Rose Lock - Chapter 68

“Don’t touch me…” Hua Manyi pushed him away, her face pale because of Gong Yan’s last action just now. Her body temperature was cool and indifferent like water, just like her originally long-held, anxious, and fervent heart of secret love had been completely drenched in a basin of ice water from head to toe, utterly chilled.

“When I was drunk… did you also do this kind of thing to me?” she asked, sobbing.

Gong Yan pursed her lips and said nothing.

The wall clock ticked, and a sharp, heartbroken cry suddenly broke the silence of the living room.

“Pervert—”

Hua Manyi cried and ran into the bathroom. Gong Yan followed anxiously, her thin lips slightly parted and her brows tightly furrowed.

This woman, who had experienced countless storms and handled all kinds of miscellaneous matters without dragging her feet, didn’t know where to begin to explain. Finally, upon hearing the bang of the door closing, she stood outside the door, and a damp, cold sensation crept up from her fingertips.

“Yiyi, open the door, listen to my explanation…”

Hua Manyi slowly squatted down with her back against the door, hugging herself. Hearing the woman’s voice outside, she resistantly covered her ears, her eyes red. “Listen to your explanation for what? Did you really never do this kind of thing to me before? Are you trying to explain that it was me, Hua Manyi, sleepwalking, and passionately entwined with you every night?”

There was a long silence outside the door. “Yiyi, you can’t hear anything I say right now, so no matter how I explain, it’s useless. Let’s talk properly after you calm down.”

Not long after she spoke, the room door opened and closed, leaving only Hua Manyi alone.

The Fenghai Dance Hall was still filled with singing and dancing, but it lacked the most dazzling sight of normal days. Without Hua Manyi’s singing voice, listening to other singers always felt like something was missing.

Two days passed, and Hua Manyi had become quite haggard. After two days of careful consideration, even though she still couldn’t believe such an absurd thing had happened between her and that woman, Gong Yan, she decided to leave Fenghai. She quickly packed her things; she couldn’t stay in this place for another moment.

However, she hadn’t been packing for long when that woman seemed to have gotten wind of it. She pushed the door open without warning, walked up to her, grabbed her wrist, her red lips cool and gorgeous, fiercely suppressing her anger.

“What are you doing?! I gave you two days to calm down, not to pack up and leave Fenghai!” Gong Yan tried hard to maintain her composure, but when Xiaoxiao told her that this woman was packing her things, her temper couldn’t help but flare up.

However, Hua Manyi seemed to be stimulated. She quickly shook off her hand and forcefully wiped her wrist. “I’ve calmed down, Gong Ma. No matter what the truth is, I just want to leave here now.”

“Even if all of this started because of you, you still want to leave?” Gong Yan stared at her, as if trying to see through her, naturally taking in the sight of her wiping her hand.

“What do you mean?” Hua Manyi frowned.

“Hua Manyi, you remember this: You were the one who provoked me first.” Gong Yan rarely laid down such a harsh truth to her. Next to her was the cigarette she had stubbed out in the ashtray. “Whether you’ve forgotten or blacked out, you remember how you climbed into my, Gong Yan’s, bed on your birthday half a year ago. You were the one who said you admired me, Gong Yan, stripped naked, and climbed onto me. That is the truth!”

“You’re talking nonsense—” Hua Manyi’s ears roared, and she instinctively denied it. “Gong Ma, to make me feel guilty and keep me here, you can shamelessly fabricate such a lie. Gong Yan, yes, you are ten years my senior, but I, Hua Manyi, am not a fool!”

By the end, Hua Manyi spoke plainly, calling her by her name.

“You!” Gong Yan was speechless with anger for the first time. The woman in front of her was clearly the instigator, yet she could be full of accusations and wronged eyes, completely taking the posture of a victim.

Gong Yan laughed in anger. “Hua Manyi, don’t think you can deny all of this just because you were drunk and blacked out. Whether you stay or go, the decision is in my, Gong Yan’s, hands. It’s not like you can leave whenever you want. Do you really think this place is a charity?”

“Contract of servitude…” Hua Manyi suddenly remembered that she had signed a contract of servitude with this woman. She originally thought she had found a safe haven, but who knew she had entered a tiger’s den again? She couldn’t help but feel sorrow, her nose aching. “So, the so-called contract of servitude meant such selling of oneself…”

She had actually been foolish enough to secretly love such a woman, even to the extent of taking a bullet for her and doing all sorts of childish and scheming things.

“Am I ridiculous?” Hua Manyi’s eyes were full of tears silently streaming down.

Seeing her like this, Gong Yan said nothing. In the deathly silence, only Hua Manyi’s choked sobs could be heard. Hua Manyi stubbornly wiped away a handful of tears, refusing to appear too pathetic, and turned around to continue packing her things.

“Hua Manyi!” Gong Yan saw that she was completely unyielding, stepped forward, and grabbed her hand. “The contract of servitude is with me, where do you think you’re going?!”

“I’ll go wherever I want! The contract didn’t mention this kind of thing when I signed it. You touched me, and now you expect me to be grateful to you?! Gong Yan, you are a capitalist who eats people without spitting out the skin!”

Hua Manyi struggled with grief and indignation. Gong Yan pushed her against the dressing table and let out a cold laugh. “I’m a capitalist who eats people without spitting out the skin? What about you? You, Hua Manyi, are a liar!”

“Don’t come so close to me, go away!”

In the struggle, an iron box fell to the ground, scattering white envelopes everywhere. Gong Yan stopped restricting Hua Manyi, crouched down, and picked up a few letters covered by her high heels.

— Yiyi, I’ve returned to Bohemia. Like you Central Plains people say, I’ve felt a sense of home…

— It’s been over a month since I returned to Bohemia. I went to paint a family portrait for a wealthy merchant’s family. Passing by the river, I saw a very beautiful wild rose. I immediately thought of you. I drew the rose on the envelope. I believe you will love it too when you see it…

…

— Half a year has passed. My uncle said he’s going on another long voyage, but this time the ship won’t stop in Haicheng (Sea City); it will stop in Nancheng (South City). If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll be able to see you again soon. If you need help, I can give you anything you want. A beauty like a flower, how can she be bent by the wind, right?

“Give them back to me! These are mine!” Before Gong Yan could finish reading a letter, the letters in her hand were snatched away by a pair of pale, slender hands. Her face turned ashen as she looked at the woman holding the letters in her arms. For a moment, she felt absurd and ridiculous. No wonder she wasn’t afraid of the contract of servitude—it turned out she had Ian.

With so many love letters, the two of them corresponded frequently, exchanging feelings. Only she, Gong Yan, clung to that one drunken expression of admiration. Perhaps even that expression of admiration might have originally been meant for Ian, but she simply made a slip of the tongue and said Gong Yan’s name by mistake.

Clearly, this woman was the one who was seductive at first, and now it had become her, Gong Yan’s, fault.

Gong Yan closed her eyes, but in the end, her emotions got the better of her, and she pointed at the door. “Go find your Ian, go! Go right now! I, Gong Yan, never want to see a woman like you again in my life! Get out!”

Hua Manyi picked up her luggage, glanced at her, and left without looking back.

The people at Fenghai watched her leave and whispered amongst themselves. They only knew that Gong Ma and Hua Manyi had a huge argument and finally parted on bad terms. Xiaoxiao wanted to persuade Hua Manyi to stay, but Hua Manyi’s eyes were also red. Xiaoxiao was suddenly speechless and could only watch as Hua Manyi hailed a rickshaw and left.

Support Rose Lock