Chapter 2: Aren't We Friends Too?
Thankfully, Fu Yusheng only shifted his shoulders. He didn’t wake up.
Zhou Xing’er patted her chest and hurriedly scooped up the clothes from the floor.
She slipped them on as quietly as she could. Her fingers trembled while buttoning up, missing the holes several times. Once dressed, she didn’t even bother tying her shoes. She grabbed her cloth shoes, went barefoot, and tiptoed to the door.
The lock was an old iron one. Turning it made a harsh, grating sound.
Zhou Xing’er took a deep breath. She turned it at the slowest possible speed, bit by bit.
Click.
A soft sound, but crystal clear in the silent room.
Zhou Xing’er squeezed her eyes shut in fear, her body frozen in place. She waited a long while. Hearing no movement behind her, she finally dared to open her eyes. She turned her head. Fu Yusheng was still lying on the bed. Only then did she let out a breath.
She pulled the door open just a crack, slipped through like a wisp of smoke, and gently pushed it shut.
Standing in the guesthouse hallway, Zhou Xing’er felt her back soaked in cold sweat. She quickly put on her shoes and jogged down the stairs.
The morning streets were mostly empty. The air was a bit chilly. It blew against her face, sobering her up quite a bit.
She stood at the street corner, panting heavily.
The most urgent thing right now was buying medicine.
She absolutely could not get pregnant!
Zhou Xing’er patted her pocket. There were still two yuan left over from the original owner. She gritted her teeth and walked down the street, looking for a pharmacy.
……
Not long after Zhou Xing’er left, in the second-floor room of the guesthouse.
Fu Yusheng’s eyes snapped open.
He sat up. His head pounded fiercely. Fragments of last night’s memories came flooding back.
Tea. Burning heat. And a woman.
Fu Yusheng’s face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
He turned his head. The spot beside him was empty. On the bedsheet was a glaring streak of red.
He had actually been played by a woman last night.
He, Fu Yusheng, had lived twenty-five years. When had he ever suffered such a loss?
That damned woman actually dared to drug him!
Fu Yusheng threw off the blanket and stood up. He picked up his clothes from the floor and put them on rapidly. His movements were fast, sharp, every single one carrying suppressed fury.
Dressed, he didn’t even bother washing his face. With a dark expression, he strode out of the room and down the stairs to the first-floor lobby.
Behind the lobby counter, a young female receptionist was slumped over the desk dozing. Hearing the heavy footsteps, she got a fright. She hurriedly rubbed her eyes and stood up.
She looked up and met Fu Yusheng’s face—so cold ice chunks could fall off it.
“Comrade, can I help you with something?” The receptionist girl shrank her neck in fear, asking softly.
“The woman who entered my room last night. Who was she?” Fu Yusheng’s voice was low. You couldn’t tell if he was happy or angry, but it sent chills down your spine.
The receptionist girl froze, staring at him blankly. “Huh? Last night? Too many people came last night. I, I don’t know which one you mean.”
“A woman in a red shirt,” Fu Yusheng said. His memory was blurry. That woman must have drugged him yesterday, but the color of her clothes was too eye-catching. He still remembered it.
The receptionist girl scratched her hair, looking troubled. “Comrade, I’m really sorry. There was a big market here last night. Way too many guests. I was on duty alone, couldn’t even keep up with the registrations. The power went out for over half an hour last night too. Pitch black. I really couldn’t memorize that many faces. Besides, lots of people came looking for others. I couldn’t stop every single one to ask.”
Hearing this, Fu Yusheng frowned deeply. “Don’t you have a registration book here?”
“We do, but, but it was too chaotic yesterday. Some people went in without registering. I, I really don’t know.” The receptionist girl was about to cry.
Fu Yusheng looked at her terrified expression. He knew pressing further wouldn’t get him anything.
He took a deep breath, forcing the rage in his heart down.
That damned woman!
She slept with him, and then just ran off!
What exactly was her goal?
Fu Yusheng clenched his fists. His knuckles cracked.
“Don’t let me catch you again.” Fu Yusheng gritted his teeth, muttering in a low voice. Then he turned around and strode out of the guesthouse.
……
On the other side, Zhou Xing’er walked along the street for a long time. Finally, at the mouth of an alley, she spotted a small pharmacy with a Red Cross sign hanging up.
The shop was tiny, the lighting inside somewhat dim. A young girl sat behind the counter, cracking sunflower seeds.
Zhou Xing’er walked in nervously. Her palms were sweaty.
In this era, a young girl coming to buy this kind of medicine would definitely draw strange looks. But Zhou Xing’er couldn’t care less. Compared to a miserable death, what was losing a little face?
“Comrade, do you have birth control pills?” Zhou Xing’er walked up to the counter and asked quietly.
The clerk girl stopped cracking seeds and looked up at Zhou Xing’er.
Seeing how pretty Zhou Xing’er was, and how neatly dressed, a strange look flashed in the clerk girl’s eyes. She curled her lip and asked irritably, “Which kind? The one you take after, or the regular kind?”
“After.” Zhou Xing’er’s face was as red as an apple. Her voice was quieter than a mosquito.
The clerk girl rolled her eyes at her. She turned around, rummaged through the medicine cabinet behind her, pulled out a small paper box, and tossed it straight onto the counter.
“One yuan, two mao,” the clerk girl said coldly.
Zhou Xing’er hurriedly fished out one yuan and two mao from her pocket and handed it over.
“Comrade, could I have a cup of water? I want to take it right now,” Zhou Xing’er asked anxiously.
The clerk girl took the money. Reluctantly, she poured a cup of warm water from the thermos nearby and handed it to Zhou Xing’er.
Zhou Xing’er quickly tore open the box. There were two pills inside. She popped one out, put it in her mouth, lifted the cup, gulped down a big mouthful of water, and swallowed the pill.
“Thank you, comrade.” Zhou Xing’er returned the cup to the clerk, stuffed the remaining pill into her pocket, and hurried out of the pharmacy.
After taking the medicine, the huge boulder in Zhou Xing’er’s heart finally dropped to the ground.
As long as she didn’t get pregnant, those tragedies from the original novel wouldn’t happen. She wouldn’t have to marry that terrifying man Fu Yusheng. And she definitely wouldn’t give birth to some pitiful kid meant to be a foil.
Inside the pharmacy, the clerk girl watched Zhou Xing’er leave. She curled her lip, picked up the trash from the medicine box on the counter, and got ready to throw it away.
Just as she was about to toss it, the corner of her eye caught the production date printed on the back of the box.
October 1988.
It was currently June 1991.
The shelf life of this medicine was two years.
Meaning, this box had been expired for over half a year?