Nuptial Chamber Next Door

Time always flies when one is busy, and in a blink of an eye, a week had passed. Ye Zhengchen had not come back. I would be lying if I said I did not miss him. I would remember him often. I would remember  his mischievous laugh, like that of a pervert

Whenever I was bored, I would secretly fantasize about him. I dreamt that he would suddenly appear and hug me from behind one day when I walked out of hospital. Then, he would ask me, “ Girl, did you miss me ? Did you think of me? Don’t be embarrassed..”

I laughed to myself as I thought about this.

“ What makes you so happy?”, Dr Lu from Pathology asked me.

The trainee doctor standing next to him immediately piped in, “ I know why. It’s because Secretary Zhong has been released. I always knew it. He is such a good person, he would never be involved in this.”

I hadn’t seen Zhong Tim for a long time.

Yesterday, I bumped into a friend of his and was chatting with him when I discovered that the case had been closed. Yin Zhong Tian was not convicted. In fact, he had produced strong evidence against the accused.

He was allowed to go back to work, but he no longer wanted to stay in Nanzhou. His career options were limited here and he was planning to move out of the city.

Ye Zhengchen had promised that he would solve the problem to my satisfaction. He had really done it, but I still lacked the courage to tell my father what had happened

On the weekend, I accompanied my father to the park for a walk. After a week of rest, he was looking healthier.

“ Xiao Bing, why haven’t you met Zhong Tian recently? Is he busy?”

“ He went back to work. Since he was on suspension for so long, he has a lot of work piled up.”

“ But isn’t today a holiday? Why don’t you call him for dinner?”

“ Dad..”

He needed to hear the truth sooner or later, and he seemed to be in a good mood now. “ Zhong Tian and I…”

When Dad saw my expression, he quickly understood. “Have you two been fighting?”

I tried to test the waters. “ If we break up, would you be ok ?”

“ Young people these days! To quarrel once in a while is normal. Don’t break up because of that. Zhong Tian is going through a difficult time, you should try to be more understanding…”

We walked along the cobblestoned path around the lake. I wanted to confess the whole truth several times, but each time something held me back.

On weekends, a lot of couples were walking in the park or sitting on the benches.

As we walked, we came face to face with one of them and I was instantly horrified. I looked again closely. Yes, it was Zhong Tin with a young girl in her twenties.

After a moment of stunned inaction, I quickly took my Dad’s arm and pulled him away, “Dad, let’s go that way.”

“But this is the shortest way to home..”, Dad pointed at the path ahead. As soon as he said this, his face paled.Frantically, I tried searching for his heart medicine and then stuffed it into his mouth. Once he swallowed the medicine, Zhong Tian approached us. Instead of avoiding us, he actually spoke to us quite calmly.

“ Uncle, Xiao Bing..”

“ You look well”, I responded to his greeting with a smile.

I recognised the girl with him. She too worked in the city government. She wasn’t very pretty but she was highly educated. Someone had told me that she was the granddaughter of an ex – honcho in the municipality. Even her parents held senior positions in the government.

“ Who is she?” my father asked Zhong Tian

Zhong Tian turned towards the girl and said,” Wold you mind waiting for me ? I just need to speak to Uncle in private.”

“Sure. I will just walk towards the lake. Take your time.”

After the girl walked away, Yin Zhong Tian glanced at me quickly, but it was too fleeting for me to understand his emotions.

“ Uncle, I am sorry. Xiao Bing and I have not been completely honest with you. We were worried about your health…”

“ What do you mean?” my Dad looked incredulously at him and them at me.

“ Xiao Bing and I have no relationship”

Even I was shocked when Zhong Tian said this.

“ What?”

Zhong Tian looked at me again and continued, “At that time, because of your deteriorating health, Xiao Bing was very worried about you. To make you happy, she asked me for help and we pretended to be engaged. After that, so many things happened. You had a heart attack because of my news and it became even more difficult for us to tell you the truth.”

I detected my father throwing questioning looks at me. Not knowing what to say, I quickly moved my head, pretending to gaze at the lake and the mountains behind it.

“ Uncle, Xiao Bing is very filial. You must not blame her for doing all this. She just wanted to keep you happy..”

Then he added politely, “ I have been busy at work these few days. I will make some time and come meet you in a couple of days.”

After this statement, he turned away from us and walked away. I could detect a faint trembling of his back as he walked.

“ Xiao Bing, is al of this true?”

“ I…”, he shouldn’t have caught me uanaware like this, He really sould not have.

“Hey!” Dad called out. He snatched his hand from my grip and started walking along the cobblestoned path.

I caught up with him in a few steps, “ Dad..”

He stopped and looked at me.

“ I have always known that you didn’t like Zhong Tian . When you suddenly announced your engagement, I was quite surprised.”

“……” “…”

“ I never realised that you were so confused; That you lied to me with him. How can you fake an engagement? Did you think there would be no consequences? What would people think?”

I didn’t say a word. In fact, if I know told him the truth, he would probably never believe me. Zhong Tian had convinced him completely.

That night, I just took a shower and  went to sleep. My mother came into my room and spoke to me for a long time. She also told me that I had been stupid and that I should have never lied to them.

She also told me that my parents only wanted me to find a good man who was good to me and marry him. It didn’t matter if that man was Zhong Tian or someone else. I knew that my parents love towards me had always been selfless. No matter what I did , they would always love me wholeheartedly.

Later, she asked me about Ye Zhengchen and whether he had a girlfriend.

I thought about the answer for a long time before I said, “ No.”

She was quiet for a long time. I sensed she wanted to ask me something more but was hesitating.

Just then I received a text message on my phone. I glanced down to see that the message was from Ye Zhengchen. Only three words, “ I am downstairs.”

Without hanging my clothes, I just put on my coat and hurried downstairs immediately.

My mother chased after me, “ Xiao Bing, where are you going?”

“ There is something at the hospital. You go to sleep. Don’t wait up for me.”

I ran downstairs. I panted as I looked around. Then I saw a car parked under a tree nearby. Ye Zhengchen was casually leaning against the car. He smiled when he saw me.

Even under the dim street lights, I could spot the pallor on his face.

As I moved closer, I could see that he had lost weight and his face was a lot sharper

“ Were you very busy these days? You seem to have lost weight..”

He hesitated then answered, “Yeah.”

We walked on the leaf strewn path with no destination in mind. It was cold outside but I was feeling warm

“ How did you know I was here?”

“ I went to your apartment first.” Even the most mundane sentences were starting to sound incredibly romantic to me.

“ Why are you here so late? Is there something you want?”

“ I just wanted to take a walk with you.”

I bowed my head but couldn’t stop a smile from spreading on my face.

“ If you want to laugh, go ahead! I know you missed me..”

I didn’t deny his caim.

“ I cant believe you just want to take a walk. Such an innocent pursuit!”

“ Oh not that. I can’t today.”

This was a great surpise. I was completely nonplussed. “ When have you ever been unable to engage in these activities?”

“ I can hear the disappointment in your voice “, Ye Zhengchen stopped. He looked down and smirked.

“ Although I am not at my full strength today, if you demand it so strongly, I may..”

Miumiu : Well atleast the issue with Zhong Tian is solved, although I am not sure I liked the way he explained it. But why is YZ not upto his usual strength? leave me your comments ‘coz that is the only thing that inspires me to continue this project