Chapter 346
Outside, a snowstorm raged. Inside, they slept soundly, wrapped in blankets, their heads exposed. In their crib, the child cuddled up to a stuffed bunny, drowsily opening his eyes. Seeing his parents still slumbering, he whimpered, unaccompanied by a soothing whisper, then rolled over to sleep. The room felt like a fairytale enchantment, with every living creature slumbering. Even the cat curled up in a ball, its ears exposed.
Once, Wang Jiazhi saw the eternal eternity of a lifetime, a lifetime, a hundred years of dust, a lifetime of companionship from youth to gray; an event, a book, a song, remembered by the world a hundred years later. Now, after all that, she feels that those thoughts were too extravagant, too unattainable. For her now, being together at this moment is eternity.
Those old-fashioned plots always say that when things are not going well in life, think about how vast the universe and the earth are, and how insignificant humans are. Compared with the vast universe and the earth, your own little unhappiness is nothing.
Wang Jiazhi had always hated this kind of talk. She was her own person, and what did the universe have to do with her? She was a mere drop in the ocean, a fleeting moment compared to the billions of light-years of the universe. But so what? She didn't care about the universe; she cared only about herself. Even if she lived only a day, that day was eternity for her. If everyone felt that their own joys and sorrows were insignificant and negligible compared to the vastness of history, compared to the universe, then human society would perish. History is driven forward by the joys and sorrows of countless ordinary people.
For her, her eternity was only him. She had come to terms with this, forced to compromise and accept it after a painful struggle in her past life. She had never believed a woman's life should be completely dependent on a single man, but she had no other choice. Apart from him, she had nothing. She had fought, fought, fought, but apart from him, she could not grasp or obtain anything. And he wasn't something she had earned; in her eyes, he was fate's only mercy.
She couldn't expect a long-lasting relationship with him, only those intermittent and short periods of time together. In those desperate and hopeless times, the two of them were together, temporarily forgetting reality. For her, every time they met, it felt like eternity.
It was past five and already dark. He was up first, having slept in long enough this time; it was a rare opportunity for him to sleep all afternoon. He was catching up on sleep, and Wang Jiazhi was accompanying him. But that's how winter sleep is: you never get enough. As long as you're snuggled in bed, you can sleep forever. Animals like bears hibernate in winter, and humans might have the same tendency.
He pushed her to wake her up, and she whimpered and hugged him coquettishly. His clothes had already been messed up by her. She just liked to touch him in various ways, especially his woolen pants and chest.
Since his previous life, he gradually realized that it seemed as if she was sent there to accompany him, but in reality, he still didn't know who was accompanying whom and who was serving whom.
He carried the child out. The kitten was a little drowsy from sleeping with them too much during the day. Its eyes were open, but its spirit was not yet fully awake. Wang Jiazhi was just as drowsy. She hugged the child and asked her to eat. She said in a somewhat unclear way: "Eat, or your dad will eat it all."
The child was drinking milk and didn't realize whether she was hungry or not, but when her mother asked her to eat, she started sucking. After she finished eating, her father held her and patted her back.
He said, "When you grow up a little bit, you can eat what adults eat."
After playing with the child for a while, it was already six o'clock, and he asked, "Do you want to go out and play?"
"Where are you going?"
"Want to check out the dance floor?"
She thought for a moment and said, "I'll just watch, I won't jump."
The closer it gets to the Lunar New Year, the more inertia people experience, reaching its peak around the time of the Lunar New Year. The period leading up to the holiday is often filled with more entertainment than the actual holiday itself. Of course, this is only true for the wealthy; ordinary people become increasingly anxious and toilsome as the year draws near, scrambling to find ways to raise money for the holidays.
Wang Jiazhi had never been to a dance hall. She remembered going with a female classmate in high school to borrow something from another girl, but she was delayed for a long time because of something. It was winter, and it was already dark, so they waited by the roadside. All the other shops were either closed or very dimly lit, and they were afraid the other party wouldn't be able to find them. Only the front of a dance hall was brightly lit, and they stood there. It was obvious that they were two young girls waiting for someone, but they were still very nervous. In the eyes of a little girl, dance halls were mysterious and a little scary. Later, she went to Hongkou to look for him and caught a glimpse of the dance hall from the door. A woman was singing on the stage, and many people were dancing together. That was the second time she approached a dance hall.
She wouldn't dare go to a place like this without a man. On the way there, she peered out the car window. After not being out for a few days, the streets seemed even busier. Many of the Christmas trees in front of the shops hadn't been taken down yet, covered in snow. The shops glowed with a warm yellow light, and the windows displayed clothes, furs, jewelry, and pastries. People walked the streets in the snow, like images from a New Year's card. She leaned her head on his shoulder, gazing at the scenery outside. Every time the car passed a section of the road, it was a greeting card or a postcard.
When they arrived at the place, she followed him in shyly and fearfully. The lights inside were not as dim as she had imagined, but still very bright. Some people were dancing, which was very different from the chaotic dance of demons in the Pansi Cave that she had imagined.
They sat down in a secluded area, and the waiter hurriedly and respectfully brought the menu. Wang Jiazhi saw that it was all in English, but many wives of officials didn't understand English at all, so what should she do? She would always try to curry favor with them anyway, so why would they need to look at the menu themselves?
Although she could understand them, she had no idea what the wines were, such as Rainbow Sky, Devil's Forest, and Rapunzel's Braids.
She whispered to him, "What are these things?"
He said, "I don't know either."
Then she asked the waiter to answer her. She pointed to a few and asked the waiter, Devil's Forest is a red and black cocktail, mainly made of vodka and coffee; Rainbow Sky is a cocktail with nine kinds of fruit flavors; Long Hair Girl is a peach-flavored soda.
After the waiter left, she asked him what he ordered to drink here.
He said, "I haven't been here for a long time." Anyway, he was afraid to go to crowded places.
"That was always coming."
"I don't look at the menu. I just tell you what I want to drink."
Sure enough, he didn't use this menu. Wang Jiazhi wondered if she was embarrassing herself.
After a while, the food she ordered was served: Rapunzel's braids, a tall glass filled with pink soda with three crescent-shaped peeled peaches in it, a long braid of white chocolate thread around the rim of the glass that almost reached the bottom of the glass, a pink forget-me-not petal in each braid, a half-crescent-shaped peeled peach stuck on the rim of the glass between each braid, and a light pink straw in the glass.
She sighed in her heart, it is true that while the rich have wine and meat, there are people freezing to death on the streets.
The lime cheesecake was delicious, and the long-haired girl's peach soda was a bit sour and delicious, but it didn't go well with the dried mango. She used to like eating dried mangoes and drinking slightly sour drinks, and these two combinations went well together.
She sat behind him, with only her head exposed, leaning on his shoulder, like a shy kitten.
In her previous life, Wang Jiazhi, fearless as she was, wouldn't have been so timid. But back then, it was truly tragic. The torture and beatings had driven her a bit mad. Besides being afraid of him, she wasn't even afraid of death, so what else was there to fear? She was afraid because she cared about him, afraid her emotions would make him even more miserable. In fact, he was even crazier than she was. At first, the two of them had to suppress their emotions. But later, whenever they met, they inexplicably calmed down, without even needing to suppress themselves.
Back then, she dressed like someone in their thirties. Besides wanting to look mature and seduce him, she also no longer considered herself a little girl. The terrible torture and trivialities of life had worn her out physically and mentally. She once wanted to wear beautiful clothes but had no money, but now she could buy them. She had experienced so much that she no longer felt worthy of wearing those bright, girlish colors.
Now, she's gradually regaining her girlish nature and starting to wear brighter clothes. The few dark-colored pieces she'd deliberately bought in the beginning are no longer worn. In her previous life, she didn't have a dress. She wanted to buy a few dresses, but they didn't seem to suit her status as a young woman, so she ended up with a few suits. They were nice, but too sophisticated.
Anyway, she always saw him wearing a cheongsam, so she chose the bright and pretty ones with flowers. She couldn't let a suit go to waste after buying it. She also had a few black and gray cheongsams that made her look old, so she kept them for when she met Old Wu, Kuang Yumin and others.
Her collarbone was particularly beautiful. The advantage of wearing those dresses over cheongsams was that they could show off her beautiful collarbone. But she didn't need to dress in front of him deliberately, because he would always have the opportunity to see her collarbone anyway.
"Want to go dance?"
"No, I don't want to go."
She suddenly remembered how, in her past life, he'd said she had a soft body, perfect for dancing. Back then, he'd held one of her legs, pinching and rubbing it. That was at the very beginning of their game, and she'd never imagined what would happen later.
She also remembered the time when Zhou Minlin taught her to dance, but she had long forgotten it.
"Neither can I."
"I'm sure you can dance."
Wang Jiazhi rested her head on his shoulder, looking at the women on the dance floor. This was truly a fashion show for the upper class. Compared to them, the other ladies' attire seemed rather conventional. After all, they were getting a bit older, so their clothing choices were limited. Mrs. Ma, on the other hand, had a wider selection of clothes than they did. Mrs. Ma was only in her early thirties, but her overly seductive attire made her look older. This was a common flaw with dressing too seductively. If she straightened her hair and dressed more modestly, she could pass for someone in her twenties.
Wang Jiazhi came out today wearing a silver cheongsam with large white tulip flowers, her hair loose and pearl hairpins tucked in on either side. A woman's age is hard to tell, especially with a baby face like Wang Jiazhi's, which makes her look even younger. She wouldn't be out of place if she were eighteen or nineteen. Now she's hiding behind him like a kitten, and Old Yi is feeling stressed. He's afraid people will think he's bringing his daughter out.
In their circle, their age difference wasn't outrageous. There were plenty of people looking for women thirty or forty years younger than them. But most of those people were looking for playthings, so of course they didn't mind. Their situations were different. Wang Jiazhi wasn't as sensitive as he was, because she didn't think it was a big deal. It just so happened that her father was four years older than him. If they didn't have that relationship, she would have called him "uncle." But without that relationship, there was no way they would have met.
At that moment, the lights suddenly dimmed, the music stopped, and the people stopped dancing. Wang Jiazhi was even more sensitive than him, her grip tightening and her body trembling. But seeing his nonchalant expression, he must have known about this program.
Now only the stage lights were on, and a crowd gathered around the stage. There were several people standing on the stage, and the woman in the middle was obviously the focus of the moment. Wang Jiazhi saw that the person was very tall, thin, and white, with a long face, thickly made up, a pair of long almond-shaped eyes, and lips that were red and tempting. She had thick bangs, shoulder-length hair, and the ends of her hair were curled up, much like a large mandala flower. Her head was covered with a hairnet made of white beads, and on the left side was a pink rose with green leaves. She was wearing a long white gauze dress with a deep V-neck and two wide ruffles around the collar. This outfit was actually most charming with a big red flower on her white, but it was still a bit vulgar. To avoid this, she wore the same pink roses on her clothes and hands as on her head.
Wang Jiazhi sighed inwardly, "She's truly stunningly beautiful! This woman doesn't rely on cosmetics or clothes to embellish her beauty; she has a naturally beautiful figure, slender and graceful. A woman who is too seductive tends to look a bit vulgar, but unlike Mrs. Ma, she is charming without being vulgar."
The man in a suit next to the woman began to speak, announcing that today was her birthday. Then the woman spoke, and someone wheeled in a multi-layered cake. After the cake was cut and the crowd cheered, the lights came back on, and even the dancers wore masks, a masquerade ball had begun.
Wang Jiazhi remembered that this woman was a popular star. She seemed to have heard somewhere that the high-ranking official was behind her. She looked over there and saw that the others had already left the stage to toast. The man who had just spoken should be her.
This kind of dance party actually existed. Wang Jiazhi had thought it only existed in novels and movies. Because masks prevented her from seeing the other person's face, it led to many stories. She suddenly remembered a dream she had back then: she was among a group of terrifying demons, all wearing terrifying masks. She noticed the scariest mask, and from the exposed eyes, she realized it was him. She went over and took off the mask, and sure enough, it was him.
He told him about the dream, and he laughed and said, "I dreamed of the green screen in your study that you made yourself. You tore a hole in it with one hand, and the hole got bigger and bigger, and you jumped out like a kitten."
They were talking and were about to leave. They were staying in a very inconspicuous place, but somehow the man next to the female star saw them and hurriedly pulled another man over, saying with a smile, "Lan Jie, why are you here? We had no idea."
He laughed and said, "It was also something I came up with at the last minute."
Wang Jiazhi drank some lemon-flavored wine again, and now she felt a little dizzy from the alcohol. It was also her first time in such a place, so she felt a little shy. She still hid behind him, her head resting on his shoulder, revealing her two little cat eyes.
The man laughed and said, "Why are you feeling shy again, sister-in-law?"
He just smiled and said nothing.
This woman was a few years older than Old Yi, but Old Yi held a higher official position than him, so calling her "sister-in-law" was somewhat disrespectful. But if he called her something else, he knew she was what people called the "Second Wife," and Old Yi valued her more than the "Madam," so he addressed her respectfully as "Madam."
The other person that person brought was also on the stage just now. There was a woman standing next to him. She seemed to be a small star, but she was not as famous as that one, and her appearance and temperament were much worse.
The three of them chatted for a while, and Wang Jiazhi remembered that she had heard them talking about that man at Mrs. Yi's poker table. He was also married, and they said he was dating a female star.
Inwardly, he said to Mrs. Yi, "See? He's not even as high-ranking as me, yet he's so brazen and ostentatious. I'm not giving you enough to worry about, and you keep telling me the story of the Hongmen Feast."
Normally, that person should have called the celebrity to come over to greet them, but knowing that they were intentionally avoiding people today and didn't want to make a big deal about it, he only asked another colleague to come over to greet them, and didn't call the two people's lovers over.
Furthermore, when bringing a female companion to an event like this, if the person is the wife, the other party also asks the wife to come and meet her. If the person is a concubine, the concubine and the mistress must also be present to entertain the guests. However, Wang Jiazhi's status is quite special. If they invited the two mistresses, it seems that Wang Jiazhi is treated the same as the other two. Lao Yi would probably be angry.
After chatting for a while, they said they were leaving. The two of them walked them to the door. After Wang Jiazhi came out, she looked inside again. It was so prosperous and bustling inside. Really, he couldn't stand such a precarious life and still live a life of drunkenness and debauchery. He probably couldn't stand it more than she did.
On the way back to the car, she lazily rested her head on his legs. He stroked her hair and back and said, "Are you tired?"
She shook her head and said, "I feel dizzy. I only had one drink."
He laughed and said, "Maybe the wine was too strong."
The sound of fireworks was heard outside. He looked at the fireworks outside the window. The light of the fireworks shone through the glass on him, flickering. No one knew what he was thinking.
It was already past ten when they got back. He hadn't eaten dinner, and she had just made him wontons stuffed with shrimp and bamboo shoots that morning. She had eaten a piece of cake, a plate of dried mangoes, a plate of fruit, a glass of wine, and a soda there. He didn't need to eat dinner.
"Is it tasty?"
"Um."
She rested her head on his shoulder.
Before she met him, she'd thought it was annoying for him to cling to her while eating, even if he was her boyfriend. But when she actually put it into practice, it wasn't the case at all. It was like before the real thing, she was always worried she'd be too shy to even sleep with him, not knowing how to flirt with him. But in practice, it was much easier. She couldn't help but do everything, and it was even more extreme than she'd imagined.
She changed her posture and buried her head in his shoulder, which also felt like an eternity.
Some time later, Wang Jiazhi heard from her mother that there was a minor incident behind this incident, not a major one. It was about the other man that day, whose lover was the starlet who stood beside him, a figure of a lower standard in both appearance and temperament. Seeing the two of them go to talk to Lao Yi, the starlet didn't seem to mind. But when the other man saw Lao Yi bringing her along, she knew at first glance that she wasn't the principal wife. So, if she was a concubine, why didn't he bring her along to greet her? The starlet's pride was severely damaged, and she started a fight with the man.
The man explained the reason to her, but he didn't expect that it would only add fuel to the fire. The little star became even more angry and said angrily: "We are all concubines. Why is she superior to others? If I go to see her, I will humiliate her."
Wang Jiazhi felt helpless. She still couldn't figure out what these people were arguing about. It was as if they were deliberately looking for trouble just to argue and make a scene. Even if they couldn't continue arguing, they would still force it. What good would such a ferocious and unbending argument do them? It seemed that for a certain type of people, life was impossible without a fight. Even without the opportunity to argue, they would still devise a way to do it, leaving both of them exhausted and miserable. After too much fighting, the other party couldn't stand it anymore, and those who were married divorced, and those who were concubines separated. The woman always suffered the most. Wasn't she digging her own grave, was she really harming herself?
She couldn't understand how some people, whether born or nurtured, were inherently unreasonable and tantrum-inducing. Even if they understood the truth, they couldn't control themselves. If they didn't stir up trouble, they simply couldn't survive.
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