Inextricable

Chen Wanwan, whose eyes were closed, suddenly opened them when she heard her husband’s voice. She then proceeded to act like a spoiled child and hugged and kissed Zhan Liangting’s face. After kissing him, she hung onto his neck and murmured, “Husband, hubby… I got promoted… hiccup, then I… can I spend more… money to buy clothes in the future, right?”

Chen Wanwan spent money lavishly, while Zhan Liangting managed the money at home. Zhan Liangting worked in the bureau of electric power, and his monthly salary was higher than that of Chen Wanwan. Speaking of which, even though Chen Wanwan and Zhan Liangting had a child, the husband was responsible for the family expenses and Chen Wanwan actually didn’t have to take any burden regarding that. Even their son Zhan Jiakang pampered his mother with his father. 

“All right, all right.” Zhan Liangting coaxed his wife with eyes shining with love. He opened the car door, stuffed his wife on the co-pilot seat, and thoughtfully wiped away her drool before fastening the seat belt for her.

After Chen Wanwan was settled, Zhan Liangting turned around and looked at Xu Xingxing’s blushing face, thinking that she looked quite drunk too.

“You get in the car, I’ll take you home first.”

Xu Xingxing looked at the young couple, and felt happy for Chen Wanwan, but also felt sad and lonely after seeing such a scene. She glanced at Chen Wanwan in the co-pilot seat, shook her head with a smile, and said, “Send her home first, Wanwan has a bad stomach, she drank too much…”

“Yes, she drank too much and she will throw up,” Zhan Liangting answered with a frown, looking distressed and helpless.

When Zhan Liangting said this, Xu Xingxing was taken aback for a moment, then she smiled again.

Zhan Liangting saw that Xu Xingxing was fine, so he was no longer polite. Today, his parents had gone back to their hometown to visit relatives, and he was really worried for his son who was at home by himself. “Then I’ll go first, Kangkang is at home by himself.” Zhan Liangting then added, “Kangkang said he misses his Aunt Xingxing, so when you have time, come and visit our house.”

When Xu Xingxing had come to Xiacheng this time, she didn’t have a place to stay, so until she rented her apartment, she had stayed at Chen Wanwan’s house for two days. At that time, Chen Wanwan’s son, who was cute, lively and cheerful, became very friendly with Xu Xingxing.

Thinking of Zhan Jiakang, Xu Xingxing’s heart softened a bit, so she nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll come, you guys go first.”

Zhan Liangting responded back with a nod and got into the car. As soon as he sat, Chen Wanwan rushed over to hug him. Zhan Liangting said something to her first, hugged her back with a smile, and then drove away.

Under the street lights, the black Passat disappeared into the rolling traffic.

In the midst of heavy traffic, Xu Xingxing was all alone, and on looking at the passing traffic and crowd, she started to feel a little cold. She didn’t go home right away. She hadn’t returned to her alma mater for a long time since after her graduation. Xu Xingxing decided to go for a walk in Xia University, and sober up along the way.

The night was chilly, so Xu Xingxing wrapped her windbreaker tightly, walked through the traffic, and into the south gate of Xia University.

It was now eight o’clock in the evening, and the people who entered and exited the south gate were all college students who must have just finished their evening self-study. Xia University stipulated that freshmen must study by themselves in the evening. This year’s first-year students were only eighteen years old, it was a full ten-year age difference with her.

Xu Xingxing looked at the immature faces, and didn’t go any further. She walked to the camphor tree next to the exhibition board near the south gate, where there was a stone bench for rest. She walked over, tightened her windbreaker around her, and sat on the stone bench, watching the students come and go in a daze.

Xu Xingxing hugged her legs with both hands, as the cold wind gradually penetrated into her body through the clothes, just like that loneliness that could not be avoided, eroding her body and mind. Through the camphor tree’s leaves she saw the crescent moon and stars hanging high in the dark night sky.

The night sky tonight was beautiful, reminding Xu Xingxing of that night— when the man was on her body under the starry sky, his eyes full of stars.

The vibration of her phone instantly interrupted Xu Xingxing’s wild thoughts. Taking it out of her pocket, Xu Xingxing saw the name that was jumping on the screen and the phone number under it, and her lips parted slightly. How could she think of that night, think of that person right now… She must be crazy.

She still remembered the first time she had entered his mobile number into her phone. When he had given her his business card, she had just glanced at it and was able to remember his phone number. That was because his phone number was only different by one digit from the phone number she had used for four years in college. Hers was 98, his was 88.

It was precisely because of this that she had refused the business card he handed over without hesitation the first time. It was because she knew that if she wanted to contact him, she would definitely be able to. She would definitely remember his phone number.

The phone was still vibrating, pulling back Xu Xingxing’s wandering thoughts. She shook her head, she was obviously not drunk, but her thoughts were very scattered.

Xu Xingxing laughed at herself and pressed the answer button. The night wind was cold, so her teeth chattered when she said, “H..ell..o.”

There was a familiar “click” sound from the phone, as the cap of a pen was inserted back on it, signalling that the man had finished his day’s work. He could hear that Xu Xingxing was outside, and as he pulled off his tie, asked indifferently, “Where are you?”

“Xia University.” Xu Xingxing replied, “I was having a drink with my friend.” Huai Jing tore off his tie, put it on the desk, walked towards the floor-to-ceiling windows, and through the reflective glass windows, observed the streetlights downstairs with dark eyes.

“Where’s your friend?” Huai Jing asked.

“Huh?” Xu Xingxing didn’t seem to understand the question, and only got what he was asking after a few seconds. “Her husband took her home.”

“What about you?” Huai Jing asked.

“Huh?” Xu Xingxing frowned, patted her head, and said, “I’ll take a taxi home later, so I won’t be coming to your place today.”

“Okay.” Huai Jing responded lightly, hung up the phone, took his car keys and left the office.

After hearing the busy tone signalling the end of the call, Xu Xingxing’s messy mind suddenly jolted. She put the phone in front of her eyes, and looked at the interface that displayed that the other party had already hung up, feeling a chill in her heart.

It was so cold that she was a little baffled.

She and Huai Jing were friends with benefits. She rejected his invitation, and he hung up the phone. What was she feeling so cold about? Could it be that she wanted him to come pick her up?

Xu Xingxing smiled blankly, staring at the fallen leaves on the ground in a daze. Although it was a fallen leaf, its surface was still green. It was estimated that it could not withstand the wind, so it was blown down.

Being in a daze was the best way to pass the time. Messy thoughts filled Xu Xingxing’s head . This was the first time she had drunk alcohol after the divorce, so her memories naturally began with Wang Shunsheng. The more she thought about it, the more desolate her heart became. When another gust of wind came, she shivered from the cold and shrank her shoulders inwards.

At that moment, a piece of clothing fell from the sky, the warmth blocked off the cold wind, and a familiar temperature and smell instantly wrapped around her. Xu Xingxing was taken aback for a moment, this warmth was so familiar that she would feel it almost every night whenever she woke up recently. Xu Xingxing’s heart skipped a beat, and as if in a dream, she raised her head, only to meet a pair of light brown eyes.

Huai Jing only wore a light grey shirt and black trousers, the shirt was tucked in at the waist, with the upper body tall and the lower body slender. This tall and slender body stood in the shadow of the lights at the school gate, completely straight as it blended into the night.

Because of the disparity in height, he had his head slightly lowered, the side of his face shadowed by the lights, making his facial features appear more profound. His fair complexion was particularly conspicuous in the midst of these dark shadows, and she could clearly see his protruding eyebrows, his high nose bridge, and his upturned lips. He was smiling. In the eyes of outsiders, his smile was cold and steady, but in Xu Xingxing’s eyes, his smile was frivolous and flamboyant. She met his hazel eyes, which were smiling faintly, and couldn’t move her eyes away.

Xu Xingxing looked up at him, and when she saw his smile gradually deepening, her eyes trembled and she looked away. Her earlobes and cheeks gradually turned red, she lowered her head, and her lips moved slightly. “Why are you here?”

“You asked me to come.” The man’s voice was deep, sounding even more sexy as it faded into the night.

Feeling his words to be a little inexplicable, Xu Xingxing felt anxious and thought about her conversation with him a while ago, but she had no declared no hint of any intention of letting him come over to pick her up at all.

And since he always liked to tease her, Xu Xingxing retorted in a muffled voice, “I didn’t.”

“No?” Huai Jing raised his voice.

His rhetorical question made Xu Xingxing’s heart skip a beat. After thinking about it again, Xu Xingxing raised her head confidently and said, “Yes…I didn’t.”

“You said your friend was taken home by her husband,” Huai Jing said in his deep voice. 

“Ah?” Xu Xingxing looked at Huai Jing suspiciously, nodded honestly and admitted, “I did say that.” 

The corner of the man’s lips pressed down, and as he looked at the woman who was looking back up at him, his eyes softened, and he said, “Doesn’t this sentence mean ‘the other wife was picked up by her husband, when will my husband pick me up’?”