Chapter 28: Memorial Day "Was my knife really cruel enough?" ...
How to describe the days of feigning surrender?
Like dancing gently on the edge of a knife.
She knew it was the edge of a knife, and he knew it was the edge of a knife, but they still had to dance together.
perhaps--
It was the blue light of the aquarium that reflected on each other's profiles. Zhui Lian leaned on the glass to look at the white dolphins, and turned around to make a "yes" to Yu Peizhi who was holding a camera.
perhaps--
It was when they stood side by side in a gallery, looking up at a painting he had made especially for her.
Or perhaps—
It was the body she had tangled with his in the private cinema...
Dead trees come back to life in spring, and long droughts are followed by rain.
The endless dancing fostered an increasingly intense infatuation in Yu Peizhi's eyes.
While he was intoxicated, he was alert to every suspicious ripple, but his guarding attitude inevitably relaxed slightly, giving Zhui Lian a little breathing space.
It wasn't until a week later that Pei Zhiwei called.
Zhui Lian was currently being held in Yu Peizhi's arms. She lowered her head and clicked on a WeChat mini-game, jumping through grids one level after another, while Yu Peizhi was processing some unknown file on his tablet.
Looking at the name that suddenly lit up on the screen, Zhui Lian's heart skipped a beat.
She stood up to answer the phone, trying to speak as naturally as possible: "It's Sister Zhiwei's call."
Yu Peizhi's arm did not loosen, but his chin rubbed the top of her head, and his tone was casual: "Answer it, baby, turn on the hands-free."
After pressing the answer button, Zhui Lian turned on the speakerphone as instructed.
Pei Zhiwei's voice came from the other end, as crisp as ever. The background was very quiet. She must be in the office: "Xiao Lian, are you free tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow..." Zhui Lian answered carefully, feeling the arm around his waist tighten slightly, "I should be free."
"Well, I want to go see Ayu tomorrow." Pei Zhiwei's voice was devoid of emotion. "Do you want to come?"
The air seemed to stagnate for a moment.
Zhui Lian glanced back at Yu Peizhi, as if seeking his opinion, or perhaps waiting for...his intervention or request to join her.
Yu Peizhi surprisingly didn't react much. He just touched her long hair and said, "Go, baby, just treat it as..."
He laughed and gently scratched her chin with his fingers: "Reward?"
What reward?
Was it a reward for her being so obedient for so long? A reward for a canary bird to temporarily escape its cage?
After agreeing to Pei Zhiwei on the phone, Zhui Lian tightened her grip on the phone.
But when she looked at Yu Pei again, she became gentle and calm again: "What about you? Pei Zhi, aren't you going tomorrow?"
"I have something else to do tomorrow. I have to go to another city, so I won't be able to accompany Lianlian."
Yu Peizhi shook his head, hugged her and said softly, "Wait until your husband comes back and give Lianlian another gift."
This is indeed true.
She had accidentally glanced at the document on his tablet yesterday. The document seemed to be related to W City, but when she scanned it, she only caught a few words: "rectify", "clean up", "superstition"...
"Is that so..." Zhui Lian lowered his eyes, seeming a little lost.
Yu Peizhi turned her around and held her face: "Lianlian, are you scared?"
Zhui Lian looked at Yu Peizhi quietly and shook her head: "Everyone is dead, there is nothing to be afraid of, but... I always feel that there should be an end."
The answer seemed to please him.
He kissed her forehead and whispered, "Well, good girl, go and get it over with."
"Then, forget it completely." Yu Peizhi's kiss moved down little by little, from the forehead to the tip of the nose, and then from the tip of the nose to the lips.
"You forget—"
The kiss landed on the side of the neck.
"I forget too."
Slide from the side of the neck all the way to the waist.
"Let's live well."
His breath fell into the lifted nightgown.
*
It's raining again today.
The air in the cemetery was damp and cold, with a hint of the chill of approaching spring.
The sound of drizzle falling on the umbrella is crackling.
The two stood side by side, their eyes simultaneously cast towards the photo above.
On the upright tombstone is the face of that person, forever frozen in his youth. The black and white photo cannot reveal the unruly blond hair, but the eyebrows raised towards the camera are still arrogant and presumptuous.
Pei Zhiwei put down the white iris she brought and stood up straight.
She looked very calm, with no expression.
"Sometimes it seems quite absurd," she said suddenly, her voice a little muffled by the wind. "To be so arrogant, and in the end, you'll just be a handful of dirt and bones, buried here."
Yes, no matter how powerful a person is, he seems to be nothing more than a handful of earth and bones in the end.
but--
Zhui Lian was silent for a long time before she spoke: "Really... has it become like this?"
Her voice was so soft that Pei Zhiwei seemed not to hear clearly, so she asked her again: "Xiao Lian, what did you say?"
“…Nothing.” Zhui Lian replied.
"Do you still hate him?" Pei Zhiwei turned her head and looked at her.
Zhui Lian stared at the tombstone for a long moment before saying, "I don't know. It's been too long... Everything seems blurry."
What was blurred was not hatred, but the color of the black-haired husband beside her that was gradually being stained on the gold.
Cover, confuse.
"Really?" Pei Zhiwei gave a half-hearted smile. "But I still remember the night you attacked me... You were so cruel, that knife."
Zhui Lian suddenly turned around and looked at Pei Zhiwei, her usually gentle eyes now showing a sharp and cold look.
"Really? Sister Zhiwei?" She lowered her voice so that only the two of them could hear it. "Was that blow of mine really cruel enough?"
Pei Zhiwei met her gaze, the smile on her face faded, and she stepped back.
A complex emotion flashed in those eyes, like surprise and understanding.
A gust of wind blew and ruffled her hair.
She habitually raised her hand and tucked her hair behind her ear, delaying her answer to the question.
"I have no idea."
Pei Zhiwei smiled and gave this even more specious answer, but Zhui Lian's eyes were suddenly attracted by the thing on her wrist.
It was a very ordinary red rope, thinly tied around Pei Zhiwei's wrist, and it was inconspicuous.
It’s just…she seemed…seemed to have seen the same one somewhere before?
A picture suddenly popped into my mind——
That day, when she came out of the Pei family's annex building, the man with the white eye mask on the dark blue motorcycle reached out to take the express box from her hand, and a flash of red appeared on his wrist.
It was just that the situation was too urgent at the time and she didn't see it too clearly.
Pei Zhiwei and the white eye mask...
"Sister Zhiwei."
Zhui Lian suddenly spoke again and asked, "Do you know what the white eye mask is called?"
"More than..."
Pei Zhiwei stopped talking halfway through her words.
She lowered her hand, her wrist hanging naturally, her cuff covering the hidden clue, and said, "Xiao Lian, what are you saying? I don't quite understand."
That's enough.
Zhui Lian blinked: "Nothing, maybe I made a mistake."
Pei Zhiwei didn't delve into the issue any further. She nodded and her tone returned to her usual aloof tone.
She seemed to be trying to persuade Zhui Lian: "Is there any point in pursuing the past?
She patted Zhui Lian's shoulder and said meaningfully, "Xiao Lian, forget it. The living must always look forward."
The worship ended in such a hasty manner.
On the way back in the car, Pei Zhiwei seemed a little tired. She closed her eyes and didn't say anything.
Zhui Lian leaned against the car window, and the scenery outside the window that was rapidly receding was blurry in her eyes.
She couldn't figure out Pei Zhiwei's attitude.
Ambiguous and vague.
She seemed to be on Yu Peizhi's side, and helped her from time to time, helping her create some opportunities, some breathing space, and some cover.
Was it out of gratitude for saving her? Or was it out of the friendship they had when they worked together?
Not like that.
Neither.
Pei Zhiwei is not that kind of person.
"Sister Zhiwei, please drop me off at the convenient subway exit ahead."
Zhui Lian suddenly spoke, her voice as steady as possible, "I want to go buy something and go back later."
Pei Zhiwei opened his eyes and glanced at her in the rearview mirror. That look seemed to be able to penetrate people's hearts.
But in the end, she just nodded to the driver: "Okay."
The car stopped by the roadside.
Zhui Lian pushed the door and got out of the car, taking a deep breath of the humid air after the rain.
Without looking back, she walked straight towards the crowded subway station entrance, and every step she took seemed like a huge determination.
After this day of worship, she didn't know how long she would have to play snake with Yu Peizhixu before she could get such a long period of time to go out.
A poisonous snake with its fangs retracted is still a poisonous snake, and the suffocating sensation when it wraps around the neck is still sticky enough.
She had to go to White Eyepatch today.
She had to get what was there... the memory card.
Then, open it.
Perhaps, she was no longer investigating, but confirming. She just needed the most powerful confirmation to tell her -
The truth she had been trying to avoid.
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Author's words: I've finally finished writing this, yay! I reorganized the outline and connected some lines qwq Ah, I feel like this plateau is finally over.
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