Chapter 1
"Hmm? You had bread for breakfast again today?"
Li Tiancheng asked a question to the kitchen, then pulled out a chair and sat down at the dining table.
Two breakfasts were laid out on the table: toasted bread with a perfectly fried sunny-side-up egg, accompanied by slightly charred bacon, mushrooms, and asparagus.
Next to his plate was only a salt shaker, as he didn't like black pepper. Without waiting for his wife, he took a couple of sips of his black coffee, then picked up his knife and fork and began to eat his breakfast.
Half a minute later, Li Tiancheng realized that his wife had not yet answered the question he had just asked.
The knife was still cutting bacon. Without looking up, he asked again, "What are you still busy with? The fried eggs are getting cold."
Unlike many high-rise residential buildings in Guangzhou, the Li family's kitchen is not small and luxuriously has a large window. Although the view is far less than that of the master bedroom which overlooks the Pearl River, it at least lets in some sunlight on weekdays.
It's just that it's cloudy today, so there's no bright sunshine and the wind doesn't want to come in.
However, the incredibly annoying chirping of cicadas surged up from below the tall buildings, brazenly occupying the space that belonged only to Tengzhi.
She lowered her head, staring intently at the message on her phone.
I only looked, but didn't reply.
Her husband's question squeezed in between the cicadas' chirping. Tengzhi took a deep breath, slammed the window shut, and replied, "You eat first, I'll tidy up the kitchen."
With her voice steady and natural, Teng Zhi couldn't help but admire herself. If she continued acting like this, she would surely win an Oscar or a Hundred Flowers Award.
She stuffed her phone, which had been turned off, into her apron pocket, knocked the coffee grounds out of the powder bowl, cleaned it, wiped the coffee machine, and then carried the apple juice out of the kitchen.
She sat down opposite Li Tiancheng: "Did you say something just now? The tap was loud, I didn't hear you clearly."
Li Tiancheng ate quickly, and in just a short while he had put down his knife and fork, drinking coffee and pressing his phone, somewhat absentmindedly: "What did you say?... Oh, I just said that I ate bread again today."
There were only two slices of toast left on her husband's plate. Tengzhi narrowed her eyes slightly, adjusted her black-rimmed glasses, and smiled, "Well, we were recording a video yesterday, right? We made too much. There's still one loaf left, so I sliced it and froze it. You can take it out in the mornings for the next few days and put it in the mini oven, just like I told you before—"
Before his wife could finish speaking, Li Tiancheng interrupted her: "Why don't you just take it with you when you go out later? I might be going out for tea with my parents these next few days, so there's no need to save breakfast for me."
Finally, I'd add, "Anyway, I don't like eating bread."
Teng Zhi fell silent. After a long while, she replied, "Okay, then I'll make sandwiches to take away later."
Li Tiancheng's eyes didn't leave his phone: "Yeah, you can eat on the high-speed train too."
Teng Zhi ate her food with her head down. Her bangs had grown a bit long and swayed as they fell down, making it easy for her to sneak peeks at Li Tiancheng.
From her angle, she couldn't see her husband's phone screen, but she could observe whether there were any micro-expressions on his face.
For example, being in high spirits or feeling triumphant.
But the man's face showed a calm and composed demeanor, so serious that not a single mistake was revealed.
Normally, Teng Zhi would have casually asked, "Why are you talking about work with your colleagues so early?" But today she didn't say a word.
She didn't want this fruitless probing to arouse Li Tiancheng's suspicion.
She had to continue playing the role of a gentle, non-aggressive wife who unconditionally trusted her husband.
What should have been a cozy breakfast time was eerily quiet. The scraping of knives and forks against white porcelain, the clinking of mugs against teak, and the tapping of fingertips on the screen—all these tiny, minute sounds were amplified infinitely in Tengzhi's ears.
Until the cicadas' chirping rose again like waves, filling the house.
"Have you packed your luggage?"
Her husband's words suddenly broke the eeriness. Tengzhi chased away the jumbled thoughts in her mind and looked up at him: "All packed up."
"Remember to check your documents one more time."
"I know."
After giving his instructions, Li Tiancheng got up and left the table, leaving behind two cold slices of toast and a ring of stains in the coffee cup for Tengzhi to enjoy.
On a normal day, Tengzhi would mutter "don't waste food" while finishing the leftovers, but not today. After finishing breakfast, she neatly cleaned up the tableware and cups and put the toast into the trash can.
As an excellent food blogger, sandwiches are something that Tengzhi can easily make with just a few clicks.
I cut the remaining half of the fresh milk toast into even slices, washed the tomatoes, peeled the lettuce, stir-fried the eggs, fried the caramelized ham, spread homemade low-calorie mayonnaise, wrapped it in parchment paper, and sliced it with a bread knife. The cross-section was colorful and perfect.
She carefully packed the four sandwiches into her lunch bag, thinking that she should still keep some food on her, since she didn't even know if she would have time to eat today.
Half an hour later, when Li Tiancheng offered to take her to the East Station, Teng Zhi did not refuse.
She was going on a "business trip" for three days and two nights. Her carry-on suitcase was in the trunk of the car, while her backpack was casually placed on the floor mat in the back seat.
As the car drove out of the underground parking garage, the car's Bluetooth speaker connected to Li Tiancheng's phone playlist and automatically started playing songs from it.
It's a sad love song that's recently become very popular on short video platforms. I don't know the singer's name, but the song is incredibly popular.
Hearing Li Tiancheng start singing along softly to the chorus, his Cantonese accent heavy, Teng Zhi turned her face to the car window, feeling a pang of sadness, but still couldn't help rolling her eyes.
Who used to scoff at these viral internet songs?
The entire playlist consisted of similar songs. When Teng Zhi first heard them in Li Tiancheng's car half a year ago, she was genuinely surprised and asked, "Why have you changed your taste?"
Li Tiancheng smiled and replied that it was just to understand the preferences of the post-90s employees in the company.
Li Tiancheng can hum along to almost every song without looking at the lyrics, and he will occasionally ask his wife about the specific arrangements for the trip.
Tengzhi answered fluently, after all, this was a real itinerary.
She is passionate about cooking and baking, and she attends classes whenever foreign teachers come to China to teach. For example, this weekend a Japanese dessert master is teaching a class in Shenzhen, and Tengzhi signed up early.
The train tickets were real, the hotel booking records were real, and she even made arrangements for which newly opened shops to visit after class.
Li Tiancheng listened and nodded, reminding her to take good care of her belongings when she went out alone, and not to be careless and forgetful.
He wished her a good time and said he would pick her up at the station when she returned to Guangzhou.
The man's voice was so gentle and attentive, as if they were back in the days when they were deeply in love. Tengzhi stared at the familiar street scene receding into the distance, feeling somewhat dazed.
It wasn't until the car stopped in front of the station that she came to her senses and remembered what she was about to do.
Li Tiancheng turned on his hazard lights and went around to the trunk to take out his wife's carry-on suitcase: "Send me a message when the car arrives at the station, but I'll probably be in a meeting at the company by then—"
“I understand.” Teng Zhi took out her backpack and lunch bag from the back seat, straightened up, closed the car door, and smiled. “I also have class this afternoon. I’ll probably have to get ready to go to class after I drop off my luggage at the hotel. We can talk again tonight.”
"Okay, be careful on the road." After saying that, Li Tiancheng bent down and gently kissed his wife's lips.
It was as light as a dragonfly skimming the water.
"Yes, you too."
Tengzhi tiptoed to return the kiss, her speed as swift as a fleeting shooting star.
To passersby, they couldn't see the ulterior motives of the couple. They just thought that these two were no longer young and handsome, yet they could kiss goodbye in the street. How deep must their feelings be?
The drop-off lane is not a place to linger. After what seemed like a tender farewell, Li Tiancheng turned around and walked back to his car. Before getting in, he waved to Teng Zhi, who also waved back twice. Then, he pulled his suitcase toward the station entrance.
On Saturday, the East Station was bustling with people. Teng Zhi took a few steps, then suddenly slowed down and looked back at the direction of the tracks.
The white sedan was still parked in the same spot, with a light-colored tint on the windows. Teng Zhi could see through the passenger-side glass that Li Tiancheng was looking down, probably pressing his phone. The bright light from the screen made the smile on his lips particularly clear.
The next second, Li Tiancheng gripped the steering wheel, and Teng Zhi also looked away and headed towards the ticket gate.
As she approached the end of the line, she turned back again, but the BMW 5 Series was no longer visible on the other side of the lane. She immediately turned away from the increasingly dense crowd.
There were many people here, and her movements were in the opposite direction to most of the passengers, as if she had become a man-made satellite that was determined to go its own way and deviate from its original orbit.
Inevitably, there were physical collisions. It was hot and irritable, and some passengers complained. Tengzhi didn't care about that and kept saying "excuse me" as she avoided the crowd.
No matter how much she planned ahead, her heart would still race uncontrollably. She grabbed her phone from her chest and opened the app that was always running in the background.
There was a fixed point with a portrait on the map. Teng Zhi had just glanced at it when a voice call came in on her phone.
She answered quickly, and before the other person could speak, she said, "Did you turn in? I'll be there soon."
The other person's voice was deep: "Yes, just come over here, my car is parked here."
Suddenly he added, "I changed cars today, a black BYD, license plate ending in H03, with hazard lights on... Oh, I see you."
Teng Zhi walked quickly, slightly out of breath, and teased, "Your car today is a bit too understated."
The man got out of the driver's seat of the BYD and walked towards the trunk, chuckling helplessly, "Sister, if you want to catch someone cheating, you can't just drive a Cayenne around everywhere."
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