Chapter 71
To be honest, Chengshi would have preferred to confront Candy in a public place like a restaurant, cafe, or even a bar, and that's been his plan ever since he decided to break up with her. But yesterday afternoon, when Chengshi accidentally bumped into Candy in the break room on the 15th floor, she pretended to wipe him down while getting her coffee cup, and whispered in his ear, "Come to my place tomorrow night. Apple's been away lately, I'll make you something nice to eat."
“No need, I mean, forget it…” Narumi tried to soften her tone, “I have something to tell you…”
But Candy's eyes made Narumi give in: what if she started crying or throwing a tantrum in the break room?
So Chengshi quickly changed her tune, saying, "I was just worried about bothering you."
"What's the trouble? Today is my last day, and I'll start my annual leave tomorrow."
Therefore, they ultimately agreed to meet at Candy's house after work that evening. Chengshi felt that the environment wasn't so important; what mattered was the conversation itself. More importantly, his purpose in meeting Candy today was to end this relationship cleanly and decisively.
Chengshi had told himself countless times that he didn't need to apologize for anything. The thought of all the self-doubt and endless apologies he'd wasted over the years made him feel terrible. Chengshi felt like Alain in Milan Kundera's *The Celebration of Meaninglessness*, only capable of endless apologies. Yet, at the same time, the book also said, "Life is a struggle between people. Those who can shift the blame are always the winners, and those who admit their mistakes are always the losers."
So Narumi decided he never wanted to be a loser again. He resolved that from this moment on, no matter how badly his life turned out, he would never apologize to anyone again.
Besides, one cannot apologize for things beyond one's control. Cheng Shi believed that everything that had happened was his destiny, and he had no reason to apologize.
"Excuse me," Narumi was thinking when a woman's voice suddenly came from behind him. He subconsciously turned around, thinking someone wanted to ask for directions, but then he heard the woman's voice continue, "Excuse me, are you Mr. Narumi?"
At the same time, Chengshi saw a tall, muscular woman walking towards him from the other side of the curb, pushing a small carry-on suitcase.
From the woman's slightly aggressive laughter, Ma Shi immediately knew who she was—that's how Cheng Shi was stopped by Apple on the small street in front of Candy's house.
“I’m Apple, Candy’s roommate,” the woman said confidently. “Can I chat with you for a bit?”
“Of course, of course,” Cheng Shi said, standing still. “What would you like to talk about?”
“Come with me,” Apple said, glancing behind her. “Don’t just stand here and talk.”
So Apple, pushing her suitcase, led Narumi to a coffee shop not far from her apartment complex. Narumi had no choice but to go along. However, when Narumi realized he might be being too agreeable, he could only scrutinize Apple's swaying rear end with a critical eye. And to be fair, Apple's rear end was quite firm, really looking like a plump apple. So, for Narumi, this was a kind of compensation.
Narumi sized up Apple, who was leading the way, and thought that apart from her buttocks, she looked completely like a man—stout and awkward. She also walked with a very pronounced pigeon-toed gait. Although she was wearing the season's most fashionable bodycon dress, she looked more like a transvestite wearing a fake buttocks, and the dress, tightly wrapped around her body, made her upper body appear particularly broad-shouldered and thick-waisted. As for the strong perfume she wore, Narumi figured it was probably the famous Six God.
"I won't take up too much of your time."
Apple led Narumi to a small table in the corner of the coffee shop and helped her settle her suitcase while they talked. Narumi, on the other hand, very gentlemanly scanned a QR code and ordered two coffees on the app—it was late at night, and Apple actually wanted to drink Flat Whites. Narumi couldn't help but think to herself that this guy was really something else.
As Narumi ordered, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Apple's hands were busy. After a flurry of activity, she finally managed to take out an e-cigarette from her intricately designed fake Chanel bag—Narumi noticed that the logo on the bag did indeed have two "n"s—and then furtively lowered her head to take a deep drag.
"I have to leave after I finish this." Apple explained to Narumi with a satisfied look after taking a drag of her cigarette. "I'm going to Qingdao for a week. Candy originally said she'd come with me, and she even took her annual leave, but she changed her mind at the last minute. You know what? She's planning to stay home for the whole week. And she only told me last night that there's a 10% handling fee for canceling the train tickets. The main thing is, we were originally going to Qingdao to visit some classmates, and now I don't know how to tell them. You're just having a matcha latte?"
"Yes, I don't drink much caffeine at night."
Narumi had to admit that while Apple was a bit bulky, she wasn't unattractive. If only she could style her hair a little better instead of letting it hang loose like Sadako's, if only she could get rid of the acne on her face… But after a while, Narumi felt that Apple needed more and more improvement. For example, she needed to learn not to raise her eyebrows and shrug her shoulders like a foreigner when she spoke, and she shouldn't keep mixing in English words that she couldn't pronounce properly into her Chinese.
“I’m so angry with Candy. Breaking her promises is nothing compared to how she’s been acting so confused lately, you know. But that’s not the point. The point is…” Apple glanced quickly at Cheng Shi, “I’m really worried about her. I’ve known her much longer than you have, so I think I know her better than you do. How to say it… Candy is a very innocent, kind, but also very insecure girl. You’ve probably heard about her family situation from her. She’s from the countryside, her parents favor boys over girls, so… and she’s had a lot of bad luck these past few years, so what she needs most right now is… um, guidance from friends… I’m a straightforward person, please don’t mind… I think what she needs least right now is to get entangled with a married man. Really, please don’t mind, I’m not… let me finish. I’m not trying to meddle, I hope we can talk about this objectively, but there’s one question I hope you can answer honestly: Does Candy think you’ve fallen in love with her? Is that really true?”
There is only one answer to this question. And Narumi is quite willing to tell Apple this answer in simple and clear words—
"This has nothing to do with you."
Upon hearing Chengshi's answer, Apple leaned back in her chair, a smug smile on her face, and looked him up and down. Then she quickly lowered her head and took a deep drag of her e-cigarette. Small plumes of smoke billowed from her nostrils, just like those of a dinosaur in a cartoon.
For some reason, looking at Apple with smoke coming out of her nose, Cheng Shi suddenly remembered what An Zheyuan had said to him a few days ago when they had lunch together: "Let me test how accurate I am at judging people." Thinking of this, Cheng Shi wanted nothing more than to pounce on the other side of the table and strangle this smug woman.
“I think I like you too, Frankie,” Apple finally said after looking Chengshi over. “Can I call you Frankie like Candy does? I think I quite like seeing you get angry. It proves you’re not a show-off and you’re a real man.”
As she spoke, Apple leaned forward, striking a seductive pose as she took a sip of her coffee. Then, she rested one arm on the table and said, "Frankie, I think we should try to see things from your perspective. In my eyes, you should be an excellent man, serious about love and career, with a virtuous wife and several lovely children, living a peaceful life in some upscale neighborhood. What's happening now is just you experiencing that kind of midlife crisis that men go through, but at your age... it seems a bit early."
“Ha,” Chengshi sneered, “You’re quite good at analysis! But your analysis is far from the actual situation. Let me tell you what’s going on.”
"All right."
“Okay, I think you’re just a busybody! And… you’re a lesbian?” Cheng Shi said, leaning forward slightly. “You’re definitely a lesbian. Well, have a safe trip.”
After saying that, Cheng Shi strode off towards the cafe entrance with his long legs. However, he almost bumped into a young man who looked rather gay, holding a coffee cup and looking around as if searching for someone—this guy was dressed even more meticulously than Apple, with not a single pimple on his face, not even a stubble!
So, when Narumi walked onto the small street in front of Candy's house again, he couldn't help but burst into laughter—look at the expression on Apple's face! Who does she think she is? But when Narumi leaned against the wall on the first floor, wanting to vent his frustration, he found that he could only let out the same insecure, panting laugh that Candy made in bed. His whole body began to tremble uncontrollably, and he felt a pain somewhere below his chest. He felt like he was about to die suddenly.
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