Chapter 10 The Drunken Return
The man in front of me tensed up. For a moment, he said nothing.
I turned and climbed out of the pool.
In the spa earlier, I hadn't felt it, but now I realized the night was bitterly cold.
Dry leaves swirled down. Bare branches gleamed coldly. Even the wind carried a desolate feel.
Pei Yuchuan stayed still, silently watching me leave.
That day, I didn't stay. I rushed back to Wuxi from Shanghai overnight.
My phone had a new photo.
Gu Yan sent it—the engagement photo of Pei Yuchuan from before.
He wore a sharp suit. Beside him stood a beautiful woman in a qipao.
Gu Yan said that girl came from a prominent family too.
They matched in status and looks, a perfect pair.
The touch on my lips remained vivid. He had bitten a mark earlier, and it still throbbed faintly.
The scenery rushed by outside the car window. I told myself regrets were just part of moving on.
At least now he thrived, and I did well too, right?
But the night wind was too damp, still wetting my cheeks.
Wuxi felt like my protective shell, isolating the chaotic past.
I fed the red-billed gulls at Yuantouzhu for an afternoon, watching the sun sink into Taihu Lake bit by bit.
As the afterglow faded, I finally adjusted my mood and headed home.
Life continued. Work still needed doing.
Lately, the company chased a big project. I led it.
Throwing myself into work was the best way to escape emotional ties.
But sealing deals always involved socializing.
My alcohol tolerance was decent, but they outnumbered me and drank hard. They poured drinks under the guise of sincerity.
I downed several shots of baijiu. My insides burned fiercely.
I staggered back to my rental, collapsing onto the sofa.
My body felt like it burned. I curled into a ball.
The room stayed dark. I pulled out my phone, like every drunken time before, opening the encrypted album.
I flipped through photos of me and Pei Yuchuan one by one.
The last one came from the amusement park last time.
In the photo, Pei Xi looked up at balloons. Pei Yuchuan turned back, smiling at me.
I felt pathetic, only daring to look at these photos in moments like this.
But these things supported me through the early days after the breakup.
Those times were truly tough.
I couldn't sleep well at night. I always hallucinated a baby's cry, got up to feed, but found the room empty, just me.
All I could hold was the comfort doll from Pei Xi's cradle.
That home bore marks of me and Pei Yuchuan everywhere.
The living room sofa cover—he tailored it himself.
Kitchen utensils—he bought them all.
Even in bed, my mind filled with memories of us entwined there.
I couldn't take it and chose to move.
Moving exhausted me.
Carrying boxes up stairs, I dazedly recalled the last move.
Back then, I just directed. Pei Yuchuan handled everything.
So this was how time changed things.
The doorbell rang then.
I endured the pain, got up, and peered through the peephole.
Probably drunk, I hallucinated Pei Yuchuan from faraway Shanghai.
I smiled self-mockingly, wanting to return to the sofa and lie down.
But the doorbell rang again. The voice outside sounded so familiar.
"Open up. It's me."
The person from my memories stood solidly before me.
My legs weakened. I held the doorframe to steady myself.
I couldn't tell if it was real or a drunken illusion.
He pursed his lips tightly, frowning as he asked, "Drinking this much—do you not care for your life?"
Without waiting for my response, he entered my room assertively.