Chapter 37 - 1#

I remember that time clearly.

In that room, the only scent was that sandalwood incense, so much so that even my sense of smell grew numb. The curtains were tightly drawn, and aside from eating, drinking, and using the bathroom, I spent all my time on the bed.

He only left the room when someone came to visit; the rest of the time, he stayed in the room watching me.

At first, I struggled violently. When I woke up and came to, the only thing I could do was lunge at him and bite his neck—my hands were tied behind my back with a fine, delicate chain, one that seemed like it could be easily broken. But I tried pulling at it no less than a hundred times, and other than a crisp clinking sound, even the bedpost got worn down, yet the chain remained intact.

He didn’t dodge either. He lay back on the bed, letting me bite until I was exhausted, then slowly sat up, gently stroking the spot I had bitten, his eyes lowered.

I can’t clearly remember what I called him, but I used every curse I knew, spitting out words I’d once thought vulgar.

His face remained unmoved, as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

When I was tired of yelling, I tried talking to him calmly. That didn’t work either. I begged him no less than a hundred times. At that time, the company was in crisis, and without someone in charge, chaos was bound to ensue. In the end, I couldn’t even tell whether I was angrier at him for locking me up or for what he did to me.

Those days felt completely cut off from the outside world.

Even Xu Qinghong—I only vaguely heard his voice. But whenever I tried to call for help, he would open the door, walk into the room, and firmly, forcefully close it behind him.

He placed the food on the low table by the bed, slowly moved from the edge to the center, then would first rub my cheek with the back of his hand, help me sit up, and feed me spoonful by spoonful. He wiped the food that spilled from my mouth with his hand, saying, “Qiqi, these are all your favorites.”

Back then, I really thought he was mentally unstable.

When we argued—actually, it was just me screaming—I screamed until tears streamed down my face. He sat quietly on the sofa chair opposite, tilting his head as if tired, occasionally falling asleep right there. But in the middle of the night, he would wake up and sneak over to the bed—when he did that, apart from his breathing, he didn’t make a single sound.

But I wasn’t always conscious either. Sometimes, when he took off my clothes and held me, kissing me, I would drift off into a daze.

After more than ten days, I finally found a chance to escape.

A guest came. I heard voices, loud, as if they were arguing.

I snapped awake, still wearing his silk robe. Painfully, I crawled from the bed to the floor, but I could only reach as far as the low table by the bed. Shouting in a hoarse voice, the noise downstairs stopped abruptly, and then I heard rapid footsteps—“thump, thump, thump”—as if someone was rushing upstairs.

To attract attention, I threw everything I could from the low table toward the door.

But after a long moment, the sounds gradually faded, and my heart gradually sank.

There was no hope.

That night, he tormented me fiercely. I couldn’t tell whether it was him or me who had gone mad. All I knew was that I didn’t sleep a wink all night. He seemed to have used some drug, lasting a long time, and soon he pulled me into his arms again. When the warm water from the shower poured down, he said something, and I couldn’t help but cry. But as tears and water mixed together, I tasted a bitter saltiness and sobbed uncontrollably.

This is what he said: “Qiqi… are you unhappy…?”

“Then I’ll have He Shoushan’s family come keep you company. If you want, I can have Zhuo Yu come too…”

After I cried, he lay in bed with me, holding me from behind.

At that time, I had no idea why he was doing this.

I simply thought, in despair, that maybe… I really would be locked up by him for the rest of my life.

Afraid that he would drag Old He and his wife, as well as my son, into this, I did whatever he told me to do. And so, several days passed.

Later, he seemed satisfied. The chain wasn’t locked so tightly, but he still insisted I couldn’t leave the room. After that, he no longer waited until I was asleep to climb into bed; he would change clothes and lie down with me directly. His urges often came suddenly—sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes when I woke up in the morning.

On his bedside table was a photo. Before, when I came, I hadn’t dared to look around. But now, spending most of my time here, I had the mind to glance about. The photo in the frame had yellowed. It was clearly taken when Third Master Ren was young, with a date written at the bottom. There was also a child in the photo, but at that time, I couldn’t remember who it was; my mind was in a fog.

I only had a vague impression that it must have been something Third Master Ren treasured very much.

It wasn’t until Xu Qinghong one day picked the lock on the door.

He rushed up to me, pulled out a key, unlocked the chain, and said urgently, “I’ve already had the car prepared. Hurry and leave—don’t let Third Master catch you again!”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Third Master will spare me for the sake of my grandfather.”

“I… I really didn’t know Third Master would do something like this.”

“He’s always been secretive. I never imagined he could go this crazy…”

But the first thing I did wasn’t cheer. There was a hollow emptiness in my heart. After changing into the clean clothes Xu Qinghong had brought, I turned and caught sight of the photo on the low table. I grabbed the frame and smashed it to the ground. The glass shattered with a “crack,” and I stomped on the person in the photo as if venting my anger—like stepping on him brought me satisfaction.

After that, I returned home in neat clothes.

Old He came running to meet me from afar, shouting, “Young master, you’ve been away on business so long without even sending word! You nearly worried me to death!”

“Dad—!!”

My son screamed from the second floor, running down crying, and threw himself into my arms.

Later, I called the company and realized that in the time I’d been gone…

Everything had changed completely.

The shareholders had all turned against me overnight. If they had hesitated before, now they were almost unanimous in demanding a change in leadership, or else they would withdraw their investments from the Ren family.

I approached everyone who had ever had dealings or cooperation with the Ren family, but I knew no one would offer help at this critical moment.

In the end, I swallowed my pride and went in person to Third Master Ren’s company.

I didn’t dare go near his residence again. Clutching documents, I went alone to the company’s entrance.

The secretary smiled sweetly and said, “The CEO isn’t in. If you have something to pass on, you can leave it with me, and I’ll relay it.”

I shook my head and refused. I went again early the next day.

The same secretary glanced at me and said, “The CEO just left. He probably won’t be coming back to the company today.”

When I went on the third day, the secretary didn’t even bother to acknowledge me.

I stood there like a fool waiting all day. Finally, I saw him. Surrounded by a crowd, he got out of the car. He merely lifted his eyes to look at me, then looked away, walking into the company amid the group.

It felt like being slapped hard across the face.

I’m not a magnanimous person. I remember unpleasant things vividly.

That pain was too intense. I couldn’t forget it.

That pain was mixed with fear. I was truly afraid he would slap me again someday.

Actually, he didn’t need to. Just like before, after Uncle Jing, it might be Zhang Ting, or even more people, who would think I didn’t know what was good for me.

But I had so little left to hold on to. Now he was being good to me, but I was afraid that one day, he would turn around and do what he did before.

Just once was enough to make me feel like I was dying. I don’t think I could ever get used to it.

After leaving the restaurant, I walked a few streets in a daze when I received a phone call.

It was from Shu Yuan.

Shu Yuan and I agreed to meet at a café. I saw her sitting in her seat from afar, her beautiful, noble appearance attracting the attention of many around her.

Seeing me approach, she slowly straightened her posture, as if preparing for a battle.

I found it somewhat amusing. She had certain traits I still understood; after all, we had been married for a few years.

I hadn’t really wanted to come, but Shu Yuan’s tone was surprisingly soft, tinged with a bit of urgency. It was probably about Wang Zheng. I hadn’t heard any news of him these past few days. His health was fragile now; if he didn’t take care of it properly, he’d end up with chronic problems for life.

I sat down across from Shu Yuan and greeted her.

She looked at me with slight wariness, but still forced a smile and said, “The milkshakes here are good, Brother Ren. You could try one.”

I nodded, but I still felt full from earlier, so I just ordered a cup of black tea.

She looked down at her cup, and after the waiter left, she cut straight to the chase: “Brother Ren, how much do you want?”

Huh… I was stunned by that question.

Shu Yuan’s face reddened. She bit her lip, grasped the cup with both hands, and said, “Just name it… I’ll pay whatever it takes. Just make Eustace give up on you.”

What strange ideas did this little girl have?

I shook my head and said, “Listen, I don’t think you fully understand where the problem lies—”

“No, you are the biggest problem,” Shu Yuan said slowly. “I refuse to believe I can lose to a man.”

“The reason Eustace is like this now is all because of you.” She lifted her head and spoke calmly.

“I think…”

“You have no idea how much Eustace suffered in England. While you were happily with your cousin, he was alone in a strange place. His family only sent money, not even a phone call. Do you know? Because of his health, Eustace couldn’t even participate in the basketball activities he loved.”

She stared at me, grinding her teeth. “I saw it with my own eyes—they pushed Eustace to the ground, saying he was only holding them back. I saw it. With my own eyes.”

I was at a loss for words.

When the waiter brought the black tea, we both took an unspoken break.

Shu Yuan was silent for a moment, then said in a cold tone, “I’ve been with Eustace all these years. I thought he had gotten over you. When he agreed to our engagement, I was so happy—I had beaten you. I’ve liked Eustace since the first time I saw him. I’ve given so much. There’s no way I can lose to you.”

“But the other day, during dinner, he suddenly… said he wouldn’t marry me.”

Her eyes were red, but no tears fell. “He told my father he couldn’t lie to himself, or to me. He said he couldn’t marry me, that he was useless, unworthy of me—it was all lies. I know he still likes you. Every winter before, when his wounds hurt and he was half-conscious in the hospital, he would call out your name.”

She looked at me, as if observing my expression. I smiled bitterly and shook my head.

“You’re telling me all this just to show me how much Wang Zheng is suffering because of me, right? And because you’re caught up in his suffering, you feel that what you treasure—I mean Wang Zheng’s love—is being trampled on, and you can’t accept it?”

“First, tell me: What do you like about Wang Zheng?”

“Of course it’s—”

I cut her off.

“Don’t answer too quickly. Let me ask you another question. If Wang Zheng had been just like all your other suitors—docile and obedient, spoiling and cherishing you—would you still feel the same way now?”

Her eyes widened.

I looked at her and said, “Whatever the answer, you know it best in your heart. If you truly love Wang Zheng, then now is not the time to tell me how to make him give up on me, or to trample on your own love like this.”

She paused, then slowly covered her face with her hands.

I handed her a tissue and said softly, “Wipe your tears. If your makeup smudges, you won’t look as pretty.”

She gritted her teeth and took it. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, then pulled a sticky note from her purse, quickly wrote a line on it, and pushed it toward me.

She said, “I don’t care what you say. Just… go find Eustace. Tell him you don’t like him at all, that you don’t love him. Tell him to come back to me.”

I looked at the address on the note and sighed.

She stood up abruptly, looking at me with a haughty expression. “Eustace will be mine in the end. What’s so good about a man? Especially a man like you. You don’t understand Eustace at all. You don’t treasure him. What right do you have to monopolize him?”

I followed the address Shu Yuan had given me, but the area was quite confusing. I walked for an entire afternoon, and halfway through, it started raining. I had to stand outside a building nearby, waiting for the rain to stop.

When I looked up, I seemed to catch a glimpse of something. I quickly turned back, and sure enough, I saw a figure that looked like Wang Zheng. He came out of a convenience store, a newspaper tucked under his arm and a bread roll in his hand. He seemed cold, pulling his coat tighter around him. As if in a hurry, he glanced at the slightly lighter rain and hurried across the street when the light turned green.

Suddenly, a car sped by, its horn screeching—

“Wang Zheng—!!”

I rushed across the street. Wang Zheng had fallen to the ground. “Wang Zheng! Wang Zheng, are you okay?!” I crouched down quickly to check his injuries. Fortunately, the car had stopped just before hitting him. Wang Zheng was only startled and had fallen; he wasn’t hurt.

He seemed shaken as I helped him up. The driver stuck his head out of the window, saw that no one was injured, muttered an apology, and drove off.

I helped Wang Zheng to the sidewalk. After all that, he was not only soaked through but also covered in mud. He looked miserable.

I put my arm around his shoulder to support him. His face was deathly pale—whether from his poor health or the scare just now.

“Wang Zheng, let me take you to the hospital…?”

He gasped for air, shook his head, stared at me, and said softly, “I’ll go back myself…”

“Where do you live? Is it nearby? I’ll help you back.”

Maybe he was truly exhausted. He didn’t refuse and let me support him as he pointed in a direction.

I helped him down the stairs, occasionally glancing at the surroundings. Rats scurried out from corners now and then. But he didn’t react, simply pointing to the door at the end.