Chapter Twenty-Seven [End of Main Text]
According to insiders, Liu Ni couldn't contain herself after receiving that "gift" and caused a scene in Li Tiancheng's office.
Rumors spread faster than a virus. That afternoon, Liu Ni left work early and never returned to the company.
As autumn gradually arrives in Guangzhou, the cicadas' chirping, which had bothered the city throughout the long summer, has quietly faded away.
At that time, Ye Yin had not seen Teng Zhi for a month. The two only communicated through WeChat and phone, separated by an invisible but real wall.
As for that little secret about the salty, damp, and hot climate, they buried it in the ground.
A divorce by mutual consent is a simple matter, but it's not easy to do, especially when one party is unwilling to cooperate.
Without informing Teng Zhi beforehand, Ye Yin went to see Li Tiancheng.
It's never truly satisfying to have pent-up anger.
Since it's men against men, the way to handle the problem is much simpler: just swing your fist and beat them up.
A refined scoundrel in a suit is no match for a muscular thug. Although Li Tiancheng knew he was in the wrong, he was still enraged by the beating and ended up "selling" Yang Jiawen out again.
With blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and his suit stained with muddy footprints, Li Tiancheng still wanted to have a good verbal exchange. He disdainfully told Ye Yin that instead of coming to him to vent his anger, he should teach that slut Yang Jiawen a lesson.
Li Tiancheng said that after his affair was exposed, Yang Jiawen actually came to him several times, crying and begging for comfort and support.
He also said that Yang Jiawen had more than one sex partner, and that if Ye Yin had the guts, he should go and find the other sex partners and beat them up.
Ye Yin also got punched, and his mouth was cut. He pushed his tongue out and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva near Li Tiancheng's leg.
He forced a smile, and all the hostility on his face vanished without a trace. He patted Li Tiancheng on the shoulder and said, "Thank you."
Ye Yin couldn't let this punch go unpunished; he recorded everything Li Tiancheng said.
When the Yang family mother and daughter visited the Ye family again, Ye Yin received a notification from his elder sister, rushed to the scene, and played the recording in front of everyone.
Ye's mother was gentle by nature and would occasionally plead for Yang Jiawen in the past. But now even Buddha was angry. Ye's mother was unusually tough and directly told the Yang family mother and daughter to stop seeing each other.
Ye Yin personally carried out a thorough cleaning, packing all the items Yang Jiawen had left at his house into cardboard boxes and sending them directly back to the Yang family, thus putting an end to this relationship.
He reported the incident to Teng Zhi during a voice call, but Teng Zhi, having somehow heard that he had fought with Li Tiancheng, only asked him one question: "Are you injured?"
Finding Tengzhi's address isn't difficult; the challenge lies in resisting the urge to go to her.
Ye Yin started with the bag of cookies he received for his birthday and quickly found the neighborhood bakery hidden in the back alley.
He recalled that in that rented BYD, Teng Zhi joked with him, saying that if the seafood shop went bankrupt, Boss Ye could switch careers and become a detective who catches adulterers, collects debts, and apprehends deadbeats.
After sitting in a small coffee shop diagonally opposite the bakery for an entire afternoon, Ye Yin finally spotted that familiar figure in the distance.
He didn't dare to go forward, but instead hid in the coffee shop's restroom.
He was still unsure of himself; he didn't know if he held any place in Teng Zhi's heart at all.
Teng Zhi was able to so decisively sever ties with Li Tiancheng, and she could also easily cut off all contact with him.
Just like he touched her, her skin was warm and soft, but beneath it lay a strong backbone; once she made a decision, no one could change it.
Ye Yin knew what Teng Zhi wanted.
The relationships between them were too complicated, and their feelings, driven by desire, were not pure enough—none of which Tengzhi wanted.
She needs some time to adjust to her new life and start a new job.
As for dating and flirting, that's probably not on her to-do list for now.
Ye Yin also knew what he wanted.
During the Lunar New Year, Ye Yin heard from his mother that the Yang family was going to send Yang Jiawen abroad, and if all went well, she would leave by the middle of the year.
Ye Yin had intended to take this opportunity to call Teng Zhi and wish her a Happy New Year, but before he could make the call, Teng Zhi called first, saying that something "big" had happened to her.
It turns out that Liu Ni left the company because she discovered she was pregnant.
She was a ruthless person. Not only did she not tell Li Tiancheng about it, she also took a sum of money from him to go back to her hometown to "relax." When she reappeared, her belly was already very prominent, and she went directly to Li Tiancheng's parents.
Upon learning of this, Teng Zhi prepared to file a lawsuit against Li Tiancheng, demanding that he leave the marriage with nothing.
She thanked Liu Ni again for bringing her the evidence of Li Tiancheng's extramarital affair.
Two weeks later, Li Tiancheng's lawyer contacted Wang Shan, saying that Li Tiancheng was willing to reach a divorce agreement according to the conditions originally proposed by Ms. Teng.
Taking advantage of the situation, Wang Shan increased the percentage of property to be divided, and Li Tiancheng agreed.
It is said that Li's parents sided with Liu Ni, urging their son to act like a man and properly shoulder this "responsibility".
Upon hearing this, Ye Yin laughed until tears streamed down his face, saying, "A stinky pit produces stinky grass," and "Evil people will always be punished by other evil people."
On the third day after the Qingming Festival holiday, Ye Yin received a message from Teng Zhi, who wanted to invite him to dinner.
This means that after more than half a year, her divorce has finally come to an end.
It rained all month in May, the sky was overcast, and the streets and alleys of Yide Road were unusually deserted. The humid heat unique to southern cities came again, clinging to the soles of the feet and climbing up little by little.
Ye Yin stood at the entrance of the seafood shop smoking and sent Teng Zhi a message: "I'll owe you for now. When I'm starving, I'll come to you for a meal."
It's definitely a farewell dinner with the promise of "see you later," and he's not going to be foolish enough to go.
Tengzhi replied, "Then you'd better not regret it."
Ye Yin didn't take her "threat" to heart, but a week later, he really regretted it.
Because Tengzhi left without saying a word.
A few days after she returned home, she posted a Weibo post, which was a hand-drawn sketch of a shop facade design, indicating that she was about to start a new life and work.
Many people left comments, some asking about the restaurant's location, some asking about the opening date, some asking if she would give up other jobs because of opening a physical store, and many speculating about her love life. Teng Zhi picked out a few comments about the restaurant and replied to them, but she neither liked nor replied to the other comments.
Ye Yin only learned about this after he joined Weibo.
"Sister, you've gone too far!"
He laughed in exasperation, chuckling at his phone, "Who moves such a big thing and just runs off without saying a word? Huh? Do I look like I'm going to eat people or what?"
Teng Zhi felt extremely wronged, and her voice became unusually loud: "Hey, is your surname Lai? I said I'd invite you to dinner, but you refused. Besides, I've told you before that I'd be going home after the divorce, how can you say I 'dn't say a word'?"
"Hmph...all the logic is in your little mouth. How come I never knew you were so quick-witted?"
Ye Yin muttered to himself, twisted open the bottle of Gatorade with one hand, finished the last bit of the drink, and then tentatively asked, "So you're living at your brother's house now?"
"Yes, didn't I tell you that before?"
"Oh... what are you doing right now?"
"Huh? Now?" Teng Zhi was a little confused, not understanding why Ye Yin changed the subject, but she still answered truthfully, "For Jinjin... that is, for my niece to check her homework."
"Oh—" Ye Yin drawled, "Then you can continue with your work, I won't bother you anymore."
He hung up the phone after saying that.
Teng Jin, who was biting her pen, waited for her aunt to put down her phone before asking, "Auntie, were you talking to Uncle on the phone?"
She heard a man speaking on her aunt's phone, in Cantonese, which she couldn't understand.
She seemed to understand, but not quite, and felt that her aunt's tone on the phone was somewhat different from usual.
Tengzhi paused, then stammered, "No, it's a friend of my aunt's."
Teng Jin asked curiously, "Hey, why didn't your uncle come back with you this time?"
The little girl is in the second grade of elementary school. The adults didn't tell the child that Tengzhi and Li Tiancheng had broken up.
“Uncle, um… he’s gone abroad and isn’t in the country for the time being.” Teng Zhi cleared her throat, quickly spread her workbook on the table, and changed the subject, “Come on, let Auntie explain this word problem to you…”
My brother and sister-in-law are busy at the shop until at least eight or nine o'clock every night. My niece is usually picked up and dropped off by her nanny, but the nanny can't help her with her homework. So when Tengzhi came back, she naturally had to take on this responsibility.
At 9:30, Teng Jin went to bed, her brother and sister-in-law went home, and Teng Zhi went back to her room to take a shower. Before she could even rinse the soap off her hair, she heard her phone vibrating incessantly on the sink.
The continuous buzzing sound, like a bird feather suddenly rising from her left chest, teased the most sensitive part of her throat.
She hurriedly washed away the foam, her body still soaking wet, and quickly walked over to answer the phone just before it was about to hang up.
"Chirp chirp," Ye Yin's voice on the other end of the phone was as deep as the night, "Come out of the gate of the residential area."
As Teng Zhi ran down the stairs, Teng Jie was making tea in the living room: "Sis, come and have some tea—"
"I'm not drinking anymore! I'm going out for a bit, brother!" Teng Zhi refused as she ran towards the gate.
Before Teng Jie could ask her where she was going, the door slammed shut.
He scratched his forehead, thinking to himself, "Why does my sister look so familiar?"
It seems like when she was in junior high or high school, she wanted to go out with the boy she had a crush on, just like now.
Hasty and reckless.
Ye Yin didn't forget to take the Gatorade bottle out of the car and throw it away first.
He had been driving for too long and his tailbone was numb. He stretched for a while but didn't go back to the car.
Teng Zhi's throat was sore from running. As soon as she stepped out of the community gate, she saw Ye Yin leaning against the front of the car.
He didn't turn off his headlights, and with the light behind him, his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were not clearly visible. Occasionally, a car would pass by, casting dappled red light on the edges of his immovable silhouette.
Calming her racing heart, Tengzhi slowed her pace and walked over, slightly out of breath, asking, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming? What time did you leave? Have you eaten?"
Ye Yin squinted slightly, and by the flickering fireflies, he was able to make out the person in front of him.
He didn't answer her series of questions, but suddenly raised his hand and pinched her cheek.
This time he used some force, and Teng Zhi cried out in pain, raising her hand to slap his hard shoulder: "What are you doing? It hurts so much!"
"Who told you to be so heartless, leaving without a word?"
Ye Yin snorted coldly, but his fingers softened their movements, his thumb gently rubbing and caressing the reddened spot. "Teng Zhi, what do you take me for? Even if we don't mention that matter, we're still friends. Such a big thing, and you didn't even tell me."
The man's fingertips carried a faint smell of tobacco, and his fingertips were always warm, dry, and somewhat rough, like a match striking the cheek, capable of igniting even in humid air.
The childish pinching of his cheek seemed intimate and ambiguous. Teng Zhi unconsciously rubbed his fingertips and muttered, "Stop pretending to be pitiful... I didn't block you, and I gave you my new phone number. See, you even know where I live. What secrets do I have in front of you?"
Behind the glasses, a pair of dark eyes gleamed faintly, holding within them a pool of innocent tears.
Ye Yin curled his lip, increasingly convinced that this guy was the so-called "pretending to be weak to eat the tiger".
She had just taken a shower and had a faint milky scent on her body. Her hair was half-dry, with the ends still damp.
This warm, humid air pulled Ye Yin back to a summer night a year ago.
It's not just a sense of déjà vu, it's something I've never forgotten.
They were finally close to each other again, and this time they didn't have to hide in the stuffy carriage, in the shadow of the artificial greenery, or in the soil where the sun couldn't reach.
"I don't care, I'm just injured."
Ye Yin brushed the damp strands of hair that clung to her ear behind her ear, and with a slight bend in his middle finger, he lightly touched her earlobe, just like that night.
It was a silent request for her permission.
He complained, his tone exaggerated: "You don't know, I saw your Weibo post a few hours ago, wow, it broke my heart so much."
The two people under the shade of the tree were so close that they could hear each other's heartbeats.
Teng Zhi took a deep breath, tugged at the hem of Ye Yin's T-shirt, and said seriously, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but I have my own plans and arrangements—"
Ye Yin, anxious, interrupted her: "I know you have your own ideas, I just..."
He took a step forward, loosely encircling her in front of him, like a deflated balloon. He bent down, slumped his back, and rested his chin heavily on her shoulder. His hoarse voice sounded helpless: "I just missed you."
At their age, it's hard for them to easily express their likes and dislikes.
But he would step on the gas and speed onto the highway, like a naive young man who had just fallen in love at fifteen or sixteen, driving hundreds of kilometers just to find the taste etched in his memory.
His voice was so wet it seemed like water could be squeezed out of it, sounding like a little dog abandoned in the wilderness barking at the sky.
Uncontrollably, Tengzhi's heart began to freefall.
The feeling of weightlessness as she fell caused her heart rate to accelerate dramatically. Teng Zhi felt slightly dizzy for two seconds and sighed inwardly, "This is really the end."
Teng Zhi nudged Ye Yin's chest, signaling him to stand up straight: "No, let me finish..."
Ye Yin was slightly taken aback, straightened up, took a step back, and looked down at her.
Strangely enough, whenever she was around Ye Yin, the moisture in her body would evaporate very quickly. Teng Zhi licked her dry lips before saying, "You said you looked at my Weibo, but why didn't you see my replies to the comments?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Yin immediately reached for the car door: "I didn't rest on the highway and I didn't check my phone. What did you send? Wait a minute, let me check my phone."
Teng Zhi reached out and put her hand on his forearm: "No need to take it, I'll tell you directly."
Someone asked Tengzhi why she wanted to open a small restaurant.
Tengzhi replied that this was something she had always wanted to do.
She wanted a place to host her family and friends, whom she valued and who valued her just as much.
Teng Zhi adjusted her glasses and said softly, "I originally planned to invite you to be one of the first customers after the shop opened. But I don't know when it will open, maybe six months, maybe a year—"
Ye Yin couldn't wait any longer. He pulled her in front of him, pinched her chin, and tried to kiss her.
Silly girl, since he's in her future plans, she can wait as long as she wants.
Suddenly remembering something, Ye Yin paused, then grinned, "If I kiss you now, will you slap me again?"
He chuckled, like a silly child who was finally about to get some candy. Tengzhi said irritably, "If you want to know, then try it."
Ye Yin's eyes were deep and dark. He lowered his head and kissed her lips.
The two kissed right there on the street, oblivious to the stares of passersby.
Suddenly hearing the sound of cicadas, Tengzhi was distracted and remembered that around this time last year, she received a message from Ye Yin while listening to the cicadas.
At that time, she only found the sound of cicadas annoying, but now the sound of cicadas seemed much more pleasant.
The deep-seated stirrings quietly broke through the soil.
Green vines and leaves sprouted and climbed all over that unseen wall.
[End of text]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
