Translator: Lynn
Sorry for the delays, here are your weekly updates!
Ji Kai felt that over the past month, he had been akin to a broken ship, drifting aimlessly on the tempestuous sea.
Every time, just when he thought things would settle down, dark humor would immediately stir up a tempest. This time, it exploded into a level 15 gray-black tornado.
The phone call just now was heart-wrenching.
Zhu Ling sounded like she was hopelessly in love with him and utterly reliant on him.
Not only did Ji Kai fully buy into it, but even the tycoon beside him, who typically looked down on others, was convinced. It seemed no one would dare to mock his ‘yellow-faced’ spouse from a high horse again.
However, however.
It had been less than thirty seconds since he hung up the phone.
Ji Kai felt he was also cheap. After ending the call, he habitually checked his messaging apps.
A new friend request.
A small Q-version cartoon avatar, with no profile information provided.
Well, because there was no need for profile information.
The young man in the Q version avatar had blond hair and fair skin. The facial features were so vividly drawn that one could identify him at a glance.
Ji Kai silently admired his sense of humor.
At this moment, what flashed through his mind was not anger, excitement, or similar emotions, but Conan’s face. Yes, it was Conan’s half-glasses-reflecting face.
Wearing a small blue suit, he extended his right hand full of aura – “You are the murderer.”
…
He had been approached by the ‘goblin,’ and knocking on the door counted as the first encounter, now this counted as the second.
Essentially, anyone could predict all sorts of clichéd mistress-themed follow-ups after passing the verification—chat records, gifts, travel photos, bedroom photos? Or perhaps some other surprise?
Ji Kai didn’t pass the verification; he was really not a coward.
Because, just this one avatar was enough to make the point.
…
The Q-version face made the ‘goblin’ appear like a harmless little rabbit. The art style was so familiar, it carried a sense of melancholy.
Ji Kai went back and silently clicked on their profile picture.
A Q-version cartoon “Baby Bear.”
Similar composition and design, an identical colored pencil style of anthropomorphic animals. This was clearly the distinctive artistry of Lei Nanyu, the illustrator who lived upstairs—the ‘godfather’ of Xiaoyan.
Before he could react, there were already several “Hello” sounds on the other side of the phone.
“Ji Kai, what’s wrong? Haha, Xiao Yan has gone to bed. Li Mingxin and I went really wild until midnight without him this time. Don’t worry!”
“I’m sorry, Nanyu, it’s late, and I’m calling you again… I wanted to ask you something.”
“Huh?”
“Did Zhu Ling ask you to draw a rabbit’s head for a little star named Ye Yin?”
“Oh, are you talking about that blond, white boy?” The other person responded without a moment’s hesitation, “Yes, just last month. Zhu Ling said he met a colleague at work who is a picture book fan of mine and took a photo, asking me to help draw a Q-version as a birthday gift. What’s wrong?”
What’s wrong.
What’s wrong? Ji Kai wants to kill someone!
He really wants to kill someone!
In the first year of their marriage, on his birthday, he still remembers what Zhu Ling wore that day and what gifts were given. One of them was spending money to have a cute “baby bear” drawn by Lei Nanyu, an illustrator from upstairs whom he wasn’t familiar with at the time.
It was clearly a cute version of Ji Kai’s face.
Mixed with bear claws and round ears, it looked cute and innocent.
Ji Kai even distinctly remembered the warmth of Zhu Ling’s embrace that day, the scent of CK one summer on her body, and the mischievous and bright starlight in her eyes.
“Mr. Lei is truly talented at drawing. It’s exactly you in my eyes.”
“…”
“Hey, what’s going on, Baby Bear?”
“Go to the bathroom.”
“Wait, wait, wait! Brother Kai, are you crying? Come on, don’t cry, don’t cry, give me a hug, hahaha, are you so touched?”
Ji Kai also felt embarrassed; after all, he had always considered himself a tough guy.
But perhaps that picture was just too cute, too soft and endearing, touching a small part of delicate emotions hidden deep within the heart of that otherwise rugged individual.
The next day, he carefully photographed the picture in the sunlight, trimmed and saved it. Since then, the avatars, screensaver wallpapers on all communication apps, various registered applications, and even the screensaver wallpapers were all this adorable little bear.
That little bear became his priceless treasure in this world.
It was something Zhu Ling had put so much thought into, something unique and special in the world.
Even when he got upset after an argument, once he turned on his phone and saw it, most of his anger would dissipate instantly.
Ah.
Hehe.
So incredibly amazing, so wonderfully excessive! Turns out even this kind of “heart” could be replicated infinitely?
It was unbelievable.
…
…
Everyone has something in their heart that should not be insulted or profaned.
Ji Kai recalled his sister sitting on the bedside reading “The Little Prince” to him as a child, mentioning that the little prince had a rose.
He loved her so much. He never doubted for a second that she was the only rose in the entire universe.
Unexpectedly, he found that flowers could be found everywhere.
So, standing in the rose garden, the little prince finally burst into tears sadly.
…Enough is enough.
The noise suddenly stopped. Ji Kai hung up the phone, feeling calm, as if he had severed contact with the entire world.
Cigarette. He needed a cigarette.
…And he had to go to that terrible C city.
What a dreadful life!
Foolish. He had actually felt sorry for Zhu Ling and wanted to go over and spend a few days with him. He was seriously reflecting on whether he had been too cruel to Zhu Ling and whether his outspoken words had made him sad!
This was so messed up!
Ji Kai took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm himself down and trying to put himself in someone else’s shoes—this was his agreement with Zhu Ling. When he was angry, he would consider the situation from the other person’s perspective. So he thought about what might happen if he changed his mind. If it were him, was there a one in 10,000 chance that he would do this?
Saying “I love you” and “I miss you” while copying and pasting all those unique things to others?!
…Unbelievable.
It was so divisive. Who in their right mind would do such a thing?
Ji Kai felt like he almost didn’t recognize the current Zhu Ling.
How could he? Did this kid still have a heart?
A deception.
“You lied to me!”
In front of me, he pretended to be innocent with that little goblin. I bet he’s laughing at me behind my back, right?
Cigarette!
Picking up the room key card, Ji Kai took out the clothes he had just bought from his bag and hurriedly put them on. Shirt, suit pants—where’s the jacket?
He turned on a small wall lamp and took a look. It was there, Mr. Li was covering himself in it!
“Are you cold?”
“Cold.”
“But why are you feeling cold even with a blanket?” Ji Kai marveled at how he could still think about such trivial matters now.
“Damn! You put the hotel blanket under you and then cover yourself with the quilt. If you’re not cold, who would be? Have you never stayed in a hotel before?”
“…”
“Otherwise, Mr. Li, maybe you should give up on sleeping. I’m still going to sleep. You can stay awake, it’s a long night; let’s enjoy it together!”
Li Weidu didn’t really want to stay up, but he got up anyway.
You could clearly sense Ji Kai’s frustration, but well… just go along and see?
…
…
In the hotel lobby, Li Weidu leaned on the sofa and sipped a cup of hot coffee.
“Whether you’re heading back to S City or going to Zhu Ling’s place, the highway is still blocked and the rain is pouring. Even if you want to leave now, you can’t. You should go back to your room for now.” Ji Kai had a cigarette in his mouth and seemed engrossed in something, ignoring the advice.
Wearing a suit, he looked remarkably handsome, catching the eye of the girl at the front desk who couldn’t help but steal glances. Even with the veins popping on his forehead, he couldn’t hide his energy.
He was focused on jotting something down on a piece of paper.
Li Weidu leaned over and glanced at it – “arrogant, childish, willful, and domineering, childish” were written in bold. My knees suddenly hurt, feeling like these adjectives might just apply to me.
But it was Zhu Ling whom Ji Kai was scolding.
Writing one after another, listing more than ten “crimes”, he began to chew on the pen.
“Also, there are many more,” Mr. Li said, fearing for the world, “I know a website, want to check it out?” It was the first time Ji Kai learned that Zhu Ling had a dedicated website for haters. And there were actually 30,000 haters?!
That’s right—whether there were actually 30,000 die-hard haters was debatable, but the anti-fans were indeed quite active?
The site was filled with various posts and comments, relentlessly demoting Zhu Ling. Low emotional intelligence, nasty character, triangle eyes, repetitive acting, mediocre singing, relying on shouting, poor taste in clothes, crooked legs… Ji Kai felt like a new world had opened up to him.
As he was writing rapidly, he glanced at the website owner from the corner of his eye and said, “Riding on my little sheep.”
The deputy site owner replied, “Master Li.”
“You?”
“Yeah.”
“…” Well, you are also “Mr. Li” on the young rich list, right? You certainly have enough time to be bored.
In the blink of an eye, a whole piece of paper was filled with dense text. Finally, he sighed in relief, folded it up, and tucked it into his chest’s left pocket.
“Have you finished venting?”
Ji Kai raised his eyes and gave a slightly dangerous smile: “Venting?”
Not venting?
Ji Kai shook his head: “These are the reasons I remind myself why I’ll never forgive him and never reconcile with him.”
“…”
“Not venting?”
“Yeah.”
“…” As I thought, after all, you are also “Mr. Li” on the young rich list, right? You certainly have enough time to be bored, right?
In the blink of an eye, a whole piece of paper was filled with dense text. Finally, he sighed in relief, folded it up, and tucked it into his chest’s left pocket.
“Write them down so you can remember. You can refer to them when you’re feeling weak.”
“Remembering why you left him?”
“Exactly.” Ji Kai stretched out his legs, “Otherwise, why break up? For the new year?”
“… ”
“But what should I do? He left me no other choice, right?” Everything had been done, and he didn’t want to compromise and prolong it. Soon, his precious son would have to witness the ugly spectacle of them tearing each other apart. Li Weidu suddenly realized that Ji Kai was thinking far ahead.
It was a depth and dimension that a never-married person like him could never reach. Moreover, it seemed like he had made up his mind in such a short period of time—his smile and expression were a little tired, but he was already calm.
“Don’t act too impulsively.” That look in his eyes made Li Weidu feel his words were rather feeble. Still, he politely consoled him, “It’s not certain whether he’s done anything to wrong you, right?”
“Mr. Li, have you ever played the lottery?”
Li Weidu not only played but also won, but he didn’t understand why Ji Kai suddenly asked this.
“When scratching a lottery ticket, if you’ve already scratched the words ‘thank you’, would you still finish scratching it?”
“Yes.” Due to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
“I knew you would.” Ji Kai smiled bitterly and shook his head helplessly, “But, we already know what the result will be. Is it really necessary to take another look before giving up?”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“…”
Ji Kai, however, didn’t feel the need to delve deeper.
From the depths of his heart, he didn’t want to know what Zhu Ling and that person had done, let alone delve into the grim details. He gritted his teeth and swiftly cut it off, strangling it, leaving some room for closure.
After all, he was someone he had loved with all his might for five years, someone he had once thought he would protect for the rest of his life. He didn’t want it to end up looking too ugly.
Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.
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