Chapter Twenty-Six
Liu Ni has not been feeling well for the past two weeks.
Two weeks ago, she had already gone to bed at home when Li Tiancheng suddenly called and asked her to come downstairs, saying he had something to tell her.
She thought Li Tiancheng missed her so much that he came to her place in the middle of the night. Her mind was full of romantic fantasies, but after getting into Li Tiancheng's car, they all vanished.
Li Tiancheng, smoking a cigarette, looked annoyed and said that Teng Zhi knew about his affair and was demanding a divorce.
Liu Ni's heart was pounding, initially thinking it was because of Teng Zhi's scheming post on WeChat Moments. Later, she learned that Teng Zhi had evidence of her spending the weekend with Li Tiancheng.
It's a done deal, and there's no way to explain it with any excuse.
When Liu Ni checked WeChat again, she could no longer see Teng Zhi's Moments. When she went to Weibo, she found that Teng Zhi had also blocked her account.
Their final "exchange" was Tengzhi giving her a thumbs-up.
Looking back, that "like" felt like a slap across the face.
Now, Liu Ni lives in fear every day on her way to work. She is afraid that Teng Zhi will suddenly appear at the company and yell at her like a shrew, calling her a mistress. She is also afraid that Teng Zhi will give up and fight her with her hair, disregarding her image.
What I fear most is that Teng Zhi will turn that evidence into a short essay and post it online, letting netizens "publicly try" her, dox her, and insult her.
She couldn't tell anyone about her fears, not even Li Tiancheng.
Li Tiancheng didn't mention breaking up with her. He only said that for the next period of time, the two of them should keep a certain distance, avoid suspicion, and not leave any more evidence.
Li Tiancheng repeated his previous statement, telling her to "be good."
But as time went by, none of the things Liu Ni was worried about happened.
She created a secondary account to continue following Tengzhi's account. During this time, Tengzhi posted seven or eight Weibo posts, all related to cooking, including two product promotions. Her daily photos still showed a peaceful and idyllic life, with no indication that her life had changed.
Liu Ni couldn't figure out Teng Zhi's thoughts and could only passively endure the torment of waiting.
As noon approached, colleagues started posting takeout group orders in the group chat. Liu Ni hadn't had a good appetite lately, and felt nauseous after eating anything even slightly greasy. She thought she would just buy a salad from the convenience store downstairs later.
At that moment, she received a WeChat message from Cindy, the company's receptionist, saying that a deliveryman had brought something over and asked her to come out and pick it up.
Liu Ni was puzzled. She hadn't ordered takeout or bought anything, so she asked Cindy what she had received.
"It's a Chanel bag! Is it a surprise gift from your boyfriend?"
Seeing her colleague's reply, Liu Ni blinked and secretly glanced in the direction of Li Tiancheng's office.
Could this be a gift from Li Tiancheng because of his recent neglect?
Liu Ni excitedly ran to the front desk and took the black paper bag amidst Cindy's envious gaze.
Inside was a heavy black cardboard box of the same brand.
Her colleagues around her were curious about the generous gift and asked if it was her birthday today. Liu Ni shook her head: "No, my birthday is in March..."
"Is that your anniversary?"
Fearing that she might reveal too much information, Liu Ni answered her colleague with a perfunctory "yes" while untying the white ribbon on the gift box.
Colleagues speculated about whether it contained a 2.55 rifle or a hobo bag. They saw Liu Ni open the lid, but a few seconds later, she slammed it back down.
"You, you all, stop crowding around here!" Liu Ni shouted, then picked up the box and ran outside.
The colleagues looked at each other in bewilderment. One, completely confused, asked, "What's going on?" The colleague closest to them was stunned and hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "It doesn't look like a bag inside..."
"Huh? What's in it?"
"I don't know," my colleague shrugged.
Only Liu Ni knew what was in the box.
She fled to the bathroom, squeezed into a stall, hurriedly locked it, and then sat on the toilet seat to open the gift box.
On top of the table was an apron with a familiar style and print. Liu Ni recognized it immediately as the one Teng Zhi had hung in the kitchen—she had once worn it without a bra to seduce Li Tiancheng.
The box was filled with things from Tengzhi's house.
Her used skincare products, toiletries, pillowcases... and at the very bottom, there was a pair of slippers.
There was a postcard-sized card under the slippers, unsigned, that read, "I don't want any of these things anymore. Since you like using them so much, I'll give them all to you."
Liu Ni was both angry and ashamed. Her teeth chattered, tears streamed down her face, her cheeks burned, and her mind was buzzing.
She was so annoyed that she wanted to throw the card into the trash can, but suddenly her hand stopped in mid-air.
It turned out that this was not an ordinary card, but a photograph.
Li Tiancheng was on the phone with his lawyer, his tone extremely impatient: "No divorce! Divorce my ass!"
"But Mrs. Li's attitude is very firm..."
“Am I not firm enough? I’m not divorcing!” Li Tiancheng pinched his temples. “Go talk to them. I can write a guarantee or something, promising not to do it again. Also, could you have someone check where my wife lives now—”
Suddenly, the office door was pushed open forcefully, and Liu Ni barged in.
Li Tiancheng was so frightened that his forehead tightened. Before he could even utter a sound, Liu Ni rushed to the desk and threw something at his face.
"hiss!"
Li Tiancheng was grazed by the thing, and when he picked it up, he saw that it was a photo of him and Yang Jiawen shopping together, with the time and place "thoughtfully" marked.
Liu Ni, tears streaming down her face, growled in a low voice, "Li Tiancheng, who is this woman?!"
On the other side of the city.
The movie theater was nearly empty at noon on a weekday. Teng Zhi handed the ticket to a theater staff member, who glanced at it and reminded her, "This movie has already been playing for an hour."
Teng Zhi nodded: "Yes, I know."
The staff member handed her the ticket stub back: "Turn left ahead, the VIP lounge is at the end of the corridor."
The cinema corridor was dark and gloomy, the carpet absorbing the sound of hurried footsteps. Teng Zhi pushed open the door and entered the theater.
The VIP room was small, with the first three rows empty. Teng Zhi could spot the man in the center of the last row at a glance.
The interplay of light and shadow on the screen made his dark eyes shine like stars even in the dim light.
She pushed up her glasses, walked over, and quietly sat down in the seat next to him.
Ye Yin, who had been lounging lazily, sat up slightly and snorted, "I thought you were going to stand me up."
"You've booked the whole place, it would be a waste of your good intentions if I didn't come."
The footrest under the sofa rose up, the back of the chair reclined, Teng Zhi adjusted the seat to a comfortable angle, lay down, and said irritably, "Don't waste this kind of money next time. So many tickets could have bought so many good meals."
With only the two of them in the room, Ye Yin could speak freely. He laughed and said, "Don't you think this is what makes it feel like having an affair?"
It was another seemingly true yet false remark. Teng Zhi already knew how to respond, so she simply took it as a joke.
She pointed to the ceiling of the movie theater: "You can't steal it. There are plenty of security cameras. You can't do that kind of thing."
No one could stand a respectable woman making lewd jokes, so Ye Yin pressed, "Oh? What kind of thing is that?"
He lay half-reclined, his arm under his head, the light from the big screen shining brightly in his eyes.
Teng Zhi was a little overwhelmed and turned her face to look at the movie, naturally not answering his question.
The two chairs were tilted at the same angle and close together. Ye Yin raised his hand and easily pinched her cheek: "Hmm? Tell me, what is that thing?"
He didn't use much force, and Tengzhi felt no pain or itch, but the action was too intimate. She turned her face away and muttered, "Stop fooling around, I want to watch a movie."
Ye Yin followed his fingers and pinched the skin a couple more times, his tone suddenly becoming serious: "How come you've lost so much weight in just half a month?"
Today is the first time the two of them have met since that weekend.
They were acting suspiciously, like they were filming a spy movie.
Upon hearing this, Tengzhi pinched her own face suspiciously: "I've lost weight? Really?"
"Huh? You don't feel anything yourself?"
"There's no scale in the apartment I live in now."
Tengzhi no longer lives in the guesthouse across from her home. She has found a new apartment with a bright and airy open kitchen, which will allow her to continue her work in the near future.
Only Wang Lu and her brother and sister-in-law knew the address of the new apartment; she didn't tell Ye Yin.
Ye Yin said "Oh": "Now that you live alone, you need to eat properly, you know?"
His fingers had reached her chin, and he bent his knuckles and scratched her chin twice.
"It itches! It's so annoying..." Tengzhi was at her wit's end by his antics and reached out to hit him.
Ye Yin dodged and chuckled softly.
A soft blue light fell on her glasses, but from Ye Yin's angle, he could see her long, curled eyelashes and her clear, bright eyes.
He didn't make any more moves. Instead, he reached behind him, grabbed the half-eaten popcorn, and stuffed it into Tengzhi's arms, asking, "Did the delivery arrive?"
Teng Zhi understood the seemingly random sentence and nodded repeatedly: "It's been delivered. It's such a pity I wasn't there. I really want to know what her expression was when she received it."
She felt that she must have been corrupted by Ye Yin to do such a "prank," and she felt no guilt whatsoever.
They "exchanged" some updates.
Both the Ye and Yang families knew about the couple's breakup, but the specific reasons were unclear. Yang Jiawen moved out of Ye Yin's place, tearfully asking her mother to talk to Ye Yin's mother to see if they could salvage the relationship through the elders.
The situation is exactly the opposite for Teng Zhi. Li Tiancheng is still keeping this from his parents, presumably because he wants to resolve it privately and doesn't want everyone to know.
Tengzhi received a WeChat message from her mother-in-law last night, who was quite critical of her daughter-in-law not having come home for dinner with Li Tiancheng for several weeks.
"They're the ones who cheated, they're the ones who disrespected marital and romantic relationships, but now that their crimes have been exposed, they're still clinging to the issue. What are they after?"
Ye Yin couldn't understand Li Yang's actions. He mumbled through his popcorn, "Even if we forgive them now, a broken bowl can't be glued back together. If we continue to get along, won't we just be torturing each other?"
Teng Zhi sighed: "They just don't want to waste the time they've spent on this relationship over the past few years. They're not actually that affectionate; they're just unwilling to give up."
Ultimately, people like Li Tiancheng and Yang Jiawen only love themselves.
Before we knew it, the popcorn bucket was empty, and the movie was almost over.
Teng Zhi was about to straighten the seat back when her cheek fell into Ye Yin's hand again. Annoyed, she opened her mouth and pretended to bite his finger: "Why are you pinching my cheek?"
"If you won't let me kiss you or do 'that' kind of thing, then I can only pinch your cheeks to satisfy my craving."
Ye Yin smiled, his eyes crinkling. He brought his finger to Teng Zhi's lips, touched it lightly, and said, "Go ahead and bite."
The distance felt strangely familiar; the scent and warmth of each other were still fresh in their memories. Tengzhi bit her lower lip and took a step back.
Since things can't continue, then don't provoke him anymore.
She's not a party animal, but she still knows these basic manners.
Ye Yin withdrew his hand, his smile fading slightly, and asked, "Why did you agree to come out and see me today?"
He had asked Teng Zhi out several times before, but she had refused each time.
Teng Zhi rubbed her itchy nose: "...You helped me so much before, consider this as repaying your favor."
She picked up her backpack, took out a package from it, and tossed it to Ye Yin: "And, happy birthday."
Today is September 19th, Ye Yin's birthday.
Ye Yin picked up the package and, by the light, saw that inside the glass-like packaging were several cookies.
It is shaped like a maple leaf.
Ye Yin asked in surprise, "You made this yourself?"
Tengzhi pouted and pointed to the store logo on the packaging: "I bought it at a bakery. I don't have an oven where I live."
Ye Yin immediately rolled his eyes: "Tch! No sincerity!"
"Give it back to me if you don't want it."
“I didn’t say I didn’t want it. Since you gave it to me, it’s mine.”
He seemed like a little child, and Tengzhi couldn't help but laugh.
As she stood up to leave before the movie ended, Ye Yin called out to her, "Hey, when can we meet again?"
Teng Zhi paused for a moment before replying, "After I successfully get a divorce, I'll treat you to a meal."
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