But your hand seemed to have electricity. At first, I was afraid of you, but later… recently, I’ve gotten used to it and even started to like the warm, cozy feeling of your hand. I seem to have misunderstood many things. I still can’t fully comprehend it. But I’m so afraid you won’t want me, so afraid you’ll like someone else.” She sniffled, not daring to look at him.
“So that’s why you did what you did last night?” He could hardly believe this sudden surprise, carefully seeking confirmation, though joy was about to overflow his heart.
She shook her head. Seeing that he didn’t reject or mock her, her courage multiplied.
“Feifan said that once a man is seduced, he’s easier to sway, and then I could persuade you to love me. She said… sex is just a means, the most important thing is to make you love me…”
Tang Hua was stunned for a moment, muttering to himself:
“I should have stopped that woman from corrupting you. She’s just causing trouble.” Yet that troublemaking woman had an incomparable influence on Susu.
“Did she say something wrong? Or did I do something incorrect?” Susu asked timidly, noticing her husband’s unsettling expression.
“Both right and wrong,” he smiled bitterly, sitting up and embracing her. “Susu, I love you. I’ve always loved you.
I’m also grateful to Miss Du for helping you understand your feelings towards me, helping you grow from a girl into a woman. This is something I could never do or did wrong, which is why you’re only now falling in love with me after more than seven years of marriage. But you must understand that I love you today, so we engage in intimate acts, not that I decided to love you because of intimacy. Miss Du herself is probably just talking nonsense, so don’t believe her entirely.” He thought it would be better to keep these two separated, otherwise, with Susu’s gullible nature, she might one day be persuaded to seduce other men.
Xiao Susu broke into a beautiful smile.
“I don’t know if Feifan was right or wrong, but I finally have the courage to express my feelings to you. Tang Hua, thank you for loving me too. I will try, try very hard to be a good wife. Please give me a chance.”
He said he loved her, loved her! She was so happy, involuntarily hugging him tightly, rubbing her face against his chest. This man, this body was entirely hers. Her only possessive desire in life was to gain his love.
And she had obtained it. She didn’t know what right she had to receive it, but she would cherish this love and strive to be worthy of him.
“Susu, don’t force yourself to change. I love you just the way you are.” He took a deep breath, suppressing his inner turmoil, reaching out to the bedside table to retrieve their previously signed divorce agreement. He called her softly:
“Look up, wife.” His loving address made Susu look up in a daze, then smile sweetly in response.
“What is it, husband?” She loved calling him that!
Tang Hua couldn’t help but kiss her, until they were both breathless, then separated.
“We’ll never need this paper again.” He tore the agreement into pieces, speaking and promising simultaneously.
In his wife’s beautiful smile, they had firmly held onto their marriage and happiness.
Truly becoming a couple, just as Tang Hua had always longed for.
Happiness had arrived.
Epilogue
Another annual Christmas, the day of the Tang family’s Christmas party, remained the same – a social event that the social circle considered a must-attend, and being invited was the highest honor.
The usually low-key Tang family was especially careful this year, sending out exquisitely designed invitations, more eye-catching than previous years’ phone invitations. Everyone anticipated that perhaps something special might happen.
As guests arrived, they gathered in groups, discussing animatedly.
“I heard Tang Hua divorced earlier this year. Could he be announcing an engagement with the Zhou family’s daughter today? Maybe even merging their business empires?” Aunt Three whispered.
Aunt Six waved her fat fingers, displaying five rings on her hand: “No way! Miss Zhou got married to someone in America last September. You immigrants aren’t well-informed. I bet he’s going to publicly seek a bride. My daughters Mei and Li are here. I specially ordered a dress from France!”
“Yes, yes! That’s what I think too!” The radio broadcaster chimed in: “I’ve long heard that Tang Hua’s wife is in poor health, introverted, and can’t handle big occasions. I attended their wedding eight years ago and saw that bride couldn’t handle being the Tang family’s daughter-in-law! Our daughters are much more impressive!
Tang’s wife’s absence every year had long become a stale topic. Some even speculated that Tang Hua had already divorced his wife, just not publicly announced. After all, Tang Hua was a person who valued privacy, and outsiders couldn’t dig up any deeper insider information, so they could only gossip and speculate, embellishing rumors to ensure they were juicy and sensational.
Every year at this time, Tang Hua would only make a polite appearance, taking the opportunity to discuss business with clients. If there was nothing else, he would request a room at the hotel to rest, with Tang’s mother naturally taking care of other trivial matters, and this year was no exception.
After the family banquet became a public gathering, Tang Hua no longer treated Christmas as a family reunion day, but merely as an ordinary and boring business dinner to perfunctorily attend. The true family reunion day was set for New Year’s, with no outsiders to disturb. His married life with Su Su could be said to have gradually entered a harmonious phase.
She was still introverted and shy, but she loved him. Having obtained the true love he had lifelong yearned for, every busy day was accompanied by sweet happiness, filling his chest with joy, with no other desires in this life.
What a boring banquet, he thought. But for the moment, he couldn’t leave – he at least needed to dance once and greet some business elders before he could leave – even sneak back home. Watching a film with Su Su would be a thousand times better than this socializing.
He didn’t care at all about the loud “whispers” from those gossipmongers. Let them guess wildly; he had no intention of providing new topics for them to spread. Life was his to live, and his own happiness was most important.
A commotion from the front made Tang Hua furrow his brow. Was his mother here? Because of his mother’s late arrival, he couldn’t leave. He distractedly turned back to discuss a land development project with an elder, not paying much attention to the noise at the entrance. Only when the elder who had been discussing with him suddenly stopped talking and showed a stunned expression unlike his usual steady demeanor did Tang Hua turn around again.
What exactly had made the venue’s atmosphere so strange?
“Dad.”
“Hmm.”
Tang Xue Qian and Xiao Su Su’s voices rang out simultaneously beside him. Tang Hua was speechless, looking at his wife and son.
He was speechless at his wife’s unexpected appearance at such an occasion, and her carefully dressed, stunning beauty took his breath away. She was holding their son’s hand, her other arm linked with her mother-in-law’s. Tang’s mother-in-law smiled and spoke loudly enough for everyone around to hear:
“Hua’er, you can dance now. I think you won’t lack a dance partner this year, and this old lady doesn’t need to be your dance partner to ruin the scene. Come, dance with your wife.” Tang’s mother-in-law placed her trembling daughter-in-law’s hand in her son’s.
Tang Hua immediately noticed the soul terrified beneath his wife’s maintained smile. As the music began, he held her tightly in the dance floor, whispering, “Was this Mom’s idea? I should have noticed her unusual behavior this year. You should have told me.”
