Translator: Helliot
Editor: P’Raikantopeni
–
Ye Ting’s wedding preparations made Meng Yu even busier, so much so that Ye Yan could hardly even find the time to talk to her. “Mom…”
“Ye Yan, your sister’s about to get married so mom’s in a hurry to go pick out a dress for her. If you’ve got anything to talk about, we can talk about it next time.” Meng Yu brushed hair in front of the mirror and grabbed her bag, ready to leave.
“Mom.” Ye Yan stood in her way. “When are you giving Meng Fu his house back?”
“Ye Yan, housing prices are rising so quickly these days. Where am I going to find the money to buy the house back?” Meng Yu looked troubled.
“Then, what about money? How much money can you give Meng Fu?”
The kind smile on Meng Yu’s face fizzled out completely. She was irritated, but she tried her best to remain patient. “Ye Yan, your sister is about to get married. I know she’s the bride, but think about the dress and the banquet. There are a lot of things we need to spend money on. You wouldn’t want your sister’s big day to be all shabby, would you? If that were to happen, you know your sister’s definitely going to be picked on by her new parents-in-law.”
What Meng Yu said made sense. There was even an earnestness in her voice when she said, “Ye Yan, the house might be impossible now, but mom promises that I’ll give it back to Meng Fu once our family situation improves, all right?”
Meng Yu did not bring up the seven hard years she spent taking care of Meng Yi at all because she knew her son well. He responded better when she was not forceful.
–
For the one being confined, the wait felt harder and harder to bear each day. Two weeks seemed like such little time, and yet it felt like it would never end.
His wrist had mostly recovered. Gu Ze brought in a doctor to remove the stitches for him, and the bandages were removed. Looking down at his wrist, Meng Fu saw a terrible and conspicuous scar, just like a wriggly little worm was living underneath his skin.
When Gu Ze went off to work, he tried to help with the cleaning. He could not bring himself to do nothing other than eat or sleep in his home after all. However, Aunt Zhang hurried over as soon as he picked up a broom. “Mr. Meng.”
“Aunt Zhang, I want to help.”
“Mr. Meng, this is our job as servants of the house,” she took the broom from his hands, “you can go and rest.”
Gu Ze was fuming during the last incident where someone had stepped on Meng Fu’s wrist. All of the maids had their pay cut because of it.
“My wrist is fine now. I’m already doing much better.”
“Mr. Meng, you’re Mr. Gu’s friend. We can’t let you work.” Lowering her head, Aunt Zhang took the broom from him and left.
“Friend? I’m not his friend,” he muttered.
But who cared about what he says?
He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed at the wintersweets blooming in the cold winter winds. Even when his face was practically plastered to the glass, he could neither touch nor smell them.
Meng Yi tip-toed over to Meng Fu’s side and followed his gaze outside. “Meng-Meng, what are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
He pulled on Meng Fu’s arm. “Meng-Meng, follow me.”
Meng Fu was dragged by Meng Yi to a quiet corner. Inside of the room, there were two maids chattering about something, but it was just the usual gossip.
He didn’t understand why Meng Yi brought him all the way here, and the way they were hiding made him feel like a busybody eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation.
He was going to leave, but suddenly, he couldn’t move. It was as if his feet had been rooted to the ground.
“Guess what I saw yesterday when I was about to clean the study…” The maid covered her mouth and giggled.
“What?”
“I saw Mr. Gu kissing Mr. Meng.”
“So they’re really like that? But didn’t they say on the news that Mr. Meng was convicted for seven years? And while he was in prison, they said he…”
“Maybe taking care of men is his specialty.”
“You really can’t tell by his looks, huh?”
“…”
He could not stand listening to this anymore. Meng Fu pulled Meng Yi away, but Meng Yi did not understand why he wanted to leave. “Meng-Meng, Meng-Meng, did you see it? The flower in that room behind that big sister was so pretty. Meng-Meng, can I pick it, please?”
“Meng-Meng!” Meng Yi poked at Meng Fu with his finger.
Suddenly coming back to his senses, he asked, “Xiao Yi, what were you saying?”
“Meng-Meng, I said the flower behind the big sister was really pretty, I wanna pick it.”
“You can’t, Xiao Yi. This is Mr. Gu’s home. We can’t just touch his things as we please.”
“Okay…” Meng Yi dropped his head in disappointment.
Meng Fu turned on the TV for Meng Yi, hoping that it would divert his attention.
But as he sat on the sofa, the conversation between the two maids kept on ringing in his ears. He thought about it and laughed. It’s true, isn’t it, Meng Fu? Isn’t that exactly what it is right now?
It’s not like what they were saying was completely wrong.
In the silent hours of the day, the same routine was constantly being repeated. Meng Fu felt like he was living in a world where time had stopped. All he did was daydream and read while occasionally, Gu Ze would come over to vent his desire on him, laying kisses all over his body.
He would also occasionally hear the murmuring of the maids.
Other than that, the only evidence that time existed was that the scar on his wrist was healing. Gradually, the wound healed, scabbing over, and then falling off.
It became a mark on his body that could never be erased.
–
Xie Zhenzhen was already five months pregnant, and her belly was so swollen that not even loose clothes could hide it anymore. She had no idea why she was still clinging onto the past, but she ended up running to Gu Ze’s restaurant one day.
There was no sign of Meng Yi, whom she usually saw playing the piano, so there was naturally no sign of the busy bee, Meng Fu, either.
“Jiang Hui, can you tell me where Meng Fu is?” There was a glint of expectation in her eyes, of pleading. Her hair was disheveled and her face was clean of makeup. It seemed like she had rushed over in a hurry.
“No idea. He quit long ago. Anyway, didn’t he commit suicide?” Jiang Hui was overflowing with heartache as he saw how downcast his goddess appeared today.
“Oh… So he isn’t here anymore?”
There was disappointment in her eyes.
She sniffled and rubbed her belly. “I need to see him. I’m pregnant with our child, but I… I can’t find him anywhere. Meng Fu… He won’t let me see him.”
She wiped her tears away.
She looked at Jiang Hui again. “Jiang Hui, you must tell me if you hear anything about Meng Fu, all right?”
Jiang Hui nodded. Downtrodden, Xie Zhenzhen turned around to leave.
However, Jiang Hui felt bad for her and ended up calling out to her. “I know where Meng Fu is.”
“You do?” Hope was rekindled in her defeated eyes. “Where’s Meng Fu now?”
She knew that she said that she would never see him again. She told him, Meng Fu, I’ll never look for you again, but that was a lie. She wanted to see him again.
She urgently wanted to see him.
“He’s at the boss’s place.” It was supposed to be a secret, but once, when Jiang Hui was leaving work late after his overtime shift, he just happened to overhear Secretary Wang mentioning it.
Jiang Hui was reluctant to tell her the truth because he earnestly believed that Meng Fu was beneath her, and that he betrayed her feelings for him.
But when he saw the tears welling up in her eyes, he could no longer help himself.
“Thank you, Jiang Hui.” Xie Zhenzhen thanked him.