MTB - Chapter 49
Chapter 49: Extra - The Painted Veil and the Ring
This was the fifth time I had seen this woman in the coffee shop near my company.
This was Beicheng’s Changshan District, known as “University City,” a place teeming with elites, with no shortage of educational, scientific, and intellectual resources. She was probably a white-collar worker from a nearby office. She often came here at noon on weekdays, usually with a book—how rare. The patrons of this coffee shop rarely stayed on one screen on their phones or laptops for more than a minute, yet she had the patience to read a thick, boring physical book.
She had a strange sort of aura, one that probably didn't come entirely from books. Unlike most people nowadays, she just sat there quietly, possessing a strange magic that made you want to hold your breath along with her.
At the time, I had a girlfriend of three years. Like all couples, we were facing a life of endless boredom, our passion gradually worn down on the sandy road of life. My girlfriend was an overly lively girl, and this woman was her complete opposite. Perhaps that was why she held an undeniable attraction for me.
She watched the people coming and going outside the window, her profile serene and exquisite in the midday sun. I watched her take off her dark brown coat, accept a coffee from the waiter, and open her book to a certain page. I took off the matching ring on my hand, stuffed it into my bag, smoothed my long hair, and walked over to her.
“Hello,” I smiled at her. “Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”
The woman paused for a moment, then politely refused me. “Thank you, but no. I’m waiting for my partner.”
So she wasn’t single—but it didn’t matter. It was just a fling; no one would care about that.
“Alright, it was just an excuse to talk to you. Looks like that’s out.” I feigned embarrassment. “My surname is Wang. I just… uh, could I get to know you? There’s no harm in making a friend, right?”
“Of course.” Her gaze shifted from my hand as I tucked my hair back, and she smiled at me. “My surname is Tang.”
“Ms. Tang.” I sat down in front of her and finally got a clear look at the book she was reading. The title was The Painted Veil… I’m a science major and have never had much to do with “literature.” I hadn’t read the book, but that didn’t make me feel ashamed, only regretful for losing a potential topic of conversation.
“Are you interested in this book?” Ms. Tang asked. “You seem to have been looking at it.”
I felt a bit awkward, not wanting to appear too ignorant in front of her, so I forced myself to answer, “I’ve read a little… I’m somewhat interested.”
“Is that so?” She didn’t comment further, instead saying, “One of my students is writing a paper on The Painted Veil recently. I’m not an expert in foreign literature, so I need to do some last-minute studying so I don’t look foolish when she asks me for advice.”
It might have been my imagination, but I felt a hint of resigned yet indulgent amusement pass through her eyes when she said “one of my students.”
“Really,” I caught the keyword. “Are you a teacher?”
“Yes.”
“No wonder. You have that kind of aura.”
“A teacher’s aura?” She raised an eyebrow. “If someone told me I looked like a teacher, my first reaction wouldn’t be to take it as a compliment.”
“How could it not be?” I thought for a moment. “Quiet, gentle, knowledgeable… If that’s not a compliment, then what is?”
Ms. Tang lowered her head and smiled.
She glanced at the time and asked casually, “It’s getting late, Ms. Wang. If you go back too late, will your family be worried?”
I had indeed been checking the time because I needed to pick up my girlfriend from work. It might have just been a casual question, but for some reason, I had the unnerving feeling of being seen through—but I quickly calmed down. How could she know? We’d only known each other for less than five minutes.
“No, I’m single.” Continuing this topic wasn’t a good idea. I wanted to change the subject, but I couldn’t think of anything, so I just pointed to the book beside her hand. “How about we talk about this book?”
Ms. Tang didn’t commit. She didn’t even open the book; instead, she lowered her eyes, her fingers tracing the edge of the cover.
“I never had any illusions about you,” she said slowly. “‘I know you’re silly and frivolous and empty-headed’—”
When a person’s sordid thoughts are exposed, their first reaction is always anger, like a self-defense mechanism. Besides the embarrassment of being called out so directly, I subconsciously felt angry. I frowned, about to lash out, when I heard her continue, “...but I love you.”
I never expected her to say that. My mind went blank, and I froze.
Her gaze fell on the back of the book, and she continued reading aloud: “‘I know your aims and your ideals are vulgar and common. But I love you. I know you’re a second-rate woman. But I love you.’”
As if finally noticing something was wrong with the person across from her, she looked up and gave me a puzzled glance. “What’s wrong?”
“…Nothing.”
I was glad I had controlled my emotions just now, or it would have been incredibly awkward.
“That’s a very famous passage from the book,” she said. “It’s said that many people resonate with this book. Do you feel that way too?”
Of course not, I thought. I haven’t read a single word of this book.
But I put on a calm smile. “Of course. Because the author wrote it very well.”
As for the author’s name, who cares.
“People are complicated. They can always find a reasonable excuse to cover up their own flaws and mistakes. It’s a self-preservation instinct,” she said slowly. “But at the very least, you shouldn’t lie to yourself.”
Ms. Tang looked up. “Is there something you want to say to me?”
For a moment, I thought she had truly seen through my intentions.
“Haha, you saw right through me.” I gave a dry laugh. “Actually, I haven’t read this book. I was just looking for an excuse to buy you a coffee.”
“A cup of coffee?”
“If you’re willing,” I felt inexplicably nervous, but I still said my rehearsed line, “we don’t have to stop at just one cup of coffee. Are you free?”
She stared into my eyes. A few seconds later, she laughed, and the sound hit my ears like mockery.
“This novel is about a woman caught in an extramarital affair. Although that summary is a bit too simplistic and crude for its themes,” she touched her forehead and smiled apologetically, whether for the novel or something else, I couldn’t tell, “so even though you haven’t read it, it’s understandable that you’d resonate with it.”
“Ms. Tang, that’s a bit rude.” I felt my heart pounding, but I managed to maintain my composure. “Why would I…”
“Ms. Wang, how many years have you been wearing that ring on your hand?”
My mind went completely blank.
Ms. Tang leaned back calmly, closed her book, and wore a cold, distant smile. “There’s a girl across the street who’s been watching you since before you walked over to me. Hmm… probably the owner of the other half of your matching ring? She’s waiting for you. I’ve recorded what you just said, and I’ll be sending it to her shortly.”
“Do you need some time now to talk to her alone first?”
After sending the rude person away, the glass door opened and closed again, letting in a gust of cold winter wind. A voice stopped in front of her. “Hi, are you here alone?”
When she saw who it was, Tang Yuelou was stunned for a moment, but she quickly recovered and answered calmly, “No, I’m waiting for my girlfriend.”
“Wow, seeing you chatting so happily with someone, I thought you were single.” Yun Yang rolled her eyes sourly and sat down opposite her without ceremony. “What a coincidence. I was waiting for my girlfriend too.”
“Hm?” Tang Yuelou showed a hint of confusion. “You’re not going to wait anymore? Did she break your heart?”
Yun Yang: “She wouldn’t break my heart, because she loves me.”
“Oh, you know,” Tang Yuelou leaned back, her fingertips tapping lightly on the table, “‘women are often under the impression that men are madly in love with them, when in fact they are not.’”
Yun Yang paused, the line sounding familiar. Her gaze swept over the book in Tang Yuelou’s hands, and she suddenly understood. She propped her chin on her hand, thought for a moment, and gave a soft, cold smile. “‘What a ridiculous thing to say.’”
A smile flickered in Tang Yuelou’s eyes. She lowered her gaze. “You haven’t been worrying much about your girlfriend lately. Perhaps… she doesn’t love you as much as she used to.”
She wasn’t quoting the book exactly, and the original line didn’t have this meaning. Now it had a strange, accusatory undertone. Yun Yang thought about how much fun she’d been having at school these past few days, forgetting everything else, and felt a pang of guilt. But she feigned composure. “‘In any case I would not be so foolish as to flatter myself that you were madly in love with me.’”
Tang Yuelou leaned forward slightly, her voice softening. “‘Then you would be mistaken.’”
Her eyes reflected a few points of light, appearing deep and gentle in the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Yun Yang’s heart skipped a beat.
They were role-playing as cheating lovers, testing each other. Perhaps one of them was just feigning interest, but at that moment, Yun Yang suddenly empathized with Kitty—if Tang Yuelou wanted to be, she could be the most skilled vixen in the world.
It was… so unfair.
Yun Yang turned her head as if to hide something and took a sip of water, wanting to end this absurd role-play. But Tang Yuelou propped her chin on one finger, her gaze roaming with interest over the collar of Yun Yang’s turtleneck sweater, and suddenly asked, “That’s a pretty collar. Was it a gift from your girlfriend?”
Before Yun Yang could speak, she almost spat out the water she had just swallowed.
The coffee shop wasn’t empty at this hour, nor was it particularly quiet. No one heard their conversation, but even so, she felt a wave of shame. She mentally cursed Tang Yuelou out, then pulled the collar of her sweater up higher, which only served to draw more attention to it.
“Oh, perhaps I was mistaken. I’m sorry if I offended you.” Tang Yuelou said apologetically. “It seems to be just a normal choker?”
Yun Yang: “…It is.”
Fuck you, Tang Yuelou.
“Want to come to my place for a drink?” the person opposite her suggested, adding with a light laugh, “Perhaps you could try to convince that girlfriend of yours who ‘loves you so much’.”
Yun Yang grabbed Tang Yuelou’s collar and kissed her, deftly unbuttoning the shirt under her sweater. Tang Yuelou held her by the waist, letting her do as she pleased, one hand gently caressing the skin around the collar, making her tremble uncontrollably.
“If we do this, will your girlfriend be angry when she finds out?” Tang Yuelou asked softly.
“My girlfriend is a petty, narrow-minded pervert,” Yun Yang said, emboldened by the “role-play” to look her straight in the eye, then snorted dismissively. “If she found out I was cheating on her, she’d beat me to a pulp.”
Tang Yuelou smiled faintly. “She won’t.”
“Hm?”
“Because she loves you, and she doesn’t want to lose you completely. ‘I swear that if you were my wife, I would accept any condition rather than lose you.’ Even if you made this kind of mistake, at most she’d lock you up at home, chain you to the bed…”
Yun Yang closed her eyes, feeling Tang Yuelou’s hand move from her waist to her back, grasping her wrist.
She gasped, unable to bear it. Her free hand instinctively gripped Tang Yuelou’s shoulder. Suddenly, her finger felt cool as something was slipped off it—Tang Yuelou had taken the ring from her ring finger and tossed it onto the passenger seat.
Then she took off her own ring and tossed it aside as well. Even though she knew it was an act, Yun Yang’s heart suddenly sped up. The tension of her panic amplified the pleasure. She flinched, reaching out a hand in vain. “No…”
“Is that the ring she gave you?” Tang Yuelou whispered. “I don’t like it.”
“Ngh… don’t take it off, Teacher…”
“What’s your girlfriend’s name?”
“Tang Yuelou… her name is… Tang Yuelou…” Yun Yang’s vision blurred under a film of moisture. The sound she was about to make was caught between their lips, turning into a gentle, lingering kiss.
Tang Yuelou gently touched the corner of her eye and asked, “Why are you crying? Are you upset?”
Yun Yang hadn’t yet emerged from the trembling aftershocks. She hadn’t meant to cry; it was just an instinctive physiological reaction. But perhaps her psychological defenses were lowered, because when asked that, she suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of grievance, and her eyes reddened.
Tang Yuelou was caught off guard. She felt a pang of heartache and was at a loss for what to do. She wrapped a coat around her and patted her back gently. “I’m sorry, don’t cry. I’ll apologize later.”
Yun Yang shamelessly wiped her tears on Tang Yuelou’s sweater.
“When was I ‘not worrying much about my girlfriend’? I was right to call you petty and narrow-minded.” She blinked a couple of times, forcing back the inexplicable tears, then seamlessly transitioned to rolling her eyes. “You were chatting with someone for ages. I waited for you at the door for five minutes. Don’t you know how long five minutes is? And you have the nerve to apologize later.”
Tang Yuelou: “…”
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Then what can I do to make it up to you?”
“It’s too late for anything. ‘When a man’s pride has been deeply hurt, how swiftly the door of his heart is locked and bolted.’”
“…Really, putting your studies to practical use.”
“What are you spacing out for? Get the rings for me. It’s freezing out here. Let’s go home.”
—The Painted Veil and the Ring · Fin
Comments
Post a Comment