0058 63 Red lanterns hang high
"what are you up to?"
Yi Chenling was pushed onto the balcony by Zhou Xiye, who was still holding his clothes and shoes in her hand.
"Get dressed, and then jump from here."
Zhou Xiye shoved the clothes she was holding into his arms, "Hurry up!"
Jump down? Yi Chenling found it absurd. "Do you even know which floor this is? You want me to jump? How can you be so vicious?"
Zhou Xiye smirked, losing patience, and opened the window. "You just like how vicious I am, right? Hurry up, don't force me to push you."
Yi Chenling gritted his teeth and glared at her, "Do you want me dead?"
"Death?" Zhou Xiye peeked out from the floor, then looked at Yi Chenling. "Not necessarily, at most you'll be paralyzed. If not, I'll take care of you for the rest of your life..." With that, he started pushing Yi Chenling. Which is safer, being pushed down or jumping down yourself?
Yi Chenling steeled his heart, grabbed the window, and jumped outside.
"Step here first, then there... and then there!" Zhou Xiye kindly offered some pointers. "It's like rock climbing, you've done it before, right!"
After saying that, Zhou Xiye closed the window, turned and left, leaving Yi Chenling hanging outside the window alone.
At this moment, Yi Chenling also made up his mind, cursing Zhou Xiye: "I swear I'll never sleep with this woman again. She's heartless, a sleep-and-dump!" He continued crawling down the aisle. Zhou Xiye returned to the living room, responding while glancing around to see if Yi Chenling had left anything behind, looking like he'd been caught in the act, "Coming, coming—"
The door opened, and Zhou Pei's face appeared before them.
"Sister, why are you so slow!"
Zhou Xiye smiled sheepishly. "Come in quickly. Why did you suddenly come back?" Zhou Xiye looked at him, unsure where to look. His head injury should have healed, with no scars, and he looked more energetic than before she left Tibet.
Zhou Pei frowned, wondering why she would ask such a question: "Of course I'm going home for the New Year. Didn't you always tell me that I should spend the New Year with my family? How could I not come back?"
Zhou Xiye stood there, suddenly feeling lost. She hadn't expected to have a good year; her younger brother was in prison, her parents were in a nursing home, and she was left all alone, a person who had accomplished nothing. Perhaps she could only spend the Spring Festival with Yi Chenling, who was equally unambitious. At least there would be a talking, living being around, and she could still enjoy passionate sex.
She didn't expect Zhou Pei to come back, especially after he already knew that she wanted to break up with him.
The next second, Zhou Xiye lowered his head, raised his hand and touched his nose with his index finger, "Alright, have you eaten? Let's go out and buy some New Year's goods later, I haven't prepared anything yet."
Zhou Pei walked up to Zhou Xiye and looked down at her.
Zhou Xiye was torn, unsure of Zhou Pei's intentions and unsure how to begin the conversation. Should she mention that Zhou Guodong was in prison? Or that her parents had moved to a nursing home and she wouldn't be coming home for the New Year?
Just as she was about to look up, Zhou Pei touched her hair and then pulled Zhou Xiye into her arms. "Sister, you are my only family. How could I bear to leave you alone? You are heartless and can abandon me, but I can't."
Zhou Xiye reached out and hugged his waist tightly. With her eyes closed, she wiped the warm tears from her eyes onto Zhou Pei's chest.
After a while, the two separated. "Come back, where is General Jiang? Is he still in Tibet?"
Zhou Pei put her arm around Zhou Xiye's waist, and the two sat down on the sofa. "Yes, he can't come back for the time being, but don't worry, Madam Jiang has gone too, and his daughter will be coming back from abroad."
Zhou Xiye leaned against Zhou Pei's chest and nodded, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart. "Did you tell him you came back?"
Zhou Pei remained silent for a few seconds before answering, "He can't control it," in a nonchalant tone.
Zhou Xiye didn't want to argue with him anymore. She leaned against his warm embrace, absorbing the tenderness she rarely received. Zhou Pei was busy on his way and didn't have time to eat dinner, so he ordered takeout. After eating, the two snuggled on the sofa and watched TV together.
Many of the people featured in the news broadcast were people they knew. With the Spring Festival travel rush underway, the secretary of the Transportation Bureau Director was being interviewed; this secretary was also Zhou Xiye's classmate. Looking at her, Zhou Xiye told Zhou Pei some funny stories from her university days—the seemingly rigid and serious secretary actually enjoyed telling jokes in private.
Anyway, Zhou Xiye could tell Zhou Pei a few stories about everyone he knew.
On this night, Zhou Xiye was greeted with a long-awaited tranquility and warmth.
However, Wei Luochen found the night extremely boring. During holidays and festivals, many people would come to visit with gifts, and Ling Xingzhi and she would have to open the door to welcome them. Their already limited private space was further encroached upon by these social obligations, which she disliked.
Normally, before Ling Xingzhi and Kong Lingqi's affair was exposed, she loved to play the role of a wife deeply loved by her husband, and the two seemed very affectionate in front of others. But after the affair was exposed, Wei Luochen didn't want to act anymore; it was exhausting.
You'll also be laughed at.
What Wei Luochen couldn't figure out was Ling Xingzhi. What impact did Kong Lingqi's departure have on him? Wei Luochen turned his head to look. Ling Xingzhi, who was in the crowd, still had a faint smile on his face. He was smoking while socializing, his eyes crinkling with laughter, and he would occasionally show an expression of agreement, making it impossible for anyone to guess what he was thinking.
The dim, luxurious light radiated from the crystal chandelier. The mouths of the people speaking opened, and their expressions slowed down, as if in slow motion. Wei Luochen could clearly see the wrinkles around their eyes when they smiled, the dilated pupils when they were surprised, and the pursed lips when they were impatient.
Everyone is like a monster.
Wei Luochen looked away and gazed up at the smoke in the air. Suddenly, she felt breathless, as if something was pressing on her heart. She could no longer hear the surrounding noise; she could only hear her own heartbeat.
"My husband said the same thing. We're going on vacation after New Year's Eve..."
"Where to? Have you decided?"
"No, I want to go to Paris... After the Milan Fall/Winter fashion show, I saw a few clothes that I want to order from the Paris headquarters..."
"..."
"These days, they're giving away watches with car purchases. Those watches might be worth millions, but I don't think anything given away as a free gift is of any high quality..."
"Wei Luochen? Wei Luochen? Chief Editor Wei?"
Someone touched Wei Luochen's toes, and she snapped back to reality, as if she had been pulled out of a void, a world in which she was all alone.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
"Let's talk about whether we should go to Italy. Would you like to come along?" The wealthy woman beside her smiled at her. This was the wife of the museum's son, named Jian Mingming. Not only was she the same age as Ling Xingzhi, but the two were also classmates. Her family background was extraordinary.
Wei Luochen took a sip of her champagne, her high heels swaying in the air with her movements. "What are you going to Italy for?"
The wealthy woman on the other side spoke up again, "Of course it's for fun!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a group of ladies burst into laughter, the meaning behind their laughter blatantly obvious.
"Stop laughing, Luo Chen has never been on our trip," Jian Mingming covered her mouth with her hand covered in nail polish. "Are you coming? Did Lao Ling let you come?"
Wei Luochen met her gaze, and Jian Mingming's eyes made her meaning clear: these wealthy women's trips were essentially for hunting for romantic encounters. The wealthy women who could join this small group probably all shared one characteristic: their husbands were having affairs, and they too were looking for suitable "desserts" for themselves.
It seems they all knew about Ling Xingzhi's affair and made no attempt to hide it, automatically including her in their group.
“Go on, go on, Italian desserts are delicious,” the wealthy woman who had just said she was looking for fun patted Wei Luochen’s leg, comforting her with the air of someone who had been through it all. “Desserts will make you happy and you’ll quickly forget those sad things.”
Wei Luochen frowned and subconsciously said, "I won't go. I've already made plans to go out with Lao Ling."
The other wives exchanged glances, while Jian Mingming took a sip of her wine, her gaze deep and unfathomable.
That topic passed, and the wealthy women started talking about their own children again.
"Hey, by the way, didn't the teacher say that winter camp is coming up soon and ask for parents' opinions on where to go? Do you have any ideas?"
"I think Antarctica is great. It's summer in the Southern Hemisphere right now, which is a lot of fun."
"Then we might as well go to the Arctic..."
"Come on, I just went to the Arctic a couple of years ago, saw polar bears, and even joined a research station. I learned a lot from the team..."
Wei Luochen couldn't discuss this topic at all. She slumped into the sofa, listening to their conversation while drinking. Somehow, the conversation shifted back to her, "Little Wei, don't you and Secretary Ling want children yet? Secretary Ling is already thirty-five, doesn't your father-in-law want a grandson?"
The chatter started again, and Wei Luochen knew they wanted to find out if Ling Xingzhi had any illegitimate children.
Wei Luochen smiled tactfully, "He's quite busy..."
Jian Mingming glanced at her, put down her wine glass, and still maintained her experienced demeanor, "No matter how busy you are, what can those two or three seconds of childbirth delay? He's the one who sows the seed, but you're the one who cultivates it."
Wei Luochen felt stifled, but she couldn't leave, so she forced a smile and said, "Then let's work hard and try to have it this year."
Jian Mingming nodded, "I remember when we were in college, Lao Ling said that he really liked children. I always thought that you two would have children after you got married. I didn't expect that so much time has passed and I still haven't given out the red envelope I prepared."
Faced with Jian Mingming's blatant flattery that was actually a veiled attack, Wei Luochen could only pretend not to understand and continued, "You need to prepare a big red envelope, then the child will have to call you godmother."
"Haha, great! I don't mind. I'll definitely treat Old Ling's child as my own."
Upon hearing this, the other ladies present exchanged glances, holding their wine glasses, their smiles hidden behind their glasses. Wei Luochen could only feel embarrassed. She didn't know what the relationship between Jian Mingming and Ling Xingzhi was, but she was truly ashamed to be "competing" for someone else's husband in front of everyone.
So, I picked up the wine glass and took a sip. The red wine was ice-cold. As it reached my throat, a sour and bitter taste spread through my mouth. After swallowing, a sweet aftertaste followed.
"Jian Mingming, if you like being a mother, then have two more children. What kind of child are you to steal mine?"
Wei Luochen felt a warmth on her shoulder as the sofa next to her sank in, and Ling Xingzhi sat down beside her.
When Jian Mingming saw Ling Xingzhi, her left eyebrow twitched, her eyes lit up, and she smiled, "Old classmate, so protective of your wife, huh?"
Ling Xingzhi glanced at Wei Luochen, then looked at Jian Mingming, "You can have many old classmates, but you only have one wife."
The other ladies laughed, praising the couple's loving relationship. Even if it wasn't true, Ling Xingzhi readily accepted every word. After everyone had finished speaking, Ling Xingzhi got to the point, "The Grand Preceptor's new movie will be shown at my house later. Are any of you ladies interested?"
Upon hearing the words "National Advisor," everyone immediately became interested. "Great! So, gatherings that always involve drinking and gossiping are so boring. Watching a movie is much better, especially one directed by the National Advisor!"
Ling Xingzhi stood up with a smile, and Wei Luochen followed suit. "Then let's head to the movie theater..."
The Lunar New Year film directed by the National Director was first shown at Lingxingzhi's home. The storyline is set in the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, on the eve of Empress Dowager Feng of the Northern Wei Dynasty launching a coup against the powerful minister Yi Hun. The plot is compact and the visuals are magnificent, which is the National Director's consistent style.
As the movie ended, the director stood in front of the screen, explaining his creative philosophy. Ling Xingzhi, unconcerned about such things, got up and left. Wei Luochen watched his departing figure, somewhat dazed.
Ling Xingzhi walked into the courtyard. It was quite cold outside, but the house was stuffy. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and was about to take one out when a child's voice caught his attention. "When I grow up, I want to be Empress Dowager Feng. How powerful! Everyone has to listen to her!"
Turning my head, I saw a little girl being dressed up by her nanny; she had probably just come out of the bathroom.
Ling Xingzhi put away his cigarette and turned to look at them.
The nanny didn't say anything, but after helping the little girl pack her things, she pulled her away.
Ling Xingzhi looked up at the night sky and sighed. Not far away, red lanterns under the eaves swayed in the wind.
Power is such a fascinating thing. It's invisible and intangible, yet its shadow is everywhere. Even a child knows that those who have the final say live very comfortably.
"Da-da-da-da"
Footsteps sounded behind him, the sound of high heels, and for some reason, Ling Xingzhi suddenly thought of a scene from the movie "Raise the Red Lantern".
What is a right? It's the sound of a small hammer tapping on the soles of your feet inside the courtyard.
"Da-da-da-da"
What are rights? They are the bright red lanterns inside the compound.
"Old Ling, why are you hiding here all by yourself?"
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