Entangled Love GL - Chapter 16
Yang Mei went out and brought back a few playthings for Duan Min, one of which was a white parrot that could only speak forty phrases. Unfortunately, the parrot was startled on the journey and did not acclimate to the new environment, dying in less than two days, without managing to say a single word. Yang Mei was extremely sad. Duan Min advised her: “Everything is a matter of destiny. It simply had no destiny with me.”
Afraid that she would continue the topic, Yang Mei quickly changed the subject to local customs and interesting things on the road, speaking fluently and spiritedly, giving Duan Min no chance to speak.
Yang Mei was in low spirits. Although she tried hard to pretend, it only made her feelings more obvious.
She dumped the matters on Xue Yuyu and hid in Yuè Yuán herself, often staying alone, occasionally coming to find Duan Min. For several days in a row, Yueting and the others became worried, and even Duan Min stopped saying anything annoying.
Gradually, Duan Min simply stopped saying anything at all, listening to whatever Yang Mei said. Yang Mei was also cautiously avoiding any topic that might provoke a rebuttal from her.
The two’s interactions became increasingly calm, a calmness that made people more and more uneasy. Duan Min sometimes felt that Yang Mei kept her here purely out of pique, and such an act of pique would not remain calm for long.
The opportunity was approaching.
As expected, Yang Mei finally flew into a rage one day, simply because Yueting delivered the wrong tea. She smashed the teacup, teapot, and tea tray in a fit of exasperation, along with a row of pottery figurines and two sets of porcelain vases on a cabinet.
Yueting was terrified and knelt on the ground, ignoring the cuts and burns on her hands, daring not to move.
Duan Min was startled at first, then settled in a corner that wouldn’t be affected, quietly watching her smash things. After she finished smashing everything breakable in the room and sat down huffily, Duan Min carefully motioned Yueting out and gently closed the door.
Yang Mei had not yet vented all her anger, and her tone was hard: “She’s my maid, you don’t need to play the good person!”
Duan Min looked at the mess in the room, shook her head, her voice also cold: “I’m not playing the good person. She is extremely loyal to you, and she will probably feel even worse outside, wishing she could vent your anger for you here.”
Yang Mei snorted and turned her head away from Duan Min.
“But she still listened to my advice, because she felt that compared to her, I could comfort you more.” Duan Min spoke as if murmuring to herself, her expression gradually softening. “Why would she think that? What a foolish girl.”
Yang Mei frowned, her eyes slightly lowered, suddenly becoming very calm. Yang Mei still didn’t speak.
“I guess your recent bad mood is probably due to This Place Pavilion, or in other words, because you originally thought too little.”
Yang Mei suddenly looked over, her gaze sharp, a look she hadn’t shown in a long time.
Duan Min continued unhurriedly: “A property like This Place Pavilion, I wouldn’t dare take it even if someone handed it to me. You have great courage and responsibility. Since you don’t intend to let it drift on its own, it naturally won’t be easy. Although I don’t know how far you can go, I still admire you.” Duan Min sat down across the table and regretfully picked up a piece of broken porcelain. “How much trouble it takes to fire a teapot like this, and it’s shattered in an instant.”
Yang Mei stared at the porcelain shard in her hand, dazed for a moment. Then she looked at Duan Min, her eyes flowing as if she had many things to say, but in the end, she only smiled: “If only you could always be so understanding.”
Duan Min also smiled: “You are in such a leisurely mood, I must have worried too much.”
Yang Mei suddenly brightened up, and the gloomy atmosphere in the room was swept away. Duan Min smiled again, accidentally rubbing a line of bl00d from her thumb pressed on a piece of porcelain. Duan Min hardened her heart: Yang Mei was definitely not just acting out of pique.
“I’ve always felt that the person who is not understanding, is you.”
“Military Advisor Xue is willingly working for you, overlooking your various flaws, including that wilfulness, arrogance, etc., which I find completely unacceptable. And you have been using him, and seem prepared to continue using him for a long time. This is hardly understanding, this is point one.”
Duan Min’s expression was as usual, as she spoke slowly and clearly.
Yang Mei’s face turned cold, with a slightly incredulous expression, staring intently at Duan Min.
“Although you have treated me well, you have never thought of putting yourself in my shoes. If you were forcibly kept in a place against your will, how could small favors from others buy you over? This is point two.”
“I think you don’t believe that I am the same kind of person as you. But anyone with a shred of self-respect would never develop feelings in such an unequal relationship.”
“Since I have no freedom, I can only delay and cannot refuse. No matter how kind you are to me, frankly, it’s just forcing me into submission. You even use your kindness to me as a pretext, which instead makes it seem like I am the one who is unfeeling.”
Duan Min sighed softly after saying this, and then smiled wistfully, not looking at Yang Mei.
Yang Mei’s face was pale, as if she had been struck squarely in the chest. The churning of her qi and bl00d was no longer something that could be summarized by the word ‘anger.’ She also felt as if she had watched her beloved object shatter before her eyes. Disheartened, she felt that there was nothing more to say now that the words had been spoken.
Yang Mei was stunned for a long time. When she recovered, she suddenly reached out and clasped Duan Min’s wrist. The broken porcelain fell onto the table with a crisp sound. There was a deep cut on Duan Min’s thumb pad, and fresh bl00d gushed out.
Yang Mei sneered: “It’s a good thing you didn’t try to threaten me by slitting your wrist; I despise self-harm the most!” Yang Mei exerted force on Duan Min’s hand and smiled at her: “Guess, if we keep this up, when will you regret it?”
Duan Min looked at her bleeding finger, her expression as if looking at a dead person, pitiful and helpless: “An injury like this can last for a long time, and I will fall unconscious before I bleed to death. I sit here refusing to show weakness to make you angry, exasperating you, but wait until you calm down, or wait until I pass out, hanging by a thread, collapsing in front of you…”
Bl00d kept gushing out, quickly dripping. Blossoms of bl00d splattered on the white porcelain, and the tabletop was crisscrossed with bloodstains.
It must be very painful.
Duan Min didn’t wait for Yang Mei to speak and continued: “Actually, I always thought that staying here was fine, that you would naturally let me go eventually. However, some things that are about to happen are beyond human control. Since I’ve spoken openly today, I’m prepared for success or sacrifice.”
Duan Min forced a hurried smile, a fleeting expression revealing some unexpressed emotion: “Look, for you, it’s a simple matter, yet I have to make such a huge determination and be prepared for such a great price. I feel injustice in my heart.”
Duan Min paused. Yang Mei was startled, her expression grave.
“Every day I’ve been here, every word I’ve said to you has been with a purpose, and when I wasn’t with you, I was figuring out how to persuade you. There wasn’t a moment when I wasn’t thinking of you, nor a moment of peace.”
“Military Advisor Xue said I was clean and detached from worldly affairs; he was truly mistaken. I really don’t know if I will ever have that day.”
Duan Min stopped speaking. Yang Mei frowned and pressed an acupuncture point on her hand to stop the bleeding. Her domineering manner was completely gone. She said in a muffled voice, “Your frankness makes me suspicious. I don’t know which of your words is true and which has an ulterior motive.”
“You didn’t understand,” Duan Min smiled lightly, “Every word I said had an ulterior motive. But I have never lied to you.”
“Then you—” Yang Mei abruptly stopped the question, stood up angrily, looking at the bl00d on the table flowing onto the ground, and said, “You can go!”
The one who spoke too much had already shown weakness. But the one who hadn’t shown weakness was not the winner either.
Duan Min changed her clothes, cleaned and medicated her wound, and drank a cup of tea. It was evening when she left This Place Pavilion. The sky was the same as when she first arrived.
Yang Mei did not see her off, only letting Yueting convey a message, saying, “The days are long; we shall meet again.”
Duan Min smiled with understanding, thought for a moment, and also had Yueting take back a message: “Your family’s affairs are chaotic. Your father is beyond his own control, and it is not easy for him to survive. You should not get involved.”