She shook her head and continued, “Tsk tsk… You have to wash new underwear before wearing it, otherwise, how dirty would it be? Just think about how many hands have touched that underwear before it was put up for sale…” Zhou Yuqian, who was already at the door, instinctively clamped his legs together, slipped, and nearly fell. He was both embarrassed and annoyed but couldn’t lash out because doing so would be an admission of guilt. Barely regaining his balance, he tried to act nonchalant, adjusting his sleeves, but from behind came a burst of laughter that made his teeth itch— Lai Hui was laughing so hard her stomach hurt, still managing to squeeze out words that made Zhou Yuqian wish he could strangle her: “Hahaha, I was right, wasn’t I? Oh my, you’re really unhygienic, hahaha… That’s hilarious, no wonder you told me to throw away my clean underwear, you’re just used to throwing things away!” Driven by impulse, Zhou Yuqian did the most childish yet most satisfying thing he had ever done. After washing the foam off his hands, he left Lai Hui, whose face and head were covered in white foam, and swaggered away with a triumphant air, calling out, “Idiot!”—a remark utterly unbecoming of him. Lai Hui wiped the foam from her face, watching that arrogant silhouette, muttering under her breath: You’re the real idiot wasting money, I curse you to have no underwear to wear for the next lifetime and the one after that! She was truly venomous! After cursing, she felt a pang of remorse, then turned to the sink to wash someone’s underwear for this lifetime.
Zhou Yuqian went to the guest room on the third floor, immediately stripping off his clothes upon entering, and rushed into the shower, scrubbing his body furiously, his mind repeating: Dirty! So dirty! After washing, he stared at the underwear on the floor, his newly bought pair, and Lai Hui’s words echoed in his mind—touched by how many hands—sending shivers down his spine. He had a foreboding feeling that for a long time, he would have psychological barriers about wearing underwear. The new underwear was unwearable without washing; what should he do? If Lai Hui left, would he have to wash them himself? He sat down, took out a cigarette from his shirt pocket, and after a bout of smoking, his physical discomfort lessened. Thinking about Lai Hui still washing his intimate clothes in the bathroom, he felt a pang of sorrow. Despite his wealth and prosperous life, the only ones willing to wash his underwear were his mother and Lai Hui. At this moment, he realized he was just an ordinary person.
Lai Hui finished washing all the clothes and took the bucket to the rooftop to hang them up. The distant sea held half a red sun, the wind sweeping through the palm grove, creating waves of green. In front of the iron railing were her potted plants, the scent of lemon balm spreading with the wind. She picked up several small pots, the plants she had painstakingly nurtured, which needed to be brought into the bedroom to justify the effort she had put in. She descended the stairs, and Zhou Yuqian emerged from the corner. On the vast rooftop, the white undershirts hung on bamboo poles fluttered like flags. Those bamboo poles were personally cut by her from the bamboo grove behind the mountain. She remembered complaining to him about the lack of a bamboo pole in this luxurious villa suitable for drying clothes.
Touching the smooth surface of the bamboo, he glanced at the row of small pots by the railing, filled with soil she had dug from the garden. If she left, those pots would forever contain dry soil, unable to grow lavender or mint or rosemary. She had told him: “You work too hard, you need to relieve stress, these plants can help.” He had never asked her to do these things, yet she did them with care. He thought she did it willingly. But if she left, who else would do these things for him? Who else would say to him: “The most comforting thing is having a home by the mountains and the sea; after work, having such a place to return to, isn’t that wonderful?” He slowly squatted down; that comforting home was built for him and his child, yet he had never thought of letting the proposer live there. He grabbed a handful of brown soil, crushing it into powder. Should he really let her go, letting all this crumble into an illusion? He suddenly stood up, dusted off his hands, and with a few strides, he went down the stairs, found Lai Hui watering the plants in the bathroom, grabbed her shoulders like an impulsive youth, and blurted out, “Lai Hui…” His throat felt like it was caught with a fishbone, unable to make a sound; he swallowed hard, seeing his own anxious face reflected in her eyes. What was he anxious about? What was he going to say to her? “Hmm?” Lai Hui responded gently. He slowly let go, his expression composed as if there were three people in the room, and the impulsive youth had left. “Where did you put the tea leaves?” he asked. Lai Hui bent down to spray water on the plants. “How could you forget? They’re in the storage room on the first floor, in the cabinet by the wall, third drawer from the bottom, on the left.” She glanced at him and continued, “Do you want some tea? Wait a moment, I’ll finish watering, and I’ll pick some mint leaves for you to brew tea. Your lips look chapped; you need to calm down.” She bent back to her task, the gray mist spraying on the green leaves, forming crystal-clear droplets. Zhou Yuqian felt a tug in his heart, a warm feeling that cooled down in an instant. He didn’t know if it was emotion or what, but his heart felt like it was shedding tears like the dew on the leaves. “Lai Hui…” he said hoarsely. “Hmm?” she responded absentmindedly. He didn’t speak, and after a while, she looked up, “What’s the matter?” “Nothing, nothing!” he stammered, turning his face away. “Why are you standing here if there’s nothing?” “I just want to be here,” he said, somewhat irritably. “I don’t need you to tell me what to do!” Just want to be here. He repeated the thought, puzzled. “Okay, no one’s telling you what to do, this house is yours after all, I can’t really boss you around!” But if you really wanted to, you could! He still didn’t say it, turned around, and looked out the window at the dimly lit streetlights and the distant sea, the rustling of the leaves under the cover of darkness, as if whispering to him: Don’t just think about your own oddities, your Lai Hui, though caring, isn’t as accommodating as before.
