Outside, her mother seemed to want to follow, but was held back by her father. After a while, the noise outside disappeared.
Ji Xiaoxi slid down the door she was leaning against, clutching her knees and sobbing quietly.
She was really sad, and also very angry.
But she had no idea if she was mad at Chen He, or...
Angry at herself for getting lost in desire.
Deep down, Ji Xiaoxi knew the answer.
She was just redirecting her self-disapproval into resentment towards Chen He.
As if having her boyfriend do something for her at that moment could ease the guilt she felt inside.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Xixi, open the door."
She didn’t know how long it had been, when her father’s voice came from outside the door.
Ji Xiaoxi wiped away her tears, took a deep breath, and stood up to open the door.
A middle-aged man with a stern but gentle face stood outside, handing over a glass bowl.
"Was work too tiring today?"
Ji Xiaoxi’s father said with a smile, "Look, Dad made you a fruit smoothie. Last time, you said you wanted blueberries, right? This time it has them. Go in and try it."
"Thank you, Dad..."
"Get some rest early, otherwise your mom will start nagging again."
After the door closed again, Ji Xiaoxi changed into a thin nightdress and walked over to the small table. She picked up a spoon, scooped a spoonful of thick smoothie, about to put it in her mouth when something made her pause.
Then suddenly, Ji Xiaoxi’s face changed, a wave of nausea surged up from her stomach. She quickly tossed the spoon away and rushed to the trash can, dry-heaving.
It took a while for Ji Xiaoxi to recover. She sat dazed on the soft carpet, her expression pained.
It happened again.
Those scenes she wanted to forget always crept into her mind unexpectedly, no matter when or where, whether she was awake or dreaming.
Thinking about it, Ji Xiaoxi began spacing out again.
When she finally came to, she hurriedly withdrew her hand from under her skirt, her breathing chaotic.
"Zhou Wang, Zhou Wang..."
Ji Xiaoxi chanted the name like a curse, trying to expel it from her mind. But every time she gritted her teeth in anger, those haunting memories only deepened.
Ji Xiaoxi was biting her lip when her phone suddenly chimed.
She instinctively grabbed her phone and opened it eagerly, only to be disappointed because it was just a "Good night" message from Chen He...
Ji Xiaoxi scrolled through the chat log and quickly found that man’s messages. She clicked in and saw that the chat hadn’t been updated for more than a week.
Endme: "Zhou Wang, I want to delete you."
He: "I’ll give you a little gift another day."
He: "Please accept: ¥88,888.00"
Among them was a notice of a failed money transfer that had been refunded. At the end of the chat log was a message she sent in the deep night a day later:
"Zhou Wang, let’s not contact each other anymore. I’ve blocked you."
After that, it was blank.
Zhou Wang’s messages didn’t pop up again, as if Ji Xiaoxi had really blocked him.
But Ji Xiaoxi knew she hadn’t.
Initially, Ji Xiaoxi just wanted to see how Zhou Wang would react when he saw she planned to block him, hoping he might say something to plead with her for some psychological balance.
Clearly, she was the one who said not to contact each other, but when Zhou Wang really stopped contacting her, Ji Xiaoxi felt indignant constantly.
How could this man be so despicable, to not send her a single message again...
As she thought about it, Ji Xiaoxi’s fingers accidentally touched the phone screen, triggering a ringtone suddenly. When she looked down, she panicked.
She had somehow made a voice call to Zhou Wang!
In the middle of the night, past twelve...
Ji Xiaoxi picked up the phone in a panic, about to hang up when with a "ding," the call was connected.
Ji Xiaoxi froze, motionless, but felt an inexplicable anticipation inside.
Just as Ji Xiaoxi’s heart pounded like a drum, the expected "hello" didn’t come; instead, there was a rustling, strange noise—
"Stop it, that tickles... Barbie, you’re so naughty!"
"Do you like it?"
"I do, you can be a bit naughtier, hehe... Oh, it’s torn!"
The broken conversation, the girl’s sticky laughter mixed with squeals of surprise, followed by sounds of friction and the boy’s ragged breathing, low growls.
Even if she knew nothing else, Ji Xiaoxi could tell what those two dogs were doing. After a moment of shock, her face flushed with shame and anger, she was about to hang up.
But before her trembling fingers touched the screen, they stopped.
Because the sounds from the other side grew more wanton, and while she didn’t know who the other woman was, she knew the man was Zhou Wang.
Occasional bestial sounds from Zhou Wang were exactly the same as that day, and the day before.
The more Ji Xiaoxi listened, the redder her face got. The memory floodgates, already barely holding, burst completely. Those scenes were so vivid, engulfing her like a torrential sea.
She knew she should condemn Zhou Wang, be angry at his shamelessness, but instead, she found herself immersed...
The sounds seemed to pull her back to that cramped nursing room.