Yang sulked when she saw it. She was always a nice person, but this time, she couldnât resist. âThey are a couple even if Ai Changhuan left. Their relationship is recognized by the law. Nobody else can destroy it. Whatâs more, you will be put into jail if you destroy military marriage.â
Ouyang Zhenzhenâs face started to get pale when she heard it, but she still insisted even if she lacked confidence. âHumph. If they get a divorce, that would be their problem. It is none of my business.â
Yang just ignored her.
After a while, Pei Mu came back. His expression was terrible. Yang hurriedly asked him what had happened. âHow is he? Does he know about it?â
Pei Mu shook his head. âHe didnât pick up my calls. I donât know what happened.â
Yang Anxin started to get worried, and she wasnât in the mood to watch the match. âLetâs go back and search for them. Changhuan is missing. Lu must be grieving.â
Pei Mu agreed with her. They decided to go back. While they were worrying about Lu, Lu texted Pei Mu. He said he had something to handle, and he had to leave first. He would come back tonight, by the end of the holiday. He also told them not to worry about him.
Peu Mu sighed. âIt looks like he already knows. Or he wouldnât leave.â
âLetâs go back.â Yang wanted to leave. Everyone came to have fun, and they should have enjoyed their holiday. But now, no one was in the mood to have fun, and some people had left. They were disappointed as well.
Pei Mu asked Du Yucheng, âAre you going to stay?â
Du Yucheng shook his head. âNo.â
Since nobody wanted to stay, they decided to go back.
The short trip could only be described with one sentence: Coming with expectation and leaving with disappointment. They were all upset except Ouyang Zhenzhen. The entire way back, she was quite excited. Nobody knew why she was excited.
Ai sat in the car. She was thinking a lot. Sometimes she thought about Qin. Sometimes, she would think about Lu.
In the end, all her thoughts ended with a sigh. She said she wished for him to forget her, but she clearly knew that she would never forget Lu.
It was just because there was a dominant and perfect man once appearing in her life.
However, he would only exist in her heart forever. She texted Qin Zhan. She told him when she would arrive at the train station. If he could come, please pick her up.
If he couldnât come, please at least inform her. Donât say nothing and pretend to have never existed.
She turned her phone to full volume. If she received any calls or texts, she would know at once. Then, she closed her eyes to rest.
Du Yucheng had arranged a light bus for her. It shuttled between the mountains and the town once a day, so she couldnât hesitate or have regret. There were five or six local villagers wearing costumes of the Achang ethnic group.
She was in a bad mood, so she didnât want to chat with them at all. It was afternoon when she arrived at the townâs train station.
Ai bought the latest train ticket to City A. She then sat in the waiting room, staring at the screen. She raised her head up from time to time, hoping she could see Qin Zhan at the next moment.
But he was never there. Qin Zhan didnât come and there was no new text on her phone.
The station was packed with jostling crowds. As the night came, there were only a few staying in the waiting room. A man in a vest and slippers had been peeping at her the entire time. He also stood up from time to time and walked in front of her.
She didnât know what he wanted to do. It scared her when she imagined the possible consequences. She plucked up the courage to call him. Qin Zhan said donât call him if there was nothing serious. But now, it was a serious thing.
If Qin Zhan didnât come, she would go back to City A by train. She didnât want to wait in silence. She made a call, and it got through. Ai was a bit delighted. But the voice on the other side was a cold prompt tone. âSorry! The subscriber you dialed cannot be connected for the moment, please redial later.â
She didnât give up and called one more time, but it wasnât answered.
She started to get disappointed. âWhy didnât he pick up the phone? Doesnât he know that I really need him now?â
She put the phone back into her pocket, but she felt a hard box. She took it out. It was the cigarette Lu had given her. âSuch an idiot. He never believes wishing on a lantern is reliable, but he still wrote down âChanghuan, donât leave.â He never smokes, but he buys cigarettes with her for the local custom. Are there any other stupid things he canât do?â
Her eyes got swollen, and tears trickled down her cheeks. Her eyes had almost dried up today.
She took a deep breath and opened a box of cigarettes. She heard that the nicotine in cigarettes could numb a humanâs nerves and make humans temporarily forget pain. So there were so many people who liked smoking. Now she wanted to try to see if it was true.
But when she opened it, she was suddenly frozen. There were no cigarettes in it but a stupid, ugly phone pendant. It made a pair with the one Lu had.
Aiâs shoulder trembled. She grabbed the pendant even harder. Why was it in the box? In the light of Luâs personality, he would say it out directly if he wanted to give her something. Or he would help her put it on without asking permission. But now there is a pendant in the cigarette box? What does it mean?â
Ai didnât want to continue guessing because she sensed a wave of pain on her chest as if there were worms gnawing wildly. Her broken heart was now bleeding.
Lu knew she intended to leave, but he didnât urge her to stay. For him, it was an easy thingâŚ
Ai was trying to refrain from collapse. She even cautioned herself from crying. But now, after figuring everything out, all she would do was cry even harder.
Lu was a bastard. He showed his gentleness again when she was going to leave. He obviously wanted her to remember him forever. Remember how nice he was.
Ai couldnât stop crying. At this moment, she didnât know whether she should love him or hate him.
The man she chose after much struggle had vanished. No calls. No texts. She was left lonely and cold. But the man she gave up had given her the right to choose in the gentlest way.
She became the stupidest girl in the world.
She felt dizzy because she had cried for too long. Her eyes got swollen and red. There were ten minutes before she should get on the train. She decided to wash her face. The station was quite shabby. The lights in the restroom should have formed two lines, but one of them was broken. Strangely, nobody came to repair them.
Perhaps because Ai got muddled after crying, she wasnât afraid at all. She staggered to the restroom and turned on the tap. Water gushed out.
She bent down and scooped some water to wash her face.
At this moment, a man came behind her. At first, Ai thought she had dim eyesight when she raised her head up. She suddenly knew what was happening when she bent down again.
She turned around and saw a disgusting face. He was the man who had walked in front of her many times before.
âHelpâŚâ She opened her eyes wide.
The man immediately covered her mouth from behind and put his arms around her neck, pulling her toward the furthest cubicle.
Ai was so scared that she immediately got sober. Her hair stood on end with fright. She struggled and tried to grab onto something to stop herself from being pulled away.
But it didnât work at all. She was pulled into the cubicle before she could even grab onto a straw. Then, she was pressed on the wall. The disgusting man came closer to her with a licentious smile.
Aiâs bulging eyes were filled with fear. She was totally in shock. His stink almost made her throw up.
âHoney. Beautiful lady. I got a boner as soon as I saw you.â
âAs long as you obey me, I will treat you better. I will let you feel like youâre in heaven.â
âBabe. Is it your first time? Your skin is amazing. Your waist is so slender. It must be gorgeous if you twist itâŚâ
He said something obscene and caressed her waist at the same time.
Because she had planned to leave today, she had worn her own dress. It made her feel sick to the point she wanted to throw up when she felt his palm placing her body through her clothes.
She kept trying to kick the man off.
The man didnât expect that she would fight against him fiercely. He received a kick and got pissed off. He slapped on her face angrily.
Aiâs head was buzzing because of the slap. Blood came out from the corner of her mouth. Her ears were ringing. She gnashed her teeth and screamed with blood in her mouth. âHelp! Help!â
As long as someone heard her, she would be saved.
The man was flustered and covered her mouth again. He punched her stomach with another hand. âBitch. Indocile girl. How dare you!â
He pushed Ai to the ground and crazily punched her back. âThis is the price of shouting âhelp meâ!â
That manâs strength was surprisingly great. The slap had almost killed Ai. Now she almost fainted after she received several punches on her back. She felt as if her organs almost came out from her mouth.
But she wasnât willing to be sullied by this disgusting man.
She groped the ground near her and was ready to fight against the man with whatever she could get. Maybe she was too lucky, or that man was too unlucky. She got a vice which had been left by somebody.
She grabbed the vice in her hand and inhaled deeply. Then, she smashed the vice toward the manâs head.