Mud beads

The gate to Yueyuan opened slightly. The new aunt stood behind the gate, holding a pair of flower shears. She nodded politely when she saw Yu Zhu.

Yu Zhu was momentarily dazed, then nodded and went inside.

A newly arranged white magnolia tree sits in the entryway, its shallow vase filled with fresh water, its branches and leaves gracefully unfurling. The sweet aroma of warm butter wafts from the kitchen, where the oven light is still on.

It doesn't look like it needs any renovation at all.

Yu Zhu changed her shoes, didn't ask if Yue Jianche was there, and went straight upstairs.

The door to the room at the far end of the second floor was half open. She walked to the door and first saw the ebony cane leaning against the bed, and then she saw Echizen Toru.

He sat on the bed she used to sleep on, his pajamas sleeves rolled up to his forearms, his right leg stretched out, his bare foot resting on the edge of the carpet. The afternoon light had shifted to the outside of the window, making the room somewhat dim. Echizen Toru had faint dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were bloodshot, but his expression was relaxed.

"They're here."

Yu Zhu ignored him.

The computer on the desk was off, with the keyboard in the center. She pulled out a chair, sat down, and turned on the screen. The system hadn't completely logged out; a blue and white dialog box quickly popped up, taking up the center of the screen.

Panpan.

The scroll bar on the right is at the top:

Hello, I'm Panpan. Is there anything I can do for you?

Yu Zhu stared at the line of text, her index finger resting on the mouse curling slightly. She sat for a while, then logged out, opened the folder on her computer, and cleared out all the files she had left behind.

After finishing, she shut down the computer, stood up, and headed towards the door: "I'm leaving."

Leaning against the bedpost, Toru looked at her hair falling over her shoulders, his gaze calm: "Wait."

Yu Zhu stopped at the table without turning around.

Echizen Toru stood up, leaning on his cane, and slowly walked from the bedside to her side: "Where did you go the night before last?"

Yu Zhu raised her head, her brows furrowing: "What's it to you?"

"I saw Liang Dong." Yuejian Tetsu said calmly.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't he tell you?"

The screen was completely black after the computer was turned off, reflecting Yu Zhu's taut back. Yue Jianche stood beside her, only a blurry corner of him was visible.

Yu Zhu recalled the phone call that had interrupted her beef noodle soup. Liang Dong was changing clothes at the dining table, saying that the investors had come to Chang'an and he needed to accompany them to a dinner party. He didn't come back until very late that night, and after taking a long shower, he only smelled of shower gel.

Echizen lowered his eyes to look at the cane in his hand, the silver tip of which tapped on the carpet: "He said you were waiting for him at home."

Yu Zhu raised her eyes: "So?"

"Is it true?"

Yu Zhu was taken aback.

The word "truth" sounded unfamiliar to her coming from Echizen Toru's mouth. Given his usual style, he would have used much cruder and more direct language—he always seized every opportunity to ridicule her.

Yu Zhu adjusted the strap of her bag and brushed him aside: "That's my business."

She walked towards the door.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my wrist.

The ebony cane landed on the carpet with a dull thud. Yu Zhu was pulled backward by Yue Jianche, her knees hitting the edge of the bed, and she fell backward onto the bed. The bedding beneath her was flattened by her body, and a familiar woody scent filled the air.

Just as Yu Zhu was propping herself up, Yue Jianche leaned in close. His left knee was on the edge of the bed, his right leg still on the floor, and his palms were placed on either side of her ears, trapping her between the bed and his chest.

His loungewear was soft and loose, and the fabric fell naturally when he bent over, revealing his well-defined chest and abdomen through the gap in the neckline.

"You tricked me into coming here just to do this?" Yu Zhu turned her head, picked up her bag, and slapped him. "Can you stop being so despicable?"

The bag strap struck Echizen Toru's face, hitting his left eye. His already bloodshot eye trembled instinctively, and two clear tears fell.

Two tears fell onto Yu Zhu's face, instantly emptying her mind. She subconsciously reached out to wipe them away, touching a slightly cool finger.

Echizen pursed his lips, his jawline tightening into a cold, handsome line. He let the tear from his left eye dangle precariously from his lower eyelash as his fingers moved toward the buttons on her collar.

He unbuttoned the top button and then went to unbutton the second one. Yu Zhu suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly reached out to grab his hand.

The collar fell down from both sides, revealing two red marks below the collarbone that had not yet faded.

Eshima Toru's hand stopped.

The two marks were very faint, but they stood out starkly against her fair skin. He stared at them for a while, then moved his hand away from her collar, his warm thumb pressing against the red marks, rubbing them vigorously.

The skin quickly turned red.

"Traitor." He gritted his teeth and withdrew his hand angrily.

Yu Zhu didn't speak.

She looked up at his bloodshot eyes and heard his breath rising and falling from deep within his chest.

Like a jealous husband.

"What's with that expression?" Yu Zhu pulled up her collar. "Does that mean I've lived in Yueyuan for two years and still have to remain chaste for you?"

Echizen was taken aback by her question. He hesitated for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbing, "I saw what you sent to that robot, and I know you suffered some injustice in the past—"

“Not just some,” Yu Zhu interrupted him. “Anyone can easily let it all slide, but you can’t.”

He brought her out of that mountain, but he didn't care about her life, her emotions, or the pain she suffered. He came like a gust of wind and left just as easily. She struggled and struggled, finally achieving a little success through her own efforts, but he, with years of indifference and neglect, nailed her to the ground with a single sentence.

In his eyes, she could be measured by money, traded, bought and sold, trampled on, or used for amusement.

Beyond the mountains stretched the school's endless corridors, beyond which lay a stormy, rainy night. She always walked alone until the headlights of Liang Xia's dilapidated electric scooter emerged from the darkness, offering her a glimmer of light.

Now, a boy is standing next to her with an umbrella. What reason does she have not to stand next to him?

"Haven't you realized yet? Being together will only hurt us." Yu Zhu lay calmly, her hands hanging at her sides. "It's so hard, so hard for happiness to be so close to me, and I've finally managed to grasp it—"

She straightened herself up slightly and looked into his dark eyes: "Just let me be happy, okay?"

In her line of sight, the man's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed. He looked at her for a long while, and noticed that the small gray mole on the side of her nose twitched slightly.

"not good."

Tetsuya Koshima finally spoke: "You can only love me, in this life and in the next, for all eternity."

He spoke softly, and at the end he laughed, his eyelashes fluttering slightly, and another tear fell from his left eye.

Looking at his tear-streaked face, Yu Zhu couldn't immediately discern the source of the tears streaming down his face. Yet, she could feel her own heartbeat—so calm.

"I did like you." She stared at him intently. "I liked you more than I liked myself. I liked you so much that I didn't believe anything anyone else said."

At this point, Yu Zhu lowered her head and smiled.

"But you're really strange—before, you wouldn't let me say I knew you, wouldn't let me talk to you, wouldn't even let me look at you. You thought anything I touched was dirty. You thought anything I did was stupid. And now, what is it?"

Echigo looked at her long-lost, serene, and slightly shy smile, her lips moving but no sound escaping her lips.

He had something else he wanted to say.

I want to express my almost naive confidence, I want to express my desires that have no outlet, I want to say okay, I can give you some exceptions, if you can shut that lovely yet hateful mouth and rediscover your own heart.

But she seems to have come to terms with it.

The door was ajar, and the oven's shut-off chime came from downstairs. Someone pulled out the baking tray, the metal slide making a soft scraping sound.

"You have to keep me here, I can't escape." Yu Zhu raised her hand to unbutton the third button of her collar. "If this is what you want, then let's do it now. I still need to go back after we're done."

The third button was undone, followed by the fourth, and then the fifth.

The pure white knitwear slipped down to the sides, revealing the delicate and full figure wrapped in black.

Yu Zhu looked into Yue Jianche's eyes. Those narrow eyes, which were always full of mockery, dimmed inch by inch, like the darkening sky outside the window, even the last bit of crimson dissipating.

He held on for a while, then slowly moved away from her, backing towards the door from the bedside. His still-healing right leg couldn't support his weight, and he swayed slightly, but he quickly regained his balance.

"Get out," said Toru Echizen.