Chapter 11 Part2 (2/2)
There was no talking on the other end of the line at first, only a while of sobbing. Jia He instantly knew what was going on: Friend Qiao Qiao was once again recovering from a broken heart. Jia He waited wordlessly for some time until Qiao Qiao, with sniffles and chokes, gave a whimper, and then she asked, ”What was the reason this time for the breakup?”
”How did you know?” The heavy nasal tone did not at all mask Qiao Qiao's astonishment.
”I guessed.” The way she was crying, besides getting broken up with, what else could it be?
”I know right now you're in the honeymoon phase of your relations.h.i.+p,” Qiao Qiao said, extremely sincere in admitting her wrong, ”but I called Xiao Yu and she only said five sentences before swatting me away. That's the only reason I came to find you to seek some comfort.”
Jia He immediately grew invigorated. ”Toxic-Tongue Xiao Yu” was not an undeserved, exaggerated t.i.tle. Only five sentences to get her KO?
”What did she say?”
Qiao Qiao hatefully repeated, ”She said, 'You break up seven or eight times with every man, to the point I'm sick of just listening to you talk about it, so next time, until you've broken up for six months, don't even tell me.' ”
Jia He stifled a guffaw. ”That is the absolute truth.”
Qiao Qiao kept complaining, ”I know she's got a toxic tongue, but I need her toxicity. And then, I was really humble and submissive and told her, 'I just want to hear you tell me off. Just berate me until I wake up and then it'll be good.'”
”And what did she say?”
”She said, 'Get lost! I've scorned and raked that guy over the coals three times already and have no new words to use on him. Next time, just record and play back.'”
”What was the fifth sentence?”
” 'Goodbye'…”
”Ohhh.” Jia He understood now. ”So that's why you came to hara.s.s me?”
”I must tell someone. It's just too suffocating,” Qiao Qiao rushed to explain, worried that Jia He would hang up on her also. ”Do you know? He's just too scary. He asked me today, if we were to get married, what would I want? I was keeping in mind that his career is just starting off, so I was really considerate and said that just a little diamond ring is enough. Like, a really small one is enough.”
”That's a very reasonable request.” Jia He was puzzled. ”Isn't he the number one ba.s.s player in Taiwan? He can't even afford to buy a little diamond ring?”
”Exactly.” Qiao Qiao was indignant. ”He actually had the nerve to get really mad right away and say that I'm marrying him just for the diamond ring. Then guess what he said!”
Jia He grimaced. ”That boyfriend of yours is one-of-kind. I can't guess.”
”He actually said, 'Fine, I'll give you a diamond right but you have to give me something, too. I want a 100,000-RMB watch.'”
”Use your artsy words to comfort me a bit.”
Jia He had just stepped up to Yi Wenze's room door, and she gave a few light knocks on it. When Yi Wenze appeared, she mouthed the words ”Qiao Qiao” to him, then carried on talking on the phone while she walked into the room.
”Well…” Resigning herself to this task, Jia He pondered for a moment. ”You need to think about this from the perspective of overall history, like really big-picture thinking. Think, this thing of losing a love and getting broken up with happens every day to people. To put it bluntly, life still goes on, and at most you're just going to change out one of the people by your side. It's not a big deal.”
”Hey, not bad.” Qiao Qiao mulled this over. ”I'll post it on my Weibo for my next update and be artsy for once. If you say a couple more sentences, I'll have my QQ signature for the next half a month, too.”
Jia He fell silent, then was silent some more. ”You've gotten used to using me as your ghostwriter, haven't you?”
Qiao Qiao gave a ”hee hee,” unspokenly admitting to this.
On her end, Qiao Qiao sniffled and sobbed and talked for another lengthy period before finally hanging up.
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Only a wall light was turned on inside the room. Yi Wenze had sat back down on the couch and was smoking, his smile very profound. Feeling an uneasy guilt from his smile, Jia He reflected on her own words from just earlier. They were indeed a teeny bit inappropriate. So, smiling sheepishly, she set the popcorn onto the gla.s.s table and grabbed a can of cola. ”Qiao Qiao just got broken up with. I was comforting her.”
The subtext: Anything I said is not what I really believe, absolutely not what I believe!
”That guy is just too one-of-kind. He was the one who asked Qiao Qiao what she wanted if they were going to get married. Qiao Qiao only said that she wanted a really small diamond ring, but he actually threw a fit at that and said that Qiao Qiao's reason for marriage was just to get his money.” With a crack, Jia He opened the cola and took a small sip. Empathizing with Qiao Qiao, she denounced, ”He actually even went so far as to say, since Qiao Qiao wants him to give her a diamond ring, Qiao Qiao needs to give him a 100,000-RMB watch.”
Giving an ”mm,” Yi Wenze remarked, ”Tell her, the next time she goes to get gla.s.ses, she needs to find a better shop.”
Jia He had to run these words through her mind once before she caught the underlying meaning, and then she could not help giggling. All of a sudden remembering that tomorrow was Monday, she asked, ”Have you arranged things with Director Liu yet?”
Yi Wenze stubbed out his cigarette. ”He's coming to Tianjin tomorrow for about two days.”
Jia He blew out a long breath of relief, her mind only now set at ease. Walking over to the window, she gazed at the lights outside. She was about to ask when they would be returning to Beijing when, from behind, Yi Wenze completely enclosed her in his embrace. His one arm circled around her waist while he tilted her face up with his other hand. His touch was light, but it caused her heart to quiver furiously. Her face tilted upwards, she was pulled from the bustling magnificence below, where the street lamps dimly cast their glow, to those intense black eyes, wholly falling into them as she allowed his kiss to come down on her.
His hand was scorching. Their breathing slowly became ragged, and they were long since unable to distinguish themselves from the other person.
Jia He's only feeling was that she was lightheaded and faint. Yet, there was a nagging sense in her that something was not right. What was it?
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Oh, yes, that was it: All this time, music had been playing in the room. But why did it sound so familiar? Only when she was practically about to lose her awareness of everything did she abruptly remember—this was the music from her computer. When she left, she had not shut off her computer, so it had been playing this song on repeat the whole time. Her Microsoft Word had not been shut down either. And she her computer was not set to go to sleep after a period of inactivity…
Oh no. The love scene… That love scene inside her Word doc.u.ment…
He saw it all?!
This story was translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com only. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or re-posting are not authorized. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.
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1 of 1 Prologue
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