Chapter 46: My Bride Iii (1/2)

I gradually woke up from my sleep and realized that I was naked.

I was too caught up in reliving everything that happened last night that it took me a few minutes to notice that the bed was empty.

I heard the sound of water running and I looked over to the bathroom.

She was taking a shower and I could faintly see her silhouette through the frosted gla.s.s.

I listened close and heard her humming a tune.

The shower turned off so I quickly got into a comfortable position and pretended to be asleep.

She got out of the bathroom shortly after, picked up her phone and dialed a number.

”Can I request for a day off, Manager? I know it's sudden and I should've told you in advance but something came up and I can't get to work.”

So she lied about not having work and forgot about applying for leave.

”Thank you so much and sorry for the inconvenience, Manager.”

She hung up and continued humming her tune as she walked toward me.

I could feel her holding onto something, probably my wallet.

I heard her open it.

There were two metal b.u.t.tons that made a crisp sound when being opened.

Was she trying to take my money? All kinds of thoughts filled my head.

I thought about turning over at that moment but decided against it.

”He's really a tailor…” I heard her mumble.

I knew she'd seen the name card inside.

The next thing I knew, a tight slap had landed on my face.

I was struck dumb.

I opened my eyes and looked at her.

She yelled, ”Why do you have so many credit cards, Luqiao. Aren't you rich? Why do you have so many cards? Such a liar.”

”What are you talking about!” I was still in shock.

”How do you explain these then?” she demanded, flinging my cards out one by one.

There were more than five of them.

I sat up. ”Am I not a tailor? I need seven days to complete a suit. In order to decrease their waiting time, some customers would stuff me with gifts when I take their measurements. Other tailors accept them so wouldn't it be unprofessional of me to decline?”

”Gift? Are you corrupted? Accepting gifts at work?” Almost subconsciously, she gave me another slap on my face.

It stung.

”Tell me. Did you come back because you got sick of robbing and killing?” she cried out.

”I did leave for eight years but how could I have changed that much?” I responded.

Memories returned.

I was six and she was nine.

After that incident, we met every day on the bench.

We talked about everything under the sun.

Time pa.s.sed, year after year.

When I attended junior high, she was already in senior high.

When I got to senior high, she was already enrolled in university.

We were always three years apart.

I got accepted into her university, Jingdezhen Inst.i.tution.

I was in my first year and she was in her last.

School's sports field.

I confessed.

We discussed the present, the past, and the future… everything.

Were we going to get a cat or dog?

Shower or bathtub?

Manual or electric toothbrush?

Girl or boy?

Good things don't last of course.

My father committed suicide right before the start of my third year.

He jumped off a building during work time.

I realized after that his job as a professor in a county's university wasn't enough to provide for us... for me.

He had no time to rest, traveling everywhere to give talks.

However, not many were interested in these profound talks so he had to borrow money from people.

He ended up owing loan sharks money in exchange for my worry-free days.

Finally, he couldn't bear it any longer and chose to end his life, but not before I became an adult.

He left me a letter and I remembered the last line: Do not blame anyone. This world is unbearably cruel but life goes on and has been going on for millions of years.

I finished reading with a laugh. What a cultured suicide note.

I did not cry or look for him, perhaps because I was rebelling. That became one of my life's biggest regret.

I heard that his corpse remained in the mortuary, unclaimed for a month. Eventually, the loan sharks tracked him down and he finally got cremated.

And she graduated after.

She chose to become an air stewardess and enrolled in an etiquette school once more.

And I visited her parents at the worst time.

It went great until we had a little too much to drink.

Of course, when they started asking about my family situation I relayed everything that happened.

I was about to start my third year, had no money or job.

No parents, no future goals.

She was told by her parents to get us more fruits and what I experienced next was the most miserable ten minutes of my life.

Without calling me out on anything, her father kept stressing that he needed to find an outstanding partner for his daughter.

And his wife wasn't too shy to emphasize that what I had going on in my life was far below their expectations.

I was already on the brink of breaking down but Uncle decided to bring my family up once again.

At that point, I was wondering if it really was difficult for an orphan to get married.