Chapter 29: Stop Acting "Pei, Zhi, Yu."
Chapter 29: Stop Acting
Wind chimes are ringing under the eaves.
Clank, clank, the sound of doors shattered the tranquility of the grocery store after the rain.
Zhui Lian pushed open the door of the grocery store. The inside of the store seemed even smaller and more crowded than the outside. The items on the shelves were placed randomly and the lighting was very low.
"I'm here to get something."
She walked to the glass counter, looked at the white eye mask inside, and said softly.
The old radio was crackling with electricity, the white eye mask was still lying on the old rattan chair, the cigarette between his fingers was half burned, and the gray ash was about to fall.
Seeing Zhui Lian coming, she was not too surprised. She raised her only remaining eye and got up from the rattan chair.
There was a small pile of debris under the glass counter, but White Eye Mask found the small box with just a touch and pushed it in front of Zhui Lian.
"It's exactly as it is." Her voice was hoarse and had a smoky quality. "I'm waiting for you."
Zhui Lian took a deep breath and reached out to take the box back: "Thank you, then I..."
"Just watch it here."
The white eye mask pressed the small box, interrupting Zhui Lian's actions.
"Here?" Zhui Lian's voice sounded a little hesitant.
White Eye Patch looked up at the wall clock and said, "It's too late to look for other places now."
Zhui Lian looked at the man with the white eye mask. His attitude was too natural, as if he had already calculated everything.
Calculated her hesitation, calculated the flow of time, calculated her—
There is nowhere to escape.
A thought suddenly popped up in her mind uncontrollably, and she blurted out, "What is your relationship with Sister Zhiwei?"
As soon as the words came out, Zhui Lian felt a little regretful. It was too rash.
Upon hearing this, the white eye mask glanced at her with its one eye, with a half-smile on its face. A wisp of smoke slowly exhaled blurred the cold outline of his profile.
"What kind of relationship do you want us to have?"
She asked the question slowly, and there was no emotion in her voice.
Zhui Lian was speechless and pursed her lips.
The man with the white eye mask stopped looking at her and walked forward swiftly towards the inconspicuous curtain deep in the shop.
"Follow me." She said these two words without looking back.
Zhui Lian no longer hesitated and followed immediately.
Behind the curtain is a narrow corridor, at the end of which is an even more inconspicuous back door.
Behind the back door is a small room of a few square meters, which is completely different from the messy shop outside. The furnishings here are very simple, with only an old desk, two computers and several packed filing cabinets.
White Eyepatch pointed at the two computers and asked Zhui Lian, "Choose one?"
Zhui Lian was busy unpacking the box in his hand. Upon hearing this, he looked up at the other person, curled his lips, and said, "All right."
She was in no mood to choose.
Before being executed, would a death row inmate still be interested in choosing the model of firearm for himself?
The box was opened, and inside lay a small black memory card, which contained the video exported from the miniature camera she secretly placed in Lulu's collar.
The memory card still had a faint scent of absinthe, and Zhui Lian handed it to Bai Bianmao.
The other party walked to a monitor, stretched out his hand, and the metal interface instantly swallowed the small card.
"sit."
White Eye Mask pulled out another chair next to him for Zhui Lian, and leaned on the edge of the table with his arms folded.
Her only eye was also looking at the screen, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
Zhui Lian took a deep breath, sat down, and stared at the screen.
The progress bar reads rapidly across the screen.
Finally, a folder popped up.
There are several video files named by time.
Zhui Lian clicked on the earliest one.
Low, shaking, the color picture is a little distorted——
This is Lulu's perspective.
At the beginning of the shot, there are some weeds, gravel, and blurry insects flying by quickly.
Zhui Lian moved the progress bar forward, and the picture finally stabilized a little.
It seemed like Lulu stopped.
The washed blue trouser legs are reflected in the camera, and the man photographed from above has a handsome face vaguely visible.
Yu Peizhi.
He was sitting at what looked like a workbench, with tools and parts scattered across the surface.
His hand in the camera was repeatedly stroking a small metal object, his movements focused and almost obsessive.
The glass was placed on the table, and the liquid inside had a golden luster.
Yu Peizhi tilted his head back and took a sip. His drinking posture was very calm and he seemed to be in a very stable mood.
"Heh... She was thinking about that short-lived guy again today... She stared at me in a trance three times."
This seemed to be something that made him unhappy, so——
Click.
He threw the small metal object he had been stroking to the ground in annoyance.
In the not-so-clear video quality, the golden embossed feathers can be vaguely seen.
The absinthe bottle cap that was later picked up by Lulu.
Then he stood up and pressed the mechanism on the wall, and the mirror house where Zhui Lian had stayed briefly suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Yu Peizhi walked in.
Suddenly, some suppressed and heavy gasps were heard in the video.
Zhui Lian's face changed when she thought of the "treasures" that belonged to her and that Yu Peizhi had collected in the mirror house.
She quickly pressed the screen to jump.
It was still the same workbench, but Yu Peizhi was installing something with skillful movements.
It was a device with a lens and wires.
Like... a key component of some kind of projection equipment.
Soon, it cuts to the next frame.
The dim environment and rough concrete walls seemed to be the storage room she had seen in the underground warehouse.
Yu Peizhi is facing away from the camera, adjusting a set-up device.
The silhouette of a human with golden hair was projected in the blue light.
He turned his head to observe, his profile was unusually pale in the light, but there was a hint of unusual madness in his calm eyes.
"How effective is that thing?"
The words that Fu Dongli asked Yu Peizhi at the service area that day flashed through Zhui Lian's mind.
What did Yu Peizhi say at that time?
He said, “It’s pretty realistic.”
So that's how it is.
Zhui Lian took a deep breath and continued reading.
A key fragment emerges.
Yu Peizhi was standing somewhere in what seemed to be the underground mirror room, answering the phone.
I don't know if it's because the camera is too far away and can't pick up the sound, or...
In short, all we can see is Yu Peizhi facing the camera sideways, with the phone against his ear and his lips moving.
White Eye Mask raised an eyebrow and looked at Zhui Lian: "There's no sound, what should I do?"
Zhui Lian didn't say anything.
During the cold and damp years in Qingjiang, the skills she was forced to learn as the chosen bride of the river god quietly awakened.
The pale, parted lips remained in her sight.
She paused for a moment, then began to lip-read, repeating the silent conversation on the screen:
"Has the matter of Friendship Hospital been dealt with?"
This is what Yu Peizhi said.
The other party began to answer.
"Almost? What I want is absolute certainty, not almost." Yu Peizhi replied coldly, showing a hint of displeasure.
Another meal.
The other party is replying.
"Face? ...It's pretty stable. Occasionally there's a little rejection, but it's all under control."
Eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips... Yu Peizhi's hand gently stroked them, as if checking something.
After another pause, the corners of his mouth seemed to twitch upwards very slightly, and his eyes became extremely vague.
"Don't worry, she won't find out..."
Then his lips opened and closed again.
The voice is faint.
Zhui Lian pressed down her trembling fingertips and repeated the words with an uncontrollable tremor in her voice:
"Actually, sometimes... I really hope she finds out..."
"Discover that I am—"
The picture shook suddenly at this moment!
It seemed like Lulu was startled by something, or the signal was interfered with.
Images are distorted and colors are torn.
Zhui Lian stared at the final scene that was about to appear on the screen.
The picture stabilized.
But the viewing angle becomes extremely low, almost looking up at the ground.
A hand with distinct joints appeared in the camera, so pale and slender that it made people feel cold at first sight.
Then, Lulu let out a very soft, strangled whimper—
It was picked up by that hand.
The camera was forced to move higher and focus on the owner of the hand.
Yu Peizhi's face appeared in front of the camera.
Only half of the side face.
The light came from behind, and most of his face was hidden in shadow, with only his jawline and his pale lips clearly visible.
He stroked the hair on the back of Lulu's neck from time to time, and his actions could even be described as affectionate.
Then, slowly, slowly, he turned his head.
The picture shook for a moment.
Can't see the direction clearly.
Then--
The screen suddenly went black.
The camera is not blocked
Because that is——
A face that suddenly came down——
A pupil suddenly enlarges and becomes infinitely close.
Deep black, so dark that it was gloomy and could not even reflect the light of the pupils.
The pupil was staring straight through the lens without blinking, staring at Zhui Lian outside the screen!
Stern, playful, and all-knowing.
It was as if he had known that one day she would look at him like this.
There was dead silence in the inner room.
The coldness rose from the soles of my feet and my limbs became stiff.
Fear also choked me.
But Zhui Lian still forced himself to open his eyes, staring at the opening and closing lips, and read the last words he had just seen -
“…Pei Zhiyu.”
Three words fell lightly.
But it weighs more than a thousand pounds.
"He said that sometimes he wished I had discovered that he was—"
She softly repeated the words she read from Yu Peizhi's lips, paused, and then... snap!
The chair legs made a harsh noise as they scraped against the floor.
Zhui Lian leaned back suddenly and said word by word: "Pei, Zhi, Yu."
Her mouth was still open on her pale, bloodless face.
But no sound came out.
The entire world was filled with only the pair of eyes magnified to the extreme on the screen.
The eyes that belonged to her husband were like those of a demon!
The white eyepatch folded her arms, a flicker of genuine surprise flashing through her single eye. She looked at Zhui Lian, her tone inquiring, "You can actually lip-read?"
Zhui Lian didn't answer.
But the screen suddenly went black again.
Dead silence.
A few seconds later, just when Zhui Lian thought everything was over, it suddenly lit up again.
There was no picture, only a line of bright red text displayed in the center of the black screen:
[Lianlian, is this game fun? ]
These are words that sound confident and condescending.
These three years have been like a joke.
Zhui Lian closed her eyes and breathed deeply, but she was still almost out of breath.
…
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
At this moment, the wooden door outside the shop was knocked lightly.
The voice was rhythmic, even polite.
But each blow seemed to add pressure to Zhui Lian's already fragile nerves.
Immediately, an extremely gentle voice penetrated the thin door panel and came in clearly.
"Lianlian? Are you in there? The rain is getting heavier again. It's time to go home."
It was Yu Peizhi.
His tone sounded normal, worried and concerned, like just a good husband coming to pick up his wife.
But Zhui Lian knew it wasn't the case.
She turned her head sharply and looked at the white eye mask, with unconcealable fear and a faint pleading in her eyes.
The man with the white eye mask stared at her for a few seconds, and the emotion in that single eye was unreadable.
Finally, she shook her head.
There's nothing I can do to help.
That's what I mean.
"Lian Lian?"
The voice outside the door rang again, still gentle, but beneath that gentleness, it seemed to begin to seep out a hint of patience running out, "I know you are in there, open the door, let's go home."
Zhui Lian's heart was beating wildly and he didn't dare to respond.
but--
Bang!
A loud bang!
That's not the sound a knock on the door should make.
But... smashing the door.
He was hitting the door with something.
Zhui Lian could almost imagine how the gentle mask of the man outside would shatter, revealing the crazy and paranoid core underneath.
The door panel was already groaning in pain, as if it would be completely pierced through in the next second.
A faint whisper penetrated first, as if an evil ghost was demanding his life.
"Open the door! Open the door! Open the door for me!"
He tried his best to suppress it, but it backfired, and it twisted into an even more creepy tone: "Lianlian! My Lianlian! You're disobedient again... You want to escape again, don't you? Don't you?"
"You clearly said you would live a good life with me... a good life... but you lied to me again! You lied to me again!"
The sound became more and more like laughing and crying, and the banging on the door became more and more crazy and rapid.
Occasionally... occasionally... there was also the harsh sound of nails scratching on the door.
The man with the white eye mask's expression also changed slightly.
She didn't seem to expect that the other party would be so crazy.
The banging on the door outside suddenly stopped.
Silence descended, as if death.
Only the sound of rain is still falling.
A few seconds later, that gentle voice rang out again, even softer and more affectionate than before, as if the frantic banging on the door just now was just an illusion:
"Lianlian? Are you scared? My husband is wrong. He shouldn't be so loud."
"Come out, let's go home, okay? Your husband made you your favorite sweet and sour pork ribs, but they won't taste good if they get cold."
"Lianlian, be good, come out by yourself, don't make your husband...wait too long."
The last few words were spoken with a slightly drawn-out tone, and the threat contained within them was self-evident.
Zhui Lian glanced at the crumbling door, then at the expressionless white eye mask.
She knew there was no turning back.
But she didn't seem afraid anymore.
Zhui Lian tidied up her slightly messy hair and clothes.
She walked towards the door step by step.
She opened the door.
Outside the door, Yu Peizhi was standing there.
Hair tips, shoulders, and lapels.
Raindrops fell, spreading dark water marks.
He held an umbrella in his hand, but didn't open it. He just stood in the rain.
On the hand hanging by his side, there were obvious red marks on the knuckles.
There were freshly scratched red marks, with faint traces of blood seeping out.
"Ah, Lianlian, you're here."
When he saw Zhui Lian, a familiar smile instantly appeared on his face, exactly the same as the one Qiao Xunli wore.
The tone of her voice was so doting that it could drown someone: "Really, running to a place like this makes it easy for your husband to find you."
With the umbrella open, Yu Peizhi walked forward very naturally, put his arm around Zhui Lian's waist, and his strength was so great that he almost embedded her into his body.
His lips were close to her ear, and his warm breath came out bit by bit, still so gentle:
"Let's go home."
"Tonight, I'm going to cook a well-done steak."
Zhui Lian didn't answer.
She was just half-hugged and half-carried by him as they walked into the rain outside.
The wind chimes under the eaves of the shop were blown by the wind again, making clanging sounds.
Empty and distant.
it's over.
She knew that this short yet long escape was over.
The speculation is over, the absurdity is over.
The warm haven she thought she had found was over.
The game is over.
"Yu Peizhi." Zhui Lian stopped where he was, motionless, and only called his name.
Yu Peizhi also stopped and looked at her patiently: "What's wrong, baby? Don't you want to go home?"
Zhui Lian reached out and closed the umbrella with a snap, and the two of them were once again immersed in the endless and misty rain.
Maybe the rain was too cold, so her body trembled unconsciously.
She raised her head, stared at Yu Peizhi, and said, "Stop acting—"
"Pei, Zhi, Yu."
"You've revealed so many flaws to me..." Zhui Lian let out a laugh, and it was hard to tell whether it was more mocking or sad. "Haven't you been waiting for today?"
"Games aren't fun." She continued calmly and calmly, "I also—"
"I never loved you at all."
"I just treat you as a substitute." Her lips opened and closed as she uttered her last words, "Xunli's substitute."
-----------------------
Author's note: Because this chapter has a lot of atmosphere, I am afraid that some of you may not understand it very well, so I have adjusted the order, but I will still explain:
The face is a result of plastic surgery, and the blonde ghost in the warehouse is a projection effect.
(The foreshadowing is in Chapter 20). At the end of the video clip, a girl reads Yu Peizhi's lips and says, "Sometimes, I really hope she'll find out, find out that I am..." "Pei Zhiyu", which is equivalent to self-explosion. I think I'll continue to talk about this process in detail in the next few chapters =w=
On the mentality of pity:
Lianmei no longer cares about so many things. Her mental state is just like this. Although she had expected it, when the truth really came out, she felt that the idea of finding a home in the past three years could be called a marriage joke bot.
She couldn't care less, and couldn't think about future plans anymore. She just thought, "If it doesn't work out, just kill me. I can't stand it anymore. I won't play along with you, you lunatic." [Like]
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