Tears of humiliation welled up in Lai Hui’s eyes, her heart throbbing, yet the tears refused to fall. Hadn’t she numbed herself already? Why did she still feel insulted? Was it because he had returned, his success highlighting her own degradation, making her feel like she deserved it, like she had brought this upon herself?
Thinking of Xie Jiayi’s well-dressed appearance, she deeply loathed her own ugliness, like rotten wood covered in black mold, while Xie Jiayi was a flourishing locust tree. The more she thought, the more she felt she should bury herself.
Chapter 6
Saturday was the day Zhou Yuqian returned home to fulfill his marital “duties” with his legal wife, Li Yueqin. This weekly ritual maintained the scant emotional bond between them, like a branch broken but still connected by a piece of dried bark, ready to snap off completely with the next strong wind. That Saturday, there was a moon outside, round and bright like a disk, casting light on the happiness and sorrows of the world, its cold beams reaching into the deepest recesses of the heart, revealing the beautiful and the ugly. Zhou Yuqian, legs crossed, sat on an expensive leather sofa, loosening his tie. His eyes scanned the messy, dirty living room, landing on his disheveled wife. An ashtray flew towards his indifferent face; he nimbly rolled off the sofa, and “bang!” the ashtray shattered against the white wall. Li Yueqin, her last weapon having missed, collapsed, wailing. Zhou Yuqian picked up a shard from the ashtray, its sharp edges glinting in the light. Only when Li Yueqin’s cries subsided did he speak slowly, “ZWIESEL1872, you bought this ashtray from Germany, remember? You told me it was worth half a month’s living for an ordinary family, but you bought it for me because you thought it was worth it.” He let go, and the shard fell with a “clink” to the ground. With a crisp sound, the plate shattered. “With one swing of your great hand, you’ve knocked away half a month’s worth of food for someone, Li Yueqin. Do you think it’s worth it now?” Li Yueqin lifted her tear-streaked face, her eyes flashing with a venomous light. Her silk robe’s belt was loosened, exposing her chest, her disheveled hair piled like dry grass on her head, ready to ignite at the slightest spark. Suddenly, she burst into mad laughter, screeching in a shrill voice, “Worth it? How could it be worth it if I didn’t kill you? Zhou Yuqian, after all these years, you’re still alive, that’s because the heavens are blind. With all those whores out there, sooner or later, you’ll rot from sores, from head to toe!”
Zhou Yuqian watched her for a long time, listening to her curse like a village shrew, then sneered disdainfully. Three years into their marriage, when she first fought with him, he stood there stunned, letting her scratch and hit him, unable to believe he had married such a woman, a mad woman. Five years had passed, and she had not disappointed, progressing to using weapons like bowls, vases, and the dictionary, even trying to strangle him with a hair if she had one in hand. Marriage, he thought with a sarcastic twist of his lips, meant coming home not to warm soup but to check if there was a knife under the pillow. This was marriage. Gradually, his irritation turned to cold anger, and he spoke wearily, “Li Yueqin, my feelings for you have been worn down almost completely. Don’t make me erase the last bit of good memories. At that point, whether you live or die, it won’t be my concern, Zhou Yuqian!” With that, he stood up, kicking away the glass shards, stepping over scattered cushions to the door. As he opened it, he glanced back to see Li Yueqin standing against the light, pointing at him threateningly, “You rotten man! If you dare walk out that door today, you’ll be carrying my corpse!”
Zhou Yuqian closed his eyes, coldly saying, “Go in peace, I’ll have ‘Tomb of Beloved Wife Li Yueqin’ engraved on your tombstone.” He opened his eyes, not looking back as he left. The quiet courtyard was bathed in moonlight, the trees and flowers looking ghostly pale. Zhou Yuqian took out his phone and dialed Li Yueqin’s friend, “Please come and keep her company… Don’t worry, this is the last time I’ll trouble you… I’ll transfer ten thousand to your account tomorrow… Whether she’s just scaring me or not, this is the last time… I leave it to you!” After hanging up, he stood in the courtyard, his lips moving slightly, convincing himself, this was the last time he’d pay for someone to look after her. His handsome face was stark white in the moonlight as he gripped his phone. Should he go drinking or gambling? After a while, he smashed the phone on the ground, watching it break into three pieces, then laughed quietly, a silent, tragic laugh.
In a quiet bar in the southern part of the city, Lai Hui and Cheng Lan sat in a corner, half a bottle of 1982 Lafite already gone. Lai Hui lifted the crystal glass, taking a sip, the rich fragrance lingering on her lips. She teased, “Such good wine, if Ouyang finds out you’re wasting it, won’t he fight with you?” Cheng Lan, already slender, seemed even more delicate with a touch of drunkenness, her fingers playing with the crystal glass, a seductive smile on her lips. “Over a bottle of wine? No way!” The red liquid in the glass swayed, her smile stiffening. “Besides, he’s at home with his wife, I’m just evening the score with a bottle of his wine!”
Lai Hui looked at her with pity. “Are you just going to drag this on?” Cheng Lan gave a self-deprecating laugh. “What else can I do? I’m not a virtuous woman to be honored. I can’t leave him, I’ve already wrecked his home, can I drive his wife away too? It’s just bad luck that I met him a year too late!” She laughed again, a laugh with a tinge of mystery, mixed with a few painful groans. “Lai Hui, guess what he and his wife are doing now? Watching TV? Taking a walk? Having a midnight snack?” She laughed until tears streamed down her face. “I bet they’re in bed!” As tears dropped into her wine, she didn’t give Lai Hui a chance to speak, “Don’t guess, it’s twelve-fifteen now, he goes to bed at twelve, starts undressing at twelve-oh-five, ten minutes of foreplay, then showers after half an hour. See, I told you, you can’t guess better than I can!” Her voice broke, trembling, “Lai Hui, just thinking about it hurts so much, every weekend night for three years, I’ve been driven mad with jealousy, I’m afraid one day I won’t be able to take it and end up killing myself!”
Lai Hui looked at her, speechless, wanting to comfort her but unable to find the words. Cheng Lan’s pain was something she understood all too well. Being a mistress meant being ostracized, blamed, and no matter how hard or sad it got, people would just say she deserved it. Indeed, why had Cheng Lan given up her job, family, and friends to become Ouyang Qing’s mistress? She could have had a good life. “Cheng Lan, leave him,” Lai Hui said, ignoring Cheng Lan’s shocked look. “Leave him, go back to your family and friends!”
Cheng Lan, still with tear tracks on her face, pushed her hair back from her forehead, her expression bitter. “Do you know? When I was in elementary school, my dream was to get into university; when I graduated, my dream was to have a decent job; after meeting Ouyang, my dream was to be with him; as his mistress, my dream was to one day be officially recognized! Lai Hui, I never give up on my dreams!” She took a large gulp of wine, red liquid trickling from her lips down her neck into her collar. “If one day, I could go to a restaurant with him without worry, watch a movie during the day, take a walk in the park in the evening, and no matter how late I wake up, he’s still in my bed, that would be enough! That would be enough!”
