One Pet Gets Married - Chapter 82

“I want to know your true thoughts…” Zhou Yi stared motionless at the floor. “Is it… is it really impossible? If so, why did you kiss me that time…”

In that instant, Chang Ye felt as if her heart had been struck violently with a wooden mallet, the pain making it impossible to breathe.

When Zhou Yi wasn’t around, Chang Ye had lived with an obsessive hatred, unable to love anyone else. But when Zhou Yi reappeared, the hatred faded and that obsession gradually disappeared, yet she still couldn’t completely ignore her presence.

Each time she told herself to keep her distance, but every time Zhou Yi invited her, she still went. If she had just stayed away, if she had firmly rejected her, time would have eventually severed their connection. But she couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t throw away the necklace, couldn’t discard the flowers Zhou Yi had given her—she even dried and preserved them. She couldn’t stop scrolling through Zhou Yi’s sparse social media posts over and over.

Chang Ye sniffled, pressing her fingers beneath her eyes. Now, she could say it was just drunken nonsense, that love was gone, and immediately turn and leave. It should end there, there should be no future.

But her legs felt nailed to the floor.

“Do you find me annoying?” Zhou Yi slowly raised her head, looking at Chang Ye with reddened eyes.

Chang Ye dared not meet her gaze, turning her head away.

Zhou Yi licked her dry lips, feeling a dull ache in her temples.

Hearing this, the tears in Chang Ye’s eyes grew heavier: “I just feel we can’t go back.”

Upon hearing those simple words, Zhou Yi was left speechless.

“No matter what, I’m glad I met you… My happiest times…” After a long while, Zhou Yi smiled dejectedly, “Were all because of you.”

Closing her eyes, Zhou Yi’s tears fell again: “Then, if you need me to disappear… I’ll try my best.”

“You mean…” Chang Ye’s heart skipped a beat, “From now on… we won’t keep in touch?”

“Because I still love you, every time I see you, my intentions aren’t pure. I can’t be just an ordinary friend, and I might interfere with your life…” Zhou Yi opened her hollow-looking eyes, staring blankly at her.

The air seemed to freeze.

“Fine,” Chang Ye said after a moment, then quickly turned and left the room.

But as soon as she stepped out, Chang Ye couldn’t help covering her mouth and crying, trying hard to stifle the sound. She didn’t even know why she was crying. Wasn’t this what she wanted? Then why cry?

Meanwhile, inside the room, Zhou Yi’s heart suddenly clenched, forcing her to open her mouth and gasp for air.

The world before her grew increasingly blurry. She slowly stood up, supporting herself on nearby furniture, intending to go wash her face in the bathroom. But her legs had gone numb, and she collapsed to the floor again.

Just get through it, right? That should… should be it?

Lying on the floor, Zhou Yi hugged herself and curled up, biting her lower lip hard. Even though her whole body shook, she didn’t let out a single sound.

On the other side, Chang Ye had reached the corridor when she heard something heavy fall inside the room. She involuntarily stopped and turned her head.

Gritting her teeth, Chang Ye quickly ran downstairs to the door.

However, as her hand touched the doorknob, she stopped again. Her mind was in chaos.

Finally, Chang Ye ran back upstairs, stood at the doorway, slowly placed her hand on the doorframe, and peeked inside.

Seeing Zhou Yi lying on the floor, Chang Ye sniffled, let go of the doorframe, quickly walked in, crouched beside her, lifted Zhou Yi’s upper body, held her left hand, and let her lean against her: “Zhou Yi, did you hurt yourself? Does it hurt? Hm?”

“Where did you get hurt?” Chang Ye patted Zhou Yi’s face, only then noticing that her lip was bleeding where she had bitten it.

Zhou Yi just closed her eyes and tightly gripped her hand, choking out: “Why did you come back? You coming back will give me hope.”

Seeing the veins standing out on her hand, Chang Ye finally broke down, hugging her tightly, her lips trembling, sniffling constantly, her voice soft: “I don’t know…”

Zhou Yi leaned against her, turning her head to the side, slowly opening her bloodshot eyes, breathing heavily, then closing them again. She didn’t speak for a long time, as if she had fallen asleep.

“Are you asleep?” Chang Ye asked.

Zhou Yi remained silent.

Chang Ye’s body trembled: “Actually, everything about you is good. Although you can be a bit of a blockhead, and sometimes go too far, even when you don’t understand romance, you still try hard to create little surprises for me.”

At this point, Chang Ye laughed through her tears: “Even though you couldn’t understand why I liked dolls, and said you wouldn’t buy me such things, in the end you still bought me a dinosaur plushie… ugly but cute…”

Chang Ye looked up at the ceiling, but couldn’t hold back her tears: “And I don’t know where you heard that ‘wishing on a shooting star will make your dreams come true,’ but you ended up staying out to watch for shooting stars and caught a cold.”

“We argued quite often, and every time you acted like you never wanted to speak to me again, then we’d give each other the cold shoulder. But in the end, nine times out of ten, you’d be the first to give in, buying me food and writing long apology letters, then sheepishly coming to talk to me. In your letters, you’d write things like ‘Although I’m still not sure exactly what I did wrong, I’ll definitely change,’ which was both infuriating and amusing…”

Saying this, Chang Ye couldn’t help but laugh through her tears, but then she lowered her head: “It’s just that I couldn’t get over that hurdle…”

“Zhou Yi, putting everything else aside, do you know our gap is even bigger now? Back then, my family was middle-class, while yours counted their assets in billions. Your family looked down on me then, let alone now. Now I have nothing, while your family’s wealth has doubled again… Besides, my mother is ill. Your family will definitely consider that, right? They’ll probably wonder if I’ll become mentally ill too in the future…”

“And I’m not some business talent, I have no connections. To your family, I’m useless, just someone who’d be living off you…” Chang Ye finally poured out all her messy thoughts. “I’m not like you, I can’t ignore their opinions, and I know my own limitations. I can’t catch up to you…”

Sniffling, Chang Ye held Zhou Yi tighter, burying her face in Zhou Yi’s shoulder where some hair had fallen, sobbing quietly: “I… rather than saying I’ve been holding a grudge about how your parents treated me back then, it’s more that I’m truly very insecure. I became more and more insecure, the more excellent you became, the more insecure I felt… Because really, what they said seemed right, I have nothing. What right do I have to make you stand by me…”

At this moment, another tear slid down from the corner of Zhou Yi’s eye. She turned her head slightly: “Being with me… is it that painful?”

Suddenly hearing Zhou Yi’s low voice, Chang Ye brushed away the hair covering her face, trying hard to calm her emotions, and finally nodded: “Mm.”

Zhou Yi closed her eyes again, her throat moving: “Then, would leaving me make you feel better?”

Hearing this, Chang Ye suddenly choked up. Her mind was in chaos. Thinking back on all that had happened over the years, she finally gritted her teeth and hugged Zhou Yi tightly, shaking her head.

Zhou Yi opened her mouth slightly, her chest heaving, then unsteadily rose from Chang Ye’s embrace, turned to face her, reached out to caress her cheek, and then hugged her, her voice almost a whisper: “My dad… he knows he was wrong too…”

“Huh?” Chang Ye’s hand gripped Zhou Yi’s shoulder, finding it hard to believe.

“Last time on his birthday, I ruined it,” Zhou Yi’s head was still a bit fuzzy. “But I didn’t expect that all these years, he had been feeling uneasy about mistreating you. Although my mom is still annoying, my dad is no longer like he was back then, really…”

“Why…”

“At the time, I just wanted to let them know my thoughts, to let them know that I’m an independent individual, to let them know that going against you is going against me, to let them know that you’re far more outstanding than I am, and to let them know my determination…” Zhou Yi stroked her back. “It was a bit of a gamble… I spoke with the mindset that I didn’t care if I got kicked out… I said a lot…”

“You…”

“I’m not afraid of having nothing. Fame and fortune can be created again, but…” Zhou Yi licked her lips. “If I lose you, I really… can’t find another you…”

Chang Ye took a deep breath upon hearing this, then couldn’t help but cough several times.

“I love you,” Zhou Yi inhaled the scent at Chang Ye’s neck, closing her eyes and nuzzling gently. “Do you really not want me anymore?”

At this, Chang Ye gripped her shoulders, pushing her away slightly, taking a breath.

Zhou Yi looked at her, then after a moment, dejectedly gazed at the floor.

But then, a hand caressed her cheek.

So Zhou Yi raised her eyes again to gaze at her.

The next second, Chang Ye reached for her neck and kissed her lips. Zhou Yi’s eyes widened slightly, then slowly closed as she embraced Chang Ye’s body.

Tears mingled with their kiss, salty, bitter, and astringent.

The night was deep, and their lips and teeth touched gently, both trembling slightly with desire. From initial hesitation, it developed to the point where they both held each other tightly, as if trying to meld into one another, frantically plundering each other’s mouths…

Finally, Zhou Yi lost her balance and fell to the floor, with Chang Ye lying on top of her, breathing lightly, their fingers intertwined tightly. Suddenly, Chang Ye shouted loudly: “Did you really think I could stop loving you, you idiot?!”

Author’s Note: Ahem, I guess this couple has reached a resolution