Chapter 4
Chapter 4
My wife stared at me, her mouth agape.
Her eyes brimmed with tears.
“So you’ve known all along,” she said.
I reached out and wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
“When you cried at nineteen, my heart truly ached for you.”
“But when you cry at fifty, I only feel annoyed.”
“Ah Yu, I once loved you with all my heart. Even now, I’m still willing to let you live a life of luxury and comfort.”
“But Ah Yu, I deserve my own fun too, don’t I?”
“In the end, you’ve become tainted. I want a girl who belongs entirely to me.”
“Making a scene like this doesn’t look good for anyone, does it?”
“Ah Yu, understand me. Stop making things difficult for yourself.”
After I finished speaking, my wife collapsed heavily onto the sofa.
Her mouth moved, but she didn’t say a word.
It is instinct for the poor to climb upward.
Sometimes, I only need to cast the bait, and the fish will hook themselves.
For instance, I hadn’t contacted Xin Nan for a few days, yet she reached out to me of her own accord.
To be precise, her fiancé reached out to me.
A man named Da Shan.
He looked stiff and restrained as he pulled Xin Nan along to offer me a toast.
“Professor Jiang, I only found out from the contractor that I owe this opportunity to you.”
The man wore an ill-fitting suit, his face covered in a fawning smile.
Xin Nan, meanwhile, looked completely reluctant.
I suddenly felt curious. Faced with the choice I once made at that crossroads in life, what would Da Shan choose?
When Xin Nan went to the restroom, I cornered her.
Xin Nan looked at me pleadingly.
“Teacher, please, not here. Not here.”
“Da Shan… he’s still outside.”
I took a step closer.
I pressed a kiss onto Xin Nan’s forehead.
“What does it matter? I wonder, if I were to ask, would he offer to send you to my bed himself?”
Xin Nan’s eyes widened, her face filled with panic.
“What are you going to do?”
“Are you afraid?”
“I’m not.”
Xin Nan answered sharply, but I still saw a flicker of fear in her eyes.
As expected, when human nature is put to the test, no one can remain truly unperturbed.
Afterward, I told Xin Nan to leave first.
I said I had something to discuss with Da Shan.
Xin Nan seemed to sense what I was going to say; she was deathly afraid to leave.
In the end, it was Da Shan who coaxed her with gentle words.
That, combined with my absolute insistence, forced Xin Nan to leave reluctantly.
I handed Da Shan a cigarette and told him the story of my youth without holding anything back.
Da Shan’s hand trembled as he smoked.
He asked me why I was telling him this.
I patted his shoulder.
“Da Shan, which do you think is more important: a life of glitz and glamour, or a life of mediocrity?”
“Or let me put it another way. Do you think I was wrong back then?”
“If it were you, what would you have chosen?”
Da Shan remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he looked at me guardedly.
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you telling me this?”
I stood up and looked out at the night view of the Huangpu River.
“There is no such thing as kindness without a reason in this world,” I said.
“Da Shan, why do you think I’m helping you?”
Da Shan stood up and spoke clumsily, trying to interrupt me.
“Professor Jiang, you’ve had too much to drink. Let me take you back first. We can meet another day.”
I scoffed.
“Are you sure you want to send me away right now?”
“Have you thought this through?”
Da Shan froze in place, moving no further.
I walked up and patted his shoulder.
“If you haven’t decided yet, then listen to me finish.”
“Da Shan, the truth is, I’ve always liked Xin Nan.”
“Think carefully about which you’d choose: a momentary lapse, or a lifetime of wealth.”