Chapter 6
Edward Quan ·
But Trần Tông Nguyệt had already come around the desk to my side.
“I’ve finished eating. I’ll go upstairs…”
Before I could finish, he took my chin and tilted my face up.
As he bent to kiss me, his other hand covered my wide eyes.
“Hứa Trăn.”
His lips moved against mine, gently tasting them.
“Open your mouth.”
25
The heating was too high. Soon a fine sheen of sweat covered me.
My limp fingertips clung to his back, then slipped helplessly to the edge of the bed.
Lean, beautiful muscle defined his back.
His waist was narrow and firm, his abdomen sharply outlined, the lines at his hips tantalizing.
In one brief moment of clarity before I lost myself, I couldn’t help thinking—
He had said he was in poor health, that his elders worried he might never have children.
Yet nothing about him now suggested frailty.
“Trần Tông Nguyệt…”
Perhaps my thoughts had grown too muddled. Dazed, I finally asked, “Didn’t you say you weren’t well?”
He bent to kiss me, amusement in his voice.
“Trăn Trăn, have a little sympathy.”
“For… what?”
Wasn’t I the one who deserved sympathy?
I was pregnant.
He held my waist. His long fingers traveled down from my belly, until they gently closed around my ankle and lifted it.
“When someone has only just discovered this, there’s a long time when he can’t get enough.”
“What? You’d never… before?”
“My health was poor. I couldn’t be with women. I had to abstain… to preserve my strength.”
“Then why are you… Don’t you care if you die?”
“Things are different now.”
“How?”
“Now… it’s time to bring yin and yang into harmony.”
“Trần Tông Nguyệt…”
“Be good. I know my limits. There’s a baby in there…”
“I promise, this is the last time.”
“The last time tonight.”
“Trần Tông Nguyệt…”
“Trăn Trăn, kiss me.”
He lowered his head and took my earlobe between his lips.
As though bewitched, I lifted my face in a daze and kissed his throat.
That kiss earned me a very, very long “last time.”
26
After that night, something subtle seemed to change between us.
He still copied sutras for two hours every day, without fail.
Before, he had stood alone at his desk and finished in one unbroken stretch.
Now he sat in a chair with me on his lap, one hand holding his brush, the other around my waist.
The sutras got copied, but toward the end his handwriting became rather untidy.
Even the once-orderly desk ended up in disarray.
Sometimes I could hardly reconcile the two versions of him.
He seemed so far removed from ordinary life, so untouched by worldly desire.
Yet he could wear that same face while doing the most shameless things.
“Does the Buddha know what you’re like behind his back?”
“I’m only a lay disciple. I haven’t shaved my head and become a monk. What is there to fear?”
He lifted me down from the desk.
“Shall I take you over this afternoon?”
Chu Cảnh Hoài had some documents relating to the inheritance and transfer of shares for me to sign.
Bound by our shared secret and mutual interests, we actually got along much better now.
The other day, he had even said over the phone that he would transfer ten million yuan to me once everything was settled.
I hadn’t refused.
Money couldn’t do everything, but it was certainly useful.
I needed it to escape the Hứa family and start a new life.
“The driver can take me. After all, my divorce from Chu Cảnh Hoài hasn’t been made public yet.”
I didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble.
Whatever else had happened, Trần Tông Nguyệt was still related to the Chu family.
He said nothing, only lowered his eyes and stroked the coral beads around my wrist.
“Don’t take these off.”
It made no difference to me. Hidden in my sleeve, no one would see them.
“All right. I won’t.”
He still didn’t seem happy.
When I went out that afternoon, he remained in the study.
As the car passed through the main gate, I couldn’t resist looking back.
There he was, his slender figure standing on the steps outside the courtyard.
He was watching my car.
For some reason, my lips curved of their own accord.
So many troubles in life came from thinking too much about what lay ahead.
If no one knew what the future held, why not enjoy the present?
At least I was happy with him. Truly happy.
A man like him, with his background, could simply remain a noble, distant moon in the sky.
Why grow greedy and try to pull him down into my arms?
27
My winter clothes were thick, so Chu Cảnh Hoài didn’t notice the slight swell of my belly until I was inside signing the papers.
Several times, he seemed on the verge of speaking, but he held back until we had finished.
Only after the lawyer and secretary left did he begin.
“You…”
He pointed at my stomach.
“You haven’t been to the hospital yet?”
“The baby’s father is in poor health. His family has only had one male heir in each of the last five generations. He begged me not to get rid of it.”
“But don’t worry. I’ll soon go to Hong Kong for the rest of the pregnancy and the birth. It won’t cause any trouble for you, Miss Khương, or your baby.”
Weariness showed plainly on his face.
“Hứa Trăn.”
He slowly sat on the sofa opposite me.
“Khương Lai lost the baby. We’re keeping it quiet. The elders don’t know yet.”
“How did that happen?”
I was surprised.
“She wasn’t healthy to begin with. Even with such careful treatment in hospital, she still miscarried.”
“The doctor said it was because of her constitution. Having another child… will probably be very difficult.”
He leaned back, covered his face, and gave a bitter laugh.
“Perhaps… this is what I deserve.”
“Hứa Trăn, I’ve been so tired lately.”
“She’s devastated about the baby. She’s almost fallen apart. Now she acts as though she’s lost her mind. I can’t reason with her…”
“I’ve promised I’ll marry her even without the child, but she won’t believe me.”
“The shares and inheritance still aren’t settled. I can’t announce the divorce or register a marriage with her yet. She refuses to understand.”