Ye Zhengchen got a call and hurried out of the bed to put on his clothes.
“ Ineed to meet someone, I’ll call you.”
“ Ok”
Before he left, he threw the semi dry towel on my face and asked me to go back to sleep.
The towel was warmed by his body heat and felt comfortable against my skin.
He walked towards the door, paused, came back again and kissed me on my forehead.
“ Don’t think too much. Leave everything to me.”
“ I can’t be at ease”, he continued, “ You are such a wily fox, I am sure you are up to something.”
He leaned closer to me and blew in my ear. His hot breath seemed to be scorching my skin.” For one smile of Bo Bing, I am willing to gouge out the heart of others.”
I tilted my head and smiled at him. “ Go, I am not a fox spirit!”
“Fortunately you are not.”
I thought to myself that I wasn’t Su Daji and he wasn’t the emperor Zhou Xin. I had probably underestimated him. Maybe he would really gouge out the hearts of others for me.
In the evening, I received a call from Zhong Tian. He said he wanted to meet me and would wait for me under the old banyan tree. His tone was calm.
I was a little excited and by the time I reached the place, I was completely out of breath. The old banyan tree was mostly bare. The few leaves were yellow. As the sun set over the old vines hugging the tree, it looked like a tableau of a sad little autumn evening
Zhong Tian was standing under the tree. As always, his clothes were clean and ironed. But despite his efforts to appear as if nothing had changed, I could see the sadness in his eyes.
When he saw me coming down from the car, he came over to my side and looked at me solemnly. Before I realised what he was doing, he brushed the hair on my forehead away and gazed at the wound.
My face was red from the cold and the redness of the wound was not obvious. The edges were faintly purple and I had skilfully covered them with make up.
“ Does it still hurt?”
I barely smiled, “ No. I know you didn’t mean to…”
Zhong Tim immediately stepped back and my hair fell back on my forehead.
“ Do you really love him?”
I bowed my head and studied the gnarled roots of the banyan tree. As a child, I used to love sitting on the roots and talk to him about my future plans and the ideals in my life. At that time, I always thought he was the most remarkable man in my life.
Now I knew that there was a huge unbridgeable gap between your ideals and the real man.
“ Let’s break up!” he said eagerly, as if afraid that he wouldn’t be able to utter the words if he left it for too long.
I nodded but didn’t say anything.
“ Xiao Bing, I know…. I know you can be happy with him.”
This last sentence of Zhong Tim made me suspicious. I had betrayed him and he had hit me in anger. It was a momentary impulse from his rage at my betrayal. That made sense. Then he broke up with me. That made sense too. Then why did this sentence sound like he was making a big sacrifice for me!
And why was he so calm, so reasonable today? In just one night, he had managed to put aside all his anger and resentment. This looked very suspicious to me
Unless… unless Ye Zhengchen had something to do with this.
I dialled Ye Zhengchen’s number, intending to ask him if he had spoken to Zhong Tian.
The phone connected, but a friend answered instead. His attitude was friendly as he informed me that Ye Zhengchen was busy at the moment and could not come to the phone. He told me that Ye Zhengchen was headed to Beijing on an urgent matter. Ye Zhengchen would get in touch with me as soon as he came back to Nanzhou.
Maybe because I had been in a hospital for a long time, I was unusually sensitive to certain sounds. Faintly, I could hear someone in the background shouting to a doctor. I could also hear the sounds of something being wheeled away, like hospital carts.
But then I remembered Ye Zhengchen was a doctor. Maybe he had a reason to be at a hospital. I even said thank you. Then the man made a strange comment, “ This time you have to wait for him…”
I slammed the phone down.
In the evening, Ye Zhengchen called me, “Girl, do you miss me?”
I was lying in bed, hugging the pillow to myself. I curled up, “What are you dreaming of?”
There was no answer for a long time and I thought he may have fallen asleep. Then, he asked me, “ Was there anything you wanted to ask me?”
“ I met Zhong Tian today..” I had unconsciously lowered my voice by several decibels..” we finally broke up.”
“ Ok”, he murmured faintly, evidently not surprised at all.
“Did you speak to him?”
“ What would you want me to talk to him for?” he asked me.
“ Maybe you told him that you forced me to go to bed with you. That you were the person who helped him get out of prison..”
Immediately after I made this statement I felt stupid. How would Ye Zhengchen tell Zhong Tian all this? He had even refused to acknowledge the existence of Zhong Tian!
“I didn’t tell him all that, and I won’t ever”. My face was buried in his pillow and I could smell Ye Zhenghchen’s scent on it.
“I was the one who volunteered…”
I could hear him smirking on the phone, “ I know”
I felt myself blushing.
“ Ok. I won’t talk anymore. Go back to sleep.”
“Sure. You wait till I come back.”
I had determined that Ye Zhengchen had not spoken to Zhong Tian.My heart felt calmer.
On this particular issue, I really did not want Zhong Tian to know anything. It was ok if he hated me, if he pretended that I was dead to him and hoped that he would find a better woman who would be good to him.
Ye Zhengchen got a call and hurried out of the bed to put on his clothes.
“ Ineed to meet someone, I’ll call you.”
“ Ok”
Before he left, he threw the semi dry towel on my face and asked me to go back to sleep.
The towel was warmed by his body heat and felt comfortable against my skin.
He walked towards the door, paused, came back again and kissed me on my forehead.
“ Don’t think too much. Leave everything to me.”
“ I can’t be at ease”, he continued, “ You are such a wily fox, I am sure you are up to something.”
He leaned closer to me and blew in my ear. His hot breath seemed to be scorching my skin.” For one smile of Bo Bing, I am willing to gouge out the heart of others.”
I tilted my head and smiled at him. “ Go, I am not a fox spirit!”
“Fortunately you are not.”
I thought to myself that I wasn’t Su Daji and he wasn’t the emperor Zhou Xin. I had probably underestimated him. Maybe he would really gouge out the hearts of others for me.
In the evening, I received a call from Zhong Tian. He said he wanted to meet me and would wait for me under the old banyan tree. His tone was calm.
I was a little excited and by the time I reached the place, I was completely out of breath. The old banyan tree was mostly bare. The few leaves were yellow. As the sun set over the old vines hugging the tree, it looked like a tableau of a sad little autumn evening
Zhong Tian was standing under the tree. As always, his clothes were clean and ironed. But despite his efforts to appear as if nothing had changed, I could see the sadness in his eyes.
When he saw me coming down from the car, he came over to my side and looked at me solemnly. Before I realised what he was doing, he brushed the hair on my forehead away and gazed at the wound.
My face was red from the cold and the redness of the wound was not obvious. The edges were faintly purple and I had skilfully covered them with make up.
“ Does it still hurt?”
I barely smiled, “ No. I know you didn’t mean to…”
Zhong Tim immediately stepped back and my hair fell back on my forehead.
“ Do you really love him?”
I bowed my head and studied the gnarled roots of the banyan tree. As a child, I used to love sitting on the roots and talk to him about my future plans and the ideals in my life. At that time, I always thought he was the most remarkable man in my life.
Now I knew that there was a huge unbridgeable gap between your ideals and the real man.
“ Let’s break up!” he said eagerly, as if afraid that he wouldn’t be able to utter the words if he left it for too long.
I nodded but didn’t say anything.
“ Xiao Bing, I know…. I know you can be happy with him.”
This last sentence of Zhong Tim made me suspicious. I had betrayed him and he had hit me in anger. It was a momentary impulse from his rage at my betrayal. That made sense. Then he broke up with me. That made sense too. Then why did this sentence sound like he was making a big sacrifice for me!
And why was he so calm, so reasonable today? In just one night, he had managed to put aside all his anger and resentment. This looked very suspicious to me
Unless… unless Ye Zhengchen had something to do with this.
I dialled Ye Zhengchen’s number, intending to ask him if he had spoken to Zhong Tian.
The phone connected, but a friend answered instead. His attitude was friendly as he informed me that Ye Zhengchen was busy at the moment and could not come to the phone. He told me that Ye Zhengchen was headed to Beijing on an urgent matter. Ye Zhengchen would get in touch with me as soon as he came back to Nanzhou.
Maybe because I had been in a hospital for a long time, I was unusually sensitive to certain sounds. Faintly, I could hear someone in the background shouting to a doctor. I could also hear the sounds of something being wheeled away, like hospital carts.
But then I remembered Ye Zhengchen was a doctor. Maybe he had a reason to be at a hospital. I even said thank you. Then the man made a strange comment, “ This time you have to wait for him…”
I slammed the phone down.
In the evening, Ye Zhengchen called me, “Girl, do you miss me?”
I was lying in bed, hugging the pillow to myself. I curled up, “What are you dreaming of?”
There was no answer for a long time and I thought he may have fallen asleep. Then, he asked me, “ Was there anything you wanted to ask me?”
“ I met Zhong Tian today..” I had unconsciously lowered my voice by several decibels..” we finally broke up.”
“ Ok”, he murmured faintly, evidently not surprised at all.
“Did you speak to him?”
“ What would you want me to talk to him for?” he asked me.
“ Maybe you told him that you forced me to go to bed with you. That you were the person who helped him get out of prison..”
Immediately after I made this statement I felt stupid. How would Ye Zhengchen tell Zhong Tian all this? He had even refused to acknowledge the existence of Zhong Tian!
“I didn’t tell him all that, and I won’t ever”. My face was buried in his pillow and I could smell Ye Zhenghchen’s scent on it.
“I was the one who volunteered…”
I could hear him smirking on the phone, “ I know”
I felt myself blushing.
“ Ok. I won’t talk anymore. Go back to sleep.”
“Sure. You wait till I come back.”
I had determined that Ye Zhengchen had not spoken to Zhong Tian.My heart felt calmer.
On this particular issue, I really did not want Zhong Tian to know anything. It was ok if he hated me, if he pretended that I was dead to him and hoped that he would find a better woman who would be good to him.
