Translator: Helliot
Editor: P’Raikantopeni
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The neighbors slammed their door on purpose, and the noise was so loud that it sounded as if their eardrums were going to burst.
Xie Zhenzhen tugged at Meng Fu’s sleeve. “Meng Fu, I know it wasn’t you. That person just looked like you. He’s not you.”
She had also seen the news. She was shocked at first, but when she looked closely, she realized that it wasn’t him.
Meng Fu squeezed out a slight smile. “Zhenzhen, wait here for a moment.”
However, Xie Zhenzhen grabbed his hand. “I’ll go with you.”
The landlord opened the door and glanced at Xie Zhenzhen, who was standing next to Meng Fu. Then, the door closed from a 45-degree angle to a 15-degree angle. “What are you doing here, Meng Fu?”
His tone was hostile, completely unlike the friendly landlord from before.
“Mister, has the lock been changed? The key won’t work anymore,” he asked.
“Of course it’s been changed! You have no idea, Meng Fu. Nobody wants to rent that unit after you tried to kill yourself in it!” The landlord looked at him with scorn. It was a look of resentment, disdain, and contempt.
Meng Fu did not understand what the landlord meant. The chill of the ice-cold keys resting in his palm seemed to spread to all his limbs at once. “Am I not renting the unit anymore?”
Didn’t he ask Mr. Gu to help him pay the rent?
“You didn’t even pay the rent! You think I’m gonna let you stay here? Listen up, even if nobody’s willing to stay here, I still won’t let you live here for free!”
After saying that, the landlord tried to close the door, but Meng Fu stopped the door with his hand.
“Was the rent not paid? Is that really true?”
“No, it’s not paid! Happy?!” With a bang, the door was shut, but then it opened again, and the landlord added grumpily, “Even if you had money, don’t even think about coming here. My place can’t handle someone like you!”
“Hey! What do you mean by that?!” Xie Zhenzhen was angry.
The door slammed shut on them again.
Meng Fu stiffened in place. Gu Ze told him that he would pay the rent for him, but it was just a lie. Why wouldn’t it be? Why would Gu Ze even pay the rent for him? He would want nothing more than for him to be homeless after he left his home.
He lied to him so that he could see him with nowhere to return to, right?
Heh, that has to be it. Yes, it has to be.
Xie Zhenzhen clutched Meng Fu’s hand and muttered, “Meng Fu, let’s just go. I still have money. We can stay somewhere else.”
“Zhenzhen,” his voice was quiet, “if you had some other choice, would…”
“No, Meng Fu.” As if she could guess what Meng Fu was going to say, Xie Zhenzhen hurriedly stopped him. “Stay with me. No matter what, you have to stay with me. If even you are going to drive me away, then I’ll have nowhere to go.”
Feeling bad for her, he was completely incapable of saying, Go, Xie Zhenzhen. I don’t have what it takes to take care of you. I don’t even have a home to go back to myself. There was no way for him to bring himself to say such words to her.
He knows that what Xie Zhenzhen needed was not money but companionship.
They went to look for several other rooms for rent, and they had already signed the agreements when the landlords recognized Meng Fu and canceled the contracts. Angry, Xue Zhenzhen argued, “I’ve already paid, so what gives you the right to refuse us the room? Listen, everything you’ve seen on the news is fake, it’s all fake!”
But Meng Fu stopped her. “Forget it, Zhenzhen. I’ve been to prison before, and that’s a fact.”
Prison, that word pricked right into her heart. Xie Zhenzhen bit her lip and said stubbornly, “Meng Fu, that wasn’t your fault.”
The sky gradually turned dark, and with a child in her belly, Xie Zhenzhen could not keep running around like this any longer. Meng Fu decided to find a hotel to settle down for the night. As for the room search, he could go by himself tomorrow.
“There’s still one place to check out. Who knows? Maybe this one will be the one.” She smiled at Meng Fu while standing with her hands supporting her hips.
One more to go, but Meng Fu wondered just how small that “maybe” was. After the news was broadcast, many people now knew him, and their strange gazes stabbed into his body just like venomous needles.
Many people pretended to whisper behind his back, yet they made sure to speak loud enough that he could hear them say things like, “Look, that guy looks like Meng Fu. I heard he was imprisoned seven years for murder!”
“I heard he messed around a lot with guys while he was in, too. He admitted to it himself!”
“…”
Xie Zhenzhen endured it for a long time, but she could endure no more. When she was about to argue with those people, Meng Fu pulled her back. So, Xie Zhenzhen had no choice but to swallow down her words and stay silent.
Meng Fu did not have much hope for the last apartment, but perhaps fate was finally smiling upon him. The landlady of the last apartment was an old lady who did not pay much attention to the news. Naturally, she did not recognize Meng Fu.
It was just some apartment that was relatively far away from the city. It must have been empty for a long time as there were mottled marks in the wall, and small bits of the wall had cracked and flaked off. It seemed like a very old house.
However, it seemed warm somehow.
When they entered the house, dust filled the air. Xie Zhenzhen coughed and covered her nose. “It’s so dusty.”
“Zhenzhen, you should stay out for now.”
Meng Fu stopped Xie Zhenzhen at the door and asked the old lady to allow Xie Zhenzhen to rest at her place for a while so that he could clean the room.
This was not a difficult task for him, only, his wrist would hurt whenever he moved the chairs and furniture, which made him frown in pain, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.
After an hour or so, the room was finally clean. His wrist throbbed even more, and though his pain tolerance was low, he had also grown used to bearing with it.
When Xie Zhenzhen entered the apartment, her eyes lit up. “Meng Fu, this is wonderful! Even a place like this can clean up well.” She walked around in excitement and pointed at the wall. “Meng Fu, why don’t we buy some stickers and paste them over the cracks tomorrow?”
“Sure.” The pain numbed his mind, but he still remembered that Xie Zhenzhen had not eaten yet. “I’ll go and buy some food.”
The money was from Xie Zhenzhen. Looking into her purse, Meng Fu could see that Xie Zhenzhen barely had any money left. Though Xie Zhenzhen was still smiling as usual, he felt pained. His wrist was in pain, and his whole body was in pain.
Every cell in his body was oozing with grief.
After a simple dinner, he told Xie Zhenzhen to rest well and was about to leave when Xie Zhenzhen pulled his hand. “Meng Fu, don’t go.”
“Zhenzhen, you should rest.”
He tried to pull away from her hand.
However, Xie Zhenzhen’s grip tightened. Tears were welling up in her eyes. “Meng Fu, stay with me.”
“Zhenzhen…”
“The baby has been really naughty, it kicks me all the time at night so I can’t sleep well. Meng Fu, stay with me, please, stay with me.”
His resolve began to wane again.
In the end, he answered helplessly, “Zhenzhen, I’ll sit right here and watch over you until you fall asleep.”
The droplets gathered up in her eyes and ran down her cheek in a stream. Suddenly, Xie Zhenzhen took her clothes off and stood naked before him, speaking in a voice choked with sobs, “Meng Fu, don’t you believe me? Look, my body is covered in the marks of his abuse.”