Revenge Sevenfold

"That..." Hui Yin rubbed her nose.

What was she supposed to say? If she became Jiang Xu's girlfriend now, it would be unfair to him because she was going away soon. But if she didn't, wouldn't he say that she was the one not taking responsibility for him?

"Let's just date for now."

Left without a choice, Hui Yin decided to pick the limbo of courtship. Not saying yes, not saying no, it was the perfect solution to her current dilemma.

But Jiang Xu didn't seem disheartened about her choice.

How could he? It was still a step towards finally marrying his Wifey! If only he could hear her call him 'hubby' too, Jiang Xu wouldn't mind dying the next day. Ah wait, that would make his Wifey become a widow. He couldn't die, not yet.

Not until he and his Wifey had a dozen kids!

If Hui Yin had heard his thoughts, she would definitely run in the other direction. Forget about being too fast, his thoughts were racing at the speed of light! And did he forget about the strict one-child policy? What were they going to do with the excess eleven? Pretend they were his imaginary friends?

Thankfully, Hui Yin didn't have a superpower like 'mind-reading'.

The two of them didn't take long to finish all of the food Hui Yin had cooked. It was Jiang Xu's first time tasting it, and he was surprised that it was so delicious. It was almost comparable to the food made by a famous chef! It had the warmth of home-made food, but the exquisite taste of an expensive dish.

Hui Yin's lips curved as she watched him put one red tortoise cake after another into his mouth. Naturally, she felt happy that someone enjoyed eating her food.

"What are we going to do next?"

After they finished eating all the food inside the basket until not one crumb was left, Hui Yin turned to Jiang Xu to ask him what his plans were for the rest of the day.

She actually wanted to go home early, but since Jiang Xu was the one who asked her out, and they were finally 'dating', it would be rude to leave him halfway.

Jiang Xu turned slightly red. His plans for the day...he had racked his brains all night to think of what his Wifey would enjoy the most. He even nearly constructed an itinerary, but tore it to pieces after thinking that she might find it lame. He knew his Wifey liked fun and noisy places. Jiang Xu picked this particular park among other parks in Beijing because it has one thing most of them didn't have...

A carnival.

"Wifey, why don't we go to the carnival? I'll win you a stuff toy from the claw machine."

Hui Yin squinted at him. It was not their first time to go to a carnival. Jiang Xu might be useless at many things, but he had good luck with pinball machines and anything that included gambling. It was fortunate that he was too lazy to develop any bad habits and his main motivation in life was to sleep.

Hui Yin suddenly smiled. "Alright."

They packed up their things and went.

Jiang Xu bought her cotton candy and a tub of popcorn, which they ate as they looked at the different carnival rides. He bought wristband tickets so that they could enjoy the whole day without having to pay the admission fee for each ride.

Like he promised, Jiang Xu won her a stuffed toy at the claw machine. Hui Yin hugged her giant panda tightly, wishing she could bring it with her when she travels back to the past. Thinking that this panda was going to disappear along with today's memories when everything resets made Hui Yin feel a pang of sadness.

Did she have to go?

Trying to hide the waves in her heart shaking her resolve, Hui Yin tugged at the sleeve of Jiang Xu's shirt and pointed to a nearby booth doing a game of bottle ring toss.

"Can we play that?"

But her voice was drowned by a girl's loud squeal.

"Ey! Don't you feel that the couple there kind of looks familiar?"

"Ah, you're right! Especially the man. Now where did I see him before..."

Reflexively, Hui Yin looked at the owners of those voices before following their gaze. There was a couple a few paces ahead of them, and she thought that their backs kind of looked familiar...

Then the girl turned her head to speak to the man, and an electric current passed through Hui Yin's body, locking her in place. Like a video that had been paused and stopped at a specific time frame, Hui Yin saw that the girl's eyes were bright with hope and happiness, in competition to the sunshine surrounding her like a halo.

As a female, Hui Yin was acutely sensitive of the charms of another woman. Although Nian Zhen's face was seductive, which was not the cup of tea of most Chinese men, her posture and every action were so graceful and elegant that it was as if she could serve as both the wife and the mistress, capable of satisfying a man's desire completely.

There was no need to think about the identity of the man beside her.

Jiang Xu was still looking at the booth Hui Yin had pointed at. "Wifey, you want to play a bottle ring toss?"

Hui Yin's limbs moved and she pushed Jiang Xu behind the tarp of a makeshift stall. She slapped a hand on his mouth when he began to speak, hissing a fierce "Shhh!"

She peeked behind the tarp to see if Lu Shen and Nian Zhen had moved away yet. She needed to quickly get out of the carnival with Jiang Xu, and avoid the path the two of them were taking...

Suddenly, the absurdity of her actions hit her.

Why was she hiding?