Trapped in Tenderness - Chapter 5

Jiang Man slept very soundly and woke up in a haze of mental chaos. She lay on the bed with her eyes open for a while, digesting the dramatic experiences of the past few days. A brand-new mobile phone lay on the nightstand. Her original phone had been completely destroyed in the car accident, and there was nothing in this new one. She couldn’t find any useful information from past records.

She reached out to take it. She turned it on, unlocked it, and opened WeChat. Immediately, a series of unread message notifications surged out, filling the notification bar. Opening them one by one, they were all uniform expressions of care and condolences. Among them were the latest lookbooks from various luxury brands sent by Sales Associates.

[Director Jiang, I heard you were in a car accident. Are you okay?] [Little Manman, are you out of the hospital? When you’re available, I’d like to come visit you.] [Dear, the new collection just arrived at the store. We’re pushing the Glacier Crocodile Handbag. Should I reserve one for you to look at in detail?] [Mrs. Qi, the invitation to the Chamber of Commerce gala has been sent to your email. We look forward to the arrival of you and Mr. Qi.]

Each name on the phone was strange; whether intimate or professional, she knew nothing of the interpersonal relationships or past intersections behind these names. She slid down the screen, and she didn’t recognize most of the names in the remarks.

Just then, a new message popped up. It was a small group of four people.

Anna: [Manbao, I heard you’ve been discharged? You worried me to death.] Linlin: [We were super worried about you! How is your recovery?] Nicole: [Are you coming to the flower arranging class this weekend?] Nicole: [Let’s get together; I have so much to talk to you about.]

Are these people… my friends?

Jiang Man tried hard to search in her mind, but it remained a blank slate. Her fingertips hovered over the screen for a long time, but in the end, she didn’t reply to any of the messages.

Jiang Man got up and went downstairs. In the dining room on the first floor, the servants had already prepared breakfast. Various dishes were neatly laid out on the dining table. As she approached, a servant immediately pulled out a chair for her, unfolded the napkin, and brought her freshly brewed coffee.

“Um, where is he?” Jiang Man called out to the servant who was about to retreat.

“Ma’am, the master went to the company early in the morning.”

“Oh.” Jiang Man nodded. “Did he say when he would be back?”

The servant maintained a proper smile: “The master didn’t say a specific time. Would you like me to contact the master now?”

“No, no need.” Jiang Man waved her hand. “I was just asking.”

“Before leaving, the master specifically instructed you to rest well. If you have any needs, let me take you to get familiar with this place.”

“Mm.”

In the afternoon, Jiang Man wandered around the villa aimlessly and unknowingly came to the kitchen. Various kitchen utensils were laid out on the cooking counter. She walked to the oven, remembering what Qi Zhicheng told her: that she knew how to bake cookies. Being too bored at home, Jiang Man simply put on an apron and prepared to try making cookies.

“Ma’am, do you need help?”

“I’ll do it myself.”

Butter, flour, and sugar these ingredients were all fully stocked in the refrigerator. Following the recipe on her phone, she added melted chocolate. After a busy session, the production was completed. Unexpectedly, the finished product looked quite good.

At dusk, Qi Zhicheng returned to Songyuan. Jiang Man, who was leaning on the lounge chair reading a book, heard the sound and stood up subconsciously. She saw Qi Zhicheng walk in with a suit jacket draped over his arm. The moment their eyes met, Jiang Man became momentarily flustered. She awkwardly pulled the corners of her mouth and gave him a polite smile: “You’re back.”

“Mm. Postponed two meetings.”

Qi Zhicheng walked closer, placed his suit on the sofa armrest, and looked at her. “The servant said you were looking for me.”

Jiang Man froze for a moment. “No. I just… was just asking.”

“How are you feeling today? Is your head still dizzy?”

“It’s fine, just still can’t remember anything.” She suddenly remembered the chocolate cookies she had made and asked casually, “By the way, I made chocolate cookies. Do you want to eat some?”

Qi Zhicheng, who was loosening his tie, stopped abruptly. His heart felt as if it had been gripped by a hand and then released, his heartbeat accelerating involuntarily. Such a way of interacting, imbued with the heavy atmosphere of daily life, seemed to have never happened before. Like all ordinary, loving couples, chatting about the trivialities of the human world plain, warm, and cozy.

His wife had made cookies with her own hands. She made them specifically for him.

An irrepressible excitement surged in his heart; his Adam’s apple rolled suppressively. Qi Zhicheng remained calm on the surface. “Okay.”

The lights in the dining room were dimmed. Qi Zhicheng sat at the dining table, his gaze following Jiang Man’s figure across the island. He watched her search around, specifically finding a beautiful little plate to hold the cookies.

“Try it?”

Jiang Man held a small plate of cookies, placed it in front of him, and sat down in the dining chair next to him. “I don’t remember how to make chocolate cookies; I followed an online tutorial.”

Qi Zhicheng picked up a cookie and took a bite.

“How does it taste?” Jiang Man looked at him and asked, her voice carrying an expectation she hadn’t realized herself.

Qi Zhicheng smiled and praised: “Very delicious.”

He ate the cookies in a leisurely manner, noticing that Jiang Man’s mood was low: “What’s wrong, are you unhappy at home today?”

“No.” Jiang Man shook her head. “There is a person named Nicole on my phone. Do you know her? Is she a friend of mine from before?”

“I’ve heard you mention her; you used to get together for afternoon tea occasionally.”

“She invited me to a flower arranging class this weekend.”

“Do you want to go?”

“I don’t know.” She propped her chin with both hands and sighed softly. “It should be very awkward to chat and arrange flowers with a group of people I should know but have no impression of, right?”

“Then don’t go.” Qi Zhicheng smiled slightly. “And you need to rest quietly right now.”

“But, I thought maybe contacting some people and things I used to be familiar with would help me remember something faster.” She urgently needed to establish contact with the world right now and re-acquaint herself with those she should have been familiar with. Perhaps the first step could start with this flower arranging class.

Qi Zhicheng: “It seems you already have the answer in your heart. Do you want me to accompany you?”

Jiang Man refused: “No, I want to try it myself.”

Qi Zhicheng said nothing and agreed with a smile: “Okay.”

Jiang Man was wondering what kind of mindset she should use to meet those people over the weekend. As her gaze moved down, she suddenly noticed a small patch of abnormal red marks on the side of his neck, above the collar of his shirt, with some slight swelling at the edges.

“Your neck…” She couldn’t help leaning over, pointing vaguely at that spot with her fingertip. “What happened here? A red patch.”

Qi Zhicheng was indifferent, raising his hand to touch that piece of skin lightly. “Nothing, just a chocolate allergy.”

“You’re allergic to chocolate?”

“A small reaction; I’ll just take medicine later.”

Jiang Man’s face changed slightly. Seeing him still holding a cookie and putting it into his mouth, she reached out without thinking and grabbed his wrist. “Don’t eat it!”

The man’s wrist was lean and powerful, the outline of the wrist bone distinct. Completely different from her slenderness and softness, his skin transmitted a dry,  (scorching) temperature. Qi Zhicheng also looked up at this moment; their eyes met.

They were very close close enough that they could hear each other’s breathing. Suddenly, Jiang Man released her hand as if she had been scalded. She got up hurriedly, turned her head away in discomfort, “…I’ll go pour you a glass of water.”

Qi Zhicheng sat motionless at the table, his eyes fixed on her back. His palm covered the spot on his wrist she had just grabbed. If Jiang Man were to look back at this moment, she would see the obsessive excitement and madness in his eyes.

Jiang Man kept the appointment for the weekend flower arranging class as scheduled. The location was a private art gallery. After renovations, the detached house was elegant and chic, with vines hanging in the courtyard, complementing the dark green window lattice. Jiang Man had searched online beforehand; it was said that this was a private flower-art classroom established specifically for socialite wives, opened only once a week, and accepting a maximum of six guests at a time.

To get familiar with the environment, she specifically arrived half an hour early. She thought it would be empty, but she didn’t expect the others to have been waiting here already—they had arrived even earlier than her. As soon as they saw her, several women dressed exquisitely immediately walked over.

“Manbao! You’re finally here!”

“Oh my, our Manbao looks great. This dress of yours is the one from the Paris runway show this year, right? This color really suits you!”

“This llama wool fabric, I thought it would look bloated, but you look so light wearing it; you have such a special aura!”

Before long, unfamiliar faces surrounded her, wearing enthusiastic smiles, their words filled with familiarity and concern. The overly exuberant enthusiasm made Jiang Man feel at a loss. Perhaps noticing her bewilderment, they realized she had lost her memory due to the car accident and didn’t remember them at all, so they introduced themselves very enthusiastically. While chatting with her, they took her to the flower hall.

The antique side cabinet against the wall displayed flower vessels of different schools, and impressionistic oil paintings hung on the wall. In the center of the classroom was a long table polished from raw wood, on which the flowers needed for today were already placed. The table was full of flowers that didn’t belong to this season, giving one the illusion that it was already spring.

After being seated, Jiang Man learned to prune flower branches from the teacher, and several people chatted with her from time to time.

“While you were recuperating at home, as your good girlfriends, we super wanted to come see you, but Mr. Qi said you needed to rest and declined all visits. We were also afraid of disturbing your rest…”

“It doesn’t matter if you forgot some things; we can make appointments to hang out often in the future, just treat it as re-getting to know each other.”

After a few minutes of chatting, Nicole gently pushed a tulip toward her, with a hint of flattery in her words.

“Manbao, I heard that the smart system bidding for Qiheng is ongoing? What a coincidence, my husband happens to have a security system project that needs acceptance next month…”

Jiang Man was pruning flower branches; the hand holding the scissors paused slightly. “I’m not very clear about his work affairs.”

Nicole spoke sincerely: “Manbao, just put in a word for me, okay? Really just one word, it doesn’t matter if it succeeds or not.”

Jiang Man looked down at the flowers, not knowing how to refuse, and answered with a “good.” For a moment, the flower hall fell silent for a while.

The socialite wives at the scene exchanged looks in silence. Immediately after, they began to show favor to her one by one, accompanied by their requests.

“My dear, our group just won the bid for the logistics park of Huaixi Free Trade Port. This is a high-quality project. If President Qi is willing to participate in the investment, the rate of return on this project will be very high…”

“Manbao, there is also that new energy project of ours…”

Jiang Man’s thoughts were dazed. The voices around her ears kept echoing; she answered a few sentences absent-mindedly, as if she had swallowed a fishbone in her throat. Only now did she realize with a half-beat delay that most of this enthusiasm surrounding her was merely because of her title as “Mrs. Qi.”

She was despondent in the second half of the flower arranging class; she toyed with the angles of the flower branches in the vessel a few times, then hurriedly completed a set of minimalist flower art.

“Oh my, Manman, this branch of white camellia you placed is so special, it’s so beautiful.”

“Yeah, unlike us, no matter how we arrange it, we can’t get this feeling you have.”

Jiang Man glanced at her own lopsided flower arrangement with no sense of beauty, and pulled the corners of her mouth stiffly.

Without too much pleasantry, she declined the plastic girlfriends’ invitation for afternoon tea, and left the small house amidst the concerned voices of “rest well” and “see you next time.”

The black Alphard was already waiting at the door, and the electric sliding door opened slowly. She was about to get into the car when her movements suddenly stopped. In the dim light of the car, Qi Zhicheng was sitting inside.

“Finished?” He closed the notebook in his hand and looked at her sideways.

Jiang Man was surprised by his sudden appearance. She awkwardly said “Mm,” and bent over to get into the car. The door closed, cutting off a quiet space.

“How was it?” He asked casually. “Are you adapting?”

“It’s okay…” Jiang Man didn’t want to bring up this fake girlfriend gathering again, turned her head and asked him, “Why did you come over?”

“Worried about you, afraid you wouldn’t adapt alone.”

Jiang Man was lethargic. “I’m fine.”

“There’s a social gathering in the afternoon. A few business partners invited me to the racecourse. Let’s go together.”

“Am I going too?”

“A few wives you used to be familiar with will also be there. You can chat with them when you go.”

She hesitated. Thinking for two seconds, still holding a glimmer of expectation, she nodded.

The vehicle traveled in the traffic. After driving for a distance, it gradually moved away from the city’s hustle and bustle, and the scenery outside the window changed from skyscrapers to trees and shade.

Not long after, the car stopped at a private racecourse. The owner of the racecourse had been waiting at the door to welcome them. A man in casual riding gear had a face full of enthusiastic smiles, personally walking to the backseat to open the door.

“President Qi, you’re finally here. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Qi Zhicheng shook hands with the man. “A bit jammed on the road, sorry for making you all wait a long time.”

The man turned to Jiang Man, bowing and smiling, “Mrs. Qi, long time no see.”

Jiang Man didn’t know him, and could only nod slightly, “Hello.”

The man led the way, introducing what changes his racecourse had made and what new good horses he had obtained to the two. Coming to the racecourse, the others also gathered one after another, surrounding her and Qi Zhicheng in the center. Qi Zhicheng shook hands with them one by one, dealing with them with ease.

After brief pleasantries, Qi Zhicheng lowered his head and whispered in Jiang Man’s ear, “Mrs. Lin and the others are over at the garden terrace. Go sit there; I’ll come pick you up after I finish talking.”

Jiang Man nodded. The shuttle bus was waiting by the side at any time. She bent over and got into the car. The car drove slowly away along the trail. She blew the breeze and looked at the well-maintained green lawn of the racecourse. The annual management fee of such a private racecourse was enough to buy a top-tier apartment in the city center of Huaicheng.

On the white terrace, several wives were chatting under a lace parasol, with a full set of Rococo-style tea sets at hand, and a snack rack and macarons on the table.

“Mrs. Qi is here. Come, come, sit down.” Mrs. Lin got up to welcome her; the exquisite suit outlined her figure, which she kept under harsh standards.

“Come, come, come, come, taste this newly arrived Earl Grey tea…”

Several wives surrounded her and naturally led her to the main seat of the tea table, as if she were once the center of this circle. The view from the garden was excellent, and she could see most of the racecourse. She saw Qi Zhicheng in the distance, who had already changed into casual riding gear, riding on a horse, and he was always surrounded by many people.

Jiang Man picked up the teacup and took a small sip. Her gaze turned around. Several wives on the scene all had exquisite makeup, always keeping their elegance, and the breeze couldn’t mess up their skirts at all. Qi Zhicheng said she knew these people, but she really didn’t have any impression at all.

The atmosphere at the tea table was warm, with light laughter and chatter. Several wives chatted to each other.

“Flowers are so hard to serve now. Those orchid branches I planted in my greenhouse, the nursing fees every day are thrown into it like throwing money into the water, and I haven’t seen a bud yet.”

Everyone chuckled, “It’s your husband who spoils you. He insists on planting orchids in winter against the season, isn’t it all in vain?”

“Oh my, this bracelet of yours is so beautiful. You just bought it, right?”

“My husband took a photo for me at Sotheby’s last week. The color is okay, but the style is a bit old-fashioned. My husband really doesn’t understand my preferences at all.”

“My husband is the same. When he came back from a business trip last week, he actually brought me a limited-edition Constance. He didn’t know that I only carry Kelly lately.”

Speaking of this, she naturally turned the topic to Jiang Man, “President Qi is the most considerate. I heard that during Paris Haute Couture Week last month, President Qi was afraid that you were too busy with work, so he specifically sent a private jet to have the designer come to your home for custom fitting, right?”

Mrs. Wang nudged her with her elbow. She immediately understood and remembered Jiang Man’s amnesia, so she chatted about something else, and didn’t mention the past.

Jiang Man smiled and didn’t answer. She could naturally hear the comparison in their words. These complaints that seemed to be troubles were actually showing off in an unobtrusive way.

The coquettish voices in her ears were still continuing. She looked down at the tea soup in her hands, her thoughts drifting.

The sun went down, and the sky gradually darkened.

“Manman.”

A deep male voice sounded behind her.

Jiang Man turned back and saw Qi Zhicheng had changed into casual clothes, thinking it was over. At this moment, she felt a sense of relief. She said goodbye to several wives and ended this afternoon tea that felt like sitting on pins and needles.

On the return journey, Jiang Man remained listless, and after getting into the car, she closed her eyes and leaned back on the seat to rest. The car was heated, and Qi Zhicheng took a wool blanket and covered her legs.

“How was it today? Are you happy?”

Jiang Man pulled the wool blanket up to her chin, shrinking most of her body inside.

“It’s okay… just, a bit tired.”

Such meaningless social interaction exhausted her, more tiring than dancing a whole performance. He watched her gently: “It’s inevitable to be uncomfortable the first time. You can make an appointment to have afternoon tea with them more next time, and you’ll get better.”

“We’ll talk later.” Jiang Man’s mood sank, “I don’t want to gather for the time being.”

She curled up deeper into the blanket, whispering: “I want to go home.”

The man’s eyes moved. After a long while, he repeated those two words, “Go home?”

“Mm.” Jiang Man raised her eyes in confusion, seeing his gaze focused on her face, “…What’s wrong?”

A softness somewhere in his heart seemed to collapse. A smile appeared on the corner of his lips, and his voice followed softly.

“Okay, then let’s go home.”