Chapter 86

She truly felt miserable.

Her heart felt miserable, and so did her body.

A kiss without any affection—could that still be called a kiss? Perhaps other people could rely solely on carnal desire to do intimate things with someone else, but she could not.

After something like this had happened, she could not interact with Xie Shiqing as if nothing had changed.

So be it.

She needed some space to sort out her feelings, and perhaps, Xie Shiqing also. Change was an incredibly difficult thing. Words spoken impulsively under the influence of emotion did not necessarily represent her true thoughts. She also needed to think carefully about whether it was worth doing.

Zhong Ning suddenly felt somewhat relieved that they had always slept in separate rooms. Otherwise, if she had to open her mouth now to say she wanted to move out, it would be quite awkward just thinking about it.

She turned her head and looked out the window at the sky beyond.

Thin layers of clouds stretched like torn cotton, even the slender crescent moon obscured behind them, vague and unclear, with not a single star to be seen.

The city lights were too bright. One could not see the starry sky at all.

Zhong Ning let out a long sigh. She did not call anyone to help her and slowly moved back to her bedroom on her own.

Back in the room.

Xie Shiqing’s heart seethed with raging fury. This anger burned her, drove her limbs, urging her to commit acts of destruction.

Smashing things was considered unstable behavior. She had no need to hide it. The torment of chronic illness over the years had already scorched her brain, twisted her spirit. In fact, the polite demeanor she showed to others now was only a facade she forced herself to maintain, dragging her body with inhuman willpower, commanding every nerve to pretend.

That stifling sense of depression was a hidden fire that tortured her, as if she were being slowly fried in a pan of low-burning oil, simmered for so long it tried to squeeze every drop of moisture out of her body, determined to roast her into a shriveled husk while she still lived.

How could anyone not go mad?

If anyone asked Xie Shiqing, she would answer without hesitation: it was the whip of revenge that kept lashing her forward.

If all the world’s agonies had to be ranked by name, Xie Shiqing would surely place the fall from the heights at the very top.

Losing power, losing status, admitting her own incompetence and shortsightedness, confessing she was inferior to others, snapping the proud backbone she had relied upon, and being ridiculed to her face—those were things more painful than death.

If betrayal ranked first, then the second finally had a clear name today, rejection.

Xie Shiqing’s expression was dark as ink. The moment she stepped through the door, she fixed her gaze on the small sofa and kicked it over.

Next came the sturdy little side table, then a few coats hanging on the wall.

After that, she rushed into the dressing room, like a frightened cat blocked in a corner, dashing about in panic, destroying every garment she could touch.

Silk, cotton and linen, gauzy chiffon, leather and denim… long dresses, short skirts, cheongsams, modern styles—every piece of clothing her hands brushed against met the same fate.

Her body was frail. A surge of blood and breath rushed through her, her heart beating so fiercely it felt ready to burst. It did not take long before her limbs lost all strength.

Collapsing into the heap of clothes, Xie Shiqing sat in a daze, her face even paler than the scattered pure-white silk.

After a while, she finally realized that in her hand, she was still clutching the octopus plushie. Even at the height of her anger, she had never thought about throwing it away too.

On the round head of the octopus sat a little wavy cap. Her slender fingertips slowly brushed along the plush brim.

“Truly useless.”

The next day.

Zhong Ning woke up later than usual.

She had woken according to her biological clock, but when she opened her eyes, she still felt she had not slept enough. Her head was groggy. The doctor’s advice had been that she would feel drowsy over the next few days, so Zhong Ning did not resist and simply let herself drift back to sleep.

When she woke again, it was already half past nine.

There were no sounds from outside. The villa was always very quiet.

After she finished getting herself ready, she prepared to go downstairs to have breakfast. The moment she opened the door, she heard laughter.

Laughter?!

Other than her, who in this villa would laugh out loud?

Zhong Ning took a few more steps. The more she listened, the more familiar the voice sounded. The answer was already clear in her heart, but she completely dared not believe it.

It was Xie Shiqing laughing!

Was it going to rain red from the sky, or had the sun risen from the west? Xie Shiqing was actually laughing!

It was not that she never smiled. In fact, Xie Shiqing often smiled. But all her smiles were light, faint, gentle and soft. It always looked as if she was simply lifting the corners of her mouth, performing the motion of smiling. Whether she truly felt like smiling in her heart was impossible to tell.

She had never laughed wholeheartedly.

Zhong Ning felt it was because she had hidden so much sorrow inside that she had lost the ability to laugh freely. This also gave rise to a kind of pity.

But now—what had she just heard?

Zhong Ning could not wait any longer and took the elevator down to the first floor. When she reached the living room, she immediately saw that there was a new member in the house—a little dog!

A small border collie puppy, one furry ear standing up, the other drooping, with white and pale gray-blue fur. Its body was so round it looked like a little pig, hugging Xie Shiqing’s hand and licking it.

It was a merle border collie.

“A puppy!” she let out a shrill squawk.

“Where did this puppy come from?”

Xie Shiqing’s face was brimming with a gentle smile. “Ning Ning, you’re awake. Come over and pet it. It’s so soft.”

The sofa beside her sank slightly, and a string of murmurs followed: “Wow, little dog, you’re so cute, little dog!”

Xie Shiqing laughed and said, “Yesterday you gave me an Honest Octopus. After I went back to my room, I thought about it for a long time. I felt this was a very good method, but it was still lacking in one respect: it didn’t have a messenger.”

“So I asked the butler to pick this one out and bring it back to be our little messenger.”

“I’m a cowardly person. I can’t say things out loud myself, and I don’t have the courage to confess to you. With this puppy, I can train it that whenever it sees the octopus wearing its little hat, it will pick it up and bring it to you. That way, you’ll understand.”

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