TSDT - 56

Holding hands, they walked along the quiet and peaceful alley, its stone-paved ground divided into stepped grids. Jiang Ying stepped two grids at a time, angling her toes, each step perfectly aligning with the width of the bricks. Meng Jingshu slowed his pace to accompany her, watching her tread on the shattered white moonlight and yellow lamplight, finding joy in a trivial little game.

The sound of a television drifted from a low-lying window of a residential building. The girl beside him leaned on his palm to steady herself as she swayed, and they walked through the scattered light and shadows she had disarranged, heading to a nearby cinema to watch a movie.

Time felt vibrant, and even the cold wind turned gentle.

Jiang Ying, eyes fixed on the ground, hopped and chattered, rather spoiling the mood by talking about a recent case she’d taken... a rape case.

“My client is a big brother, you know, the gang type, in his mid-thirties. A couple of years ago, he took a liking to a young girl brought by one of his underlings. He asked her out, said he liked her, offered her tens of thousands a month, and asked if she’d be with him. The girl agreed, and my client got serious, treating her very well.”

“Last year, my client ran into some trouble and couldn’t give her money anymore. The girl started acting cold towards him. One day, his brother saw the girl leaving a hotel with another man...”

At this point, Jiang Ying suddenly chuckled: “Doesn’t this sound a bit familiar?”

“...” Meng Jingshu gave her a cold glance.

How could this person be so open-minded? Just a few days ago, she was crying her eyes out and calculating every little thing, and now she could cheerfully mock him?

He squeezed her hand hard.

“Ow!” she yelped, frowning, but a sly smile still played on her lips.

He couldn’t hit her or scold her, only pamper her.

He sighed, asking grumpily, “And then?”

“Ah... then, a few days later, the girl showed up crying, saying she was pregnant, and it was the big brother’s. But how would the big brother know for sure? So he took her to get an abortion. Even though he knew she’d cheated, he still took good care of her. But as soon as she recovered, she disappeared again. When she reappeared after a while, she told my client she wanted to break up, saying she now had a boyfriend who loved her very much and was also her age, and she didn’t want to be with my client anymore. How could my client agree? He threatened to post her naked photos and videos online if she broke up. The girl was ruthless too; she immediately told her family that the big brother had forced her into sexual relations for several years. When her family heard, they sued my client... When they first had relations, the girl was only fifteen, and with all the concrete evidence, the sentence won’t be light.”

After listening, Meng Jingshu didn’t comment on the incident, only asked her, “Righting wrongs?”

“Mm... a little.” Jiang Ying stopped hopping, saying somewhat dejectedly, “When I first entered this profession, I foolishly thought I would punish evil, but the more I saw, the more I felt unclear about who was evil and who was good...”

He turned his head and quietly looked at her for a while. She instinctively met his gaze, a subtle longing for affirmation rising within her, and a hint of curiosity about how he would encourage her...

Then, he said nothing, but pulled her into a dim corner of the alley, and leaned down to kiss her.

“...”

Jiang Ying didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “I’m seriously expressing my opinion to you!”

She turned her face away in annoyance, and his kiss landed on her cheek.

His warm lips touched her delicate skin, and he chuckled softly, saying, “Me too.”

“What are you expressing?”

“Many things aren’t black and white. I can’t control what others do, but no matter what you are like, I like it, and I’ll always be on your side.”

At this moment, Jiang Ying inexplicably remembered him introducing her as his “fiancée” to David earlier, his deep voice resonating from his chest, stirring her heart.

Her face grew hot again, and she leaned limply against him, still stubbornly saying, “What men say can’t be trusted...”

“And what women say can be trusted?” he chuckled.

“Why can’t I be trusted?”

He thought for a moment and said, “For example, you’re not actually confused; you have your own standards in your heart. You’re telling me all this just to...”

“Just to what?” Jiang Ying looked up at him, defiant but also a little expectant.

Meng Jingshu lowered his head and took her slightly pouted red lips into his mouth. Between sips and kisses, he mumbled, “Just... to act spoiled.”

A faint scent of alcohol enveloped their breaths, and Jiang Ying felt like she was melting from his kiss. They leaned against the wall, embracing tightly, and the footsteps of passersby seemed to fade into the distance. In this world, there were only the two of them, with clear, bright light shining down, and even the winter wind couldn’t pass between them.

His palm was hot, warming her even through her clothes.

She knew he was always a bit improper, but when his hand reached her hip and squeezed firmly, she still felt a little panicked.

She squirmed, but couldn’t get away, letting out a small “ooh.”

He squeezed her lustfully, then suddenly chuckled softly, and murmured huskily into her ear, “Do you think... if we did it here, would anyone see?”

This alley was semi-commercialized, with many shops nearby, so it wasn’t necessarily desolate even at night. As he said this, two or three groups of people passed by, laughing.

Jiang Ying felt a giant exclamation mark hit her.

She had a flash of inspiration, inhaling deeply and raising her voice: “Uncle, don’t be like this! I’m still young!”

Passersby were startled by the sound and looked over. A well-dressed, mature man was pressing a student-like young girl against a wall... They all, without prior agreement, cast disdainful glances at Meng Jingshu.

Meng Jingshu froze like a JPEG, looking at her with some disbelief.

Jiang Ying seized the opportunity to push him away and ran off as fast as she could.

He reacted, gritting his teeth in frustration, and chased after her.

The cinema wasn’t far, and Jiang Ying ran like she was fleeing for her life, reaching it in no time.

Of course, Meng Jingshu also arrived. But with the place so brightly lit, no matter how angry he was, he couldn’t do anything to her. He just had to stand there with a dark face, radiating an aura of “don’t-you-dare-mess-with-me.”

Jiang Ying didn’t dare to laugh too loudly, pursing her lips, but her eyes were curved in a smile.

She had pushed him away so decisively just now, but now that he was ignoring her, she came over to make amends, wrapping both arms around his arm.

“Shushu, do you want some cola?”

“...”

“Shushu, let me buy you popcorn.”

“...”

“Shushu, can you hold this for me? I only have two hands.”

“...”

Meng Jingshu maintained a cool expression, but a bucket of popcorn was shoved into his hand by her, making him look surprisingly a little cute.

There were many young couples dating on Friday night. As they queued to check tickets, Jiang Ying heard a girl behind her whisper, “The guy in the dark blue coat in front is so handsome.”

Her boyfriend said sourly, “What’s the use of being handsome? He looks like he has a bad temper. Look, he doesn’t even smile. I don’t know how his girlfriend puts up with him. I’m better to you.”

The girl probably hit her boyfriend and then said, “You just brag! Maybe he’s just serious, but he’s also very obedient, that girl tells him to do anything and he does it.”

Her boyfriend grumbled, “You only look at faces... Maybe they’re siblings, that girl looks very young, he’s probably just spoiling his sister.”

Talking about others too loudly, weren’t they? But... Jiang Ying secretly enjoyed hearing it.

They arrived early, and the commercials started after a minute or two of sitting.

Jiang Ying, idle, ate a few pieces of popcorn, then naturally picked one and brought it to Meng Jingshu’s mouth.

Young Master Meng, to show he was still angry, simply turned his head, stiffly refusing the feeding.

Jiang Ying paused, withdrew her hand, and crunched the popcorn loudly in her mouth.

She said coolly, “Just now you said you liked me no matter what I was like, but it’s only been a few minutes, and you’re already throwing a tantrum at me. Hmph, liar.”

Meng Jingshu finally reacted a bit and turned back to look at her.

For some inexplicable reason, this time it was Jiang Ying’s turn to ignore him. Meng Jingshu’s anger had largely dissipated, but he was speechless for a moment.

Jiang Ying rolled her eyes and started playing on her phone. As she selected an app, she suddenly remembered the several misunderstandings tonight... Speaking of which, she rarely wore her hair in a bun after she started working...

So she quietly opened the camera app, secretly finding an angle for a selfie. Soon she found a perfect light source, she brushed her stray hairs, and just as she was about to adjust her expression, she saw an expressionless handsome face slowly approaching on the screen.

“...”

“What are you doing?” she asked grumpily.

“Taking a picture,” he said as if it were the most natural thing, “Aren’t you trying to take a picture?”

“I’m taking a selfie, what’s it to you?”

“Anyway, I’m taking one too.”

Sometimes, the two of them were truly childish.

He remembered something and added, “We’ll take a picture and change our avatars, both of us will change.”

Jiang Ying was puzzled: “Why change avatars?”

“You already have me, why are you still using a selfie with someone else as your avatar?”

“...” Speaking of which, her WeChat avatar had changed from a cartoon character to a cat, then a dog, then back to a cat, and finally evolved into a human recently, using a heavily edited, heavily made-up selfie from the last Halloween with Huang Yanfei.

“Isn’t having the same avatar something only couples do?”

Not bad, he even knows about couple avatars.

He continued, “Huang Yanfei isn’t single anymore either, you both should be a bit more responsible towards your boyfriends.”

“...” Jiang Ying suppressed a laugh, playfully teasing him as usual, “Aren’t you madly in love with that icy avatar of yours? You haven’t changed it for so many years.”

“If you take a picture with me, I’ll change it.”

“Then I’ll also post it on Weibo.” Jiang Ying knew he didn’t like to expose himself online, so she said this on purpose.

“Oh.” He showed no reaction upon hearing this, continuing to lean closer to her, finding his spot in the frame.

Jiang Ying asked strangely, “Oh what? You didn’t even let Fu Xuan post your pictures before.”

He glanced at her, his tone as calm as could be,

“You’re my wife, others aren’t.”

Jiang Ying instantly stared at him in a daze.

He suddenly pressed his lips against hers, quickly raised his hand, and pressed the capture button.

Jiang Ying was stunned again. She looked back at the photo and found that it was surprisingly natural and beautiful.

Meng Jingshu saw her blush down to her earlobes, and a surge of warmth swelled in his heart with nowhere to release, so he could only rub her warm, soft earlobes.

Both of their hearts were overflowing, and they didn’t speak for a while. Until the advertisements finally ended, the lights instantly dimmed, and a golden dragon flew across the dark green screen.

The show was about to begin.

Jiang Ying suddenly leaned into his ear and said, “Meng Jingshu, let’s go fishing.”

He raised an eyebrow: “Hmm?”

She smiled brightly.

________________________________________

When they got to bed, Meng Jingshu felt a bit conflicted.

In the afternoon, when he saw her full of energy at the subway station, he secretly resolved to rest tonight.

But she was simply too alluring today. He’d had several urges while they were out, not to mention now that she was nestled softly and sweetly in his arms.

His proud self-control was on the verge of breaking.

He asked distractedly, “What are we doing tomorrow?”

Jiang Ying stared at her phone, half-heartedly, “Sleep until we naturally wake up, have brunch, then go our separate ways.”

Meng Jingshu frowned: “What do you mean ‘go our separate ways’?”

Jiang Ying said, “Aren’t your friends talking about drinking tomorrow in the group? You go too. I’m going out with Hu Ruochen tomorrow afternoon.”

Meng Jingshu buried his head in her neck, letting out a deep sigh.

“Why are you going out with her again?”

“She’s about to interview for her practicing certificate, she’s so nervous, she asked me to help her review.”

“Don’t want you to go.”

Jiang Ying laughed in spite of herself: “You’re not jealous of her too, are you?”

“She relies on you!” He pressed his long limbs onto Jiang Ying.

“Maybe a little, but I don’t dislike her.”

It was more than just a little!

Meng Jingshu grumbled in annoyance.

This person simply didn’t know that she always, inadvertently, gave people a feeling of being cared for, as natural as air, indispensable. That’s why that inexperienced little girl would compete with him for her every other day, and Jiang Ying even enjoyed spending time with her.

He said gloomily, “You don’t know anything!”

“...You’re heavy.” He was like a giant pet sprawled on top of her.

“You’re making me so mad.”

“...You’re crushing me.” Jiang Ying dropped her phone, gasping like a salted fish.

He licked her neck and said, “Then let’s die together.”

Jiang Ying pulled his ear: “No.”

“Then let’s make love.” He pushed up her shirt and gave a hard suck.

“Ow!”

He smiled mischievously and said, “Scream again, it sounds good.”

________________________________________

It was an extremely chaotic and overwhelming experience.

His gaze burned her like fire.

Completely immersed in raw desire, he had fully shed his mask.

Humans themselves reproduce through appetite and sexual desire.

They were so naked, yet so honest.

Jiang Ying trembled just from his gaze.

All her rejections were overruled; his only mercy was allowing the dim yellow bedside lamp to replace the bright overhead light.

He was vengeful. His hot body pressed down on her, and he asked, “What did you call me?”

“Meng Jingshu...”

“Wrong. In the alley, what did you call me?”

“Woo...”

His fingertips teased.

“Uncle... Ah—”

He gazed at her instinctively, his hoarse voice embedded in her bones and blood.

“Jiang Ying, you love me.”

Afterward, it was as if they had lost themselves, their souls had strayed, or perhaps had already returned to each other, like rivers flowing into the sea.

Afterward, he kissed and caressed the marks on her body. She cried uncontrollably, wanting only his embrace.

Meng Jingshu, too, couldn’t calm down for a long time, and couldn’t help but ask her repeatedly, “Do you love me, baby?”

His chest was her tear-soaking cloth. She found comfort there but didn’t answer.

He asked repeatedly, but not to get her answer. He just felt he had received too much, and his chest was filled with overflowing tenderness that he had to express with words of love.

And she had already given him the answer.

If not for love, how could she give herself to him so unreservedly, day after day?

“I love you so much.”