A Broken Mirror Never Mends - Chapter 33

Finding that his owner had arrived, Benben gave a long stretch. He then padded back to the door of the stairwell and rubbed his head against Zhou Sifu’s ankle.

His damp hair hung over his forehead, still dripping with water. Drops slid down the contours of Zhou Sifu’s face, passing his eyelids and nose, trickling down his collarbone, and finally disappearing into the shadows of his abdominal muscles.

Shi Tian instinctively tried to look away, but his gaze remained uncontrollably fixed on the inner side of the man’s right leg.

Zhou Sifu usually wore slim-fit dress pants, so it was impossible to tell from the surface that there was a long, ugly old scar on his right leg.

The color of the scar had faded over time, matching his skin tone, but the marks where the stitches had been removed were still visible.

Shi Tian felt like he had seen a scar like this somewhere before.

He quickly remembered. When he was a child, a relative was in a car accident. His lower leg was completely crushed. The doctor had to use steel pins and plates to hold the bone together before doing a second surgery months later.

When the whole family visited that relative in the hospital, they saw his leg hanging in the air with a stitched wound just like this one.

When they were young and full of passion, they understood each other’s hearts and were deeply in love. Whether it was the old bed in the family home, the creaking wooden stairs, or the small, steamy bathtub, they had left traces of their intimacy everywhere.

In his memory, Zhou Sifu did not have this scar.

Gradually, Zhou Sifu noticed where Shi Tian was looking.

He shifted his long legs slightly to hide the ugly scar on his inner thigh. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the door and spoke in a strange tone: “…Is it you?”

Pulling his gaze back, Shi Tian saw that Zhou Sifu’s eyes were deep and dark. The surprise in them seemed real; he truly didn’t seem to understand why Shi Tian was here.

Before Shi Tian could explain, he saw Zhou Sifu look past his shoulder toward the half-open safe in the middle of the dark room.

Inside the safe, the company seal he had just put in and the old engagement ring sat side by side. It looked very out of place.

Zhou Sifu’s lips moved slightly, and a flicker of uncertain light appeared in his eyes.

Just as he was about to say something, the doorbell of the apartment rang from across the hallway:

Ding-dong—

Zhou Sifu paused and turned to open the door, but he stopped suddenly in the next second.

The dim light brightened Shi Tian’s face and allowed Zhou Sifu to notice the gray dust stuck to the ends of Shi Tian’s hair.

Looking closer, he saw that Shi Tian was frowning and pressing his lips together. His fingers were curled at his sides as if he were silently enduring pain.

“…”

“Did you hit your head?”

Zhou Sifu asked.

While refueling at the gas station, Dexter contacted the guards left at Fengyu and told them to clean everything up without leaving any evidence.

After getting gas, on the way back to “Vessel Grand,” he saw a supermarket for imported food. He parked the car and went inside.

Technically, this was the first time he was officially hosting “Little Shi Tian,” so he wanted to put in some effort.

He knew from Zhou Sifu that Shi Tian loved sweets. Whether it was fruit or drinks, he liked them sweet. After walking around, he chose a bottle of sweet ruby wine and a big bag of seasonal cherries.

The wine was less than 1,000 yuan, and the cherries were only a few hundred. When he handed his black card to the clerk, he felt a bit embarrassed.

He never drank wine this cheap. He felt it was a bit low-class, but Zhou Sifu had recently threatened him, telling him to throw away his flashy things and stop acting like a big spender from L.A. when meeting Shi Tian.

He took the elevator to the top floor, carrying the groceries. Dexter happily pushed open the unlocked door: “Little Shi Tian, look what I brought you—”

As soon as he stepped inside, the smile froze on his face.

The room was dim. The curtains on the balcony were closed, and the only light came from a floor lamp in the corner.

The apartment was empty, except for a pair of men’s leather shoes at the door. They clearly belonged to Shi Tian.

In the faint light, he saw a white towel hanging on the back of the sofa. It smelled like pine-scented body wash.

…Where was he? Taking a shower?

Walking through the foyer, Dexter put the groceries on the counter. Suddenly, something small nudged his leg from behind.

He picked up the kitten and held it in the air. “You little guy, attacking me from behind again?”

Dizzy from being shaken, Benben bit Dexter’s fingertip with his tiny teeth. Dexter let go in pain, and the kitten jumped onto the counter, grabbed a cherry from the bag, and ran.

Despite his short legs, Benben ran fast up the stairs.

Dexter remembered that cats shouldn’t eat cherry pits because of cyanide. Worried the kitten would swallow it, he chased after him.

Following him up, Dexter found Benben standing on top of a plaster statue. The kitten had one paw on his “prize” and looked down at him like a tiny lion.

“Benben, be good—”

He reached out to pick up the cat, but then he heard Shi Tian’s voice coming from a room down the hall.

“Ah…”

Shi Tian’s voice was shaking. “…Zhou Sifu, can you be a little gentler—”

The sound of rustling clothes came through the crack in the bedroom door. It was very clear in the quiet hallway. A second later, Zhou Sifu’s lazy, husky voice rang out:

“How about now? Still hurt?”

Taking a deep breath, Shi Tian let out a pained sound. “It hurts.”

After a while, Zhou Sifu said calmly, “You’re bleeding. Just bear with it a little longer.”

“…”

Dexter froze. He stepped back several paces while holding the kitten.

While he stood there in shock, more sounds came from the master bedroom.

“Lift it up. I need to see more clearly,” Zhou Sifu commanded. “These are two fingers now. Can you feel it?”

Shi Tian clenched his teeth and whispered, “…A little.”

Zhou Sifu: “Good. Now let’s try five fingers together. Tell me if it hurts.”

“…Okay.”

“…”

Listening to the conversation, Dexter looked like he had been hit by lightning.

Wait… five fingers?

Five fingers would kill someone, wouldn’t it?!

And it sounds like there’s blood. Is he going to die?

He never thought Zhou Sifu would be this intense. From the conversation, Zhou Sifu’s dark desires seemed way beyond what a normal person could understand.

But why is Little Shi Tian being so obedient? That’s not like him at all!

Without thinking further, Dexter put the cat back on the statue and rushed toward the master bedroom.

As the “big brother,” he had to stop this. He needed to tell his brother to stop before it was too late.

The bedroom door was slightly open. Dexter didn’t even knock; he just pushed the door open.

He cleared his throat and shouted loudly, “Zhou Sifu, that’s enough! Stop it!”

The two people on the bed turned their heads at the same time.

Shi Tian & Zhou Sifu: “?”

Dexter: “…”

Shi Tian had just lifted his hair to let Zhou Sifu press on the spot where the bleeding had stopped, only to be startled by Dexter rushing in.

Zhou Sifu, who was using a cotton swab to clean the wound, was also startled. His hand shook, and he accidentally tilted the small bottle of alcohol. The cold liquid poured directly onto the wound.

“…”

A sharp, burning pain hit Shi Tian’s nerves. His face turned white, and he felt like he was going to die from the pain.

Setting the bottle down, Zhou Sifu quickly grabbed wet wipes from the first-aid kit to clean up the liquid. He noticed that Shi Tian’s forehead and palms were covered in a thin layer of cold sweat.

With Dexter watching, a pale Shi Tian leaned his forehead against Zhou Sifu’s chest. He grabbed Zhou Sifu’s sleeve tightly and let out a broken groan of pain: “Ngh—”

Watching this, Zhou Sifu froze like a statue.

This was the first real physical contact Shi Tian had made with him since entering the house.

Downstairs, he had noticed Shi Tian’s head was scraped, so he asked him to come up for first aid.

Perhaps because the wound really hurt, Shi Tian didn’t refuse. He waited for Zhou Sifu to change clothes and then followed him up.

In the bedroom, Shi Tian had been very stiff and awkward. He had kept his distance, only speaking when necessary.

Before using the alcohol, Zhou Sifu had told him to grab his hand if it hurt too much. Shi Tian had nodded, but when the pain started, he had preferred to clench his fists and endure it alone.

If Dexter hadn’t shouted and caused the accident, Shi Tian probably wouldn’t have come near him at all.

Feeling Shi Tian’s back trembling and his warm breath against his neck, Zhou Sifu held his breath.

He placed his hand on Shi Tian’s shaking back and looked up at Dexter, who was standing frozen by the door.

He gently patted Shi Tian’s back and looked at his brother with a dark gaze that seemed to say:

Did you do that on purpose?

Dexter shook his head frantically, feeling like crying.

He really didn’t!

Ten minutes later.

Shi Tian had a small bandage on the back of his head. The burning pain had started to fade.

The two of them sat in the large living room, each on a different sofa. The atmosphere was very strange.

Dexter brought out a plate of washed cherries and sat in the middle. He looked at Zhou Sifu, who was checking his phone. “I thought you flew to L.A. and weren’t coming back until next week?”

Zhou Sifu didn’t look up. “The meeting was rescheduled.”

“…” Dexter was speechless. “If I knew you were home, I wouldn’t have—”

He wanted to say that if he knew Zhou Sifu was back early, he wouldn’t have left Shi Tian alone with him.

But he swallowed the rest of the sentence. After all, he was the one who “delivered the sheep to the tiger.”

Shi Tian spoke up quietly, “So, whose home is this?”

Dexter saw Zhou Sifu give him a look, telling him to explain.

“It was originally my apartment,” Dexter said honestly. “Sifu moved out of his old place two months ago and hadn’t found a new one. This place was empty, so I let him stay here.”

Shi Tian: “Two months ago?”

“Yes.”

Shi Tian was silent for a moment.

If his timing was right, he knew about this. According to Zheng Ying, Zhou Sifu used to live in the old house in the old town. The day he moved out was the day Shi Tian married Ji Yuanlin.

Thinking of this, he remembered the diamond ring in the safe and the small words carved on it.

—I will love you, as always.

“As always” means “exactly like in the past.”

I will love you, exactly like in the past.

A heavy feeling rose in his chest, making his heart feel empty for a moment before dropping heavily.

It wasn’t quite happiness or sadness. It was a feeling he couldn’t describe. The same feeling he had many times over the last eight years.

It was a sour, soft ache that made his chest feel tight, making it hard to breathe.

Seeing that he didn’t ask more, Dexter continued, “The security here is very strict. You don’t have to worry about keeping the company seal here.”

“The seal?” Zhou Sifu finally spoke. “They made a move today?”

Seeing Dexter nod, Zhou Sifu’s expression turned cold.

“The plan was to wait until you returned,” Dexter explained, partly to Zhou Sifu and partly to Shi Tian. “But as soon as Shi Tian entered the company, my people saw those guys acting suspicious downstairs. Since it was night in L.A., I didn’t want to wake you, so I just ordered my men to act.”

Listening to the two brothers, Shi Tian noted a few things.

1. Zhou Sifu already knew Ji Yuanlin was working with outsiders.
2. Dexter’s actions today were not directly ordered by Zhou Sifu.
3. The events at Fengyu today were a surprise to both of them.

In the middle of the conversation, Dexter’s phone rang. He hurried to the bathroom at the end of the hall to take the call.

Seeing Shi Tian looked like he had many questions, Zhou Sifu put down his phone and picked up a glass of wine. “I understand you are confused, Mr. Shi. But I hope you can cooperate. If you have a better attitude, we can work together, right?”

Shi Tian didn’t answer his question. Instead, he asked, “What happened to the scar on your right leg?”

Zhou Sifu instinctively uncrossed his legs and moved his right leg behind his left. Then he remembered he was wearing pants that hid the scar.

He took a sip of wine. “What kind of answer do you want to hear, Mr. Shi?”

“Even if you lie to me, there’s nothing I can do,” Shi Tian looked him in the eye. “I’m just curious what kind of excuse you would give.”

Zhou Sifu replied calmly, “I don’t believe I have ever lied to you.”

Shi Tian smiled. “True. You just never say anything. And because of that, I can’t do anything about you.”

On the day they broke up, Shi Tian had wished Zhou Sifu would at least tell a small lie to make it easier.

He could have lied and said, Shi Tian, I don’t love you anymore. Or he could have lied and said he loved someone else.

But he didn’t.

Even at the very end, Zhou Sifu stayed silent about the reason for the breakup.

The apartment was silent again, except for the muffled sound of Dexter swearing in a foreign language on the phone.

Just as Shi Tian thought Zhou Sifu wouldn’t answer, he heard a calm voice.

“Six years ago, in America. My biological father hit me with a ruler.”

Shi Tian: “…”

This was an answer he never expected.

A ruler was something his own father used on him when he was naughty. It hurts, but it doesn’t break bones or leave scars. It’s a common way to discipline children.

What kind of ruler and what kind of force would it take to crush the bones in someone’s leg so badly that they needed steel pins?

Shi Tian’s voice became slightly raspy. “…Why did he hit you?”

He didn’t even realize he had lowered his voice.

After a long time, he finally heard Zhou Sifu speak.

Zhou Sifu said, “Because I was still in love.”

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