A Lovely Girl Turning into a Rat

Spring scenery provoked people’s interest. When beautiful flowers withered away in late spring, people would be nostalgic for the good old days. Peach flowers and pear flowers were going to bear fruit. The eventual aim of a man and a woman falling in love and getting married was to have a baby.

The wedding day was drawing near. Dong Ci stared blankly at Luo Nan. He wore a happy look but she was overwhelmed with a sense of emptiness. She felt that they were drifting apart; however, she couldn’t make up her mind to leave him. Luo Nan ordered lilies for the bridal bouquet because he always thought that lily was Dong Ci’s favorite flower. He had once sent her roses. At that time, she had told him that roses were cheesy. Since then, he thought that she didn’t like roses.

However, women’s real ideas were sometimes against their remarks.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Dong Ci collected some newspapers and read the news reports about Chen Qi. Then she found what the security guard had said was correctly right. Chen Qi was a psychopath, a killer. He ate human meat, practised usury, laundered money and bribed high officials… But Dong Ci didn’t hate Chen Qi because she had her own logic–

‘He killed many people, but he didn’t kill me.

Do you hate Osama Bin Laden?

No.

Why?

Because he didn’t kill me.

That’s the way things are.

Do you hate the thief who stole your wallet?

Yes, I hate him very much. How I wish he would die!

Why?

Because he stole my wallet.

That’s the way things are.

It is as simple and brutal as that.’

Chen Qi had been executed by shooting a month before Dong Ci was discharged from hospital. At that time, she was immersed in sex with Chen Qi’s former self, Master Nima.

Dong Ci walked out of the reference room and left the library. She saw a large crowd of people crossing the road. Suddenly, a familiar figure flashed in front of her eyes.

She immediately ran towards the crowd but he had disappeared. It seemed to be a hallucination. Her thoughts of Chen Qi made her hallucinate.

A man, who had tried to climb over the railing in the middle of the road, was mown down by a car. A crowd of onlookers gathered at the scene of the crash, and some of them began to vomit. Dong Ci watched them from a distance. She dared not let her eyes settle upon the corpse laying in a pool of blood. He had been run over by the car, his face contorted with pain, his entrails lying scattered on the ground and sending forth a stink of urine and excrement. There was no need for White Emissary and Black Emissary to come to catch him because he would find the way to the gate of Hell himself, just like that drunk taxi driver who had died with Chai Wenxiu.

Police came soon and cleared up the accident scene. A road sprinkler gave the road a good wash. Traffic police dispersed the crowd and traffic was resumed.

‘Tomorrow someone will try to climb over the railing again,’ Dong Ci thought. Some people were afraid of death. Some people were unafraid of death, such as Chen Qi. The bullet passed through his chest and the pain was only momentary.

“Honey, I will take you to buy the wedding rings at noon tomorrow.” Luo Nan, who had just got back from work, said to Dong Ci, “I have booked a banqueting hall in a hotel. As for the style of the wedding invitation, tomorrow we can go to the Wedding Company and choose one.”

“All right. Thank you!” Dong Ci rested her head against his shoulder.

“We will be happy.” Luo Nan held Dong Ci in his arms and asked, “You like a wedding with a great deal of fanfare, don’t you?”

Dong Ci fell asleep while watching TV, as if hypnotized by someone. Luo Nan carried her into the room and laid her on the bed. She was sleeping soundly. He stared at her rosy face and felt a glow of satisfaction. That was the life he wanted to live. The woman he loved was sleeping beside him, and they would live together till old and grey.

The next day, they went to a western-style restaurant for lunch. The restaurant was on the ground floor of the building in which Luo Nan’s company was situated. Luo Nan’s secretary, Shang Linglong was having lunch with them. It was said that she worked very hard recently. She was a beautiful woman, but she was not a threat to Dong Ci. Even if she threatened Dong Ci’s status, Dong Ci wouldn’t worry about it because fear would not help change the facts. When Dong Ci had first met Shang Linglong, she had known that this woman liked Luo Nan. Every beautiful, single female secretary would like her elegant, handsome unmarried boss. Despite her affection for him, she might not become his girlfriend. Even if she became his girlfriend, she might not get married with him. Something unexpected might happen any time. Even an affectionate couple might divorce.

Shang Linglong said to Dong Ci, “I envy you, because you can stay at home and live a life of leisure.”

Dong Ci replied, “You are a smart, capable woman. Thank you for your hard work. You must have helped Luo Nan a lot.”

Luo Nan was being shut out of the dialogue. It was not sensible for a man to interrupt when the women were chatting, so he kept quiet. He cut the steak into small pieces with a knife, and then put them into Dong Ci’s mouth from time to time, as if he was feeding a child.

Dong Ci asked Luo Nan to choose what kind of wedding invitation they were going to use. He had many relatives and friends, and most of the wedding invitations were sent to them. Dong Ci just wanted to invite her parents and uncles to attend her wedding. She also asked Luo Nan to select their wedding rings because she had no idea of jewelry.

Luo Nan chose a pair of rings. Dong Ci tried her ring. It was a little tight and she couldn’t get it off her ring finger. She tugged at it and finally took it off.

“Is it too small?” asked Luo Nan.

“I think it belongs to me. It won’t slip off my finger, and I will never lose it,” Dong Ci said. “Anyway, I like its simple and elegant style. Let’s buy it.”

Before they left the jewelry store, the jewelry saleswoman flattered, “You two look perfect for each other.”

Dong Ci smiled at her and said, “Thank you.”

‘We look perfect for each other? Humph! Every couple look perfect for each other in your eyes, as long as they buy jewelry in your store,’ she thought.

Dong Ci and Luo Nan went out of the shopping mall carrying bags on their hands. Just then, a bus arrived at the bus stop. As soon as the door opened, passengers swarmed onto the bus hoping to get a seat. People in the bus desperately elbowed their ways through the crowd, hoping to get off the bus for some fresh air. ‘Marriage is like this bus: those who are outside want to get in, and those who are inside want to get out,’ she thought.

Luo Nan looked at Dong Ci who was obviously in a trance, and asked, “Babe, what are you thinking about?”

“I was just wondering whether I would have to take a bus home after shopping if I wasn’t your girlfriend.”

“You can take a taxi.”

“I don’t want to be involved in a car accident again,” said Dong Ci.

Luo Nan lapsed into silence.

When they got back home, Luo Nan said, “I’m sorry but I have to go to the company now. I still have a lot of things to deal with. You know I need to finish all my work before May Day.”

“Okay. When will you come back?” Dong Ci handed him a glass of water.

“If I’m not back at 7 pm, you can eat dinner first. Don’t wait for me. You have just recovered. Don’t do too much housework. The part-timer will come to clean the house at 6 pm. You can ask her to cook dinner.” Luo Nan cupped her face in his hands and continued, “I promise you I will spend more time with you after marriage.”

“I believe you.” Dong Ci nodded and asked, “Why are you so kind to me?”

“I don’t know.” After a moment’s thought, Luo Nan said, “Maybe I owed you too much in the previous life.”

“But I didn’t meet you in my previous life,” said Dong Ci.

“Haha, maybe it’s in the more distant past. God knows.” Luo Nan put on his coat and kissed Dong Ci on the nose.

The rays of the setting sun shone slantwise through the trees onto the path downstairs. Dong Ci changed into the pajamas, opened the window and sat down in a soft reclining chair. Then she began to read a book. Gradually, she fell asleep.

It was 8 pm when she woke up. The sky was spangled with stars.

She called Luo Nan and knew that he wouldn’t be back until midnight. Clearly, they couldn’t eat dinner together.

“The part-timer went to our house and rang the doorbell at 6 pm, but no one opened the door for her. Have you gone out?” asked Luo Nan.

Dong Ci explained, “No. I must have dropped off to sleep at that time.”

Luo Nan said, “Alright. I will call her and ask her to go to our house again. Don’t fall asleep this time. By the way, there are so many bad guys outside. Don’t go out at night.”

Dong Ci replied, “Okay, I get it. Tell her to come quickly. I am so hungry.”

She hung up the phone and put the music on. She planned to take a bath before the part-timer would get here. Just as she walked into the bathtub, the doorbell rang.

Dong Ci looked through the peephole and saw the part-timer, Aunt Wang. She had cut her hair short.

Dong Ci opened the door.

There was a man standing behind Aunt Wang. No, he was a ghost. Many people saw him as a ghost.

Chen Qi was back.