Chapter 11 The Cancelled Engagement
Pei Yuchuan made a cup of honey water and told me to drink it.
"For sobering up."
I stayed standing. He looked displeased and walked straight to me.
"If you will not drink it, do I have to feed you mouth to mouth?"
Alcohol made every feeling stronger.
I looked at him and used the last bit of reason to order him out.
"Get out."
He did not leave. He took a blanket and covered me instead.
"When you are drunk, stop fussing. Lie down. I will rub your temples."
He moved to lift me by the waist.
I struggled hard and slapped his hand away.
I could not hold back anymore and asked through tears, "Pei Yuchuan, what do you take me for?"
"You have a fiancée and you still do this. Don't you think it is disgusting?"
In the faint light from the window he lowered his head to look at me. After a long moment he said hoarsely, "Finally asking?"
"Wen You, are you a pushover? Why do you keep everything inside until you are forced to speak?"
I clutched my sleeve, looked up, and asked, "Does asking or not asking make any difference?"
"It does."
"If you had asked sooner you would know I cancelled the engagement long before the day we reunited."
I stood frozen as he told me, "Gu Yan just got home. She heard a lot of secondhand talk. I only met Ms. Cai a few times. The engagement back then was purely transactional."
"Once the goal was reached and she found a boyfriend we ended it at once."
I stared at him in shock, but he suddenly changed the subject. "I have been treating my ears these past few years."
"I had two surgeries abroad. My hearing recovered somewhat. Now I only wear a cochlear implant. No one can tell I have a hearing issue."
I remembered what I said when we broke up. I wanted a normal man and did not want to be tied to a deaf person for life.
His face had looked close to despair then.
Now he removed the cochlear implant and told me, "Wen You, try speaking to me. Come closer. I can hear you."
He turned his head so my lips neared his ear in an almost kiss-like pose.
The pull of an old lover was too strong.
The sudden closeness and the alcohol left my mind blank.
His breath was sweet and clear. I instinctively wanted more.
My hands moved across his back without control.
His breathing grew heavier at once.
The living room stayed dark. I lifted my head, seeking his lips.
He caught my chin. Through the old TV screen I saw him behind me, turning to kiss me.
Body heat climbed fast. The small room filled with the smell of alcohol.
Pei Yuchuan pressed hard. Desire touched his refined face and made my blood burn hotter.
I asked him hoarsely, "Shall we?"