Chapter 84

In the pale blue light of a late summer/early autumn morning, Cheng Shi lay there with his strong arms bare, startling Huang Ruoyu upon seeing him. She felt as if she had seen a stranger lying in her bed, and her heart pounded.

However, as Huang Ruoyu approached Cheng Shi's flushed, sleeping face amidst the pungent smell of alcohol, she began to understand what had startled her: she realized that what surprised her even more than not loving Cheng Shi was that she didn't hate him at all. Even seeing him lying there sound asleep, seemingly carefree, didn't evoke any hatred in her, and she could never possibly hate him. Huang Ruoyu couldn't help but think, how could anyone in this world possibly hate Cheng Shi? He… he was the talented, tall, handsome, and universally loved Cheng Shi!

As Huang Ruoyu was thinking, she heard Chengshi, who was lying flat on the bed, let out a low groan. His lips moved as he reached out and touched Huang Ruoyu's hand: "Little Fish, is that you? Don't go."

"Shh, shh, don't talk, it's alright. Everything's fine now, Brother Stone, go to sleep."

In that instant, Huang Ruoyu finally understood everything.

So when Huang Ruoyu told Cheng Shi that she didn't hate him that morning, she wasn't lying. And the fact that she prepared a lavish breakfast for him and showed particular interest in his work wasn't a lie either. She didn't pretend when they kissed goodbye at the courtyard gate.

There was nothing wrong with that kiss; it was a kiss from the heart, like the first kiss between a young boy and girl. As long as she was willing to let him kiss her lips lightly, he would pick her up from school, take her home, and keep making her laugh. Of course, he would also keep showing off his talents in front of her.

The only mistake Huang Ruoyu made, the only dishonest thing she did, was that she allowed Cheng Shi and her young lover to continue their relationship and eventually get married.

In reality, Huang Ruoyu did not completely see Chengshi as just a little boy, because she still hoped that the little boy could grow up to be the same age as her, or even more mature than her. She hoped that Chengshi could take care of her and protect her like a man.

Sigh, having a harmless relationship with a young boy who keeps showing off would certainly be interesting, but she's been playing this game for so many years!

The reason Huang Ruoyu plays the role of a little girl in her marriage is simply because, long ago, during those sentimental and lonely days, she felt she should believe everything this young man said and repay him with happy compliments and lies that he liked to hear. In this way, she would live a more relaxed and carefree life.

But gradually, this role-playing became a habit. Eventually, they only said the things the other wanted to hear. So when Cheng Shi said "I love you," Huang Ruoyu would reflexively say, "Brother Shi Tou, you're the most interesting person I've ever met!"

How dangerous it is for the two of them to continue like this! And once this kind of addiction begins, it's very difficult to stop. Soon, all Huang Ruoyu will say is "You're right," "Your decision is definitely the best," or "You're the best person in the world"... Of course, Cheng Shi will basically only say these things.

It's practically a closed-off praise group consisting of just two people.

Next, honesty, reality, and truth were forever banished from these two mutually imprisoned individuals, flickering faintly in the distance like unattainable hopes. Then, Cheng Shi and Huang Ruoyu's approach to life became as pretentious as those unrealistic middle-class families portrayed in Chinese TV dramas; they maintained a constant, dramatic enthusiasm and recklessness, and of course, faced a series of blunders.

Next, Chengshi and Huang Ruoyu will discover that when they say "yes," they actually mean "no"; and when they say "we should face this together," they mean the exact opposite. Then, these two will have to endure the stench they've created, while trying to convince themselves it's the scent of roses…

Even more terrifying, Huang Ruoyu had to endure a portly man pinning her down, letting Sun Pengfei, whom she disliked utterly, pant and groan like a pig on top of her. And in the end? When they faced each other in the darkness, she suddenly realized: I don't know who I am!

But at this point, who can we blame?

Huang Ruoyu cleaned the bedroom and changed Chengshi's sheets. Then, she carried large and small bags of trash to the recycling station in Central Park Phase 3.

Huang Ruoyu carried several black garbage bags in each hand, crossed the lawn and green belt, and arrived at the recycling station. She threw the bags containing all the letters into the blue recyclable waste bin, and the rest into the black general waste bin. However, she still thought it would be better to find a metal bucket to burn all the letters; throwing them into the recyclable waste bin seemed a bit problematic…

Thinking this, Huang Ruoyu sat on the stone bench opposite the garbage recycling station, which was getting a little hot from the sun. She stared blankly at the colorful recycling bins, and this time her overly sensitive sense of smell automatically blocked out the smell of the garbage station.

The humidity in Beijing this late summer and early autumn is higher than in previous years, so it feels a bit like Shanghai, which reminds Huang Ruoyu of her childhood.

Then the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, and the distant sounds of children playing reached Huang Ruoyu's ears. She listened carefully, but still couldn't tell whether the sounds were coming from Cheng Yushan and Cheng Yusi, the three boys from the Sun family, or other children in Central Park—she couldn't even be sure whether the sounds were coming from Beverly, Palm Beach, or Napa Valley. But she knew that during the last week before school started, Central Park was constantly filled with the noise of children, or as Cheng Shi would put it, it was incredibly noisy.

So Huang Ruoyu, caught in the midst of the commotion, could only helplessly admit that from a certain distance, all the children's voices sounded exactly the same.