Love with ulterior motives

Chapter 1

Love with ulterior motives

In spring, we trod the grass together; in summer, we watched fireflies and will-o'-the-wisps dance together; in autumn, I wept wearing the sweater you gave me; in winter, you mended the fragments of my soul in your gentle embrace. Is there such a person in your heart? The lotus leaves in the pond sigh at your absence; love harbors ulterior motives.

Xianjing stood on an unknown street. Some streetlights were on, while others were off. Perhaps they were afraid of the cold, but anyway, it wasn't snowing. It was impossible for it to snow in this city, just as some people say that there could be no ghosts in this world.

The man standing across the street is gone; he was there five minutes ago, but he's not.

In an instant, a chilling wind arose, cold to the bone. The leaves on the trees fell in a rush.

"If only it were banknotes falling," Xian Jing thought.

When all the streetlights were on, withered leaves fell on my shoulders; though they had once been tender green, they could not escape turning to wilt. Xianjing stood motionless, her words still echoing in my ears.

"That's all, goodbye." After saying that, Ye You flicked the cigarette half a meter away with her thumb and middle finger.

Are you sure you don't want to be with me anymore?

"Yes." The cigarette butt half a meter away gradually went out.

Don't you like me anymore?

"Yes."

"oh."

Xian Jing crossed the road and looked at Ye You. Even though they were only separated by a road, it felt like they were in a different world.

Ye You looked at Xian Jing as if they were in a different world, but in reality they were only separated by a street.

After watching for five minutes, making sure she wouldn't cause a car accident for love, he turned and left. He didn't look back; he knew Xianjing wouldn't beg. She was a woman who could easily rise and fall; the next man to meet her would be lucky. Ye You took out another cigarette from his pocket and lit it. The wind picked up again; the windproof Zippo gave him a sense of security. The flame licked the cigarette butt, nicotine entered his lungs, and a light, lingering feeling spread from his brain throughout his body—like the ease after making love.

Xianjing watched him walk away, standing there for a long time.

The same things happen all the time in the world: war, car accidents, murder, AIDS... The end of a relationship seems insignificant and trivial. Everyone is too busy to notice this little woman's sadness. Even if Anzhu knew, she would at most offer a few words of comfort, saying that there are plenty of three-legged men out there, not three-legged toads.

She didn't understand Xianjing's heart.

No one can truly understand another's heart.

Because even you don't understand your own heart.

(one)

Xianjing and her colleague Anzhu share an apartment. When they saw the price, their eyes lit up like they were shopping for a designer brand on sale. It was in the city center, a two-bedroom apartment with all furniture and utilities included, for only 500 yuan a month.

Heaven has eyes, and Xianjing clasped her hands together in prayer.

The landlady collected a year's rent at once, then said she wouldn't be back until this time next year, and asked the two of them not to damage the furniture. Then, with a half-smile, she said to Xianjing, "Don't sing when you take a shower tonight."

Xianjing is very superstitious.

Anzhu is the same.

The initial excitement of finding a cheap house faded.

"Has anyone died here?" Xianjing asked cautiously.

The landlady nodded. "You don't need to know too much."

"It really is a house where someone died, otherwise how could it be so cheap?" Anzhu looked at the house; it was indeed a great deal. You couldn't find anything this cheap anywhere else.

If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear. The landlady gave them the key.

To save money, I rented it anyway; being poor is more terrifying than a ghost.

After packing up, Xianjing burned a lot of paper money, and Anzhu prayed on the ground for a long time. Then she wrote the words "Singing is prohibited while showering" with a brush and pasted them on the bathroom door.

Everything is peaceful and safe.

An Zhu was very thin, but her hair was unusually smooth, and her skin was very white, even whiter than a female ghost's face when she wore a face mask.

Anzhu reminded Xianjing that she was twenty-seven years old and it was time to get married.

Xianjing looked at her fair face and said indifferently, "Silly girl, have you seen Winter Sonata? You met Lee Minhyung when you were twenty-eight. I'm not ready yet."

Anzhu stopped talking and picked up the remote to change the channel.

Xianjing snatched it away, "Hey, can't you show some democracy? Mr. Bean is really good."

"I'm wearing a face mask right now, so I can't watch comedy shows, or I'll get wrinkles." Anzhu opened the drawer, took out a DVD, and the cover read "Zombies Overcome Boundaries." "Watch something serious." As she said this, only her mouth moved, like a zombie.

Xian Jing said, "I'm afraid of horror movies."

"If you're scared, go online and chat with some guys, and while you're at it, charge my phone battery." Anzhu made herself a cup of tea and sat comfortably on the sofa.

Xianjing walked into Anzhu's room, turned on the computer, and plugged in her phone charger.

The chat room was bustling with activity. Xian Jing's screen name was Xian Jing, since it was just a casual chat anyway.

Xianjing entered the chat room discreetly, simply displaying her name and observing others' conversations.

Ye You chatted with her.

“You’re lazy,” Ye You typed.

"where?"

"I saw you stretching." Ye You typed very quickly.

“That’s because I’m lonely.” Xian Jing typed these words inexplicably.

"Your name is Xianjing?"

"Your name is Ye You?"

"right"

"right"

Xian Jing glanced into the living room, just as An Zhu was looking into the room to check if her phone was charging. Their eyes met, and Xian Jing shivered. Women wearing face masks are scarier than ghosts.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Ye You was smoking on the other end of the computer. The woman on the bed was already asleep, her naked body illuminated by the computer light, her skin smooth and alluring.

"That's all for today, I'm going to take a shower." Xianjing stretched.

“Watch out, I’m watching you from outside the window,” Ye You wrote, while simultaneously clicking on another chat room ID called “Lonely Young Woman” and writing, “Hello, lonely young woman.”

"88." Xianjing had no mood to argue with the playboy and went to sleep after taking a shower.

"Don't call me dad." Ye You typed with a smile, her smile mischievous, revealing her very white teeth.

Xianjing turned off the computer. Anzhu had finished her face mask routine; it was a peel-off type. The face in the trash can looked like it was crying. Mr. Bean on TV was struggling to be funny.

"Not watching horror movies anymore?" Xianjing asked, holding clean pajamas as she prepared to go into the bathroom.

"That's disgusting. I'd rather watch Mr. Bean." Anzhu's skin was flawless.

While taking a bath, Xianjing felt that there was a pair of big red eyes watching her from outside the window; only the eyes were visible.

The water is very hot.

Xian Jing's body trembled.

"Damn Ye You," Xian Jing cursed at the man in the chat room. "I knew I shouldn't have gone online. I'm just scaring myself."

If we had known there were so many living people, there wouldn't be so many dead people, and if there weren't so many dead people, there wouldn't be so many ghosts.

Anzhu couldn't persuade Xianjing otherwise, so she could only move a stool and sit at the bathroom door to watch TV. The door was open, and Xianjing said, "I feel at ease when I see someone."

An Zhu said, "Coward."

The red eyes outside the window watched the back of Anzhu's head until they gradually disappeared outside the window...

(two)

Xianjing is a junior clerk at the company, constantly busy like a spinning top. Everyone likes to boss her around, preferring to order around honest people without connections. Anzhu is the manager's assistant, a slightly higher position, but the company is recently laying off staff, causing widespread anxiety. Anzhu is filled with unease, wishing she had developed a relationship with the manager, but unfortunately, the manager is a woman.

Work is very important for the poor, especially for poor people who are single and living far from home. Xianjing was so tired during the day that her hands cramped up. She didn't eat dinner and stayed at the company to work overtime. Anzhu said, "I'm leaving now. Don't stay up too late. I'm going home now." After saying that, she left behind a fragrance, a perfectly pleasant fragrance.

I ordered Sichuan twice-cooked pork rice from the restaurant downstairs. It was greasy, so I ate a few bites, closed the lid, threw it in the trash can next to me, and went back to work.

Xianjing looked out the window. The company was in the suburbs, pitch black and desolate. There were no terrifying red eyes outside the window, but her own eyes were red, dry, and sore.

It's 10 PM. Since there are no more buses going home, I'll take a taxi later. I'll rest for a bit now. Xian Jing thought.

The long and tedious report was finally finished. Xian Jing casually opened the chat room page, and sure enough, Ye You was logged in. She clicked on his profile and saw that he was a high-level user. He must be flirting with girls all the time, Xian Jing thought.

Ye You called out Xian Jing's name, "Beautiful lady, it's good to see you again."

"Hello." Xianjing was hungry and looked at the boxed lunch in the trash can, feeling a little regretful.

"Have you got a meal yet?"

"I'm eating." Xian Jing hesitated before taking her lunchbox out of the trash can. The food was already cold, but when you're hungry, who cares about anything else? "Orchids naturally smell sweet, growing beside the main road," she comforted herself.

Anyway, nobody saw it.

"Stop eating."

"?" Xian Jing was stunned, and tears fell down her cheeks.

"Where are you? I want to see you." Ye You's room was empty; there was no woman there tonight.

"suburbs."

"Location?"

"The office in the Yunhai Building with the lights on." Xian Jing thought he wouldn't come unless he was crazy.

"Telephone?"

"I'll wait for you here. Until eleven o'clock." Xianjing threw down her lunchbox for the second time because she had finished eating and was very full. After being full, she wanted to be hugged.

After shutting down her computer, Xianjing rushed downstairs and hailed a taxi to go home.

After shutting down the computer, Ye You slowly walked into the bathroom, took out his "tool," and bent slightly at the waist. There were some pale yellow foams in the toilet bowl. Ye You whistled, thinking that this would feel even better.

Anzhu was asleep on the sofa, breathing evenly like a lazy cat. The TV was on, though. Sometimes it's too quiet and she can't fall asleep, but the noise from the TV makes her thoughts chaotic and helps her fall asleep faster.

Xianjing closed the window and took a blanket from the bed to cover Anzhu. She left the TV on, at least that way there would be sounds of conversation in the room.

Turn on the computer. Ye You is still on it.

"I'm here, but you're not here. There are no lit rooms in the Yunhai Building." Ye You exhaled a smoke ring.

"I waited for you even though you didn't come," Xianjing said with a smile.