Chapter 47
Zhou Yue took a quick shower on the first floor, blew her hair half dry, and went to the second floor. Before Jiang Huai came out, she waited at the bathroom door with a bath towel and bathrobe. When he came out, she dried the water on his body and put on a bathrobe, then took him to the bedroom to change clothes.
The mirror in the bedroom was also carved with intricate floral and bird patterns. Everything here exuded a decadent atmosphere. This was the only way she could describe it. The table, the carved bed, the wardrobe, looked like things from the Republic of China period, reminding her of a TV series she had watched. The expeditionary force was stationed in Tengchong, Yunnan. The weather in the south was always the same, with the gray sky always overcast. The wounded died in batches, and the Kuomintang officers who had feasted on the people's money occupied the feudal landlords' mansions to keep concubines. The hot and humid air was filled with the stench of rotting corpses, but a thick layer of balsam floated on the surface of the Nujiang River. The decadent melody of "Night Shanghai" and the miserable wails of the wounded floated in the night of the ancient town of Zenda.
Then she must be the concubine, Zhou Yue thought as she stood in front of the mirror. She carefully took care of the sick Zenda local snake who could not even speak loudly. The old thing coughed up blood again and again on the white silk handkerchief but still could not die. Whoever the snake looked at with its sinister eyes would be killed. Both the snake and she lived unexpectedly long lives, from 1942 to today.
"I'm going to Shanghai tomorrow." He said in a low voice, as if talking to himself.
"Yeah." She knelt down to help him fasten his belt, then got up from the ground and stood in front of him, buttoning her shirt one by one. A strand of wet hair fell down. When she raised her hand to tuck it behind her ear, she looked up at him, stunned for a moment, smiled and whispered, "Go see Miss Li."
"Yeah." He lowered his head and buttoned his cufflinks with a nod, and Zhou Yue also nodded, "I'll pack your luggage for you in a while." After that, he turned around and went to the nanmu table next to the mirror to choose a watch and tie for him.
He was wearing a royal blue shirt today, and she chose a navy blue patterned tie. She hesitated for a moment between a starry blue and an imperial green Patek Philippe Nautilus. Noticing she hadn't heard his voice for a while, she hurriedly glanced up at the mirror, then down at the two watches in her hands. "Mr. Jiang, I don't want to live like my mother."
"Your mother doesn't seem to have heard you say that." He tilted his neck to let her tie the tie around his neck, and looked down at her putting the imperial green Patek Philippe on his wrist.
"Yes," she said, placing the tie knot in the middle of her shirt collar in front of the mirror, "My father died when I was ten, but as far as I can remember, there have always been women around him, and there has never been peace in my family. When my father is around, there are quarrels, and when he is not around, my mother cries, every day and every night.
But you say my dad doesn't love my mom, right? That's not true. My mom has a bad temper and always looks for people to fight with, and my dad always follows her around to clean up after her. My mom likes to have fun, play mahjong, and go clubbing, which are all hobbies that burn money. My dad has lung disease. You can imagine how hot Guangzhou is. He works hard in business and gives all the money he earns to my mom, keeping some for himself to buy cigarettes and alcohol and to entertain his brothers.
My dad is handsome and sweet-talking, and he can charm all those women out there with just a few pieces of clothing he exported and then sold domestically. But in the end, don't even think about getting a penny from him, he knows the difference very well."
"So..." She took a bauhinia cufflink and pinned it on him. "Humans are complicated creatures. For some men, being undivided is impossible, no matter how much he loves you. As a woman, it must be hard for her, but..."
She walked around behind him, gently brushed his shoulder, and calmly brushed away a fallen white hair. "Loving someone is like growing flowers. If you treat someone with the same attitude as you would a flower, you won't always focus on their shortcomings. You should also look at their strengths and remember their good qualities."
She looked at the two people in the mirror. "Life is long. How can we distinguish right from wrong between people? You insist on harping on such a small matter and letting all your feelings go to waste. How painful it is." She walked closer, wiped the cold sweat from her palms with her nightgown, and gently put her arm around his waist. "Just keep your heart with me, that's all."
She smiled and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Even if one day you are no longer with me, I will still remember how good you were to me and how you kept your heart with me."
"Oh my... you're really good with your mouth." Jiang Huai tilted his head and shook it, sighing repeatedly in front of the mirror, "How about I open a lecture hall for you at your school and let you spread love and peace. There will definitely be many believers converting to my teachings."
"I..." She took a step back, awkwardly lifted the hem of her skirt, and said with a smile, "This is what I really think."
"Why are you talking so much nonsense so early in the morning?" He sullenly took off his redbud cufflinks and slammed them on the table. "I told you I had an appointment to discuss something. Why are you dressing me up like a Christmas tree?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Jiang." Zhou Yue quickly picked up the things and put them in the grid. It seemed that the box of jingling decorations would not be used today.
She closed the lid and glanced at the Western clock in the corner. It was almost nine o'clock, but he showed no intention of leaving. He walked to the small sofa beside the bed and sat down. There was tea on the coffee table, and his shirt and trousers were ironed. Zhou Yue stood in the middle of the bedroom, scratched her face, and glanced at the Western clock again, not knowing what to do.
"I have something to do in Shanghai." He leaned forward and took a sip of tea. He looked at the bottom of the cup without any judgment and suddenly laughed. "Humph, a bunch of idiots. You don't understand human language, but you still know how to go to nice places to have fun."
"But I still have to treat you to good food and wine." He crossed his legs and stroked the dial of his watch indifferently. Suddenly, he thought of something and looked up at her with a mysterious smile: "Have you seen the three-eyed freak?"
"No...how can it have three eyes?" Zhou Yue frowned and lowered her head, "I don't want to see that kind of thing."
"Who knows that damn place in Southeast Asia?" Jiang Huai said with disgust. "They're probably twins. One of them ate the other one in my belly or something. It's so disgusting. I want to vomit just looking at it."
"Then why are you with them?" Zhou Yue regretted asking, but Jiang Huai didn't care. He rested his head on the sofa and said, "Of course, we all want to get rich together." After a while, his eyes turned lightly and looked at her face. "Look, Xiao Yuan is not disgusting."
"I felt uncomfortable at first, but I got used to it. He's very disciplined. Apart from the last time he saved me in Hong Kong, he always stayed away from me and did things very quietly."
Her hands were behind her back, her face pale, but this look made him less suspicious. He opened his arms and beckoned her over, wrapping her in his arms, his eyes tender. "You also said that your father risked his life to make money for your mother. So am I? If a man loves a woman, he wants her to have no need to bend over, to eat and drink, and to ensure that her descendants have endless money... For this, what's wrong with risking his own life?"
He tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed her eye sockets, excited and greedy. "Southeast Asia is a wonderful place, flowing with cream and honey. The golden beans grown in such a beautiful place are occupied by those animal-like morons. Isn't it a waste of natural resources?"
"I don't need that much money." Zhou Yue's throat was dry with anxiety. "Look at me, I don't need luxury. I'm used to being poor. I want to work... You're doing well now. They say a strong dragon can't suppress a local snake. How can you rob someone so easily?"
She became more and more anxious as she spoke. She turned to face him, put her hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. He was stunned for a moment. His gloomy feminine eyes were more damp and ominous than the rainy days in the south. "Are you worried about me?" He rested his eyelashes on her shoulder, his neck soft like a baby who couldn't lift its head yet, with an intoxicated smile on his face, but his eyes were not drunk. He stared at her straight, not missing any expression.
"Of course!" Zhou Yue opened her eyes wide, her mind racing. When she finally calmed down, she said, "My mom won't wake up. If anything happens to you, I'll be left with no one."
"You're not going to kill me with a knife or a gun?" He rested his head on her shoulder, smiling with his mouth open, almost drooling.
"Of course I hated you. You used me as bait in Hong Kong. I said I didn't bear a grudge, but being abandoned by someone you thought loved you, how could I not bear a grudge..." Zhou Yue felt that she was almost dead. He looked up at her with squinted eyes, his hands tightly gripping her stomach from behind, but she still climbed onto his shoulders, patted him gently, and continued:
"But over the years, people around me have come and gone, and you've been the only one who's stayed. Do you understand the feeling of relying on each other?"
She hugged his neck and kissed the cinnabar mole between his eyebrows. He didn't hide. "That feeling is... if something happens to you, I don't know what to do. I don't know where to find you."
"What about you?" She placed her hand on the back of his hand. "Am I also your only relative?"
The Western clock is ticking.
"I'll definitely pull out your tongue before I kill you." His tense murderous intent suddenly relaxed, as if he was bored to death. With a sullen look on his face, he let go of her and leaned back on the sofa. She didn't dare to move, didn't dare to get off, so she just sat on his lap with her back to him. Time passed by minute by minute. She glanced at the clock. It was half past nine. Just as she looked away, he kicked her lightly on the calf. "Hey."
"Hmm?" She turned and looked at him.
"Did your father teach you to play with men like this?" He rested his head on the sofa, his eyes and smile lightly moving back and forth across her face and body.
"No..." Zhou Yue turned to look at her right hand, which looked like a broken palm, with all the lines cut in half. "My dad is a man of few words, and he talks even less to me." She remembered the first day Kang Xingxing came to her house. He didn't say a word, didn't even look at anyone, and just slurped shredded potatoes into his mouth, drinking up all the oily soup. He wiped his mouth and went to take a shower. She pressed him into the bathtub and beat and scolded him. He didn't say a word, nor did he resist. Only when she turned her back to apply the shower gel, he hugged his knees and secretly looked at her in the reflection of the glass door... Everything was clear as if it happened yesterday. Zhou Tiancheng was wearing a navy T-shirt and jeans, standing on the balcony smoking a cigarette with a heavy heart. He threw away the cigarette and smiled at her, and his words were also clear.
"My dad told me not to date a boyfriend like him." She lowered her eyes and smiled, "Just that one time. Normally, he wouldn't even let me watch romantic dramas, saying that those who talk about love are rubbish."
"Haha," Jiang Huai raised his head and laughed, "I agree with this." After laughing, he turned his head to look at the Western clock, slowly closed his eyes and opened them again. The sofa creaked, and he sat up and hugged her in his arms again, "Look at me, I made an appointment to talk about something at 9:30, and it's almost 10 o'clock and I'm still lying in the arms of love." He lowered his head and squeezed her hand. From her perspective, she saw his drooping eyelashes and the curve of his mouth. For the first time, she saw a not-so-bright look on his face, and also the first time she saw helplessness that was almost weak.
"I didn't go to Shanghai to see pine and bamboo."
"Yeah." Zhou Yue glanced at him, "Then you'll be gone for a few days. Do you want to pack your luggage?"
"You just love packing." He smiled bitterly, "Do you think I need to carry my things around with me?"
Zhou Yue's ears felt hot, "I don't know...you didn't tell me."
"Alright, whatever you want. Just take it with you." He sighed, thought for a moment, and said, "Two or three days. I'll be back as soon as possible."
"……good."
He still hesitated and refused to leave. "You haven't asked anyone to help in your store recently."
"Yeah," she said, trying hard to keep her palms from sweating. "It's all women's work. I can handle it alone. They just need to help me carry things. They can't do the delicate work of sewing and needlework."
"Yeah," he nodded. "That's right. If you have something to tell me, I'll let someone who's a little more careful go. But after all these years, Xiao Yuan and Ajie are still the most careful. Tsk..." He shook his head and smiled helplessly, taking her hand and patting his palm. "These kids nowadays are really no good. You can't pick one decent one out of ten. Intelligence is something you're born with. It has nothing to do with whether you've been to school or not." He nuzzled her hair with the tip of his nose. Without his glasses, he squinted at her. "They say your store is doing a booming business?"
"No..." Zhou Yue smiled, carefully observing his expression. "I make everything by myself. How much can I make? I can't even sell all this, and I still have time to paint fans. Most of the people here just come to browse." She glanced at him. "They are all young girls."
"With so many people watching, you must be doing very well."
"No," she answered honestly, "very basic styles. They mainly like the tie-dye technique and colors. They come here for tourism and want something new. The coarse linen clothes also have the characteristics of the ancient town."
"Make me a suit." He wasn't listening to her at all.
"With my level..." She smiled, tilting her head back towards the ceiling, holding her hair in her mouth, "You still make suits?"
His eyes were sticky and he caressed her face, leaving a hot trace. "I want to see my suit when I get back from Shanghai, otherwise I'll show you how I'll deal with you."
"Okay," he finally let go and stood up. "Now I really have to go." Zhou Yue walked him to the door. He raised his wrist to check his watch. "I'm going to play golf with them this afternoon. They all brought their wives..." He glanced at her quickly. "Don't worry, those women are very smart. They know what to say and what not to say. They won't make you uncomfortable."
"I..." Zhou Yue squatted on the ground to help him put on his shoes. After putting on his shoes, she stood up and looked at his face. He was quite warm, probably asking for her opinion. "I won't go to Mr. Jiang... I'm more of a homebody."
He looked at her blankly for a moment, then turned to the person at the door and asked, "What did she say?" The person at the door smiled and said, "Madam said she likes staying at home."
That man is different from Xiao Yuan, and different from everyone else. He looks to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, a bright smile, no hostility, and none of the tension, fatigue and fear of people who have been on the edge of life for years. In his own words, this is just a job to support his family. Going to work is work, and going home is going home. If you see him on the street, or even if you live across the street from him, you will not associate him with his "business scope".
His name was Liao Jie, Jiang Huai called him Ajie, but the people below him just called him Lao Liao. He had a family, his wife had a mild congenital intellectual disability, and they had a daughter. Later, Xiao Yuan passed away, and he was the only one left as Jiang Huai's right-hand man. Zhou Yue, who was tied with an iron chain, could occasionally see him from afar through the window of the villa halfway up the mountain, pushing his wife in the driveway to bask in the sun, wiping food residue from the corners of her mouth, and their daughter running around with a schoolbag on her back beside them.
Zhou Yue often thought, if the physiognomy of her ancestors was useful, there was not a single wrinkle on Lao Liao's face to indicate any flaws in his humanity. If God really had eyes, why would he let the devil enjoy this wonderful reunion time on earth, while her Xiao Yuan, her Xingxing, her lover, held his breath even while holding a little stray cat.
Whenever she thought of this, she just wanted to die. But if she died, there would be no one left to remember him. If she died, there would be no one left to avenge him.
But that's all in the future. Although Jiang Huai said that Lao Liao had worked for him for many years, this was the first time Zhou Yue met him.
Zhou Yue was shocked when she saw him, because when she and Jiang Huai were on the second floor, there was really no movement on the first floor, but when they came down, he was already standing at the door, and Jiang Huai looked normal, so she thought he must be his man.
"What's dai? I've never heard of it." Jiang Huai muttered as he put on the glasses Zhou Yue handed him. "Talk properly. This old man can't understand what you young people are talking about."
Zhou Yue: “…”
"Okay, if you don't want to go, then don't go." He was helpless, and then said something to her, asking her to be careful when she was alone at home and to call him if she had anything, and then left. Ajie went out first. When the door opened, Zhou Yue saw the car parked at the door. She didn't hear the movement of the wheels just now.
Ajie escorted Jiang Huai into the car before he got in. The black Bentley sped silently down the driveway and disappeared silently among the woods.
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