Chapter 53 Cold Violence and Hot Violence

Jiang Jiaoming was taken aback by her icy voice. He met her cold eyes for a few seconds, then reached out to take her hand, but Liang Kongxiang quickly dodged him. She turned her head away, unwilling to see his face.

“…Eat.” Jiang Jiaoming stared at the back of her head, his voice softening, but she didn’t respond. After a moment of silence, he reached for his chopsticks and put some food into her bowl.

The soft clinking of chopsticks reached Liang Kongxiang's ears. Jiang Jiaoming's shadow was faintly visible on the wall. He was intently poking at something in the plate with his chopsticks, and after a while, he put the chopsticks down and stood up.

Liang Kongxiang suddenly felt his wrist loosen, and the hand that had been tightly gripping him withdrew its strength.

Jiang Jiaoming released her, and then a voice fell on her head, its tone unreadable: "You eat, then I'll go back to my room."

Has he compromised? ...That doesn't seem like him.

The dark shadow on the wall moved. Just as Liang Kongxiang was about to turn around, there was a screech as Jiang Jiaoming pulled the chair away, and he seemed to really be walking into the room.

After a while, Liang Kongxiang turned her head back. She rubbed her sore neck, and her fingers paused when her gaze fell on a pile of chopped scallions and garlic that had been picked out.

Sigh. She buried her face in her hands, her hands pressed against the cold tabletop, and let out a long sigh.

Why is this happening again?

She moved her hand down a little, and the plump, white ceramic bowl was right in front of her eyes, too close, so it was out of focus.

"Want to eat?" He had already taken a step back, and she wasn't incapable of offering a way out.

Liang Kongxiang slowly sat up straight, picked up her chopsticks, and ate a few bites with a bland taste. She had no idea what Jiang Jiaoming was doing in the room. Her gaze fell on the steaming food, gradually losing focus until she could only see a blurry, indistinct mass of color. In the end, she decided not to call him.

After eating a few bites, Liang Kongxiang sat at the table for a while. The short hand of her watch reached eight, but Jiang Jiaoming remained motionless in the room. She glanced at the suitcase that Jiang Jiaoming had kicked to the side of the sofa, then got up and straightened the handle.

I had just changed my shoes and taken two steps when the dimly lit corridor suddenly made a clicking sound.

Liang Kongxiang paused in the entryway, still not turning around, pretending not to hear, her hand touching the cold doorknob, when the person behind her spoke.

"Where are you going, wife?" Jiang Jiaoming, whether by coincidence or after listening for a long time, opened the door just as Liang Kongxiang was about to leave, crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, then walked over.

As Jiang Jiaoming's footsteps sounded, the faint sound of some kind of iron tool seemed to echo as well. Liang Kongxiang frowned, turned around, and slowly looked down at Jiang Jiaoming's expressionless face.

He had a pair of pink handcuffs on his hands, which were unconsciously wrapped around his slender fingers.

"What do you mean?" Liang Kongxiang turned her suitcase around and held it up in front of her, blocking Jiang Jiaoming's approach. "Trying to lock me up?"

"Yes." He pressed his thumb against the latch and nodded in acknowledgment with an open expression.

Liang Kongxiang suddenly found it amusing. She really didn't understand what Jiang Jiaoming was thinking. These kinds of quirky handcuffs were completely useless to her, so why did he think that as long as he kept her by his side, he could gain a sense of security? Didn't he care about the distance between their hearts?

"It's illegal, you know?" She loosened her grip on the suitcase.

He didn't speak, but his expression clearly said, "Then call the police and have me arrested," leaving Liang Kongxiang feeling helpless. She simply stretched out her hand, revealing her slender, white wrists, and gestured with her chin towards him: "Fine, handcuff me."

"If it makes you feel safe, you can give it a try."

Jiang Jiaoming paused in his forward stride, then held her wrist tightly and pulled her into the room.

As soon as they entered the room, Jiang Jiaoming led her to sit on the bed. He stood by the bed, looked down at her for a few seconds, and said, "Go to sleep."

"How are you going to sleep?" Liang Kongxiang raised her handcuffed hands, deliberately showing that she was inconvenienced.

Jiang Jiaoming squatted down in front of her, holding her ankle with one hand and pressing down on the heel of her shoe with the other to pull it down.

From Liang Kongxiang's perspective, she could only see his broad shoulders, the back of his neck, and the back of his head. He suddenly stopped moving, his hand still resting on her ankle.

“I’m not going to give you the silent treatment,” Jiang Jiaoming suddenly said. He deftly took off his other shoe, held it in his hand, stood up, looked down at her, pitiful yet self-righteous: “Don’t give me the silent treatment.”

"Is this considered emotional abuse?" Liang Kongxiang asked calmly, raising her hand to reveal the pink handcuffs. "Then what is this? Illegal imprisonment?"

He fell silent again, took the shoes outside the door, hung up his coat, then lifted the other side of the blanket and sat down. He stretched out his long arm, put his arm around her shoulder, hugged her, and fell onto the pillow, embracing her from behind and burying his face in the back of her neck.

Liang Kongxiang's entire body was bound by his arms and legs, unable to move, especially her wrists, which were pressed against the mattress and were obviously red from being squeezed. She closed her eyes.

"Why did you sigh?" Jiang Jiaoming suddenly asked. His voice was very soft, as if he wasn't sure whether the sigh was real or just his own overactive imagination. It was as if things wouldn't get worse if Liang Kongxiang hadn't heard his question.

Liang Kongxiang didn't speak or open her eyes in the end. Perhaps she was too tired, or perhaps she was surrounded by a familiar scent. She was still thinking about how to deal with Jiang Jiaoming when her thoughts drifted further and further away until her mind went blank.

In the latter half of the night, she vaguely felt a layer of yellowish light covering her eyelids. Then she felt a coolness on her wrist, as if something icy and sticky had clung to it, swirling around the stinging area. The restless pain nerves gradually calmed down from their throbbing.

The next morning, sunlight streamed in through the window and shone on the two bodies sleeping in each other's arms.

Liang Kongxiang was held very tightly, and Jiang Jiaoming woke up as soon as she moved.

He was fast asleep, a tuft of hair sticking up, making him look like the Bull Demon King with a missing piece from behind. He leaned forward, half-propping himself up, and glanced at Liang Kongxiang's face to make sure she wasn't frowning. Then he asked, "Awake? Want some breakfast?"

Liang Kongxiang sat up in bed with her back to Jiang Jiaoming. The blanket slipped down to her waist. She sat for two seconds, as if she had just woken up, and then walked barefoot to the bathroom.

“You…” Jiang Jiaoming immediately got out of bed, grabbed her arm, and lifted her up in his arms.

Liang Kongxiang bent her knees and fell into Jiang Jiaoming's arms. She looked straight at Jiang Jiaoming's Adam's apple without meeting his gaze, until Jiang Jiaoming put her on the bed. He squatted in front of her, tilting his head back and forcefully occupying her view.

"You didn't even call me when you didn't have slippers?" Jiang Jiaoming sighed. "Sit here and wait for me, don't get out of bed."

After he finished speaking, he went to get the slippers that Liang Kongxiang often wore here and put them on her. "Don't give me the silent treatment, Liang Kongxiang. You can scold me if you want, but can you at least talk to me? Hmm?"

"Aren't you tired?" Liang Kongxiang looked at the top of his head. "Aren't you tired of being with me? If you dated someone who could always give you a sense of security, wouldn't you not have to be so careful?"

“I don’t like hearing this,” Jiang Jiaoming looked at her, his face cold. “I only want to be with you. I don’t want anyone else. I only want you.”

Liang Kongxiang met his firm and persistent gaze for a few seconds, then looked away and stood up to walk towards the bathroom. "Then you should learn how to prevent us from repeating the same mistakes."

Jiang Jiaoming followed closely behind her, saying, "I'm learning, but you can't abandon me."

Liang Kongxiang had originally intended to raise her wrists in front of him and ask if this was what he called studying, but a quick glance down revealed that the handcuffs had long since been replaced with soft wool ones. No wonder she hadn't felt any stinging pain this morning. In the end, she didn't bring it up.

"Go out, I need to wash up." Liang Kongxiang helped her to the door.

“I’m not going out,” Jiang Jiaoming said, bending down and squeezing through her hand and the crack in the door to stand behind her and look at her in the mirror. “Go wash up.”

"Do you follow me to the toilet?"

“Hmm,” Jiang Jiaoming nodded calmly, shamelessly, “I’ve touched every part of your body, eaten everything, can’t I even look?”

Liang Kongxiang reluctantly shut her mouth, not intending to discuss this matter with him. Saying more would be pointless and would only backfire.

As soon as she raised her hand, Jiang Jiaoming took the toothpaste and toothbrush, squeezed them out for her, and handed them to her. He also filled a container with water and put it in her palm. When she was ready to wash her face, a washcloth was already prepared.

“…Instead of wasting time on all this, you should think carefully about what I’m angry about,” Liang Kongxiang wiped her face clean, threw the washcloth into the trash can at her feet, and leaned back against the sink to look at him: “Think it through before you talk to me.”

"Can't I talk to you if I haven't figured it out?"

Liang Kongxiang glanced at him and walked out of the bathroom.

But Jiang Jiaoming couldn't stand Liang Kongxiang ignoring him. As long as Liang Kongxiang was willing to speak, he was willing to endure it, whether it was hitting or scolding.

He wouldn't allow Liang Kongxiang to give him the silent treatment, so he changed course and talked so much that it seemed like he was subjecting Liang Kongxiang to physical abuse.

All morning, Jiang Jiaoming either cooked delicious food or talked nonsense to try and get her to talk. Several times, Liang Kongxiang had already reached her breaking point and covered her ears, but she still refused to speak to him anymore.

Fearing he might actually do such a thing, Liang Kongxiang pushed away his face, which was resting on her knees. "No need."

"Finally, you're talking to me." It was still because that old geezer Xiang Hang was mentioned. Jiang Jiao knew this tactic would work, but it actually worked, and he instantly felt annoyed. Seeing Liang Kongxiang push his face away, he briefly turned his head away before moving back to her lap. "Don't push me away."

“You’re really annoying today,” Liang Kongxiang sighed, troubled. “When did you become like this?”

“I told you, I’m self-taught.” He seemed to say it with great pride.

"I suggest you find a mentor to learn from." Liang Kongxiang couldn't resist his advances and wanted to call Chen Yun to urge her to go to work.

"So what?" Liang Kongxiang raised her hand again, lifting the unsightly toy handcuffs. "Am I going to be handcuffed by you for the next few days?"

"I can only untie it when you don't want to leave anymore." Jiang Jiaoming finished speaking, looked at her for a while, and then asked, "Do you still want to leave now?"

"Yes," Liang Kongxiang replied almost without hesitation.

Well, Jiang Jiaoming thought to himself, it was really unnecessary to ask, only to make things worse for myself.

Fearing that Liang Kongxiang would get bored, he took her to the screening room, picked out a movie she liked, and then went to the balcony to call Zhang Bingjie.

He dialed the number, and after a few rings, someone answered.

"Hello?" Zhang San was probably at the dinner table; there was a sound of him swallowing as he spoke. "Jiaoming, what's wrong?"

"OK."

Jiang Jiaoming finished speaking: "The coffee shop downstairs."

Zhang Bingjie: "...Go to hell." He took a sip of water. "What, trying to keep a mistress in broad daylight?"

"Um."

Zhang Bingjie: "..."

"Alright."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Jiaoming sat on the balcony in a daze. On the table was a book that Liang Kongxiang hadn't finished reading yesterday. She had taken off the cover and didn't know where she had put it. All he could see was the pure white cover.

He poked at the closed pages with his finger, accidentally poking a sharp bookmark, and decided to pick it up and flip through it.

He was stunned when he turned the page.

A long passage was underlined in red by Liang Kongxiang.

"I give you my whole soul, along with its quirks, its tantrums, its mood swings, and its eighteen hundred bad habits. It's awful, but it has one redeeming quality: it loves you."

This sentence was circled again with another marker, next to which was a simple drawing of a dog, an arrow, and the words "I am the big bad guy Jiang Jiaoming".

Liang Kongxiang then wrote a short string of text next to the simple sketch.

This text, which may never be read by anyone, is placed under the sun. Sunlight shines through the transparent half-glass between two tall buildings, through the crowded green potted plants, and dapples the black words on the white paper. Golden light and shadow move on the printed paper, making the red markings floating around the black words look like they are floating and sinking on the sea, as if they are turbulent for a moment and calm for a moment.

Like Jiang Jiaoming's mind as he reads this sentence.

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Author's note: That passage is by Wang Xiaobo.

OK, President Jiang will probably go on a crazy search for outside help in the next chapter.

And there will be another chapter later (before midnight), you can read it around midnight or tomorrow morning.

Editor's Note: I'm so sleepy, everyone! I'm going to take a nap. I'll get up in the middle of the night to write more. I'll look at it again tomorrow. [crying emoji]