Although the Wei family’s background was not as good as the Wen family’s, they were in the Yuhua upper class and were not a small family. As the son my parents had when they were older, I was cherished more than a girl when I was a child. So Mingyi is right, I really was easy to deceive when I was young.

When I was a teenager, I fell in love with Mingcheng unknowingly. I think it was because Mingcheng was beautiful and gentle. Spring buds bloomed in my heart, and I was in love with him for a long time. However, there were many things that I didn’t think were a big deal when I was young. Now that I consider them as an adult, I find them somewhat thought-provoking.

Probably noticing that I’ve stopped talking, or that my expression isn’t right, Mingyi lets me go.

I turn my head slightly to look at her. Her face is dripping with tears, and the dark remnants of lipstick on her lips looked like dried blood, shocking against her cold white face.

Adults shouldn’t cry, let alone people in the Wen family, and Mingyi has a strong personality.

I think I’m the only one who has seen her cry as an adult.

When she sees me looking at her, her face relaxes a little and she raises her hand to roughly wipe away the tears on her face. Her expression is somewhat bitter: “A-Zhen, did you remember something? My brother isn’t as good as you thought, right? Do you remember coming out as gay your freshman year? You never thought our parents would know about it, did you?”

Yes, that incident was indeed unexpected. I had no intention of coming out so early.

My parents were very conservative people, so I was also somewhat conservative in my bones. I was only eighteen years old, and leaving home for the first time.

The most outrageous thing I ever did in eighteen years was on Valentine’s day my freshman year. Maybe it was because I was infected by the festive atmosphere, or many it was another reason, but I didn’t refuse when Mingcheng’s fingers reached for my collar.

In fact, after that night, when I woke up in bed the next morning and saw Mingcheng laying next to me, I didn’t feel happy, or like we had come together as lovers.

I just felt very scared and regretful.

Although same-sex marriage was legal at that time, the general public was not very accepting of same-sex people, and parents like mine were even less likely to accept it.

I liked Mingcheng, but I was scared when it came to this point.

I was so afraid that my older brother and parents would find out, and that Mingcheng’s parents would find out.

If they found out, I wouldn’t know how to face them. I should still be like a child in their hearts.

Maybe this kind of thing should have happened later on, but I knew it was too late for regrets. This was of my own free will. Nobody forced me, and I could only blame myself for not being clear-headed.

Of course, I could still be glad I wasn’t a girl, and that even though I had tasted the forbidden fruit, there would be no terrible consequences. I could also comfort myself that they were hundreds of miles away from my school and had no way of knowing.

I spent a long time anxious like this. Life went on as usual and nobody knew about my relationship with Mingcheng, not even my classmates.

Day by day, I gradually forgot about the fear.

And physical intimacy made our relationship closer.

Before, I was at least a little bit unfamiliar with the role change of Mingcheng becoming my boyfriend, but after that, it became easier for me to accept him.

Our relationship heated up. In terms of study, I went to class and painted as usual every day, and my grades were very good.

It all went so well, and I felt so immeasurably happy that I began to celebrate the boldness of my Valentine’s Day adventure.

The Lantern Festival would arrive soon, and we decided to go home.

Because my teacher was Russian, he took me to study over the new year, and Mingcheng didn’t return home in order to accompany me. Thus, we didn’t go back for the New Year as freshmen, but had to go home for the Lantern Festival.

I happily prepared a lot of local university specialities with Mingcheng, and we brought gifts to our families. 

At that time, bullet trains were not yet popular, and there were no flights between the two cities. Our train ride hom was very tiring, but I was also very happy.

I missed my parents, my older brother, Mingyi, and my room and my bed so much.

Mingcheng and I brought the things home together. When I opened the door to my house, I was surprised to find four people in the living room. They were both sets of our parents.

I didn’t notice the tense atmosphere between them. Instead, like a fool, I ignored Mingcheng blocking me and ran to my dad. “Dad, did you miss me?”

What I got from my dad was a hard slap.

This slap was extremely hard. I had never been hit so forcefully by him. Hot liquid instantly flowed out of my nose and I fell to the floor in a panic, unable to breathe for a long time.

He tried to pull me up to continue beating me, and I curled up in fear. “Dad…..”

“Lao Wei, don’t hit the child.” Mingcheng’s parents stepped forward to stop him.

And Mingcheng quickly stepped forward to stand in front of me: “Uncle Wei!”

He was still a teenager, but he was tall and strong enough to block my figure.

My dad was furious, but when he looked at him, he suddenly smiled. However, his smile was very cruel and angry. He had said that Mingcheng was the sort of child to emulate, but that day he looked at Mingcheng with a dark expression and said: “Boy, you have real skill. I’ve misjudged you.”

Then, unceremoniously, he slapped Mingcheng in front of his parents.

This slap was harder than the one that hit me. The hit turned Mincheng’s head away.

I saw that the corners of his eyes and mouth were cracked. Blood flowed down the stark contours of his face. The veins on his neck bulged from the pain, but he still persisted in standing in front of me.

And when Mingcheng’s parents saw their son being beaten, they did nothing to stop it. They looked at their son with unclear meaning and dull eyes.

I was so scared that I cried and called out to my dad.

My dad gave me a deep look and pointed at the door, saying to the Wen family: “All of you, get out of here!”

When they walked to the courtyard, I saw that Uncle Wen, who had always been gentle and approachable, punched Mingcheng.

The young man was hit very hard. He staggered and leaned against the wall to steady himself, but the expression on his face was still calm.

I didn’t know if it was an illusion, but I thought he seemed to be smiling. His eyes were lowered and his face was covered in blood, but there was a strange and subtle upward trend to the corners of his lips.

I figured he was probably in a lot of pain, or beaten silly.

And my dad threw some papers and photos at me.

When I picked them up and took a look, my whole body suddenly went cold.

These were of Mingcheng and I. Room records, and several photos of us kissing under school surveillance.

I didn’t know where these things had come from. Perhaps a school teacher or a student discovered it and sent them secretly. 

It turned out that we had been discovered a long time ago.

And these hidden, invisible things were shown to my parents and the uncles and aunts in the Wen family.

I didn’t have the face to look at them.

“Mom and Dad!” I wasn’t mature enough at that time, and thought that this was a big deal. For a moment, I felt as if the sky had fallen, so ashamed that I couldn’t bear it. I collapsed to the floor and grabbed these things, holding them tightly in my arms as I cried and said I was wrong.

And my dad said with a sneer: “It doesn’t matter if you regret it now or regret it later. It’s all my fault for raising you to be so foolish. It’s my fault.”

He seemed to not want to look at me anymore. He walked past me with a cold face and said with a chuckle: “That is a wolf, A-Zhen. He started to bite as soon as he lost control. This is your choice. As your father, I wish you happiness.”

Although he said this, he practically announced that he would have no contact with the Wen family until he died. But after Uncle Wen came over many times, my dad relented.

Only our parents knew that we had fallen in love……

“How do you know this? Your parents probably didn’t tell you back then.” Taking a deep breath, I return from the memories of the past. My speaking voice is low and ugly.

We only told my older brother and Mingyi years later.

“Haven’t you already guessed?” Mingyi smiles miserably. “My brother found a way to send those things to your dad. Later, when I found out, I went to question him.”

I rub my face, no longer able to describe the feelings in my heart that are pricking me like needles. “…..What did he say?”

Wen Mingyi says: “He admitted it very frankly, with no regrets. A-Zhen, there are still many things that only our Wen family knows. He was a very awful person, so my parents would rather let me play with you than play with him. It was you who let him join us later on.”

Why did I let him in?

Because at that time, I thought he was very pitiful all alone, and I felt bad for him.

My head hurts. I feel dizzy and nauseous, and I don’t want to think about it anymore.

But there is one more thing I want to know.

“Do you know why Mingcheng insisted on going to Southeast Asia for our honeymoon?”

This is currently the most important thing.

But Mingyi looks at me with a frown when she hears this. “I don’t know, A-Zhen. Wasn’t it what you wanted to go? My brother pretends to be a completely good person in front of you and obeys your words. I thought you wanted to go to that hellish place.”

“Of course it wasn’t me! Does everybody think this?!”

That’s right, Wen Mingcheng did obey only me when in my presence, and didn’t look like someone who would like that sort of place. On the contrary, I often went abroad for inspiration and to collect cultural material. If I suddenly went to that sort of place, they would naturally think that I wanted to go. 

No wonder my mother kept persuading me, and not Mingcheng.

“Mingcheng wanted to go there, I had never heard of the place!”

After listening to my words, Mingyi’s face instantly becomes serious. She suddenly looks for her phone all over, and finally finds it on the armrest. Then she taps on the table anxiously and makes a phone call. 

The call goes through after a long time, and I can vaguely hear her talking to the person on the phone.

“……Xiao Yi?”

“Mom, why did my brother take A-Zhen abroad?”

The person on the other end of the line is silent for a long time.

Without waiting for a reply, Mingyi raises her voice louder, “You must know that, right?! What kind of person is my brother that you’re still helping him! Mom, if you commit too many sins, you will be punished, ah! Don’t you believe in Jesus?! Don’t you pray to him every day?”

Having seemingly been persuaded, Mother Wen finally speaks, her voice low and persistent: “Let A-Zhen speak.”

She actually knows I’m here.

I take the phone.

She suddenly starts crying.

She cries for about two minutes, her sobs muffled and eerie. After a long time, the crying stops. “Accept your fate, A-Zhen. There’s nothing you can do anyway, right?”

She hangs up the phone after that, and my heart sinks completely.

It turns out she knows.

She knows why Mingcheng went abroad, and also knows that he brought something back without my knowledge. She knows the true nature of the thing in my house, so she should also know my situation.

But she won’t tell me.

I have always regarded them as my own parents after marrying, but she is cruel enough to treat me like this.

The world is a huge lie called Wen Mingcheng.

Everyone lives with outside lies, and I live with internal lies.

What I believe in, what I love deeply, what I rely on, what I can’t lose, one day they tell me these are all scams.

And I don’t know the purpose behind this scam, but it’s possible that it is extremely scary.

Wen Mingcheng, my childhood sweetheart, my boyfriend, my husband.

He is part of my life.

But I no longer know if his tenderness and thoughtfulness are real. When our skin connected, did our hearts beat the same?

I really don’t understand why he did this to me. Did I hurt him somewhere?

I didn’t, ah. He is a considerate lover, but…..so am I.

I clearly followed his lead. I can’t understand him.

In a daze, I suddenly remember a poem I read in the library when I was a teenager.

“My love, please cover my eyes when you kiss me.”

I was just reading it at that time, but now I find that I am the one who has been blindfolded.

My dad called me a fool back then, and it turns out I really am.

“A-Zhen…..” Mingyi calls me from behind, but I don’t look back. 

The Wen family are all terrible. Wen Mingcheng’s subtle and involved thinking is sinister and paradoxical. Wen Mingyi disregards ethics and rebels against orthodoxy, and the Wen family parents help to perpetrate evil.

I must get away from them.

Rain starts to fall in the sky outside. It isn’t raining heavily, just drizzling. I wander onto the urban streets in a daze. Many high schoolers have just finished their evening self-study. They ride bicycles through the streets, their lights dividing into many pieces before merging again.

I seem to be reminded of my childhood.

Back then, I also got out of school at the same time. After school, Mingcheng and I would go to buy roasted sweet potatoes. Good-looking people also eat food that is pleasing to the eye. When he was a boy, his facial features were not as firm as when he was an adult. He was gentle and beautiful, and I secretly looked at him all the time.

Time flies, and I have been blindfolded by him for more than ten years.

Suddenly, lightning flashes across the sky.

When thunder sounds, I see my reflection in the glass wall of the building next to me.

There is another person standing next to me.

He is extremely tall, and stands behind me in the darkness with no expression on his face.

When he sees me looking at him, he takes a slow step forward and steadily stretches one hand toward my face…..

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Chapter 20 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 22