Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Qin Song and that girl carried on in bed from noon until dusk.

At first, He Qian lay sprawled on the floor, feeling only the numb, aching pressure in her chest.

Little by little, she struggled to turn herself over, until she was lying on her back on the floor. Then she switched her phone to silent mode.

Nearly her entire body was covered in the dust from under the bed. Her face and hair were filthy beyond recognition.

He Qian thought back to her married life with Qin Song.

The frequency was roughly once or twice a month. Every time, it was mechanical and numb, like completing a task. She certainly felt nothing from it; as for what Qin Song thought, she had no idea.

After they were done, Qin Song was in the habit of lying lazily on top of her for a while. Then he would clean up the trash, walk out of the bedroom, and throw it away.

After that, he would go to the living room for a glass of cold water, eat a couple pieces of fruit, then go to the bathroom, turn on the exhaust fan, and smoke a cigarette.

Once he had done all that, he would wash his hands and return to the bedroom, lift the covers, crawl into bed, and toss out a single sentence: “Let’s sleep.” Then he and He Qian would sleep back-to-back.

It had always been like that. Month after month. Year after year.

From the moment he got out of bed, He Qian could close her eyes and picture exactly which step he had reached next.

He Qian had never thought there was anything wrong with it. It was not as if she could go into other people’s homes and see how other married couples lived. She assumed perhaps every household was like this.

But there was one thing she could clearly sense.

In the first few years after they got married, Qin Song had at least shown some interest in her body. But over the past year or two, he had grown increasingly unenthusiastic.

He Qian had never blamed Qin Song. She figured maybe it was because she was too thin, with nothing much to look at, so he had gradually lost interest in her.

Or perhaps he had simply passed the age of hot-blooded vigor. As people got older, some natural decline was normal.

But today, Qin Song and that girl had been going at it above her head all afternoon.

When one round ended, the two of them would stop and laugh and chat, flirt with each other, or watch a TV drama together.

After resting for an hour or so, they would start again.

He Qian’s bony frame was being pressed painfully against the hard floor. She had been curled up under the bed all afternoon, and still she had not found a chance to slip out while the two of them either left or fell asleep.

She suddenly understood something. Dragging things out and refusing to face the problem would not keep life from falling into hell. From the moment this girl had appeared at Qin Song’s side, her life had already been in hell. She just had not known it.

They started up again. He Qian could hear every single sound Qin Song and the girl made with perfect clarity.

All of a sudden, she felt like throwing up. Covering her mouth, she dry-heaved softly twice.

The girl’s cries were very loud, perfectly covering the sound of He Qian’s retching.

He Qian had been under the bed for nearly four hours. Even the slightest movement made her bladder feel painfully swollen. She badly needed to use the bathroom.

Then a bitter thought struck her. She might as well pee right here.

The urine would seep into the floorboards. Tomorrow morning, when the temperature rose and the smell steamed up, the entire room would reek of piss.

Then this pair of adulterous dogs really would crawl around on the floor like dogs, twitching their two dog noses everywhere as they searched for the source of the stench.

Maybe the girl would say, “How many times have I told you to lift the toilet seat before you pee? You definitely didn’t lift it, and now you’ve made the whole place smell like urine!”

Then Qin Song would argue until his face and neck went red. “Bullshit. I didn’t!”

Then the girl would shriek, “Then that means you peed outside the toilet!”

…

They could search for the rest of their lives and never guess that someone had peed under the bed.

Tears welled in He Qian’s eyes. She raised a hand and wiped them away harshly.

The two people on the bed gradually quieted down again. They chatted in fits and starts.

Qin Song said, “You, little thing, are always losing things. Today it’s this, tomorrow it’s that. One day, you’re going to lose yourself too.”

The girl said, “I’ve been like this since I was little. In kindergarten I lost my bubble gum, in elementary school I lost my red scarf, and for the high school entrance exam I lost my admission ticket. But didn’t I still make it to today perfectly fine?”

Qin Song said, “When you realize there’s a problem, you have to correct it. You can’t indulge yourself too much. Improving yourself is a lifelong lesson.”

The girl said, “Is it because you don’t have children that you’re so pent-up you have to lecture everyone? Why are you giving off such strong dad vibes? Do you see me as your wife or your daughter?”

Qin Song said, “Silly girl. It’s exactly because I love you that I treat you like a child.”

The girl said, “Tch.”

Qin Song said, “Looks like I’ll have to print you a whole stack of key cards for 302, like I’m printing business cards. You lose them all day long. You’ve practically turned the room cards into disposables!”

The girl said, “What are you so worried about? The key card for 302 is just a little white card. Even if someone picked it up, they wouldn’t know what kind of card it was. It’s not like they could come straight here and swipe this door open, could they?”

Qin Song said, “That’s not the point. What I mean is, you need to keep your things safe and stop losing them all the time. You’re losing key cards now, but what if you lose your ID card later?”

The girl said, “My ID card? I actually have lost it before. I had just gotten a replacement less than two weeks earlier, and guess what? I found the old one! It was in an old wallet of mine! So now I have two ID cards, one new and one old.”
Qin Song: “…I have no words.”

The girl said, “Oh, come on, I only lost my room card three times. Do you know the best way to find something you’ve lost? Ignore it! As long as you look for it, you’ll never find it. The second you stop looking, the damn thing shows up on its own.”

Qin Song said, “I’m not telling you to look for it. I don’t care whether you do or not, but you cannot lose the one you got from the front desk today. If you really can’t manage, buy a card holder. Put it in something pretty, and won’t it be easier to remember then?”

The girl agreed impatiently. “I know, I know. God, you’re so naggy.”

He Qian propped her chin on both hands. As she listened, her eyelids began to droop.

The two people on the bed started moving again. He Qian turned from lying on her back to lying on her stomach, helplessly forced to listen to their little moans and whimpers.

She took her phone out of her pocket and saw that her mother-in-law had sent her a message that afternoon:

“Where did you go?”

He Qian really wanted to reply, “I came to keep your son company while he picks up women.”

Irritated, she deleted the entire chat box, then turned off her phone.

God knew when these two would finally calm down. If they kept this up until nine or ten at night before going to sleep, He Qian really was going to wet herself.

Suddenly, the movement on the bed stopped for a moment, and the girl asked, “Do you feel like something’s weird?”

Qin Song was still caught up in his excitement. He answered perfunctorily, “What? Weird how? Come on, keep going!”

He Qian could picture the bright, hungry look on his face with her toes.

The girl said, “No, something’s wrong with this room.”

Qin Song was forced to stop, sounding annoyed. “What the hell? What’s wrong with it?”

The girl asked, “Is this 302?”

Qin Song said, “If this isn’t 302, what else could it be? Is your brain fried?”

The girl said, “Isn’t 302 my room?”

Qin Song said, “Yes, Your Highness! Can we hurry up and keep going?”

The girl said, “Then… how could someone else have come into my room?”

He Qian’s pupils contracted sharply. She pressed her lips together and pricked up her ears.

Qin Song said, “Who came in? Hu Heng came in today. He came to set up the aroma diffuser for you.”

He Qian’s stomach suddenly gave a loud gurgle. She hurriedly pressed down hard on her belly.

Qin Song said, “Are you hungry?”

The girl said, “No.”

Qin Song laughed. “I heard your stomach growling from hunger.”

He Qian squeezed her eyes shut and silently prayed, Hurry up and go out to eat. Hurry up and go out to eat. Hurry up and go out to eat…

The girl said, “My stomach didn’t growl! Wasn’t that your stomach?”

Qin Song said, “Not me. I’m not hungry yet.”

The girl said, “Oh, please. It was you.”

Qin Song said, “Fine, let’s say it was me… Are we still doing this or not? If we don’t keep going, I’m not going to be able to anymore!”

The girl said, “Qin Song, no. Someone went through my photos!”

He Qian’s heart began pounding violently.

Qin Song said, “What photos?”

The girl said, “The Polaroids I kept in the drawer! Someone went through them!”

Qin Song said, “Who would go through them? How do you know someone did?”

The girl said, “The order! The photos aren’t arranged in the right order!”

He Qian desperately thought back. That was right. After she had knelt on the floor and picked them up one by one, she hadn’t put the photos back in their original order. At the time, she had been too consumed by grief and despair. How could she possibly have remembered the order they were in?

He Qian was overwhelmed with regret.

Qin Song said, “You’re overthinking it. Maybe you messed them up yourself some other time. In this hotel, who would dare come into your room and go through your things without my permission?”

The girl said, “Maybe Hu Heng did. He’s already so old and still doesn’t have a girlfriend. Maybe he’s a pervert.”

Qin Song said, “Don’t talk nonsense. Hu Heng is a proper, honest man.”

The girl said, “Where in this world are there any truly honest men? The ones who look honest are the scariest on the inside. You should be careful of him.”

Qin Song said, “I’ve known him for so many years. You think I don’t understand him? His brain’s connected straight to his gut.”

The girl said, “He followed you around when you were in school, and he’s still following you around now. He’s making so much money now all because of you. But a little kindness can breed gratitude, and too much can breed resentment. How do you know whether he’s human or a ghost deep down? Maybe he likes your wife. Maybe he’s already hooked up with her.”

Qin Song said, “The more you talk, the more ridiculous you get! How did this suddenly involve my wife?”

The girl said, “I’m getting off topic. I’ll say it again. I think something’s wrong with 302 today.”

Qin Song said, “People say you women have a sixth sense. As far as I’m concerned, a sixth sense is complete bullshit.”

The girl said, “There’s someone in this room.”

He Qian’s body trembled.

Qin Song said, “No fucking shit. Am I not a person, or are you not a person?”

The girl said, “There’s a third person in the room.”