the late Ming and early Qing! The auction price is at least in the millions. Don’t mess it up!”

Everyone turned their skeptical eyes to Su Hua. Three days?

That was outrageous.

Cui Shousheng clicked his tongue, stroking his beard. “Little Su, it’s good for young people to be bold, but you have to know your limits. If you ruin the customer’s painting, it will destroy the reputation of our Antique Studio. Damage like this-even a top-level restorer wouldn’t dare claim it could be fixed in three days. Restoring a painting often takes months, even years!”

The implication: Don’t overestimate yourself!

Su Hua replied firmly, “Three days will suffice. If I ruin it, I’ll pay double the market price as compensation.”

The customer was planning to have it restored for auction anyway. On hearing this, he immediately agreed. “Talk is cheap-let’s sign a contract.”

“Alright.”

After settling on the price and signing the contract, Su Hua brought the ancient painting upstairs to the restoration room.

She pushed open the door.

Inside were two large, half-person-high solid red wooden tables.

Restoration tools such as wide brushes, hoof knives, sheepskin towels, calligraphy brushes, and Xuan paper were all available.

Restoration of ancient calligraphy and painting mainly involves four steps: washing, separating, mending, and mounting.

Su Hua asked someone to boil a pot of water, then began gently washing the ancient painting with a brush dipped in the hot water.

Every motion was meticulous.

She needed to clean off the stains without letting the water flow too strongly, which could damage the fragile paper fibers.

Easier said than done.

Fortunately, she had assisted her grandfather with restoration since childhood, making her highly skilled.

Gu Beixian’s grandparents were also avid antique collectors. In recent years, she had handled almost all the restoration work for their family’s calligraphy and paintings.

Let alone a painting in this condition-she had restored even older and more badly damaged ones.

With time pressing, Su Hua was so busy in the following days that she barely had time to lift her head.

Being busy was good.

Being busy let her temporarily forget Gu Beixian.

Even her sorrow seemed to fade.

Three days later, the customer came to collect the painting.

Su Hua brought the restored painting downstairs.

The customer stared in shock at the work-completely different from before. “Is this really the painting I brought in? You didn’t swap it, did you?”

Cui Shousheng, the store manager, and the assistants all came over, equally astonished.

On the ancient painting, mountains undulated, towering peaks stood steep and majestic, trees within the mountains appeared lush and vivid.

Was this really the same painting that had looked like a rag, so tattered and unclear?

Su Hua said calmly, “You can verify its authenticity with an instrument.”

After testing, the customer gave Su Hua a big thumbs-up, paid, and left satisfied with the painting.

Word spread quickly.

Soon, everyone on the antiques street knew that Antique Studio had a new, young, and beautiful ancient painting restorer.

Barely in her twenties, yet her skill rivaled that of a national-level master restorer!

As evening fell,

Gu Beixian called: “My car is parked right outside your shop. Come out.”

Hearing his familiar voice, Su Hua’s heart thudded painfully.

She glanced at her watch and spoke softly, “It’s almost dark. There’s no time to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau now. Can we go tomorrow morning?”

Gu Beixian was silent for a moment. “Grandma wants to see us. She says it’s very important.”