Translator: Helliot
Editor: P’Raikantopeni
–
Constantly haunted by his soft heart, especially in front of Xie Zhenzhen’s desperate pleas, Meng Fu ended up agreeing to staying with Xie Zhenzhen for the day.
Taking out the wallpaper she bought yesterday from the bag, Xie Zhenzhen said, “Meng Fu, this is our home, so we should make it look nice. At the very least, we should make this place look like home.”
As she spoke, another piece of rubble fell from the plaster walls when her hand touched it. Xie Zhenzhen pouted unhappily. “Look at how ugly this wall is, how could we not put wallpaper over it?
“Our home must be beautiful.
“I love it when our home is all nice and pretty.”
When he heard the word “home” repeated over and over again from Xie Xhenzhen’s mouth, it felt almost dream-like. Home… this place was home.
A tiny wisp of joy sprouted within him. He would always hold a wonderful feeling of expectation when it came to the concept of a home. It felt as if he had a place to rest his feet amidst his loneliness and desolation. If Gu Ze never appeared, then there might even be space in his heart for happiness.
“Meng Fu, come and help,” Xie Zhenzhen called out to him.
They tore off the backs of the wallpaper and stuck them piece by piece to the wall. With the mottled old cracks on the wall covered up, the house finally started to look warm. The two of them stood side by side with her head leaning softly against his body.
She said, “Meng Fu, this is wonderful, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
He gave a soft answer. Yes, it was wonderful. If that accident never happened seven years ago, then this should’ve been the original trajectory of his life.
That caused a feeling of yearning to sprout inside of him, a yearning that gave him a will to rebel against returning to Gu Ze’s house. That gave rise to a thought—he should have brought Xiao Yi with him when he left. If they were able to escape, then would he make it just a bit closer to happiness?
–
Shui Qing stepped into Gu Ze’s office on her 10cm heels but the smoke in the room made her cough, so she quickly rushed over to the windows to open them.
A breeze came in, causing her beautiful chiffon dress to flutter.
“Why are you here?”
“To see you.” Shui Qing tucked her long hair behind her ear and sat down in front of Gu Ze. She had given up, but that was merely in thought, her feelings begged to differ.
He Manyu was a dead woman, and though she was no match for a dead woman, she was able to stay by Gu Ze’s side as a living person. Wasn’t that good enough?
“And what are you seeing me for?” Gu Ze spoke without even lifting his head, holding a half-burned cigarette in his left hand and a pen in his other, scribbling on his documents.
“Have I ever crossed your mind these days? I know you haven’t been seeing other women, so that’s why I came.”
“So you want to climb into my bed?” Gu Ze’s hand stopped and he watched Shui Qing with a meaningful gaze.
He spoke so bluntly that it caused Shui Qing to purse her lips and her cheeks blushed red. “I… I just… is that a problem?”
The tip of his pen tapped against the paper, leaving several dots behind, just like his chaotic heartbeat. Not long ago, a man had pleaded with him, saying, “Please, Mr. Gu. Just do it.”
Deep eyes looked up at Shui Qing with a no-bullshit look on his face. “Shui Qing. You know I don’t play games.”
“Will you accompany me for a day if I tell you where Meng Fu is?”
She had suddenly fallen so low because of her feelings, but she thought that if he could keep her company for just one night, then even that would be wonderful.
The words “Meng Fu” dug straight into Gu Ze’s ears. “You know where Meng Fu is?”
Despite sending people to look for Meng Fu, he had been unable to find him even after so many days, so how did Shui Qing know where he was?”
“One of my friends happened to mention that Xie Zhenzhen borrowed some money from her while we were chatting,” Shui Qing explained.
It was from Secretary Wang that she found out that Gu Ze was looking for Meng Fu, and she thought that Gu Ze was simply looking for him because he was reluctant to see his enemy escape from his grasp.
Gu Ze’s expression relaxed at once. The agitation that was plaguing him before disappeared as if it had been quenched with cold water. With a hint of indifference in his voice, he asked, “Fine. I’ll grant your request.”
It was just for one day.
Even if his feelings for Shui Qing were no different than the feelings he had for most of the women he had dealt with in the past. They were just bed partners, that’s all.
–
Darkness descended as night came as if the world had sunken into a pool of ink at once. Meng Fu felt uneasy. His unease was coiled around his heart, but his face remained calm as still water.
Sitting on the sofa, he took out a tube of ointment. “Zhenzhen, it’s time for your ointment.”
Since finding out about the injuries on Zhenzhen’s body, he bought a tube of ointment and would apply it for her every day. When he saw Zhenzhen take her clothes off, he dropped his gaze.
Xie Zhenzhen turned around and left her bare and marked back to Meng Fu’s care.
Meng Fu squeezed out some ointment onto the tip of his fingers and carefully applied it to her skin.
“Ah!”
“Does it hurt?” He stopped.
“No.” Xie Zhenzhen shook her head. “Meng Fu, I feel so happy.”
His fingers applied the ointment even more gently to Xie Zhenzhen’s back, then he moved to the front, smearing the ointment over her collarbones with his eyes all the way down, unsure of where to look.
He couldn’t get used to facing Xie Zhenzhen naked.
Xie Zhenzhen grabbed his hand and pressed it against her breast, her eyes glistening. “Meng Fu.”
Meng Fu recoiled in shock. “Zhenzhen,” he called out her name helplessly.
“Don’t you want to touch me?”
“Zhenzhen, we’re already…” over.
Before he could finish, Xie Zhenzhen interrupted him in a panic. “I know. We have a baby coming soon, so let’s talk about this after the baby is born, all right?”
It scared her to have to hear another rejection from him.
“…All right.”
In fact, they knew how it was going to end, knew that it was just a smokescreen in front of them, yet Xie Zhenzhen chose to deceive herself, and so did he.
He couldn’t bear to face Xie Zhenzhen.
Or rather, he found it even harder to face himself.
The thought of returning to Gu Ze’s home, back to the endless torture that awaited him, of a physical relationship devoid of love or emotions, made him afraid.
He applied some ointment to Xie Zhenzhen’s scratched-up breasts.
After he was done, he brought Xie Zhenzhen’s clothes over so he could help her put them on.
“Do you want to hear the baby? The baby just kicked me. What a naughty child.” Xie Zhenzhen set the clothes aside and looked up at Meng Fu.
“Listen, Meng Fu. That’s our baby.” She stubbornly claimed that it was their child.
She pressed Meng Fu’s hand to her bulging belly.
Meng Fu really did feel a small life moving inside. It was such a magical feeling that he couldn’t help but smile, and all the hesitation and rejection that was building up inside him disappeared without a trace.
He pressed his ear to her belly, a completely involuntary movement.
“Meng Fu, do you hear it?”
“I hear it.”
As soon as he said that, there was a bang at the door as the door was brutally kicked open.
A man enveloped by rage stood at the doorway.