Chapter 25: Acting
The blood in the lamp had burned out, and a hazy water mist was suspended in the air. The red afterglow of the sun had dissipated in the mist, and his handsome figure was in the shadows.
The sky was getting dark, so he had replaced the light.
The girl was curled up there, and she had raised her head. Her soft and messy black hair was on one side, and only one side of her pale face was exposed. She was looking at him with a pitiful look, and her thin and frail frame was supporting a layer of flesh and blood. Her bloodless lips were pursed into an arc, and she was like a stray cat that no one wanted. Her soft and fluffy eyes were licking him.
Su Yu took the wine from her hand and took a sip. The high-proof wine was burning his throat, and the fire was spreading to his heart and was burning. It was an indescribable discomfort, and it made one want to tear apart the silent disguise.
“Don’t drink.”
He casually poured out the wine, and the can was thrown aside with a clatter. He helped her up, and her slender shoulder blades pressed sharply against his hand.
Xia Qiange held his arm and slowly stood up. Her increasingly thin and shapeless body still could not escape that frail and beautiful look. Her clear black and white eyes were adorned with her, and her gaze at him was gentle and lingering. She always had an endless and stunning beauty.
She looked a little flustered, and she quickly became helpless. She hurriedly tied up her scattered hair, folded the messy hem of her skirt, and patted away the dust. Her waist was fair and tender, and her slender waist was held in one hand. The secular gaze at her could be ignored, but he was the only exception.
“You’re back. I’ve been waiting for you at home. Yeah… I haven’t been anywhere.” Her tone was well-behaved, and she was as soft as a wife who had been in love for many years. After a long separation, she was begging for his love.
Su Yu was holding the bag that had fallen on the ground. In the darkness, he slowly held her cold hand and took a deep breath, so that his voice was stable. “Yeah, let’s go back first. It’s cold outside…”
…
He opened the door, and the light was on. He was standing on the side, waiting for her.
Xia Qiange changed her shoes and then took out another pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them in front of him. She raised her head and looked at him with an eager look. “I’ve washed all of these when you were not here.”
He was stiff for a moment, and his eyes were a vast and deep sea. The silent gentleness was slowly grinding him, and it was grinding his coldness into a fine powder, and then he was captured.
“Okay, thank you.”
He didn’t want to easily fall into the weakness of being soft-hearted, so his tone was a little stiff and distant. He picked up the shoes on the ground and changed them on the side. Then he passed by her, as if they were strangers.
Xia Qiange was standing in place, and the hand that was about to take off his coat was frozen in mid-air, and then it was slowly withdrawn with a dejected look.
She lowered her head and subconsciously picked at the scar on her index finger to offset another more tormenting pain. It was not clear. Everyone she had loved deeply had made her suffer so much that she was on the verge of death.
At what point had they lost the tacit understanding they had had when one person would welcome the other home? The things that had been exchanged for lies had been secretly marked with a price in the dark. In the end, it was all taken back in one breath, and along with it, as interest, her will to live as a person was also taken away.
Her lower abdomen was in a turmoil again, and the morbid thoughts were multiplying in her body, and they were corroding her rational cells. Her body was as if it had been swallowed and was empty, and the cold wind was echoing in her chest.
She was almost suffocated by the dejected and rotten smell after the rain. The pain was forcing her to scream, and the stuffiness was making her speechless. So she could only stand in place, unable to move.
Su Yu raised his hand and turned on the living room light. The bright and clear light had come to this space after a long time, and it had driven away the darkness that had been entrenched for a long time. It was no different from before. The furnishings were neat and tidy, and the windows were bright and clean. It was just that this kind of cleanliness was filled with an inhuman and cold look.
There was not a single bit of a living person’s vitality, and it was no different from the her behind him.
Click!
The crisp sound of the door being locked, and her heart was shaken. She subconsciously wanted to turn her head and look at her.
The next second, he was stiff, and his pupils were dilated. His heart was suddenly and heavily hit.
“Don’t leave this time, okay?”
She pounced on him and hugged him from the front. Her face was deeply buried in his chest, and there was a light sobbing sound. But her hand was holding his hand, and her ten fingers were separated, and then she had forcefully clasped them together. And she was constantly and gently caressing the lines on the back of his hand with her fingertips, again and again.
He instinctively wanted to keep a distance from her. Being too close was a naked soft spot for him.
“Qian Ge… I should have been very clear with you before. This kind of thinking is not right. To like someone, you should see them as free. This is a disease. It needs to be treated.”
“I know I’m sick. I’ll treat it.” She was still holding him like that, and her voice was weak and trembling. She was so humble that it was ridiculous. She showed a smile, and it was very forced. “I’ll listen to you. I’ll always be Ah Yu’s.”
“And no one can only belong to another person.” He wanted to withdraw his hand, and there was a deliberate coldness in his voice.
She was not willing. She slowly raised his hand and put it on her face, and she was touching the tears that were flowing from the corners of her eyes.
“So, really… you don’t want me anymore?”
He opened his mouth, and his Adam’s apple was rolling up and down. After a moment of a stalemate, he sighed and wiped the watery light from her face. “Why is your face so pale? How can you not take care of your body when you’re alone?”
His hand was later withdrawn, and he walked to the inner room. “I’ll help you pack your blanket. You should get a good night’s sleep first. I… I’m not in a hurry to leave.”
“I really like you.”
Xia Qiange said softly behind him. She saw that he had stopped for a moment and then had continued forward.
His very plain voice was almost cruel. He said, “Go and take a shower. It will be warmer.”
…
There was hot water in the shower, and the mist was slowly climbing up the glass. The water vapor was dense and lingering, and it had taken away the tears in her eyes. Only her eyes were red.
She reached out and touched her cheek. Her muscles were stiff, and her every smile and frown was the affected pretense of an actress.
She knew she was pretending to cry, and she was acting pitiful and frail in front of him. She had soaked her heart in tears until it was soft, just to wrap him up and melt him.
So many calculations were used on her love. She had disguised herself as a friendly and frail Xia Qiange, who was so frail that it made one’s heart ache. And she had tried every means to become the light in his despair, just because he liked such an upward, sunny, and fictional character who had nothing to do with darkness.
Slowly, she could barely tell who was who.
Beautiful and ugly, real and fake.
She gently wiped the mist from the mirror and smiled at the person in the mirror.
So not worth it.
To be so humble and submissive, to please him in every way, she could not get his sincere love in return. It was as if it were her own wishful thinking, and she was vicious and base.
Her heart was both sour and soft.
Suddenly, she shouted at the outside of the bathroom, asking him to bring her her phone. When she heard the response, she was silent.
She lowered her eyes and turned off the trickling shower. She pushed open the bathroom door, and a hazy and hot water mist was surging. It had washed away her decadence, and her delicate and pretty face in the mist was bright and alluring.
Her fair and small ankles were on the cool and white porcelain tiles. Her thin and transparent body was firm and fleshy where it should be full. It was slightly trembling, and her porcelain-white skin was exposed to the air. It was as if it had been oxidized, and her delicate and tender texture was filled with a sensual and alluring crimson.
She walked out, and she thought, then it would be better to be a bad person.
