Chapter Nineteen

After returning to the hotel, the two dozed off for a while before being woken up by the alarm clock set by Tengzhi.

Ye Yin yawned as she began packing her luggage. Teng Zhi made two cups of instant coffee and, yawning, called her brother back—Teng Jie had called several times while she was asleep.

Teng Jie asked her where she was, and Teng Zhi answered him without much thought, "At the hotel."

"With friends?"

"Yes, that's right."

Teng Jie paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Sis, is your friend a man or a woman?"

Teng Zhi shuddered, all sleepiness gone, and instinctively tried to lie: "Woman...woman..."

Hearing the stuttering voice outside the bedroom, Ye Yin silently slowed down his movements.

He gave a helpless smirk.

They can't even tell a big story, yet they claim they'll keep a secret?

Teng Jie didn't expose his sister's lie. He sighed and asked her if she was coming home for lunch.

Tengzhi tugged at her clothes and whispered, "I have to keep my friends company, so I won't eat. I'll come home to find you after I finish eating."

"……good."

Ye Yin didn't have much stuff, and he packed it up in no time.

There was only one condom left in the box. Ye Yin scratched the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed.

That's really crazy, just like a greenhorn who's just started having sex.

He twirled the small square piece between his fingers a few times before finally throwing it into the trash can.

Ye Yin carried his luggage to the living room and saw Teng Zhi sitting blankly on the sofa, holding her coffee but not drinking it.

He walked over and asked, "What's wrong? Still sleepy? You can sleep for another hour or so on the bus."

“I’m not sleepy. I just suddenly wondered if it was necessary to tell my brother about this at this time…” Teng Zhi shifted her position to make room for Ye Yin, her voice a little downcast, “If he and my sister-in-law find out, they’ll definitely worry about me.”

The sofa dipped slightly as Ye Yin sat down and took the white porcelain cup from her hand: "Since you've already made your decision, does it make a difference whether you say it sooner or later?"

He took a sip of coffee, then placed his other hand on the back of the sofa, stroking her slightly tousled black hair with a casual, almost habitual motion.

Ye Yin spoke slowly: "Could it be that you've changed your mind?"

His tone was half joking, half probing, just like usual, half true and half false.

Tengzhi bent her elbow and bumped it into his chest without hesitation. Instead of answering his question, she said, "Maybe you'll be the one who changes your mind."

My hand wobbled, and two or three drops of coffee spilled out, landing on my black T-shirt without showing any dirt.

Ye Yin put down his cup, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What do you mean?"

Teng Zhi quickly handed him a few tissues: "I had a dream the night before last, in which Miss Yang handed me an invitation..."

Ye Yin casually wiped his fingers, somewhat surprised: "She's going to marry Li Tiancheng?"

"The invitation has your and her names on it. It's Ye Yang's engagement. She told me to arrive early that day—"

Even though I know the dream is unreal, I can still make it sound real when I talk about it.

Ye Yin rolled his eyes and reached out to pinch the back of her neck: "The invitation in your dream wasn't red, was it?"

Tengzhi asked, puzzled, "It's red."

Ye Yin feigned shock and gasped, "Huh? Shouldn't it be green?"

Teng Zhi realized what was happening, burst out laughing, and narrowed her eyes, curving them into two beautiful lines.

She couldn't stop laughing, and she could feel her eyes getting wet.

How strange, there must have been other people or things that entered her dream that night.

But unfortunately, she could only remember this one scene.

All she remembered was that when Yang Jiawen left in her dream, she held the bright red invitation card, and tears streamed down her face.

She kept laughing, her head down so Ye Yin couldn't see her face.

Ye Yin pulled her to his side, pressed her head against his shoulder, and patted her gently twice: "Is it that funny?"

Like coaxing a little baby.

The laughter had a slightly nasal tone, and Teng Zhi hummed in response, saying nothing more.

After a moment, she suddenly stood up, smiling brightly: "I'll go pack my things and then check out."

Ye Yin felt his arms go empty, as if half the air had been sucked out of his chest.

“Okay, go ahead,” he said.

*

Teng Zhi kept her promise and treated Ye Yin to beef hot pot for lunch, but not at the Teng family's hot pot restaurant.

She quickly dipped the pork shank in the hot pot, muttering softly as if to herself, "This restaurant is our competitor, I can't let my brother know I'm eating here..."

Ye Yin laughed so hard his shoulders shook, and he made a zipper-zipping gesture over his mouth: "Okay, I won't tell anyone."

After the meal, Ye Yin took Teng Zhi to her brother's house.

The car stopped at the entrance of the residential area, and Ye Yin said, "I'll go find a gas station to fill up, and I'll come back here to pick you up around three o'clock."

Teng Zhi unbuckled his seatbelt and swiped a few times on his navigation app: "There's a gas station over here. If you want to rest after you fill up, there's a shopping mall nearby. You can sit in the coffee shop."

"Alright, I'll find a show myself. You can go in now."

"……good."

She got out of the car, and before closing the door, she suddenly turned around and earnestly said "Thank you" to Ye Yin.

Ye Yin was stunned for a moment, then quickly waved his hand: "Okay, go ahead."

After watching Teng Zhi enter the residential area, Ye Yin drove away.

The car was being refueled and then automatically washed. It was in neutral, and the car moved slowly forward on the conveyor belt. Ye Yin sat inside, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

The windshield was quickly sprayed with foam, turning it into a blurry mess, making it impossible to see anything.

Only after being washed clean did Ye Yin spit out, "Thanks my ass."

After washing his car, he had nowhere to go, so he simply drove back to the neighborhood where his brother Tengzhi lived, drove around the area a few times, and found a roadside parking space to park.

It was strange; there was only one person missing from the car, yet it was so quiet that Ye Yin felt uneasy.

Moreover, Tengzhi wasn't a chatterbox; she was mostly quiet, quietly watching a cloud or a tree outside the car window.

The speakers were still playing random Cantonese songs, and someone was whispering softly.

Ye Yin was feeling a bit tired, so he closed his eyes to rest until he heard the words "Let the most beautiful fireworks go off," at which point he opened his eyes.

He remembered that Teng Zhi had mentioned before that the woman Li Tiancheng brought home for casual sex had this Weibo ID.

He turned up the volume and squinted at the lyrics scrolling up on the screen.

"Now that we're strangers again, will you, while the streetlights still shine through the fog, accompany me on my way home?"

There's no tomorrow for us; I'm afraid I'll only regret it after we say goodbye. I've never had the courage to beg.

Too fast? A farewell, and lingering, faint sparks.

Did you enjoy it? If it's over, why not kiss one more time?

After exhausting everyone's resources, it can be concluded that the most beautiful fireworks display has taken place between you and me.

Let's cremate each other with passion before saying goodbye.

...

Ye Yin scoffed, "These lyrics could be applied to anyone."

When Ye Yin was smoking his third cigarette, he received a call from Teng Zhi saying that she could leave now, half an hour earlier than their agreed time of 3 o'clock.

He drove up to the main gate of the residential area, just as Teng Zhi came out.

After she got into the car, Ye Yin asked, "How come you finished talking so quickly?"

Teng Zhi shook her head and laughed, "My brother told me to hurry back to Guangzhou, pack my things, and move out as soon as possible. I shouldn't stay in that house. He'll go back to the shop tomorrow to give some instructions, and then he and my sister-in-law will come to Guangzhou to help me with the divorce."

When she got home, her brother and sister-in-law were waiting in the living room, her niece was taking a nap on the second floor, and the housekeeper had been sent away to give Tengzhi a space where she could talk.

Teng Zhi was straightforward and explained that a third party had entered into her marriage with Li Tiancheng, but fearing that her brother and sister-in-law would be upset, she did not present the evidence she had prepared.

The elder brother and sister-in-law seemed to have been mentally prepared, and did not show much surprise. However, when Teng Zhi said that there was a fourth party involved, and that Li Tiancheng had brought the fourth party home, Teng Jie was furious and jumped up, saying that he would kill Li Tiancheng, that bastard.

Later, Teng Jie went to the yard and smoked a few cigarettes. When he came back, he calmed down and told Teng Zhi with a dark face that she could do whatever she wanted, and that they would support her unconditionally.

But he was still angry and kept muttering that he wanted to break Li Tiancheng's leg.

At this moment, Tengzhi let out a long sigh of relief, feeling the weight on her shoulders lighten.

I finally feel a little safer.

She fastened her seatbelt and said to Ye Yin, "Li Tiancheng just texted me to confirm the high-speed train's arrival time. We should make it in time, right?"

If you're going to put on a show, you have to go all the way, but every show eventually comes to an end.

She bought a ticket to return to the East Station at 8:30 PM. It was 2:30 AM now. Ye Yin stepped on the gas, smiled, and asked, "What's my nickname?"

Such a childish and cringeworthy nickname, which became their little secret at this time. When Tengzhi looked at him, her eyes lit up: "The racing god of Yide Road."

On the way home, Tengzhi's phone kept ringing.

One minute it's her brother calling, anxiously reminding her to take good care of herself these next two days; the next minute it's Attorney Wang calling to discuss the drafting of the divorce agreement.

A little while later, her sister-in-law called and secretly told her that after she left home, Teng Jie's eyes were red, and he ran to the altar to kneel down and kowtow several times to his deceased parents, saying that he blamed himself for not taking good care of her.

My sister-in-law laughed and said that there will always be a room for her at home, so if she is unhappy outside, she can just come back.

Tengzhi was deeply moved, and tears welled up in her eyes again.

A tissue was promptly handed to her, which she took and used to wipe her face.

I only realized then that it had already gotten dark.

Their return journey was westward, and the sun, which they had watched rise little by little in the morning, was now almost disappearing at the edge of the sky.

Teng Zhi also noticed that Ye Yin was becoming increasingly silent, just like the setting sun over the western mountains.

Ye Yin only stopped at a rest area once along the way. This rest area had a McDonald's, so the two of them bought two meals to eat in the car before continuing their journey.

Ye Yin managed to shorten the five-hour highway journey by more than half an hour. Teng Zhi, unaware of how much speeding fine he would have to pay later, tried to lighten the mood with a joke. Ye Yin replied indifferently, "I still think it's too slow."

Back in Guangzhou, the closer you get to the city center, the more vibrant the artificial neon lights become.

The sky was red, starless and moonless, like a rusty rag, unlike last night when they were at the beach, where the night was as dark as ink and the stars could be counted when they looked up.

Ye Yin didn't take her directly to the station. Instead, he drove into the underground parking lot of a shopping mall next to the station, found a corner spot to park, and pressed the handbrake.

Teng Zhi finally waited for him to speak, "Alright, now we have an extra half hour, let's talk."

What do you want to talk about?

Ye Yin's eyes were tired from driving for a long time, and there was no smile on his lips: "When you were talking to your brother or sister-in-law on the phone just now, were you talking about moving?"

Teng Zhi pursed her lips and nodded: "You can understand?"

She spoke to her brother and sister-in-law in their hometown dialect, not Cantonese, when they talked on the phone.

"Hmm, I can understand about 50% or 60% of it."

A vague, inexplicable feeling of unease was pressing down on Ye Yin's chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

He continued, "After you get divorced, you're going back to Shuishan and won't stay in Guangzhou anymore?"

Teng Zhi didn't want to hide it from him: "Well... I decided from the beginning that I would go back to my hometown after the divorce."

Where to stay?

"ah?"

Where will you stay after you go back to your hometown?

"Oh, I'll stay at my brother's place first, and then we can look at houses later."

Ye Yin asked knowingly, "So small restaurants won't open here?"

"Um……"

"No wonder you didn't answer when I asked you where you wanted to open your business that day." Ye Yin tilted his head back and chuckled. "Isn't there anything that would make you stay here? Hmm?"

Tengzhi remained silent.

She has lived in Guangzhou since college, and many places in the city bear the marks of her and Li Tiancheng. She cannot erase them without a trace, and she is too tired to create new memories to cover them up.

Moreover, she was even afraid of running into Li Tiancheng, Yang Jiawen, and Liu Ni on the street.

She was not at fault, yet she suffered greatly because of it for a long time.

Her silence made Ye Yin even angrier.

He suddenly reached out, hooked his arm around the back of her head, and forcefully pressed down on her, fiercely thrusting into her wet mouth, rampaging and dancing with her tongue.

"Ugh, ugh—" Tengzhi quickly regained her senses, struggling incessantly, her hands pressing against his wall-like chest, unwilling to let him come any closer, "No... ugh, no..."

The word "refusal" only added fuel to the fire. Ye Yin practically leaned half his body onto the passenger seat, and his other hand expertly slipped under her clothes, quickly pressing against her soft waist.

Teng Zhi's alarm bells rang loudly. She reached down to try and stop the large hand that was climbing up, but it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. Ye Yin grabbed her breasts in no time and squeezed them hard twice through her bra.

Not satisfied, he pushed his bra up, and his breasts popped out. He pinched one of the nipples and teased it.

"Really don't want it? I don't think so, it really likes me touching it."

Tengzhi was both annoyed and anxious, and utterly helpless.

Even though Ye Yin was so forceful, she could still feel pleasure from his caresses.

But she was more sober than conscious, so she hardened her heart and slapped Ye Yin across the face.

"Smack!"

Ye Yin was stunned by the blow. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Teng Zhi pushed him away forcefully, crossed her arms in front of her, and growled in a hoarse voice, "I said, I don't want to!"

The parking lot was dimly lit, and the two were hidden in the obscure light and shadow.

Ye Yin's vision cleared up a bit, and he watched as Teng Zhi reached into her clothes and silently pulled down the bra that he had shifted.

A sour feeling welled up in his throat. He knew he should apologize first, but his mouth couldn't help but act cheekily: "Tengzhi, I thought I was heartless, but I didn't expect you to be even more heartless than me. You flirt with me whenever you want and run away whenever you want."

Despite her trembling fingers, Teng Zhi forced herself to remain calm, her words laced with sarcasm: "I thought... you could take this."

Ye Yin scoffed: "I feel like I'm actually quite serious."

Teng Zhi looked up, her eyes glistening with tiny tears: "But I have no right to be serious, nor can I be serious."

Ye Yin's heart immediately softened, and he leaned forward again: "Then wait until you get a divorce—"

Teng Zhi raised her hand to cover his mouth and shook her head repeatedly: "Actually, I think you and I should calm down first and deal with what we have to do. Maybe when that time comes, you will find that it is just loneliness and solitude that are causing this."

Her hands were still trembling, but her voice was calm: "These past few days have been the craziest I've been in my 30 years. I'm very happy and I don't regret it. But I can't keep going on like this. There are still many things waiting for me to do."

So what if I'm tempted?

She's well past the age where romance is everything; she'd rather focus on her life and work first than making friends or having romantic relationships.

It felt like a needle was being pierced into my heart, and it was being churned around relentlessly.

Ye Yin stepped back slightly and sat up straight: "Okay... I understand what you mean."

He took a cigarette and lit it inside the car.

Take a deep breath and exhale forcefully; the cigarette burns rapidly, sparks flickering on and off.

The smell of smoke was pungent, and Teng Zhi frowned and coughed twice.

Ye Yin then lifted the cola cup from the cup holder, threw in the remaining half of his cigarette, and said, "I was in a hurry just now, I apologize."

With a click, the car door unlocked.

He refused to look at Teng Zhi: "It's almost time, you should go."

The fireworks were so dazzling that they blinded us, making us forget that they were strangers.

————Author's ramblings————

Fireworks are in full bloom tonight @Wu Yufei

If the chapter splitting rhythm is off, let's do it all at once, two chapters in total.