Chapter Twelve: You're Too Thin, It's Uncomfortable to Sit Here
When Cheng Yin returned to Jiabo 3306, her feet were already numb.
Walking back from the Galaxy Hotel, she crossed most of the Pearl River Delta barefoot, her high heels in her hands like two useless ornaments.
The carpet in the hallway was as soft as moss, and she felt nothing when she stepped on it until she stepped onto the solid wood floor of the suite, when she realized that she might have injured her foot.
Li Yaodong was leaning against the headboard reading a book, the bedside lamp casting his profile against the wall. Hearing the door open, he didn't even look up: "Go take a shower."
She sat on the edge of the bathtub and carefully pulled out the porcelain shard with nail clippers. Blood immediately welled up and left a red dot on the white ceramic.
The pain was strange. Cheng Yin stared at the red dot, thinking.
It clearly exists, yet it seems to be viewed through frosted glass, blurry and distant.
She dried her hair and tiptoed out of the bathroom. Li Yaodong had already put down his book and turned off the main light, leaving only a sliver of light coming from the bathroom.
Just like the previous nights, he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, his chest pressed against her back.
His body temperature was higher than hers; he was like a constant-temperature oven in the air-conditioned room.
"What's wrong with your foot?" Li Yaodong suddenly asked, his voice low with sleepiness.
Cheng Yin slightly curled her toes: "I accidentally scratched myself."
Li Yaodong didn't ask any more questions. His breathing gradually became even, but his arms were still tightly wrapped around her, as if afraid she would disappear in the middle of the night.
Cheng Yin stared at the moonlight filtering through the gap in the curtains, listening to the steady heartbeat behind her, and slowly closed her eyes.
The pain struck in the middle of the night. Cheng Yin woke up with a start from a hazy dream, her feet throbbing as if pricked by countless needles.
She moved her body gently, trying not to wake Li Yaodong, but the person behind her immediately let go of her hand.
"Does it hurt?" Li Yaodong's voice was unusually clear, as if he hadn't slept at all.
Cheng Yin nodded, then realized he couldn't see in the dark: "Mm."
The bedside lamp was on. Li Yaodong got up and returned a moment later with a first-aid kit.
Cheng Yin subconsciously pulled her foot back, but he grabbed her ankle.
"Don't move."
When the alcohol swab touched the wound, Cheng Yin's toes curled up sharply. Li Yaodong's hand held her ankle firmly like an iron clamp, while his other hand skillfully cleaned the wound. His movements were gentle, yet brooked no resistance.
"Did you come back from the Milky Way?" Li Yaodong asked without looking up.
Cheng Yin nodded, then hummed in agreement.
Li Yaodong, with ointment on his fingertips, gently applied it to the wound on the sole of her foot.
The ointment was cool and relieved the burning pain.
"I'll pay for the bed sheets."
Li Yaodong paused for a moment. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "What else is on your mind besides debt?"
Cheng Yin thought about it carefully: "Work. Xu Chen. Plain language."
Li Yaodong suddenly pressed hard on the wound on the sole of her foot. Cheng Yin gasped, but did not pull her foot away.
How do you say "pain"?
Cheng Yin blinked: "'It hurts.'"
"Complete sentence."
"'It hurts so much.'"
Li Yaodong pressed the button again: "We'll talk about it later."
"'It hurts so much...please...let me go...'" Cheng Yin repeated the sentence she had learned a few days ago, her voice trembling slightly from the pain.
Li Yaodong's eyes darkened. He released her feet, but suddenly grabbed her wrist and pressed it against the headboard: "This is how I usually play," he said softly, "making them hurt, making them beg for mercy."
Cheng Yin's wrist trembled slightly in his palm, but her voice remained calm: "I understand." She paused, "Want to continue learning?"
Li Yaodong stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly let go of her hand: "You're truly the strangest woman I've ever met."
Cheng Yin sat up and flexed her wrists. "Xu Chen thought we were asleep," she said tentatively. "He's very angry."
Li Yaodong, who was packing his first-aid kit, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: "You care if he's angry?"
"I don't care," Cheng Yin shook her head, "but I want to know...the progress."
"Progress?" Li Yaodong repeated, as if he had heard something funny.
Li Yaodong closed the first-aid kit, then suddenly leaned close to her, his lips almost touching her earlobe, "You're too thin, it's uncomfortable to sit here, you need to rest..."
Cheng Yin didn't look away, but instead looked directly into his eyes: "You're not feeling well, yet you've been sleeping in my arms for several days in a row?"
Cheng Yin could feel his breathing become heavier, his warm breath brushing against her face, carrying a faint scent of minty toothpaste. The two were so close they could count each other's eyelashes.
"Are you provoking me?" Li Yaodong asked in a low voice.
Cheng Yin shook her head: "I'm studying." She suddenly said, "'I can't take it anymore...'" Her pronunciation was still stiff, but clear enough.
Li Yaodong's pupils contracted slightly. He stood up abruptly, the first-aid kit falling to the ground with a dull thud.
"Go to sleep," he commanded, his voice hoarse.
Cheng Yin obediently lay down, and Li Yaodong turned off the light, but did not hug her from behind as usual.
An invisible boundary suddenly appeared between the two of them, as if there was an unseen chasm in the center of the mattress.
In the darkness, Cheng Yin's feet were still throbbing with pain.
"Li Yaodong," she suddenly said.
"Speak." His voice came from the other side of the bed, cold and hard as iron.
"Thank you for applying the medicine for me."
Silence spread in the darkness.
After a long while, Li Yaodong turned over, his back to her: "Go to sleep."
Li Yaodong's breathing gradually became even.
The wound on the sole of her foot throbbed with pain, as if reminding her of something. She lay back down and stared at the strip of light on the ceiling.
Progress. Yes, she needs to know the progress. Only then can she be prepared.
Just like when she was at her aunt's house, she always prepared clean towels and hot water in advance, because she didn't know when her cousin would get drunk; just like during the years she followed Xu Chen, she always carried band-aids and anti-inflammatory medicine with her, because she didn't know when he would get into a fight and get injured.
Preparation is Cheng Yin's way of surviving.
Cheng Yin counted Li Yaodong's breaths and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Cheng Yin was suddenly awakened and found that Li Yaodong had moved closer to her again, his arm around her waist, as if afraid that she would really jump out of the window.
Cheng Yin sighed softly, closed her eyes, and let the dream engulf her once again.
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