Chapter 3: A Little More Dignified

Chapter 3: Carry Yourself with Dignity

In the dim stairwell, Fang Xiaoling descended one step at a time, clutching the wish card in her hand. Roland’s words kept circling through her mind:

“I don’t particularly like human emotions. They always interfere with thought and make people do irrational things. But when someone knows how to make use of her emotions, that is another matter entirely. We women should learn to use our advantages to express anger. Physical violence isn’t what we’re good at. What you need to attack is his heart. While venting your own fury, you must also make him feel guilty. This is what you should do…”

Before she realized it, she had reached the ninth floor. Shen Yi lived in the two-bedroom apartment on this floor. The reason Fang Xiaoling had taken the stairs instead of the elevator was that she did not know how to face him. Roland had already explained every step to her, yet she was still afraid of ruining everything. Standing outside the door, she took out her house key, but for a long while, she could not summon the courage to unlock it.

Just as she hesitated, the door suddenly opened from within. Light spilled over her, leaving her nowhere to hide.

At the same time, Roland was illuminated by a beam of light. It came from a flashlight, its glare intense, yet Roland did not even blink. She stared directly at the several tattooed brutes before her and asked coldly, “Is there something you need?”

The bald man holding the flashlight opened his eyes wide. “My God, this girl is gorgeous! Coming to this street alone, dressed so provocatively—she must be here to sell herself, right?”

“Third Brother, don’t scare her.” The man with a scar across his left cheek stepped in front of Roland. “Beautiful, you’re not from around here, are you?”

Roland did not even raise her eyelids. She continued walking forward as though the street were deserted.

“This back street isn’t somewhere just anyone dares to come, especially at night.” The bald man and several of his men blocked her path, grinning crookedly. “Don’t get the wrong idea. We brothers just want to invite you for a drink.”

With that, his men surrounded Roland. Laughing and jeering, they reached for her, only to grasp at empty air. Roland had already leapt into the air and landed steadily some distance away.

“Well, well, she knows how to fight! She looks so slender, but who would have thought she could jump like that?” The scarred man seemed even more excited. He rolled his neck. “If we offer her to Dragon Lord, the old man will definitely love her!”

The bald man’s expression darkened. “Second Brother, if we give such a fine piece of merchandise to Dragon Lord, what about the rest of us?”

The scarred man rubbed his fists together with a laugh. “Of course we’re giving her to Dragon Lord. I never said we had to hand her over right away. Come here, little beauty!”

Her high heels struck the ground with a crisp click, click. Roland walked toward the group one step at a time and said, “All right. Take me to Dragon Lord.”

The bald man stood there in stunned silence for several seconds. Only after making sure he had not misheard did he ask nervously, “You… what do you mean?”

At that very moment, in the Green Apartments, just two streets away, Shen Yi uttered the exact same words.

“I mean exactly what I said.” Fang Xiaoling lowered her head and continued packing. “A friend will be here to pick me up soon. Isn’t this better? Everything is as you wanted. The car and the apartment are yours. You can move that female colleague in directly.”

Shen Yi had expected Fang Xiaoling to return home crying and making a scene. Instead, everything was the opposite of what he had imagined. She seemed to have let go of everything and was behaving with extraordinary calm—an unnatural calm, almost as if…

“Why do I feel as though you’ve been looking forward to this day? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?”

A wave of bitterness surged into Fang Xiaoling’s nose. Did Shen Yi mean he could not bear to see her go? She wanted to throw her arms around him and say that she did not want to leave. But Roland’s words surfaced in her mind:

“Fang Xiaoling, remember this. No matter what happens, no matter what he says, you must follow the plan exactly tonight. Don’t miss a single step. If you can’t do that, you’ll have to fend for yourself from now on!”

“Does it matter?” Fang Xiaoling replied with forced composure. Roland had instructed her to answer any question Shen Yi asked with something along those lines.

Shen Yi lit a cigarette and exhaled a plume of smoke. “Ah… I suppose not. Things have come to this, so do whatever you want. I don’t really care. It just feels unfair to you.”

“I’m sorry.” Fang Xiaoling did not know what else to say. Roland had told her that whenever she did not know what to say, she should apologize. If she could not hold back her tears or ruined any part of the plan, she should apologize.

Shen Yi froze for a moment, then forced a smile. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I…”

Before he could finish, Fang Xiaoling interrupted him.

“I’m really sorry!”

“You… You haven’t done anything to apologize to me for.”

“I’m sorry!”

Shen Yi was completely bewildered. He took a deep drag on his cigarette, remained silent for a while, and then asked, “Did you do something that betrayed me?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

Shen Yi threw his cigarette butt onto the floor. “What’s that supposed to mean? We’re not even divorced yet. Is there someone else outside?”

Fang Xiaoling wrestled with herself for a long time before finally following Roland’s instructions.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“If it doesn’t matter, then answer me!”

Fang Xiaoling raised her head and looked into Shen Yi’s eyes. Once she confirmed that he was angry, she said, “There’s no need to get angry. You don’t have any feelings for me anymore anyway.”

After saying this, Fang Xiaoling admired Roland even more. Roland had said that if she answered this way, Shen Yi would eventually suffer an emotional breakdown. Once he became emotional, she was to ask him this question and make his subconscious ponder something important:

If he truly no longer cared, then why was he angry?

Roland had said that once she reached this point, Shen Yi would fall into the trap of psychological consistency. He would then try to justify his behavior. No matter what explanation he offered, Fang Xiaoling was to act as though she did not care. Sooner or later, there would be a flaw in his words. The moment he said anything that revealed he still cared about her, Fang Xiaoling was to throw the wish card somewhere he could see it, close her suitcase, pick it up, and leave without looking back, regardless of whether she had finished packing.

“Yes, I really don’t have any feelings for you anymore. I’m simply furious about the fact that you cheated during our marriage.”

“Oh. All right.” Fang Xiaoling replied calmly.

Shen Yi was momentarily speechless. After holding it in for a long time, he said, “At the very least, I never did anything to betray you. At most, that female colleague and I were merely ambiguous. After all, you treated me very well once we were married. But ever since you lost your memory, the difference between you and the woman you were when we were dating has been enormous. You’re practically two different people.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t pretend to have amnesia deliberately just to test me, did you?”

“That isn’t important at all.”

“You keep saying it isn’t important. I know that, to you, nothing matters anymore. But I need to know the truth. After all, I’m still your husband.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want to hear you apologize. Just tell me the truth. What exactly happened? Maybe there’s some misunderstanding between us. The reason I was so decisive with you earlier was that I was afraid you would think there was still hope between us, which would only cause you more pain. The truth is, I still have feelings for you.”

“There it is!” Fang Xiaoling blurted out instinctively.

She had been waiting for Shen Yi to say those words. She was so excited that she had failed to restrain herself, but it did not matter. She had to leave immediately.

“What’s there?”

While Shen Yi stood in confusion, Fang Xiaoling threw the card onto the floor, closed her suitcase, lifted it, and walked out.

“What is this?” Shen Yi was about to pick it up when he saw that Fang Xiaoling had already left without looking back. He hurried after her and called, “Xiaoling, we haven’t finished talking. Why are you in such a hurry?”

Following Roland’s instructions, Fang Xiaoling went to the elevator. If it was not on their floor, she was to wait where she stood. If it was there, she was to step inside and keep pressing the door-open button until Shen Yi came running out, then press the button to close the doors.

“Xiaoling, I’m not trying to stop you from leaving. But shouldn’t we at least clear things up?”

“I’m sorry. Don’t touch me, all right?”

It was as though a miniature Roland had taken up residence in Fang Xiaoling’s mind, constantly knocking on her skull and reminding her:

“This operation has two objectives. First, distance. Maintain a relationship that is friendly yet unfamiliar, and make him feel that you have grown distant from him. Second, mystery. Contrast your behavior with your former personality. Don’t let him feel that everything you do is within his expectations.”

At this point, Fang Xiaoling felt as though she had become a consummate actress. She could even improvise now. She understood Roland’s intentions completely, and at that moment, she worshiped Roland from the bottom of her heart.

The elevator had not arrived yet. Fang Xiaoling kept pressing the door-open button, as though she could not bear to remain there for even another second.

Shen Yi began to feel at a loss. Strangely, he actually felt as though he were the one being abandoned. Yet he had been the one to propose the divorce in the first place.

“Xiaoling, you don’t understand. The reason things became ambiguous between Jiang Tongtong and me was that she reminded me a little of the woman you used to be. I was only reminiscing about how things felt when we were together before. If you haven’t really lost your memory, then tell me—were you deliberately testing me?”

Before he could finish, the elevator doors opened. Fang Xiaoling stepped inside and slowly said to Shen Yi, “What you’re saying doesn’t matter anymore.”

Shen Yi stopped the elevator doors from closing and said urgently, “It matters! If you were testing me, then there would be no need for us to get divorced.”

The corners of Fang Xiaoling’s lips slowly lifted. Her smile came from the heart, because Roland had even anticipated that Shen Yi would stop her at the very last moment.

“Shen Yi, you’re a grown man. Carry yourself with dignity.”

Fang Xiaoling repeated Roland’s exact words.

Shen Yi stood stunned for a long time. At last, he sighed softly and took half a step back, watching helplessly as the elevator doors closed.

End of Chapter