Nuptial Chamber Next Door

“It’s not that far and I am already back. If you don’t want to eat porridge, then what do you want to eat?”

“Are you really asking me this question? Of course, I want to eat you!”

I was sorely tempted to kill him over the phone. In my indignation, I forgot to keep my voice low, “ Do you want to go to the PLA general hospital?”

“ Are you ok with that?” Ye Zhengchen asked me with audacity.

“ I am going to ask Dr Lin to send you right now…”

“ Ah, suddenly I feel like eating the porridge.”

I snickered. “ Ok, by the way, are you familiar with Dr Lin?”

“ Yes, he was my classmate at college.”

“ Classmate ? So he is a military doctor as well ?”

The old man was looking at me closely now. His eyes were contemplative, as if he had suddenly learnt something new.

“ He was just recently transferred to Nanzhou.”

The elevator arrived and everyone went in except the couple I had spotted earlier. They seemed to be waiting patiently for me to get in. I quickly apologised to then with a slight bow and said, “Please go ahead. I will take the stairs.”

As I moved to the stairs, I continued talking, “ Why did he come to Nanzhou?”

“ I have’nt seen it for myself  but he says there are many beauties in Nanzhou.”

“ You don’t know?” I fumed, “ Wait for me to come there and smash your torture you slowly!”

“ I have already broken three ribs, I can’t undergo any more torture.”

Even though I knew he was playing on my sympathies, I could not help feel a bit distressed. I quickly disconnected the line and rushed towards his ward. As I walked in, I said loudly, “ Now you see if I don’t break the rest of your ribs…”

I swallowed back the rest of the words. Apart from him, there were two other people in the ward, the elderly couple I had notced earlier.

When they heard me, they turned to look at me.

Immediately, I could guess the real identity of the couple. I wanted to pour the porridge over my head in utter embarrassment.

I tried to recall what I had said earlier, if there was anything particularly inappropriate. All I remembered was “ Let me get upstairs and torture you slowly.”

I was actually a very gentle soul, I swear to God!

In this situation, the best way would probably be to pretend that I had walked into the wrong room, apologise and leave.

Just as I was putting the plan in action, Ye Zhengchen cleared his throat ad introduced me , “ Dad, Mom, this is Bo Bing, my girlfriend.”

Then he turned to me, “ Girl, meet my parents.”

“ Uncle, Aunty, how are you ?”

I realised it was too late now to escape.

Ye Zhengchen’s father nodded indifferently. There was no change of expression on his face. But somehow his compelling presence seemed even more powerful.

He just glanced at me and I immediately felt my breath hitch in fear.

I didn’t dare to say anything more. I put down the breakfast and poured two glasses of warm water, “ Uncle, Aunty, please have some water.”

“Thank you”. Ye Zengchen’s mother politely smiled at me as she took the glass.

His father, on the other hand, just looked at the disposable cup and didn’t deign to pick it up.

Ye Zhengchen sat up on the bed, “ Dad, you must have rushed to nanzhou in the early morning flight. I’m sure you are tired. Please have a cup of tea, moisten your throat, and then we can start arguing again.”

His father’s face hardened. It looked like it was a common occurrence for the father and son to quarrel.

His mother pulled his father’s sleeve, subtly signalling him to keep his calm.

“ Where did you get injured? How did it happen?”

“ Just a surface wound”, Ye Zhengchen pulled his sleeves and revealed the bruises on his elbow. “ It’s almost healed.”

Although his father stood a bit far, he leaned over to take a look. He raised his eyebrow when he saw the dark and bloody bruise

His mother was even more distressed. “ When you are injured to sucj a degree, why didn’t the doctor bandage you ? What if you get infected?”

She gently oulled his sleeves down.

“ Let’s go back to Beijing. We have arranged for you to get admitted at the PLA General Hospital. I’m sure you can recover there.”

“I’m fine here.”

Ye Zhengchen’s father turned a deaf ear and looked at the door, calling out to someone, “ Xiao Chen, go to the doctor and start the transfer procedures.”

Immediately there was an answer ‘ Yes, Sir!”

It was only then that I noticed there was a young man standing outside the door. He wasn’t very tall, but he looked very smart. Although he said this, he did not leave immediately.

“ The doctor said that transferring now may actually harm me more because of the nature of my injury”

His father glanced at me and snorted, “ I can see you are very reluctant to leave Nanzhou.”

“ Yes, I can’t bear to go back.”

“ You !” Ye Zhengchen’s father could no longer hold back his anger, “ Don’t forget you are a soldier. You can’t allow a woman to drive your decisions..”

Ye Zhengchen was in no mood to retreat, “ I will never forget that Commander Ye!”

The commander was more infuriated. “ In that case, get yourself discharged from the hospital and get back to the army!”

“Ok, I will get myself discharged”

Saying this, Ye Zhengchen quickly got out of bed. But he has moved too fast. The sudden pain made his face turn pale.

“ What happened?” I rushed to his side and hugged him to support his body, “ is the wound bleeding again?”

“ I’m fine…”, he pressed his chest, and his voice trembled.

His parents were surprised by his abrupt behaviour. His mother became anxious as well, “ Where are you injured? Why are you not telling us the truth?”

I had never seen such a pained expression on his face and I panicked.

“ Just hold on, I am going to call Dr Lin.”

Ye Zhengchen grabbed my hand, “ No.”

“Brother, please go back to Beijing with Uncle and Aunt. They are right. Nanzhou is a small place after all. The medical facilities here are not as advanced as what you would get in Beijing…”

He looked at me and suddenly smiled, “ Will you come with me?”

“ Me?”

Ye Zhengchen grabbed my hand. His face was so earnest I was reluctant to investigate any deeper motives. “ If you don’t come with me, I wont go.”

I was really in a quandary

While I was wondering how to answer , Mrs Ye chipped in , “ Miss Bo, if it convenient, you can accompany us back to Beijing. His grandparents would like to see you as well.”

I looked at his father. His face was still expressionless. He just turned his face and looked at Xiao Chen outside. “ Xiao Chen, go start the transfer procedures.”

“ Yes, Sir!”

I turned and looked at Ye Zhengchen again. He winked at me with a smile on his lips.

Much later, one day, while chatting, Mrs Ye revealed that earlier, she had never understood why Ye Zhengchen was hellbent on having me in his life. He had had numerous quarrels with his father on this issue and had even left home a couple of times.

That day, when he grabbed my hand and begged me to accompany him, she finally understood how deep his feelings were.

At that time, I suddenly realised that he had staged all this!