Chapter 8
Chapter 8
August 1 – Overcast
Fragment Two
Once my makeup was finished, I followed my husband to the banquet. He reminded me over and over not to speak.
So annoying. He had already told me in the car: don’t speak, just stay close to him. Now he was saying it all over again.
Nag, nag, nag. He sounded like an old woman.
I rolled my eyes where he couldn’t see and drawled, “Yes, you’re right. How could I ever disobey you, O Mighty Patron?”
“Where do you find all these ridiculous names for me?”
“I call you whatever I like. What’s it to you?”
…
We bickered all the way to the banquet hall. Remembering his instructions, I hurriedly shut my mouth and pretended to be mute… no, a “lady.”
That sounded even worse somehow…
I was still pondering what exactly that made me when an exceptionally unserious man called out to tease my husband.
“Well, well. Where did Young Master Tang find this lovely new flame? Not bad at all…”
“Nanshan, if you can’t control that mouth of yours and stop spouting nonsense, I’ll have someone sew it shut.”
“…”
“It serves no useful purpose anyway. Sew it closed, and the world will have one less idiot who believes every rumor he hears and passes it on. Nothing but profit.”
“…Tang, could you not speak to me in the same tone you use to negotiate a contract? You’re making me feel like a parcel of land.”
My husband glanced at Nanshan and gave a cold snort. “If you were a parcel of land in my possession, I’d turn you into a public toilet.”
“…”
A public toilet…
That was Tang Shaoxuan for you. The man could be vicious beyond belief.
A group of people approached, apparently wanting to discuss something with my husband. I wasn’t interested, and my feet were getting tired, so I pointed to a nearby sofa to show him that I was going to sit down.
He thought for a moment. Perhaps he decided the sofa was close enough for him to intervene if anything happened, because he nodded his permission.
But the instant I sat down, a woman appeared from nowhere and swung her hand at my face.
August 2 – Overcast
Fragment Three
I reacted in time, but not quickly enough to evade her completely. Her nails scratched me.
She was a well-dressed young heiress and quite attractive. Still, disregarding all decorum to slap someone in front of a crowd struck me as remarkably childish. She didn’t look especially intelligent.
Pointing a finger at me, she shouted that I was a shameless vixen, a seductress who stole other people’s men. She stopped just short of spewing outright obscenities.
I soon lost patience. The finger she kept thrusting at me was irritating too. I thought, Apart from you-know-who, nobody here knows me. I’m supposed to be a woman right now. I may as well slap her.
No sooner had I thought it than my hand moved. I simply forgot to hold back and knocked her to the floor.
I mean that literally. The woman sat there clutching her cheek, too stunned to react for a long while.
Only after I reached my husband’s side did she recover. She stormed over and demanded, right in front of him, to know what gave me the right to hit her.
My husband didn’t spare her a glance. Looking at me, he asked, “Did you hit her?”
I nodded without hesitation. I had done it, and I had no reason to deny it.
My husband asked, “Which hand?”
I released the arm I had looped through his and waved that hand in front of him.
He examined it with distaste. “Have you washed it?”
I stared at him for several seconds, then shook my head.
He caught me by the wrist and dragged me toward the restroom. “I’ll take you to wash your hands. Don’t touch me again until they’re clean. Filthy.” He paid no attention whatsoever to how the woman might feel or what expression she wore.
Only once we were inside the restroom did my husband ask why I had hit her.
I laughed coldly. “What, does it hurt to see her get slapped?”
He only stared at me without speaking.
“She tried to hit me first. I merely returned the favor.”
My husband said, “Next time, don’t use your hand. It’s filthy. I don’t like it.”
“Oh.”
August 3 – Clear
My tooth started hurting a few days ago. At first, it was only a faint ache. Now I can only get relief by taking painkillers…
Fragment Four
This happened during a cold war between my husband and me, a year and a half into our relationship. I suppose it was also the reason I was thrown into the gay conversion center.
After that day, I knew his parents would never support our marriage. They would reject it.
But I never imagined their rejection would be so fierce.
It was a weekend. After agonizing over the decision for several weeks, my husband and I went together to his parents’ home.
At first, they were exceptionally polite to me. They kept saying that my husband was aloof and proud, that he had never had many friends growing up, and that I was the first friend he had ever brought home. They hoped I would look after him.
It sounds harmonious, doesn’t it? At the time, I thought they would remain just as pleasant after learning the truth about us.
Only when my husband told them about our relationship did I realize how wrong I was.
I have never forgotten their expressions: shock, rage, revulsion, rejection.
His father slapped him across the face. “Have you lost your mind? You want to spend your life with a man? Can he give you children? Are you deliberately trying to end the Tang family line?”
His mother seized my hand and spoke without stopping. “How can two men possibly love each other? Don’t you find yourselves disgusting? Leave him, please. I’ll give you money if you leave him. Any amount you want!”
“You can’t be with our Shaoxuan. He’s our only son. He cannot be gay! Leave him. I know the two of you aren’t truly in love. You’re only mentally ill.”
“It’s all right. I’ll find you the best treatment center there is. Get yourselves treated. Once you’re cured, you can still be friends.”
“Ma’am, being gay isn’t an illness. I -”
“Get out! Get out! You’ll ruin him! You’ll ruin him!” My husband’s mother suddenly became hysterical. She crouched on the floor, shrieking and ordering me over and over to leave him.
I could see the situation was turning ugly, so I caught my husband’s hand and pulled him away.
August 4 – Clear
When I looked in the mirror this morning, I discovered the side of my face was swollen from the toothache.
It has started hurting again. I’ve already taken painkillers twice today. Is that going to cause trouble?
Fragment Five
(This story is too long, so I plan to finish it over several entries.)
My husband and I didn’t exchange a word on the way home.
I think that was when he gradually began to distance himself from me.
After we got home, I expected him to keep me up half the night again. Instead, he acted strangely. He gave me only a goodnight kiss, then put his arms around me and went to sleep.
I thought he was tired. The next day, without warning, he told me he wanted us to live apart for a while.
“Anping, I think we need some time apart.”
“Give me one reason.”
“You heard what my parents said yesterday. Since they oppose us, they’ll do everything they can to tear us apart… It would be better to stay apart for a while and let the storm pass.”
“Then we’ll stay apart.”