In the morning Gu Jing laid in bed and she stared at the ceiling.
Gu Jing couldn’t believe she stayed awake all night.
Gu Jing rubbed the spots on her lips where Zhen Lang bit. She remembered the look of frustration and reluctance in his eyes before he let her go.
Gu Jing hit her head against her pillow and she cursed the hateful Zhen Lang – ‘You dare kiss me when you’re marrying someone else!’
Gu Jing didn’t want to think about anything, she only wanted to sleep.
Gu Jing wrapped the bedsheet around her body and she rolled on the bed. But she felt like snakes slid on her body and she couldn’t sleep.
Mrs Gu carried Dou Dou and a bundle of scallions into her daughter’s room. She pulled the bedsheet off her daughter.
‘Mum, what is it?’ Gu Jing asked.
Mrs Gu knocked her daughter’s head with the bundle of scallions. ‘Wake up, you got work to do.’
‘Mum, today do you want me to knead dough, wash herbs or mince the meat?’ Gu Jing asked.
‘I’m busy today. I need you to take Dou Dou for his scheduled vaccination,’ Mrs Gu said.
Gu Jing got out of bed and her mum pa.s.sed her Dou Dou. She hugged him and she kissed his cheek.
Gu Jing carried Dou Dou to the bathroom, she quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face. Then she put an adorable little hat on top of Dou Dou’s head and she carried him to the town’s hospital.
At the hospital a doctor injected a vaccine into Dou Dou’s arm and Dou Dou cried loudly. Gu Jing carried Dou Dou outside, she hugged him and she wiped tears and snot off his face.
Gu Jing patted Dou Dou’s back. ‘Be good, don’t cry anymore. Aunty will give a lollipop for you.’
Dou Dou saw Gu Jing opened a lollipop wrapper and he stopped crying.
Gu Jing waved the lollipop in front of Dou Dou’s face. His little hands grabbed her hand and he licked the lollipop.
Gu Jing looked for a rubbish bin. She didn’t see a rubbish bin instead she saw the Department of Registry building.
Gu Jing carried Dou Dou to a bench near the front of the Department of Registry building. She sat on the bench and Dou Dou sat on her lap. She held the lollipop for him to lick and occasionally she gave him sips of his water bottle she kept in her pants pocket.
‘After you’re done eating your lollipop we’ll go home. At home remember to cry loudly for your great-aunt to hear. She’ll love you to death,’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing squeezed Dou Dou’s cheek. She held Dou Dou on her lap and her eyes focused on the newlyweds and the newly divorced couples who walked out of the Department of Registry building.
Suddenly Gu Jing saw Zhen Lang who wore an ash grey suit walked out of a car. The same car that Chen Wei stepped out of. Chen Wei wore a beautiful light pink dress. She thought they looked like a stunning couple and their smiles blinded her eyes.
Gu Jing watched Zhen Lang and Chen Wei walked together into the Department of Registry building. Immediately she stood and she carried Dou Dou into the same building.
Inside the building Dou Dou’s curious eyes looked at the people who lined up to register births, marriages and deaths. He also looked at the people who lined up for authentication services. But Gu Jing’s eyes only looked at Zhen Lang.
Gu Jing saw Chen Wei stood next to Zhen Lang at a counter. She saw Chen Wei took out a family birth record and Chen Wei used it to fill out a form.
Gu Jing didn’t want Zhen Lang to marry Chen Wei. Zhen Lang played her for more than twenty years. Last night he even kissed her but he wanted to marry someone else.
Gu Jing heard the angel and demoness voices battled inside her heart. The angel voice faded and the demoness voice chanted loudly inside her heart – ‘You need to prank him one more time! Make him lose his dignity one more time! Make him be embarra.s.sed in public one more time!’
Gu Jing felt like an invisible hand pushed her and Dou Dou forward until they stood behind Zhen Lang and Chen Wei.
Zhen Lang glanced at the form Chen Wei filled out then he turned his head around and he saw Gu Jing.
Zhen Lang saw Dou Dou pulled Gu Jing’s wrinkled shirt stained with chocolate and saliva. Under her shirt she wore baggy pants and sandals.
Zhen Lang’s eyes shone brightly and he smiled. ‘Why are you here?’
‘I…’ Gu Jing said.
Gu Jing saw everyone in the room looked at Zhen Lang. Everywhere she went with Zhen Lang, people would always notice Zhen Lang. She realised she made a public spectacle of herself instead of Zhen Lang.
Gu Jing knew it was too late for her to retreat. She put Dou Dou on the counter and she lifted her chin. ‘You came here with her?’
Gu Jing didn’t wait for Zhen Lang to answer and she spoke loudly. ‘You came here with her! What am I supposed to do?’
Suddenly the room became silent. Even the couple who were about to divorce stopped their argument and they listened to Gu Jing’s loud and clear voice.
‘Didn’t you promise to marry me? Didn’t you say you’ll buy me a diamond ring? It’s only been a week since you made those promises to me, but today you brought her here. Can you say in front of baby that you didn’t make those promises to me?’ Gu Jing said.
‘In front of baby?’ Zhen Lang asked. He looked at Dou Dou who sat on the counter. Dou Dou’s curious eyes looked at him and Dou Dou kicked little legs. ‘You brought baby here to find me?’
‘That’s right!’ Gu Jing said. Her heart rejoiced because she had antic.i.p.ated the same question Zhen Lang asked her. But on the outside she pretended to look like a jilted lover. ‘If I didn’t bring baby to the hospital for a vaccination then I wouldn’t know you brought another woman here. You lied to me and played with my heart. Tell me, in the future what will happen to me and baby?’
Everyone in the room were angry at Zhen Lang’s despicable behaviour.
‘What a playboy! He has a baby with his lover but he’s marrying another woman. Looks are deceiving. He looks like a decent man but he likes to play with another person’s heart,’ an angry mob of people said.
‘My husband is lazy but at least he’s a faithful man,’ a woman who wanted a divorce said.
‘That’s right. Your lover is too soft hearted. If it was my wife she would force you to marry your lover and take responsibility,’ a man who wanted a divorce said.
The woman stood next to Gu Jing and she patted Gu Jing’s shoulder. ‘Little sister, listen to big sister. You need to demand your lover to take responsibility.’
Gu Jing grabbed Chen Wei’s hand and she pointed a finger at Zhen Lang. ‘Chen Wei, he’s a bad man. You shouldn’t believe him. He played with my heart. He’s a playboy, fickle and deceitful.’
Gu Jing realised she looked like a real jilted lover, because a bigger crowd of people which included employees surrounded her.
Dou Dou innocently clapped his hands and he dribbled.
Gu Jing lowered her head and she pretended to sniff. ‘He and I know each other for more than twenty years and we lived together for many of those years. I know what sort of man he is the most.’
Gu Jing knew she didn’t lie. She did know Zhen Lang for more than twenty years and they lived together under the same roof for many years. He did promise to marry her and buy her a diamond ring.
Gu Jing pretended to rub tears off the corner of her eyes and she secretly glanced at Zhen Lang.
Gu Jing saw the calm look on Zhen Lang’s face and on the inside she fumed. She recognised what that calm look on his face meant, if events didn’t fall within his plans then he wouldn’t be calm.
Chen Wei held up her form. ‘Wait. Gu Jing, it’s a misunderstanding. Zhen Lang and I-’
Zhen Lang put a hand up in front of Chen Wei’s face to stop her from talking.
Zhen Lang looked at Gu Jing. ‘Anything else?’
Zhen Lang’s intense eyes intimidated Gu Jing. ‘You… you-’
Zhen Lang gave Gu Jing a warning look. ‘What do you want to say? Just say everything you want to say.’
‘Hey, how can you be like this? You didn’t wipe your mouth clean after eating junk food, you have no sense of responsibility but you dare to intimidate your lover? You look like a rich man. But just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you can play with another person’s heart. If you dare intimidate your lover again, I’ll beat you to death,’ the man said.
‘A handsome and rich man like him is indeed a bad playboy. You should beat him to death,’ the woman said.
Gu Jing heard everyone wrongly accused Zhen Lang and she felt guilty that her prank went overboard. She looked at Zhen Lang and she saw his scary smile. She took a few steps back and she wanted to escape.
Gu Jing lifted Dou Dou off the counter and she hugged him. ‘I… I should go. You two should continue-’
The woman obstructed Gu Jing’s escape route.
‘Little sister, everyone here will be your witnesses. You should demand he takes responsibility,’ the woman said.
The woman looked at Chen Wei. ‘You dare to marry a man like this? If you marry him, later he’ll acknowledge his son and force you to be a good step-mum to his son.’
Gu Jing realised it was too late for her to escape, because everyone surrounded her and Zhen Lang.
‘How do you want me to take responsibility?’ Zhen Lang asked.
‘Mmm…’ Gu Jing mumbled.
Gu Jing only wanted to stop Zhen Lang from marrying Chen Wei. But she couldn’t think of anything that he needed to take responsibility for.
Gu Jing put up a shaky hand in front of Zhen Lang. ‘You don’t need to take responsibility.’
‘He needs to take responsibility! Demand him to marry you! He needs to acknowledge his son!’ the man said.
‘If you’re his wife even if you divorce him you’ll get half of his a.s.sets. You’ll be in a better position than you are in now. Look at the state you’re in. Baggy clothes and scandals. He’s wearing a tailored suit. You should demand him to pay child support,’ the woman said.
Gu Jing hugged Dou Dou and she felt pitiful as she looked on the outside.
Zhen Lang smiled. ‘Ok, I’ll take responsibility. We’ll register our marriage.’
Gu Jing pressed her back against the counter. ‘What do you want to do?’
An employee behind the counter pa.s.sed Gu Jing a form. ‘Here’s a marriage registration form.’
‘Wait! You can’t get married like this. He also needs to write down on the form like how much child support he’ll pay monthly as a guarantee for his wife,’ the man said. He pointed a finger at Zhen Lang. ‘What will you give your wife?’
Zhen Lang pretended to contemplate for a while. ‘I’ll give you all the money in my bank account, ok?’
‘Ok!’ the angry mob said.
‘I’ll transfer all my a.s.sets to you including my shares, ok?’ Zhen Lang asked.
‘Ok!’ the angry mob said.
Zhen Lang picked up a pen and he wrote down everything he promised Gu Jing on their marriage registration form. Then he filled out the form for both of them and he put the pen down on the counter. ‘Ok, let’s register our marriage.’
That day a group of people witnessed a rare sighting of a rich man in a suit was forced to marry a woman who wore wrinkled clothes.
Gu Jing didn’t understand what happened, but suddenly a completed marriage registration form with only her signature absent was put on the counter in front of her.
‘I… I can’t get married because I didn’t bring my family birth record,’ Gu Jing said.
‘I brought your family birth record here,’ Zhen Lang said.
Gu Jing didn’t get to ask Zhen Lang why he had her family birth record, because he wrapped an arm around her waist and he kissed her. She could only register his soft lips and hot tongue. Her body weakened. His kiss felt more intoxicating than alcohol and her soul floated on top of clouds.
Zhen Lang let go of Gu Jing. He saw the dreamy look in her eyes and he whispered in her ear. ‘Sign your name.’
Zhen Lang kissed Gu Jing senseless so she carelessly picked up a pen and signed her name on the form in front of her.
End of Chapter Thirty-Eight