Chapter 5 Which Gods Did I Offend?

• Hold on a second. What was going on?
• Was there a need to think about this though? Bai Yu was having an affair. Wasn’t the evidence right before my eyes?
• I stood before Bai Yu, glued to the spot until he turned around and spotted me. Despite the dim lights, I distinctly saw him blush.
• So, Bai Yu was a homosexual who was having an affair and blushed easily.
• I turned around hurriedly. Footsteps sounded behind me. Bai Yu caught up with me and grabbed my wrist.
• “Miss Xiao.”
• “Erm.” I stopped in my tracks, turned around and stared at his sheepish look on his face. “What a coincidence?”
• My blunt attempt at pretending nothing was going on made him blush even brighter.
• “Miss Xiao,” he bit his lips. His mouth moved, but no words came out of it.
• “Don’t worry. I’ll keep quiet about this. Don’t kill me,” I said jokingly.
• “Please don’t…tell Mr. Xi,” he said, in a very quiet voice.
• Of course I wasn’t going to do that. The one who was betrayed was always the last person to find out about the betrayal, after everyone else had already known.
• I nodded.
• “Okay, I won’t tell him.”
• That was when he slowly loosened his grip on my wrist.
• “In that case, I’ll not take up any more of your time then.”
• “Erm.” After walking away, I couldn’t help but take another look just as I took a sharp turn around a corner. I saw the man he had been hugged pat him on the shoulder, in seeming consolation.
• It was clear what was going on. Bai Yu was dating two persons at the same time. He had just been intimate with Xi Qingchuan earlier this afternoon but when night came, he had leapt into the arms of another man in a bar.
• The world of homosexuals was beyond my understanding.
• I came back from the washroom and returned to the suite with a heavier heart.
• A dashing young man had appeared next to Qiao Yi. He was extremely good-looking.
• She introduced him to me.
• “He’s Sen.”
• The young man graced me with an alluring smile.
• “What does he think you are? A man or a woman?” I whispered in her ear.
• “A man, obviously. Why else would he be talking to me?”
• “You’re crazy.” Qiao Yi had always been this crazy, doing things that society frowned upon and giving her mother grief.
• I suddenly lost all interest in staying. I grabbed my purse and told Qiao Yi.
• “I’m leaving.”
• “What happened? You just arrived. Weren’t you the one who said you were upset and wanted to have a few drinks?”
• “Forget about it.” I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Maybe it was because I had just bumped into Bai Yu. I suddenly felt sad for Xi Qingchuan, who had been made a cuckold.
• Even though there was no reason for me to pity him at all.
• “Go ahead and wreck some havoc. I’d advise you to not go overboard though,” I said, patting Qiao Yi on her shoulder. “Did you bring a bodyguard?”
• “Yeah.”
• “Then I’m off.”
• I walked out of the bar. A cool breeze blew past. I took a deep breath.
• The cool air cleared my mind.
• I had thought the lives of gay men worlds apart from mine, and that never the twain shall meet. Who would expect them to be right beside me all along?
• It wasn’t that late when I returned to the Xi residence. The clock had just struck ten.
• Xi Qingchuan’s mother and her group of socialite friends were playing mahjong in the living room.
• The Xi residence had a room set aside just for playing mahjong, but they had chosen to play in the living room instead.
• My foot had barely taken a step into the house before shrinking back again.
• Fine, I’ll go in after they leave. Xi Qingchuan’s mother didn’t like me at all. The family that I had come from wasn’t good enough for her. It would be terrible if I embarrassed her in front of her friends.
• I wandered around in the garden. It was dark and cold. I couldn’t hold back my sneezes.
• Then, I saw a small red light hidden deep in the garden. I took a careful sniff and smelled smoke.
• Who was smoking in the garden?
• I tiptoed over and saw a tall man sitting on the stone bench and speaking into his mobile phone.
• “Where are you? Why haven’t you been picking up your phone? Bai Yu…”
• It was Xi Qingchuan. He was talking to Bai Yu over the phone. His voice brimmed with resentment. It was like watching a young wife waiting at home, longing for her husband’s return.
• Hah, Xi Qingchuan. Look at you now.
• I knew that he had plenty of well-known female admirers in Hua City. Quite a few had broken into tears when they had heard about our wedding. He had been unmoved by their tears then. Let him have a taste of being cuckolded and having his love stolen by someone else now.
• I was about to turn away after eavesdropping on the conversation when I suddenly heard Xi Qingchuan’s creepy voice.
• “Xiao Sheng…”
• The place was pitch black. How did he recognize me?
• There was no way I could outrun him. I was wearing heels. I turned around sheepishly and gave him a smile.
• “What a coincidence?”
• “So, you enjoy vulgar hobbies like listening in to my conversation?” He got up, threw his cigarette butt aside and walked towards me.
• “I wasn’t eavesdropping. I saw a light and came over to check it out.” I smiled, trying to appear harmless. He wouldn’t be able to see it in the dark though.
• He stopped right in front of me, then suddenly leaned in. Startled, I leaned back.
• His arm shot out in the nick of time and circled my waist. That was the only reason I hadn’t fallen.
• His eyes looked bright in the darkness of the garden.
• “You’ve been drinking?”
• He must have a dog’s nose. I only had one glass.
• “Hmm.”
• “With who?”
• Why was he asking for the details? He had never bothered with me in the past.
• “Qiao Yi,” I answered honestly.
• He loosened his grip. As I began falling back again, my arms darted out and wrapped around his neck.
• “Let go,” he said, frowning slightly.
• His thoughts were openly displayed on his face. He thought I was trying to seduce him. I wasn’t. There had been a pebble caught under my shoe and I had lost my balance.
• I fought to regain my balance but I only failed harder the more I struggled. I leaned my full weight onto Xi Qingchuan’s body, pushing him back until he reached the edge of the stone table that he had been sitting next to a moment ago. Then I pushed him right onto the stone table.
• I finally regained my balance then. His brows had bunched up into a deep frown. He gripped my wrist tightly.
• “Can’t wait any longer?”
• What did he mean by that? I didn’t understand a single word he had said.
• I struggled to free myself from his arms. He kept a tight grip on my wrists though as he looked around.
• “This is quite a nice spot.”
• What did that mean? My eyes widened. Xi Qingchuan wrapped his arms around my waist and suddenly flipped us around. Now I was the one lying on the stone table, his body pressing onto mine.
• Under the garden lights’ dim glow, the shadows of tree branches were a web of light and darkness cast across Xi Qingchuan’s handsome face. I couldn’t get a clear look of the expression on his face.
• He was extremely handsome, but he inspired mixed feelings as well.
• The shadows obscuring parts of his face made him appear mysterious and dark.
• The light making visible other parts of his face gave him a sorrowful allure.
• He had always been a complicated person. I blinked. His face slowly pressed down towards mine.
• Just as the tip of his tongue and its slight coolness touched my lips, I suddenly recalled what Qiao Yi had told me earlier.
• “Some people have certain fetishes when it comes to where they want to do it. For example, some people enjoy doing it in a vast field, some in a creepy graveyard…”
• She had been right after all. Xi Qingchuan appeared to have particular preferences when it came to location.
• In the garden, in the middle of a frosty night, he reached for my collar and yanked.
• “This dress belongs to your secretary,” I moaned.
• I had had two dresses ruined within a single day.
• Xi Qingchuan was a beast who was ruled by his emotions and base needs, and took what he wanted.
• I was no match for his strength. He did whatever he wanted.
• He didn’t completely lose his senses this time though. He picked me up and laid his clothes over the stone table before placing me back on the table again. After that, he pressed down on me.
• The faint fragrance of magnolias encircled us in a light embrace as Xi Qingchuan seeded my body with his passion.
• I was his wife. I had no reason to push him away. I just couldn’t help but think.
• How did I become a substitute for Bai Yu? Why does Xi Qingchuan use me as an outlet for his release when he can’t get to Bai Yu?
• A sudden pain pierced my earlobe. Xi Qingchuan murmured into my ear.
• “Stop getting distracted. Stay focused.”