Union Of Enemies Chapter 36

Gu Jing trained with master’s troop and the frustrations she had over three days flew away.

Gu Jing wiped the sweat off her forehead. ‘Old man, tomorrow night I’ll be back. I’ll bring two strong bottles of wine. Master, can you still drink?’

Master scoffed. ‘Little girl, we’ll see who can still drink.’

Gu Jing waved bye to master and his troop and she walked home.

Gu Jing’s family home was actually Zhen Lang’s family home too.

Since that year Gu Jing’s mum and Zhen Lang’s mum met, their mums got along and loved each other like sworn sisters. She and Zhen Lang ate at each other’s homes often.

Afterward Gu Jing’s parents and Zhen Lang’s parents bought a double storey house together. Gu Jing’s family lived on the ground floor and Zhen Lang’s family lived on the upper floor.

Gu Jing asked her parents not to tell Zhen Lang’s parents she visited her parents for the last three days. But she missed Zhen Lang’s parents so she decided to go upstairs and visit them.

On the way home Gu Jing bought Zhen Lang’s parents’ favourite dishes. She arrived home and she saw her mum take out the trash.

‘Little girl, come here I want to tell you something,’ Mrs Gu said.

‘I’m visiting aunty and uncle Zhen. You can tell me later tonight,’ Gu Jing said.

‘Come here now. I have something important to tell you,’ Mrs Gu said.

Gu Jing waved the bag of food in front of her mum. ‘Mum, I’m going upstairs.’

Mrs Gu walked to her front door and she slammed the door shut.

Gu Jing walked upstairs and she rang the doorbell.

‘I’m coming,’ Mr Zhen said.

Gu Jing hummed and she waited for uncle Zhen. The front door opened and she smiled. ‘Uncle Zhen, guess what I brought for you-’

Gu Jing couldn’t believe Zhen Lang opened the front door.

‘I a.s.sumed you won’t allowed to come upstairs. My parents said you came home for three days but they didn’t see your face. My parents are heartbroken,’ Zhen Lang said.

In that moment Gu Jing regretted she couldn’t slap her cheeks, because she didn’t listen to her mum before she visited aunty and uncle Zhen.

‘Why are you here?’ Gu Jing asked.

‘I have work leave mid-year and I wanted to visit my parents. Are you going to tell me if you’re home then I’m not allowed to come home?’ Zhen Lang said.

On the inside Gu Jing cursed Zhen Lang – ‘What mid-year work leave? As if I don’t know your work schedule is the busiest mid-year!’

Zhen Lang guessed Gu Jing’s thoughts and he laughed. ‘My stomach’s condition has been poor. Didn’t you know my supervisor approved for me to take two days off to rest?’

After Gu Jing gave the two bowls of congee to Zhen Lang and Lin Tu Shen, she packed her suitcases and she ran to her parents’ home. She didn’t expect Zhen Lang’s body would recover fast enough to visit his parents three days after eating her congee.

Gu Jing scoffed. ‘Didn’t the bowl of congee kill you?’

Zhen Lang laughed. ‘It tasted delicious, but if you want to kill me next time remember to add a.r.s.enic.’

‘I will. Next time I’ll remember to add rat poison too,’ Gu Jing said.

Zhen Lang whispered in Gu Jing’s ear. ‘We haven’t see each other for three days. Did you miss me?’

Gu Jing laughed and she fisted her hands. ‘Um. I missed you to death!’

‘Then shouldn’t you hug and kiss me to show how much you missed me?’ Zhen Lang asked. His thumb caressed Gu Jing’s lips. ‘Right now, I don’t mind if you show me how much you missed me.’

Gu Jing put a fist in front of Zhen Lang’s face. ‘Do you want to kiss this?’

Zhen Lang held Gu Jing’s wrist. He carried the bag of food she brought and he led her inside his parents’ home. ‘Dad, little girl brought your favourite dishes.’

‘Little girl, you’re here. Later we can eat it together,’ Mr Zhen said.

Gu Jing pushed Zhen Lang away from her and she took off her shoes. ‘Uncle Zhen and aunty Zhen, I missed you both to death.’

‘If you missed us to death why did you wait three days to visit us?’ Mrs Zhen asked.

Mrs Zhen waved her hand for Gu Jing to come sit on the sofa.

Gu Jing obediently sat on the sofa and she hugged aunty Zhen.

Mr Zhen looked inside the bag of food Gu Jing brought and he smiled. ‘Little girl understands what uncle loves most. If Lang Lang didn’t say you needed to rest then I would have dragged you outside to find food.’

‘Uncle Zhen I wanted to thank you for-’ Gu Jing said.

‘Uncle and aunty the food is ready,’ Chen Wei said.

Chen Wei brought plates of food onto the dining table.

‘Chen Wei?’ Gu Jing asked.

Gu Jing saw Chen Wei stood next to Zhen Lang and her heart felt strange.

‘Why aren’t sitting here? The food is here,’ Zhen Lang said. He set the bowls and chopsticks on the dining table. ‘You’re lucky you get to eat Chen Wei’s cooking. If you came two days earlier then you could have ate my mum’s cooking too.’

Gu Jing shivered. Gu Jing suspected she and Zhen Lang were switched at birth, because her cooking skills resembled his mum’s cooking skills. She understood why Zhen Lang and his dad were master chefs, because they wanted to save their stomachs.

Gu Jing sat at the dining table and she thought Chen Wei’s shyness added to Chen Wei’s beauty.

‘If you’re hungry then eat. You don’t need to drool,’ Zhen Lang said.

‘Can you blame me? I’m a professional photographer, it’s a natural reflex when I see a beautiful girl. If Chen Wei lets me take a photo of her, I won’t charge her for my services,’ Gu Jing said.

Chen Wei laughed politely and she silently ate dinner.

‘Little girl, Lang Lang said you were sick. Is it true?’ Mrs Zhen asked.

‘Little girl knows how to be sick?’ Mr Zhen asked.

Mrs Zhen sighed. ‘Are you overworked? Tomorrow come here and aunty will make soup for you.’

Gu Jing realised the main difference between hers and aunty Zhen’s cooking was that she knew she couldn’t cook whereas aunty Zhen didn’t know about her lack of cooking skills.

Apart from Chen Wei and Mrs Zhen, everyone else’s faces turned bleach white.

‘Aunty Zhen, tomorrow I promised to eat with master,’ Gu Jing said.

‘Oh,’ Mrs Zhen said.

Mr Zhen saw his wife looked disappointed. ‘Little girl, come over the day after tomorrow.’

Gu Jing didn’t dare decline and she nodded her head.

Mr Zhen looked at his wife. ‘But… the master chef doesn’t need to appear in the kitchen. Tell me what soup you want to make and I’ll make it for little girl.’

Gu Jing’s stomach silently thanked uncle Zhen. But aunty Zhen gave her a different kind of bomb.

Mrs Zhen looked at her son and Chen Wei. ‘The day after tomorrow? Isn’t Lang Lang and Chen Wei going to the Department of Registry the day after tomorrow?’

Gu Jing looked suspiciously at Zhen Lang and the braised rib fell from her chopsticks to her bowl.

‘That’s right,’ Zhen Lang said. He glanced at Gu Jing. ‘We came here to go there together. I have a busy work schedule and after everything is done here I’ll go back to the city.’

‘Can’t you stay an extra two days?’ Mrs Zhen asked.

Mr Zhen put his bowl down. ‘Lang Lang, stay another three days.’

‘Ok, three days,’ Zhen Lang said.

Gu Jing didn’t understand why her heart felt strange. She thought about why Zhen Lang and Chen Wei wanted to go together to the Department of Registry. But there was only one reason why an unwed man and woman wanted to go together to the Department of Registry.

‘Mum, later remember to give me our family birth records,’ Zhen Lang said.

Gu Jing’s a.s.sumptions were right. She didn’t expect only three days ago Zhen Lang and Chen Wei reunited after many years of separation, but they wanted to marry each other the day after tomorrow.

‘That’s good news. Finally I don’t need to regret about the past,’ Gu Jing said.

‘What do you regret about the past?’ Chen Wei asked.

Gu Jing wanted to apologise about the past, but Zhen Lang kicked her leg under the table.

Zhen Lang dropped his chopsticks. ‘Can you pick up my chopsticks for me?’

On the inside Gu Jing cursed Zhen Lang – ‘Don’t you know how to use your arms to pick up your own chopsticks?’

Gu Jing reluctantly picked up Zhen Lang’s chopsticks he dropped next to her feet.

‘Thank you,’ Zhen Lang said.

Zhen Lang’s hot hand brushed Gu Jing’s hand. She let go of the chopsticks. ‘I’m full. Uncle Zhen, I’ll go slice watermelon for you.’

Zhen Lang wrapped an arm around Gu Jing’s shoulders. ‘You barely touched your dinner. Do you want to upset my mum?’

Gu Jing glared at Zhen Lang then she buried her head in her bowl and ate. Usually his dad’s braised ribs were one of her favourite dishes. But she didn’t know why she had trouble swallowing the braised ribs.

Gu Jing managed to eat a whole bowl of food. ‘I’m full. Uncle I’ll go-’

Zhen Lang hand squeezed Gu Jing’s shoulder. ‘You ate one whole bowl of food too quickly, which means you’re still hungry. You should eat another bowl of food.’

‘You…’ Gu Jing said.

Gu Jing didn’t want to upset aunty Zhen. She silently ate a second bowl of rice and the only thought in her head was Zhen Lang was going to marry Chen Wei the day after tomorrow.

‘See your hunger muddled your head, you only ate a second bowl of rice and forgot to put food into your bowl,’ Zhen Lang said.

Gu Jing didn’t say anything. She picked up the watermelon on the dining table and she walked to the kitchen. She picked up a knife, she stared at the watermelon and she cackled. She chopped the watermelon in half and she felt some tension left her body.

‘Why do I feel like you chopped my head off?’ Zhen Lang asked. His hand caressed Gu Jing’s back. ‘What’s wrong? Are you unhappy about something?’

‘It’s nothing,’ Gu Jing said.

Gu Jing picked up the plate of watermelon slices and she turned around to walk back to the dining room.

Zhen Lang held Gu Jing’s wrist. ‘I thought if I teased you then you would be angry at me. I didn’t think it would make you unhappy like this…’

Gu Jing realised there was no need for her to be unhappy.

Zhen Lang inched his face closer to Gu Jing’s face. ‘Are you certain it’s nothing?’

‘Of course it’s nothing…’ Gu Jing said in a choked voice. She laughed softly. ‘I truly hope in this lifetime you can’t have a wife and you can’t have children.’

Gu Jing carried the plate of watermelon toward the dining room. Her head spun and she felt different kinds of bitter inside her heart.

Gu Jing reminded herself that year she broke up Zhen Lang and Chen Wei. But the day after tomorrow Zhen Lang would marry Chen Wei then she could let go of the guilt she buried in her heart. She chanted inside her head that she should be happy.

End of Chapter Thirty-Six