58: Sister Hua's Story

The Mong Kok barbecue stall in the night was still bustling with people,

the neon signs casting mottled reflections on the road after the rain.

Amidst the rising steam and smoke, the laughter and chatter of diners rose and fell,

but the booth in the corner seemed isolated.

Sister Hua sat there alone, a slender lady's cigarette held between her long fingers.

Seven or eight empty wine bottles were scattered on the small table in front of her, along with a plate of almost untouched peanuts.

The night wind ruffled her meticulously groomed curls,

and under the glow of the neon lights,

her face, which was always exquisitely made up, appeared exceptionally pale at this moment.

Li Zhan walked through the noisy crowd and sat down directly opposite her.

Sister Hua seemed to have expected him to come long ago,

and poured herself another glass of wine without even looking up.

"What's wrong?"

Li Zhan reached out to press down on her glass, his voice unconsciously softening.

Only then did Sister Hua look up.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You're here..."

Her voice was tinged with drunkenness. "It's nothing, I just thought of some unhappy things..."

Before she could finish, tears suddenly burst from her eyes.

The next second, she was slumped over the table, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Li Zhan immediately stood up and sat beside her, gently putting his arm around her shoulders.

Sister Hua suddenly turned and threw herself into his arms, her long-suppressed sobs finally breaking out.

Warm tears quickly soaked through his shirt,

and Li Zhan could feel the body in his arms shaking uncontrollably.

He didn't speak, but simply tightened his arms,

letting her vent her emotions in the middle of the boisterous night market.

The laughter, clinking of glasses, and finger-guessing games of the surrounding diners remained lively,

yet it felt as though it had nothing to do with them.

Sister Hua's nails dug deep into his arm, as if she were clutching at a final piece of driftwood.

Li Zhan looked down,

the woman in his arms had long since ruined her makeup with tears,

bearing no resemblance to the usually smooth and sophisticated Sister Hua.

—

By the time Li Zhan was half-carrying, half-holding Sister Hua as they left the barbecue stall,

the night rain had already begun to patter down.

Sister Hua was limp in his arms; her high heels stepped into puddles, and the splashing rainwater soaked the hem of her skirt.

She was heavily intoxicated, yet she also seemed sober,

her fingers tightly gripping Li Zhan's collar as if afraid he would run away.

"I'll take you back," Li Zhan said softly.

Sister Hua didn't answer, only burying her face in his chest, her breath hot.

The moment the door closed,

Sister Hua grabbed Li Zhan's collar and pinned him firmly against the wall.

Her eyes shone startlingly bright in the darkness,

as if a fire suppressed for over a decade had finally found an outlet... and when that moment arrived—

Li Zhan froze completely.

"How could it be..."

Sister Hua didn't speak, only tilting her head back with tears shimmering in her eyes... Li Zhan didn't ask further,

...outside, the rain fell harder and harder,

the water streaks on the glass blurring the lights of the entire city...—

The rain continued outside,

and inside the room,

the bedsheets were a mess, half hanging on the floor and the other half barely draped over the edge of the bed.

The pillows were askew, one of them even stained with a lipstick mark.

Li Zhan's shirt and Sister Hua's dress were tossed haphazardly at the foot of the bed,

one high heel was by the headboard, the other by the door.

Li Zhan leaned against the headboard with a cigarette between his fingers, the smoke rising slowly in the dim room.

Sister Hua lay on his chest,

her damp long hair clinging to her smooth back,

the thin quilt only covered her to the waist, outlining her exaggerated curves... Li Zhan looked down at the red rose on the bedsheet and gave a bitter smile.

"Sister Hua, you..."

Sister Hua rolled over and lazily propped up her upper body,

snatching the cigarette from his fingers, her red lips wrapping around the filter as she took a deep drag.

Smoke drifted from her nose, making her tear-smudged eyeliner look even more seductive.

"Didn't expect that, did you?"

She chuckled, her fingertip tapping the tip of Li Zhan's nose. "You've struck gold."

Li Zhan frowned. "But weren't you previously..."

"That bastard."

Sister Hua's gaze suddenly turned cold, and she crushed the cigarette butt into the ashtray.

"When I was eighteen, I came from the countryside to work, and later I entered the nightlife scene."

Her voice carried a suppressed hatred.

"That bastard took an interest in me, acting all dignified and being very generous... And the result?

He's actually gay; he only kept me around to prove to others that he was a normal man."

Li Zhan was stunned, and his whole body relaxed.

His fingers unconsciously stroked her smooth back.

Everything made sense now.

No wonder she could see through Director Zhang's secret at a glance in the office today;

no wonder her expression was so complex back then—

it turned out she was remembering her own absurd decade or so.

"...I lived like a widow for over ten years just like that,"

Sister Hua sneered, "until he was transferred away."

Li Zhan suddenly thought of something. "Was he transferred to Chen—"

Sister Hua suddenly looked up, her eyes wide. "You... how do you know?"

Li Zhan gave a meaningful smile. "Just a wild guess."

Sister Hua didn't press him further,

only tilting her head back and closing her eyes.

Looking at Sister Hua's unsatisfied, delicate, and charming appearance,

Li Zhan chuckled softly and leaned in for a kiss—

...Outside,

the moonlight that had only just emerged after the rain shyly hid back into the clouds.