She seems to have participated in some kind of social event today. I see that she is wearing dark red lipstick. Her long black dress hangs down to her calves, and she is wearing a pair of high heels in the same color.

After entering the door, she takes off her thin black gloves and hands them to the auntie. Her painted eyes look at me from under long eyelashes. The eyeliner at the ends of her eyes is dark, and there is no expression on her face.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but I sometimes think that her temperament is becoming more and more like Mingcheng’s. And since she began practicing sports, her body shape has become much taller than that of an average woman. As the two people gradually overlapped in appearance and temperament, there was an indescribable feeling.

“Why did you remember to come to me today? If it’s to thank me for taking care of you for a day, that’s not necessary.”

She raises a corner of her mouth in what I’m not sure is a smile, but even if she is smiling, it probably isn’t a good smile.

But it doesn’t bother me. She cares about me, but for some unknown reason, she doesn’t want to talk to me properly.

I want to get straight to the point, but with the auntie here, I can’t say it directly. My hesitant appearance probably catches her eye. She regards me expressionlessly for a moment, then turns to the auntie and says: “You can leave work for today, don’t worry about us.”

After the auntie leaves, I intend to say something to her, but she stops me frankly: “I know that when you open your mouth, it’s going to be about my brother again. Don’t upset me after I worked all day.”

She goes to the wine cabinet and selects a bottle of white, then takes a glass and hands it to me with a slight smile. “Since you’re here, have a few drinks with me first.”

All of the children in the family are tall. Mingcheng is half a head taller than me, and Mingyi’s height is pretty much equal to mine. She might still be taller than me after playing sports for many years, but I won’t admit it.

She doesn’t change her shoes. Standing before me in high heels, she is obviously a little taller than me, a man.

When I’m with her, I often doubt my 1.8 meter height.

She pours wine into my glass and into another for herself.

The clear liquid flows over transparent glass. It has a light sweetness, a good drink for nighttime.

About an hour later, Mingyi and I are sitting at the long table in the parlor. I sit at one end and she sits at the other.

The lipstick on her lips has been diluted by the wine, with part of it remaining on the glass. Because she is sitting, her long dress touches the floor.

Seeing the change in her expression, I get up and walk to her side. I warn her: “Mingyi, you’re drunk.”

She tries to pour herself wine, so I raise my hand with a frown and cover the mouth of the bottle.

Wine drips from my fingers. She lowers her eyes for a moment, then slowly raises her eyelashes to look at me from below them. Suddenly, she smiles: “You’re still so considerate.”

I think her tone of voice is a little strange, but I don’t take it to heart. She is obviously drunk, and I can’t talk to her like this, so I move to help her stand up and go rest.

But she grabs my wrist and surreptitiously uses her strength to make me bend down and look up at her.

“Mingyi?”

I am yanked due to her sudden movement. Placing one hand on the table beside her to steady myself, I call out to her. 

She frowns as if suddenly waking up, and pushes me away again.

The sea breeze blows at night. It gusts through the open window, causing the lilies of the valley beside the window to sway with the wind.

Mingyi’s medium-length hair is also blown a bit. She drinks the rest of the wine and says abruptly: “I know why you came. It’s for Mingcheng. Your mom said that you think my brother is possessed, haha. She’s incredulous. She thinks you’re crazy. But actually, I think you’re crazy too.”

I never expected that my mom is so familiar with Mingyi. Mingyi knows what I had said to her just this morning. I want to explain that I’m not crazy, but she laughs and shakes her head.

“You don’t need to explain. In fact, from the time you told me that you intended to get married, I thought you were crazy. But now that I think about it, life is so absurd. My brother is a liar. You love him and became crazy. You two are made for each other.”

“Mingyi!”

Crazy. Liar. Her words make me confused and a little hurt at the same time.

Is this what Mingcheng and I are in her heart?

I look at Mingyi for a moment and realize all at once that she is really not the little girl she was in her childhood. She has grown up to be tall and cold, and I can’t see through her anymore.

I glance at the sky outside with some disappointment, feeling powerless in the face of unpredictable destiny.

We fall silent together.

After a while, I stand up and say goodbye to her: “I’m leaving first. I’ll come see you again when I have the time. Don’t…..drink so much wine again.”

I pick up my jacket and walk to the entrance to put on my shoes.

“A-Zhen-gege!” At this moment, she suddenly comes over with quick steps and calls out to me.

She hasn’t called me that in many years. I’m dazed for a moment, and feel a little sad. I turn around to look at her. “Mingyi?”

There are no lights on in the room, so as I watch her walk toward me, her long black dress seems to blend into the night.

She walks in front of me and suddenly hugs me hard.

We hugged like this many times when we were kids, but now that we are grown up and no longer children, this makes me stiffen a little.

“A-Zhen,” she says in my ear. Her nose seems a little stuffy. The mature mezzo-soprano tone is steady, but with a slight nasal sound, a bit raspy. “Let yourself go. Why must you turn yourself into this for my brother? He doesn’t deserve it at all.”

“He is your brother, Mingyi! Even if you hate him, he is a good person! Now that I suspect something has happened to him, aren’t you worried?” I hold her shoulders and push her some distance away, looking at her in disbelief. I don’t understand how she can be so heartless.

They are relatives connected by blood, and Mingcheng has never done anything to apologize to her for.

I can’t seem to recognize her anymore.

She laughs deeply. Her mouth is smiling, but her eyes conceal her real feelings. “You’re the only one who thinks he’s a good person! I already said he’s a liar, a pathological and selfish liar. He has just toyed with you and deceived you for half your life, and also made me miserable.”

“A-Zhen, we have both been hurt by him.”

I keenly notice the sliver of madness in her eyes, and feel that she’s not in the right state of mind. Pushing her away, I take a few steps back. “Mingyi, you’re tired…..”

I try to turn around and leave, but she suddenly embraces me from behind. We are about the same height. I am a sickly man, and she is a tall woman. Because she practices sports all year round, the contours of her arm muscles are no worse than mine. I don’t dare push her hard, afraid of hurting her, so I am momentarily restricted by her.

In my ear, her hot, moist breath puffs out from bright red lips. I tilt my head slightly and see a faint smile on her cold face. 

There is a hint of silk in Mingyi’s voice: “You love him, but it’s better to love me. A person must know how to weigh the pros and cons. You see, at least I won’t lie to you. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

My face darkens. Her words tonight have touched my bottom line. I can fool myself into thinking she’s just drunk, but I don’t want to say anything more to her. I hold her wrists with slight force, trying to rip her off of me.

But suddenly, something soft and wet seems to come in contact with the side of my face. She sticks her head over to look at my face, her mid-length hair falling over my shoulders.

“Do you only like my brother’s type? Am I not like him? Why do you reject me again and again?”

“Oh, I see.” She seems to come to a sudden realization, and her eyes bend in a smile. A pair of eyes very similar to Mingcheng’s blaze with a scarlet light. Raw, sharp, thick and heavy with madness. 

“I could totally role play……a character like my brother, if that’s what you’re into.”

She says this in a very suggestive tone. I don’t understand what she means for a moment until I meet her predatory gaze.

In fact, I have seen this look in the eyes of many people. Even Mingcheng looked at me like this sometimes…..

I suddenly understand what she means. As though I’ve been struck by five thunderbolts, my eyes slowly widen and my whole body freezes in place.

After a moment, I hear my own questioning voice, dismayed and a little sharp.

“Are you crazy?!”

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Chapter 16 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 18