Love with ulterior motives

Chapter 3

Ye You ate like a child, and Xian Jing stared blankly at his face. "Your girlfriend likes you a lot, doesn't she?"

"I don't have a girlfriend, you can be her."

“Someone like you, I can’t protect.” Xian Jing sighed. “I’m not right for you.”

"Who said that? I think you're very well-behaved. I like you, really." Ye You almost choked. "I like the food you cook; it tastes just like my mom's."

"I don't like young boys, I'm older than you." Xianjing felt that she liked mature and experienced men.

"Your breasts are bigger than mine, aren't they?" Ye You said, serving rice. "I'm young, but my little brother isn't small."

With a "pfft," Xian Jing spat out her food onto the table. "Don't talk nonsense while eating."

This was the first time in two years that she had held hands with a man and walked down the street; she felt a little awkward. Ye You's hair was slightly long, neat, and a little messy.

“You’re quite popular, aren’t you? Women are always staring at you,” Xianjing said.

"It's so sour." Ye You kissed Xian Jing on the street.

Occasionally, passersby would stop to watch, but finding it uninteresting, they would hurry on their way.

It doesn't matter if others find it uninteresting; as long as you find it interesting, then it's interesting.

The silence was suffocating.

Ye You suffocated.

The smell of scrambled eggs wafted through their mouths.

Shopping at supermarkets, stores, street stalls, and pet shops—everything is new and exciting when you're in love. Arms around each other's waists, joy and desire swell rapidly.

"Let's go home." Ye You pinched Xian Jing's cheek. "I want you."

Xian Jing smiled and said, "If you keep doing this, I won't play with you anymore."

That's exactly what I mean by cuteness. When you love someone, everything about them is adorable.

Anzhu suddenly realized she had been neglecting her friends for her boyfriend, so she called her old friend to ask, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"She's taking a shower, and I'm watching TV." Ye You's voice was very pleasant.

"Who are you……"

"I'm Xianjing's boyfriend, and you are?"

"I'm Anzhu. You are...her boyfriend? Boyfriend?"

Xianjing answered the phone, "Hello, is this Anzhu?"

Ye You ripped off her bath towel and kissed her passionately all the way down her neck to her thighs.

"Boyfriend? Who is he? Remember to take precautions, I still have a condom in my drawer." Anzhu was full of doubt.

"I e back as soon as possible...ah...goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, Ye You stopped moving.

"Why don't you continue?" Xian Jing's eyes blazed with anger.

The red eyes outside the window were also spitting fire.

Pale red water droplets seeped from the bathroom tiles.

After the passion subsided, I slept soundly, having long forgotten the landlady's warning. With love, who's afraid of ghosts?

Lying in Ye You's arms, he felt safe, like hugging a big tree. In the middle of the night, Ye You snuggled into his arms instead. His long hair smelled wonderful, making his chest itch. He smoothed it with his fingers and fell into a deep sleep.

In the early morning, Xianjing woke up as usual, thinking, "Go to work, go to work."

Today is Sunday. Xian Jing felt silly. In the morning light, Ye You was fast asleep, her eyelashes looking like small fans from the side.

I secretly got out of bed, squatted on the toilet, and kept dozing off.

Through the glass, someone was taking a shower; the water flowed gently, and steam rose from the water. Xianjing rubbed her eyes. "Anzhu's back?"

"You came back without saying a word, are you playing the ghost?" Xianjing grumbled, pulling up her pants.

Could you please get me a towel?

"Fine, Grandma, you're ruthless, coming back so early."

A towel was handed over, and a hand reached out from behind the glass sliding door.

It wasn't Anzhu's fair hand, but another yellowed, ulcerated hand. The skin on her arm was turned inside out, the blood was red, the pus was yellow, the joints were white, and the charred flesh was sizzling and emitting blue smoke.

The glass sliding doors opened completely.

The one taking a bath wasn't An Zhu, but a strange woman. Holding the tap, in the steaming heat, her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears looked as if they had been brutally crushed and then reassembled. Two large pieces of rotting flesh hung between her ribs from her chest, falling off piece by piece with each rinse of water. Her hair was very, very long, reaching the ground, and dried blood clumped it together in strands.

"A ghost!!!" It was supposed to be a scream, but because of her fear, Xianjing's scream was so faint that even the ghost couldn't hear it.

"Let me finish this bath. I beg you." Her mouth had no lips, and she spoke in a muffled voice.

The red eyes outside the window began to bleed, gradually dimmed, and disappeared.

Xianjing woke up in bed; it was noon. Ye You said she saw her sleeping in the bathroom this morning. "You must have sleepwalking, sweetie."

Xianjing got up and ran to the bathroom, but the glass door was empty.

Anzhu's towel had five charred black holes, and water was dripping from it, water that looked like rust.

Anzhu called, "I'll be back at noon, and I'll visit your boyfriend while I'm at it."

Ye You hugged Xian Jing from behind and said, "I'm leaving. I have something to do this afternoon. I'll come find you tomorrow night."

The room was very quiet.

Was it a dream or reality? Xianjing's head throbbed with pain, as if countless sharp objects were piercing her body. She had caught a cold, so she took out a cold medicine supplement rich in PPD from her drawer and swallowed three pills.

The sound of keys, the door opening, footsteps—Anzhu was home.

(five)

Another person also had a key, the landlady.

He was sixty-eight years old, with gray hair, and reeked of the strange smell of mentholatum. Xianjing quickly greeted him, "You've arrived, what brings you here?"

"I've come to inform you that the electricity price has gone up, and I can't get through to Miss Anzhu on the phone. I just happened to be passing by, so I thought I'd drop you off at the keys." The old lady plopped down on the sofa.

"I want to ask you something," Xianjing said. "In the restroom..."

"Did you see something unclean?"

Xianjing nodded, "Yes, I saw her taking a shower early this morning."

"It's quite pitiful," the old woman sighed. "She was my first tenant, and she died later. I don't know why her spirit won't leave. She appears whenever someone takes a bath or sings. I saw her once myself. We had a ritual performed, but it didn't help at all."

"Then I'll move." Xianjing didn't want to cause trouble.

"I can't refund your rent for the second half of the year." The old lady looked at Xianjing. "You'd better discuss it with Miss Anzhu."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Anzhu entered.

“I’m not moving,” Anzhu said decisively. “You can leave now, but leave the keys behind.”

Xianjing saw the old lady downstairs, then turned to Anzhu and said, "I really saw it. If you don't believe me, look at your towel."

Anzhu patted Xianjing on the shoulder, "I've inquired about it. Several previous tenants were scared away in the same way. The old lady embezzled the rent. Don't be so naive. Even if there are ghosts, we didn't harm her, so what are we afraid of?"

Xianjing nodded.

"By the way, where's your boyfriend? I came all the way back to see him." Anzhu took off her high heels and stepped barefoot on the floor, which Xianjing had wiped clean.

"He's gone. He'll probably come over tomorrow night. See you then," Xianjing said. "I'm not cooking lunch. I took some cold medicine and I'm going to sleep."

Anzhu nodded and took out instant noodles from the cupboard. "Get some rest. You're doing alright, having caught both love and a cold at the same time."

Love is like a bad cold, making you lose your original sense of taste.

I dreamt during the day that a long-haired woman was pushing a stroller crammed full of children—six in total. They were all mentally challenged, with blank expressions and bleeding ears. The six children looked alike, with large eyes and wide mouths.

The woman was alluring and charming. "Pick one, please."

After much deliberation, Xianjing chose the smallest one.

The woman said earnestly, "I trust you. You're a good person."

In her dream, Xianjing clearly saw the woman's face weeping, melting, like leather charred by embers, emitting a foul stench. She began to bathe, and a sorrowful song drifted from her cracked throat.

It was her; I saw her in the early morning. The moment she cried was beautiful, poignant.

When I woke up, the room was empty. A note on the table read, "I went to buy groceries. I'll be back for dinner tonight." There was also a bowl of leftover instant noodles. There was no broth, but the noodles were swollen and thick, like roundworms, or theoretically, like Ye You's treasure.

Thinking of Ye You, Xian Jing's legs trembled slightly.

I pushed open the bathroom door; it was quiet.

Xianjing said to the shower room through the glass door, "We didn't mean to harm you, please don't scare me. We don't have much money, we just want to rent this cheap place, please grant our request. If you have unfulfilled wishes, I can't help you. I'm not much better off than you..."

The sewer made a gurgling sound, and a few drops of rust-colored water came out of the tap, splashing around a few times before falling silent. The old house, like an elderly person, always has one problem or another. Xianjing was extremely hungry; she hadn't eaten lunch.

Anzhu bought a carp, which had been pre-killed and was empty of its internal organs; it was only for steaming. Anzhu rarely cooked, unless Xianjing was sick. Xianjing coughed forcefully; being sick had its advantages, at least it allowed her to avoid some things, such as housework.

Anzhu picked up her chopsticks. "Fish are unfortunate. Fish can't talk. The little fish are pitiful. They're going to be eaten by us."

Xianjing looked up and said, "Anzhu, you are so kind."

Anzhu picked up a piece of fish and put it in her mouth. "Next time, I'll braise it."

"The woman I saw was terrifying. Her flesh fell off while she was taking a bath, really, you have to believe me." Xianjing's head ached.

"Alright, alright, I believe you." Anzhu said impatiently, "You keep talking about disgusting things, can't we change the subject? What's your boyfriend like? Is he handsome? Is he capable?"

"Not as handsome as your Stone, alright?" Xian Jing shook her head. The fish was slightly fishy, a fresh fishy smell, and there wasn't much ginger.

As usual, Anzhu applied a face mask that night, covering her lips. She resembled the female ghost, except that the ghost's face was a rotten, dark red, while Anzhu's face was a crisp white.

I didn't get Ye You's phone number, and I can't find him online. I can only wait.

She went to bed early; when you have a cold, you need to sleep more to get better. Xianjing covered her head with the blanket. The strange dream she had during the day didn't affect her sleepiness. She was shaken awake by Anzhu in the early morning, and in a daze, dragged to the bathroom. Anzhu's face was deathly pale. "Ghost...ghost..."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Moving... I'll move today..."

"I have to go to work today, I'll move next week. If I can't afford to mess with them, I'll avoid them." Xianjing squatted on the toilet to pee. "I told you, but you didn't believe me. Now you do."

Anzhu's body trembled uncontrollably. "When I went to the toilet this morning, I saw a pair of red eyes staring at me through the window. Very red eyes."