Nuptial Chamber Next Door

Is this how the wealthy behave?

Suddenly gift someone something so expensive?

Is this how he treated other women?

"Isn't this watch very expensive?" I took it and turned it over in my hands

"It's a waste of money, can't you just give me cash directly?"

Without any hesitation, he took out his wallet and extracted a bankcard from it.

"Use this for your tuition fees."

This carefree and lax attitude to money was killing me!

"Thank you!" I took the bankcard but returned the watch to him. I refused to take the gift!

With his lips pressed, he tightened his grip on the watch. The innocent watch was being strangulated in his hand.

How many hours of my work would it take to earn enough money to buy this watch?

" Oh, what is the pin number?"

He looked back at me, his lips tightened in a straight line.

"Are you upset?" I laughed at him in the moonlight," I was just joking."

He frowned, " Why did you refuse my gift?"

Because I did not want to be the next Qin Xue, just a momentary diversion in his life

In this foreign country, he was the only one I could rely on.

I returned the bank card to him and went to the parapet to stand next to him.

" I am really sorry. I admit that I admire you, I depend on you, I need you.. but I have always treated you like my brother."

He patted the top of my head, "Come on!"

I looked away at the distance. I had fallen in a dark, inexplicable place, I couldn't even see anything clearly. " I like you patting my head, I like that you call me 'girl'"..I like the feeling of being pampered and taken care of."

" This isn't a contradiction to our relationship."

"Brother, you are always looking for a woman who is willing to go to bed with you. I will help you find interesting women, they are everywhere.. but don't look at me, okay? I just want to be your girl.."

He hugged me from behind, tightly holding on to me

" Girl…"

" We will just keep this status quo, alright? I don't want to change."

He held me by the shoulders and turned me around to face him. The bright moonlight was reflected in his eyes as I looked into them

Just as he was about to speak, his phone rang

He cursed softly as he took out the phone and looked at the number. Then a cold and distant expression settled on his face as he connected the phone and asked, " What happened?"

Listening to his cold and indifferent tone, I surmised it was a girlfriend he was upset with who had called.

" Yes I am very busy now"

"…."

With his back against the wall, Ye Zhengchen  kicked the foot of the wall. When a person's concentration was elsewhere, the little unconscious actions always gave away their real mood.

"Ok, next month, I will try and get some time to come back."

He suddenly stopped kicking and stood up straight, "What?"

".."

I had no idea what the person on the phone said.

His face was becoming increasingly gloomy

" No! I do not agree!"

He yelled at the phone, " Dont think that just because you are my father you can decide everything!"

I was stunned! It was actually his father who had called

In the next minute, he turned around and mercilessly smashed the phone against the wall. He threw the phone with such force that it affected his wound, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead at the sudden pain

I had never seen him so angry

I hurriedly walked up to him. " Was it your dad? What happened?"

" Nothing!" He ran his fingers through his hair and gave me an angry but helpless look.

" Whatever it is, you can discuss coolly. Losing your temper will not solve the problem!"

"I would love to discuss with him, but he's not even willing to give me the opportunity! He just wants to make the decisions; he is not even willing to ask my opinion! Now even this…" he inhaled deeply, desperately trying to calm himself down.

" He loves you. He is not going to do anything that hurts you"

He kept silent

I sat down beside him, leaning my back against the wall

"My father is the same. He makes every decision with regards to me without asking my opinion on the matter."

He sat close to me and quietly listened to me

I kept talking. " Since I was a child, I hated hospitals. People crying everywhere, the smell of disinfectant and the bloodstains… In the college entrance examination, I wanted to learn Chinese painting, but my father forced me to study medicine. He said that studying art will not get me a job. There would be a lot of opportunities if I were a doctor. I was so angry I didn't speak to him for a month"

" Did you finally give up?" he asked

I nodded

" Now when I think about it, he was right, He has more experience, can see much further ahead than me. There is nothing bad about being a doctor. They have a high income, they are well respected in the society. And I got used to the smell of disinfectant and the sight of blood."

He looked at the distant lights.

" Its exactly the opposite for me. I have always dreamt of being a doctor, opening a hospital, and doing my best to save people. My father opposed it. We quarrelled for two months. Then at last.."

" You still got to go to medical school. You won."

He smiled bitterly

" I did not want to come to Japan but he forced me to come here"

" What did he do this time?"

He looked up at me, as if debating whether to tell me or not. Then he shook his head. " Nothing! He is old and confused, I cant control him!"

When he said the last sentence, there was a touch of helplessness and annoyance but also a bit of unspoken love

After all, they were father and son. No matter how much they quarrelled, there was no denying that blood was always thicker than water.

…… …

" Are you hungry?" I smiled at him. " I can barbeque some chicken wings for you!"

" I am starving to death!"

Quarrels and anger are often easily settled.

We happily ate the chicken wings together as we laughed and chatted

No one disturbed us. As we ate the delicious barbecue, we watched the night lights and chatted pleasantly

At that time , I really thought that no matter what tragedy came into our lives, as long as we were together, we could face anything.

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Ye Zengchen healed very quickly, In no time, the bandages were removed and he could freely move his arm

I must admit I felt a little nostalgic. I liked the feeling of him being dependant on me when he was injured

On a rare holiday, I had not gone to the laboratory and was standing on the balcony, immersed in yet another cycle of the Heaven's fragrance song

After continuously eating food fit for the invalid, Ye Zhengchen came over to the balcony, and very hopefully, he asked me, " Shouldnt you be inviting me to have spicy hot pot at your place to celebrate my recovery?"

I said, " Ok. Today is a holiday so you can go get the groceries."

" Thats great!"

" Wait! Buy a bit more. I will invite Li Kai as well."

" Why do you want to invite him?"

" Because I want to invite him for lunch". I saw his face turn gloomy. " If you don't like it, I will not ask him".

He was slightly relived when I added , " Then I will ask him to come to lunch alone on some other day"

Ye Zhengchen thought for a moment and them said, " Its better to call everybody. The more the merrier!"

" Okay!" I said excitedly, " Lets play the game again!"

"Ok, I will call all of the gang"

The murder game was a very popular game in our apartment. Whenever we got together, we would play the game and it would always help to keep the communication going

When I first came to participate, Brother Feng teased me the whole night

The game started. We had the same rules. Whoever lost would have to drink a glass of sake

Soon, all of us were drunk to some extent except Ye Zengchen. With his logical thinking and better than average intelligence, regardless of whether he was the killer or the police, he never lost.

In one of the rounds, Qin Xue and I unfortunately became the murderers. Qin Xue was soon found by the police. I nervously held the ace of spades in my hand

As I turned to Ye Zhengchen, he keenly looked at everybody's expression one by one till his eyes fell on me

Our eyes met and I deliberately smiled at him, a bit mischievously and a bit shyly.

He smiled back at me, his face showing a mix of tenderness and trust.

The judge was annoyed.

" You too.. what is this silent signalling? Talk quickly!"

He suddenly turned back and stated, " Its not Bo Bing"

My smile turned wider. The trick of beauty worked!

The next round began

The judge said, " Killer, please open your eyes"

I opened my eyes

The judge said, " Killer, please kill"

I reached out and pointed my fingers at Ye Zhengchen.

The judge immediately announced that the game was over and the police was dead.

He opened his eyes and looked at my pointed finger, his gaze a bit mesmerizing

" I lose!" he sighed deeply

The other policemen was annoyed. " Even knowing that you would die, why did you not unmask the murderer? Its fine if you like her, but cant you have some mercy on us?"

" You deserve to die! Drink!"

Ye Zhengchen smiled and took one glass of sake and drank it in one breath

Brother Feng winked at Ye Zhengchen and in a lovely Tianjin accent said, " Are you depressed? Its worthwhile to die while romancing a beauty"

I was a bit embarrassed by their teasing.

" Your mind is twisted! Brother and I only have a pure neighbourly relationship"

" Pure?" Brother Feng guffawed," You ask our handsome Mr Ye. Does he even know the word 'pure'?"

I looked at Ye Zhengchen for assistance, hoping he would back me up

He leaned back on the chair, his lips curved upwards in a teasing smile, " No, I don't know"

Revenge, this was pure revenge!

" In fact..", Ye Zhengchen crossed his legs and glanced at the direction of Li Kai. Very slowly he said, " I have always been very motivated by very unpure motives. Dont tell me you don't know what I am talking about"

Some people started booing while others widened their eyes in surprise.

Someone asked, " Are you pure?"

Someone else asked, " Is this a confession ?"

He was declaring his feelings, clearly…

The judge was angry. " Go away! You two go next door! Dont  hold us up!"

Ye Zhengchen really stood up, " I have to write a report"

I was finally relieved.

Who would have thought that, just before he left, he would deliberately place his hand on my shoulder and  leaning close to my face, he would vividly portray the 'impure' image he was being accused of." Girl don't forget to help me make my bed"

Everyone was surprised and looked at us.

Are you crazy?

I abruptly swallowed the sentence and instead mercilessly pinched his thigh

He happily went back to his apartment, leaving me to bear the stares and questions of the other people

Had I known this would happen, I would have never given in to me kinder instincts and help him buy a bedcover

No good deed goes unpunished!