Still Frame Chapter 22
byChapter 22: Zero Romance
The moment he opened his eyes, his consciousness gradually detached from the dream and he woke up. Zhang Liuxin rubbed his eyes and slowly propped himself up. He was alone; Wen Jin’s quilt was neatly folded and placed at the foot of the bed.
Fragments of last night’s dream flashed through his mind. The rain in his memory became clear again, brought into focus by his proximity to Wen Jin.
If he hadn’t joined that club, or hadn’t met Wen Jin in the library, would their future have been any different?
Zhang Liuxin got up and walked to the small table. The book was spread open on the table, resting on top of the paper he had used to teach Wen Jin the Bernlin language.
He opened the first page and, amidst the dense Bernlin script, recognized the words “autumn,” “ancient,” and “tree.”
Could it be such a coincidence?
Zhang Liuxin stroked the red cover. Perhaps it was this book that made him dream of that autumn twelve years ago.
He pulled out the paper, recalling what Wen Jin looked like at twenty.
Extremely brilliant.
A peerless figure he would remember even if all other memories had blurred.
Zhang Liuxin’s gaze lingered on the paper. Among the Bernlin script filling the page, a few Yin Zhou characters stood out. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he must be seeing things.
“Ointment is by the sink.”
Seeing the word “ointment” immediately awakened the dull ache in his leg. Zhang Liuxin lifted his trouser leg. Sure enough, the spot where he had bumped himself yesterday was already an eye-catching bruise.
Zhang Liuxin felt a strange sensation, like the bruise on his leg, causing a dull ache, wondering how Wen Jin knew for sure that he would see this message.
When he walked into the bathroom and saw the small jar of ointment on the sink, Zhang Liuxin couldn’t help but think that twelve years ago, when he nervously accepted Wen Jin’s book in the library, his voice trembling even when calling him “Senior,” he never would have imagined they would end up like this twelve years later.
The ointment smelled of pungent herbs, a scent he had never encountered before. It was dark, turning a light brown when rubbed in.
Zhang Liuxin slowly spread the ointment. Whether it was psychological or not, the injured area felt warm and less painful. Even his left leg felt much more comfortable.
He carefully examined the jar of ointment several times. It must be a special herb from Bernlin State. If they left later, he could buy more to take back.
While washing his hands, he remembered the injury on Wen Jin’s chest. For the past two days, Wen Jin had acted as if nothing was wrong. He wondered if the wound got wet when he showered yesterday.
The fact that Wen Jin remembered his fall yesterday made Zhang Liuxin feel a little guilty.
Downstairs, he saw Tu Huisha tidying the counter. The sun was already high outside, and he realized he had overslept.
“Sister Hui, sorry I woke up late. Has my husband gone out already?”
Tu Huisha said, “It’s fine. He went out to buy things. Didn’t you fall? How is your leg? Nothing serious, I hope?”
The exoskeleton happened to press against the injury, so Zhang Liuxin had to walk slowly, leaning on the nearby counter to sit down. “I’m fine. Where’s Feifei?”
“She was restless last night and stayed up late. She’s still sleeping at home now. I told her to come straight here for lunch when she wakes up.”
Zhang Liuxin helped Tu Huisha package some finger biscuits and suddenly thought, “That ointment…”
“Yue came to me for it.”
“What did he say?”
At this, Tu Huisha paused and smiled. “He can say ‘leg,’ but nothing else. He just gestured to me, and I understood.”
“Ges… tured?”
Zhang Liuxin tried to imagine the scene, finally picturing Wen Jin, with his handsome, stern face, flailing his arms. The image gave him the chills and made him cringe.
“Yes, Yue is really dependable. Suitable for married life.”
This down-to-earth description applied to Wen Jin. It might or might not be a misunderstanding, because when Zhang Liuxin tried to see it from Tu Huisha’s perspective, Wen Jin was indeed the type of good husband who, though quiet, was attentive to him.
“By the way, what is that ointment made of? It must be unique to your state. I’ve never seen it in Yin Zhou.”
Tu Huisha replied, “Yes, it’s unique to our island. It has several herbs in it. People here use it from childhood for everything—bruises, sprains, mosquito bites. Rub it on, and it heals very quickly.”
“It really is the best ointment I’ve ever used. I have an old injury in my left leg; I often get nerve pain and muscle aches. After applying this, I feel much better.”
Hearing about Zhang Liuxin’s leg, Tu Huisha paused, then simply said, “I have a few more jars at home. I’ll bring them tomorrow.”
Zhang Liuxin smiled. “Thank you.”
“Actually, I’m curious about something,” Tu Huisha stopped what she was doing, walked closer, and sat opposite Zhang Liuxin. “One of you is a host, and the other is a professor. Why did you come here? The forest where my brother lives is very remote. Usually, let alone outsiders, even people from our town rarely go there.”
Zhang Liuxin’s hand slipped, sealing the packaging bag crookedly.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I just wanted to ask. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it,” Tu Huisha quickly said, waving her hand.
They were living in someone else’s home, wearing someone else’s clothes, and eating someone else’s food. If he kept everything bottled up, it would seem distrustful and disrespectful.
Moreover, after spending the last two days with her, Zhang Liuxin knew that Tu Huisha and the other people in the town were simple, kind-hearted people who had little contact with the outside world and genuinely helped everyone around them.
“It’s fine,” Zhang Liuxin said. “Originally, Yue and I were on a business trip, but the plane made an emergency landing midway, and by chance, we ended up in this state. Because he was framed and got into some trouble in Yin Zhou, we aren’t planning to go back for the time being. We’ll return once the lawyers in Yin Zhou have sorted things out.”
After speaking, Zhang Liuxin was still a little worried that Tu Huisha might be suspicious. After all, the “trouble” that made them afraid to return to Yin Zhou and forced them to stay in this remote town sounded a bit strange.
Fortunately, Tu Huisha didn’t seem suspicious. She changed the subject and asked, “How did you and Yue meet? You host an interview program, and Yue is a professor at such a young age. Was he a guest on your show? That’s very romantic.”
Tu Huisha certainly had a rich imagination. Zhang Liuxin felt embarrassed; his program couldn’t afford a guest of Wen Jin’s caliber.
“No, we are…”
Zhang Liuxin thought about it. The flowery descriptions in the Yin Zhou news—childhood sweethearts, love stronger than gold—were completely inaccurate.
“We went to the same university. He was my senior.”
Tu Huisha was delighted. “So you had a campus romance!”
There was no campus romance. The one time he saw Wen Jin downstairs at the Academy of Sciences building, Wen Jin’s face was darker than the clouds in the sky.
However, thinking about it, Zhang Liuxin did want to say more. Tu Huisha was an excellent listener.
“Actually, my relationship with my husband has changed a lot,” Zhang Liuxin chose his words carefully. “In college, we weren’t really close. As you can probably guess, he was outstanding even as a student, someone most people looked up to.”
Tu Huisha nodded.
“He was always very aloof, all the time. But now, he seems different. Our relationship isn’t that simple, so I keep wondering why we ended up in this current state.”
Zhang Liuxin was a little incoherent. This question truly perplexed him. The dream yesterday reminded him of many past events, serving as a warning that there was a chasm at their starting point. Before their marriage began, they had huge differences in status, whether in family background or academic achievement.
But ever since the hijacking, when they were forced to stay here for a while, he felt that Wen Jin had changed a lot.
In a sense, Wen Jin had become unlike the man he was during their seven years of marriage, yet somewhat like the senior from his university days, but much closer to him than he was back then.
Tu Huisha seemed to understand his meaning. “Chen, have you been struggling with this issue?”
It was more than that. His relationship with Wen Jin was impure, too complicated, but when it came to feelings, he always cared more than anyone else, so he nodded.
“I don’t know exactly what happened between you two, but to have walked hand-in-hand for seven years, your relationship must be quite stable,” Tu Huisha said. “Chen, like I said last time, Yue is a bit like my husband. They aren’t good at expressing themselves. This might be a personal trait, but in love, I lean toward calling it a flaw.”
“But since you’ve noticed his difference, why not treat this time as an opportunity for change? Maybe you’ve just been together for too long, and love has turned into marriage, turned into life.”
Tu Huisha’s words were philosophical. Zhang Liuxin could write many deep and topical things when producing his show and writing scripts, but when it came to love and marriage, he was an idiot, only able to squeeze out the words “loyalty,” “equality,” and “respect.”
So he tried to seriously understand what Tu Huisha was saying.
“Try dating again. Since you two are the people who know each other best here, there is no purer feeling than the one happening right now.”
Tu Huisha smiled, gathered all the packaged biscuits, and patted Zhang Liuxin’s shoulder as she passed.
Dating?
But he and Wen Jin had never dated. They had a wedding, slept together, and lived under the same roof for seven years, but none of those steps involved dating. How could they “date again”?
“Chen, you can talk to Yue more,” Tu Huisha’s voice came from the back kitchen. “His face didn’t look very good this morning. He probably didn’t sleep well last night.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the shop door opened. Wen Jin walked in, carrying the things he had bought. Zhang Liuxin subconsciously looked at him and noticed the faint dark circles under his eyes. His expression was tinged with fatigue; he indeed looked like he hadn’t slept well.
The two looked at each other for a moment, neither speaking. Wen Jin carried the items to the back kitchen, and Zhang Liuxin heard Tu Huisha say, “Go rest outside for a bit.”
Not long after, Wen Jin was sent out.
He was holding a bright yellow lemon, the same kind of Laidi lemon from yesterday. It had water droplets on its surface, suggesting it had just been washed.
Zhang Liuxin happened to have a fruit knife nearby, so he reached out to take the lemon. Wen Jin subtly moved his hand away, his faint gaze sweeping over Zhang Liuxin. Zhang Liuxin pressed the handle of the knife and slowly withdrew his hand.
The next second, he heard the person opposite him speak, his voice lower than usual, asking, “Did you use the ointment?”