Chapter 10: Chapter Eight

At a charity fundraising dinner, Jiang Jie encountered Lei Lei Hanyu and his wife; when he noticed that Xia Zhen's gaze toward him was not particularly friendly, he was not at all surprised.

As soon as Xia Zhen was alone, Jiang Jie immediately approached to strike up a conversation; even if she gave him a cold look or made him lose face, he did not care, because compared to the pain in his heart that he could not control himself, what were a few small insults!

Seeing Jiang Jie walk toward her, Xia Zhen neither turned away nor smiled; she simply looked at him with eyes full of accusation.

"Where is your precious son?" Jiang Jie asked as if making small talk.

"At home with the nanny."

"He should... be able to crawl by now, right?"

"He can crawl." Xia Zhen almost started talking about all sorts of things regarding her precious son, but then thought he was just trying to find a topic; what he truly wanted to ask was certainly not about her darling baby. "You're just making conversation, aren't you?"

"How is Bai Bai Ziling?" Jiang Jie did not want to drag on with this and that; he simply wanted to know her current situation.

Xia Zhen looked at him in silence.

Jiang Jie also looked at her, but what filled his mind was Bai Bai Ziling, that night... He knew that only he had truly gained pleasure and satisfaction; because it was her first time, Bai Bai Ziling had cried from the pain, and with her hatred toward him, he believed that night was certainly not a pleasant experience for her. And when dawn broke and he woke up, Bai Bai Ziling had already left.

In her room, she had taken everything that belonged to her, leaving not a single thing behind, as if she had never lived there at all. She had not even said goodbye to him; after he sobered up, only her words "I will hate you until I die!" echoed endlessly in his ears.

Jiang Jie had not thought about calling her, but usually before he finished dialing the number, he would pull back. She would not answer his call; even for handling divorce matters, there was a lawyer who could step in. Did he have an excuse to find her again?

"Jiang Jie..." Xia Zhen finally spoke. "Don't you think this is a very stupid, very funny question?"

"Is she okay?" he insisted on asking again.

"How could she possibly be okay?"

"She... what has she been busy with recently?" he asked again, forcing himself to speak.

"Busy being heartbroken."

"Xia Zhen..." He was tense all over, looking as if he were also suffering greatly. "I am being very serious—"

"Am I not being serious?" Xia Zhen mocked him. "Bai Bai Ziling eats poorly, sleeps poorly, has lost a huge amount of weight, and won't say anything when asked. She only mentioned that the transaction ended early. Jiang Jie, how did you hurt her? How could you do such a thing?"

Jiang Jie admitted it; he did not refute a single word.

"Bai Bai Ziling is a good girl; you have neither the qualification nor the right to torment her like this." Xia Zhen criticized angrily.

"Didn't you comfort her?" Jiang Jie asked with concern.

"How are we supposed to comfort her? You teach me!"

"I... never intended to hurt her."

"I could say the same thing."

"I hope you can..."

"Jiang Jie, the trouble you caused, you must come out and clean up yourself. It is not us who hurt Bai Bai Ziling, it is not us who treated her badly; it is you!" Xia Zhen accused him mercilessly. "You are the culprit."

"I paid the money; many things were also done by Bai Bai Ziling willingly..."

"Jiang Jie, if thinking this way makes your conscience feel better, then just think that way!" Xia Zhen became even more harsh. "Do only you have money? Three million is not US dollars; it is just New Taiwan Dollars. I, or Chang Weiwei, or Sima Sima Xingchen, could easily have three million."

Jiang Jie decided to remain silent.

"And Bai Bai Ziling is not a gold digger!" Xia Zhen added another point.

"I never said she was!"

"But you seem to be trampling her as if she were a gold digger!"

"Xia Zhen, I did not trample her. From the first day until the day she left, I never treated her badly. You can ask her yourself; I am not some... demon or a madman." Jiang Jie said coldly, refusing unreasonable accusations.

"Yes! You are a wealthy master!" Xia Zhen mocked him to the fullest extent. "Bai Bai Ziling was right to leave you. If she had dragged it out any longer, I fear... she wouldn't even know how she died."

Jiang Jie smiled bitterly, then turned and walked away. Since he could not get any answers, he might as well spare himself! He never expected Lei Lei Hanyu's wife to have such a sharp tongue.

Only after Jiang Jie moved away from his wife did Lei Lei Hanyu approach him, and he did so somewhat sneakily, afraid that Xia Zhen would discover it and cause a family war.

"Learned the power of my wife, did you?" Lei Lei Hanyu patted Jiang Jie's shoulder, somewhat as if encouraging him.

"It cannot be blamed on her." Jiang Jie said with great dignity.

"She is venting her anger for Bai Bai Ziling."

"I understand."

"The four of them... are closer than real sisters." Lei Lei Hanyu had learned this lesson long ago. "If you offend one, you offend all of them. So if you want to live your life peacefully, then never provoke any one of them."

"Seems there is no chance for that anymore." Jiang Jie said expressionlessly.

"You and Bai Bai Ziling are done?"

"Done."

"Are you sure it's really over?" Lei Lei Hanyu wanted him to think it through again. "Once, I also thought I was done with Xia Zhen, but after losing her, I realized she had already invaded my blood, my bone marrow; I simply could not live without her. Being stubborn is just torturing oneself; in the end, the one who raised the white flag was me. In the end, I still lost."

Jiang Jie only listened, offering no response.

"If you do not love her, then it doesn't matter, but if you do love her..." Lei Lei Hanyu spoke with the tone of someone who had been through it. "Admit defeat early!"

Jiang Jie sighed. "I don't know."

"You don't know if you love her?!"

"I don't know if she will forgive me." Jiang Jie said a thought-provoking sentence.

"Jiang Jie, then you..."

"I still don't understand women."

"No man truly understands women. Do you know what Sima Sima Xingchen's husband, Lan Lan Baiwei, said?" Lei Lei Hanyu imitated Lan Lan Baiwei's tone. "Just love her; there is no need to understand her!"

Jiang Jie smiled.

"That is golden advice." Lei Lei Hanyu said finally: "Many things are actually not difficult. The one thing women want has not changed from ancient times to the present."

"Love?" Jiang Jie asked.

"It is love!" Lei Lei Hanyu winked. "You've finally figured it out!"

Bai Bai Ziling prepared to use the three million Jiang Jie gave her to open an exquisite, distinctive coffee shop, because life must go on. Although her heart was broken, she still had family and friends; she could not collapse. She could not be defeated for a lifetime just because of a heartless man; she would live well to show him!

To prepare for the coffee shop, Bai Bai Ziling was busy going in and out all day. Actually, this was good; being busy could stop her from thinking about Jiang Jie, from thinking about the humiliation and hurt he brought her. As long as she was given a little more time, she believed she would definitely recover.

But the moment she stepped out of her door and saw Jiang Jie standing not far from her entrance, all her self-defense and psychological fortifications crumbled and collapsed; immediately, she felt her heart sliced again by a sharp blade, bloody and raw, the pain making her frown and grit her teeth.

Jiang Jie stared straight at Bai Bai Ziling. Xia Zhen had not lied; she had indeed become much thinner. Now, she seemed to have no flesh on her body at all, even her eye sockets appeared sunken. She looked extremely weary and utterly drained.

"Bai Bai Ziling," he called her softly.

"Do you want me to sign the divorce papers?" Bai Bai Ziling could think of only one possibility. "Bring the documents, and I'll sign!"

"I didn't bring any divorce papers."

"Then why are you here?"

"I just came to..."

"See me?" Bai Bai Ziling gazed at him coldly. "You've seen me now; I'm fine! So..."

"You're not fine," he interrupted her as well.

"I only *look* unwell, but in truth, I have never been better than I am now, do you understand? That three million of yours still had some use; I'm using it to open a coffee shop, so..." She sneered at him. "I should even thank you!"

"You want to open a coffee shop?" Jiang Jie had never imagined she had such a plan.

"Are you forbidding me?" she asked sarcastically.

"Do you have any experience?"

"I can learn!"

"That will require tuition." Jiang Jie didn't know if her coffee shop would succeed or how long it might last. Many women wanted to open coffee shops, but amateurs often lost money until they cried without tears.

"Is that any of your concern?" she asked numbly. "Even if my coffee shop eventually fails, I think it has nothing to do with you at all. After all, that three million was earned through my own *ability*."

"Must it be like this?" he said, restraining himself.

"Like what!" she retorted fiercely.

"We are still... husband and wife."

"Jiang Jie, my mood has not been good lately, so I don't want to smile. You and I were never truly husband and wife; do not insult such a sacred word. You did it for money, and I did it for money only. At best... we are a pair of 'dog-like lovers' who each took what they needed!" Bai Bai Ziling spoke in a way that would shock people, wanting to show him how rough she could be.

"Bai Bai Ziling..." Jiang Jie was somewhat surprised, not knowing whether to laugh or scold her. He hadn't expected her to be so explosive. "You said we two are... 'dog-like lovers'?!"

"Do you have another adjective?"

"We are not."

"We are!" Bai Bai Ziling insisted. "I believe we are!"

"Do you truly hate me so much?"

"I am happy to." She threw back the very words he had once said to her. "Jiang Jie, even if you possess heaven-reaching abilities, you cannot stop me from hating you."

"That night..."

"I don't want to hear it."

"I hope I wasn't too..."

"Sorry, I have no experience, so I cannot judge your performance that night. You might be a master in bed, a first-class lover, but sorry, I felt no ecstasy. I was only glad it finally ended!" Bai Bai Ziling said forcefully.

"I was just worried about you!" he roared.

"Worried I might get pregnant?" she lowered her head and spoke in a broken, faint voice. "My period will come in a week. Jiang Jie, rest assured; no one will bring a child to demand you take responsibility!"

"I wasn't worried about that—"

"Then there is nothing to worry about." Bai Bai Ziling raised her head, returning to her coldness and ferocity. "Jiang Jie, if you have business, send your lawyer to find me. We need not meet again."

"You think you have the final say?" Jiang Jie said angrily.

"I don't want to see you again."

"What if I insist on making you see me?"

"Jiang Jie, you are not that idle. Besides, you have already seen me now. Rest assured, I will not go seeking death, and you cannot make me 'suffer so much I wish to die.' I will live my days well!" she assured him. "You owe me nothing."

"Bai Bai Ziling, perhaps I behaved a bit ruthlessly, but I can correct my attitude, as long as you..." He had taken Lei Lei Hanyu's words to heart.

"Sorry, I don't understand what you are saying." She didn't even want to understand.

"I mean, perhaps we could..."

"I am very busy!"

"Bai Bai Ziling, can we try again?" Jiang Jie stated his request directly. "The time has not yet arrived—"

"Are you saying I still owe you nearly a month, and you want it back?" She misunderstood his meaning. "Do you refuse to take even a single loss? Should I convert these days into cash and repay you?"

"You have twisted my meaning!" Jiang Jie wanted to drag her home, tie her up tightly on the bed, and force her to listen to him quietly. He didn't know there was a woman who could make him so angry and lose control. Even back when Yu Zi Si Qi was about to marry Cen Shi, he had never been so furious as he was now.

"Absolutely not!" she refused immediately.

"Absolutely not?!"

"I will absolutely never try anything with you again!" Bai Bai Ziling had made up her mind. "I am clearly a smart, mature woman, so I forbid myself from doing anything foolish again. That night... I gave you everything I owed you; you have no right to demand anything more!"

"Are you really so hard-hearted?!"

"I am learning from you." She said hoarsely: "That night, when I left with my things, I told myself I would never look back. I would hate you for the rest of my life."

Jiang Jie was frightened by her hatred.

"Go! I still have my life to live."

Jiang Jie turned and left. Many things cannot be rushed; forcing a confrontation now would be meaningless. He could give himself and Bai Bai Ziling a little more time; perhaps... then things would be different.

Hope they will be different!

Di Di Zhiwei found Bai Bai Ziling at a coffee shop undergoing renovation. Watching her discuss some renovation details intently with the designer, he simply watched her with patience and total focus.

When Bai Bai Ziling glanced at Di Di Zhiwei inadvertently, she was somewhat surprised. After saying a few more words to the designer, she walked over to Di Di Zhiwei.

"How did you know I was here?"

"As long as there is determination, how could one not find you?" He flashed her a sexy smile. "You want to open a coffee shop?"

"I can't stay unemployed forever."

"A woman opening a coffee shop isn't bad."

"At the very least, it isn't backbreaking labor, and the people who frequent coffee shops are mostly simple-minded; it suits me well." Bai Bai Ziling spoke of her motivation for opening the shop. "Recently, I even spent money to learn how to brew 'real' coffee. It is a matter of study; I finally understand the hardships others face when running a coffee shop."

"But you don't have to make it so bitter!" Di Di Zhiwei looked at her with a touch of heartache. "Women like you should be cherished, loved, and cared for by men. Why do you have to risk your life yourself!"

"Di Di Zhiwei, women have long been independent and strong."

Di Di Zhiwei suddenly changed the subject. "Did you really leave my cousin?"

"You always bring up the one thing that shouldn't be mentioned!"

"Did you really cut all ties?"

"Yes!" she said impatiently.

"Is it really completely clean?"

"Di Di Zhiwei, what do you want!" Bai Bai Ziling found her patience wearing thinner and thinner, especially when Jiang Jie was involved; she simply couldn't control her emotions, like a volcano on the verge of eruption. "He is your cousin; caring about him is your family's business, but please stop bothering me!"

"Have the divorce proceedings been handled?" Di Di Zhiwei asked cautiously, needing to sort these matters out clearly.

"Not yet!" she shouted again.

"Why?"

"Go ask your cousin."

"He went to the UK for a meeting yesterday and won't be back for a week." Di Di Zhiwei indirectly told Bai Bai Ziling his cousin's whereabouts.

"Then wait a week before asking him again; anyway, I will sign the papers cheerfully." Bai Bai Ziling's heart had grown cold; she no longer had any expectations for Jiang Jie. "Di Di Zhiwei, if you want me to be polite to you, then please stop mentioning that person."

"Bai Bai Ziling, I just want to clarify the situation, because I don't want to pursue a 'married woman'." Di Di Zhiwei had his own difficulties.

"Don't pursue me!" she commanded.

"You can't stop me."

She spoke in a faint but certain tone: "There won't be a chance."

"You said that, but I don't believe in bad luck."

"Di Di Zhiwei..." Bai Bai Ziling didn't want to say it, but if she didn't, she couldn't make Di Di Zhiwei give up, so she had no choice but to reveal something she really didn't want to utter. "Jiang Jie and I have slept together."

"You..." To say he wasn't surprised would be a lie.

"You can give up now!"

"You... are you kidding me?"

"Why would I lie to you about something like that?" Bai Bai Ziling wore a cold expression. "This isn't something glorious or worth boasting about; I don't want to mention it again anyway. It's all in the past; right now, the only thing separating me from him is a divorce agreement, and we have no ties!"

"Did my cousin force you?!"

"I was not raped." Bai Bai Ziling said, "If that is what you mean, Jiang Jie is not that kind of person, but..."

"But what?"

"But he is more despicable than that kind of person!" A sorrow greater than the death of the heart lay in the depths of Bai Bai Ziling's eyes. "I will not forgive him, and you... you should save your energy; there is no possibility."

Di Di Zhiwei was momentarily speechless; he needed to think again, he needed to think carefully again.

On the day Jiang Jie returned from the UK, it happened to be the opening day of Bai Bai Ziling's coffee shop, "Chen Meng." Standing outside the store, Jiang J looked at the lively scene inside; thanks to someone, a currently popular idol group had arrived for the ribbon-cutting, making it look very much like a proper event.

Bai Bai Ziling was still wearing that silver Versace spaghetti-strap gown; she seemed to have a special affection for this dress, and her radiant, elegant temperament made one's heart flutter. This woman was his! At least she had been, and now she was still his "nominal" wife.

Should he go in?

He saw Xia Zhen, Lei Lei Hanyu, and presumably Sima Sima Xingchen and her husband; aside from Chang Chang Weiwei, who was still in confinement, everyone who cared about her should be there. Should he go in and invite embarrassment upon himself?

Bai Bai Ziling did not deliberately scan for Jiang Jie, but Jiang Jie's imposing aura and extraordinary expression, even across the street, were impossible for Bai Bai Ziling to ignore. Fearing he might recklessly burst in, Bai Bai Ziling lifted her skirt hem, quickly walked out of her coffee shop, and then crossed the street...

"What do you want again?" she said, somewhat flustered and angry.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you; you can disappear now."

"I just returned from the UK and didn't prepare anything to celebrate your opening, but..." he said sincerely.

"You want to give me an opening gift?" Bai Bai Ziling interrupted urgently. "If you disappear, that would be the best gift."

"Who invited that idol group?" Jiang Jie chatted with her.

"Han Ze."

"It seems you have many connections."

"Are you done?" Bai Bai Ziling, afraid that Xia Zhen and Sima Sima Xingchen would spot Jiang Jie here, grabbed his arm and dragged him to a less conspicuous spot.

"Bai Bai Ziling, I am not your lover; is it necessary for you to hide like this?" Jiang Jie said, not very pleased.

"I don't want them to see you." She let go of him.

"Am I not presentable?"

"No! You are very presentable, but I don't want them to think we still have any connection. Did you bring the divorce agreement?"

"There is no divorce agreement." He told her bluntly.

"No?!"

"I don't want a divorce."

"You don't want a divorce?!" Bai Bai Ziling nearly fainted. "What exactly do you have to do to me before you will be satisfied? Jiang Jie, I want freedom! I believe you need freedom even more than I do!"

"I miss you." Jiang Jie made a sudden confession.

Bai Bai Ziling nearly suffocated; what did he say?! Did he say he missed her?! Was this her "auditory hallucination," or did he really say those words?

"Bai Bai Ziling, perhaps I really hurt you terribly before, but it was never intentional." He apologized to her.

"Not intentional?" She refused to forgive him. "What did you say at the time? That if I gave myself to you, I could leave with a check the next morning. What was your state of mind then? And think about what my state of mind would have been! Jiang Jie, you treated me like a prostitute!"

"I didn't treat you like a prostitute!" he refuted.

"Then what was it?"

"At that time, I hadn't thought it through clearly."

Bai Bai Ziling felt no sense of clarity, no clouds parting. Other women might have embraced him because of his confession, putting past grievances aside, but she would not! She was not so easily deceived.

"Jiang Jie, do you know me?" Bai Bai Ziling asked with a cold face.

"I..."

"Do you know what I'm thinking?"

"I don't know." He said whatever came to mind.

"You don't know, you don't understand me, so why are you still here? Looking to get rejected? Are you really this dull?" She scolded him without any courtesy.

Jiang Jie was left speechless.

"Don't provoke me again, or else..." Dragging Di Di Zhiwei into this now was somewhat immoral, but to make Jiang Jie give up, she had to be a bit despicable and shameless. "Or else I will truly pair up with Di Di Zhiwei, and at that time... I will also have to call you 'Cousin'."

"You wouldn't dare!" Jiang Jie suddenly roared like an angry lion.

"Wouldn't I dare?" It was Bai Bai Ziling's turn to be arrogant. "Marrying Di Di Zhiwei doesn't seem so bad; I can help him get the inheritance your grandfather wants to give him, and I can also... truly get pregnant!"

Jiang Jie raised his hand; he hadn't expected to strike a woman, and even less did he expect the first woman he struck to be Bai Bai Ziling.

"You..." Bai Bai Ziling wore an expression of pain reaching her heart; she didn't cover her face, but she could feel it burning hot, showing that his force had been considerable.

"Bai Bai Ziling..." Jiang Jie was filled with immense regret; if time could flow backward to before he raised his palm, he would rather chop off his own hand than give her that slap.

"I hate you..." she whispered low.

"Don't you think about being with Di Zhiwei."

"It's none of your business!"

"You are still my wife."

"You had better publish it in the newspaper, you had better tell the whole world I am your wife, I don't care!" she shouted in a fit of pique and willfulness. "I don't just want to be with Di Di Zhiwei, I want to swap one man for another, I want to make myself available to every man, how about that?! Kill me then!"

Jiang Jie just glared fiercely at her.

"If you don't want to 'wear a green hat', then hurry up and tell your lawyer to send the divorce agreement!" she issued an ultimatum.

Jiang Jie still said nothing; he truly didn't know what he could say now.