Chapter 41: Caught Between Us

“Sorry. Just a little joke from the new manager.”
My face was dark, my voice low enough to sound ghostly.
“A joke? What a hilarious joke…”
“Exactly.”
“Could everyone leave now? We wouldn’t want to disturb our esteemed chairwoman while she’s working.”
I forced the anger down, letting the warning speak for itself.
Normally, I would have shouted.
My words still had some effect. After exchanging uncertain looks, they reluctantly filed out.
“Enjoying yourself?”
Arms folded, I turned sideways and regarded Yan Rong coldly, copying her manner.
She seemed taken aback that I dared.
“Ouyang, leave us.”
Her gaze was enough to send a chill through me.
Step by step, she approached, her arms folded too.
“So your true nature finally shows.”
“I think yours is showing. You look so respectable, yet you play such underhanded games.”
She gave a brief smile.
“I won’t have someone like you for a daughter-in-law. You’re already trying to walk all over me.”
“I don’t want to be your daughter-in-law. The thought of marrying into a family with someone like you makes me sick.”
“Good. Very good.”
She applauded.
“Remember, you said it. In that case, there’s no reason for you to stay.”
“Nothing would please me more.”
I was about to sweep out triumphantly when another thought stopped me.
If I left like this, hadn’t I lost completely?
No.
I wouldn’t admit defeat.
I wouldn’t lose Ji Feiyang.
Slowly, I turned back. Lifting my lashes, I gave her a wicked smile.
“But I’m going to marry Ji Feiyang all the same, Mother-in-law.”
With that, I tossed my head and walked out.
Thinking of her fury made me happy.
But the happiness didn’t last.
How was I going to face Ji Feiyang?
“Where are you?” I asked when he answered his phone.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just asking.”
Once I had his exact address, I boarded a plane and went to find him.
The city’s neon lights cast shifting colours over my pale face as I stood outside Qinglang Hotel.
I gathered my courage, prepared myself for everything, then marched inside and knocked on his room door.
“Yijun!”
He stared in astonishment.
Had Yan Rong complained to him already?
“I… I missed you.”
“Come in.”
The moment I entered, he put his arms around me.
We were much more comfortable with each other now, no longer as shy as we’d sometimes been at the beginning.
“Do you realise how much you worry people?”
“I’m here in one piece, aren’t I?”
“Don’t go off on your own like this again. Tell me if you’re coming. Do your parents know?”
I stuck out my tongue.
“I told Zhou Guo I arrived safely.”
“What about work tomorrow? Did you ask Mum for leave?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Luckily, she hadn’t told him yet.
“Have you eaten?”
“No.”
“You must be starving.”
I shook my head and smiled.
“Not hungry.”
Ji Feiyang kissed me lightly on the lips.
“I haven’t eaten either.”
He turned to pick up the telephone beside the bed and order dinner.
Then his mobile rang.
One glance at the screen made my heart jump.
Yan Rong.
I looked at him. He was still ordering.
What was I going to do?
Picking up his mobile, I switched it off and held it to my ear.
“Hello? Sorry, you’ve got the wrong number. Nobody called Huang here… It’s all right. Goodbye.”
After finishing his call, Ji Feiyang asked, “Who was that?”
“Wrong number.”
I tossed his phone onto the bed.
To keep him from picking it up, I caught his attention.
“Shall we go for a walk?”
“I’m tired. Another day? We haven’t had dinner yet.”
“Then let’s watch television.”
We settled together on the sofa.
Such happiness.
For once, a world with only the two of us.
After dinner and showers, we went to bed.
There was only one, so we had to share.
Wearing his oversized pyjamas, I climbed in beside him. He held me against his broad chest.
The scent of his shower gel surrounded me.
Both our hearts were beating fast.
I could tell he was in a very good mood.
If I had something to say, now was the moment.
“Feiyang…”
“Mm?”
“Will you love me for the rest of your life?”
“Would two lifetimes be enough?”
“No. Not even three. You have to love me forever.”
“All right.”
“If your mother never likes me, will you still love me?”
“Silly girl. My feelings for you have nothing to do with her.”
“Then why do I have to make her happy?”
“Because she’s my mother. We’ll be a family one day, and families should get along.”
He bent his head and kissed my forehead.
“What if she won’t let you marry me?”
“You have to try. Make an effort to win her over.”
“What if I can’t? Will you stop wanting me?”
I lifted myself out of his arms.
He pulled me close again.
“No.”
“How can I believe you?”
“You don’t believe me?”
After a foolish little smile, I said, “Could we try an experiment?”
Again, I sat up.
“What sort?”
He sat up too, watching me curiously.
“Listen carefully.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’ve had a huge row with your mother.”
He froze.
“I should have known.”
“Do you still love me?”
“Of course I do.”
His tone had lost some of its tenderness.
“Didn’t I tell you to keep your temper?”
“She was underhanded.”
“If you can’t put up with a little, you’ll ruin everything.”
“We’ve fallen out completely.”
“What do we do now?”
“What do you think?”
He met my gaze.
“Go back and apologise.”
“No. An apology won’t help. Your mother will never like me.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
I wrapped my arms around him.
“Forget about your mother. Loving each other is our business.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t do that.”
He drew me away.
That movement chilled my heart.
“So she matters more than I do.”
“She’s my mother. We should respect our elders.”
“And if she went around murdering people and setting fires, should I help her?”
I gave a bitter snort.
“If elders don’t behave respectably, why should the younger generation respect them?”
I was rather impressed with myself for coming up with that.
Ji Feiyang’s temper rose.
“Don’t speak about my mother like that.”
He’d actually raised his voice at me.
I lifted my chin and shouted back.
“I’ll say what I like about her. I’ll criticise her if I want to. Ji Feiyang, I see what you’re like now. You don’t love me at all. Go back to your witch of a mother!”
Still in his enormous pyjamas and oversized slippers, I stormed out of the hotel.
How could he?
He’d shouted at me because of Yan Rong.
So much for his love having nothing to do with her.
A liar.
What did I mean to him?
Nothing.
The farther I ran, the more it hurt.
I wasn’t going to cry.
Crying over that hateful mother and son would be ridiculous.
But the tears fell anyway.
I wiped them as I ran.
I wasn’t crying.
The slippers were far too big.
As I tried to run faster, I tripped and fell.
My palms scraped against the ground, breaking the skin and drawing blood.
I stayed where I was and sobbed.
“Come back.”
“No!”
“Are you planning to sleep in the street?”
“None of your business!”
Ji Feiyang pulled me up.
I struggled and hit him.
He hoisted me over his shoulder.
I pounded his back, but after a while, I couldn’t bring myself to hit him anymore.
“How could I leave you sleeping out here?”
“Don’t pretend to be kind. I won’t thank you.”

Back in his room, we sat at opposite ends of the sofa.
“Tang Yijun, could you try to be a little more mature? Must everything turn into a child’s tantrum?”
“You don’t like me anymore?”
“Don’t twist everything I say.”
He sounded exhausted.
I turned my face away.
“It’s late. I have work tomorrow. Let’s sleep.”
He stood.
“Ji Feiyang, don’t you love me anymore? Do you regret being with me?”
The questions came out painfully.
“No.”
I lifted my chin.
“All right. I’ll believe you this once.”
“Listen to yourself. Still so domineering. Old habits really do die hard.”
“Don’t say bad things about me.”
“You’re impossible.”
He switched off the light and went to bed.
Heartless.
He wasn’t even going to bother with me.
In the dark, I curled up on the sofa and sulked.
At some point, I fell asleep.
When I woke, a thin blanket covered me.
Ji Feiyang was gone.
Thinking it over, I’d fallen out with Yan Rong, and now he was angry with me too.
There wasn’t much point staying.
I changed my clothes and went home.