Clement snatched the agreement, scanned it to make sure everything was in order, then turned to face the entire staff：
“Listen up! Starting today, I'm the one calling the shots around here!”
“Anyone who stays gets a ten percent raise, effective immediately!”
The employees exchanged uneasy glances. Someone murmured：
“But Jesse said this place is gonna have some kind of disaster……”
“Bullshit!”
Clement spat the word like venom：“He's a con artist! You believe him, you can get the hell out right now!”
Nobody moved.
A ten percent raise meant a lot more to the kitchen aunties and the waitstaff than some warning about a bloody catastrophe.
When my great-grandmother passed down the Serpent-Brow Bronze Fish, she left one warning：
“The Serpent-Brow Bronze Fish is enshrined by the Henson family. If it weeps tears of blood, it is a sign of great misfortune. A bloody catastrophe is at hand.”
Three months ago, I emptied every cent I had and opened this hotpot restaurant with Clement, my oldest friend.
The Serpent-Brow Bronze Fish sat enshrined in the northwest corner of the dining hall. It had been quiet the entire time.
Now it was weeping blood. That meant a disaster beyond reckoning was about to strike this place.
It didn't matter how much money we were pulling in. The restaurant could not stay open.
I decided to take Serena and Melanie back to the old family house in the country.
Back at the apartment, I started packing.
My phone buzzed.
I pulled it out and saw over thirty missed calls.
All from Serena.
I was about to call her back when the lock turned.
Serena pushed the door open. Her eyes were red and swollen. She'd been crying.
“Why didn't you answer your phone?”
Her voice was raw.
“It was on silent. I didn't hear it.”
I set the phone down and looked at her：
“Serena, let's go to the country for a while. Lie low until this blows over, then come back.”
Serena was quiet for a long time, her eyes brimming with tears：
“Honey, if you've been under too much pressure lately, we can take a month off.”
“Rest up, then go back and talk to Clement. Get your shares back. Can you do that?”
I shook my head.
“The contract's signed. That restaurant has nothing to do with me anymore.”
Serena stared at me for a long time. Then she laughed.
“Jesse, I thought you were just superstitious.”
“Turns out you've actually lost your mind.”
She pushed a set of divorce papers across the table：
“I don't want a husband this irresponsible.”
“And Melanie doesn't need a father like this. Let's end it.”
I looked at the divorce papers, and a sharp ache tore through my chest.
From college sweethearts to wedding vows, Serena and I had been together for a full ten years.
We had a beautiful little girl.
I thought we'd grow old together.
Now, because of a bronze fish, this family was falling apart.
But as long as they were alive, I'd rather they hate me for the rest of their lives.
“The house, the car, the savings. It's all yours. I'll leave with nothing.”
“Serena, one last thing. Whatever you do, stay away from the restaurant.”
I dragged my suitcase out the door without another word.
Half an hour later, I saw a post from Trudy Summers, Serena's best friend.
It was a video.
In it, Serena sat in a booth at a bar, a row of empty bottles lined up in front of her.
She was wasted, slurring into the camera：
“From college to the wedding, a whole ten years……”
“And in the end? He cares more about some stupid fish than he does about me……”
“Jesse Henson, you're a goddamn bastard……”
The comments section blew up.
【Wait, Jesse and Serena got divorced?? Weren't they like the perfect couple?】
【I heard Jesse's superstitious. Something he had enshrined in the restaurant started crying, and he wanted to shut the whole place down even though it was pulling in over two million a month. Serena wouldn't go along with it, so they split.】
【That's not even the worst of it. I remember back during SATs, that same stupid fish cried too, and he straight-up refused to walk into the testing center. Repeated the year for nothing. Turned out absolutely nothing happened. The guy's just crazy.】
