Chapter 156: A Twist of Fate (Part 3)

Chapter 156: A Twist of Fate (Part 3)

Hou Weidong returned home and stood on the balcony, holding a cup of clear tea. He gazed out at the central courtyard of Xinyue Tower, a space adorned with flowers, trees, grass, and water features. Mrs. Su, Xiaojia, and the little girl, Su Tang'er, were standing in the open area of the courtyard. The two adults stood together chatting, while Su Tang'er jumped around playfully nearby.

When the piano was carried through the doorway, Hou Weidong turned away from the window and went back inside.

He sat in the living room watching television, waiting for Xiaojia to return. After a while, he felt a vague sense of discomfort, though he couldn’t pinpoint the cause. Then, on the screen, a portly man was seen talking on a mobile phone in the middle of the street. It suddenly struck Hou Weidong that his own phone hadn’t rung once all morning.

The mobile phone had become an integral part of his life. If it didn’t ring, his meals lost their flavor, and his intimate moments lacked their usual satisfaction.

He glanced at the phone on the table and remembered that after taking a call the previous night, he had switched it to silent mode to preserve their private time. In the morning rush, he had forgotten to switch it back. He picked up the phone and saw two missed calls from the same unfamiliar number. He dialed back immediately.

“Hello, this is Hou Weidong. Who is this?”

Faint music drifted through the receiver. A few seconds later, a voice came through: “Hey, it’s Duan Ying.”

Hearing Duan Ying’s voice, Hou Weidong was startled. He hurried to the window to check that Xiaojia, Mrs. Su, and Su Tang'er were still talking in the courtyard below. Satisfied, he said, “Is this your new number?”

“Yes, the unit issued it yesterday. Make sure you save it.”

Hou Weidong paused for a moment before asking, “How is work going?”

Duan Ying had called in high spirits, but hearing his cool tone felt like a bucket of cold water poured over her head. Her voice cooled as well. “It’s okay. The nature of the work isn’t much different from the Yiyang newspaper office.”

Hou Weidong realized he had been too cold and tried to lighten the mood with a joke. “Duan Ying, with you backing me up at the newspaper, if any official in Yiyang County gives me trouble, you’ll have to stand up for justice on my behalf.”

Duan Ying replied modestly, “I’m just a small-time reporter. What can I do?”

An awkward silence fell over the line. After exchanging a few more casual words, Duan Ying hung up. The faint hope she had harbored in her heart seemed to shatter instantly, turning into sharp shards that pierced her heart. She stood frozen for a long while, rubbing her face hard with her hands to compose herself. Only then did she walk back into the music tea house with a smile. A colleague from the newspaper office teased her, “Duan Ying, hiding away to make a call? Was it your boyfriend?”

Duan Ying put her phone back in her handbag and laughed, “I was interviewing a source. It was too noisy inside.”

After hanging up, Hou Weidong returned to the window, watching the scene below while engaging in a fierce internal debate. One voice in his head said, “My willpower is too weak; I can never resist temptation.” Another voice countered, “It’s not fair to say Duan Ying is tempting me. In my subconscious, I actually want to have a romantic connection with her.”

“But you can’t take responsibility. Why would you even consider getting involved with her?”

“Does getting involved mean you have to take responsibility? It’s a matter of mutual consent.”

“You are a government official, and you are Xiaojia’s boyfriend. If Xiaojia did something like this, how would you feel? Do you understand the principle of not doing to others what you don’t want done to yourself?”

“My feelings for Xiaojia are genuine. My relationship with Duan Ying is purely physical. Heaven knows, earth knows, I know, and she knows. How would Xiaojia ever find out? Besides, I’m acting out of sympathy.”

“Stop making excuses. Men are animals who think with their lower bodies. Infidelity has biological roots. From the perspective of human survival, men need to spread their seed continuously to ensure the better propagation of the species. That is why men can love different women at the same time. Duan Zhengchun is a prime example. Given how healthy I am, isn’t it a waste to be with only one woman?”

The other voice sneered, “You’re clearly a lecher. Why make up such elaborate reasons? But let me advise you: if you walk by the river often enough, your pants will eventually get wet. If you want to maintain family harmony and career success, you’d better be cautious about matters between men and women.”

The two voices battled endlessly in his mind. It was only when the sound of keys turning in the lock brought him back to reality.

Xiaojia was in excellent spirits. As soon as she entered, she said, “Minister Su is going out to dinner tonight. Sister Zhao invited me to her place. Are you coming?”

Hou Weidong declined. “Three women make a drama. What would I do there? I’m going to my brother’s house for dinner. It’s been a long time since I visited.”

He added, “Since you’re so interested in the piano, why don’t we buy one for our home?”

Xiaojia hugged Hou Weidong from behind. “When I was in elementary school, a classmate of mine could play the piano. Every time the school held a performance, she would play. She wore a long dress on stage, and it was beautiful. But given our family’s conditions back then, we could never afford a piano.” She released her right hand and gestured across Hou Weidong’s chest. “It’s a pity that these hands were born to play the piano, yet they’ve never even touched the keys.”

“I’ll go buy one tomorrow. You can reclaim the dreams of your youth.”

Xiaojia sighed. “Forget it. It’s too late to start learning at this age. I can manage at mahjong, though. Sister Zhao has invited people over for a game tonight after dinner. I’ll be joining in, so I’ll probably be back late.”

Xinyue Tower was managed like a residential community, so there was no need to worry about safety even if she came home late from playing mahjong. Hou Weidong said, “We’re still missing a computer at home. I’ll go out this afternoon to buy one. It’ll be a bit of a trendy move.”

“That’s not just being trendy. The Shazhou Municipal Government has already started promoting computerized office work. Our office has been equipped with two computers. Qinglin Town has beautiful scenery and abundant resources, but it’s too isolated. If we’re not careful, we’ll fall behind the times. You need to keep up.”

Hou Weidong had to admit she was right. After three years in the township, spending every day with village and community cadres, he had indeed become disconnected from the new era.

“I heard the stock market in Shazhou is booming. I want to go take a look.”

Xiaojia looked at the bruise on Hou Weidong’s forehead. “We look like defeated soldiers. If we go to such a place and run into acquaintances, they’ll surely laugh at us.”

Hou Weidong joked, “If we don’t go out this afternoon, a lone man and woman will be alone in the room. Who knows what we might do?”

Xiaojia rolled her eyes at him. “The east wind blows, the war drums beat; in today’s world, who is afraid of whom?” This was a common phrase in Shazhou’s drinking culture, and Xiaojia applied it to their intimate life with perfect harmony.

In the early stages of their intimate battles, Hou Weidong had held absolute initiative. As time went on, the war entered a stalemate. Xiaojia frequently launched counterattacks, and who would laugh last remained unknown. But today, Hou Weidong was full of fighting spirit. After chatting and laughing with Xiaojia for a while, they unknowingly rolled onto the large 1.8-meter bed.

“Ah,” Xiaojia hummed involuntarily, following Hou Weidong’s rhythm, her voice growing louder.

Watching a bead of sweat on Xiaojia’s nostril, Hou Weidong felt his strength surge, stirred by her moans. Because of the heat, they had only drawn the curtains but left the window open during their intimacy. Hou Weidong subconsciously whispered, “Xiaojia, keep it down.”

Xiaojia panted, “They can’t hear us outside.”

Xinyue Tower was well-designed; their bedroom faced the central courtyard, so such sounds wouldn’t carry far. Realizing this, Hou Weidong said, “Xiaojia, I love you so much.”

Xiaojia matched his movements and replied, “Don’t stop. I love you too.”

After their passionate encounter, the two fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake until two o’clock. Xiaojia saw Hou Weidong sitting on the edge of the bed smoking and said, “Sitting here all afternoon is boring. Let’s go to Lingxi Securities to take a look. Let me show you the charm of modern finance.”

Lingxi Securities had a huge hall, crowded with people and buzzing with noise. It was even livelier than the largest vegetable market in Shazhou. The people inside seemed frozen by Sun Wukong’s magic spell, all craning their necks to watch the television screens. Most of the screens displayed green numbers, with occasional flashes of red.

Xiaojia ran into an acquaintance, but after a few words, the person looked up and stared fixedly at the screen.

“What does the green mean?” Hou Weidong asked Xiaojia quietly.

Xiaojia explained, “Green means the price is falling, and red means it’s rising. The domestic stock market is a one-way market; you can’t short sell. So, green means someone is losing money.” Stock trading was popular in the Construction Commission office. Whenever the older and younger colleagues had free time, they talked about it. As they talked, their eyes would light up. Xiaojia often spent time among them and had picked up a bit of knowledge about the stock market.

Hou Weidong looked at the tense expressions of the people around him and remarked casually, “Green means decline, which means losing money. No wonder men are afraid of wearing green hats. Wearing a green hat means a man’s dignity has declined, and his asset valuation drops.”

He spoke a bit too loudly. The surrounding investors looked at him with angry eyes. One investor, who had once worked in Wuhai, recognized the slight Wuhai accent in Hou Weidong’s voice and whispered, “A person from a small place. If you don’t understand, don’t talk nonsense.” Everyone else looked down on him.

Seeing that he had offended the crowd, Hou Weidong and Xiaojia slipped out of the securities company in disgrace. Just as they stepped out, they ran into Jiang Chu, who was heading upstairs.

“Sister-in-law, are you going to trade stocks too?”

Jiang Chu said hurriedly, “I need to go up to check the trends. Xiao San, come over for dinner tonight. After I’m done here, I’ll go buy groceries.”

After a brief exchange, Jiang Chu hurried upstairs.

Leaving the securities company, Hou Weidong said, “Next time I come, I’ll open an account. Let those people see how capable people from small places can be.” Wuhai County and Yiyang County were both under the jurisdiction of Shazhou. The disdain Shazhou locals held for county residents was a historical phenomenon, and Hou Weidong had suffered from it. Whenever someone brought it up, he felt a surge of anger.

Xiaojia knew his insecurity. Covering her mouth, she laughed, “You’ve even managed to woo a beauty from Shazhou. Why do you still care about what others say?”

Hou Weidong thought about it and smiled. “Whenever someone brings up this topic, I feel blocked up inside. This complex about being from a small place is hard to shake off.”

After wandering around for a while longer, Hou Weidong and Xiaojia parted ways around four o’clock. He took a taxi to his brother’s house. When he entered, Jiang Chu had already returned. Her expression was poor, and she forced a smile. “Xiao San, why did you come alone? Why didn’t Xiaojia come?”

Hou Weidong noticed tear tracks on Jiang Chu’s face. “Sister-in-law, you seemed fine just now. What happened?”

Jiang Chu was silent for a moment before saying, “My stocks hit the daily limit down.”

Hou Weidong had little experience with stocks. “Limit down? What does that mean?”

“I bought fifty thousand yuan worth yesterday, and today I’ve lost ten thousand.”

Jiang Chu and Hou Weiguo both lived on salaries, and they had just renovated their house. Their financial situation was not wealthy. They had pooled all their savings and borrowed money to scrape together the fifty thousand. Who would have thought they would lose ten thousand the very next day?

Hou Weidong was shocked. “Losing ten thousand in one day? The stock market is too mysterious.”

Jiang Chu, unwilling to accept defeat, said, “High risk means high reward. There are days when you can make tens of thousands.” She looked embarrassed and said, “Xiao San, some of this fifty thousand was borrowed. Could you lend me thirty thousand? I need to pay back the people I borrowed from first.”

Hou Weidong had a good relationship with his brother and respected Jiang Chu as his sister-in-law. “Lending money is no problem. But the stock market is terrifying. You need to be careful.”

Hearing that Hou Weidong agreed to lend the money, Jiang Chu was delighted. “Don’t tell your brother about this. He opposes me trading stocks. If I tell him I lost ten thousand in a day, he’ll definitely argue with me. This stock of mine is good. It might bounce back tomorrow. Xiao San, you have more capital. You could invest some too. You won’t be able to avoid getting rich then.”

Seeing that his sister-in-law was completely obsessed with the stock market, Hou Weidong didn’t try to persuade her otherwise. Losing this amount of capital wasn’t a disaster. He only said, “Sister-in-law, you and Brother work hard for your money. You must be careful.”

As they were talking, the sound of brakes was heard outside. Shortly after, Hou Weiguo walked in carrying his briefcase.

“Xiao San, I was just looking for you. I have something to tell you.”