Chapter 46: Chinese Flowering Crabapple
The light rain had been falling all night. Before dawn, the sky had turned a striking fish-belly white.
A few unknown birds were hiding under the eaves of the single-family villa, preening their wings. Their brown and yellow feathers were soaked and had turned a dark black.
The spacious and luxurious river-view villa was soaked in the rain. The garden was lush and green, with a riot of colors. The flower branches were beautiful. Only a Chinese flowering crabapple tree was lifeless. Its branches were drooping, and the bouquets of flowers on the branches were also not in good spirits. The flower clusters were wrinkled, and the color of the flowers was pale.
The viewing platform on the second floor was hanging in mid-air. The gray and white sunlight was shining through the transparent glass above their heads and was on the snow-white pages. A slender hand was gently on the title page. The cool wind, which was filled with moisture, was blowing from the distant and clear sky, and it had messed up her frail and light and thin hair.
A few bent and old photos were spread out between the pages of the book. The wrinkles were obvious, and the folds were on the photos. It was probably because she had been looking at them over and over again with a hot and scorching emotion, and she had tried her best to suppress the folding of the content of the photos. In the end, her eyes were out of focus, and she was silent on the snow-white blank on the back.
“The nanny said you’re not resting well again, and you’ve been secretly drinking.”
An old and hoarse voice had broken the trickling sound of the rain. “It’s getting cold. You’ll catch a cold if you sit here. I’m an old bone, and I’m not enough for you to mess with.”
“Auntie Jing…”
Gu Zhi turned her head and looked at the old woman by her side. Time had carved scratches on her face, and her cloudy and yellow eyes were filled with vicissitudes.
She blinked her eyes, and the long corners of her eyes were drooping with a dejected look. There was a guilt of being caught doing something bad. “It’s just because I drank that I can’t sleep.”
“You’ve looked at these photos many times. Do you want me to ask someone to take a few new ones for you? He’s back in Qingchuan.”
“He’s back?”
Gu Zhi turned her head in surprise and suddenly laughed softly. Her thin, concubine-colored lips were slightly upturned, and a translucent luster was revealed. The long corners of her eyes were curved up, and her eyelids were adorned with a charm. It was a dark red mole under the light, and her charm was natural. Her beauty was a dizzying, and it was a mature and elegant look that made time lose its speed.
The dark and gloomy sky had brightened for a moment, and then it had turned gray again.
“Forget it. I won’t bother him.”
She shook her head and lowered her eyes. Her graceful voice was mature and low. “He doesn’t like me. I’ll scare him.”
“You’ve changed after being sick.”
Auntie Jing was not surprised by this answer. She sighed, and the deep wrinkles on her face were filled with a helplessness. “If you really can’t let go, then go and see him. People… are selfish. That’s how life is. They torture each other, and they see who dies first.”
“Changed? Really?”
Gu Zhi turned her head and looked at Auntie Jing. Her long and narrow eyes were shining with a surprise. After a long while, she lowered her head and looked at the few wrinkled photos. He was carrying a bag, and his back, which was of a moderate width, was as straight as a pine tree. He was wearing a black shirt and black pants, and the brim of his hat was lowered to cover his face, revealing a delicate jawline. His long and slender neck was as white as porcelain, and his Adam’s apple was gently moving up and down.
She smiled bitterly, and a forced arc was on the corners of her lips. She laughed at herself. “It would be great if it were really like that.”
Most of them were taken by him at the train station. Only one of them had a full view of his face. It was still no different from before. The flaws of his youthful past had been tempered in the fire and had become more and more mature. He did not smile easily, and his dark and gentle eyes were a little more tired. When he was waiting for the train, he would lean against a billboard and take a nap. His closed eye lines were long and deep, and his eyelashes were as thick as the dark wings of a butterfly.
She had been in love with his fresh, young, and innocent temperament with a hot and even crazy passion. His ignorance, his recklessness, his stubbornness, had been like a knife, and it had stabbed into her heart countless times and had been ruthlessly pulled out. She was in so much pain that she was on the verge of death, and her love had been tempered in this torment and had become more and more crazy and disorderly, until she could not control herself.
His gradual maturity was like a lit fuse, and it was warning her. In fact, it was telling her that soon he would not be so trusting of her, and he would have his own thoughts. The people who admired him or whom he admired would be between them, and the gap would be widened. The panic and unease of their relationship, which was about to become distant, was like a veil, and it was enveloping her.
Gu Zhi loved him so much that she was in a panic all day. She couldn’t control herself, and she had fallen ill from her love.
She was crazy… there was a grotesque monster hidden in her heart. She was always afraid of it, and she was afraid of this abnormality that had occupied her body. It was not until she had been seriously ill and had gone through a life-and-death experience that she had suddenly realized that the monster was actually herself. There had never been any so-called abnormality.
She was the monster itself. No wonder he was afraid of her.
And what was truly strange was the current Gu Zhi, who was not fighting for anything and was as plain as water. It was the sequela that was left after she had recovered from that serious illness. It was like a nail, and it had nailed the monster her to the bottom of her heart, and it was a bloody mess, and it had filled her heart.
Gu Zhi closed the book, and the photo was in the middle of the pages. It was a cool day after the rain in late spring. She was only wearing a silk nightgown with straps, and a large patch of a snow-white and porcelain-white skin was exposed. She had been recuperating for a long time, and her body was slowly getting back on track. A healthy blush was on her cheeks.
She suddenly felt cold. The cold wind, which was filled with moisture, was blowing through her pores and was into her heart. The blood in her blood vessels was also getting cold. She slowly stood up, and the hem of her skirt, which was on her knees, was drooping to her calves. Her half-calf was slender and white, and the fine blue blood vessels were faintly visible.
“Is Yue Xi… graduating today?”
Gu Zhi lowered her eyes and fiddled with her fingertips. She remembered that there was such a thing. “Is she okay?”
“Miss Yue Xi is fine. She was very sad when her father passed away back then. She slowly got over it later. She even said the day before yesterday that she was worried about your condition and wanted to come and see you.”
After Gu Zhi had heard it, she had waved her hand. “Just say that I’m not feeling well and won’t see her. Have someone arrange for her to go abroad. A simple personality like hers is not suitable to stay here. She shouldn’t go back to the Gu family in the future.”
Auntie Jing paused for a moment. She looked at Gu Zhi’s tired face and still hesitated to speak. “Gu Chuan has also returned to the country. He asked me about your recent situation, and also… Miss Yue Xi’s whereabouts. He also wants to talk to you.”
“Why are there always so many things?”
Gu Zhi frowned tightly and stood at the entrance of the balcony. The frame under her dark black nightgown was thin and slender, as if it would be blown away. She was silent for a long while, and her wrist was on her forehead, and she was rubbing it. “It’s just about money. How much is left in the family…”
“You’ve been recuperating for the past two years and have not been willing to manage things. The family has barely been operating. The other side has been making a lot of trouble. A lot of the shares have been given away to appease them. There’s not much left. I’ll go back and have someone check again…”
“No need. Give it all to him.”
She shook her head, and her waterfall-like hair was scattered in the wind. It was stained with moisture, and it was as dark and slender as a seaweed that had been soaked in water. She turned and left the balcony. She was walking barefoot to the corner of the stairs and had remembered something again. She was sighing, and a gloomy cloud was in her eyes, and it was covered with a layer of a gray and hazy mist. A resentful and charming look was in her resentful expression.
Her voice was drifting away, and it was scattered in the air like a murmur.
“Please have someone trim the Chinese flowering crabapple tree in the courtyard downstairs. There are too many weeds, and it’s not blooming brightly.”
