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墨書 Inktalez
Thirteen
A brief message completely dispelled Liu Qingqing's drowsiness. She opened the image, revealing a marriage certificate belonging to Milly and a man, the same man who had appeared in the earlier email.
She quickly sent a string of question marks, and the phone on the other end rang immediately. When she answered, she heard a woman's slightly weary voice.
It is often said that art comes from life, and Milly's life could easily be considered outrageous enough to be included in a novel. She met her husband through a matchmaking service, and due to various circumstances, she had not disclosed that she was already married. After joining this company, she realized that this choice was indeed wise. In a highly competitive environment, married women without children faced significant hostility; one wrong step could jeopardize their careers.
Her husband, meanwhile, was gradually breaking down under the pressures of life but was diagnosed with azoospermia due to an illness. In Milly's eyes, this seemed like good news, but for the older generation, it was catastrophic. Her mother and mother-in-law wept almost daily, and even her once-loving husband became gloomy. Caught in the middle, she felt like the biggest problem despite having no issues herself.
The dual pressures of work and life were bearable until one day, fate led her to see her husband embracing another woman in an unexpected place. She followed them and witnessed what she had anticipated. Instead of confronting him, she calmly took photos and then spent the night drinking at a bar. The next day, she showed the photos to her husband, who simply replied, "You could try it too."
The world seemed to begin crumbling around them as the chasm between them widened. She wanted a divorce but felt too entangled to proceed. After all, aside from these sordid matters, they got along quite well; at least in the eyes of their parents, they were the model couple that would never divorce.
Thus, Milly chose to indulge herself. It seemed like a competition with her husband; if he had several women, so would she. Whatever type of woman her husband pursued, she sought out men who matched that style. In this comparison game, she set her sights on Lin Ran.
Lin Ran was known in the office as a devoted family man who would leave work early to prepare food for his girlfriend during her period and always remembered important dates. To Milly, Lin Ran represented a pinnacle; conquering him might bring some light into her dismal marriage.
She tried and succeeded. The contrast with his girlfriend's style left Lin Ran flustered; his image quickly turned into a puddle of mud in Milly's mind. She even began to feel pity for the girl who had once been cherished. Consequently, she started to cling to Lin Ran, monopolizing his time as a good man while leaving traces in places where his girlfriend would surely notice.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Liu Qingqing asked after listening to Milly's account, feeling surprisingly calm yet curious. There was a long silence on the other end before Milly sighed and said, "I can't be forgiven; a mistake is just a mistake. I just wanted to tell you that he has his eyes on another girl now. I hope you..."
"Don't let him deceive you again."
After hanging up the phone, Liu Qingqing suddenly found herself overwhelmed by sorrow that brought tears to her eyes. Lying on the hotel bed, she cried heartily, releasing all the emotions she had been unwilling to face over these past days.
Love can turn into hate; hate can become more intense than love ever was and morph into a monster that devours all emotions. Some people end up feeling hollow; others harbor thoughts of revenge. Liu Qingqing was left with revenge and anger, wanting to tear apart the man who had wronged her and crush his bones into dust for nature's nourishment.
But once she calmed down, she realized that she did not actually dislike Milly. Although Milly was initially the one who shattered her love life, from a compassionate perspective, she too was a pitiful person, wasn't she? Liu Qingqing conflictedly scorned her own sense of compassion while being grateful that this girl thought of her during such a time to remind her of the man's true nature.
"If you are determined to use our relationship as evidence for your retaliation, you will also be hurt." She sent a message to Milly, who took a long time to respond.
"It's fine, I've already decided to leave. My husband and I have agreed to tell our families that this child is conceived through IVF, and then I will resign from here and return home."
Liu Qingqing realized that everything seemed to be moving in her favor, including the person who was supposed to consume her A.
Oh, A. Thinking of this extraordinary person, she felt that the sacrifice was too great. Clearly, they were just helping her gather information, yet they were risking their own innocence. However, judging by the depth of their immersion, it seemed they were enjoying it.
---
Lin Ran felt like the happiest person in the world. His muse, his flame of love, his soul-stirring romance was right beside him. Yun Miao accepted all his ideas during their passionate encounters; she was as beautiful as a character stepping out of a comic book. As she shed her clothes, her snow-white body resembled butterflies fluttering in the snow.
Their bodies fit together so perfectly that during their intimate moments, it felt as if someone was strumming the strings of his soul, making him unable to stop or want to stop. His exhaustion called forth her tender caresses. His Little Rabbit trembled with him as they both drowned in the river of love.
At work, they maintained their senior-junior relationship. The girl sensibly didn’t reveal any details; whatever he gifted her would surely appear on her the next day. When female colleagues chatted with him, he could hear the pride in their voices.
It was completely different from Liu Qingqing. His Little Rabbit blossomed outward like a flower, displaying all her affection under the sunlight. In contrast, Liu Qingqing was like a box—plain on the outside with an unremarkable lock that concealed everything inside.
Just five more days; in five days she would return. He would definitely express his feelings then and give Yun Miao a perfect identity.
At night, Lin Ran lay in bed holding his damp Little Rabbit, her scent filling his nostrils. Her slender arms wrapped around his waist as she seemed lost in satisfied dreams. Her body pressed close to his abdomen rose and fell with each breath, marked by the kiss marks left earlier.
"A Ran," Little Rabbit called him softly. "My mom asked me if I have a boyfriend."
Hearing this, Lin Ran pressed down on the girl’s body again, gazing intently at her flushed face and asking what she wanted to say. The girl smiled, tilted her head to kiss his hand resting beside him, and slowly replied, "I told my mom that I'll bring my boyfriend home next month. Can you do that?"
Of course. Lin Ran solemnly promised Yun Miao that he would take care of everything before the end of the month and give her a boyfriend she could bring home.
The promised kiss fell upon the girl's lips as the two embraced tightly, as if they wanted to merge each other into their very bones.
At that moment, Liu Qingqing's phone buzzed with a message that read: It's time.
Fifteen
Everything that followed took an unexpected turn. The triggering event stemmed from Liu Qingqing's first day back at work after a business trip, where she received a task to deliver materials to Lin Ran's company. The manager had specifically assigned her this task, stating that the contact person there had requested her by name.
Upon arriving at Lin Ran's company, she witnessed a scene that was nothing short of dramatic.
Lin Ran was kneeling on the ground, surrounded by onlookers. In front of him stood an elegantly dressed woman, beside her was a lovely girl who was crying. Lin Ran had a distinct handprint on his face, as if someone had splashed tea on him, with tea leaves clinging to his shoulder.
The person responsible for meeting her saw her watching and discreetly began to explain the situation from the sidelines.
As soon as work started, everyone noticed that the new colleague Yun Miao was absent. After searching for her twice, the manager was furious; after all, not showing up without notice or explanation was a serious offense. Just as the manager shouted about firing her, a woman suddenly burst into the office and demanded to know who Lin Ran was. The crowd was startled, and only Lin Ran obediently stood up to respond.
Immediately, the woman poured tea over his head and slapped him hard enough to make his head tilt. Shaking with anger, she accused him of being a scoundrel and a rotten cucumber for seducing her daughter and causing her 24-year-old girl to become pregnant.
Lin Ran instantly realized who she was but found himself unable to explain that he and Yun Miao were truly in love due to his unresolved relationship with Liu Qingqing. His silence seemed to confirm the woman's accusations, and unfriendly glances from colleagues surrounded him. Among them, Milly's gaze was particularly complex, filled with disdain and schadenfreude.
Yun Miao walked in crying, her haggard appearance nearly breaking Lin Ran's heart. His muse was in tears, like a winter rain freezing the entire world. Ignoring the stares of others, he rushed to kneel at the woman's feet, almost pleading for her not to tear him away from Yun Miao.
This was the scene Liu Qingqing witnessed. The woman laughed in anger and retorted, "Tear you apart? What right do you have to be with my daughter? You even have a fiancée! Do you think I raised my daughter just for you to have as a mistress or a side piece? You deceived her with sweet words and caused her to become pregnant before marriage! If I hadn't discovered she was unwell, would you have waited until she gave birth for me to find out?"
A child. Lin Ran stared blankly at Yun Miao, muttering that it couldn't be possible. He had indeed not taken precautions during their intimate moments after their first time together, but they had only known each other for less than half a month—how could there be a child?
He looked at his Little Rabbit; the girl with red eyes bore traces of tears on her face, her expression filled with pleading, her pale complexion and shaky body… What more needed understanding? Those who had tasted their muse were not the first, but he was certainly the one most willing to accept it.
Lin Ran looked up again, his eyes filled with overwhelming love for Yun Miao. He declared that he was the father of the child in her womb and wanted to be her husband forever. "As for your mention of a fiancée, we have broken up. Her existence will neither be that of a mistress nor a lover; she will only be my beloved, my wife." The man's words were resolute, and surprisingly, some actually believed him.
Liu Qingqing instantly understood her role in this situation. Taking a deep breath, she released all the unpleasantness that had built up over the past few days and charged in, mimicking the fierce women from television dramas as she swung at Lin Ran.
"Broken up, huh? No cheating, right?" Her slaps echoed against the man's face, and she did not miss the look of shock on his expression.
The materials she had prepared long ago were now put to use. She pulled out photos of his infidelity from her pocket and threw them directly at his face. She disregarded any sense of decorum, pouring out all her emotions while occasionally locking eyes with the young girl, reading the fleeting agreement in her gaze before loudly declaring:
"You’ve been deceived! He’s nothing but a complete fraud! He never broke up with me or said anything about it, and you are not the third party between us; you’re the fourth!" The words Liu Qingqing had rehearsed came tumbling out smoothly. "He’s a habitual cheater, playing roles with other women outside while still putting on a show for me at home, even bringing his mistress into my house. And now he dares to lie to this young girl about breaking up? How dare you! Lin Ran, oh Lin Ran, after four years together, I never realized you were such a scoundrel. If I hadn’t run into you today, would you have planned to remarry?"
The farce reached its climax when Lin Ran's superior arrived. Upon hearing Liu Qingqing's words, Yun Miao fainted at just the right moment, and the anxious mother hurriedly took her daughter away. Lin Ran was restrained on the ground by concerned colleagues while Liu Qingqing continued her tirade in front of everyone. However, she deliberately concealed who the real mistress was by obscuring the faces in the photos.
As for exposing Lin Ran’s infidelity and deceitful marriage while also getting someone pregnant before marriage—that was enough.
The leader coldly regarded Lin Ran and said, "You don’t need to come back tomorrow," before turning to leave and instructing everyone to clean up the mess. Liu Qingqing did not linger; she left the building without any signs of joy or sorrow and headed straight for the café.
Lin Ran's mother and sister somehow learned of this news as well and intercepted him—who had been kicked out from all sides—with furious blows. His mother had endured betrayal herself and could hardly believe that her son had turned into such a person.
This outcome was exactly what Liu Qingqing wanted, and she felt pleased to have protected the reputations of two women. Milly was safeguarded, while Yun Miao became a victim. Unfortunately, that scoundrel did not face severe punishment; instead, he was met with public disdain from friends and family—a punishment that seemed too light.
The car drove into the small town where the old places appeared lively under the sun. Schoolchildren ran past laughing and playing, their classic uniforms blending harmoniously with the surrounding atmosphere, bringing a sense of joy.
The café door was open; A Xing sat at a table enjoying ice cream. However, those inside were quite different from what one might expect outside. A still wore a loose bathrobe with one shoulder exposed as she prepared coffee behind the counter. Upon seeing Liu Qingqing enter, she playfully winked and asked if she was happy.
At that moment, A was completely different from Yun Miao; he was a genuine man with distinct facial features and build. Liu Qingqing walked in, took the coffee she had been craving, and after sipping it down felt herself calming down.
She sat down and met A's gaze, asking if this was where everything ended.
The man sat beside her, lightly tapping her lips with his fingers, asking her how she felt. His words were seductive, prompting Liu Qingqing to involuntarily spill her heart.
She told him that she was still angry and wanted to kill Lin Ran. Yet, deep inside, she felt an emptiness as if her very core had been pulled away. There was no sadness, regret, or even pity for herself. She was still filled with hatred, loathing that he had not died at her hands. However, beneath it all, there was a hint of reluctance—not for Lin Ran, but for the four years of her life that had been lost.
“Hmm… it’s just the normal scent of food,” A suddenly interjected out of nowhere. Liu Qingqing snapped back to reality, noticing the change in the man's eyes.
It wasn't just his eyes; he was transforming entirely. From a tangible and stunningly beautiful man, he slowly became hazy and indistinct, like a dark mist enveloping her. Meanwhile, A Xing paid no attention to what was happening and was focused on savoring his little cake.
Liu Qingqing felt a surge of fear at this unknown entity taking shape before her. Her limbs went numb, rendering her unable to move as the black mist wrapped around her.
The moment the cold, slick sensation touched her skin, all her anger surged to the top of her head and seemed to pierce through like a needle breaking free from her scalp. As the anger dissipated, the last remnants of love she held for Lin Ran vanished as well.
Who was Lin Ran? Just a dead ex-boyfriend.
Liu Qingqing couldn’t recall visiting the café, nor did she remember the black mist or A Xing. Her memories were frozen at the moment when she publicly beat up the scumbag, after which Lin Ran lost his job, moved out of her home, repaid her money, and even apologized in front of all their mutual friends. During this time, something else happened—Lin Ran's mother learned of it and was so heartbroken that she tried to hit him but ended up dying from anger.
Looking at the coffee cup-patterned tissues on her coffee table, Liu Qingqing couldn’t remember where they had come from.
She tossed them into the trash can and glanced at her phone. It was a message from a friend celebrating her newfound single status with plans for a trip, asking if she wanted to visit an old town nearby.
“Sure.” Liu Qingqing accepted eagerly.
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