‘Alright,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘Jia Tu, follow Yi Tu’s plan.’

‘Yes young master,’ Jia Tu said.

‘Yi Tu if your plan fails…’ Hao Yan Che said.

‘Yes young master,’ Yi Tu said. ‘If my plan fails, I deserve young master’s punishment.’

‘Good,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘Go.’

Yi Tu and Jia left the room, and Hao Yan Che returned to bed.

Hao Yan Che laid on the bed alone. When would Yuan Gun Gun understand how much he loved her? He was willing to go through an embarrassing plan to get Yuan Gun Gun to pay attention to him.

Two nights later, there was a soft knock on the master bedroom door. To Hao Yan Che it was a loud knock he anticipated.

Outside the door was Yuan Gun Gun. She hugged a pillow, her feet were bare and the wind sounds scared her.

Hao Yan Che opened the door, it was his scared little rabbit wife. He forced himself to look indifferent.

‘I…’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

Hao Yan Che’s coldness made Yuan Gun Gun sad.

‘It’s the middle of the night,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘What’s the problem?’

Yuan Gun Gun hesitated to open her mouth.

‘Tell me,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Yuan Gun Gun thought Hao Yan Che sounded like he wanted a nuisance like her to leave.

‘Nothing,’ Yuan Gun Gun said. ‘I’m going back to my room.’

Yuan Gun Gun turned around and walked away.

Hao Yan Che watched Yuan Gun Gun take each step away from him. He wanted to pull her back, but he was worried he would scare her and chase her away.

The sounds of a woman crying were heard. Yuan Gun Gun turned around, and ran to Hao Yan Che. She jumped into his arms, hugged his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist.

‘There’s a demon crying,’ Yuan Gun Gun said. ‘Can you hear it?’

Hao Yan Che held Yuan Gun Gun’s round bottom, and acted like he was unaffected by her.

‘No,’ Hao Yan Che denied.

‘Listen carefully,’ Yuan Gun Gun said. ‘Can you hear it now?’

Yuan Gun Gun cried on Hao Yan Che’s shoulder.

Hao Yan Che carried Yuan Gun Gun into their bedroom, he closed the door and smiled.

Hao Yan Che put Yuan Gun Gun on the bed. He wanted to kiss her.

‘Why are you crying?’ Hao Yan Che asked. ‘You’re really ugly.’

‘Demon…’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

Hao Yan Che wiped Yuan Gun Gun’s endless tears.

‘Where?’ Hao Yan Che asked. ‘Did you watch too many horror movies?’

‘How did you know I watched horror movies?’ Yuan Gun Gun asked.

‘It’s obvious,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘How can you watch rubbish?’

‘Everyone asked me to watch with them,’ Yuan Gun Gun said. ‘Aunty Chen, big brother Yi Tu, big brother Jia Tu, big sister Jia Ting, big sister Jia Wen and everyone else watched too.’

‘Do you want to argue about watching rubbish with me?’ Hao Yan Che asked.

Hao Yan Che thought Yuan Gun Gun looked adorably vulnerable in that moment.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be giving me the cold shoulder?’ Hao Yan Che asked. ‘Why did you come find me for?’

‘I didn’t want to look for you,’ Yuan Gun Gun said. ‘I went to look for aunty Chen and everyone else. But I don’t know where they went out tonight. They even took Hao Hao to go out with them.’

Hao Yan Che’s good mood was broken by Yuan Gun Gun’s words.

‘Who do you think I am?’ Hao Yan Che asked. ‘Did you come to see me because there was no one else around?’

Hao Yan Che let go of Yuan Gun Gun. Even though he knew it was a plan, he hated hearing he meant nothing to Yuan Gun Gun.

‘Go outside,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘I want to sleep.’

‘I want to sleep with you,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘I don’t need you,’ Hao Yan Che said.

‘Then you can sleep with me,’ Yuan Gun Gun said.

‘No,’ Hao Yan Che said.

Yuan Gun Gun got out of bed, and walked to the door.

Hao Yan Che laid on the bed. He opened his mouth when Yuan Gun Gun was close to the door.

‘I forgot to warn you,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘If in the middle of the night you hear someone calling your name, don’t answer them. If you answer them, I don’t know what will appear in front of you.’

Yuan Gun Gun froze on the spot.

‘I remembered someone died in room seventy-four,’ Hao Yan Che said. ‘I think it was a maid. She used to be responsible for cleaning room seventy-four. No one knew why she hung herself from the ceiling. I forgot about it because no one dares to go in room seventy-four. Tomorrow I’ll ask Yi Tu to find someone to get rid of the blood stains on the carpet.’

***

End of Chapter 196