Chapter 134

Chapter 134

“Eat up, Grandpa Wang.”

Huahua set a bowl of instant noodles on the table in front of Qin Song.

Qin Song had been leaning against the sofa, nearly asleep. He stretched, sat up, picked up the chopsticks, and started eating.

As Huahua looked in the mirror, she asked, “What exactly happened to you last night?”

Qin Song paused, then said, “Let me finish eating first. I’ll tell you in a bit.”

Huahua said, “Oh.”

After finishing the noodles, Qin Song pushed the empty bowl onto the table.

Huahua stared at him quietly for two seconds, then suddenly said, “Want another bowl?”

Qin Song waved a hand. “No.”

Huahua asked again, “Are you sure you don’t want to eat a little more?”

Qin Song said, “Mm. I’ll go lie down on the massage bed for a while. I’ll wait for you.”

Qin Song walked into the massage room, slipped off his shoes with practiced ease, and lay down.

The room still smelled wonderful. Just taking a few deep breaths made his whole body feel comfortable.

The curtains were half drawn, letting in just the right amount of sunlight. Bright but not glaring, dim but not gloomy.

Huahua walked in while shaking the water off her hands. “I’ll put on a song for you.”

Lying on the bed, Qin Song asked in a muffled voice, “You can play music too? How come you’ve never played any for me before?”

Huahua said, “Isn’t it because you look absolutely terrible today? Listening to some music helps soothe your emotions, and it also helps me massage you and help you relax.”

Huahua turned on a white speaker, then lowered her head to search for music on her phone.

After a long while with no sound, Qin Song couldn’t help turning his head to glance at her. Only then did he suddenly notice something very strange.

Huahua was home alone, yet she wasn’t wearing pajamas. Instead, she had on a white shirt dress.

Puzzled, Qin Song asked, “Why are you dressed so formally at home?”

Huahua rolled her eyes. “Stinky man, what do you know? A woman’s refinement comes from the inside out. I want to look pretty even at home. Is that a problem?”

Qin Song gave an “oh” and lay back down.

Huahua picked a song and started playing it.

After listening for a while, Qin Song propped himself up again. “I thought you were going to play instrumental music, haha. How come this song has lyrics?”

Huahua said, “In my experience, sometimes songs with lyrics are more effective than pure instrumentals.”

She gently pressed Qin Song back down. “Now that you’re here, you have to listen to me. Don’t mix in too many of your personal opinions.”

Qin Song obediently lay still and shut his mouth.

Huahua lowered her head to blend the essential oils. Qin Song felt his phone vibrate in his pants pocket.

His heart started pounding violently again.

He reached out and poked Huahua’s leg. “My phone just vibrated.”

Huahua slapped his hand away and looked at him strangely. “Are you a child? Do you have to report to me every time your phone vibrates? Just look at it if you want.”

Qin Song said nothing, his feet rubbing awkwardly back and forth.

Huahua said, “What, are your hands numb and you can’t get your phone? Want me to get it for you?”

Qin Song quickly waved his hands. “No, no, no. That’s fine.”

He wanted to look, but he didn’t dare. He knew there was an eighty percent chance it was that Unknown Number again.

Huahua said, “Once the massage starts, you’ll have to close your eyes. Then you won’t be able to look at your phone.”

Qin Song hesitated, but in the end, he still took out his phone.

He narrowed his eyes and swept a glance over the screen. Sure enough, it was that Unknown Number!

The message read:

When I type the letters hu on my phone, the first character that comes up is: Hu. I wanted to tell you that I made a typo back then. I believe my mistake misled you, wasted your time, and made you suspect people you didn’t need to suspect. For that, I apologize.

Qin Song held his phone, waiting for the next message. However, the other party sent only that one and then disappeared without a trace.

The surname contained hu, but it wasn’t Hu. Then what was the surname?

Qin Song tried hard to keep his thoughts from turning down the darkest dead end, but this was already beyond his control.

H – u spelled Hu.

H-u-a-n-g spelled Huang.

Yes. He thought of Huang Yuanrui.

Qin Song sat there completely stiff. Huahua stepped forward and snatched his phone away.

“What are you doing? Spacing out again. Lie down. We’re starting.”

Qin Song slowly turned and looked at Huahua helplessly, a sheen of tears in his eyes.

Huahua looked at him in surprise, then lowered her head to glance at Qin Song’s phone. She said, “Big Brother, what exactly are you talking about with this person? Are you two playing word games? This word game… made you cry?”

She set the phone aside and pushed Qin Song down with one hand. “I really don’t know what you’re getting so jumpy about all day. You’ve suddenly spaced out like this so many times recently.”

Qin Song lay down in a daze.

The scent of essential oil wrapped around his sense of smell, and soft, gentle music poured into his ears.

Huahua dabbed a little essential oil onto his temples. “Relax. Close your eyes.”

Qin Song squeezed his eyes shut, his mind in complete turmoil. Two tears slid down from the corners of his eyes.

Huahua pulled out a tissue and wiped them away for him. “Stop crying, Wang Hai. Since you’re already here, settle in. No matter what pain you have in your heart, put it aside for now. Enjoy the relaxation. Enjoy the sleep. When you return to real life, then face those problems, okay?”

Qin Song nodded.

Huahua gently massaged his head, and his breathing gradually evened out.

He hadn’t slept well last night to begin with. The moment he closed his eyes, drowsiness surged up together with the ache in his eyes.
“Huahua…” Qin Song called slowly.

“Mm.”

“I’m feeling sleepy…”

“Okay.”

“This music sounds… a little too sweet.”

“Sweet.”

A syrupy female voice crooned the lyrics line by line, and Qin Song listened in a daze.

“Hand in hand, we walk down the avenue of happiness…

The breeze drifts in as you and I lean close…

The look of love burns so bright…

This love is like a blazing fire…

Its scorching flames like roses in bloom…

Day or night, we go on lost in it…

…

About us…

All I want to say…

Is one simple thing…

I love you…

Flying wing to wing…

The golden cicada as our matchmaker…

A perfect match…

Made…

In…

Heaven…”

Qin Song had heard this song before, but the version he heard today was slightly different. It sounded like a slowed-down version.

A romantic love song, once slowed down, somehow took on an eerie edge.

“Ding-dong~”

Huahua began the hypnosis.

Her hypnosis routine was nothing new. Every time, she asked Qin Song to imagine a “little steel ball” in his mind.

Still, this method worked especially well on Qin Song. Every time the little steel ball slid over the top of his head, before it even reached the back of his skull, he would sink into a deep sleep.

Huahua recited the hypnotic script in a gentle voice:

“Now, imagine a small ball resting between your brows…”

“It’s made of metal, gleaming silver.”

Qin Song tried hard to focus, but no matter what, he couldn’t picture that little metal ball.

In his imagination, the ball was made of glass, shining with white light.

But it wasn’t ordinary glass. It seemed sturdier than regular glass, like…

Like what…

Like that ashtray.

Qin Song’s leg jerked violently.

Huahua gently stroked his head. “It’s all right, it’s all right…”

She continued. “Slowly, slowly, the little ball rolls from between your brows to your hairline…”

“The little ball keeps rolling at an even pace toward the crown of your head…”

“Good. Now it has reached the top of your head…”

Qin Song fell into a boundless sea of sleep.

He had a strange dream:

In the dream, he was still in this room, still on this massage bed.

After the massage, he felt refreshed from head to toe. He sat up and stretched like a cat.

Huahua had gone somewhere. The room was empty.

“Huahua?” he called tentatively.

“Yes?” someone answered from outside the door.

“I’m awake!”

“Okay, I’ll be right there!”

Qin Song lay there picking at his fingers as he waited for Huahua to come in.

The door opened. A pair of red high heels stepped lightly inside, and Huahua sat down on the small stool by the head of the bed.

Qin Song tilted his head and followed her high heels up to her calves, then from her calves to her thighs.

For the first time, he realized Huahua was very fair-skinned too.

Then he looked at the situation they were in – one man, one woman, alone together in a closed room. Qin Song thought of all the times he’d come here before without a single improper thought, and felt like an absolute blockhead. A young woman dressed in so little was right in front of him, and all he’d done was have her give him massages. Wasn’t that a terrible waste?

He couldn’t help reaching out, starting at her knee and slowly touching his way up her leg.

At that moment, Qin Song suddenly realized something: he had cheated again.

But did this count as cheating?

He tried hard to recall the definitions of emotional cheating and physical cheating. What he was doing now seemed to fall under neither.

Huahua bent down and took Qin Song’s hand in hers.

Qin Song sighed. “I think I’m about to make the same mistake again.”

Huahua sighed too. “Why do you say ‘again,’ Qin Song?”

Qin Song rubbed the space between his brows. “Once, just like now, I couldn’t control my desires. In the end, I made a terrible mistake.”

Suddenly, his body gave an uncontrollable shudder.

He spoke cautiously. “What did you just call me?”

Huahua held his hand against her own face. “Making a mistake with the same person doesn’t count as ‘again.'”

Qin Song yanked his hand free and sprang up from the bed – this wasn’t Huahua at all!

Huang Yuanrui sat at the head of the bed in a red dress, smiling at him.

Qin Song backed up two steps and stared at her in terror. “Are you human or a ghost?”

Huang Yuanrui ignored him. On her own, she parted her bright red lips and began to sing slowly:

“This love is like a blazing fire…

Its scorching flames like roses in bloom…

…

A perfect match…

Made…

In…

Heaven…”

Strangely enough, amid Huang Yuanrui’s eerie singing, Qin Song’s thoughts brushed against another fact-

H-u-a spelled hua – the word for “flower,” the first half of Huahua.

Qin Song let out a shrill scream and sat bolt upright on the bed, drenched in sweat.

Huahua brought over a cup of hot water and set it by the head of the bed. With one hand, she held his shoulder; with the back of the other, she touched his forehead.

“Another nightmare, Qin Song?”