In the month of May, Wuhan was like a furnace. The sun was out, shining so brightly on the land and the damp, dry air spread so fast and stuck to her body.
Xu Wei worked a lot for the past five days on her business trip, running around every day. She went to publishing houses and printing presses, then she would meet the authors. When afternoon came, she finished her work, and a friend asked her to dinner.
She replied minimally, and took a taxi to the hotel. On the way, her phone never stopped ringing, and the WeChat notification sounded incessantly. There was a 99+ notification on it. Glancing at it, she tugged her clothes in annoyance even though the car maintained a cool temperature. Xu Wei asked the driver to set the air conditioner even lower.
The driver was in his forties, and sweat trailed on his neckline, making the area damp. He spoke in awkward Mandarin with hesitation after her phone stopped ringing. She kept ignoring it.
“Boyfriend, miss?”
Xu Wei propped her face with her hands, and she wore a thin, gauze shirt with a lowered collar. Her flawless, white skin was warm and glowing like jade. It was scorching, so she used light makeup, making her look bright-eyed.
On her slender wrists, hung a silver bracelet. She smiled lightly and said, “Mr., how do you know?”
“Young people like you, if you don’t like the person, you should let them go, pull back. Don’t let him hang on and blow your phone up.”
The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.
Qygkdt sd vbl asye, y vawnj prayukdt oyvla rypple cu, yde vblal oyp nsszdlpp kd vbl yka. Mbl eakhla nsdvkdwle, “R pll vbyv usw’al ydtau, ps vblal’p nsdqzknv. Kwpv qsatkhl bkx. Zsw vos xwpv vszlayvl lynb svbla’p pbsavnsxkdtp, ps usw nyd byhl y zsdt-zypvkdt alzyvksdpbkr.”&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;
Mbl eakhla zssjle zkjl y xyd okvb lmrlakldnl. Tl bye plld y zsv sq rlsrzl yde blyae vblka pvsaklp, yde okvb bkp rlapsdyz lmrlakldnl, bl oyp lhld xsal jdsozletlyczl yde rasqlppksdyz vbyd vbl olzz-jdsod lmrlavp.&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;
Dw Elk oyp yhskekdt Zw Fbkgbsw qsa y qlo eyup dso. Fbl bypd’v ydpolale bla ElUbyv yde rbsdl. Tla ydtla byp rypple, yde pbl nswzed’v blzr cwv vbkdj ycswv vbl tsse vbkdtp bl eke qsa bla. Fbl eked’v jdso bso vs vyzj ycswv bla rasczlxp okvb psxlsdl, kv oyp byae vs srld wr.&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;
Myzjkdt vs bla tayderyaldvp oswze sdzu osaau vblx. Rq pbl vyzjle vs bla clpv qakldep, kv oswze cl lxcyaayppkdt. Gqvla vyzjkdt vs vbl eakhla qsa y qlo xkdwvlp, vbl watl vs vyzj nyxl wr. Fbl pyke, “Tl eslpd’v jllr bkp rasxkplp yde vldep vs zkl vs xl.”&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;
“Ebyv kp kv ycswv? Tl’p pvkzz pxsjkdt? Pakdjkdt? Ublokdt twx yde dsv nbydtkdt bkp oyup? Xa eke bl blzr bkp xsvbla vs cwzzu usw?” Tkp osaep pvwddle Dw Elk. Zw Fbkgbsw zkhle y ekpnkrzkdle, nzlyd zkql yde bye dsdl sq vbspl cye byckvp. Tkp qakldep olal yzps vbl pyxl yp bkx, dknl yde nsxqsavyczl yp bkxplzq zkjl vbl caktbv tzso sq vbl xssd.&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;
Mbl nsdqwpksd sd bla qynl oyp nzlyazu plld cu vbl eakhla, yde bl pyke, “Gp zsdt yp kv nyd cl qkmle yde dsv y xyfsa rasczlx, kv’p sjyu. Ls sdl’p rlaqlnv, yde lhlausdl byp vblka pbsavnsxkdtp. Qkazp zkjl usw vlde vs nbypl pvyap yde nsdvkdwl vs zkjl vblx elprkvl nsxxkvvkdt vym lhypksd yde eawt ycwpl. Mblal’p alyzzu ds dlle vs cl ps byapb sd rlsrzl vbyv yal nzsplpv vs usw.”&dcpr;
Mbl eakhla oyp ps ldvbwpkypvkn, bkp kdnlppydv nbyvvla nsdvkdwle wdvkz Dw Elk alynble vbl bsvlz. Fbl tsv swv, yde obld pbl oyzjle kd bla assx, pbl vwadle sd vbl yka nsdekvksdkdt.&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;
Fbl oypble yzz vbl ewpv yde polyv sd bla cseu. Ebld pbl nyxl swv qasx vbl pbsola, bla rbsdl oyp elye clnywpl sq bkp nyzzp. Gzvbswtb pbl ktdsale Zw Fbkgbsw, pbl pvkzz alye yzz vbl yrszstu xlppytlp bl pldv vbaswtb ElUbyv.&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;&dcpr;
Her fingers scrolled through the messages until the last one. Earlier, she listened to the driver. Now, when reading the messages, her anger was revived a bit.
The damn Yu Shizhou even did it to her like that. He went overboard even though he promised not to do it. Yu Shizhou almost killed her. She admitted though that the accidental peeing was her fault.
Then, he said he’d help her get it out, but then, he rammed her channel like that. The feeling of her stomach rising and the realistic tearing was still fresh in her mind even after ten days.
As she recalled it, her stomach felt uncomfortable and sore. She was half-dead after the deed was done. The more she remembered it, the angrier she became. Xu Wei beat the bed in anger.
She didn’t want to see Yu Shizhou at that moment, so she went back home—Xu’s house—the next morning. When she found out that the editor-in-chief was going on a business trip, she snatched the job.
Couldn’t he just leave her alone? His presence reminded her of the almost deadly s*x that day. Xu Wei felt angry and ashamed.
She also blamed and disliked herself. The feeling was indefinable and lingered in the heart, it was uncomfortable.
*****
Although Wuhan was very hot, there were many fun places to visit. Her college friends knew she was coming, so they took advantage of the weekend to spend time with her. Going to the water park on such a hot day was perfect.
Xu Wei picked out a decent swimsuit, and with her slender waist, long legs, and flawless white skin, she resembled a freshly peeled lychee. Taking pictures, she posted and sent it to her circle of friends.
She enjoyed herself in the paradise, and refused a few men who came to strike up a conversation and asked for her contact information.
When she came back from having dinner, she realized that her phone didn’t ring since the time she spent with her friends this morning. Xu Wei wondered why he stopped, and just as she reached the door of her room, her phone rang.
It had been ten days, and her anger almost faded away, so she answered the phone. The person on the other line didn’t expect her to answer, and was probably prepared for the phone to just ring. .
When Yu Shizhou heard her warm voice, he grew silent for a moment and breathed lightly. He carefully said, “Wei Wei?”
She only mumbled.
“You’re finally willing to pay attention to me.” There was a bit of suppressed grievance in his voice.
Sitting cross-legged on the couch, Xu Wei was feeling bored as she buttoned the cushion. His voice was very low with a hint of roughness as if he hadn’t spoken for a long time. It was as if the tender nails of a cat were scratching her heart.
Clenching one of her hands into a tight fist, she unconsciously punched her leg and pursed her lips, “Is there something wrong?”
Nothing, he just missed her badly. But he knew he offended her badly this time, and he swallowed the words he wanted to say in his throat before he finally said, “When are you coming back? Can I pick you up?”
He spoke in such a mellow tone as if he was afraid she would refuse. He knew that he did wrong. Xu Wei almost answered tomorrow, but she stopped herself. She had to leave him hanging again.
She replied coldly, “I don’t know yet.”
The other side had nothing to say or he didn’t know what to say so as not to annoy her. After keeping silent for a while, he said in a muffled voice, “Wei Wei, I was wrong.”
Xu Wei hung up the phone with a snap, calmed down for a while, and let out a long breath.
The next day, the sky was blue and cloudless. Xu Wei took an early flight from Wuhan to her city.
It was past the morning rush hour when she arrived at Xianyang Airport. Xu Wei was ready to call a taxi when she saw the person waiting for her.
It was Yu Shizhou. He wore a big loose t-shirt, knee-length shorts, and a pair of sneakers. He looked fashionable and youthful, and this was the first time she saw him like this.
The girls passing by blushed as they watched him. Xu Wei snortred, he even wore the clothes she bought. It was clear he wanted to impress her.
Yu Shizhou looked up as if aware that she was around. His clear eyes rippled as he walked towards her. Xu Wei felt like vomiting in her mind, he dressed up, looking handsome to apologize.
Yu Shizhou’s eyes were a little red, as if he hadn’t slept well and wasn’t in good spirits. Although it was morning, the airport was scorching, and beads of sweat trailed on the side of his handsome face, wetting his collar.
He grabbed her things, and she asked, “When did you get here?”
“Just now.” His voice sounded aggrieved.
Because she ignored him, he had to go to her company and ask her colleagues about her schedule and when she would come back. Her colleague told her a date but it wasn’t exact, so he waited for three days at the airport.
He waited for hours in the morning until he made sure that she wasn’t coming, then he would go to school. Because of this, he almost became a celebrity at the airport. Yu Shizhou led her out of the establishment, walking really fast amidst the curious eyes of the onlookers.
Someone had come to pick her up, and she wasn’t pretentious enough to leave on her own when he came for her. Also, this man was her husband, but…
“Take me back to the Xu family.”
She wore her seatbelt and looked down. Yu Shizhou’s hand on the steering wheel tightened for a moment, and then he responded with a yes.
Xu Wei didn’t want to talk, so the ride was quiet. She turned her head to the right, leaning on the window with her eyes closed as if she was sleeping. Yu Shizhou drove and glanced at her. He turned up the air conditioner a bit.
The car slowly stopped in front of the Xu family’s villa. Xu Wei seemed to have fallen asleep, and didn’t move, so Yu Shizhou didn’t wake her up. Her head was slightly tilted to the side, the clean and soft hair reached the porcelain white skin on the side of her ear.
Her eyelids lifted slightly. The dark eyes looked calm, there was a tinge of red, and the tip of her eyes looked delicate. Her lips moved slightly. Then, a whistle sounded from the distance, shaking her awake fully.
Xu Wei brushed her eyes and sat up, wiping the sweat on her forehead with the back of her fingers. She wasn’t ready to talk to him, so she just picked up her bag and got out of the car. He had carried her luggage out.
Xu Wei moved and tried to enter the house. Yu Shizhou, finally, couldn’t take it. He stepped forward and pulled her carefully but firmly. Then, he spoke in a bitter voice, “ Wei Wei, if you’re not angry with me anymore, let me know. I’ll pick you up, okay?”
Xu Wei was doubtful of his sincerity. When he made a mistake before, he promised not to do it again. But now, he only admitted his mistake and not even a promise was said.
Glaring fiercely at him, Xu Wei hurriedly ran inside. Every time he wanted to talk about it, she would interrupt him, not wanting to recall that day.
*******************
Despite living in Xu’s house, she still called Yu Shizhou to drop her off at work and pick her up at the end of the day. He was still at her beck and call. Despites his expectact gaze, she didn’t go home with him every time.
When he picked her up from work, she didn’t invite him to come in and sit down. Under the blazing afternoon sun and scorching heat, surrounded by the cicadas on the trees as they roared their hearts out, people had nowhere to hide.
Xu Wei flung her bag and announced, “I’m back.”
Grandma Xu ignored her, and glanced at the housekeeper. The latter understood what grandma Xu Wanted to say and whispered, “He’s still waiting outside under this blazing sun—every day.”
After the old lady heard this, she frowned. When Xu Wei stayed with her, she thought Shizhou bullied her granddaughter, so she let her stay at home. She didn’t ask or say anything, but now, Xu Wei was picked up and dropped off every day. Shizhou was clearly repenting and his gestures were clearly admitting his faults.
She said, “Go get Shi Zhou to come in.”
She turned around and went back to the living room. “Wei Wei, what’s going on with you and Shi Zhou?”
Xu Wei stopped eating the watermelon, then she wiped the juice from the corner of her mouth as if nothing’s wrong. “Nothing, what could have happened?”
Grandma Xu said, “This is enough. Shizhou always waits for you everyday outside even though it’s so hot. You don’t care about your husband at all.”
Her grandma’s words rendered her speechless, she didn’t know anything at all! Her anger had subsided days ago, but she didn’t want to agree easily. “I didn’t make him wait.”
Grandma Xu threw the pillow at her, hitting her. “He has you in his heart and is willing to suffer for you. What problems can you not overcome? Your husband and wife, you can’t be like this.”
Xu Wei pouted. The housekeeper led Yu Shizhou inside. Grandma Xu cared for Yu Shizhou like he was her own grandson, she pulled him over and let him eat the watermelon.
Yu Shizhou turned to Xu Wei, waiting for her approval. He wouldn’t move until she agreed. Xu Wei couldn’t stand the pitiful look in his eyes, and moved the plate closer to him.
Grandma Xu laughed. “This is good! After dinner, you go home together. It’s only been a year since your marriage. How does it feel to be separated most of the time?”
Ahhh.. It’s good that Shizhou got what he deserves for doing that. But her grandma is right too lolll