‘Are you cold?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

‘Yes,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘Then why are you sweating?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

‘It’s… cold sweat,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘I’ll sacrifice my body and be your heater,’ Hao Yan Che said.

‘You don’t need to,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

Yuan Gun Gun protected her Hello Kitty gloves.

‘Take it all off,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Yuan Gun Gun sat back on the bed.

‘If you don’t take it all off, I don’t mind using my way to take it all,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Yuan Gun Gun took off her gloves, scarf, beanie, fur jacket, fur vest and all the other layers under the fur vest except for her night shirt and the pants underneath the fur pants.

‘Pants,’ Hao Yan Che said.

‘No,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

Yuan Gun Gun pounded Hao Yan Che’s chest while he took off her fur pants.

‘Don’t test a person’s patience,’ Hao Yan Che said.

‘You’re not human,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘Which is why you shouldn’t provoke me,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Underneath the fur pants were track pants, jeans, leggings and shorts that matched her night shirt.

‘Daddy…’ Yuan Gun Gun called.

‘Even if you called someone from the heavens, it’s useless,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Hao Yan Che tossed the pile of clothes onto the floor.

‘You have three seconds to stop crying,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘If you don’t stop crying. I’ll make you cry every day even if I have to hit you. Do you believe me?’

Yuan Gun Gun sniffed her nose.

‘Last night where did you go?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

‘Shopping with my mummy and ate dinner at home,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘Where did you go afterward?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

‘Big brother Du took me to Gossip Lovers…,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘Then last night you lied to me,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Yuan Gun Gun didn’t know what to say.

‘Answer me,’ Hao Yan Che asked.

‘Yes, but…’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘What day was yesterday?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

‘Friday,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘What did I tell you?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

‘I’m only allowed to eat ice-cream once a week,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘Are my words only wind to you?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

‘No, but…’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘Does eating ice-cream to you mean eating ice-cream off your body?’ Hao Yan Che asked. ‘Or is it you and him have a special way of eating ice-cream like taking off clothes and biting each other?

Hao Yan Che pulled down Yuan Gun Gun’s night shirt. There were another man’s markings on her breast.

‘Big brother Du… he… I… he,’ Yuan Gun Gun mumbled. ‘It’s not what you think.’

‘What about kissing lips?’ Hao Yan Che asked. He held Yuan Gun Gun’s throat. ‘Is it a custom for you to kiss other men’s lips goodbye?’

‘You saw?’ Yuan Gun Gun asked.

‘I didn’t just see,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘I saw clearly. Why didn’t you two do it in the car like how we did it together last night?’

Yuan Gun Gun looked down and didn’t say anything.

Hao Yan Che let go of Yuan Gun Gun’s neck. He walked to the door, kicked the door open and walked outside.

Yuan Gun Gun curled up on the bed and cried. She wished the person she liked was Na Liu Ting Du instead of Hao Yan Che.

One week later, Yuan Gun Gun became abnormally quiet. She only talked if someone asked her a question. Other times she laid in bed and watched TV.

On the following Monday, Yuan Ting Liu called Yuan Gun Gun and told her that Na Liu Ting Du moved to Paris. Na Liu Ting Du asked Yuan Ting Liu to pass on a message to Yuan Gun Gun. Na Liu Ting Du wanted Yuan Gun Gun to be happy, and he would buy her French chocolates when he came back home to visit. But she knew that Na Liu Ting Du wouldn’t come back to visit her again.

Hao Yan Che noticed Yuan Gun Gun’s odd change in behavior. He didn’t want to upset her so he suppressed his frustrations. He hated how she stuck to the rules. The change in Yuan Gun Gun’s behaviour was a butterfly effect. Hao Yan Che couldn’t vent out his frustrations on Yuan Gun Gun, and as a consequence anyone working under him were affected even if they didn’t provoke him. Some of Hao Yan Che’s employees went to a temple and prayed that a deity would exorcise whatever was possessing Hao Yan Che’s body.

***

End of Chapter 110