Chapter 17: You've left yourself a loophole for cheating.
"You were wearing sexy lingerie and lying on the same bed with him, and you kissed him, but he didn't react at all???" Qiu Zining groaned when she heard this.
Sheng Yiqing knew that "tsk" was a sign that emotional blogger Qiu Ning'er encountered difficulties, which basically meant that a relationship was already terminally ill.
So she tried to remedy it, and said earnestly: "It's not that he didn't react at all. He just fell asleep."
Unfortunately, Qiu Zining raised his eyebrows, shook his head and tsk-tsked twice.
Sheng Yiqing stopped talking. She was sitting on the fluffy carpet in the living room of her home, with the curtains drawn tightly, takeout on the coffee table, chopsticks in her hand, and Qiu Zining on her mobile phone.
She had just got off work. Since the chaotic night last Friday, she was too lazy to reply to Chen Zhuan's message for two consecutive weekends.
"But you've been married for two years, it's about time for love to fade away." Qiu Zining comforted, "You know that marriage is the torture of love."
"Then love dies too quickly, right?" Sheng Yiqing was speechless, "We don't live together. We only see each other once a week."
"Living together will make it die faster! You may touch each other's hands in half a year. You just didn't do it once. After a long time, you'll be too lazy to do it once a year."
Sheng Yiqing couldn't listen anymore, put down the takeaway, and said to the phone: "Then there must be a solution, right?"
"Yes." Qiu Zining's brisk solution came from the speaker: "Just change people."
Sheng Yiqing hung up the phone directly.
As they were talking, the doorbell rang. It was none other than Chen Zhuan, who was wearing a white shirt and suit pants. His slender figure stood at the door, with a white down pillow tucked between his arms, and his hair seemed to have been carefully pulled. He looked at her with a faint look in his eyes, but did not enter the door, with a cold attitude on his handsome face.
"What are you doing here?"
Chen Zhuan handed over the plastic bag in his hand and said expressionlessly, "I brought braised food and beer."
They were all her favorite junk food.
Sheng Yiqing pouted and let him in. Looking at the pillow on his arm, she said angrily, "I have to work overtime. Don't stay overnight."
Chen Zhuan paused for half a second before saying, "It's okay. You can't disturb me." After a while, he asked casually, "Didn't you work overtime enough last Friday? Then, what should I do today?"
"What do you want to do?"
He asked back with a smile, "What do you think?"
Sheng Yiqing stopped talking and looked at Chen Zhuan leisurely: the dog man relied on his good looks to dress up late at night and brought alcohol to the door. His intention to commit crimes was too obvious.
This kind of thing has happened before. In the first few months after marriage, although they agreed to meet once a week, Chen Zhuan would knock on her door every now and then in the middle of the night, or frequently "accidentally" meet her downstairs, and then shamelessly follow her upstairs.
Everything that happened after they met was simple and rough. Their bodies pressed together, kissing each other, his big palms wrapped around her waist, and the places he touched were all hot...
Thinking of this, Sheng Yiqing's mood suddenly improved, but she still said with a straight face: "Then I'll go to work overtime first, you... take a shower."
But unexpectedly, Chen Zhuan had already unbuttoned a button on his collar, half exposing his collarbone, and looked at her innocently, "Wife, I washed it at home."
Afterwards, Sheng Yiqing admitted that she was indeed a little anxious when she ran to the bathroom. However, when she ran out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel, Chen Zhuan, who was leaning on the bed, had already changed into a conservative old pajamas, leaning leisurely on the pillow, holding the remote control in one hand and beer in the other.
It was not at all the lewd scene of handsome men lying around as imagined.
"Uh..."
"Come here." Chen Zhuan smiled and patted the bed beside him, "I found a movie, let's watch it first."
Playing so fancy? And bringing a movie to cheer you up?
Then, the "Dragon Logo" on the projection screen slowly rose. In the solemn soundtrack, Sheng Yiqing's excited expression froze in place. She slowly turned her head and looked at Chen Zhuan: "What movie did you watch?"
"Nomadland. The tragic life of a middle-aged woman." The man's hand around her shoulders tightened, and he was quite excited. "This year's Oscars, I've always wanted to watch it."
"... You took a bath late at night, brought wine and pillows to me, and watched an Oscar movie???" Sheng Yiqing repeated.
"Yeah." Chen Zhuan nodded, "After watching the movie, we hugged each other and chatted, and then went to bed together."
"I'm so happy." Sheng Yiqing forced a smile, slapped Chen Zhuan's hand, took the remote control, and turned off the projector with a click.
Before Chen Zhuan could react, he was kicked hard in the thigh again, and he gasped in pain. Sheng Yiqing buried his head in the quilt and said sullenly, "Go away, I want to sleep alone."
"What's wrong with you?" Chen Zhuan was helpless, "You ignored me on WeChat these two days, and now you're driving me away for no reason?"
"What do you think?!" Sheng Yiqing was depressed, but his foot was even harder, and he kicked him out of the quilt faster and faster.
Chen Zhuan finally understood, stood under the bed, and righteously exposed: "I know! You...you are..."
"What? What am I?" Sheng Yiqing's head popped out, and in the dark, his round eyes stared at him like a cat. He grabbed his pillow and smashed it on his head again.
The four words "desire unsatisfied" were swallowed, Chen Zhuan took the pillow and touched his nose, "... you, cough, can't we have a gentle night? After all, we have been married for two years..."
"You can't do it?" Sheng Yiqing looked at him in a daze.
"No... Damn it!"
"Is it me who can't do it? Do you think I look unattractive?" She was even more panicked.
"No, no, don't think about it." Chen Zhuan had no choice but to throw the pillow away, walk over and hug Sheng Yiqing through the quilt, and put his chin on her head: "Don't you think that last Friday night was beautiful? We lay in bed, quietly, doing nothing, and I listened to your breathing and fell asleep."
After a few seconds, Sheng Yiqing asked: "Do you like this?"
"Yeah." Chen Zhuan lifted her face and kissed her forehead: "Seriously, compared to before, I prefer this night. The embrace and lingering without desire is the time when two souls are closest. We can chat together, talk about our future, and the past, talk about our troubles, and ideals..."
The moonlight came in through the gap in the curtains, shining on Chen Zhuan's angular face and prominent Adam's apple. He had a low voice and a good figure. The arms around her were broad and powerful. She liked his lower abdomen the most, which was tight and hard... In his platonic confession of deep love, Sheng Yiqing only had one sentence in her mind:
It's over, he really can't do it.
"Men's blooming period is much shorter than women's. After the age of 30, it basically drops off a cliff."
In Nugget's open-air restaurant, the waiter was busy. Qiu Zining went directly behind the bar, mixed two glasses of wine with familiarity, and handed them to Sheng Yiqing.
Chunchun taught: "This has nothing to do with a man's appearance or figure. It's almost as if God gave the order, and everyone started to become impotent."
"I know. Once it's gone, they start to have romantic affairs, from Sartre to Kant, from the revival of the Roman Empire to socialism." Sheng Yiqing closed her eyes and took a sip of wine: "I took a shower, but last night he just wanted to watch a movie with me and hug me and chat. He also said that this is a high-level relationship."
"What happened next?"
"We just chatted under the quilt. He started talking about his dreams in college. He talked a lot, but I didn't hear a word."
"I understand, baby." Qiu Zining touched her glass, and said in a sad tone: "You are busy despair."
Chen Zhuan also quickly discovered Sheng Yiqing's indifference to him. The "Plato" night not only did not arouse his wife's tenderness and affection for him, but even aggravated her alienation. Seeing that a new Friday was approaching, when Chen Zhuan took the initiative to propose booking a hotel, Sheng Yiqing told him: "No need. Since you have started to take the warm route of pure chatting under the quilt, just come to my house this Friday."
"Huh?" Chen Zhuan was stunned.
Sheng Yiqing replied: "Come to my house, this time, I will tell you what the highest level of getting along between husband and wife is."
So on Friday night, Chen Zhuan got off work and happily came to Sheng Yiqing with a bouquet of roses. When he knocked on the door, it was a lively scene - the washing machine and vacuum cleaner were rumbling, and the faucet in the bathroom seemed to be not turned off, with the sound of water rushing.
Sheng Yiqing was wearing home clothes, her hair was rough and tied into a bun, she was wearing a mask and plastic gloves. When she saw Chen Zhuan coming, she called him: "Hurry up, put down the things in your hands, we have a lot of projects tonight." Sheng Yiqing was dragging a big basket and putting all the furry toys on the carpet in it. She handed the vacuum cleaner to Chen Zhuan: "I'll wash this wave first, you go and vacuum the carpet." Chen Zhuan was stunned and repeated helplessly: "So, from now on, our Fridays will be changed to doing housework? Come to your house this week and go to my house next week?" "Then we are husband and wife! Is there anything more advanced than doing housework together?" Sheng Yiqing smiled with a curved corner of her mouth, "Also, it's not coming to my house this week and going to your house next week, it's coming to my house every week to clean up." "Why?" He widened his eyes. "I don't want to work at your house." She urged him in a matter-of-fact tone, "Put the roses anywhere. We have to dry the dolls after washing them. We will make sure to have a good night tonight."
Chen Zhuan sensed something and stood at the door without moving. He weighed the roses in his hand and glared at her: "Sheng Yiqing, you are looking for trouble, right? Something has been wrong since Friday."
Sheng Yiqing pretended to be stupid and turned off the vacuum cleaner, "What's wrong with me? You want Plato, but you don't want to do housework? Isn't this the real daily necessities?"
"I understand, so I won't open a room. In your eyes, I can only do cleaning?" He was angry and amused, "What do you think of me, a sex buddy?"
"I'd rather be a sex buddy than a friend or a relative." Sheng Yiqing grabbed the door with one hand and held the door frame with the other, staring at him, "If there is no passion between husband and wife one day, then this relationship is completely dead! Count to three, either stay to work or get out, one, two..."
The man in front of her looked down at her, and she heard him say "huh" coldly, put the roses away, turned around without hesitation, slammed the door, and took the vacuum cleaner.
In the 80-square-meter room, the vacuum cleaner rumbled, and the two stopped talking, each holding their breath and working. Sheng Yiqing was not good at housework. The kitchen was not turned on once a year, and there was only a milk pot for cooking instant noodles in the whole house. She never owed housework, and relied on the cleaning lady to come to the house regularly.
At this moment, she didn't really want to do any big cleaning. The mop fell lightly to the ground, and she stole a glance at Chen Zhuan——
She saw that he was carefully cleaning the carpet with a vacuum cleaner.
She knew that he was serious about life. When he was free at home on weekdays, he would either exercise or clean the room. He said that he had obsessive-compulsive disorder and couldn't tolerate the mess at home. At this moment, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong forearms. When he bent slightly, the clothes on his back were tightened by his muscles, revealing tight lines. His slender fingers held the handle of the vacuum cleaner, slightly exerting force.
Fuck, the dog man also looks good doing housework.
Fuck, he would rather work than do me.
She threw the mop in anger, and Chen Zhuan looked over, "Don't want to do it anymore?"
Sheng Yiqing simply gave up, "I see you do housework so seriously, but you can do it alone."
She wanted to irritate him, but Chen Zhuan nodded and replied, "Okay, then you wash your hands and rest, I'll do it."
Sheng Yiqing was shocked, looked at him for half a second, and went into the bathroom with a dark face. There was a basket of plush toys to be washed in the bathroom, and the remaining washed dolls were piled in the bathtub, clean and wet. Sheng Yiqing was angry, and turned on the faucet in a bad mood, and the sound of water came. She just wet her hands, and then she heard the door behind her open and closed with a click, and a person stood behind her.
Then, Chen Zhuan stretched out his hand to hug her waist and turned her around. In front of the small bathroom sink, the two of them pressed tightly together. He leaned over with a dark face, lifted her chin with his other hand, and pried open her lips.
This was a kiss full of aggression. Conquer the city.
The fire in his heart dissipated and condensed into another fire. Sheng Yiqing hooked her arm around his neck and bit him in revenge.
"Hiss." Chen Zhuan felt pain, held her hips, and hugged her to the sink, pressing her forehead: "Are you satisfied now?"
Sheng Yiqing looked at him with bright eyes, "Have you taken medicine? Are you okay again?"
"... You..." He pinched her hips with his hand, gritted his teeth, "You deserve to be fucked."
The loose home clothes were half unbuttoned, and his kisses fell on her neck and collarbone, moist and numb. Her fingers were wrapped around his hair, soft and piercing, it was his breath, an inexplicable sourness rose from her chest, Sheng Yiqing held up Chen Zhuan's face, stared into his eyes and asked: "Are you no longer interested in me?"
He was startled, "How could it be?" Then he laughed, "What are you thinking about?"
"Then there is no passion between us?"
"Well..." He kissed her lips, and his hands were not idle, pulling her hand to explore his lower abdomen. The hot breath made Sheng Yiqing's fingertips tremble slightly, and the man's hoarse voice came to her ears, exhaling hot air to tease her: "Well, it's gone."
She was angry and gently pinched it.
Chen Zhuan took a deep breath and carried her to the bedroom, kissing her all the way, but Sheng Yiqing still complained vaguely: "Why do you only want to hug me and chat? People say that after marriage, there will be no passion. We only see each other once a week. How can you start platonic so soon..."
Chen Zhuan had no choice but to throw her on the bed, "Okay, okay, I was wrong. We won't chat when we meet in the future, but only do what we love."
Sheng Yiqing was satisfied, sat up and pulled his clothes. The two of them were entangled, and then they heard the phone on the bed buzzing--
"Don't worry." Chen Zhuan pressed her hand and kissed her attentively.
"No, I have to see who it is. What if it's a client." She hurriedly pushed the man away and turned over the quilt. Only then did she realize that the movement just now was too big, and both of their phones fell on the bed, and the one that was vibrating at this moment was Chen Zhuan's phone.
Caller ID: Wu Yubing
"Who is Wu Yubing?"
The next second, the man on her body showed too obvious surprise in his eyes. He froze for a moment, then quickly snatched the phone from Sheng Yiqing, slid the answer button, and quickly said to the other end of the phone: "Yubing, I have something to do now, I'll talk to you later."
But before he could hang up, the other end of the phone said a few more words.
Chen Zhuan was stunned: "Now?" He glanced at Sheng Yiqing, his expression hesitant. Then, as if he had made some kind of decision, he replied: "Okay. Wait for me for ten minutes."
From Chen Zhuan putting on his clothes and shoes, to him printing a kiss on his forehead, to him closing the door and leaving... During this process, Sheng Yiqing still looked indifferent.
She tried her best to act like this was normal, and didn't even ask him: "Who the hell is Wu Yubing?" and: "Where the hell are you going now?!"
The room was empty, Sheng Yiqing played music, went back to the bathroom, turned on the bathtub faucet, and put the remaining plush toys in the basket
All the utensils were poured into the bathtub.
After a while, she turned on her phone and stared at the dialog box with Chen Zhuan in a daze. The background of the chat was their marriage agreement.
"Article 1, financial independence, all dating expenses AA, no children.
Article 2, during the marriage, both parties should maintain absolute spiritual and physical loyalty.
Article 3, this marriage is only related to the two individuals, not involving the families of both parties, and neither party shall bear any responsibility or obligation to the other party's family.
Article 4, every two years, the two parties will meet to decide whether to continue the marriage. Once either party has a serious illness or a major debt, or has special circumstances such as emotional transfer, the other party can decide to divorce at any time."
She remembered that when signing this agreement, Chen Zhuan also complained to her: "Don't you think the emotional transfer in Article 4 is somewhat contradictory to Article 2? Look, since absolute emotional and physical loyalty must be guaranteed during the marriage, how could there be emotional transfer before the renewal? "
"That's right." Sheng Yiqing was tapping the screen at that time, thinking: "Then let's do this. The first two months of the renewal are a free period, and both parties are not bound by the second clause. If there is no major situation during the free period, then we will renew the contract."
"I understand." Chen Zhuan nodded and squinted at her: "You have left a loophole for yourself to cheat."
"That must be done, we can't really be tied together for life!"
...
The sound of water in the bathroom was getting louder and louder. Sheng Yiqing was irritated and threw the phone aside. Half a bottle of detergent was poured, and the water flow stirred up layers of foam. The sound of music mixed with the sound of running water. In the midst of the noise, tears fell heavily and disappeared in the foam.
"Damn it." A woman cursed vaguely:
"Fuck the stupid free period."