Chapter 32: Unfair "I just love you, like you, and want you...
Chapter 32: Unfair
The temperature began to rise at ten o'clock. The tall iron net cut the sunlight, leaving only a thin layer of golden light falling into the living room of the villa.
Zhui Lian was wrapped in the dark green velvet sofa in the middle of the living room.
That thin layer of golden light also enveloped Zhui Lian.
Wrapped in her white cotton nightgown, wrapped in her thin back, wrapped in her tired eyes under her long chestnut curly hair that covered most of her face.
The person was lying half sideways, with a pair of slender yet heavy legs stretched out, covered by a light brown velvet blanket.
The exposed ankles are pale.
Zhui Lian almost crawled downstairs this morning.
Every day and night, Pei Zhiyu was like a tireless, horny beast, happily branding her over and over again.
"Ms. Zhui Lian."
The old butler Xu Bo appeared silently behind her like a transparent ghost.
This morning, Pei Zhiyu received a call and it seemed that something finally happened. He told Zhui Lian that he would be out for a day, but even if it was just one day, he seemed worried about her staying alone in the villa.
Then Xu Bo came.
Zhui Lian came to this airtight villa, and the only person she could contact besides Pei Zhiyu came.
"Have some water."
Xu Bo approached with a glass of water in his hand, his steps steady and his voice as calm as a pool of stagnant water, without any ripples.
Zhui Lian didn't even bother to raise her eyelids, she just waved her hand violently -
Bang!
The glass was knocked over.
The clear water splashed everywhere, the sound of the water breaking was so crisp and deafening, and a messy water mark was spread on the floor.
"No."
Her voice was a little hoarse, but filled with deep disdain. "Who knows what kind of filth your psychopathic master might be up to?"
Despite these merciless words, Xu Bo was not angry at all.
His eyes didn't even waver, he just bent slightly and began to pick up the debris on the ground.
Zhui Lian turned her head away, not wanting to look.
But a soft sigh caught her attention.
Xu Bo's voice was barely audible: "Young lady's temper... is very similar to that of Madam when she was young."
lady?
Pei Zhiyu's mother? But she remembered that she had never seen Mrs. Pei since she came to the Pei family at the age of sixteen.
No one seems to have ever mentioned this person.
Or perhaps no one has ever dared to mention this person.
Zhui Lian slowly turned back to look at Xu Bo and asked casually, "Which Madam? Madam Pei?"
Xu Bo paused as he was picking up the fragments.
A complex emotion flashed in his old eyes. He slowly stood up, neither admitting nor denying, but his voice became erratic.
"Madam used to live in this house too," he said. "I was her companion back then."
Hold your breath.
Zhui Lian keenly captured the huge amount of information in this sentence.
Pei Zhiyu's mother also lived here...? Why? Although this villa was luxurious and spacious, it was located in a remote suburb, sparsely populated. Why would Mrs. Pei, the mistress of the Pei family, live here?
This is too inconvenient.
It is not convenient for celebrity gatherings, taking care of the house, or looking after Pei Zhiwei and Pei Zhiyu.
But maybe... Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.
Zhui Lian sat up, pretending to be merely curious. "Did the Madam live on the sixth floor before? I saw it was always locked."
Xu Bo seemed to be surprised that she would ask this directly. He was stunned for a moment, but finally answered hesitantly in a low voice: "Yes, Miss Zhui Lian."
"Then why is it locked?" Zhui Lian continued to ask, still with a tone that seemed to be just curiosity, "Is there anything in there?"
This time, Xu Bo gave a bitter smile, not knowing whether he didn't want to answer or didn't dare to answer.
He had already cleaned up the debris on the ground. He took a soft cloth to wipe the water stains on the ground and lowered his voice even more: "If you want to know, Miss, you should ask the young master yourself."
"I watched the young master grow up. Actually, he..." Xu Bo's words were filled with a hint of pity. "It was quite hard."
*
After Xu Bo cleaned up the mess, he left those last words, then carried the tray of fragments, bowed slightly, and left the living room.
Only Zhui Lian was left, still sinking into the dark green velvet sofa.
Her thoughts couldn't stop swirling around the words she had just said.
"Madam...also lives here..."
"Sixth floor..."
A thought gradually became clear—
Perhaps, the door on the sixth floor is not only a physical door, but also a key to the source of Pei Zhiyu's inner distortion.
It is also more likely that she will get a key to escape from the villa.
In the evening, there was a slight noise at the gate.
Pei Zhiyu is back.
His eyes immediately locked on Zhui Lian who was sitting on the sofa, then he walked over and habitually reached out to touch her.
Maybe he wanted to hold her in his arms.
Or maybe... just to confirm her existence.
There was no violent pushing or cursing as usual.
Facing the man in front of her who was holding her in his arms, Zhui Lian just turned her head away and lowered her eyes.
The thick and long eyelashes covered her eyes, and when they spread open, the dark green velvet fabric was revealed, which was not focused into a blurred block of color.
She looked more vulnerable than ever when she had beaten or scolded him.
Pei Zhiyu paused.
"Baby, what's wrong?"
His voice was low but very patient. He stroked her long hair again and again and said, "Uncle Xu said that you knocked over the water cup today and are you in a bad mood?"
Zhui Lian was silent for a few seconds before slowly raising his eyes.
Her eyes were still unfocused, as if she was looking at something else through him. Her voice was light and fluttery: "Nothing... just a dream, I'm a little scared."
"Dream?"
Pei Zhiyu sat down beside her, and the sofa sank a bit.
He leaned so close to her that his entire breath enveloped her.
"Um."
Zhui Lian responded softly, and it seemed as if he had spent a lot of energy before continuing, "I dreamed of that door."
"There's a woman behind the door crying... She says it's cold and dark and she doesn't want to be here. Let her out..."
Her words were vague and non-specific.
It seems like I really just dreamed about some bad things.
There was no change in Pei Zhiyu's expression, but Zhui Lian could feel the aura around him slightly condensed.
But she still acted as if she didn't notice anything.
Still using a dreamy tone, a bit confused and with a hint of barely perceptible pity, he asked softly, "Pei Zhiyu, did you live here as a child?"
"Have you ever had a dream like this? Have you ever been really scared?"
Pei Zhiyu chuckled softly and held the back of her neck with his hand: "Baby, did Uncle Xu tell you anything?"
"He didn't say anything. I asked him who lived on the sixth floor before."
Zhui Lian knew she couldn't hide it from him, so she continued in a soft voice, "He's yours. What else can he say about things you don't want to tell me?"
Pei Zhiyu's hand gently stroked the skin on the back of Zhui Lian's neck, a gesture that showed his strong desire for control.
"I'm not afraid. I've never done it before, and I'm not interested in doing it either. Besides, compared to dreaming..." He thought for a moment, narrowed his eyes and smiled, "I'm more interested in—"
"With you."
The hands instantly went around Zhui Lian's knees, and were about to pick her up horizontally.
And what happens next is self-evident.
No... no... no... I can't let Pei Zhiyu use this kind of thing to blur everything out. I can't let the opportunity right in front of me disappear like a dream.
"Pei Zhiyu!"
Zhui Lian's voice became louder.
It was not the kind of improvement that comes from resistance when pushing, hitting, or cursing, but a serious and solemn improvement.
She almost never spoke to Pei Zhiyu in this voice.
Pei Zhiyu was obviously stunned when he heard Zhui Lian's tone. After a while, he said, "What's wrong?"
"Let's talk." Zhui Lian said seriously, "We should talk."
"What to talk about?" Pei Zhiyu smiled, a somewhat frivolous smile, "What can't be discussed in bed?"
Bang!
A slap landed on Pei Zhiyu's right cheek.
Zhui Lian glared at him.
Pei Zhiyu licked his lips, as if he didn't feel any pain at all: "Comfortable."
Bang!
Another slap landed on Pei Zhiyu's left cheek.
This time, Zhui Lian used more force and more cruelly than ever before, and slapped the man so hard that half of his face was tilted.
"good."
But just as Pei Zhiyu turned his face back a little and said these two words nonchalantly, Zhui Lian raised his hand again -
Bang!
She slapped him again.
Pei Zhiyu finally grabbed Zhui Lian's wrist, as if surrendering helplessly and dotingly: "Okay, okay, baby, tell me what you want to talk to me about."
Zhui Lian signaled Pei Zhiyu to put her down.
She dropped to the ground and looked at him.
It is undeniable that Pei Zhiyu is very tall, nearly 185 cm tall. The height difference between the two is quite large, so she can only tilt her head back to look him straight in the eye.
"Pei Zhiyu—" Zhui Lian's voice was cold. "I want to ask you, what do you take me for?"
"Am I your pet?"
The tone of this sentence was calm and straightforward, but it made Pei Zhiyu feel a little nervous for a moment.
When Zhui Lian asked this question, the look in his eyes was too indifferent.
And hidden in that faint calmness is a subtle trace of compassion... or pity?
He would rather she hated him, beat him, cursed him, hated him, and prayed for him to go to hell day and night than be so peaceful.
That means he will no longer be able to affect any of her emotions, and none of her emotions will be caused by him anymore.
This is something more terrible than death.
"No... no, of course not." Pei Zhiyu raised his hand and wanted to hug Zhui Lian again, but she took a step back to avoid him.
Zhui Lian still spoke in that calm tone: "If it's not a pet, then what is it?"
"You are my wife, madam, my only lover in this life, the next life, and the life after that."
Pei Zhiyu hurried over, took Zhui Lian's hand, and put his forehead against hers. "Lian Lian, don't think like that, please don't think like that... I have never thought like that. Don't be angry, don't misunderstand me..."
Zhui Lian let him pull her without resisting. She just hummed and said, "I was wrong."
Pei Zhiyu had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Zhui Lian speak again: "Maybe it's just a sex toy."
His breathing suddenly stopped, and Pei Zhiyu felt as if his whole heart was pulled up and soaked in acid water.
"Baby, it's not like that... It's not like that..." He denied hurriedly, "I just love you, like you, and want you..."
"Love me? Like me?"
In an instant, Zhui Lian's tone suddenly dropped and became exhausted.
She spoke softly, "Loving me, liking me, means that every time you see me, all you can think of is that thing?"
"You love me, you like me, but you don't want to tell me anything, you don't even give me a chance to understand you?"
In fact, Zhui Lian also wanted to say that he loved her and liked her, but that meant he didn't let her go anywhere and didn't let her contact anyone. Did he want to trap her by his side forever and make her a bird in a cage?
That is truly a love that is hard to avoid.
But she didn't say it, because she knew Pei Zhiyu wouldn't understand.
Or rather, he didn't want to understand.
"You have all-powerful hands and eyes. You can investigate Qingjiang, my past, and control everything about me, but I don't..." Zhui Lian said softly, accusingly, "I want to understand you, and only you can tell me."
"But you didn't tell me."
"You know almost everything about me, but I know nothing about you. It's not fair..." Zhui Lian grabbed Pei Zhiyu's hand and repeated, "It's not fair."
"Pei Zhiyu——"
Zhui Lian's eyes were red, but she still said firmly, "If you want to get true love from someone, you can't be so unfair."
Pei Zhiyu's palm instinctively covered the back of Zhui Lian's hand.
After being stunned for a while, he laughed softly.
"Okay," he said, "I'll tell you."
*
After that day, Pei Zhiyu seemed to become much more restrained.
He no longer pursued Lian with excessive demands, but often just held her in his arms, quietly hugging her, doing nothing.
It's like embracing the whole world.
The other person's broad chest blocked out everything from the outside world, including those ubiquitous red eyes.
The silence at that moment almost gave Zhui Lian the illusion of being cherished.
She hated the illusion.
A few days later in the afternoon, the brass lock was opened, and Zhui Lian saw the world behind the sixth floor.
In fact, Pei Zhiyu did not lie to her at the beginning. There were indeed some old decorations in the room, but they were all very clean and tidy, without a trace of dust.
The most eye-catching thing is the candid photo of a bright woman in the frame on the bedside.
The person was wearing a bright red long dress and her face looked about 60% like Pei Zhiwei. Behind her was a gurgling river and various animals. She was holding a camera and suddenly looked back.
"When Pei Qianhuang is still able to move, he will come here to clean regularly. He doesn't like anyone else touching this place."
Pei Zhiyu turned the photo frame over, and there was a line of small words written on the back - Viljana-Yu Wei-2002.
He pointed at the line of words, but his tone sounded indifferent, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him. "My mother's name is Yu Wei, and this is where she used to live."
"To be precise, it's where he kept her."
Zhui Lian knew Pei Qianhuang.
This is Pei Zhiyu's father, the former head of the Pei family, who has now been sent to a nursing home.
Pei Zhiyu paused, then suddenly turned his head to look at Zhui Lian. The smile on his face was a little sad: "Just like I'm locking you up now."
The tumultuous and painful past gradually surfaced from the dust, and the vast emptiness permeated the words he continued to speak:
"Pei Qianhuang hates me, especially."
Zhui Lian was a little surprised. She had always thought that Pei Zhiyu's bad and arrogant character was inseparable from Pei Qianhuang's connivance.
"Why?" she asked softly.
"Because my mother didn't love him, during the raging war in Viljana, he fell in love with my mother, who was a war correspondent, at first sight and forced himself on her."
"Then, one day, she took her chance, ran away, eloped with her old lover, and then—"
Pei Zhiyu opened the drawer near the door, took out a newspaper and handed it to Zhui Lian.
Zhui Lian lowered her head and read the newspaper.
The newspaper was from nearly twenty years ago. It was very old and had turned yellow, but it looked well preserved.
But in the black and white photo on the largest page, twisted metal wreckage was scattered among the mountains, and the most eye-catching bold headline read:
Far Eastern Air Transport flight crashes, no one survives
The answer is clear.
"That's it, my mother died."
There wasn't much sadness in Pei Zhiyu's tone, only a calm statement that seemed like something he had already gotten used to.
He asked, "Lianlian, do you still remember my old face?"
Remember.
How could Zhui Lian not remember?
That gorgeous, delicate, mixed-race skin.
Few people have such a good-looking appearance.
She had also been confused by the skin of her mind.
"Pei Qianhuang and I look alike. He hates himself, so he hates me too."
Pei Zhiyu raised his hand and touched his cheek with his fingertips. A trace of extreme disgust flashed across his eyes. "So he only hits me."
Zhui Lian was silent for a while, and then she asked, "Did he start beating you after Madam Pei left?"
Pei Zhiyu was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
He held her shoulders, seemingly laughing uncontrollably, his shoulders shaking: "Lianlian, baby, wife, you think Pei Qianhuang is too normal."
"He's my dad."
A light sentence came down.
"Then... when did he start beating you? Only you?" After a moment's silence, Zhui Lian changed the question.
"I don't remember clearly."
Pei Zhiyu hummed, as if thinking, "Maybe since I was four or five years old, Pei Qianhuang's basement has often appeared in my memory."
"Sister... He really didn't hit her because she looked too much like my mother, and he couldn't bring himself to do it."
He seemed to have remembered something extremely absurd and laughed very softly, "So it can only be me."
In this situation, Zhui Lian was speechless. She looked at Pei Zhiyu silently, watching him
He then pulled out a videotape from the long cabinet under the TV.
"Look?"
Pei Zhiyu was still in the mood to hum a little, humming lightly as he pushed the videotape into the player. "This was recorded specially for my mother by Pei Qianhuang."
In the dark and cold basement, there was the sound of a belt whipping against flesh.
The sharp Swiss Army knife approached the child's pupils, accompanied by uncontrollable crying and begging for mercy.
"This should be the first time he recorded a video of me beating me. I want my mom to react to him. Even if it means scolding him, beating him, or telling him to die, it's better than just looking at him lifelessly like a wooden man every day."
"I didn't expect my mom to not buy it at all. He's stupid. If you think about it, you'll know. My mom doesn't love him at all, so why would she care about me, the one he gave birth to?"
"So when Pei Qianhuang came back from here that day, he dragged me into the basement and beat me up again."
As if the person in the video was not himself at all, Pei Zhiyu pointed at Pei Qianhuang's increasingly rough movements, and more and more blood was splattered around him.
He simply said, "That's it."
The other party seemed to be unconcerned, but Zhui Lian's face turned pale. The impact of the video clip was so strong that she couldn't help but close her eyes.
She fumbled for the remote control and turned off the video with a click.
"Baby, why is it turned off?"
Pei Zhiyu sounded a little surprised and confused, "I thought you would like to see me being beaten..."
Zhui Lian finally opened her eyes and said, "I'm scared."
"ah……"
Pei Zhiyu exhaled slowly, and with a hint of joy, he tilted his head and smiled, "Don't be afraid, baby, I'm still alive and well, right?"
He sat beside Zhui Lian, put his arm around her, patted her back gently, and rested his chin on the top of her head.
The tone of the words was very casual, but the words were very scary. "Then when I grew up a little and went crazy... I directly poisoned him."
"He almost died that day, and I was so happy..." Pei Zhiyu paused, seeming a little regretful, "but he was finally rescued."
"Fortunately, the poison I specifically chose will have irreversible side effects even if it's cured. I specifically chose the side effect of eliminating his offspring."
He laughed heartily, very happily.
But when he said the next sentence, Zhui Lian could clearly feel his body tense up. "But he didn't hit me, you know? He looked at me for a long time, and then he said..."
Pei Zhiyu imitated a tone that was terrifyingly calm, emphasizing each word: "You are indeed my offspring."
"That was all those years—"
There was a twisted mockery in the voice.
"For the first time, there was a whole day when he was home and didn't hit me."
Zhui Lian was completely stunned.
She looked at Pei Zhiyu, and could hardly tell how much of the trembling she felt at the moment was acting and how much was real shock.
The person holding her continued to speak.
"He even smiled at me that day. He can still smile."
Weirdness, pain, pride, madness, and a hint of emptiness and confusion were all present in the eyes that Zhui Lian saw when he looked up.
"He also told me, 'You should know, I won't touch anyone except your mother.'"
The air was silent for a long, long, long time.
"So Lianlian, look—"
Pei Zhiyu's fingers gently covered her eyes, so that Zhui Lian could not see the smile on his face.
An extremely desolate smile that almost never appeared on such a madman.
"Pei Qianhuang and I are the same. We have the same dirty blood running through our veins. We're crazy, rotten, and hopeless."
"So, don't look at me like that," he said, covering her eyes with a morbid attachment, his voice low and tired, "and don't feel sorry for me."
"You just need to stay here and stay with me."
A very light kiss fell on Zhui Lian's eyebrows.
The conversation did not continue.
Pei Zhiyu seemed to have exhausted some emotions, and then just hugged her tighter.
Hold her like she held him that time outside the warehouse in City X.
But this time, she became his driftwood.
The only one.
Time passed by frame by frame, and I didn't know how long it had been.
I don’t know how long I held her.
"Does it hurt?"
Finally, Zhui Lian raised her hand and stroked Pei Zhiyu's cheek.
She just asked softly: "Did it hurt at that time, Pei Zhiyu?"
The aura surrounding the person in front of him suddenly condensed.
He didn't say anything, but hugged her deeper and tighter, revealing a... rare, almost fragile dependence.
"It hurts."
Finally, Pei Zhiyu spoke in a very low voice, "But if you leave me, I will be in even greater pain, so much pain that I won't be able to live anymore."
"Lianlian, please have pity on me. Just stay with me, okay, okay?"
He suddenly let go of her hand, held Zhui Lian's shoulders, and looked at her with a hint of pleading in his eyes, "I will change, I will try to control myself, I won't be like him..."
"You won't...you won't be like my mother...right?" The pleading in his eyes grew deeper, as if it was about to overflow.
Zhui Lian looked back at him gently.
Looking back at him with hopeful eyes.
Of course she wouldn't, how could she look like that?
Her Xunli is dead.
Dead.
There is no chance of elopement.
But after a long while, Zhui Lianxiang finally decided on the answer and said, "Okay, I won't leave, I won't leave, I will accompany you, I will accompany you, I will wait for you to change, and I will accompany you to change in the future."
"But you have to be nice to me, you know?" Zhui Lian looked at him and said seriously, "Don't force me to do things I don't like."
"well."
Pei Zhiyu held Zhui Lian's hand, and the two intertwined their fingers. He said softly, "Baby, I will listen to everything you say, as long as you don't leave me."
"Like now—"
Zhui Lian shook her hands, but couldn't shake off the other's entangled fingers. She softened her voice and said, "Hubby, you're holding me too tightly. It's uncomfortable."
The word "husband" seemed to turn on a switch in Pei Zhiyu. At the iron door leading to the sixth floor, he pressed Zhui Lian on top of her and kissed her again and again.
"I love you, Lianlian." He held her face and whispered, "I'm changing. Can you try to love me too?"
Zhui Lian hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded slowly: "I will."
Pei Zhiyu smiled contentedly after receiving such an answer. He took her hand and went downstairs, although he still did not loosen his grip on her hand.
Zhui Lian looked at the person beside him, but his thoughts drifted far away.
She actually didn't believe what Pei Zhiyu said.
A madman is always a madman.
If she refused to say that she loved him today, the next second, he would press her in various places, forcing him to entangle with her over and over again until she agreed.
In any case, at least this time, she knew the source of Pei Zhiyu's paranoia.
And a crazy, dangerous, but potentially exploitable breakthrough is slowly opening up.
She wants to escape.
She will definitely escape.
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Lianmei is acting again, and she is already an acting talent [thumbs up]
I've finished writing it now, so I'm going to make up for it QAQ. I should revise it tomorrow, but I'm too sleepy, so please just read it for now.
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