Chapter 29: The Moment of Infidelity

The lady waved her hand, signaling for me to remain silent. She covered the phone and whispered, "Zhenqing, what do you think?"

He, of course, would have none of it. He jumped up from the sofa in a frenzy, shouting "Ah, ah, ah" at the top of his lungs.

I couldn't understand a word, but the lady could. She shifted her gaze to my face and said, "Father disagrees? So that's how it is... Sigh—we have to eat! What are we supposed to do?"

Niu Zhenqing kept jumping and shouting, his "ahs" unrelenting. Even I could see he was unwilling, but the lady chose to interpret it differently. She spoke into the phone, "Boss, where are you? Could you send over an address?"

Zhengtai, residing within my body, used my mouth to say, "Mother, Father doesn't seem to agree!"

The lady walked over and whispered into my ear, "We are penniless. We didn't get any refund when we left the hospital; instead, we spent the last few hundred yuan we had. If we don't go see the boss, we won't have rice in the pot."

Only then did I realize the gravity of the situation, and I couldn't utter a word.

Though Niu Zhenqing could not speak, he waved his hands vigorously to express his opposition...

The lady went into the master bedroom and emerged a while later, dressed to the nines, looking like a completely different person...

Niu Zhenqing let out more loud "ahs" for a long time, but still watched as the lady hurried out the door.

My frustration reached a boiling point. I blamed it all on him; it was his fault the lady had to resort to such desperate measures. Seeing him go "ah, ah, ah" only made him more repulsive, so I took a flying leap and kicked him hard in the back.

Niu Zhenqing stumbled, unable to keep his balance, and fell face-first onto the sofa, knocking over the wooden coffee table...

One kick was not enough to satisfy my hatred. I grabbed the wooden club he used to hit the lady and struck his buttocks five times, hard enough to make the flesh jump. Only then did I glare at him and say, "You are truly a piece of trash! You can't even support your wife and child, yet you harbor greed. Go to hell!"

Niu Zhenqing struggled to roll over on the sofa, grimacing in pain, unable to even muster an "ah." He pointed with a trembling finger...

I couldn't understand him after a long time. Zhengtai, inside me, asked why I had done that. I had to mentally explain the situation to her.

Qu Shilai, however, approved of my actions, saying, "Well done! You should have just beaten him to death!"

Zhengtai and Qu Shilai seemed to merge into one, and ultimately, she also approved of my actions.

Niu Zhenqing was in a miserable state. Whenever I felt unhappy, I would land a few punches on him, making him howl. With his swollen mouth, he couldn't say a word, and the moment he saw me, he would tremble in fear, shrinking away...

I watched him constantly, venting all my fury upon him...

Niu Zhenqing was terrified of the beatings. Fear was etched onto his face; the moment I moved, he would start shouting "ah, ah" frantically.

I truly didn't want to stay with him—out of sight, out of mind. But I hadn't changed my clothes in a long time, not since leaving the hospital. I knew it had been at least three days, but who knew how much longer?

Look at Jiang Meili—how beautifully she dressed! She looked like a wealthy noblewoman, wearing stockings and showing off her legs, the image of a true woman. Meanwhile, I stood tall at 182 centimeters, a head taller than her.

What I remembered most was how she used her love to warm my wounded soul when we were together.

***

I opened the wardrobe for the first time. It was a mess inside, and I didn't feel like organizing it.

To be honest, these were Zhengtai's clothes. I had never seen them before. I took them out one by one. There were five or six school uniforms, even from primary school. I held them up, but they were too short and small; I couldn't wear them. I prepared to throw them away...

But Zhengtai, inside my body, whispered to me, "These are souvenirs. You can't throw them away!"

I was speechless! She kept everything, especially the underwear, which was covered in spots. There were also a few bras; I compared them, and they wouldn't fit either.

Zhengtai inside me wanted to keep those too, as if collecting trash. However, since I used to be a boy, I just endured it...

The two-meter-high, eighty-centimeter-wide plywood wardrobe took me over two hours to deal with.

I found a long skirt to put on, but I felt awkward. With a man's heart, wearing this felt effeminate and completely uncomfortable.

Zhengtai inside me didn't see it that way. She whispered, "You aren't a man now. Once your body merges with mine, you will be a true woman. This was mine before; you should put it on and walk around. You'll look beautiful. If you don't believe me, look in the mirror."

I wouldn't listen to her. With a man's heart, I didn't want to wear this wretched thing. But everything in the wardrobe was for women, except for the school uniforms, which were unisex. I took off the long skirt and was about to change when I felt something was wrong. I looked down and was stunned! I couldn't help but let out a strange cry.

"How could I also be having my period?"

I frantically searched for paper, not knowing where it was.

Zhengtai inside me shouted for me to go to the bathroom to take care of it.

It was my first time having a period, and I ran out, annoyed. The bathroom door was tightly shut. I couldn't wait any longer and, in my desperation, pounded on the door. From inside came the sound of "ah, ah, ah."

I really wanted to give him a good beating. He was blocking the way at a critical moment! I shouted, "Get out! I'm going to smash the door!"

Nervous "ah, ah" sounds came from inside, but he wouldn't come out after a long wait. Meanwhile, my thigh was stained red...

Feminine hygiene products were only in the lady's master bedroom. I found a roll of paper and wiped up a pile...

Niu Zhenqing burst in from outside. I didn't have time to deal with him and yelled, "Get out! Can't you see what I'm doing?"

He kept "ah-ing" and wouldn't leave, so he recklessly lunged at me. Had he forgotten the pain from the wounds that hadn't even healed yet?

I dodged, and he missed. I hooked his leg and followed through with a palm strike to the back of his neck. He lost his balance and crashed into the wall. Seeing him like that, I didn't dare beat him to death—what if I ended up killing him?...

Niu Zhenqing rolled over from the wall, still not giving up on me, and lunged again. I grabbed his hand and struck his abdomen twice, hard.

He gasped in agony, grimacing, clutching his stomach as he crouched on the floor, unable to even "ah."

I kicked him hard in the back—my blood flew everywhere...

He lay on the floor, no longer able to get up.

***

I was furious to the extreme, but I didn't dare hit any vital spots, so I could only stomp on his buttocks a few times...

The lady appeared at the door, her eyes wide with shock. She looked at me, then at Niu Zhenqing, unable to decide what to do, and could only ask in a panic, "What's wrong?"

"Mom, you saw it yourself, he..."

The lady's face turned deathly pale. She shouted, "Go to hell! It's better to be dead than alive! I won't care about you anymore!" The lady screamed and yelled, then took my hand and led me into the small room, where we discussed the situation further.

It was Zhengtai inside me using my mouth to answer: "I don't have a father like him, and I don't want to live in the same house. What if in the middle of the night..."

The lady saw no hope left in Niu Zhenqing, and he was incapable of earning a living. The only solution was...

Despite all these thoughts, she couldn't help but cry, muttering, "I remember he wasn't like this before. Everything has changed now..."

If one had to point fingers, it was that paternity test that caused all the trouble. Knowing Zhengtai wasn't biologically related to him, all those years of raising her felt like a waste...

I hadn't thought about it much at the time—I didn't know why that test was even done. But now, everything was beyond repair.

His boss had said that they were running a business and couldn't wait this long, so they had to look for someone else...

The lady believed this was a personal matter and should never be known by anyone, including Zhengtai.

I used a pile of toilet paper, so much that the trash can couldn't hold it. I stomped it down and carried the school uniform into the bathroom...

It was only three and a half square meters, with a toilet, a vanity, and a shower to the side. There was less than a square meter of movement space, and it wasn't tiled. I locked the door, hung the uniform on a wall hook, and asked Zhengtai inside me, "Where is the towel I use?"

Following her directions, I took it down and scrubbed with the faucet.

As a man, dealing with a woman's issues was beyond my capabilities; everything was taught by the Zhengtai within me.

It was embarrassing; it was a private matter. Having a period was very troublesome. You couldn't bathe during this time; you had to wait...

I padded it with another thick layer, put on the school uniform, and went to the small room, but I couldn't find what I needed. Desperate, I had to run to the master bedroom...

I saw the lady sitting on the edge of the bed, sobbing intermittently.

Niu Zhenqing sat to one side, dejected. There were no visible signs of the beating, only blood staining his hair, clothes, and pants...