Chapter Fifteen (Part 2): The Truth
The sky had remained gloomy all day. Rain had been forecast for today, but it had never actually fallen. Heavy clouds still rolled in the distance, the setting sun hidden behind them, gilding only their outlines with a layer of gold.
A gust of wind passed, and a drop of rain landed on his forehead.
Lu Qiang ignored it and lifted his eyes to look at the sky. He took a deep drag from the cigarette between his lips. The blue smoke he exhaled stung his eyes, and he turned his head away. He stood there for a moment before finally lifting his leg and walking into the compound.
The people gathered there were all familiar residents. Several of them spotted Lu Qiang and nudged the people beside them with their elbows. For a moment, everyone turned to look at him. The voices stopped, and the place fell completely silent.
The crowd automatically parted, opening a gap.
Lu Qiang narrowed his eyes and saw the person sitting on a bench. Curly hair, red lips, tight leather pants, and a cropped riveted jacket, her arms folded across her chest.
As if by coincidence, the person opposite also looked over.
Her chest rose and fell heavily several times, her expression furious. Only the light in her eyes betrayed her current feeling of having the upper hand.
Lu Qiang took a drag of his cigarette, one hand slipped into his trouser pocket. He stood steadily among the crowd, watching as though this were merely a show, without stepping forward.
The woman surnamed Zhang gave a cold snort. She had already made quite a scene earlier, drawing the residents of the compound over. The main character had finally arrived, yet he wore an expression as though he had nothing to do with any of it.
After thinking for a moment, she was no longer in a hurry. She simply waited for the good show to begin.
Old Li had been frightened by her long ago. He wiped away a cold sweat and hurried over to Lu Qiang.
“Why did you only come back now?”
Lu Qiang said, “It’s not time to change shifts yet.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Old Li said anxiously. “Over there, someone came looking for you. She’s already made a whole scene.”
He kept his cigarette between his lips.
“What’s she making a scene about?”
Old Li hesitated. Lu Qiang gave him a faint glance, with no interest in pressing him further.
Old Li asked, “You repaired her water pipe yesterday?”
He raised a brow.
“Why?”
Old Li put it tactfully.
“Before you left, did you accidentally install something else?”
“What do you mean?”
“Miss Zhang says the key she left outside her door is missing. She was in a hurry to leave this morning, so she had no choice but to use her spare key. When she came home tonight, she found that the jewelry in her bedroom and tens of thousands of yuan in cash were gone.”
He glanced at Lu Qiang.
“She says you were the only outsider who went there yesterday, and you were the one who repaired the water pipe.”
Lu Qiang lowered his head and smoked, showing little concern.
“She’s saying I took it?”
Old Li lowered his voice, speaking at a volume only the two of them could hear.
“Did you take it or not? Just tell me the truth.”
Lu Qiang suddenly turned his head.
“You believe her?”
Old Li was startled and instinctively took half a step back.
Not many people knew Lu Qiang’s background. Old Li was one of the few who did. Nearly twenty years older than him, he preferred to stand in the position of an elder, offering Lu Qiang reminders and advice, always appearing warm-hearted and well-meaning.
Only today did he realize that all of that was merely surface-level courtesy. When it came to troublesome matters like burglary, robbery, murder, or arson, the first person they suspected was still him.
Lu Qiang was a former prisoner. Once someone had been sent inside for a serious or minor offense, the moment they came out, they became a special category of person. They were not accepted, kept at arm’s length, and viewed through tinted glasses. It was an instinctive reaction. It could hardly be blamed on anyone.
The cigarette was almost burned to the end. Lu Qiang pinched it between two fingers, took one hard drag, then threw it onto the ground and crushed it beneath his shoe.
He smiled.
“I didn’t take anything. I’ve been out all day today. I never came back.”
His expression was indifferent. It was impossible to tell whom he was saying it for.
Old Li lowered his head and fell into thought.
Across from them came a cold snort. The woman surnamed Zhang finally spoke.
“What thief would admit to stealing something?”
Lu Qiang glanced at her.
The woman surnamed Zhang instinctively shrank back. That casual, indifferent gaze sent a chill through her. This man’s emotions were impossible to read, and he could change his expression in an instant. The woman surnamed Zhang had experienced that firsthand last night.
But today’s circumstances were different. She did not believe he would dare do anything reckless. She glanced around her, steadied herself, and then straightened her back.
“The only person who has been to my home these past two days is you. The jewelry was sitting right on my dressing table. A gold chain, a pair of diamond earrings, and several jadeite pendants. There was also thirty thousand yuan in the bedside drawer. There are no signs of damage to the security door, and the windows are intact. Obviously, whoever took the things had a key.”
She raised her chin at him.
“If it wasn’t you, then what, did I take them myself?”
Lu Qiang said, “Maybe.”
“You!”
The woman surnamed Zhang had punched at a ball of cotton, and the frustration made her grit her teeth.
“Talking more won’t get us anywhere. I want an explanation.”
Lu Qiang said, “There’s no explanation. I didn’t take it.”
“Who can prove it?”
Old Li’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Right. Who were you with today? Have them come over and help testify. Wouldn’t that solve everything?”
He paused.
“They can’t come.”
The woman surnamed Zhang was certain their relationship was improper and therefore something they could not let people know about. Naturally, they would not dare put it out in the open.
She stood up from the chair, folded her arms across her chest, and walked two steps toward him, smiling smugly.
The crowd gathered to watch the spectacle grew larger and larger, with everyone whispering among themselves behind their backs.
Old Li was anxious. “How could they not be able to come?”
The woman surnamed Zhang took a breath, then said unhurriedly, “Tell me, how are we going to resolve this?”
Lu Qiang said, “Call the police.”
The woman surnamed Zhang froze. She thought that taking this to the police station would be no joke. The flaws in her story would be spotted at a glance.
But at that very moment, another voice came from behind the crowd, calling out, “Lu Qiang?”
Lu Qiang stiffened. His heart felt as though it had been struck hard by an iron hammer. Within a few seconds, the person had already walked up beside him. He lowered his head to look at her, his features cold and stern.
Lu Yin lifted her head and smiled at him. Her expression was somewhat unnatural, but her voice remained gentle. “While you were parking, how did you end up coming in by yourself?”
Lu Qiang pressed his tongue against his lower lip and quietly looked at her. Then the warmth of his fingertips gradually spread to his entire palm.
She took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. After only a few seconds of hesitation, her fingertips tightened, and he turned his hand around and clasped hers. Lu Qiang lifted one corner of his lips, looking only at her without saying a word.
Lu Yin blinked and looked toward the crowd. “What happened?”
Although they lived in the same residential complex, they were not familiar with one another. Few people knew Lu Yin. Only Old Li was particularly astonished. “Xiao Lu, you two?”
Lu Yin smiled faintly. “We went to buy a car today. We had something to eat and only just came back.”
The woman surnamed Zhang was also dumbfounded. At the car dealership, she had only caught a hurried glimpse and had not seen the woman’s face at all. Even if she had seen it clearly, there was no guarantee she would have recognized her. Her appearance was so abrupt that she was caught off guard. For a moment, she had nothing to say and could only stand to the side, silently observing.
Old Li’s expression was exaggerated. “You two, you two...” He pointed at their joined hands and struggled for a long while before finally squeezing out, “When did this start?”
Lu Yin squeezed Lu Qiang’s hand, wanting him to give some sort of response. When she looked up, she saw that he was still raising an eyebrow and staring at her. Lu Yin’s face grew hot. Bracing herself, she said, “Quite a while ago.”
Old Li took a moment to recover, then pointed at Lu Qiang. “Good kid, you did a pretty good job keeping this secret. Not a single word got out.” He laughed, then waved a hand behind him in relief. “All right, break it up. Everyone, disperse. It was just a misunderstanding. The young couple went out on a date today. They simply hadn’t come back.”
Then he turned to the woman surnamed Zhang. “It definitely wasn’t Xiao Lu who took your things. Go home and look carefully. Maybe you just forgot where you put them.”
The woman surnamed Zhang was unwilling to give in. She glared at him. “That’s impossible. I searched several times. He was the only one who went inside. He must have taken it.”
“Miss, you suspect Lu Qiang took your things?” Lu Yin said. “You may have gotten it wrong. We’re together all day.”
The woman surnamed Zhang gave a cold laugh. “What about last night? He could have sneaked in while I was asleep. Besides...” She glanced at Lu Qiang. “When he was repairing the water pipe, he was so clumsy and handsy. Who knows whether he had some other intention.”
Lu Yin was so angry that she drew several quick breaths. She tightened her grip on his hand, urging him to refute her, but Lu Qiang still said nothing, his eyes deep and inscrutable as he looked at her.
She gritted her teeth. “We were together last night too.”
The words successfully quieted everyone around them. Then she felt his hand tighten around hers even more. Her cheeks turned bright red as she met the gaze of the woman surnamed Zhang. “He slept at my house. Maybe you really did get it wrong.”
“That doesn’t count. He’s your kept lover, so of course you’re going to take his side.”
Lu Yin corrected her, “We’re dating.”
Old Li also chimed in. “They’re in a legitimate relationship. Don’t put it so crudely.”
Lu Qiang had a good reputation. Once someone stepped forward to clarify the situation, the people around them also began pointing and whispering, blaming the man surnamed Zhang for failing to get the situation straight and falsely accusing a good person.
Lu Yin said, “Now that everything is clear, we’re going home.”
“No.” The woman surnamed Zhang refused to admit defeat and stubbornly said, “It hasn’t been resolved. No one is leaving.”
“Then call the police. There are surveillance cameras both inside and outside the residential complex, and you can also have your home examined and investigated for evidence. If you want an explanation, that would be the clearest and most accurate way.” Lu Yin took out her phone. “Do you want me to call the police for you?”
The woman surnamed Zhang’s heart jolted. She immediately fell silent, and the farce finally came to an end.
The crowd dispersed. Lu Yin gave Lu Qiang a tug. “Let’s go home.”
Lu Qiang did not move. She put a little more strength into it and dragged him toward the inside of the residential complex.
The sky gradually darkened. Dark clouds pressed down overhead, and scattered raindrops began to drift down. The rain at this time of year was especially cold, landing on their faces and making their whole bodies shiver.
Lu Yin walked ahead, with Lu Qiang following behind. Their two hands remained tightly clasped the entire time. Some of the people who had just watched the commotion were nearby, secretly glancing in their direction. Lu Yin’s head was nearly lowered to her chest. She had not noticed it in the urgency of the moment, but only now did she realize that she had become the focus of everyone’s attention. And by nature, she had never liked being watched.
“Why is your hand trembling?” Lu Qiang spoke, his voice slightly hoarse as he cleared his throat softly.
Lu Yin turned around and glared at him. “Your hand is sweaty.”
He had not noticed it himself. The small hand in his palm was cold, trembling slightly, as though she intended to pull away.
He immediately turned his hand around and held it tightly.
Neither of them spoke for a while. At some point, without either of them realizing it, their roles had reversed. Lu Qiang had walked to the front. His strides were large, his pace slightly hurried. When she could no longer keep up from behind, it was only then that her mind exploded with a sudden realization.
Lu Yin tried to pull her fingers free. “It seems like you’re supposed to go take over Master Li’s shift.”
“I’ll go later.”
“Then you should go home.”
Lu Qiang glanced back at her, his jaw tightly clenched.
Lu Yin vaguely sensed that something was about to go wrong. Both startled and frightened, her heart began pounding incredibly fast. She could not help but slap at him and struggle, but the difference in their strength was too great. All the way there, Lu Qiang half-dragged and half-pulled her into the stairwell.
She grabbed onto the stair railing with her other hand. “I’m not.”
“Not what?”
She simply squatted down on the floor and shamelessly said, “I don’t want to go home.”
“It’s raining outside. You want to get soaked?”
“I’m scared.”
Lu Qiang tugged at her. “Where did that boldness from just now go?”
Her large eyes were wet and glistening. “Please, just go to work.”
Lu Qiang gritted his teeth. His patience had reached its limit. He bent down, pried her fingers apart one by one, then supported her beneath the arms. Bending over, he hoisted her entire body upside down over his shoulder.
Lu Yin cried out in alarm, “Lu Qiang, Lu Qiang, calm down. I actually wasn’t ready yet.”
He took two steps at a time up the stairs. “There’s no need to prepare. Just lie down.”
***
The door was slammed shut behind them. Lu Yin knew there was no way out now. Her heart sank to the bottom of a lake. Amid the dizzying whirl, he tossed her onto the soft bed. Before the force of inertia could make her bounce back up, his heavy body instantly filled her entire awareness. At her touch was the rough, hard skin of his body, burning hot. Within seconds, he had already stripped his upper body bare.
Lu Qiang abruptly lifted the hem of her clothes, his large hand gripping her slender waist and roughly kneading it. She tried to open her mouth to cry out, but the next second, her breath was taken away.
A muffled “mm, mm” came from Lu Yin’s nose. His lips and teeth ravaged hers. All she could feel was the numbness spreading across the tip of her tongue, her brain deprived of oxygen, her heart pounding wildly amid the trembling.
When her reactions had become slightly sluggish, he lifted her upper body, undid the hidden clasp of her bra, and pulled it off together with her jacket and sweater, stripping them all over her head. Lu Yin covered her chest with her arms, but he pushed one arm aside, simultaneously catching both her wrists and raising them above her head to hold them in place. He lowered his head and began kissing and kneading her breasts.
A plaintive whimper escaped her lips, delicate, seductive, inviting. Hearing it herself, even she found it embarrassing and unfamiliar.
Lu Qiang paused, finally releasing her and rising. He knelt above her with both knees and undid his belt and pants. It was not yet completely dark. The large bed faced the window, and a sliver of light fell across his body. When Lu Yin inadvertently brushed against him, what she saw beneath his waist shocked her. She drew in a sharp breath and turned over, trying to crawl forward.
Lu Qiang caught her lower leg and pulled her back. This position made it even easier for him to control the territory he had never touched before. Soon, the last barrier of fabric was gone, and at last, they were completely exposed to each other.
He kissed from her neck all the way down to her buttocks before pressing himself against her again. “The first time is better the traditional way.”
Lu Yin’s voice trembled. “Can you stop...” She fell silent halfway through, knowing it was futile. She bit her lip and bravely said, “Can you be gentler?”
Lu Qiang answered, “Okay.”
After turning her over, Lu Qiang’s movements became much gentler. His fingers helped her relax.
Lu Yin gradually became immersed in the sensations. His fingers made her tremble again and again, her toes going numb, her legs unconsciously tensing.
But he suddenly stopped and touched her lips with the fingers that had just been moving over her. “That’s enough.”
Lu Yin’s face was flushed crimson. She pounded and pushed against his chest with both hands, but it was like hitting a stone. “Get away from me. I don’t want this anymore.” She raised a leg to kick him, but he caught her ankle and pressed it against her chest. The next second, he pressed against her, reached down with one hand for support, and slowly pushed inside.
Lu Yin bit her lip and arched her body, unable to form even half a sound. She did not know how long it had been since she had done something like this. Her body was tense and narrow, difficult to accommodate him. At the beginning, it was nothing but torment, and she could not experience any pleasure at all.
Lu Qiang was the opposite. A bone-deep sensation spread from a single point throughout his entire body. The veins on his forehead bulged, sweat pouring down his body. He drew upon every ounce of restraint he had accumulated over half his life, moving slowly and patiently, waiting for her to adjust.
After a long while, a faint moan spilled from her lips. Lu Qiang pressed against her lips. “Starting to feel good?”
“...No.”
“Then what was that?”
“...I didn’t make a sound.”
Just after she finished speaking, a sudden ringtone rang out in the bedroom. Lu Yin shuddered, her lower abdomen tightening along with it. It happened without warning. Lu Qiang felt his spine go numb from the sudden contraction, blood rushing to his head. He let out a low growl, his patience exhausted, seized her slender waist, and thrust forward hard.
Lu Yin lost control, her low cries slipping out in breathless succession. The ringing continued without end, one call following another. It was obviously Lu Qiang’s phone, and anyone could guess it was Genzi calling, yet neither of them paid it any attention. He became like a starving wolf in the wilderness, ravenous to the point of madness, showing no mercy as he repeatedly drove her back toward the wall.
His hands slowly slid downward and gripped the backs of her knees on either side, pushing them toward her chest. His lips and teeth came close, licking and sucking at the small hollows there, each no bigger than a thumb.
Her breathing caught. In an instant, she reached the peak. A tingling numbness swept through her entire body, her temples throbbing. Her vision suddenly went completely white.
The sensation felt utterly natural yet extremely unfamiliar. She spent several seconds searching her memories, and it seemed she had never experienced anything like it before.
Lu Qiang stopped moving and waited for her to calm down.
He kissed her forehead. “Not useful at all... You still haven’t recovered?”
Lu Yin did not even have the strength to open her eyes. She turned her head aside without answering.
The man above her began another round of relentless pursuit, wild and unrestrained.
Lu Yin suddenly remembered something and gathered her strength to push him. “Don’t... you have to use one of those...”
“Didn’t buy any.”
She bit her lip and pointed toward the cabinet beside them. “...There seems to be some inside.”
Lu Qiang’s voice sank. “Left over from before?”
She tilted her head, not daring to look at him.
Lu Qiang gave a cold laugh and dove forward, using the momentum to rummage through the bedside cabinet. The sudden impact nearly knocked Lu Yin’s soul out of her body, and she almost fainted.
“Put it on for me.”
Lu Yin could not even lift her arms, and she was even less willing to look at the thing, so she simply lay there and stubbornly refused to move.
Lu Qiang had no time to waste with her. He cursed under his breath, tore open the package himself, and struggled to put it on. Then he looked at her. “The size is too small.”
Lu Yin bit her lip. He pressed against her again. Suddenly, nothing about the surroundings seemed pleasing to him. The bed was too old, the bedframe too hard, the sheets too dull in color, the bedside cabinet too much in the way...
It was as though he had become a different person. He no longer showed any restraint or tenderness, tormenting her in every possible way.
Lu Yin was barely conscious. He repeatedly drove her to the brink. When he finally released, he bit her ear and said, “I fucking want to kill someone.”
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