[011 What Do You Dislike?]
Zhang Zhang also went to that supermarket after work yesterday. For the same reason: to use up her supermarket gift card.
First, she came across Fang Zhixi, who was in tears, and learnt that Yao Mu was married with children. Then she saw the couple and the group of four at the supermarket.
And so a misunderstanding arose.
Just as Zhuang Yiyi was in the middle of explaining, Yao Mu arrived. He handed the ward round sheet to Zhang Zhang, said not a word, and walked away coldly. Zhang Zhang watched his aloof retreating figure and remarked, “You two are having quite a quarrel.
It wasn’t a quarrel at all. It was a one-sided cold war.
After finishing work, Zhuang Yiyi went to find Xiang Yajun and told her about the incident.
Xiang Yajun was Zhuang Yiyi’s university classmate, a philosophy major who was deeply immersed in abstruse philosophical theories, unable to extricate herself. Yet she was far from pedantic; open-minded and magnanimous, she was deeply loved by her students.
Xiang Yajun handed her a freshly poured glass of Sprite. “Actually, you know all this already.”
“Yes. I know. I just need to make it clear to him that I’m married to Chen Ding. Although my senior would be angry, this doesn’t go against his moral principles. He wouldn’t treat me the way he is now.”
Xiang Yajun took a sip of Sprite, glanced sideways at the troubled Zhuang Yiyi, and smiled as she held her glass. “Humans are contradictory creatures. Even when you know the best solution, you still don’t want to go for it.”
Zhuang Yiyi leaned back on the sofa, saying nothing.
“Actually, look at it this way: telling your senior brother that you’re married to Chen Ding—and that you might be getting divorced any day now—could be a pretty good option,” Xiang Yajun teased. “Who knows, your senior brother might even be quite pleased.”
Zhuang Yiyi stared at her coldly.
Xiang Yajun laughed so hard she was doubled over.
The phone rang. It was Zhuang Yiyi’s mother.
Zhuang Yiyi didn’t answer; she just let it ring. Xiang Yajun found it annoying, so she turned off the silent mode.
“I’ll just say three words: why bother?” Xiang Yajun set down her Sprite and discussed the matter with her earnestly. “We don’t really like to bring our families of origin into this. But we’re not eighteen anymore. If you want to escape your mother, you could quit your job right now and go live in some remote forest. Why go to all this trouble—getting married and divorced—all whilst making your mother angry, avoiding a bad reputation, and still managing to get divorced? You married Chen Ding in the first place to keep your mother from coming to Hangzhou, and now you want a divorce because she’s too pleased with him. “Why are you putting yourself through all this and tormenting Chen Ding just because of your mother? What’s the point?”
Zhuang Yiyi kept a stern expression on her face. After a long silence, she said, “I’ll accept all the consequences.”
“You’ll regret it,” Xiang Yajun concluded.
“Then I’ll accept that too.”
Zhuang Yiyi picked up her mobile; it was already flooded with messages, all from her mother, asking why she hadn’t answered her calls. Before long, Chen Ding’s call came through too. Zhuang Yiyi flipped her phone face down.
Chen Ding had received a work call and was away on a business trip again. Three days into the trip, his chat history with Zhuang Yiyi was still stuck on the message he’d sent three days earlier: “Are you coming back tonight? I’ve made the sweet and sour spare ribs you like.”
Three days had passed.
Chen Ding decided that if Zhuang Yiyi didn’t contact him, he would resolutely not contact her either.
Chen Ding’s mother rang him to say that his grandmother had been injured and asked him to come by if he had time.
Chen Ding agreed.
“What about Yiyi? If you have time, give her a call too; if not, never mind.”
“I don’t know.”
As soon as Mrs Chen heard this, she knew there was a rift between them and laughed. “You’re nearly thirty, yet you’re still sulking like a child? If there’s a problem, why not just sort it out? ‘Don’t know’? Do you think that’s childish?”
Chen Ding said nothing. After hanging up, he reflected on it. At thirty, there really was no need to let a petty argument hold things up for three days.
But in his mind, he quietly set himself a condition: if Zhuang Yiyi answered the call, he would let bygones be bygones.
After the seminar ended, Zhuang Yiyi received a call from Chen Ding.
She walked into the corridor nearby and asked, “What do you want?”
Hearing the background noise, Chen Ding assumed she was at the hospital. “I hope I’m not interrupting you.”
“No, not at all.”
“My mum just rang. She said Grandma’s had an accident and asked if you’d be free to come and see her?”
Chen Ding’s family home was in Suzhou, whilst Zhuang Yiyi was currently in Shanghai, so it wasn’t too far. “Is tomorrow alright? I happen to be in Shanghai.”
“You’re in Shanghai?”
“Yes, attending a seminar.”
“Oh,” said Chen Ding. “Then I’ll come to Shanghai to pick you up, and we’ll go to Suzhou together.”
“No need. That’s too much trouble. We can just meet up in Suzhou.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Yao Mu walking over. “Senior?”
Yao Mu said expressionlessly, “The teacher told me to ask you to come to the restaurant.”
“Right. I’ll be right there.”
Yao Mu should have left, but for some reason he had a premonition, so he asked, “Who were you on the phone with?”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
Yao Mu had already gleaned the answer from Zhuang Yiyi’s silence. “You really are beyond help.”
During the meal, Teacher Jiao sensed the silence between the two. With so many people at the table, he didn’t feel it was appropriate to speak up. Once they were back at the hotel, he asked Yao Mu, “What’s going on between you and your junior colleague?”
Yao Mu replied, “Professor, please don’t ask.”
Professor Jiao could tell from Yao Mu’s tone just how serious this rift was. He cautioned, “Private matters are private matters, and professional matters are professional matters. Don’t let this affect your work.”
“Right.”
The following morning, as they set off for Hangzhou, Yao Mu did not see Zhuang Yiyi. Everyone else had already boarded the car. Yao Mu stood by the vehicle, hesitating for nearly thirty seconds, before finally asking his teacher, “Teacher, where is Zhuang Yiyi?”
“Yiyi has taken leave. She said she had something to attend to, so she won’t be returning with us.”
“Right.” Yao Mu felt inexplicably downcast.
When they arrived at Suzhou Station, Chen Ding came to collect her.
Chen Ding’s family home wasn’t in the city centre, but in a slightly distant suburb. On the way, he introduced her to the local sights and culture, occasionally weaving in stories from his past.
When they arrived at his family home, his grandmother was sitting outside in the sun. Spotting the bags they were carrying, she asked, “Didn’t you bring a whole load of things over yesterday? Why have you brought so much more?”
Chen Ding smiled and said, “Grandma, Yiyi thought there wasn’t quite enough, so she bought these especially for you.”
Chen Ding carried the items into the inner room with a smile, then brought out two stools. The two of them sat down to chat with Grandma. After a short while, Grandma said, “Take Yiyi out for a walk. I’m going to bed now.”
Chen Ding took Yiyi for a stroll around the village. It felt like a place frozen in time; year after year, nothing much ever changed. When they reached a fork in the road, Zhuang Yiyi asked, “If we go straight ahead, isn’t there a village shrine?”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve been here before.”
“Do you have relatives here?”
“I suppose… sort of.”
Chen Ding assumed she meant distant relatives or the like, so he didn’t press the matter. Just then, he spotted two children playing badminton on the concrete ground ahead. “There are fewer and fewer children in the village these days,” Chen Ding remarked. “Most have gone to the city. These two are among the very few left.”
“Left-behind children?”
“I suppose so.”
Chen Ding watched Zhuang Yiyi staring at the two children. He knew full well it wasn’t because she fancied them, so, drawing on her profession, he asked, “Are you interested in the psychology of left-behind children?”
Zhuang Yiyi looked at him in surprise. “How did you know?”
Chen Ding smiled. “We’re on the same wavelength.”
“……”
Zhuang Yiyi said, “Let’s go.”
“Aren’t you going to have a chat with those two children?”
“No. I’ve got my hands full as it is.”
When it was time to go to bed that evening, Zhuang Yiyi noticed that the bed sheets and duvet covers in the room were exactly the same as the ones at Chen Ding’s place. Chen Ding smiled and said, “I was afraid you wouldn’t be used to sleeping here.”
Zhuang Yiyi looked at the two pillows. “Are we sharing a bed tonight?”
“Mm.” The sound was a nasal mumble.
When Zhuang Yiyi came out of the shower, Chen Ding was sitting cross-legged on the bed in his pyjamas, idly shuffling a pack of cards. Hearing the sound, he looked up to see his wife emerge, her face flushed and her skin looking rosy.
It was truly testing his self-control.
Chen Ding took a deep breath. “Shall we play cards?”
“How can the two of us play?”
“Bullfight. The loser has to answer one question from the winner.”
Chen Ding won the first round.
“What was your ideal marriage partner like when you were a child?”
Zhuang Yiyi sat cross-legged, pondering. “Handsome. Rich. Domineering. The sort who’d rip out my heart, lungs and corneas.”
“……” Chen Ding burst out laughing. “My dear, you had rather unique tastes as a child.”
In the second round, Chen Ding won again.
“If you hadn’t become a doctor, what career would you have pursued?”
“Hmm…” She took a while to think about this one. “A backpacker, I suppose. Carrying a rucksack, travelling all over the place. Living life freely.”
In the third round, Zhuang Yiyi won.
She asked, “What do you hate most?”
Chen Ding pondered this question for quite a while too. “Nothing.”
Zhuang Yiyi continued to look at him.
Chen Ding smiled. “The answer I can give right now is: nothing. Everyone has their own reasons. If you look at it from a different angle, it doesn’t seem so hateful anymore.”
Zhuang Yiyi continued to look at Chen Ding. She was somewhat taken aback by his broad-mindedness, but for some reason, a vague sense of resentment and frustration welled up inside her. She now found Chen Ding rather irritating.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Chen Ding asked with a smile.
“Nothing.”
“Then what is it you dislike?”
“I don’t want to answer that question.” Zhuang Yiyi sat up. “Let’s go to sleep.”
When he woke up the next morning, Chen Ding felt a heavy weight on his chest. He knew Zhuang Yiyi liked to cuddle up to people when she slept.
Today, she was practically crushing him beneath her.
A sweet kind of bother.
After breakfast, Chen Ding and Zhuang Yiyi took his grandmother to see the local traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.
The practitioner’s clinic was at the other end of the village, also housed in a small two-storey building. It was actually just a small room attached to the main building, with a rather dignified wooden sign hanging on the door: ‘Tianyuan Hall’.