Edited by sexy yummers
The sound of rustling raindrops became the sole background noise as it was accompanied by the foggy smoke in the air. The man’s posture was a bit laid back, it seemed like he was still lingering in the aftertaste of the affair. He looked at the woman and spoke blatantly.
“Leave him.”
The woman’s eyes were extremely wide. Within her shocked expression, there was a hint of realization. She suddenly thought of something and walked forward courageously towards those eyes that could deflect anyone.
“I have a child.”
She thought that would be her biggest bet in the whole discussion, that it would give her the higher ground.
But Deputy Director Jiang* reacted as if he’d heard a joke. He squinted his eyes, chuckling with the cigarette still between his lips, his expression sinister and disdainful. He flicked the hand holding the cigarette, letting the ashes fall to the ground.
“I know.”
His smile showed neither concern or fear.
“If it weren’t for the child, you wouldn’t even get the chance to negotiate with me.”
There were no changes to Jing Jing’s expression, she had calmed down already. Truthfully, she couldn’t be labeled as a smart woman, but at least she wasn’t a dumb one. The man opposing her had acknowledged that as well.
After a short moment of silence, it seemed like she had made up her mind. Her tightened nerves loosened themselves discreetly. Her vibrant red lips curved upwards slightly. “You got another smoke? Give me one too.”
The man tossed the pack of cigarettes to her. She pulled one out naturally before standing up to tread over to the man gracefully. With the cigarette in her mouth, she borrowed the head of the man’s cigarette to light it.
She leaned against a chair in a bit of a slanted position. She was never an outstanding woman within a crowd, the aura of whore somehow always seeped through her. Now, just like the man, she stopped her pretentious act. Although her makeup was gaudy, it was still full of temptation under the dimmed lighting.
She said, “I want money.”
Her tone was natural, as if it was the only right and proper method.
Deputy Director Jiang* sat up to fish out a check from his wallet. His action was unhurried yet impatient. Who knows how long he’s had that check ready for. He’d been waiting for the opportunity to get rid of the irritating obstacle in front of him for a while now.
Jing Jing received the check but didn’t open it to see the amount of money it contained. She trusted that the amount was certainly going to satisfy her, and it wasn’t because Deputy Director Jiang* was generous, it was because that was how much Deputy Director Jiang* valued Ah-Can for.
She stored the check into her purse and blew out a mouthful of smoke. She turned around to say, “Don’t worry, the kid isn’t his.”
The man didn’t show any sign of anger from having been tricked. If he were to go with his former plan, he could wait until the woman gave birth —whether she was willing or not— the money he paid her with had already included the price of the child. Now that the child isn’t Shi Tou’s, it made everything better. Maybe he should even be letting out a sigh of relief.
He didn’t need to fear that Little Rock’s heart might linger for the child, he didn’t need to always be on the edge anymore.
“Also, he never touched me.” Jing Jing smoothed her long hair that was a little messy with a careless expression. With no regrets, she had just easily sold her marriage.
“I’m borrowing this umbrella, it won’t be returned. And don’t worry, I’ll be completely gone by tomorrow.” Her tone was very relaxed, as if she had also just gotten a weight burden off her chest.
Deputy Director Jiang’s* lips curved, showing his satisfaction in the other’s choice.
The woman put on her high heels, pulled the door open, and after just a few steps out, she turned her head back around. Her vibrant red lips opened to say at last, “Be good to him, okay?”
Then she quickly turned away because she knew better than anyone else, that she had absolutely no right to say that.
The rain was still pouring. Ah-Jiang walked back into the bedroom to see the young male lying in bed, deep in sleep. He sat down by the bed before bending over to rub the other’s short hair. A little smile appeared on his face, he dropped a little peck on the messy strings of hair.
The next day was definitely going to be sunny. He strongly believed that.
The Little Idiot of Cun Bei’s wife ran away. For a period of time, that topic became the gossiping matter for all of the people within the village after a meal.
The majority of the people all similarly said that since that woman had never been honest from the start, who knew who the child actually belonged to. At least she didn’t cheat on the little idiot, so the other had at least a bit of conscience left.
But Shi Tou was dismayed for a while. He didn’t push the blame onto Jing Jing, he was simply worried for her safety, along with the unborn child in her stomach. He already knew that Jing Jing wasn’t happy by his side, thus, he felt very guilty that he was unable to brighten her spirits.
After half a month, Jing Jing made a call. She didn’t state where she was, she merely said that she was doing well. The divorce letter should be arriving at his place soon, Jing Jing had already signed her part.
The marriage that lasted for a few months turned out to be just like a child’s play that was guaranteed no consequences.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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After Jing Jing left, Ah-Jiang would sleep at Shi Tou’s house every night. He would come at night quietly, and stay until morning before leaving.
The woman’s essential items that used to be in the house couldn’t be found anymore. On the contrary, another man’s belongings gradually increased. The wedding photos had been thrown out since the beginning, and in its stead was their picture from their childhood. The bedsheet was switched to a new color they both agreed on, Ah-Jiang’s shirts and ties piled up in the closet and his blazers were tossed around the house.
He would always get Shi Tou on the newest trends. He didn’t know what brand these clothes were but the last time his co-workers saw him in the kitchen, they were shocked with wide eyes. They pulled Shi Tou aside, continuing to ask, “Ah-Can Ge, where, where did you get them? They’re counterfeit right? The real ones would’ve cost thousands─”
What real or counterfeit? He didn’t know about those things, it was fine as long as the clothes are wearable.
Shi Tou actually had a good complexion. If he was tidied up a bit, taken out, and as long as he didn’t speak, he could definitely lure over a bunch of girls. After Jing Jing left, his neighbors came to introduce a few more girls to him. Once Deputy Director Jiang* found out about the matter, he was so irritated that he wouldn’t even eat. The idiot didn’t have an impressive background, just look at what kind of women those old ladies tried to introduce to him.
The most disgusting behavior still came from Shi Tou’s aunt though. Recently, she’d gotten addicted to gambling in horse racings. She lost a bunch of money and somehow got ahold of the news that Shi Tou’s old house was most likely going to be taken down soon. When that happens, he could receive hundreds and thousands. From then on, she would come to visit him frequently. Basically, in the end, her goal was the old house’s deed.
If Shi Tou was the only one living in the house at that point, the little idiot would’ve—without a doubt— ended up on the streets two days later.
Unfortunately, Deputy Director Jiang* had already discreetly moved in. He always came home late on purpose to avoid any neighbors who would see him and gossip. Yet one day when he pushed the door open, what came into his view was Shi Tou and his aunt sitting face to face; plus a half-decent lawyer on the side.
“De, Deputy Director Jiang*…”
His aunt smiled awkwardly. Never did she think that the deputy director would be so nosy and visit that late at night.
In the end, the matter couldn’t be hidden anymore. It would’ve been fine for her to just trick the idiot with some nice words, but up against Deputy Director Jiang*…that was just like the Titanic crashing into an iceberg. No matter how big you were, he could make you sink to the ocean bottom.
The lawyer was from another region who had graduated from one of the top colleges there. As a young adult full of spirits, he was complacent by the new business from his successes. He’d already guaranteed Shi Tou’s aunt that he could accomplish the matter regarding the house deed. As he held the house deed in his hand, he would often toss out a law in between his words with some English vocabulary. He merely took Deputy Director Jiang* as another normal official of the village, after all, who’ve thought that the little idiot would have such an impressive connection.
Deputy Director Jiang wasn’t in the mood to wait for the young lawyer to finish. He pulled on his necktie a bit before letting out a few cold chuckles. He bluntly asked, “Which law firm are you from?”
The lawyer coughed then announced it, he was from a barrister law firm in a first-tier city. Just by listening, it really seemed like he had a really good background.
But Deputy Director Jiang* didn’t continue listening to his bluffing. He gave his secretary an order right away. It quickly shook the manager of the law firm, the other quickly called the deputy director back to apologize. The young lawyer’s face instantly flashed white. He never expected the “deputy director” in front of him to be Deputy Director Jiang* from the Central Committee.
In the end, there was no way they could accomplish this. The young lawyer couldn’t even get a single word out. As Shi Tou’s aunt watched her plan suddenly hitting the rocks after going so well, without caring how much authority the other had, the ignorant village woman acted up with her hands on her hips. “Hey! What the heck is this? This is a family matter, Deputy Director Jiang*. You’re gonna go as far as to stick your head into another family’s business?”
Ah-Jiang had always been humble towards her since she was Shi Tou’s elder, but Shi Tou’s aunt wasn’t clever enough. She really thought she had a ground in front of the deputy director, when in reality, Ah-Jiang had despised her since years ago. That woman has been harsh towards Shi Tou ever since he was young. Now, she was after Shi Tou’s only property, she had stepped way over the line.
His face turned cold. It was only because Shi Tou was pulling on his sleeve that stopped him from making a definite decision. “Does your restaurant still want to be in charge of the construction’s lunch?”
Shi Tou’s aunt was immediately taken aback, she let out a few “I’s” before remembering something, she spoke with a frown, “We already signed a contract. Are you planning to scrap it?”
No one had ever dared to threatened Deputy Director Jiang* like that. The deputy director chuckled, all he needed to do was blink and the contract would be scrapped.
After breaking the contract, all he had to do was pay for it and find another reliable restaurant. It wasn’t too big of a loss for him. On the other hand, Shi Tou’s aunt’s restaurant would lose a great business deal, it would cause their usual income to go down significantly.
The woman had shallow knowledge and didn’t think that far. After getting kicked out, she slammed the table at home while complaining angrily. What resulted was Shi Tou’s little uncle jumping up in worry, he scolded her, “You offended Deputy Director Jiang*, do you still want our business to keep running?!”
Shi Tou’s little uncle was always a yes-man who’d never shown this much rage. It even scared Shi Tou’s aunt. Once his little uncle explained all the interest problems, the whole family’s faces paled. With the opening of their new restaurant, they had just borrowed a huge loan when they bought the land. There was no way they could support both restaurants if they lost that great of a business deal.
They wanted to go apologize to Deputy Director Jiang*, but the deputy director wasn’t willing to meet any of them. In the end, they resorted to asking Shi Tou.
Ah-Jiang educated Shi Tou on morals for nights on end, so if the one who came to ask this time was his aunt, maybe he would’ve been able to pretend he didn’t understand. But the one who confronted him was his little uncle. His little uncle treated him well, and even gave him some extra money in secret during his wedding. Shi Tou scratched his head, not knowing what to say to Ah-Jiang once he returned home.
He made a few late-night snacks that evening, including Ah-Jiang’s favorite braised pig trotters.
When Ah-Jiang came back, he helped him put his briefcase away and take off his coat for him, acting just like a newlywed wife. Ah-Jiang inched close to him, he hugged him from behind, then kissed Shi Tou’s face little by little. Shi Tou avoided it with a red face as he slapped Ah-Jiang’s hand that was slipping into his clothes. Ah-Jiang became meaner day by day, he liked to bully him every night. He would even receive the same treatment when he was delivering food for him during lunch…
Such a matter was very weird to him. It hurt a bit every time, yet it was also pleasurable in the later stages. Thinking about it was very shameful though. Ah-Jiang lasted very long every time too, causing Shi Tou’s back and waist to always ache the following day.
He pushed Ah-Jiang a bit. “Eat first.”
Ah-Jiang lowered his head to eat Shi Tou’s mouth first before sitting down in front of the dining table. Shi Tou supported his own face up as he sat across from him. He waited until Ah-Jiang was almost done to talk about the request softly.
Ah-Jiang’s expression didn’t change, only a corner of his lips curved up. They sure came to realization fast.
When Shi Tou saw Ah-Jiang’s expression, inside, he knew he couldn’t be of help anymore. He understood every expression of Ah-Jiang’s, just like how Ah-Jiang understood every one of his. Without any words, he could already guess the premise of Ah-Jiang’s thoughts.
Ah-Jiang told him before that it meant their hearts were connected.
Only people who liked each other could do that. Hearing that made him really happy. He understood now, he liked Ah-Jiang, and Ah-Jiang also liked him. Yet Ah-Jiang stated that to be wrong again.
He said there was a word that had more meaning than “like”, it was “love”.
Ah-Jiang tapped the table with his finger. He knew Shi Tou would be put in a bad spot from this matter, so he had already planned everything out for Shi Tou.
“Don’t work at your aunt and uncle’s anymore.” Ah-Jiang walked over, gave him a kiss then continued to speak, “Come work at my place, I’ll let you be the big boss.”
“Ah?” Shi Tou shook his head, he didn’t want to be a big boss.
“Stupid child…” Ah-Jiang sighed again. He looked at the other’s hands that were filled with burn marks as he smoothed past them gently with concern in his expression.
Ah-Jiang was trying to do good for Shi Tou. He worked at his aunt and uncle’s for years and despite all his blood, sweat, and tears, his monthly income was only two thousand eight hundred yuan. It was enough for him to live in this small town, but compared to the salary other average restaurants offered, it was barely enough; plus taking into consideration Shi Tou’s skills, that monthly salary was even worse than a scam.
If his little uncle really was good to him, then he should’ve given Shi Tou a share of the business from the beginning. Those things were not in the calculation of an idiot, allowing the married couple to fake ignorance. Although Shi Tou didn’t know how to care for himself, was Ah-Jiang not allowed to worry over him?
Deputy Director Jiang* had already planned everything out. Shi Tou had the natural talents as a chef, so once the construction was near its end, he’ll open up a new restaurant for Little Rock in the city. With him looking over the finance, how could the restaurant possibly go into debt? Furthermore, even if it went into debt, it can go into as much debt as it wanted. It wasn’t like he couldn’t make a living for his Little Rock.
Shi Tou couldn’t accomplish his task, so naturally, he couldn’t give a good report when he went back. In the end, his aunt didn’t show him any hospitality. She’d already turned a lot more kind than before, but now she was back to how she acted when the other was still a child. She wore a step-mom face every day as she picked out all of Shi Tou’s flaws, almost all of her words were filled with a negative denotation as well.
Despite that the contract was off, Shi Tou still remembered to deliver lunch for Ah-Jiang every day. He’d just finished packing up the lunchbox and was about to leave on a motorcycle like usual, his aunt stopped him as he was picking up the key.
“Where are you going?”
“De- deliver food…” Shi Tou was almost getting trauma over the recent harsh treatment, his scalp would numb every time he saw his aunt.
His aunt had crossed arms as she watched the little idiot lower his head. She snickered, “Are you going to deliver food or to sell your ass?”
“Ah…?”
She purposely raised her voice when saying that, allowing everyone in the kitchen to hear. She circled around the idiot, speaking spitefully, “Listen to me, Ah-Can, a person should live decently and act out their given roles. But I don’t know if you could even understand that. Sigh, you gotta be careful too. Although that Deputy Director Jiang* seems like a good person, who knows if he’ll turn out to be the same as Jing Jing. Or else you might end up with no place to cry after being played with.”
His little uncle listened to how much more ridiculous his wife’s words got and quickly went over to pull her aside, “Stop saying nonsense!”
“What nonsense did I say?! Huh?! You haven’t heard from Old Liu and his family?! They say they see that Deputy Director Jiang* coming out of his house every day. In the early morning before the sun’s even out, who knows what they’ve been doing in secret! Let me tell you, I saw it with my own eyes the other night. What else could they be doing meeting up that late at night? Huh? Two men sticking around each other all day long, that Jing Jing probably didn’t leave because she wanted to, but was disgusted by those two homos—”
“Enough!” Shi Tou’s little uncle forcefully dragged her out of the kitchen. But the voice didn’t give up as it screamed out, “Those abnormal homosexuals!”
Shi Tou stood there, not knowing how to react. He pressed his lips together then grabbed the key to leave. It was already past meal time, Ah-Jiang must be super hungry now.
The little idiot didn’t know that homosexuals were discriminated against. He didn’t know the big difference in the nature of same-sex relationships versus opposite-sex relationships.
He thought that as long as both sides like each other—or in Ah-Jiang’s words—loved each other, then they could be together.
Rumors spread like wildfire, but he had not realized that.
After a while, public opinions were everywhere. All the employees in the kitchen seemed to keep a distance from him on purpose, the woman who lived beside him didn’t allow him to help send her kid to school anymore either. The health education at the time was pretty good, so many people knew that diseases were highly frequent in the homosexual community. Plus, the village wasn’t a big place. Naturally, the people’s acceptance of homosexuals here wasn’t high. Most even thought that it was a deformity and an abnormal sexual orientation.
Shi Tou didn’t know while Ah-Jiang pretended to not know. New Years was coming soon, with just a little more time, the construction would be ready to go. By then, Deputy Director Jiang* wouldn’t have a reason to stay there anymore.
They went to the market to buy hot pot ingredients for New Years. As they walked out the door shoulder to shoulder, the gazes on them never lessened. Shi Tou’s head lowered more and more, he walked slower and slower. Ah-Jiang finally realized, even if he didn’t care, it didn’t mean that Little Rock wouldn’t suffer from it. It was just like years ago, when Shi Tou went to school.
They ate the hot pot around the fireplace. While watching the boring Spring Festival Program, Ah-Jiang held the young male’s hand. They leaned against each other, so close they could hear each other’s heartbeat.
Ah-Jiang said, “After New Years, I have to go back to the city.”
Shi Tou’s heart thumped abruptly. His grasp on Ah-Jiang’s hand tightened…Ah-Jiang still had to leave? Then, how long will it take before he returns this time…?
“It’s very possible that it won’t be soon until I can come back.” Ah-Jiang looked at him as he spoke.
Shi Tou kept his neck up, almost as if he was searching for hints that he was joking in Ah-Jiang’s eyes. But Ah-Jiang looked very serious, just like that night.
“Oh…” He replied, nodding.
It’s okay. He thought. He can wait, he was used to it. Shi Tou turned around, balling himself up in the chair.
Ah-Jiang called out to him a few times. He tried to pull him softly a few times but Shi Tou shook him off to continue to curl into the same position, pretending to be a piece of rock. In the end, Ah-Jiang forcefully made Shi Tou turn around, once he held up the other’s head to look, he almost got a heart attack from the scare.
The face was wet with tears all over it.
Crap, he went too far with the joke─
Ah-Jiang helped Shi Tou wipe his tears panically, Shi Tou’s snot and tears covered his sleeve. At last, he hugged Shi Tou as he comforted him, “Are you dumb? Can you not follow me if I’m leaving? Hm?”
“Ah? That’s okay?” Shi Tou blinked.
Ah-Jiang sighed, he felt like it was time to heal the other now. He supported Shi Tou up to educate him more on thoughts and morals.
“Little Rock, remember, from now on, wherever I go you’ll follow. If I don’t return home at night, or came back late, you have to call and ask where I am. If you see me getting too close to another woman or man, you have to quickly squeeze yourself in between us. Also, if I treat others around me too nicely, you have to be angry, have to be upset…” Shi Tou was completely puzzled by those words.
Deputy Director Jiang* took a sip of water, he asked, “Do you understand now?”
“Oh…”
Shi Tou nodded with a serious expression.
Ah-Jiang was satisfied and carried Shi Tou into the bedroom. Once he completely devoured the other, they laid naked under the same blanket. Their legs crossed each other’s, pulling and tugging.
Shi Tou held onto the pillow as he listened to Ah-Jiang speak of stories about the city exhaustedly. It was full of colors and seemed to be a very fun place. Shi Tou originally wanted to say that he would really miss this place, but then he remembered that the city was Ah-Jiang’s actual home.
Just like him, Ah-Jiang would also miss his home.
Yet Shi Tou didn’t realize that to Ah-Jiang, wherever he was, that was where home was.
They slowly fell asleep with their palms intertwined together. But, they both experienced a different dream that night.
Ah-Jiang opened his eyes to be met with a reflection of himself. His figure appeared in the mirror across from him, he was wearing a coarse soldier uniform with bloodstains on his cloak. The room was in chaos. In his hand was a browning pistol and he knew, only one bullet was left in there.
The young male who laid on the beaten sofa opened his eyes in a daze. Continuing, he sat up and raise his head to look at him with a dumb expression displayed on his face. The clothes on him were dirty and stenched, there were left-over food stains on his face too. He was an idiot who could barely remember a few people, a fool who wasn’t capable of self-care to survive.
Ah-Jiang gradually bent over, his hand touched the young male’s hair softly and affectionately.
They lost in the war, he was going to die soon. Once he was dead, the idiot wouldn’t be able to survive either.
Ah-Jiang wrapped him in a tight embrace, leaving not a single gap between them. He kissed the idiot’s face harshly, rubbed the back of his head as his shoulder quivered from sobs.
With the pistol loaded, he pressed it up against the young male’s back. Aiming directly at both of their hearts.
The ring of the gunshot was so crisp and clean.
At that moment, they met eye to eye. The idiot’s eyes had never been so clear before as he called out softly, “Ah-Jiang…”
Ah-Jiang opened his eyes wide in disbelief, but it was all too late. They dropped down to the sea of blood together. With a bang sound, splotches of vibrant red spewed out.
The man suddenly opened his eyes!
The blanket slid off his body as the buzzes of the airplane filled his ears.
“Do you need any help?” The air attendant walked over, asking lightly in a tender voice.
But the man’s only response was looking around in uneasiness. He let out a long breath at last when he saw the young male sleeping peacefully next to him while hugging onto his arm tightly. It looked as if he was relieved from escaping a disaster.
“Give me a cup of warm water,” he said.
His hand was still shaking as he held the cup. The dream was too realistic, it had always been very difficult to come back to reality when he had those dreams.
How long has it been? He thought he was already completely healed already.
Ah-Jiang turned his head to say to his secretary, “Go contact Dr. Langhans for me, I’m seeing him immediately when I get back.”
Hi! I don’t know an easier way to ask this question, I even joined the group’s discord, but I ended up being confused, so… Well, I’m Evelyn and I would like to translate this novel to my native language, brazilian portuguese. My wattpad’s main account is @killingjoyzk, my secondary’s @lynzkp, where I would post the translation. Without doubts, I will give you the credits for using your translation as a base, if you allow me to 🙂
Sorry, someone has already asked if they could translate this into Brazilian Portuguese (also posting on Wattpad) or else usually I wouldn’t mind about retranslation of this story
Thx for the chappy
(≡^∇^≡)(≡^∇^≡)(≡^∇^≡)
their love is really full of suffering huh QAQ thank u for the chapter~
Wow that scene was so tragic…
Thanks for the chapter! ♥️