Trapped in Tenderness - Chapter 2

The night was thick as ink.

The black Bentley merged onto the elevated highway, joining the endless stream of traffic. Huaicheng’s neon lights had never paused for a single moment; the skyscrapers remained brilliantly lit, giant billboards scrolled in vibrant colors, illuminating the entire landscape of decadent indulgence.

Jiang Man gazed at the bustling nightscape outside the window, her thoughts a tangled mess as the neon lights flashed past. Her nerves remained taut, her body stiff; her mind had yet to detach from that graveyard. Qi Zhicheng’s words, “Don’t ever think about leaving me,” still echoed in her ears. He had said he wanted to be buried with her in the most intimate embrace. When he said those words, his tone was clearly gentle and lingering, yet terrifying for no reason.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but shudder. The suffocating feeling of having her heart gripped tightened again, leaving her feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. Her hands and feet grew cold, and her arms curled in involuntarily.

“Cold?”

His hand reached across the center console, taking hers.

The moment her hand was held, Jiang Man instinctively wanted to pull back, but she forced herself to stay still, letting him hold it as she whispered, “I’m fine.”

Qi Zhicheng instructed the driver to turn up the heat in the car, but he didn’t let go of her hand. His large palm completely enveloped hers, transmitting warmth that gradually thawed her icy fingers.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you want to go to that jewelry exhibition?”

Jiang Man didn’t know why he had suddenly brought up the V&A jewelry exhibition Chen Min had invited her to, so she replied casually, “Aren’t you the one who forbade me from going?”

“It’s not that I forbade you from going; it’s that you cannot go with Chen Min.”

“Is there a difference?”

He didn’t answer, meeting her gaze calmly before looking away. “I’ll have someone bring the catalog over tomorrow. Pick whatever you like, and I’ll buy it for you.”

“No need.”

“Manman, as long as you speak up, I will agree to whatever you want.”

“Mm.”

In the dim carriage, the atmosphere was quiet. His fingers rubbed against hers, one by one, finally stopping at the knuckle of her ring finger.

“Why aren’t you wearing your ring today?”

Jiang Man paused, explaining, “I forgot when I left the house this morning.”

“I hope it’s not because you were going to meet someone today that you forgot.”

“Of course not.”

She frowned, curling her fingers tightly in his palm, suppressing the impulse to pull her hand back. “Besides, before I went there tonight, I didn’t even know Chen Min was going to be there.”

“Understood.” He smiled, appearing indifferent. “Remember to wear the ring next time.”

Their wedding ring was from a private brand by a famous French jewelry designer in Toulouse. It was a custom piece, one-of-a-kind in the world. Qi Zhicheng liked to stroke the band on her ring finger when holding hands, and he loved it when their rings clicked against each other while their fingers were intertwined. Aside from dancing practice and stage performances, he did not allow her to take the ring off.

In reality, she loathed this feeling of being controlled. At this very moment, the desire to shed her shackles reached its peak. Since she had already decided to divorce, she might as well tell him now.

Jiang Man took a deep breath, pulled her hand from his palm, and looked at him seriously: “Qi Zhicheng, I have something to tell you.”

The softness in his hand was suddenly pulled away. His fingertips paused for a second before gently curling shut. He remained hidden in the dim shadows, his head bowed slightly, the night obscuring the emotions in his eyes.

“If you are planning to say something that will make me unhappy, then don’t say it.”

He said flatly, “I don’t want to hear it.”

Jiang Man saw him lean back and close his eyes a clear “do not disturb” stance.

In the dim light of the car, the man was closing his eyes to rest. Although he was wearing a suit, he was inevitably tinged with the fatigue of a ten-hour flight. Jiang Man hesitated and didn’t bother him.

The car shuttled quietly through the brightly lit bustle of Huaicheng. Jiang Man kept her eyes fixed on the scenery outside the window, worried about being taken to another strange place. She wondered if, after showing her a graveyard, Qi Zhicheng would take her to some crematorium or the like.

It wasn’t until the car drove into Nanwan Huating and stopped at the villa entrance that her suspended heart finally settled. This was the home she and Qi Zhicheng shared after marriage, located in the core of the eastern suburbs, situated on the Nanwan ecological lake. It was the only island villa in Huaicheng that had mountains at its back and faced the lake, offering excellent privacy.

The residential area was divided into the Peninsula and the Lake Heart Island; her and Qi Zhicheng’s villa was on the Lake Heart. One island, one villa, connected by water and linked by a bridge. Both ends of the bridge were equipped with guard posts, with dedicated personnel on duty twenty-four hours a day.

If the only bridge leading to the exit were cut, this place would be a desert island.

The neatly manicured garden path was flat, with wedge-shaped stone strips interlaid with red bricks. Because of her night blindness, a hidden lamp box was installed every two meters in the courtyard. The light was soft, warm yellow, not too dazzling, just enough to clearly illuminate the path underfoot.

Jiang Man followed Qi Zhicheng step by step. After entering the house, she froze at the sight of the room filled with roses. The entire first floor of the villa was blanketed in white roses, unfurling like a waterfall. She felt as though she were standing in a flowing starry sky, falling into a white galaxy. The petals had the texture of white silk, reminding her of the white tutu Giselle wore when dancing in the woods.

“I originally wanted to celebrate our third anniversary with you at home, and I had people prepare a candlelight dinner.” Qi Zhicheng draped his suit over the sofa and spread his hands, “But it’s not needed now.”

“I didn’t know you would come back today…” Jiang Man pursed her lips, “You didn’t tell me when we talked on the phone last night.”

“Manman is blaming me.” Qi Zhicheng walked over, his palm cupping her waist. “Who told you not to say you wanted to see me?”

He leaned down, closing the distance between them, and smiled, “But it doesn’t matter. Even if you don’t want to see me, I will still come back to see you.”

The man lowered his head, pressing against her nose tip, whispering intimately: “I missed you very much.”

The next second, she was swept off her feet and sat onto the sofa. Jiang Man sat in Qi Zhicheng’s lap, his crisp, ironed suit trousers pressing against her knitted skirt in an overly intimate posture.

The position was too flirtatious. She pushed against his chest with both hands, widening the distance slightly. Qi Zhicheng glanced at her tightly clenched fingers but said nothing about her withdrawal.

He pressed the switch on the projector, and the screen began playing aerial footage of an island. From a top-down angle, the full view of the island was unobstructed—a verdant, crescent-shaped island surrounded by white sandy beaches, with waves gently lapping against the reefs, the azure sea merging with the horizon.

“I bought you an island.”

Jiang Man froze.

“The island is located in Florida; the climate is comfortable, and it has beautiful Palm Beach.” He smiled at her, “It’s a private island with permanent ownership; it’s yours from now on.”

In the first two years of their marriage, she and Qi Zhicheng lived in the United States. It wasn’t until she decided to return to China for her career that Qi Zhicheng moved his work focus back to the country. He hadn’t been an absentee executive at the American branch, either, often flying back and forth. But no matter which end of the world he was on, he would always rush back for their wedding anniversary to spend it with her.

And he would give her incredibly expensive gifts—

The first year, he bought her a seaside vacation villa in Great Neck, Long Island. She worked in Manhattan, so she couldn’t go there more than a few times a year. The empty house sat there, but the daily maintenance costs were outrageously high.

The second year, it was a Bilgin 263-series superyacht, all white, which Qi Zhicheng named “SWAN.” She had held a few parties there with friends, but it remained docked in New York Harbor, racking up massive custody fees while gathering dust.

This year, the third year, he gave her a private island and a graveyard.

“Actually… you don’t have to buy me such expensive gifts every year.” It was too extravagant and a waste of money.

Qi Zhicheng raised an eyebrow. “If I don’t spend the money I earn on my own wife, should I give it to other women?” His hand on her waist tightened slightly. “I know; even if I spent money on other women, you wouldn’t even furrow your brow.”

After saying this, he laughed at himself. “Should I praise you for being magnanimous, or say you don’t care about me at all?”

Jiang Man glared at him: “Where did your thoughts go again? I just don’t want you to waste money.”

“No need to save money for me.”

He smiled, patted her lower back, signaling her to get up. Jiang Man got off his lap and was led by the hand to the floor-to-ceiling window. Standing there was a massive black walnut stand covered by a piece of red velvet fabric.

“What is this?”

“Open it and see.”

Jiang Man walked over and slowly pulled down the fabric. Revealed before her eyes was a painting with the texture of an oil painting.

The painting depicted a young girl dancing gracefully, wearing a flowing red dress, her arms raised as if touching God. It was like a dark fairy tale viewed through an old gothic lens; a frail woman situated in a retro, gorgeous fantasy world—strange, uncanny, yet truly beautiful. The unique oil painting texture presented an absurdly grotesque beauty.

Calling it a painting wasn’t quite accurate, as it wasn’t made with any paint. Looking closely at the texture of the surface, it was thread by thread, as if woven from some special material.

Jiang Man reached out to touch the texture, asking, confused, “What material is this? It looks very unique.”

“Hair.”

Her movements stopped. Her fingertips felt as if they had been scorched, and she jerked her hand back. Qi Zhicheng stood behind her, “thoughtfully” explaining to her: “The hair for the whole painting was taken from hundreds of people with different hair colors. And to keep the hair strands intact, parts of the scalp and hair follicles were retained.”

Jiang Man’s arms erupted in goosebumps, her complexion changing repeatedly.

In this world, there are many maverick artists who like to use all sorts of strange materials to build their artistic works; using hair in a painting was not surprising. She knew that in Kutná Hora, Europe, there was a Bone Church built from over ten thousand human skeletons.

“Why are you unhappy?” He asked, knowing full well.

“I’m not.”

“Manman, you know, I love to see the look of surprise on your face when you receive a gift.”

Jiang Man closed her eyes. Composing her emotions, she feigned surprise and let out a soft exclamation, “It’s beautiful.”

“Do you like it?”

“I like it.”

“If you like it, why aren’t you smiling?”

She moved the corners of her lips, pulling out a forced, awkward smile.

Qi Zhicheng glanced at her and suddenly let out a laugh. “Ugly,” he pinched her cheek, “Your smile is so strained; it seems you don’t like it.”

She couldn’t smile. She would have to be sick to smile brilliantly at the hair and hair follicles of hundreds of people. So she simply stopped pretending, withdrew her smile, and said coldly: “I don’t have the hobby of collecting other people’s hair.”

Qi Zhicheng looked at her serious face, her brows still tightly furrowed, and burst into laughter.

Jiang Man remained expressionless.

“Just kidding with you,” he said amusedly. “It’s not hair; it’s palm fiber from palm trees. When I bought the island for you, I saw the former owner had collected this painting and thought it was beautiful, so I bought it.”

Palm fiber is a kind of fiber from the leaf sheath of palm trees, mostly used for weaving various rainproof materials and ropes. This was the first time she had seen it woven into a painting.

Jiang Man identified it carefully once more; the fibers on the painting were tough and elastic, slightly thicker than hair. It really didn’t look like human hair. She breathed a sigh of relief.

While feeling relieved, she couldn’t help but be irritated. She couldn’t keep up with Qi Zhicheng’s nasty sense of humor. How many more times is he going to scare her?

She glared at him and turned to leave.

“Are you angry?” Qi Zhicheng grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into his arms, “You didn’t take it seriously, did you?”

“Just a joke,” he laughed, “Baby, I don’t have the hobby of collecting other people’s hair either.”

He lowered his head, wanting to kiss her face, but she turned her head to avoid him, still ignoring him.

However, her resistance was negligible in his eyes. With ease, he lifted her back up and sat her on the sofa, pulled a document from somewhere, and handed it to her.

“Look at this.”

Jiang Man took it suspiciously and opened it. It was a construction contract for the Nan Cheng Phase II Aviation Intelligent Industrial Park from Qiheng Group.

“I plan to give the Nan Cheng Industrial Park project to your father to do.”

The core industry of Qiheng Group’s project was general aviation based on artificial intelligence technology, including aviation components, airborne systems, and numerical control centers. The special thing about this project was that the industrial park was in direct cooperation with the national aviation industry base; it could be said to be a government project. If Jiangyuan Industrial took on this contract, it would be equivalent to securing its position as a hegemon in the construction field.

Jiang Man lowered her head, her fingers gripping the document tighter and tighter. He didn’t know yet that she was planning a divorce. If he knew, he probably wouldn’t have given this project to her father.

Qi Zhicheng lifted her face. “What’s wrong? Happy beyond words?”

She hesitated for a moment, but decided to say it, “Qi Zhicheng, actually, I wanted to tell you just now, we—”

The rest of her words were cut off. His thumb pressed against her lips. His excessively deep eyes were stained with a layer of dark emotion.

“Manman, today is our wedding anniversary.”

His voice lowered, and the man’s despondent expression flashed by on his face. When he looked up again, he had swapped back to that frivolous, lazy demeanor, curving his lips in a smile. “Sent you so many gifts; how do you plan to thank me?”

The thumb pressed on her lips slowly ground over the corners of her mouth, rubbing gently.

“How about this, give me a kiss.”

Jiang Man’s eyes widened slightly, a thin layer of red flushing her cheeks. He didn’t urge her, just holding her waist and waiting quietly. It was as if he wouldn’t let go until she kissed him.

Jiang Man hesitated, but finally, she raised her head and touched her lips lightly against his face.

He watched her with leisure, not moving. Jiang Man knew he wasn’t satisfied. She suppressed her thoughts and kissed him on the lips again.

“Just like that?”

“…What do you want.”

Her cheeks were completely flushed red. Usually, she was rarely the one to initiate; in their intimacy, Qi Zhicheng had always occupied the dominant position, and she only needed to cooperate.

“Kiss me the way I kiss you.”

Thinking of the countless nights he had spent (rolling and sucking) on her lips, their breaths intertwined, Jiang Man’s face grew even hotter.

“I don’t know how.” She turned her head away.

“You don’t know, or you don’t want to?”

“Neither.” She struggled a bit. “Let go of me.”

Qi Zhicheng clamped her wrists, pulled her closer, his voice sinking, “Let go of you, then what? Leave me without looking back, turn around, and can’t wait to throw yourself into Chen Min’s arms, right?”

Rage rushed to her head instantly. Jiang Man didn’t know where the strength came from; she pushed him away hard. As she got up, she was unsteady and stumbled back two steps. She threw the document in her hand hard at him.

The papers scattered and fell.

The man lowered his eyes, unmoving.

“Qi Zhicheng! What madness are you having again!”

She turned to leave in a fury.

The next second, Qi Zhicheng had already stood up. He stepped forward in a few strides; before she could retreat, his large hand cupped the back of her head, and he kissed her deeply.