Lin Mei's movement to refuse paused upon hearing this. He stopped speaking and meticulously cleaned her body. Lin Mei closed her eyes. Was he washing her so earnestly and thoroughly because he feared she might actually have a child and cling to him, thus disrupting his wedding with Jiang Chubai?
After an unknown amount of time, the man's movements finally ceased. He stood before her, rinsing her upper body. His long, strong fingers applied body wash to her skin. Each touch sent shivers down her spine. She tensed, daring not to move, standing stiffly as if acupunctured, her cheeks and ears burning.
His actions were passionate, but his words were cold. Lin Mei heard the man's command ring in her ear, "Remember to take your medicine later."
What medicine it was, both of them knew very well.
Lin Mei felt as if she had been doused with a basin of cold water, a chill spreading through her. She pushed Xing Zheng away, raised her hand, and slapped him without hesitation!
Both of them were wet. This slap hurt more than usual. In the spacious bathroom, an echo resounded. Lin Mei ignored the pain and numbness in her palm, "Don't worry, you don't need to tell me. I'll take it."
How could she let him be the only one to utter such insulting words? He called her a rabbit, but she was never a timid rabbit who wouldn't resist being bullied. "I find the thought of carrying your child disgusting."
"Say that again?" Xing Zheng's gaze changed drastically. His eyes seemed to ignite with a fierce flame. If he were to kill her the next second, she would believe it.
But Lin Mei was also in a fit of anger at that moment. She not only repeated herself but even added more excessive words, "People like you don't deserve to have children."
"Don't deserve, do I?" He slowly approached her and suddenly laughed. But this laugh was more terrifying than his previous anger. Lin Mei instinctively wanted to escape, but it was too late. The man grabbed her wrist and pushed her back against the wall.
Two hours later, in the bedroom with the blackout curtains drawn, Xing Zheng sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the woman who had fainted beside him, his breathing growing heavy. He took his medicine and, feeling restless, went downstairs. While fiddling with his phone, Xing Sha called.
He answered. Xing Sha on the other end asked, "Did Lin Mei go over?"
"Who?" Xing Zheng's voice was hoarse, as if he were seriously ill. Xing Sha asked, "Are you sick?"
"No, what did you just say?" Xing Zheng never shared his experiences with Xing Sha.
Xing Sha: "Are your brother's diaries with you? She couldn't find them this morning and has been making a fuss. I called you and you didn't answer, so I asked Lin Mei to get them. She went, so you should give her the diaries."
Xing Zheng: "Why is she suddenly looking for the diaries?"
Xing Sha: "She probably wants to show them to Lin Mei."
Xing Zheng remained silent.
Xing Sha: "The girl your brother liked before just happened to be Lin Mei. She might want Lin Mei to understand him better. Anyway, you..."
"The diaries are burned," Xing Zheng interrupted Xing Sha.
Xing Sha, usually calm, raised his voice upon hearing this, "When did that happen?"
Xing Zheng casually made up a date, "If she gets angry, I'll go back and beat her."
He then hung up the phone, leaving Xing Sha in a difficult situation.
Xing Zheng went upstairs again, this time heading to the study. He opened the safe and took out the diaries. He flipped through them for what felt like the hundredth time, the feelings Xing Yan wrote in them were almost memorized by him.
Unknowingly, he turned to the page with a photograph. A picture of a young man and woman. The clear, soft voice from his memory echoed in his ears again, "Mingzhe Gege."
There were no four words in the world that could wound him so completely, from every angle, as this appellation. On one side was the courtesy name personally given to Xing Yan by Xie Qinjia, and on the other was Lin Mei's address for Xing Yan. The two forces intertwined, one plus one greater than two, like adding wings to a tiger.
Lin Mei didn't know how long she had slept. When she woke up, the room was dark. She lifted her heavy arm, rubbed her eyes, and confirmed she was still at Zhuhua Villa, in the master bedroom. Everything that had happened hours ago was vivid in her mind, and the soreness in her body was a testament to the torment she had endured.
She laboriously got out of bed. At the same time, the bedroom door opened. The man's gaze locked onto her. With long strides, he approached her step by step. Lin Mei did not dodge. She looked up at him, "Is that enough?"
Her voice was no better than his, hoarse, as if on the verge of losing it.
Xing Zheng bent down and buttoned her shirt for her, "Go down and eat."
"I won't..."
"I'll let you leave after twenty-four hours," he interrupted her.
Twenty-four hours meant the optimal time for the morning-after pill had passed. Once past this period, even with medication, there was a chance of conception. He had not used protection during their encounters today, and it was even more so in the bathroom.
Lin Mei reminded him, "You're getting married."
Xing Zheng was unmoved, "If there's one more child, I can afford to raise it."
"But I don't want it!" Lin Mei was angered by his unreasonable behavior. "Even if I get pregnant, I'll terminate it. People like you are not fit to be fathers."
"I'm not fit to be your child's father, who is? Xing Yan?" He had just read the letters Xing Yan had written for her. In them, he wrote that one day he saw a newlywed couple going for a prenatal check-up, and it felt like seeing their future selves.
"Yes, anyone is fit, but not you!" Words tumbled out without thought, "I also don't want my child to carry the genes of a mental patient. You're not fit!"
As soon as she spoke, she clearly sensed a drastic change in the man's aura. The man who had been arguing forcefully with her suddenly lost his fire. She looked and saw his eyes were shattered.
He looked as if he had been abandoned by the world, his entire being shrouded in a gray hue. This reminded Lin Mei of his demeanor when Xie Qinjia had called him a "murderer."
She bit her lower lip hard, realizing at that moment how cruel her words had been in her impulsive anger.
"I..."
"Who told you?" he questioned her, his voice reduced to a mere whisper, like someone gravely ill.
"The medicine in your drawer..." Lin Mei fabricated a reason.
"Yes, you're right. I'm not fit." He actually smiled again.
Lin Mei thought she saw tears slide down, but he covered her eyes, "A mental patient like me should have died long ago. She was right too. If I had died back then, none of this would have happened."
Lin Mei's heart and eyes both felt a sting, "No, it's not like that, it's not like that."
As soon as she spoke, the man in front of her suddenly collapsed.