Gu Jing carried a bag of snacks and beers in her right hand and she swung a key ring around her left index finger. She hummed songs on the way to Zhen Lang’s home.
Zhen Lang’s home was inside an extravagant high-rise building, his home was a lot better than her cracked and on the verge of crumbling home. Zhen Lang’s neighbourhood didn’t have stray cats screech meow sounds in the middle of the night and there were no rowdy fish markets where people exchanged profanities like roosters crudely crowing at dogs. The smooth pebbled footpath to Zhen Lang’s home was surrounded by aesthetic greenery, fresh air and ample sunlight.
Gu Jing purposely circled around the high-rise building to check if Zhen Lang’s car was parked in the tenants’ parking bay. She was happy she didn’t see his car and she comfortably entered the high-rise building.
In the elevator Gu Jing was still mystified how twenty years ago Zhen Lang’s dad’s business took off like a kite elevated by the wind, which was why twenty years later Zhen Lang lived in a luxurious neighbourhood and Gu Jing lived in a poor neighbourhood.
But even if Gu Jing was beaten to death, she wouldn’t admit Zhen Lang’s dad enrolled her and Zhen Lang in the same primary school, high school and the most prestigious city college. Unfortunately when she and Zhen Lang came home to visit from the city, they complained to their parents they didn’t like living in the crowded city and Zhen Lang’s dad immediately bought an apartment in the high-rise building. Zhen Lang’s dad said he bought the apartment for her and Zhen Lang to live together and take care of each other to give their parents a peace of mind.
The number above the gla.s.s elevator door quickly increased, Gu Jing exhaled deeply and she focused her attentions on the moon above the night sky outside the high-rise building.
Gu Jing had known Zhen Lang for many years, and between them they never had a decent word to say about each other. Why did their parents think they could take care of each other? Weren’t their parents scared they’d live together for less than three days, Zhen Lang’s lungs would explode from annoyance and she would pound Zhen Lang’s face until it was flat as a pancake?
Gu Jing and Zhen Lang’s lives were intertwined for more than twenty years yet their parents didn’t see the real nature of their relationship. Didn’t their parents feel since they were adults and even if their parents didn’t think they hated each other, an unrelated and unmarried male and female living together was a concern?
Gu Jing’s carefree childhood years, her awkward adolescent years and her early spring young adult years flew by and cemented in her memories was an image of the same monster who shadowed her.
Gu Jing felt she only kissed Zhen Lang once and held him a little. So she didn’t understand why it was necessary for Zhen Lang to shadow her until death.
Gu Jing hated Zhen Lang, looked down on him and resented him. Whenever she was in a bad mood, she just needed to think about Zhen Lang’s face and she’d want to run to him and give him a beating to feel better. But she didn’t dare vent on Zhen Lang in front of her parents and his parents.
Gu Jing would shudder and feel a cold sensation on her nape if she just thought about the past how her mum waved a pot and chased her pa.s.sed ten homes of neighbouring families.
But what held back Gu Jing the most from killing Zhen Lang was his mum. Zhen Lang’s mum was born with a hereditary heart condition and when Zhen Lang’s mum gave birth to Zhen Lang she nearly lost her life. From the top to bottom members of the Zhen household, Zhen Lang’s mum was under their protection as though Zhen Lang’s mum was a national treasure. Even Zhen Lang’s career path was chosen by the head of the Zhen household for Zhen Lang to help treat his mum’s heart condition.
Gu Jing was mindful of Zhen Lang’s mum’s heart condition, she’d rather her mum beat her bottom until it ballooned like a red rose than dare to provoke Zhen Lang’s mum.
Zhen Lang’s mum’s tears could flow like oceans. If Gu Jing or Zhen Lang made his mum laugh, their lives were spared but if they evoked his mum’s tears, they suffered. When they were younger her parents and his dad would join forces to punish them if they upset his mum, they were grounded for a month, their pocket money was deducted and all their recreational activities were cancelled.
Gu Jing and Zhen Lang’s tragic childhood experiences meant even if they couldn’t coexist under the same sky, they didn’t dare to show it in front of her parents and his parents. Neither of them could tolerate each other’s company and they wanted to be far away from each other. But neither of them wanted to earn the evil t.i.tle of provoking his mum’s weak heart so they were stuck together in an undesirable situation.
Gu Jing fiddled for the house key on her key chain, which she hadn’t used for a long time. Then she looked at Zhen Lang’s shiny door and she didn’t hesitate to lift her leg and kick the shiny door. Afterward a shoe print marred the shiny door.
Gu Jing retrieved her leg and she walked through the door. Inside Zhen Lang’s home everything was clean. She tossed her shoes and she walked barefoot into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and as she expected it was full of food and drinks, except her beloved beers and junk food.
Gu Jing sighed and unpacked her bag of beers and junk food into the fridge. She’d known Zhen Lang for many years so she knew his personality too well. He restricted himself, he was stern, he didn’t touch junk food, he didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he slept early and woke up early, he didn’t indulge in the slightest act of dishonesty and in her eyes living like him wasn’t a meaningful life.
Gu Jing walked to her room. Inside her room she swept a finger on a table and she was satisfied there wasn’t a speck of dust. She felt it was worth her insistence on paying half of his cleaner’s fee to maintain her room in a clean condition to await her occasional visits.
Gu Jing opened drawers which stored her clothes then she picked up some of her neatly folded clothes and she flung it around her room to make her room look like it was lived in. She was satisfied about the new condition of her room, she grabbed a clean set of clothes and she walked to the bathroom to take a shower.
Zhen Lang sat opposite his good friend at a quiet cafe and they chatted comfortably.
When Zhen Lang glanced at the clock on the cafe wall it was half past eight in the evening and he got a feeling the barrel of dynamite arrived at his home. He just hoped his house under her vandalising hands wouldn’t turn into a horrific dump. An image of Gu Jing came into his mind, she would kick his front door open, barge into his house with dirty shoes on and walk straight to the bathroom. He smiled brightly and he wondered whether he should call a cleaner to tidy his house.
Lin Tu Shen looked at Zhen Lang who held a cup of coffee in his hand and Zhen Lang was smiling too brightly, Lin Tu Shen shivered and shook his head. ‘What are you thinking about? If you keep smiling in front of me, it’ll make people misunderstand.’
Zhen Lang put his cup of coffee onto the table. ‘It’s not the first day or the second day people have misunderstood us. Till this day we’re still ranked first as the best pair of boy lovers in our old school. Do you want to recreate the same scene from that year?’
Lin Tu Shen gave Zhen Lang a no-way look. ‘Is that alien a girl or not? She drank a lot that night but she was still capable of stripping you and me naked and tossing us onto the bed to take a photo. Even if I wanted to take revenge it’ll be like chasing the wind, I can’t win a fight against her.’
Zhen Lang laughed. ‘I remember that year there was someone who declared he wanted to pursue her. He said he liked her free spirited att.i.tude and she was better than a weak feminie girl. Her androgynous looks isn’t easy to attract men, if taken home any man will have a peace of mind and she’ll be the best life companion.’
Lin Tu Shen wiped sweat off his forehead. ‘I want an independent girl but I don’t want a girl who can rip me in half with her bare hands. I’ll be emasculated if I take her home and whenever she’s unhappy she’ll use me as a punching bag.’
Lin Tu Shen shook his head and he sighed. That year he felt Gu Jing was a special girl who wasn’t like the other girls their age that only knew how to talk about makeup and shopping. But when he asked her to go out on a date with him, his pursuit sunk into the deep end.
Then Lin Tu Shen made a plan to change Gu Jing’s heart, he dragged his good friend Zhen Lang to help execute his plan. Lin Tu Shen planned to personally hand Gu Jing a birthday cake on her birthday but… on the night of her birthday, she requested to have birthday drinks with him and Zhen Lang. Lin Tu Shen drank bowl after bowl of alcohol because he wanted to impress Gu Jing and the result of his plan was… the following morning when he and Zhen Lang woke up, they were both naked on a bed and they embraced each other. Gu Jing posted the photo of him and Zhen Lang in a compromising intimate position on their school’s intranet and it instantly got one thousand views.
In the photo, Lin Tu Shen’s tongue licked a creamy pink flower on Zhen Lang’s chest. Yes, the creamy pink flower was the same one he asked a patissier to decorate on top of Gu Jing’s birthday cake.
In a blink of an eye, Lin Tu Shen and Zhen Lang who were their school’s famous heartthrobs became the school’s best pair of boy lovers. Lin Tu Shen was humiliated to death, but Zhen Lang was neutral about it.
Then Lin Tu Shen was dizzy with anger and he confronted Gu Jing to ask her why she rejected and humiliated him. Unexpectedly, Gu Jing didn’t open her mouth, she flipped him over her shoulder and he fell onto the ground and what she told him that day was etched deeply at the bottom of his heart – ‘Who told you to be friends with Zhen Lang?’
Just because Lin Tu Shen was friends with Zhen Lang, Lin Tu Shen’s first crush on a girl was put to death in an early grave… just because he was friends with Zhen Lang, his reputation was destroyed… just because he was friends with Zhen Lang he was turned into a joke… he was just friends with Zhen Lang, why couldn’t she coexist under the same sky as Zhen Lang and why did she had such an angry outburst?
‘Speaking about that year, your girlfriend broke up with you, didn’t you have any regrets?’ Lin Tu Shen asked.
‘Should I have any regrets?’ Zhen Lang asked.
Lin Tu Shen was friends with Zhen Lang for eight years and he knew Zhen Lang didn’t want to continue their conversation. But Lin Tu Shen was unhappy that he was the only one who was still bitter about that year. ‘Perhaps for you not having a girlfriend isn’t a regret or not having your reputation intact isn’t a regret. But what about my reputation? Being a.s.sociated with you as a pair of lovers has been tough for me.’
Lin Tu Shen’s loudly spoken grievances earned him curious looks from the cafe’s other customers and his back turned cold.
Lin Tu Shen lowered his voice and he glared at Zhen Lang. ‘You could have cleared the misunderstanding back then or even not explain anything. But what was your reaction? You said um!’
‘Um. Did you ask to see me today to talk about your grievances that year?’ Zhen Lang asked.
Lin Tu Shen snapped out of his self-pity and he remembered the main reason why he wanted to see Zhen Lang. ‘Our old professor opened a new plastic surgery clinic and he hopes when we’re free we can help him. I came here to ask your opinion.’
‘Plastic surgery?’ Zhen Lang asked. He wrinkled his forehead and deliberated. ‘I’m a cardiothoracic surgeon.’
‘But you’re also certified to as a plastic surgeon,’ Lin Tu Shen reasoned and he wanted to provoke Zhen Lang more. ‘The professor was the one who guided us, it’s not right to refuse him.’
Zhen Lang laughed. ‘Haven’t you made a decision already? Then why still ask me about it? You could have just called me to let me know. You didn’t need to see me in person.’
Lin Tu Shen was angry and he glared at Zhen Lang. ‘It’s been two months since we met up, just think of it as me missing you.’
The other customers gave Lin Tu Shen another curious look. He stood, hunched over to hide his face and he ran off to escape the curious looks.
Later at Zhen Lang’s home, Gu Jing used a towel to dry her hair and body. She heard a phone ringing from the living room, she quickly put on a robe and she ran outside to the living room. She dived face down onto the sofa, legs draped over a sofa arm and she reached for the phone.
When Zhen Lang walked through his front door, in front of him was a pair of long legs and a raised bottom. Gu Jing wore a loose robe and the landscape between the gap of her legs didn’t leave anything to the imagination.
End of Chapter Four