Blossom through the Cloud - Extra Chapter 8
Extra Chapter 8
Had it not been for a sudden illness, Zheng You'an would not have returned to China ahead of schedule.
Her return was rushed, and she hadn't notified a soul. Aside from her assistant accompanying her, she was the type of person whose outings were equivalent to moving house—stretching two heavy luggage carts worth of massive suitcases. When her assistant, Pei Qing, found herself overwhelmed, Zheng You'an rolled up her sleeves to lend a hand. Only after fighting her way out of the airport and meeting up with the waiting driver did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
At three in the morning, the airport was still brilliantly illuminated. Settling into the car, Zheng You'an felt her arms aching so badly she could barely lift them, so she slipped on an eye mask and prepared to resume her sleep.
Pei Qing fished out the medicine, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, and said, "An'an, time for your meds."
With her arms too sore to raise, Zheng You'an simply uttered a soft acknowledgment and opened her mouth directly.
Pei Qing fed the pill straight into her mouth and instructed, "Swallow it yourself now. This part I can't help you with."
Zheng You'an remained silent. After a good long while, Pei Qing finally caught the movement of her throat swallowing.
Once the car pulled out of the airport, the driver turned his head to ask, "Where to?"
Keeping her eyes closed, Zheng You'an asked in a listless voice, "What time is it?"
"Four o'clock."
"Four already... Let's head to Boju Tianchen."
That apartment at Boju Tianchen had been a gift from Zheng Taichu to Zheng You'an the year she got married.
Initially, Zheng You'an hadn't understood why he would gift her an apartment out in the suburbs, but her first year of married life had made the underlying meaning crystal clear.
"Wait a minute." Glancing at her phone screen, Pei Qing spoke up, "The heating system at Boju Tianchen is broken. Property management sent me a message last night saying they aren't coming to fix it until this afternoon."
The driver hit the brakes, plunging the car into a heavy silence for several seconds.
"An'an? An'an?" Pei Qing shook Zheng You'an's arm. "Are you asleep?"
"Mmm...?" Drowsily stifling a yawn, Zheng You'an murmured, "Oh, I heard you. In that case, let's go back to my parents' place."
The driver stepped on the gas, but another lazy voice drifted from the back seat.
"Never mind, let's not disturb them."
"Then...?"
The driver slowly raised his eyes to glance into the rearview mirror.
Pei Qing waved a hand. "Head to Hongzhaowan."
The villa at Hongzhaowan was the actual marital home shared by Zheng You'an and Yan An.
Though the number of times she had actually stayed over there could be counted on one hand.
Yan An probably shared a similar record.
Five in the morning was precisely the darkest hour of the night.
Bathed in the pale, sickly glow of streetlamps, a black business car pulled slowly to a stop before the entrance. A man and a woman stepped out and opened the trunk, moving with extreme caution to avoid making the slightest sound, looking for all the world like a pair of cat burglars.
"Don't worry about unloading everything just yet," Zheng You'an said. "Just hand me my personal essentials, and you guys head back to rest. Tomorrow morning, drop the rest of the luggage off at Boju Tianchen before coming back to pick me up."
When Yan An stepped out of the bathroom, dawn had already broken, but the heavy blackout curtains in the bedroom remained tightly drawn, blocking out every trace of light.
He had flown back from Europe that afternoon, still failing to adjust to the time zone difference, and had ended up drinking with a few friends until the conversation drifted all the way into the early morning hours.
The room was quiet as the grave, just like always.
The moment he lay down on the bed, Yan An caught a faint, delicate trace of fragrance lingering in the surrounding air.
Yet with the alcohol still fogging his brain, he didn't dwell on it, assuming it was merely a hallucination.
The light-proof curtains remained impervious, sealing off the shifting play of light and shadow outside, rendering the passage of time entirely imperceptible.
When the bedside alarm finally shrieked to life, it gave no indication of what time it actually was.
Until two pairs of eyes snapped open, locking gazes.
The indoor heating was cranked up so high that even their breathing felt scorching hot, not to mention the body heat bleeding across the sheets from one another.
After three seconds of utter chaos in their brains, a piercing shriek shattered the stillness.
"Ah!——"
As if the scream wasn't enough, Zheng You'an instinctively lashed out with a kick at the person beside her before stumbling headlong off the mattress.
Yan An let out a muffled groan, propping himself up on his elbows as he stared in sheer disbelief at the person before him.
After another few seconds of silence, Zheng You'an regained her composure, realizing that the man before her was neither a thief nor some random stranger, but her legally wedded husband.
"When did you get back?"
The two of them spoke in unison.
Yan An rubbed his temples, which were throbbing fiercely from the shock of her assault. "Why didn't you give a heads-up?"
"You weren't around when I got back either."
Completely oblivious to the fact that she was dodging the question, Zheng You'an looked down at herself. She was still wearing a lace-trimmed slip nightgown, while Yan An on the bed was bare-chested. As for whether he was wearing anything on his lower half, the duvet blocked her view, but judging by the tactile feedback from that kick a moment ago, he appeared to be lacking pajama pants.
The entire scene transported her right back to the night before her departure abroad.
That unexpected accident had nearly steered their "contract marriage" onto a completely derailed path.
Fortunately, Zheng You'an had made a decisive split-second judgment: before Yan An even woke up the following morning, she packed her bags and fled all the way to North Africa, dragging their relationship back onto its intended track.
Recalling this, Zheng You'an felt a warm wave of self-satisfation over her own brilliance.
"I thought you were staying over at Minchen Apartments."
"I do stay there, but this house needs a little human presence every now and then."
Yan An made a move to get up, but remembering his lack of proper attire, he pointed toward the bathrobe hanging on the rack behind her, signaling for her to hand it over.
Following the direction of his finger, Zheng You'an understood, grabbed the robe, and tightly wrapped herself up like a mummy.
Watching her fluid, seamless sequence of actions from start to finish, Yan An let out a heavy exhale.
Fine, whatever.
Hooking his chin with a sideways glance, Yan An got straight out of bed and strode directly into the walk-in closet right before her eyes.
When they emerged once more, both were dressed in proper attire.
Yet sitting face to face, they found themselves completely at a loss for words.
"Weren't you supposed to be back next month?"
While pulling out his phone to order catering delivery, Yan An asked, "What do you feel like eating?"
"Whatever." No sooner had the word left Zheng You'an's lips than she remembered Pei Qing was scheduled to pick her up soon.
However, Yan An had clearly already arranged for lunch and placed his phone facedown on the table.
After a brief moment of thought, Zheng You'an tapped out a quick message to Pei Qing: Hold off on picking me up for now. Let me have lunch first, come around two.
"I'm feeling a bit under the weather, so I came back to rest."
Zheng You'an spoke in an offhand tone.
"Under the weather?" Yan An lifted his gaze. "What's wrong?"
"Probably caught a mild cold." Letting out a yawn mid-sentence, Zheng You'an added, "I just feel like I can never get enough sleep lately."
"Did you see a doctor?"
"I did. Nothing major, probably just burnout from lack of rest recently."
"Then you should stay home and rest properly for a while."
"Mmm, got it."
Such conversational exchanges were a frequent occurrence between them.
Zheng You'an was reminded of the time she was hospitalized as a child. Uncle Yan had brought Yan An along to visit her, and he had delivered the exact same advice: "Get some good rest."
After all, Zheng You'an had known Yan An since she was twelve. That was right when she entered middle school, while Yan An had already graduated high school—meaning he existed entirely in a different world from her perspective.
While she had looked up to and yearned for adult life, Yan An naturally viewed her as nothing more than a little sister.
Following lunch, right at the stroke of two, Pei Qing texted Zheng You'an instead of coming inside.
"I'll be heading out then." Zheng You'an stood up to leave, but suddenly remembering something, she spun back around. "Oh right, I brought you a gift from abroad, but my luggage was already sent to Boju Tianchen. I'll have someone ship it over to you later."
Yan An set down his knife and fork, raising his eyes to pin her with a stare.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm heading back to Boju Tianchen." Having wrapped up her errands, Zheng You'an grabbed her purse and waved at Yan An. "Enjoy your meal, then!"
Just as she turned on her heel, however, her wrist was seized in a firm grip.
"Didn't I just tell you to stay home and rest?"
"Hmm?"
Zheng You'an turned back to look at Yan An, gradually reading the true intent behind his gaze.
"Are you staying here?"
Yan An: "Where else?"
Thinking about it logically, Zheng You'an realized he had a point. Since she had returned sick, if she hauled herself back to live alone at Boju Tianchen, the moment her family found out, they'd start fussing over her again.
"Alright then, I'll have someone ship my luggage over."
With that, she grabbed her phone and headed upstairs. Watching her retreating figure, Yan An's gaze remained dark and unreadable.
He still couldn't quite figure out what was going on inside Zheng You'an's head.
Following that night, he had woken up the next morning to discover that his wife had already flown right out of Asia, leaving him thoroughly infuriated.
He had even been tempted to check the bedside table to see if the woman had left behind any prostitution fees.
In truth, prior to that, the two of them had practically never cohabited.
Coincidentally, every time they happened to visit this villa, their schedules missed each other by a mile, making last night only the second time they had ever shared that bed.
"Oh, by the way." Pausing midway up the spiral staircase, Zheng You'an glanced back down. "Big Brother Yan, which room are you using? I'm sick, so mind handing the master bedroom over to me? I feel like the sunlight in the other guest rooms doesn't compare."
Tilting his head and lifting his chin, Yan An studied her for several long seconds.
Felt unnerved by his scrutiny, Zheng You'an touched her cheek and opened her mouth to speak, only for him to reply: "Whatever you want."
Naturally, Zheng You'an claimed the master bedroom.
Yet late that night, as she lay lounging in bed scrolling through her phone, Yan An strolled right in clad in his pajamas.
Startled, Zheng You'an snapped upright. "You—"
Yan An: "Did you take your medicine?"
Seeing the glass of water and pills in Yan An's hand, Zheng You'an froze for a moment before replying, "Oh, I forgot."
Accepting the glass from Yan An and swallowing the medicine down, Zheng You'an felt the mattress dip on the opposite side. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she nearly choked to death on her own saliva.
"You, cough, cough, cough..."
Yan An had no choice but to straighten up and pat her heavily on the back.
"Nobody's going to fight you for your medicine."
"It's not—" Once she finally caught her breath, Zheng You_an realized her face was flushed crimson from coughing. "Are you sleeping on this side tonight?"
The hand resting against her back froze mid-motion, an expression of profound incomprehension crossing his features. "I'm not allowed to sleep here?"
"Of course you... can, your name is on the property deed after all."
Unsure what part of her statement had triggered a glitch, Zheng You'an watched as Yan An simply turned his back to her without another word and lay down to sleep.
Reaching out to click off the floor lamp, Zheng You'an pulled the covers up, but sleep eluded her for a long time.
Thank goodness Yan An hadn't interrogated her about why she had suddenly fled that day; otherwise, she truly wouldn't have known how to spin a credible excuse.
Short of inventing an alien invasion requiring her immediate intervention to save the planet, she couldn't possibly conjure up a plausible justification.
She certainly couldn't confess that she had simply panicked.
Calculated properly, they had been married for a full year, faithfully performing their respective roles in this game of plastic marriage.
And that night had marked their wedding anniversary. When she jokingly suggested celebrating with a drink, Yan An had agreed on the spot, unsealing a bottle of vintage red wine.
As they drank, the pair chatted idly.
Drifting from their initial meeting to the present day, neither of them could have predicted they would ever wind up sharing the same marriage certificate.
What Yan An hadn't anticipated even more was that Zheng You'an's alcohol tolerance was so thoroughly pathetic—barely three glasses in, her eyes turned hazy, and she ended up draped across his shoulder blabbering drunken nonsense.
Yet this little sister's drunken antics happened to be rather endearing.
One second she insisted on dancing on the bed, the next she wanted to catch crickets on the lawn downstairs.
Naturally, letting her wander outside in the middle of the night was out of the question. Unable to reason with her, he simply hoisted her over his shoulder, carried her into the bedroom, locked the door, and told her to take a bath and go to sleep.
As for what transpired afterward—just thinking about it sent a fresh jolt of palpitations through Zheng You'an.
The root cause of those palpitations was simple: she was painfully aware of her exact standing within this marriage.
The moment she let herself fall for him, she was completely finished.
Yet on that fateful night, that last remaining thread of her rational sanity had preserved the breathless rhythm of her racing heartbeat all the way until dawn.
As an adult, she sometimes struggled to draw a clean dividing line between physical intimacy and true affection.
Precisely because of that, she recognized that if the sheer pleasure and drowning indulgence of that night were allowed to develop unchecked, it could spell serious trouble.
Thus, the following morning, wrapped in a blend of panic and cool calculation, she sat up against the headboard and booked herself a one-way ticket to Morocco.
Yes! And visa-free too!
At least she believed those three months of geographical separation would reset their relationship back to its default state.
A harmonious, surface-level married couple: she used his money to buy cameras and live her best life, while he raised his young lady friend in carefree bliss.
Quite literally a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, someone clearly didn't share that vision.
When she tossed and turned in her sleep, her leg accidentally brushed against the person beside her. Seconds later, the body heat pressing against her flank edged closer.
When she pried her eyes open, she found Yan An propped up on his arm, gazing intently down at her.
The night was as clear as water, yet his eyes shone brilliantly.
"Why did you suddenly run off that day?"
His low, gravelly voice at that moment sounded devastatingly reminiscent of the way he used to murmur against her ear on that unforgettable night.
Zheng You'an blinked her eyes, a flash of inspiration sparking across her brain.
"Because your performance in bed was mediocre."