Chapter 53: The Future is Long

As soon as Zhong Yu Bai opened the door, he heard Ji Zhen Tang’s voice responding—

“Only those without skills talk about witchcraft. The truly powerful ones, just standing there, are like a spell; they don’t even need to move a finger. Why don’t you ask the men of the Zhong family why each one of them is so infatuated with me? I’m curious too.”

She stood with her hands on her hips, the light and shadows from the window falling on her, the flowing sunlight full of vitality, making her look very beautiful and lively.

He saw her from behind, slowly relaxing his slightly furrowed brows, and smiled.

Chi Ying was stunned by her words.

She stiffened her neck, looking at Ji Zhen Tang, who was a head taller than her. She hadn’t thought of a retort yet, but she had to maintain her momentum, her eyes wide open.

After a while, she could only squeeze out one sentence: “Foxy enchantress!”

Zhong Yu Bai stepped forward and interrupted in a deep voice, “Why are you arguing here?”

Ji Zhen Tang saw him and raised an eyebrow, “She said I bewitched you. Did I?”

Zhong Yu Bai glanced at Chi Ying and then looked at her calmly, saying, “If someone throws dirt at you, just avoid it. If you throw it back, they’ll get more excited. You’ll end up covered in filth, hard to clean off.”

He spoke calmly, not too fast or slow, addressing both Ji Zhen Tang and the onlookers.

Finally, he repeated her words and added gently, “You standing there is enough to enchant; those who are willing will take the bait, no problem.”

Ji Zhen Tang’s smile deepened. She glanced at Chi Ying, whose face had turned pale, and said meaningfully, “Oh—well, if anyone talks nonsense again, I’ll just treat it as a fart.”

Seeing her smug, Chi Ying was almost furious, her smile twisted, cheeks twitching.

Zhong Yu Bai said to her, “The card table is full today, you came a bit late.”

Chi Ying was surprised and screamed, “Full? I told Aunt Xu to save me a spot!”

Zhong Yu Bai replied, “First come, first served. From now on, follow the rules.”

Chi Ying was stunned and even angrier, “First come, first served? I’m the eldest wife of the Zhong family, do I need to queue to play cards on Zhong family territory? Who made this rule? Ridiculous!”

He said lightly, “I made it.”

From this moment, her freedom to join the card table was restricted as a small punishment for her reckless words. However, some people didn’t understand the underlying message and kept pressing.

Zhong Yu Bai added, “It’s just a card game. If you can’t play today, come earlier next time. Don’t you understand?”

He had almost spelled it out.

Today, you just have to queue. If you cause trouble again, it won’t be this simple next time.

Chi Ying gritted her teeth, swung her handbag, and walked briskly between them, the scent of perfume lingering in the corridor. She expressed her displeasure with her back, “Next time, tell me earlier. I don’t care to come if it’s full!”

Zhong Yu Bai watched her back, thinking that although she and Zhong Heng were not related by blood, their arrogance was quite similar.

Ji Zhen Tang chuckled, but before she could stop, she heard Zhong Yu Bai say softly, “My father.”

She was startled and turned to see Zhong Bingwen standing at the study door.

The man, wearing glasses, still looked like an old scholar, not much different from when she first met him, with a slight smile on his face, nodding at her.

Ji Zhen Tang instinctively wanted to greet him, but as soon as she said “Uncle,” she immediately took it back.

No, no, the seniority is messed up.

If she called Zhong Yu Bai uncle, what would she call his father? Grandpa??

Seeing her confusion, Zhong Yu Bai whispered, “You can call him Dad.”

“…”

Ji Zhen Tang’s face turned from confusion to embarrassment. She blinked quickly and cleverly greeted, “Hello, Mr. Zhong!”

Zhong Yu Bai lowered his head, his smile deepening.

He didn’t linger or wait for his father to respond. He put his arm around Ji Zhen Tang’s shoulder and said to Zhong Bingwen, “We’re leaving now.”

Zhong Bingwen still smiled and responded, “Okay.”

On the way home, Ding Jialing was driving.

Ji Zhen Tang and Zhong Yu Bai were in the back seat of an S-class Mercedes with a small TV. Zhong Yu Bai watched stock market news on the screen, while Ji Zhen Tang’s hand wandered restlessly on him, looking troubled, as if waiting for him to ask what was wrong.

But Zhong Yu Bai didn’t ask. Finally, she couldn’t hold it in and spoke first, “What did you just say to your father?”

Zhong Yu Bai paused the news, looked at her, and replied, “I said you are lively and charming, loved by everyone.”

She laughed, “Although I’m happy you said that, I know you weren’t complimenting me. You exaggerated to deceive me, so it must have been something bad.”

Zhong Yu Bai neither confirmed nor denied, “Talking to an old scholar is never pleasant, whether it concerns you or not. It’s always a disagreement.”

In other words, arguing with his father was routine, no need to worry.

Ji Zhen Tang sighed in relief and nodded quickly, “I understand, I understand. It’s the same with my father.”

Zhong Yu Bai put his arm around her waist, looked down at her lips, and asked softly, “Who is infatuated with you?”

“…”

She realized he was referring to her earlier remark to Chi Ying, “Who in the Zhong family isn’t infatuated with me?”

Zhong Yu Bai’s face had a faint smile, clearly not angry, but teasing her.

Ji Zhen Tang calmly said, “I was talking about Zhong Heng, not you. You are high and mighty, unfathomable, who would you be infatuated with?”

Zhong Yu Bai smiled but didn’t argue, just tightened his grip on her waist.

“Her personality is sharp; no one can escape her harsh words. Don’t mind it.”

He comforted her, fearing her fragile heart might break again.

Ji Zhen Tang wasn’t actually angry. She had clashed with Chi Ying several times and knew her nature well. She didn’t need Zhong Yu Bai’s reminder but took the opportunity to feign displeasure for a few seconds, “I thought you would punish her severely, but you just let it slide.”

Zhong Yu Bai looked at her pouting and said, “Am I that brutal? Do I trample everyone I dislike?”

Ji Zhen Tang said, “Who cares about your fairness? I’d rather you be brutal and poison her. At times like this, a woman just wants to hear that you’ll stand by her unreasonably.”

Zhong Yu Bai laughed, “Of course, I’ll stand by you. I can deal with Chi Ying to make you feel better; it’s not difficult. But if she’s gone, there will be others.”

Ji Zhen Tang dropped her feigned displeasure and looked at him seriously.

He continued, “The Zhong family is disorganized and the environment is bad. If we can’t avoid it from the root, we’ll stay away.”

“We” is such a beautiful word, as moving as “lover.”

She smiled lightly, “I see, the Zhong mansion is a nest of cockroaches, impossible to clean out, so we might as well move.”

This description made him laugh.

Ji Zhen Tang looked at him, thinking, “What does ‘stay away’ mean?”

“Moving, as you said, literally,” he replied slowly, “If the environment is bad, we try to improve it. If we can’t, we find another way. It’s not difficult.”

Who wouldn’t mind their home being called a cockroach nest? She asked knowingly, “Don’t you like your home?”

Zhong Yu Bai replied, “I only like our little home.”

In the enclosed car, she heard her heartbeat, almost visible. At such moments, leaning into his arms felt the best.

That evening, Zhong Bingwen sent Zhong Yu Bai a message, but Ji Zhen Tang saw it first.

She was sitting in the guest room with the fish tank, where she loved the two little fish he kept. She asked if they could watch a movie there, and Zhong Yu Bai went out to get the DVDs.

She was sitting on the burgundy velvet sofa, staring at the koi on the side wall, until his phone screen suddenly lit up.

She didn’t mean to peek, but her eyesight was too good. She caught a glimpse of a message from “Dad”—

“I feel guilty towards your mother. I thought I could be a lesson for you.”

Followed by a series of ellipses.

He probably sent a long message, but only this line was displayed.

A line she couldn’t fully understand, but it made Ji Zhen Tang’s heart sink. Although she didn’t understand, it wasn’t hard to sense that the deep meaning was related to her. And the tone was very negative.

Ji Zhen Tang frowned, recalling Zhong Bingwen’s somewhat gentle eyes when he greeted her.

Soon, Zhong Yu Bai came over with some DVDs and asked what she wanted to watch. On top was a Wong Kar-wai film. Knowing she liked it, he brought it.

But today, she shook her head, “I don’t like Wong Kar-wai anymore, too fleeting.”

The fragmented scenes, restless city, lonely protagonists, 100 minutes of love, gone after watching, like dew.

Romantic but fleeting.

She picked one, “This one, I like it recently. Real and cruel, perfect for self-torture, makes me want to die.”

The last words made Zhong Yu Bai look up from the DVD at her.

The movie was “Burning,” and he played it for her.

“Did you really cook today’s meal?” she asked again after he sat down.

Zhong Yu Bai said, “If you don’t believe it, I’ll make the same dishes tomorrow for lunch.”

She curled up, looked at him sideways, and smiled, “Don’t answer so seriously.”

He looked down at her and asked, “What kind of answer do you want?”

Ji Zhen Tang put away her fragile smile and said, “I don’t know, just feeling sad.”

The air was filled with a rich fragrance.

On their first night, two kinds of incense were lit together, creating a new scent.

This was their secret sentiment, the scent seemed tangible, entwining the floral patterns on the green wallpaper.

The movie played at a slow pace.

Zhong Yu Bai didn’t like art films much, or rather, he didn’t like movies because he wasn’t that free.

The time he spent with her was all his leisure.

A few minutes into the movie, he watched without emotion, feeling a bit desolate, and looked at Ji Zhen Tang, asking, “What feeling did you say I lack today?”

She was confused for a moment, then quickly recalled their conversation, thinking, “Maybe, the feeling of being a husband.”

Zhong Yu Bai smiled lightly, pondering her words, and said slowly, “I don’t understand.”

Ji Zhen Tang pouted and suddenly asked, “Did you attend Chen Ke and Zhu Qingying’s wedding?”

He said he did.

“I think when Mr. Chen looks at his wife, he has a very husbandly feeling, very affectionate, as if they’ve been in love for many years. Not just affectionate, but also a bit heavy, the weight of years.”

Hearing this, Zhong Yu Bai wanted to laugh more, not sure if she really read something from others’ eyes or was embellishing the affection and weight.

He said, “Because they are husband and wife, after all.”

Ji Zhen Tang nodded slightly, murmuring, “Indeed… husband and wife.”

Noticing that she was being watched, Ji Zhen Tang looked up, intending to make a casual remark, but his shadow fell over her, pressing down, sealing her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, eagerly returning his kiss. Yet no matter how deeply she searched, she couldn’t quite find the feeling of a true couple.

She felt a slight disappointment at the difficulty of pushing forward with this fantasy.

Zhong Yu Bai, however, pressed her waist, saying, “Why overthink it?”

It wasn’t that he didn’t care, nor was he deliberately avoiding anything; he simply tended to approach things with clarity and decisiveness, never indulging in the drawn-out, exhausting worries that she did.

His clothes were neatly fitted, and a rough patch on his shoulder chafed against her Achilles tendon, making it ache.

The train entered a tunnel, the sound of rushing wind surrounding them. Ji Zhen Tang looked up tightly, her gaze fleetingly colliding with the snowy white flower buds on the side wall.

The train sped on, rumbling swiftly. The air pressure increased suddenly, and her eardrums felt strained, almost overburdened. She needed to open her mouth to adjust the unsteady pressure.

Until the tail of the train left, receding into the distance.

A flash of white light appeared before her.

In the depths of the now-empty tunnel, only echoes remained, like a burst water pipe under pressure, spilling everywhere as though the floodgates had been opened. The overflowing wastewater, after a thrilling experience, washed over withered pains. Enveloping all outdated sensations, it flowed slowly, silently into the dead of night.

The lingering dampness and emptiness were proof of having been impacted.

As the tide receded, she felt as though she’d rusted.

Motionless, dazed, her ears rang amidst the shrill line of mechanical noise stretching like a taut thread. The floral pattern above her spun like a kaleidoscope, shifting with a rustling sound, shattering into pieces.

Her rationality shattered along with it.

The movie was halfway through; the intensity of the plot was softened by the off-screen intimacy.

Ji Zhen Tang remembered later asking Su Yunli why she broke up. Su Yunli didn’t answer directly but said she believed in fate. When two people’s fates are shallow, their magnetic fields simply fail to attract each other.

When she said this, Su Yunli seemed quite at ease, so Ji Zhen Tang couldn’t see how much heartbreak and sorrow she might have carried. Her words offered little comfort, but it had to be said, at least she’d grown a bit.

“But how do you judge fate?” Ji Zhen Tang pressed, unwilling to let it go. “How do you know if there’s fate or not?”

Su Yunli replied, “It’s mysterious, hard to explain clearly. But when you’re in it, there’s usually a distinct feeling.”

“What kind of feeling?”

She said, “Probably the feeling that you two won’t make it to the end.”

Perhaps Ji Zhen Tang was worrying needlessly.

She hasn’t been happy lately. If he were to ask her why, how could she explain? It’s like she’s loved him too deeply. Because love makes people reluctant to let go, unwilling to have just fleeting moments with him. A season, a year? It all feels too short. She’s greedy—she wants years, not moments.

When Zhong Yu Bai gently holds her, the Korean dialogue in the movie feels as if it’s on another dimension, and even those painful, “makes-you-want-to-die” moments in the plot slowly melt away in his embrace, no longer seeming so bleak.

He seems completely out of place in this cold, cruel world.

In her ear, she hears his warm voice:

“I learned to cook for you; it’s no pretense. If you want more, I can give you more.”

“I don’t know if Chen Ke is deep in his feelings, or if I am. All I know is, I don’t want to see you unhappy. That’s my most honest feeling right now.”

“Whatever you’re afraid of, I’ll stand in front of. Whatever’s missing, I’ll create it. As long as I’m here, the sky won’t fall. Little fish will still have places to swim, little birds will still have places to perch, and you’ll always have space to roam wild.”

Zhong Yu Bai gently caresses her face, comforting her with a smile, “Don’t be sad; we have a long future ahead.”

This time, her sense of destiny faded, unable to measure its depth. He holds her tears in his palm, while her heart is ablaze with sorrow. Her reason returns, smoothing the kaleidoscope of patterns into neat and beautiful order.

He isn’t the cage; love is the cage.

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