Chapter 94: I Want My Daughter to Be Happy

Only at this point did Ou Jinghe realize that not all divorces end with a divorce certificate. The mediation agreement left her with the painful evidence meticulously extracted from six long years of marriage, and the contract granting her freedom after escaping the shackles.

Jian Zhaowen sat in the office, the troublesome matter of the previously banned accounts still unresolved. Users whose devices had been banned reported them to the Cyberspace Administration of China, falsely accusing Day and Night of illegally collecting user data.

Buying data was common practice in the industry. Big data calculations couldn’t be done without applying to call device data, and Jian Zhaowen’s algorithm was no exception. The users didn’t mention that they were banned for harassing others, and the Cyberspace Administration had always been sensitive about the boundaries of a green internet. Within a month, Lei Zheng had been called in for questioning three times. Later, the Cyberspace Administration became too lazy to even see Lei Zheng, and even trying to use connections to get a meal with them resulted in closed doors. The atmosphere in the conference room was heavy. Jian Zhaowen disagreed with stopping the banning of user devices, while Lei Zheng demanded he revert to banning accounts. Lei Zheng seemed to have a bellyful of anger about to explode: “If we keep banning devices like this, I’ll have to go in for questioning every month. Day and Night isn’t what it used to be. The number of users is still rising, and there will always be harassment. I can issue a public announcement to remind people. But banning accounts will anger users who like to stir up trouble—think about it, these are people who can send harassment messages to hundreds of people a day. They have so much time, and every now and then they’ll go to the Cyberspace Administration to say your app has problems. Won’t we be the ones suffering?”

“The situation isn’t just about angering one person. These people are antisocial personalities. They send sensitive photos to harass users every day. They even have organizations and WeChat groups, sharing various methods to report the app. Don’t even talk about damaging your reputation, they’re very skilled at getting you onto the Cyberspace Administration’s blacklist. There are even those who specialize in reporting public accounts until they’re shut down. They don’t hate you, they just simply feel a sense of accomplishment in taking you down.” As Jian Zhaowen finished speaking, the aluminum can in his hand was crushed like an apple core.

“Avoiding them is the only way to hide. No law can cure them, and we can’t guarantee that there’s no pornographic content in our app. If we insist on fighting, we won’t have time to become a familiar face at the Cyberspace Administration. Believe me, if they find you annoying, they’ll really shut you down.”

Jian Zhaowen closed his laptop, interlaced his fingers in front of it, and remained silent. Lei Zheng seemed to be pushed to the breaking point by Jian Zhaowen’s silence: “If you have something to say, just say it.”

“If we really anger the Cyberspace Administration, it has nothing to do with the few people who reported us. If we really don’t care about user experience, then our psychological counseling and assistance are meaningless. We can open the community for free chat, ignore these harassing users, let the reputation go as it may, as long as we have user numbers, isn’t that enough?” Jian Zhaowen had no intention of abandoning the account banning and assistance system.

“I’ve said it more than once, this is the logic of a mid-level product manager, overemphasizing user experience and product value. If you really want Day and Night to become a large social app, don’t dwell on trivial reputation issues. The industry ecosystem needs good content. Now you need to update content to align with current trends. The anonymous psychological counseling section is a pilot to attract the next round of funding. If it doesn’t work, just cut it off. It will never become the main feature of the app.”

Jian Zhaowen laughed: “Then there’s no point in us persisting until now. Having achieved differentiation to this point, psychological counseling is the most important step in helping users speak their minds. Otherwise, there’s no difference from other social apps. Are we just going to rely on algorithms for matching and then observe user behavior to cut off small, ‘unimportant’ features? Users stay on your app for value, not for experience. Beyond the earliest sticky users, new users need to see something new from us.”

Lei Zheng didn’t want to continue talking, wanting to end the topic: “I’m a product manager, I focus on user numbers, daily active users, and profits, predict the industry’s ecosystem to provide what users need, and introduce advertisers. These are my key indicators. And you should focus on algorithm matching and backend stability. We each have our own responsibilities for content review. You can continue to ban devices, but if it really gets taken down for three months like last time, I won’t keep wasting my time.”

“And don’t always treat me like an inexperienced artist trying to stick to my own way. I understand the market logic you’re talking about, and I understand the trends you’re talking about. But content and social apps won’t become big. The biggest one is WeChat, and Weibo will also output content. We won’t become a content app that checks and balances the big players. That’s my assessment of Day and Night. So, while trying to acquire as many users as possible, shouldn’t I consider making users in this community more free than in other communities?”

Lei Zheng was silent for a long while: “Now we can only pray that these users don’t put us in a dead end. As for psychological counseling, do it if you want. There’s still funding, just burn it.”

Jian Zhaowen closed his laptop: “Okay, I’ll do it as soon as possible, and—thank you.”

After Yu Zhimei rented a workstation in Tiantongyuan and met with Xing Ge, she arranged to teach Xiao Wu in detail how to set up a video account. Now, in the short video industry, once you choose a suitable platform, there are routines to follow. As long as the filming techniques and editing are professional, the rest is about having unique enough content. And the cars Xiao Wu had weren’t just unique, they were rare, exotic, and eye-opening. Xing Ge made his shows by reselling used cars, renting cars, borrowing cars, and playing with his own. Xiao Wu’s car playing relied on... wealth.

It was said that everything was ready except for the east wind, and Xiao Wu himself was the east wind. Xiao Wu bought a full set of top-of-the-line DJI drones, full-frame SLRs, camcorders, GO PROs, tripods, handheld gimbals... going all out in one step. Yu Zhimei had never seen such an efficient young person. The young men and women in her own company were still playing on their phones and slacking off. Indeed, the richer people were, the more they knew the value of time, and efficiency was money.

Their first episode featured the latest Aston Martin he had bought. Thanks to Xiao Wu, Yu Zhimei sat in the newest luxury sports car, with handmade leather seats and a dashboard customized by a watchmaker, mid-engine, and a front hood that opened with a light touch to load luggage (Xiao Wu had loaded groceries bought from the market). Yu Zhimei’s filming hand couldn’t stop shaking, but thankfully the camera had a gimbal and was as steady as a chicken’s head. After agreeing to edit the video for Xiao Wu and deliver it in three days, Yu Zhimei directly received a ten thousand yuan red envelope on WeChat: “Sister Mei, this is just a small token of my appreciation. If you ever consider developing in Beijing, I sincerely invite you to help me build a team. I have many friends who play with luxury cars.”

Yu Zhimei looked at her phone, remembering the day she went with Lei Zheng to the studio to find Xiaoxi, and the scene where she talked about marriage with Jian Zhaowen. She hadn’t looked at Jian Zhaowen when she said that, but she clearly felt him freeze for a second. Dancers and stagehands walked past them in the studio, and Jian Zhaowen protected Yu Zhimei to make way. The clever Yu Zhimei wouldn’t put pressure on Jian Zhaowen, thinking about slipping out with him. The two ducked into a roadside noodle shop. The streets outside Shanghai were much simpler, and the restaurant was even playing Dragon TV. Both of them fiddled with their phones, each with their own worries. Just as she was about to tell Jian Zhaowen not to take marriage to heart, Yu Zhimei looked up and saw a news ticker playing news of a sharp drop in the stock price of a film and television company, and one of the shareholders of that company was—Gao Yuan. Yu Zhimei sent a message to Sister He, and Ou Jinghe sent a location, she was in Jiading negotiating with her parents.

She wondered how Sister He was after that day.

The shrewd logic of Shanghainese people: choose a house between two million yuan in liquid funds and a house. Although the returns on large-sum financial management were not small, and P2P platforms were successively collapsing, with the stock market plummeting, Ou Jinghe didn’t want to put her money in a private bank to be harassed by financial managers, and the annualized return was low anyway—besides, once she got the money, she would have to give half to the mistress, not a worthwhile deal for her.

Of course, she had to try her best to get the house. Sitting in the living room, Ou Jinghe held all the documents from the lawsuit and solemnly placed them on the coffee table: “My divorce has been settled. Gao Yuan has no money now, and I want to sell this house.”

“This house is our property. If you sell it, where will we live?” Her mother’s expression wasn’t one of complaint, just a simple question about where they would live. Ou Jinghe had already planned out a solution: “This house was bought for four and a half million back then. It has doubled in value in six years. I’ll take five million, and you can still go to the city and exchange it for an old apartment.”

“We’ve never owned a house. We only managed to live in a good house when we were sixty, and it’s so far from the city—” Her father slammed the table on the spot: “You’re even scheming against us! We wasted our lives bringing you into this world!”

Ou Jinghe scoffed: “You should be thanking me for being born. Gao Yuan helped you with the demolition, and he also provided the initial two million. If I hadn’t married him, you wouldn’t have received a single penny in demolition compensation and would still be living in the shantytown. Giving birth to me was equivalent to you defying fate.”

“Wasn’t that two million the bride price we received?”

“Mom, you really know how to calculate.” Ou Jinghe subconsciously wanted to smoke: “Three million in demolition compensation plus two million in bride price bought a house, and it all belongs to you. You sold your daughter to live comfortably yourselves and still go out and brag that although the house in Jiading has also doubled in value in a few years, how come all the good things fell into your laps?”

“Even if you sue, I won’t give you this house!” Her father sat at the dining table in the distance, his arm resting on the stool, not looking at Ou Jinghe: “There’s no limit to your willfulness. We bought you a piano when you were little, and you always got to use the best things first. You haven’t had children for so many years, and you say divorce and divorce, and you even want your elderly parents to sell their house to help you get money for the mediation. Everything you do ends up losing money. When are you finally going to stop causing trouble?”

Her father had won. Just with one sentence, her father could destroy her so accurately and ruthlessly. She had once tried hard to control herself from saying hurtful things, because bitterness and contempt were written in her genes. Not a single word her father could say showed her any mercy, just like her own viciousness towards others. For her own face, Ou Jinghe had tried hard to maintain Gao Yuan’s lofty image. Now that she had completely lost face, what else did she have to care about? She spread out the evidence she had prepared to take to court, page by page: “Dad, Mom, take a good look. This is your good son-in-law Gao Yuan’s sperm test report. He has azoospermia, the most severe type, spermatogenic failure, understand? He can’t even leave a descendant. Otherwise, with his mistresses, he would have had children and grandchildren long ago.”

“How is that possible? Wasn’t it your fallopian tubes that were blocked?”

“Blocked fallopian tubes can be treated, and so can azoospermia, what era are we in? But, the disease I have can be cured, while Gao Yuan’s can’t, understand? For six years, my dignity has been trampled on so many times, and today I’m still being called a money-losing wretch by you, but I’m finally saying it today. I’m seeking justice for myself.” Ou Jinghe stood up: “I’ll figure it out myself. You guys continue living in your big house. Just pretend I never came today.”

As Ou Jinghe went downstairs, the wind pierced through her soul. Zheng Zeyan was waiting for her by the roadside outside the complex. Ou Jinghe didn’t cry, just sat in the car and smoked: “Can you lend me two million? I’ll give you an IOU.”

“Are your parents sick?”

“I lied to you. Today I came to urge them to sell their house. The money I have isn’t enough to cover the price difference for the Bihu Tiandi house, but I want the Bihu Tiandi house. After thinking it over, I can only come and pressure my parents.”

Zheng Zeyan started the car: “So you didn’t come to have dinner with your parents.”

“In the end, my dad called me a money-losing wretch.” Ou Jinghe laughed: “I probably deserve to have no one in this world support me, because I became an adulterous woman and happened to be in true love, so God will take away all other luck.”

“Why are you always so harsh on yourself?”

Ou Jinghe’s tears flowed freely: “Because I never deserved those normal loves and lives.”

“Don’t say that. I’ll lend it to you. It’s just that two million isn’t a small amount. I don’t have that much in my card, I might need to gather it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re even more sorry to your parents.” Zheng Zeyan smiled: “Although I hate the fact that my mom doesn’t love me, I wouldn’t easily go through such a painful ordeal.”

Before the Lunar New Year, Zheng Zeyan took two days to transfer the money to Ou Jinghe’s account. Ou Jinghe prepared five million and went back to Gao Yuan to revise the mediation agreement. On the day the ownership of Miaolin Dessert Shop and Bihu Tiandi was transferred, Ou Jinghe finally obtained the legally binding divorce mediation agreement, officially succeeding in her divorce. Only at this point did Ou Jinghe realize that not all divorces end with a divorce certificate. The mediation agreement left her with the painful evidence meticulously extracted from six long years of marriage, and the contract granting her freedom after escaping the shackles. Another document in the folder was the two million IOU to Zheng Zeyan. Ou Jinghe sat in the car with mixed feelings. Although the huge loan tied them together, things beyond money were not so easy to calculate, and... she might never be able to repay this debt.

Suddenly, the phone rang—her parents seemed to have finally remembered that today was her official divorce day. Ou Jinghe was about to call and scold them when she heard her father’s still panting voice in the receiver: “Jinghe, come over in a few days, we’ll transfer the money to you. After a month of trouble, the house has finally been sold. They paid the deposit today.”

“What?” Ou Jinghe couldn’t believe her ears.

“We sold the house in Jiading, probably for eight or nine million. You take five million, and we’ll keep the rest to buy a small house in the city and save some for retirement...”

Before she could finish listening, Ou Jinghe burst into tears: “What are you kidding me... are you crazy? You actually sold the house?”

“Otherwise what? We couldn’t just watch you unable to resolve things and get divorced. Gao Yuan is an outsider after all. Once you’re divorced, he has nothing to do with us, but you’re my daughter. Your mother and I discussed it all night and decided to sell the house. If he really has the nerve to ask for the bride price back, we can give it to him. At worst, we won’t have a house, we’ll just rent!”

“Why...” Ou Jinghe’s hands were full of tears, her sleeves soaked: “How could you do this...”

“Don’t cry! I can’t bear to see my daughter suffer. What’s wrong with an old apartment? Your mother and I have lived in one for most of our lives. Moving to the city, I won’t even have to take the subway to get there, it’s quite good. Sigh, don’t cry! Your mother and I don’t have much ability, but we’ll risk our lives to make sure our daughter doesn’t suffer...”

Zheng Zeyan stood at the intersection waiting for Ou Jinghe to get out of the taxi, startled by her flood of tears. Taking the documents from her hand, Zheng Zeyan didn’t know how to comfort her, he could only let Ou Jinghe, wearing a dress, squat down at the intersection and wail. Her dress stuck to the ground, covered in a layer of dust. People passing by avoided her like the plague. Behind her was the once brightly lit Miaolin Dessert Shop, where a real estate agent was leading a couple inside for a viewing. Children from the kindergarten, wearing yellow hats, passed by after school. A little boy stopped and said to Zheng Zeyan, “Uncle, why is she crying?”

Zheng Zeyan bent down and whispered something to the little boy, then gently took Ou Jinghe’s hand and helped her up. The setting sun cast a long shadow of the two people on the ground, stretching towards the closed dessert shop, silent and still.