Chapter Twenty-Six
After receiving Liang Yuheng's call, Zhou Gan rushed over from home. As soon as he arrived at Cheng Jun's bar, he saw two people in a booth by the window.
When Cheng Jun saw Zhou Gan arrive, he also walked over.
He put his arm around Zhou Gan's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Is this the beautiful and gentle sister-in-law you mentioned last time?"
Zhou Gan glanced down at Shi Qing, his face full of pride: "Yes, I wasn't wrong, was I?"
Cheng Jun joked, "This world is so damn unfair! Why does Liang Yuheng get all the good things? He's born into a better family than us, he's smarter, and his wife is prettier than a celebrity!"
Zhou Gan spread his hands: "There's nothing I can do, my brother is just that outstanding! You can be envious and jealous all you want."
Cheng Jun sighed: "I never thought I would hear Liang Yuheng say 'she is my wife' in my lifetime. It's like a dream! I used to really think he wasn't interested in women."
“I understand you!” Zhou Gan nodded heavily. “I didn’t expect this either…”
At this moment, Liang Yuheng, wearing a gray shirt, strode in from the doorway, interrupting the two.
“Take Zhou Han home and let her aunt take care of her for a few days. It’s just a breakup, why make such a fuss?” Liang Yuheng frowned and glanced at Zhou Han.
Cheng Jun: "You're obviously not a talkative person. You'll see when you meet someone like that."
Liang Yuheng glanced at him and said, "Don't worry, I won't."
"Pah! Look at my mouth! I wish you and your wife a long and happy marriage! This meal is on me today. Someone's looking for me over there, so I'll have to go now." Cheng Jun slipped away without stopping.
Zhou Gan: "What about Shi Qing? Are you going back together?"
Liang Yuheng: "Otherwise what?"
Zhou Gan didn't dare ask any more questions and helped Zhou Han leave first.
Shi Qing was resting her chin on her hand, playing with her wine glass. Despite having drunk too much, her posture remained elegant, and even had a touch of languid beauty.
She wasn't that drunk; upon hearing the noise, she slowly turned her head.
When she saw Liang Yuheng, she still couldn't believe it. She muttered to herself, "Looks like he's really drunk today."
Liang Yuheng shook his head helplessly: "Let's go back."
Shi Qing then realized she hadn't misread it: "Aheng, you're really not coming back?"
"Um."
Shi Qing looked up at him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes unfocused: "Aren't you supposed to be back next week?"
"Because I need to come back early to pick someone up."
"Who are you picking up?" Shi Qing unconsciously slowed her speech by half a beat.
This was the first time Liang Yuheng had seen her so drunk; she could barely speak. He wanted to scold her, but he felt that she wouldn't listen anyway.
"Come on, you drunkard." Liang Yuheng helped her up by supporting her arm.
Shi Qing said "Oh": "I'm not an alcoholic, I didn't drink too much."
Liang Yuheng found it amusing; he hadn't expected her to talk back after drinking so much. But he was too lazy to argue and asked, "Can you still walk?"
"Of course!" Shi Qing nodded, as if to prove that she wasn't drunk.
But as soon as she lifted her foot, she felt her feet go sway and she almost knelt on the ground.
Fortunately, Liang Yuheng reacted quickly, pulled her back, and brought her into his arms.
Shi Qing remained stubborn, saying, "I can walk by myself."
Liang Yuheng didn't let go, and put his arm around her shoulder, coaxing, "Be good."
"I've always been very obedient," Shi Qing said in a much softer voice, sounding almost like she was being coquettish.
"Yes, Qingqing is the best girl."
After leaving the bar, Shi Qing rested her head on his shoulder and asked, "Where are we going?"
Liang Yuheng: "Go home."
"But I have no home." Shi Qing's tone was tinged with sadness and grievance.
Liang Yuheng: "Go back to my place, that's your home too."
Before Shi Qing could speak, the phone rang.
She searched through her bag for a long time but couldn't find her phone, so Liang Yuheng had to take it out of his bag for her.
When the caller ID showed "Brother Junzhe", Liang Yuheng frowned.
"I have never had a home."
Shi Qing leaned on Liang Yuheng's shoulder and murmured, showing no intention of answering the phone.
Seeing her like this, Liang Yuheng had no choice but to answer the phone for her: "Hello, who is this?"
Zheng Junzhe was surprised to hear a man's voice on the other end and instinctively tensed up: "Who are you?! Why are you answering Shi Qing's call?"
“I am her…” Liang Yuheng paused, then slowly said, “Husband.”
Zheng Junzhe seemed to find it a joke: "You're a liar? Shi Qing isn't married at all!"
Liang Yuheng was displeased, but his tone sounded nonchalant: "And who are you to her?"
“Shi Qing and I grew up together and are very important to each other,” Zheng Junzhe said without backing down.
Liang Yuheng scoffed, "You didn't even know she got married, so it seems your relationship isn't that great."
Zheng Junzhe: "Give the phone to Shi Qing. I don't believe she would get married without telling me."
Liang Yuheng held the phone to Shi Qing's ear and whispered, "Shi Qing."
"Hmm?" Shi Qing responded lazily, without even opening her eyes.
Liang Yuheng asked slowly and deliberately, "Am I your husband?"
Shi Qing, feeling dizzy, said "Yes".
Zheng Junzhe was so shocked that he didn't speak for a moment.
Liang Yuheng smiled contentedly: "Did you hear that? If you still don't believe me, I don't mind sending you the marriage certificate."
"..."
Seeing that there was no further response from the other end, Liang Yuheng coldly hung up the phone and put it back in Shi Qing's bag.
Shi Qing walked alongside Liang Yuheng for a while, then suddenly stopped and slowly shook her head: "No, you're not my husband."
"If I'm not who am I?" Liang Yuheng was already feeling uneasy because of the phone call earlier, and his face darkened instantly upon hearing this.
Shi Qing didn't notice the change in his expression, and since she was drunk, she no longer had much respect for Liang Yuheng, so she insisted, "I don't have a husband, because you're fake."
You can treat me as real.
"That won't do."
Why not?
"It just won't work."
Liang Yuheng pinched her cheek: "You have to do it, no matter what. You can't find another man from now on."
"How domineering you are!" Shi Qing glared at him, but her face was flushed and she didn't seem intimidating at all.
Liang Yuheng raised an eyebrow: "That's right."
Shi Qing felt she couldn't win the argument, so she lowered her head and said, "Then I'll stop looking for her for now."
"Good girl." Liang Yuheng smiled and ruffled her hair.
"Aheng, I don't want to go back now. I want to go to the riverbank to feel the breeze."
"OK."
Liang Yuheng was quite pleased that she took the initiative to make the request.
"Wait here for a moment, I'll go buy a bottle of water." Liang Yuheng helped Shi Qing to the bench, then half-squatted down and looked up at her.
Shi Qing's eyes were watery as she whispered, "You're not allowed to leave me."
It was rare to see Shi Qing so dependent on him, and Liang Yuheng felt a pang in his heart: "Don't worry, how could I bear to?"
Shi Qing felt relieved after hearing his answer, and smiled with her eyes crinkling: "Then go ahead, I'll wait for you."
"good."
Shi Qing sat alone on a bench, watching the night view of the river. The night breeze felt very comfortable.
Just then, she saw a family of three taking a walk along the riverbank. The little girl was about four or five years old, with shiny braids, and looked clean and pretty.
"Daddy, I want to eat cotton candy." The little girl pointed to the cotton candy stall next to her.
The girl's father said helplessly, "You should ask the mother about this; it's not up to me to decide."
The little girl shook her mother's hand and pleaded, "Mom, you're the best. Can I just eat a little bit?"
The girl's mother smiled indulgently: "Alright, you can only eat a little bit. Eating too many sweets at night is bad for your teeth."
"Yay! Mom, you're so nice!" The little girl jumped up and clapped her hands happily.
The couple smiled at each other and took their daughter to buy cotton candy.
Shi Qing couldn't help but think of her childhood.
When she was born, the family planning policy was very strict. At that time, Shi Yongwei had just been transferred to the local county land bureau. If the higher-ups found out that he had a second child, he would definitely lose his job.
So Shi Qing was sent to the countryside from birth and initially lived with her grandparents.
However, her grandparents had a strong preference for boys over girls and were never willing to take care of her. When Shi Qing was in the third grade, they sent her to her maternal grandmother's house.
Shi Qing has only been able to see her parents for a few days during the Chinese New Year since she was a child.
Even though her parents and brother didn't like her, Shi Qing still looked forward to seeing them when she was very young.
When she was six years old, her parents took Shi Jian back to their hometown for the Chinese New Year during the winter vacation.
One morning, Zhang Mei agreed to take Shi Qing and Shi Jian to the town market.
She remembered that before she left home, her neighbor jokingly told her, "Qingqing, your mom is taking you to buy new clothes!"
Shi Qing thought it was true and spent the whole way there happily imagining what clothes Zhang Mei would buy for her.
After shopping for most of the day, Zhang Mei bought some New Year's goods and gifts, but in the end, she didn't buy her anything.
Before leaving, Shi Jian saw cotton candy being sold by the roadside and insisted that Zhang Mei buy some for him.
Zhang Mei had no choice but to spend 50 cents to buy a skewer, muttering to herself, "I've bought you plenty of food in the city, what's so good about this country stuff? I'll give your sister a bite when we get back."
That was Shi Qing's first time going to the town's fair, because her grandparents couldn't ride a bike and they had never brought her before.
When Shi Qing saw the cotton candy, she found it amazing; it was just as soft as the cotton her grandmother used to knit.
She saw Shi Jian take a bite of the cotton candy, and it instantly melted in his mouth. Shi Qing really wanted to know what it tasted like.
But Shi Jian never offered her a taste; instead, he mocked her, saying, "You glutton, you're so eager you're practically drooling."
...
Why are you crying?
Liang Yuheng squatted down again and carefully wiped away Shi Qing's tears.
Shi Qing tried to hold back her tears: "Why doesn't anyone love me?"
Liang Yuheng's voice tightened: "Who?"
As Shi Qing watched the family of three walk away, another tear fell: "If you didn't like me, why did you give birth to me?"
Liang Yuheng breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time couldn't help feeling heartache.
He stepped forward and pulled Shi Qing into his arms: "Someone will love you."
"You're lying to me." Tears welled up in Shi Qing's eyes instantly, and she felt an overwhelming sense of grievance that she wanted to vent. "There's no one here. I was never born into this world."
Liang Yuheng coaxed softly, "I'm not lying to you, I promise."
Shi Qing cried on Liang Yuheng's shoulder for a while before gradually calming down.
"I'm sorry, I got your clothes dirty." Her voice was choked with emotion, and her eyes were fixed on the ground.
Even though she was drunk, Shi Qing was still worried that she looked too ugly when she cried and didn't want Liang Yuheng to see her.
When Liang Yuheng took her phone from her bag earlier, he remembered there were tissues inside. He took a few and gave them to her to wipe her tears: "It's okay, it's not dirty."
"Thank you." Shi Qing took the tissue back, wiped her own tears, and held it in her hand.
Liang Yuheng gazed at her tenderly: "Still want to cry? I can lend you some of my clothes."
Shi Qing couldn't help but laugh: "No need."
When Liang Yuheng saw that she had stopped crying, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He got up and sat down next to her, opened a bottle of mineral water and handed it to her: "Why are you suddenly unhappy?"
Shi Qing tilted her head back and took a few sips, then wiped her mouth and handed the water back: "It reminded me of some things from my childhood."
Liang Yuheng naturally took the bottle and screwed the cap back on: "Want to tell me?"
Shi Qing shook her head: "I don't want to right now."
Liang Yuheng: "Then you can say it when you want to. I'll always be here for you whenever you need me."
"Aheng, why are you so good to me?"
"Because you deserve it."
Liang Yuheng looked down at her and said earnestly.
Shi Qing's eyes welled up with tears again.
Liang Yuheng smirked, his tone deliberately light as he asked, "This time, it's not because you're crying for me, is it?"
"No." Shi Qing laughed along.
Are you feeling better?
"Hmm." Shi Qing pointed towards the marshmallows. "I want to eat that."
Liang Yuheng followed his gaze and asked, "What color do you want? Why don't we buy them all?"
Shi Qing smiled and shook her head: "If we can't finish it, we'll just have the white one."
"Wait for me a moment."
Soon, Liang Yuheng returned with two strings of cotton candy, one plain white and the other pink.
Shi Qing pinched a little and put it in her mouth; the soft sugar strands melted on her tongue.
At the same time, she felt a little relieved of the emotions that had been building up inside her for many years.
"Is it delicious?" Liang Yuheng asked with a smile in his eyes.
Shi Qing nodded: "It's very sweet. But it's not as delicious as I imagined."
Liang Yuheng was somewhat surprised: "You've never eaten this before?"
"Hmm." Shi Qing had seen cotton candy before when she grew up, but she always felt sad whenever she saw it, so she deliberately never bought any.
Liang Yuheng looked at the cotton candy in his hand: "I've never had one either."
Shi Qing thought that the reasons why the two of them hadn't eaten it must be different.
What does yours taste like?
Liang Yuheng handed over the one he was holding.
"No need," Shi Qing said, afraid that he would find it offensive if she ate it.
"Eat up, it's all for you."
Shi Qing was relieved and tore off a small piece, putting it in her mouth: "They all seem to taste the same."
Liang Yuheng smiled and said, "Really?"
"Try it." Shi Qing tore off a small piece from her own.
Liang Yuheng bent down and put the cotton candy in his mouth.
Shi Qing didn't expect the cotton candy to melt so quickly; she felt like she had just bumped into something.
It's wet and slippery.
Because of the alcohol, she was dizzy and her reactions were a beat slower.
Normally, her face would have turned bright red.
At this moment, Shi Qing stared at her fingers in a daze for a few seconds.
"Your tongue is so soft."
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