Chapter Twenty-Three: Entangled in Love and Desire
Inside the old house in Hongkou.
Lin Tang paused, her hand holding the teacup sloshing over the edge, wetting the hem of her plain cheongsam. She looked up at him, a hint of bewilderment in her eyes: "I never intended to have these."
She paused and said, "I just want to leave with dignity, and I don't want to force a smile in his face anymore."
Lin Tang withdrew her hand, gently rubbing her wrist, which had been pinched red, and said after a long silence, "I hadn't thought of that before."
"I've thought of things for you!"
Lin Tang sighed softly. She wasn't used to Chen Kan's aggressive attitude at the moment, but when she thought of him as Bai Mu... Bai Mu hadn't died, this news was enough to calm all the regret and confusion. It was he who had gone through life and death, not her. If she were him, she would probably hate Qiao Yuan even more than Chen Kan was now, and would want to take revenge on him even more severely. She nodded and said, "I will think about it carefully!"
Chen Kan's gaze was piercing. "Jintang, you cannot show any compassion for such a wicked person!"
"I understand." Lin Tang sighed again, her voice tinged with weariness. "Bai Mu, I'm tired." She looked out the window, where the setting sun cast the shadows of the sycamore leaves onto the wall like a broken cloud. "We talked too much about the past today. I want to have some peace and quiet."
Chen Kan's Adam's apple bobbed, and he finally let go.
Chen Kan walked to the door and then looked back at her.
She lowered her eyes, seemingly reminiscing or feeling sad.
Chen Kan stood there, stunned for a long time. This did not seem to be the way he had longed to see his new family. The sense of relief and joy he had imagined did not appear. Could it be that five years had really been enough to heal the wounds between them?
His heart was heavy, and he left in the end.
The huge old house was finally left with only Lin Tang.
And behind them, Ah Xiu was silently sobbing, not daring to make a sound.
She was enveloped in complete and absolute silence.
The flame of the kerosene lamp flickered uneasily inside the lampshade, casting her distorted shadow onto the mottled wall, like a dying bird trapped in a cage.
She slowly, very slowly, turned around, her back no longer supported by the cold door frame, and dragged her injured leg, step by step, toward the center of the room.
Lin Tang stood there quietly, between two tear stains, in the center of the empty old house.
The moonlight was cold and clear, the lamplight was dim and yellow, and dust particles floated and sank silently in the faint beams of light.
...
There was a knock on the door.
"A-Tang." Qiao Yuan's deep voice sounded at the door.
Lin Tang was startled and looked up.
At that moment, Qiao Yuan's tall figure stood in the shadow of the doorway.
Lin Tang was taken aback at first, then smiled knowingly, “Ah Chen has been with you for ten years and treats you like a second father, so naturally he told you everything. What, Mr. Qiao came in such a hurry, are you afraid that I will divorce you and divide your assets? Oh, no, how can a gang leader like you have such a shameful thing as divorce? Of course, the only things that can happen are disappearance and widowhood.”
Qiao Yuan ignored his sarcasm and stared at her, saying, "Do you know... before A-Chen told me, Uncle Chen had already found out Chen Kan's identity... so you want to divorce me because he's back, right? You started planning this from the moment he arrived in Jiangcheng?"
Lin Tang only smiled slightly. She raised her eyes and looked at Qiao Yuan's face. There was no panic or surprise in her eyes, only a frozen, bottomless weariness.
"If that's what you think, then so be it!"
Qiao Yuan took a step forward, his tall figure fully emerging from the shadows of the doorway. The dim light outlined his taut jawline, and his eyes churned with complex emotions: the anger of betrayal, the gloom of having his control challenged, and even a hint of... an indescribable, stinging scrutiny. He stared intently at Lin Tang's overly calm face, trying to find even the slightest crack, a trace of the familiar dependence or vulnerability of the past.
"Is it because he's back that you're so eager to distance yourself from me?" His voice was even lower, like rolling thunder, each word carrying a heavy sense of oppression.
Lin Tang finally raised her eyelids. Her gaze was no longer unfocused, but rather like a needle tempered with ice, piercing straight at Qiao Yuan.
She paused, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between her teeth, carrying a bloody pain and sharp irony:
"How can I accept the 'gratitude' you gave me in exchange for Bai Mu's life? You paved the way for me with A Mu's bones, and then trampled on his blood, to make me wear the golden robe you gave me. How can I wear it? Qiao Yuan, for the past six years, every bite of food and every piece of clothing you gave me was stained with his blood! You made me sleep on the golden mountain you built with his bones, and then asked me if I was comfortable?! You turned me into a monster who lives by sucking the lives of others, and then asked me if I was happy?!"
Her voice suddenly rose, tearing apart the carefully maintained calm and revealing the surging hatred and despair beneath. Every word was like a poisoned whip, lashing hard at Qiao Yuan's face.
"Divorce? Ha!" She let out a short, shrill, almost inhuman laugh, her body swaying slightly with agitation. "This marriage, I not only want a divorce! I want to watch with my own eyes how this blood-stained mountain of gold crumbles inch by inch, brick by brick! To watch how everything you're so proud of is devoured by the evil fruit you sowed! Qiao Yuan, didn't you want to repay a debt of gratitude? Didn't you think I owed you? Fine, then let this 'liquidation' settle things!"
Qiao Yuan stared intently at Lin Tang, as if trying to etch her resolute demeanor into his very bones. After a long silence, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he let out a low, beast-like snort, a voice devoid of any warmth, containing only a cold, naked warning:
"Lin Tang, think this through. The waters of Jiangcheng run deep, and the game of chess is vast. It's not something you can overturn with a moment of impulsiveness. You want to smash my gold mine? You want to see me collapse? Ha... Don't end up smashing yourself to pieces first, dragging your 'resurrected' Bai Mu down with you for eternity!"
He stared at her with anger.
She looked at him defiantly.
In that instant, they were like enemies about to draw daggers and stab each other, yet their hatred was wrapped in a love and entanglement they were unwilling to acknowledge.
But then, the surging anger in his eyes and something deeper, more desperate suddenly broke through the dam of reason.
He lunged forward, grabbing her chin tightly and forcing her head back. A bloody kiss pressed down on her like a punishment. It wasn't just a kiss; it was more like a final act of defiance and declaration against fate.
Caught off guard, Lin Tang was instantly engulfed in a burning pain and humiliation that ignited all her hatred. She bit down hard without any mercy!
A sharp pain made Qiao Yuan stiffen. He pulled away abruptly, and a bead of bright red blood quickly seeped from the cut on his lower lip, starkly visible under the dim light. A metallic, metallic taste filled the air between their lips.
Qiao Yuan raised his hand and wiped away the bright red stain with his thumb. Instead of being angry, he stared at the bloodstain on his fingertip and laughed softly, almost maniacally. His laughter was filled with self-mockery and a destructive urge that had been completely ignited. He looked at her, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions, as if he wanted to devour her alive and crush her into his very bones.
Lin Tang's lips were also stained with his blood. She wiped it away forcefully, her chest heaving violently. Her eyes, which had just been burning with hatred, were now uncontrollably filled with tears and quickly turned red.
This red represents extreme hatred, extreme pain, extreme humiliation, and also a kind of chaos that has been forcibly torn open and exposed before one's eyes, a chaos that even she herself is unwilling to delve into.
"Get out!" She pointed to the door, her voice hoarse and broken, as if she had used up all her strength, each word carrying the weight of blood and tears, "Qiao Yuan, get out! Get out!"
Qiao Yuan's laughter abruptly stopped. He looked at her red eyes, brimming with tears yet stubbornly refusing to fall, and at her trembling body due to excitement. The mad storm deep within her eyes seemed to be frozen for a moment by that desperate roar.
The muscles in his face twitched.
Finally, that almost crazed expression slowly settled into a deep, unfathomable silence.
He didn't speak again, but looked at her one last time, his gaze as heavy as lead.
Then, he abruptly turned around, his tall figure carrying an inescapable aura of ferocity and the stench of blood, and stepped into the thick darkness outside the door. His footsteps faded into the distance, eventually disappearing into the rustling of the plane trees in the courtyard.
The door slammed shut, leaving behind a deathly silence and the lingering stench of blood in the air.
Lin Tang swayed, as if all her strength had been drained away, and finally, unable to hold on any longer, she slowly slid down the cold door frame to the ground. She curled up in the shadows behind the door, burying her face deep in her knees, her shoulders trembling silently and violently.
Only the creaking old wooden door remained, swaying hollowly back and forth in the night wind, emitting a monotonous and jarring sound.
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