Chapter 1: Rusting in Secret
On Shen Qingqing's 30th birthday, Wang Shu bought her a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch and posted a birthday circle of friends on time.
Chen Qingqing was cooking for Dang Ni. She used a food processor to blend the salmon and egg yolk, and then mixed in a few slices of blanched fresh cabbage.
Seeing that Dang Ni was enjoying her meal, Chen Qingqing sat cross-legged in front of the TV. Besides being her birthday, today was also the day her good friend Sun Ziyi's first film was released—a TV series called "Awakening," which tells the love story of a young man and woman set in Northeast China.
Last year, when Sun Ziyi was writing the script, he'd often complain to her about it—one day he couldn't finish a line, the next day he was too tired from meetings. Shen Qingqing still remembers the torture. So when the trailer for Jingzhe came out, she was even more anxious than Sun Ziyi. She reclined on the sofa in her Victoria's Secret pajamas, eagerly looking for the screenwriter credit in the credits, but her phone rang first. She had no choice but to turn her head to look for the ringtone, only to find it on the dining table.
She just happened to miss this page on TV - screenwriters: Chen Pei, Li Cheng, and Kuang Meimei.
So she didn't notice that Sun Ziyi was not in the opening credits.
The caller was Wang Shu. Chen Qingqing hung up and video-called him back. While waiting for the call to connect, she kept rubbing lipstick on her lips. Beijing's winters are so dry that my lips sometimes wrinkle, and turning on the humidifier makes me cough. This autumn has been too cold, and since it won't warm up yet, I can only rely on air conditioning and electric blankets to keep warm.
Her body seemed to change after she turned 26. She'd gain weight if she'd overeat, cough if she'd smoked occasionally, and get a headache if she'd been in the wind. After turning 20, she felt like she'd turned into porcelain. For a while, she didn't dare go to the gym to run, fearing she'd bump into something hard and break a bone. Often, at these times, Chen Qingqing would yearn for her school days. She remembered taking off her long johns just days after Spring Festival. Hair dryers weren't allowed at university, so after washing her hair, she'd wear a tank top and run to the vent between buildings A and B to get some fresh air.
When I was young, I thought that my bones of steel would last forever, but now they are beginning to rust secretly.
That's why she doesn't like Beijing. She always feels that living in Beijing makes a dry and crackling sound in her bones.
Wang Shu hadn't answered the call yet, and the built-in sound of the Apple device was still playing. Chen Qingqing happened to pout in front of the black screen to see if her lipstick was applied properly.
When Wang Shu answered the call, he saw his wife pouting at him. He smiled and said, "It seems someone is eager for me to come back soon."
Shen Qingqing is very good at acting like a spoiled child. She is even more so at thirty than she was at twenty. She deliberately puts on a falsetto. "Will your flight arrive home tomorrow?"
"I'll be back a few days later," said Wang Shu.
"Why? You said we could go diving on my birthday." Shen Qingqing was disappointed, but she still pouted, trying to make Wang Shu think she was pretending to be angry.
Wang Shu was silent for a moment. "How about I ask the R&D team to add a character named Qingqing to the new game? And give Qingqing a skill called diving?"
Shen Qingqing raised the phone, but this time she saw a pimple on her face, and she put it down again in frustration: “Why don’t you say you’ll go next time on your birthday?”
Wang Shu laughed and said, "I dare not say it. Otherwise, I will make another gaffe next year, which will be difficult to deal with."
Shen Qingqing's smile in response was a little fake, mixed with some helplessness.
Wang Shu noticed the change in Shen Qingqing's expression and shook the watch on his wrist. "Your birthday present."
They had been married for four years. Wang Shu was thirty-four, a youthful and energetic age, but after turning thirty, he had put on a bit of weight. Shen Qingqing glanced at his waving arm. The lady's watch was clearly not big enough on his wrist, so it was more appropriate to act cute.
At first glance, she recognized it as the Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous series, the one that cost 110,000 yuan.
"Did you buy it in Shanghai?" Shen Qingqing asked.
Wang Shu shook his head. “In Macau.”
Shen Qingqing was a little surprised "You went to Macau? Aren't you in Shanghai?"
Wang Shu casually unscrewed the bottle of water and took a sip.
She and Wang Shu had been together for so many years that she knew that Wang Shu liked to swallow when he was nervous. Later, she reminded Wang Shu not to appear uncomfortable when he went out to discuss business, and asked Wang Shu to keep water on hand.
She never thought that Wang Shu would start using this against her.
"The person in charge of R&D went to Hong Kong temporarily. We will meet him in Macau. He will return to Beijing the day after tomorrow at the earliest," said Wang Shu.
Shen Qingqing frowned. "Did you go to Macau?"
Wang Shu's eyes were a little evasive, he hesitated, and nodded.
Shen Qingqing asked tenderly what was wrong, trying to lighten the mood. But Wang Shu still didn't say anything, and Shen Qingqing began to lose her patience. "Tell me."
"The person in charge of R&D likes to gamble," said Wang Shu.
"You're accompanying others to gamble?! As Party A, you're going to accompany Party B to gamble?!" Shen Qingqing couldn't help but raise her voice. She really thought it was outrageous.
"The R&D boss is a big guy who came back from the United States. Now the capable person is the boss, and the relationship between Party A and Party B is not so unequal." Wang Shu touched his nose.
Shen Qingqing knew that Wang Shu was a little nervous, but that meant he wasn't lying.
"So you and Jiang Yong are trying to coax Party B now?"
Jiang Yong is Wang Shu's partner.
Wang Shu scratched his head. “That’s not the case. We pay for knowledge. That’s normal.”
Shen Qingqing picked up the phone, stood up from the sofa and began to pace in the living room: “Then did you go to play cards with others?”
Wang Shu nodded and didn't hide it from her anymore. He said casually, "Wife, I lost 800,000 yuan."
Shen Qingqing's mind was spinning. She whispered, "What a huge number!" But she put her phone away and sighed softly, but Wang Shu didn't hear. She tried to force a smile to end this conversation between husband and wife, who hadn't seen each other for half a month. But she forced it twice and still felt uncomfortable. So she simply said to Wang Shu directly, "Hang up. I still have to watch the TV show written by Sun Ziyi."
Wang Shu asked, "What drama?"
"Jingzhe." Shen Qingqing replied.
Shen Qingqing saw Wang Shu leaning towards the camera, and then said, "There's a screenwriter in my circle of friends who said he wrote it and even posted the materials. How did it become Sun Ziyi's work?"
Shen Qingqing immediately asked Wang Shu to take a screenshot for him. Wang Shu was even happier that his wife had changed her mind and obediently sent her the film and television information posted by screenwriter Chen Pei on WeChat Moments. After seeing the three screenwriters' names on it, Shen Qingqing became puzzled and said, "I have to call her and ask her."
"It's time to hurry up." Wang Shu reminded her.
It was indeed too late, and Chen Qingqing was feeling suffocated if she didn't ask for clarification. At this moment, she had a gloomy face and was worried about her friend. However, Wang Shu said calmly, "That's not a big deal. Our game development team often changes people. From the beginning to the end, there may be more than ten waves of people. It's impossible to have dozens of script writers."
"So this Chen Pei was your scriptwriter before?" Shen Qingqing asked.
Wang Shu shook his head. “He’s not even a scriptwriter. He wrote the copy for us ten years ago.”
"Copywriting used to cost 30 yuan per piece," Wang Shu added.
There was a hint of sarcasm on Wang Shu's lips, which was accurately captured by Shen Qingqing on the other end of the phone. Shen Qingqing suddenly felt that her husband on the other end of the phone was a stranger. She didn't want to continue chatting and hung up, saying she needed to go to bed.
-
Chen Qingqing was used to touching her neck when she was in a bad mood. She touched her neck and walked to the front of the wardrobe in the bedroom. She pushed open a secret door with relief carvings embedded in the wall, and a dressing room of 50 square meters came out. There were clothes for four seasons on the four walls, and they were arranged in categories according to color. At the bottom were shoes, and in the middle of the island were jewelry.
She walked barefoot to the middle of the island counter and opened the drawer. After putting on her hands full of Van Cleef & Arpels, she calmed down. Fortunately, what she lost was not as expensive as the ones in her dressing room.
She pulled out the third layer, which was filled with watches; there were Cartier, Lover's Bridge, Richard Miller, and Rolex. Finally, she took out a Jaeger-LeCoultre that looked the least "conspicuous" and put it on her wrist. Then she stretched out both hands at the same time. The diamonds on the watch and the mother-of-pearl on the Van Cleef & Arpels sparkled in the already brightly lit room, reflecting each other. She also shook her hands gently to make the jewels on it shine even more brightly after being fully refracted.
"It's like the lady in an American TV series who wants to murder her husband." Shen Qingqing thought so, and deliberately put on a fierce expression, but like a kitten imitating a tiger, she looked cute and lovely.
She raised her right hand and looked at the Jaeger-LeCoultre watch on her smooth wrist against the light, and counted the diamonds on it one by one.
This Jaeger-LeCoultre watch is exactly the same as the one her husband gave her. Wang Shu had no idea that she had bought that watch two years ago.
Because Wang Shu never paid attention to it.
-
The day after her birthday, Shen Qingqing's parents came from their hometown. Before she woke up, she was awakened by a knock on the door. After opening the door, Shen Qiwen was holding a cake and wishing Shen Qingqing a happy birthday.
Shen Qingqing was a little surprised and asked why you were here.
After Shen Qiwen entered the house, he walked through each room one by one. Shen Qingqing took advantage of this opportunity to quickly walk to the balcony and hide the ashtray behind the flowerpot.
“Is the son-in-law not here?” Shen Qiwen glanced at the empty study and asked Shen Qingqing.
"On a business trip." Shen Qingqing went to the kitchen to get a metal spoon, opened the top box of the cake, and put the spoon straight in to dig into the cake and eat it. There was no method, like a child.
“Every time I come here, I happen to be on a business trip.” Shen Qiwen was dissatisfied and took a cup from the table. Shen Qingqing quickly poured two glasses of water for them.
"That's good too. For a man, it's better to be busy than idle." Shen Qiwen said again.
Shen Qingqing was unwilling to discuss her marriage and feelings with her father, so she changed the subject, "Mom and Dad, how did you get here?"
"It took six hours on the high-speed rail. Daxing Airport is too far from your home, and your mom finds flying too tiring."
"Is there any problem in your relationship recently?" Shen Qiwen turned around, looked at her again, and asked in a low voice.
"What's the problem? How many years have you been married?" Shen Qingqing said with a smile, and squeezed a piece of honey into Shen's water cup.
"Problems are more likely to occur after marriage, but not if you are not married." Shen Qiwen's expression was a little ugly.
Shen Qingqing suddenly remembered that before she got married, she went back to Dalian to prepare for the bride's wedding. She was playing with hydrogen balloons at home with a group of friends. Suddenly, her grandfather found her and asked her to accompany him to Qiqi Street to eat soufflé.
The old man can't eat too many desserts. In the family, only Shen Qingqing will take him there secretly and watch him so that he can't eat too much.
Before the soufflé was served, Grandpa took out a bank card from his pocket and gave it to Shen Qingqing, telling her not to tell anyone about the money, as it would be used for her emergencies. Finally, Grandpa said: "I originally wanted to tell you to live a good life, but no man is a good thing. If one day he doesn't live a good life anymore, you can use this money to do something else."
Chen Qingqing drove her grandpa back home, and then went to the bank to check and found that there was an unexpected amount of money in the card.
There were times when Wang Shu didn't go home for work, times when the two of them had a cold war, and times when he couldn't communicate with his in-laws.
Shen Qingqing always thinks of her grandfather's words, "No man is a good thing."
Her father's words, combined with Wang Shu's money in Macau the day before, made Shen Qingqing subconsciously say, "I think it's easier to turn a blind eye after getting married."
"It's different now than it was back then. Marriage can't restrict you young people." Shen Qiwen lowered his voice and began to analyze marriage for his daughter. "Especially for a family like yours without children, Wang Shu must be making millions a year now, right? Game publishers are all big shots! Boys like him would be snapped up by everyone in the market. Look at Jiang Yong. I heard Wang Shu say last time that Jiang Yong is 33 and still not married. Because guys like him have money and careers, there's no rush!"
Shen Qingqing was speechless and didn't know what to say in response. She had never expected that Wang Shu would chat with his father-in-law about the partners' daily lives.
Chen Qingqing certainly understood that her marriage did have its occasional minor issues, but they were minor, not enough to escalate into extramarital affairs or issues of value between men and women. Chen Qingqing found it a bit strange to discuss this topic with her father, even stranger than when she had discussed with her grandfather that men were no good. After all, when the short videos of family members accompanying the beating of a mistress were leaked, the ones doing the beating were always female relatives.
Thinking of this, Shen Qingqing turned her head and glanced at her mother. Chen Hua was still sitting in front of the sofa like a lady, her hair not messed up at all. Since she was a child, even the parent-teacher conferences were always attended by her father. She probably couldn't count on her mother to take care of her trivial matters in this life.
Shen Qingqing sat up straight and looked at Shen Qiwen, "Dad, I think you look like my mom, but my mom looks like my dad."
Shen Qiwen frowned, not understanding what she meant.
"It's the mothers who nag in other people's homes." Shen Qingqing raised her voice and said to Chen Hua who was sitting on the sofa.
Chen Hua gave her a shrug and said, "What's the point of worrying about it? Just eat salty radishes and worry less. Isn't it enough to just live your own life?"
Chen Hua said in a weird tone. Upon hearing this, Shen Qiwen put the water cup down heavily, which scared Dang Ni. Shen Qingqing immediately found that something was wrong between the two of them.
"It doesn't matter which parent cares about you! What are you talking about!" After saying this, Shen Qiwen gulped down half a glass of water.
Chen Hua was half-lying on the sofa, turning on the TV and saying to them, "Every time you worry, you get another wrinkle on your face."
At this time, Dang Ni trotted from the bedroom to the bottom of Shen Qingqing's feet, rubbed her ankle with her head, and drew Shen Qiwen's attention away. The war between the two finally died down. Shen Qiwen turned his head, bent down and reached out to touch Dang Ni, and Dang Ni made a flattering sound from her throat.
Chen Hua, who had been sitting on the sofa, turned around and saw: "Why is there a dog?"
"Dang Ni, your granddaughter, was brought back to me from South Korea by Wang Shu." Shen Qingqing picked up Dang Ni from the ground and walked to Chen Hua to show her.
"Baibai, I saw it on Douyin, Maltese, right?" Chen Hua took out his hand and touched Danni's head, then hugged her in his arms, and nodded affectionately.
"You've got a dog, but you're not planning on having a child?" Shen Qiwen asked as they sat at the dining table. "What a couple needs is a real child, not some furry or puppy."
"You talk too much nonsense." Chen Hua said softly on the sofa, but everyone in the room happened to hear it.
Shen Qingqing's whole body stiffened, fearing that the old couple would start fighting in her house, but surprisingly, Shen Qiwen didn't say anything. Shen Qingqing was wondering when the doorbell rang and she got up to open the door.
"Is the recipient Yanyan?" asked the courier.
“Yes, Yanyan.” Shen Qingqing moved closer and stuck her head out to look at the delivery.
The courier brought up a large item, and Shen Qiwen hurried over to help carry it. Shen Yanyan glanced at the sender: Wang Chengjun, Wang Shu's father.
Chen Hua glanced at the XX Express delivery advertisement on the delivery box and muttered to Shen Qingqing, "What did you buy? It's so heavy."
Shen Qingqing squatted down and opened the package with a wallpaper knife. Inside, she saw two whole lamb ribs and three cleaned and gutted black-bone chickens.
Shen Qiwen took them out one by one and spread them on the floor.
Chen Hua also came over with Danni in his arms. Danni kept wanting to come down and smell it when she smelled the meat.
Chen Hua hugged Danni tighter and said to his daughter, "It's a young lamb. They must have fed it themselves. Your parents-in-law are so kind to you. You should be grateful."
Shen Qiwen laughed disdainfully, "Just sending some meat is a good thing? Isn't this what parents should do? Besides, there's nothing you can't buy in Beijing, why do you have to send it by express delivery?"
Chen Hua put his finger under his nose and frowned. "The mutton smells really bad. Put it in the kitchen."
Chen Qingqing was afraid that they would use black chickens as swords and lamb chops as shields, so they started fighting in the living room.
But fortunately, this old couple not only does not have the passion to get tired of each other, but also does not have the passion to quarrel.
Neither of them continued talking, and Shen Qiwen helped his daughter move the things to the kitchen.
After making an appointment at the restaurant, Shen Qingqing started to put on makeup. While she was putting on makeup, Chen Hua took the leash and went downstairs to walk Danni, while Shen Qiwen was relaxing on the massage chair in his house.
"My mother is really energetic. She can still get off the bus to walk the dog after sitting in the car for such a long time." Shen Qingqing said.
Shen Qiwen closed his eyes and said, "She has never worried about anything in her life, has a good mentality, and looks younger than her peers."
Shen Qingqing uttered an "oh" and walked to the cloakroom, choosing clothes while talking to her father. "You two don't communicate that much at home now?"
"We've been together for nearly forty years, how can there be so much to talk about?" Shen Qiwen responded to his daughter without opening his eyes.
Shen Qingqing suddenly remembered a Korean drama she'd watched, about how couples would eventually face the inevitable physiological "dilemma" of poop, pee, and farts. She took a shirt and compared it to herself. "Dad, would you fart in front of my mom?"
His father burst out laughing, opening his eyes and laughing as if he had heard a joke. "You should ask your mother about this."
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