Chapter 22

After biting Yin Li, I immediately regretted it. This kind of behavior was not only extremely uncivilized and unhygienic, it was also extremely unbefitting of my elegant self!

Look at us now. Yin Li and I look like a suffering couple. I crippled my leg, he injured his hand, I rubbed my skin raw, he dripped blood; standing together we had a very comedic effect.

Yin Li gave me a silent look, and then sighed, “Let me take you to go see a doctor, your ankle is already so swollen.” Then he turned so his back faced me and bent down. Looking at me over his shoulder he said, “Come on,” with a slight sense of helplessness.

I felt that he owed me big time, so being bossed around by me was a given. I immediately swaggered over, not feeling the least embarrassed, and flopped down onto his back.

He didn’t say anything, and his bloody hand rubbed against the hem of his shirt and on his pants. The air seemed to fill with the scent of damp, rusty iron. And his silence only made my whole body feel even more uncomfortable, leaning against his back I couldn’t calm myself at all.

“Yin Li!” I called out his name, “Say something won’t you! Why don’t we fill the tedium by talking about things from the time before I lost my memories! Didn’t you say that before in France, there was someone that proposed to me? Is he hot? Is he rich?”

Yin Li turned his head around to stare at me, his gaze both fierce and warning, “Yan Xiao, at that time you already rejected him. Asking these questions now has no meaning. When you were still your past self, you never even considered sharing a life with him. Even more so now. He probably accepted the rejection long ago and started a new life.” Yin Li then paused and concluded, “He doesn’t suit you.”

I was a bit choked back by his confidence but stubbornly asked, “You don’t even know the past me. How can you know that we aren’t suited for each other ?!  Isn’t he Chinese with French citizenship and a painter? A good half of all artists are all rich people with time for leisure. I feel like he’s pretty good. Living with him might even elevate my taste.”

“He doesn’t suit you. He’s too restrained. He grew up in France and learned too much of the West’s tender romantic gestures and that gentlemanly etiquette. When you rejected him, didn’t he still maintain a false politeness despite how pained and unwilling he was? Didn’t he seem to have an ego and easily let go of you? These sorts of men lack a hardiness. In what sort of world will the perfect couple naturally find their way to each other? Many things come by fighting for them. He couldn’t even do that for you. How could he have the right to contest with me for you? Back when you rejected him, you had good eyes.” Yin Li seemed to be very pointed when I mentioned Li Jing. Though his words were proper, his view was still extremely subjective.

Yin Li then added, “Besides, what do you want taste for? I don’t care whether you have taste or not. Live how you want. You don’t need to acquire taste to please anyone.”

I looked at the nape of Yin Li’s neck. Just a second ago he was saying that I could become the sharp weapon that delivered his retribution and he admitted that he was a shameful swindler. Now he was starting to nitpick the man that had appeared in my past. He only had one conclusion: Though he was a swindler, he was the one most suited to be with me. I needed the sort of tough man who would be the guiding light of my life and draw me towards a new era.

“Yin Li, to tell you the truth, I initially agreed to your marriage proposal but now thinking about it, I was blind and didn’t really know you. At that time, how could I have not noticed how thick your skin was? You are clearly a frog that has beaten a swan foolish, and then through threats and promises, hypnotized the swan with a ‘you are an ugly frog’ story. How did it change when you explained it?” I muttered as I lay on Yin Li’s back, “You could only take the opportunity and fool me when I hadn’t recovered my memories, right?”

We both understood that we were only able to converse calmly like this today because I hadn’t recovered my memories. I lacked that hatred stemming from being robbed of my dreams. No matter how resplendent the past was, I am a stranger to it.

Yin Li was always crafty like this. After understanding my character, he gave me an identity in my loneliest and most helpless times. It was such an ingenious identity, and my life became filled with him. He didn’t care for the price to gain my trust and dependence. He used all he had to achieve his goal. Even when the truth has now surfaced, he still has a grasp on everything. My amnesia was his greatest opportunity.

Sometimes I hoped that I could ruthlessly hate every inch of him. I even thought of having another car accident, and then like in the television dramas, I would lose the current memories and regain my past ones. Then I wouldn’t have any wavering thoughts towards him and could act with an iron fist.

Yin Li probably knew what I was thinking. He quietly said, “Sorry.”

We then grew even more quiet. Luckily, we soon arrived at the clinic. After the doctor treated all our wounds, Yin Li wanted to piggyback me back home.

“I don’t trust you being outside by yourself. Moreover, the house is already in your name. If someone has to leave, it should be me.” Sure enough, he knew my Achilles’ heel. After hearing his last sentence, I decided to go with him.

“Wait. That bag of things I took from your house is still at the hotel. It can’t be wasted. When I kick you out of the house, that bag will be yours.”

Yin Li looked at me with a helpless gaze. In the end, he doubled back to the small hotel I stayed at and packed my luggage. He seemed warm and harmless. I felt unwell. This was probably the last time we could pretend that nothing had happened. I knew clearly what I would do from now on. I had always avoided thinking about that. I also knew that my words that hinted at parting were half-lies and half-truths, but they weren’t a joke.

Yin Li seemed to have realized something, and he suddenly lifted his head.

“Yan Xiao, my body still has your name tattooed on it. It was you who wanted it. Because it’s a bit big, it probably can’t be removed.”

Yin Li has just this kind of intelligence. He always knows the right words to say at the right moments, and his words hit your heart’s weakest place. I knew that if I continued staying by his side, I would be confined into having no ability to attack.

He really does like me. But he is too good of a schemer.

He won’t hurt me again, but he still wants to protect his sister. It was like the start. Just like he said, he’s a tough guy. He will fight to turn any impossible outcome on its head, and he’s never failed.

He doesn’t mind using himself as a bargaining chip with others. As long as I love him, I wouldn’t drag Yin Xuan from atop the clouds all the way down to hell. He’s that greedy. He wants my love, but also wants to protect Yin Xuan.

Yet this moment, I didn’t want to expose him.

I only pretended to casually tilt my head and mindlessly say, “But my last name isn’t Yan. Yin Li, my last name is Tang. You had never tattooed my name.”