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墨書 Inktalez
Ziya focused her attention on the call from Severe Cold. After a moment of intense internal conflict, she pressed the answer button and walked slowly to the balcony by the bathtub, raising her delicate eyebrows slightly.
On the other end of the line, Severe Cold's alluring, magnetic voice came through. "Ziya, how are you? Why are you ignoring me? Why did you block me? Why aren't you online?"
Listening to his barrage of questions without mentioning the messages he had sent her, Ziya struggled to suppress her anger, silently reminding herself: Stay calm, you must stay calm.
"There’s no reason. Didn’t you say that distance creates a gap between us?" Ziya tried to control her emotions, but tears began to well up in her eyes, sliding down her smooth cheeks.
"Please, can’t we just be okay like this?" Severe Cold's tone softened as he struggled to get those words out.
"If it were possible, let’s just be ordinary friends and not discuss emotional issues. I’m too afraid of becoming strangers after failing to be a couple; simplicity is what’s true. Maybe in the next life, we can make a new agreement."
"If I can’t have you in this life, what’s there to talk about in the next? You’re proud and narcissistic; meeting me was your fortune. Since you don’t cherish it, then cherish your fortune! Pride will only leave you lonely," Severe Cold replied, his tone tinged with irritation.
"Severe Cold, I once saw you as a tree in my heart—a father figure, a friend with whom I could share my thoughts. Sigh... perhaps I was wrong. You’re a man; I’m just a little woman who wants someone to care for her and cling to them. You won’t give me that; in your world, there’s only you..."
As Ziya spoke these words, tears had already soaked her cheeks. Yes, as a child, she had faced circumstances unlike those of her peers. The ugly soul of her adoptive father left Ziya with permanent scars; it wasn’t that she was inherently cold. She simply didn’t believe in true love existing in this world. Among all her suitors, how could they not be drawn to her beauty? Their kindness toward her was ulterior in motive. It was only on the train that she was moved by Severe Cold's humorous and emotional topics, along with the incident at Ms. Tan's home—both left an indelible impact on Ziya. She knew that only Severe Cold could fill the vacant space in her heart; only he had touched the frozen mountain within her.
"Please don’t be willful! How about I come to A City?" Severe Cold sensed something was off from Ziya's resolute tone and softened his voice.
"Forget it; you should stay in C City! That’s your second hometown; you can’t abandon your job for personal feelings," Ziya continued to gently dissuade him.
"Ziya, I haven’t told you yet—I’ve been transferred back to D City. Our family is now in a key area of Beijing Reform; I’ve changed jobs too—I’m now the Director of the City Management Office. I've been busy every day; recently I've been overwhelmed and feeling down, so I sent those messages without thinking."
Ziya let out a bitter smile and said, "Oh, I didn't know you were transferred back to D City and even got a promotion. Well, you go ahead and be busy! I still have to cook!" As she spoke, Ziya hung up the phone. Only then did she quietly wipe away her tears with a tissue from the box on the tea table, staring blankly at the television screen. She knew well that Severe Cold was a dutiful son who had given up his beloved career for the sake of his parents; his struggles were hard for others to understand.
After a flurry of activity at home, Sun Meng finally set the dishes on the table as dusk began to settle in. She looked around anxiously, glancing at the wall clock from time to time. On ordinary days, Liang Chao would have been home by now. Could it be that he was working overtime because there were too many patients today? With this thought in mind, Sun Meng decided to call him.
When the call connected, a cacophony of noise came through the receiver, followed by Liang Chao's voice asking, "Is there something?" There seemed to be a woman's voice nearby—YaYa's voice—talking to Liang Chao amidst soft music…
"Why aren't you off work yet? Where are you?" Sun Meng pressed.
"I'm working overtime; there are a lot of patients getting IV drips," Liang Chao replied, sounding somewhat impatient.
Overtime, soft music, and the background noise. Sun Meng hung up the phone, her mind racing over what she had just heard. Could Liang Chao be lying? With that thought lingering, she decided to go check on him. Just then, her phone rang unexpectedly; it was Ziya calling.
"Hello…" Sun Meng walked over to the window, gazing out at the community shrouded in a hazy orange glow as night fell.
"Mengmeng…" Ziya's voice was choked with emotion as she called out Sun Meng's name but fell silent afterward.
"What’s wrong?" Sun Meng asked anxiously.
"Severe Cold called; he… he wants to come to A City."
"That's great! Let him come!" At first hearing this, Sun Meng felt genuinely happy for Ziya; her earlier gloom vanished in an instant because of Ziya's call.
Ziya didn't say anything more and hung up. Sun Meng also abandoned her idea of checking on the clinic. She collapsed onto the sofa and pondered: what exactly is marriage? Is it merely about physical attraction, or is it about two people managing their marriage together with mutual trust, tolerance, and understanding? With this line of thought, she felt even less inclined to investigate Liang Chao's situation.
The pendulum on the wall swung back and forth incessantly as Sun Meng sat on the sofa, watching a skit by Ben Shan Uncle on the television, selling crutches... As her vision blurred, the sound from the TV gradually faded away.
Suddenly, a burst of childish laughter filled the air. A chubby little boy ran down the hallway and stood beside the sofa, looking up at Sun Meng with a beaming smile.
"Mommy, hold me."
"Whose child are you? Why are you calling me Mommy?" Sun Meng scrutinized the child closely and noticed he bore a striking resemblance to Liang Chao—same bulbous nose, thick eyebrows, large ears, and even the same face shape.
"Mommy, I'm your child! Hehe, hold me..." The child babbled with a bright, clear voice, clearly a toddler losing his baby teeth.
Sun Meng was confused; she didn't have a child this big. However, seeing how adorable he was, she couldn't help but lift him onto her lap. The moment he settled on her, he seemed overly excited, tugging at her clothes as if he were a hungry infant seeking milk.
Sun Meng found the child's antics amusing and didn't mind his actions. She allowed him to pull at her clothing, but to her surprise, when he lifted her shirt, he suddenly leaned down and bit into her soft flesh. A sharp pain shot through her body instantly. In a panic, she tried to push him away, but the child was surprisingly strong. As she struggled to free herself, she felt as if her chest was drenched in blood; blood flowed all over her body. When the child looked up, his mouth was bubbling with blood.
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