BXBX NOVEL Chapter 66 – The Lipstick Smudge on His Shirt
Chapter 66 – The Lipstick Smudge on His Shirt
Ye Zhongjue remembered Ceng Hanyu had told him that Anne liked to be carried by him. She would cry in protest in somebody else’s arms, but never in his.
Sadly, the baby had not been born for a month when she was taken in the hospital.
The two families had searched for her for many years without any success.
Although it was not a formal engagement, Ceng Hanyu, with single-minded devotion to the girl, never gave up the hope that he would one day find her again.
An Zhenguo, the wealthiest man in the world, was Anne’s grandfather. To be honest, if it hadn’t been for Ceng Hanyu’s financial aid all these years, the An Group probably wouldn’t be this prosperous.
The probability of An Zhenguo becoming the richest man in the world would be incredibly low.
As it had turned out, this was exactly what the loyal Ceng Hanyu had helped achieve for the fiancée he had never really known.
As an outsider, Ye Zhongjue didn’t deem it proper to give any comment on it.
Now, he turned to look at his friend and asked, “How did it go, the thing you dealt with the other day?”
Ceng Hanyu gave him a sly smile. With thin lips, seductive eyes and a straight nose, he was quite good-looking. No, you could say he was an extremely handsome guy.
Adding that sly smile, there was only one term that could be used to describe him: a yuppie.
“It was a piece of cake! A few gangsters were fighting for their territories and caused a little disruption to our transactions of ammunition, but it was no big deal.”
Ye Zhongjue nodded. “Great. Well, I’m going to take off then.”
“Sure. Do you remember what Madame Melissa said about us?”
Ye Zhongjue replied, “Yes. What about it?”
Ceng Hanyu said, “She said that I’m dashing with a bit of?a?yuppie vibe while you are aloof with a noble quality. I used to disagree with her, but now I can totally relate!”
Ye Zhongjue looked at him, not knowing why he had brought it up.
Ceng Hanyu smiled. “Can’t you see? You are a noble; I am a yuppie! Every woman turned their attention to you when you walked in here. Do you know how hurt I am?”
Ye Zhongjue smiled a little. He knew his friend was trying to liven up the atmosphere and lighten their moods, but he didn’t say it.
“You just keep making jokes. I’m out of here!”
Ceng Hanyu nodded and walked toward the hub of the party.
Ye Zhongjue did not linger. He firmly turned down every offer of drinks from the other presidents and was determined to go back home after he found Song Pingting.
When he found her, Song Pingting had one hand on the countertop of the bar for support and a glass of wine on the other hand, trying to stand up straight.
Ye Zhongjue frowned, looking irritated.
He had known it wasn’t a good idea to take her with him. Now she was totally wasted.
Though he was annoyed, he was still a gentleman. He couldn’t just leave her here, drunk as a lord.
Supporting her, Ye Zhongjue began to walk while calling Lin Ran to take the woman home. He himself had to go back to his own house now, or Mo Suqing would stay up late and wait for him.
He did not want her to sacrifice her sleep for him.
Lin Ran set off immediately after he hung up.
Meanwhile in the elevator, Ye Zhongjue was supporting Song Pingting with one hand. Suddenly, she lost her balance and stumbled onto his chest.
Frowning, Ye Zhongjue put his phone away and pushed her away from him.
However, he didn’t know Song Pingting had left a lipstick smudge on his shirt. It was quite noticeable if you looked carefully enough.
After Lin Ran arrived and took Song Pingting away, Ye Zhongjue quickly headed home.
When he got home, all the lights were on in the apartment.
He saw Mo Suqing curling into a semi-ball on the sofa, sound asleep. His heart melted at the sight and all the anxiety from before ebbed away.
Then, he felt his heart ache a little. She had just become well, but she still wanted to wait for him on the sofa. What a silly girl.
He walked over soundlessly to carry her back to the bedroom.
When he bent down, Mo Suqing’s eyes fluttered open.
Her eyes were full of sleepiness. She stared at him foolishly for a while before her mind cleared up and she said in a hoarse voice, “You are back…”
Ye Zhongjue nodded and gathered her in his arms.
Mo Suqing did not protest. Nestling in his arms like a lazy cat, she let him carry her to the bedroom.
Her eyelids were half open, half closed. It was obvious she was very tired.
All of a sudden, she caught sight of the red mark on his shirt.
Her eyelids fully opened in an instant.
She was no fool. It was no doubt a?lipstick?stain!
She remembered Ye Zhongjue had told her he was going to a dinner party. Is this from his so-called dinner party?
Suddenly, her sense of smell became heightened, too. She could smell perfume and she was sure she had never smelt any kind of fragrance on him before.
Ye Zhongjue always smelt fresh and she never used perfume herself. So, there was only one explanation.
He had carried another woman in his arms tonight and the woman left the smell of her perfume and a lipstick smudge on his shirt!
Mo Suqing felt a lump in her throat. Should I ask him about it?
She looked up at him. He had a very handsome face. It could well have been the most perfect work God had ever created; yes, this was how blessed he was. With this asset, he could easily attract a lot of women.
Should I pretend that nothing had happened?
She felt it would be stupid to ask him about it, but she couldn’t pretend she didn’t see it, either.
Mo Suqing didn’t know what to do. She just lay there on the bed and listened to the sound of the pouring water – Ye Zhongjue was taking a shower.
Confusion seized her heart and turned it into a tight knot.
Someone once said that in a relationship, the one who fell in love first was the loser. They had relinquished their control.
Mo Suqing turned over and looked at the door to the bathroom. All they had been through during the short time they had known each other popped up in her mind.
It felt like everything had happened only yesterday.
Their speed marriage, their getting to know one another, his care for her… Time had passed by quickly; it was almost three months.
However, now she realized she had never truly known him.
In addition to his family, there was a lot of the other stuff she didn’t know.
Although they had the three-year agreement, she still took him home to meet her father.
On the contrary, Ye Zhongjue never really talked about his family.
Mo Suqing felt so upset. It was as if her heart no longer belonged to her.
The lipstick smudge gave her such a shock, she almost forgot her initial resolution to stay detached.
She chuckled bitterly, realizing belatedly that she had, without her knowing, fallen in love with the man she had married on impulse and whom she had only known for three months.
Yet, she thought pathetically, she didn’t even know anything about him. With the exception of the house where they lived together, they didn’t seem to have anything in common.
Ye Zhongjue got into the bed after taking the shower. He called her name softly, “Suqing…”
Mo Suqing feigned sleep and did not answer.
Ye Zhongjue lay down quietly and switched the light off.
Lying in the dark, Mo Suqing kept her eyes wide open. A teardrop slid down her face, through a tuft of her hair, and into her pillow.
The next day, Mo Suqing was still feeling pretty low. Even when Leng Xiyao told her she had got hold of the Jazz Club member card, Mo Suqing did not look particularly excited.
During lunch break, Leng Xiyao made Mo Suqing go out with her and demanded to know what was wrong with her.
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Finally, Mo Suqing relented and told her everything.
“Yesterday, he had a dinner party that he needed to attend, so he didn’t pick me up. He took meticulous care of me the past few days when I was sick. I worried about his health, so I waited for him on the sofa. He did come home safely, but…”
Mo Suqing’s voice faltered. Leng Xiyao was eager to know the rest of the story.
“But what? Just say it! I’m worried sick, you know!”
Mo Suqing took a deep breath. She wanted to give her friend a smile, but she couldn’t.
“But, I found a lipstick stain on his shirt and he smelt like perfume. If he didn’t do anything intimate with another woman, how come there were the smell of perfume and the lipstick stain?”
Leng Xiyao flew into a rage. “Why didn’t you just ask him? Did he cheat on you and decide not to come clean? What kind of a man is he?”
Mo Suqing shook her head miserably. “I dared not ask him about it!”
“Why?” Leng Xiyao demanded in exasperation.
“You want to know why?” Mo Suqing gave her a bitter smile.
“Because I realized I have fallen in love! I have fucking fallen in love with him, a man whom I don’t know anything about! You know what? Come to think of it, I don’t really know who he is. What kind of a marriage is this?”
Leng Xiyao’s words lost their edge when she heard Mo Suqing’s confession of love.
“When you fall in love, you lose your advantage. Don’t be sad, though. If you could fall for someone like Gu Jiannan, of course you would fall for Ye Zhongjue. In fact, I can go on and say that nine out of ten women will be attracted to his appearance, and if he were to be a little kind to one of them, anyone would fall for him.”
Mo Suqing knew what Leng Xiyao said was true, but she could not help but pout her lips a little.
“Let’s go!” Leng Xiyao waved Mo Suqing’s arm and said, “We’ll go have a drink tonight and forget about the whole thing, okay?”
Mo Suqing could not stand the thought of facing Ye Zhongjue after work.
If she hung out with Leng Xiyao and relaxed herself, she thought, maybe she would be able to do that.
When it was almost time to get off work, Ye Zhongjue called.
Mo Suqing didn’t pick it up. Instead, she sent him a message telling him she would hang out with Leng Xiyao in the evening.
When Ye Zhongjue called her once again, she had turned off her phone.