My Alleged Husband

Chapter 27: Chapter 27 Intoxicated with Life, As if in a Dream_1

Zhang Zhentian, after hearing what his father had said, had eaten more tonight than ever before. He thought to himself that as long as his dad agreed to their relationship, everything would be simpler. But while he was enjoying his delicious meal, Xia Jing was enduring the hardships of travel on her way to the UK.

Zhang Zhentian endured it as much as he could. Day and night, he longed to go to Xia Jing’s house to find her, wanting to ask why she was still angry. Why hadn’t she called at all? He thought that even if Xia Jing didn’t call him, she should at least answer when he called her!

The more Zhang Zhentian thought about it, the angrier he became. He hadn’t expected Xia Jing to not even answer his calls. He was sure she was still mad, so he dialed Xia Jing’s number a few more times.

”Sorry, the number you have dialed is switched off, please try again later...” Zhang Zhentian listened to the mechanical voice on the phone, then dialed again persistently.

”Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently out of service area, please try again later...” The same mechanical voice from the phone came through. As Zhang Zhentian listened to that mechanical voice, he felt an inexplicable surge of anger. Fuming, he dashed downstairs, intending to look for Xia Jing at her house, but was stopped by his father.

”Zhentian, what’s the rush?” Old Master Zhang looked at Zhang Zhentian’s flustered appearance, worried that something had happened.

”Dad, I’m going to find Xia Jing. I’ve called her so many times and she hasn’t answered. She hasn’t called me once since yesterday. I’m worried something might have happened to her,” said Zhang Zhentian before trying to leave.

Old Master Zhang, listening to his son, thought his child was foolish, thinking to himself, ”You silly boy, if you were smarter, you wouldn’t just stay at home just because I told you so. You should rush out to find Xia Jing. She’s almost in the UK by now and definitely can’t answer her phone on the plane!”

”Zhentian, it doesn’t mean something’s wrong just because Xia Jing isn’t answering her phone. Maybe she’s still mad at you, that’s why she turned off her phone. She’ll be over it in a few days. Besides, it’s so late today, she’s probably asleep,” Old Master Zhang still hoped that Zhang Zhentian would defy his advice and go out to look for Xia Jing. However, Zhang Zhentian was so elated by his father’s approval of his relationship with Xia Jing that he didn’t heed his own thoughts.

Zhang Zhentian followed his father’s advice once more and didn’t go to find Xia Jing.

The first day, no one answered Zhang Zhentian’s calls; the second day, still no response; on the third day, no answer to his calls... Until the seventh day, she still didn’t answer, and Zhang Zhentian began to find it strange. It would be understandable if she didn’t pick up for a day or two, but what about three or four days? Even if she didn’t pick up for three or four days, now it was already the seventh day. How could she still not answer?

Over the past few days at home, Zhang Zhentian had been holding back, not going to look for Xia Jing. He wanted Xia Jing to calm down, then he would go and admit his mistakes. But now, Zhang Zhentian couldn’t bear it any longer; he felt he must go and find Xia Jing.

Zhang Zhentian hurried to the study upstairs to find Elder Zhang, flinging the door open. Elder Zhang saw it was Zhang Zhentian coming in and scolded with a stern face, ”Zhentian, what’s the matter with you? Don’t you know to knock before entering my study?”

Zhang Zhentian disregarded his father’s words, saying directly, ”Dad, it’s already been seven days, and Xia Jing still hasn’t answered my calls. I really can’t rest easy. I have to go and find her.”

Knowing that Zhang Zhentian couldn’t hold back anymore, Elder Zhang said nothing else, just waved his hand to let Zhang Zhentian go. The moment Zhang Zhentian was out the study door, he sprinted downstairs as if he were flying.

Zhang Zhentian drove straight to Xia Jing’s house, but upon arrival, he found her home already empty. He went to ask the landlord.

”Excuse me, could you tell me where the young woman who rented your apartment has gone?”

”Are you talking about Xia Jing?” asked the landlord to Zhang Zhentian.

Zhang Zhentian nodded eagerly when the landlord remembered Xia Jing’s name.

”Yes, yes, that’s her, that’s Xia Jing. Do you know where she has gone? I haven’t been able to contact her for several days,” Zhang Zhentian said excitedly to the landlord.

”I don’t know her exact whereabouts, but I do know she seems to have gone abroad.” The landlord’s words hit Zhang Zhentian like a bolt from the blue, and he was speechless for a while. The landlord had to wave his hand in front of Zhang Zhentian’s face to snap him out of it. Then Zhang Zhentian asked the landlord another question.

”Do you know when she left?”

”It seems to have been a week ago; by my reckoning, she should’ve arrived at her destination a week prior.”

”Did she leave any message with you?” Zhang Zhentian asked again.

”She looked very sad when she left, with red eyes, clearly having cried,” the landlord sighed as he spoke to Zhang Zhentian.

After hearing the landlord’s words, Zhang Zhentian knew he must have hurt Xia Jing, which is why she would leave without saying goodbye. He told the landlord, ”Thank you.”

The landlord turned and walked away, but after only a few steps, he looked back at Zhang Zhentian and said, ”I just remembered, the day Xia Jing seemed to have gone to your company.”

”When was that?”

”Probably the very day she left.”

Zhang Zhentian recalled that on the day Xia Jing left, he had stayed at home and not gone out. Could it be that she had gone to the company to tell him she was leaving for the UK? If that was indeed the case, then it wasn’t that Xia Jing had left without saying goodbye; it was he who had missed the only chance to keep her from leaving.

The more Zhang Zhentian thought about it, the more unpleasant he felt. He hated, he hated arguing with Xia Jing, and he despised himself for saying so many things that hurt her. He thought: ”If I hadn’t argued with Xia Jing, would she not have left? If I hadn’t said those hurtful things, would she not have left in such heartbreak?”

Feeling lost, Zhang Zhentian left Xia Jing’s residence and drove toward the lake, speeding along the way. When he arrived at the lakeside, he parked the car, got out, and walked step by step to the water’s edge. He gazed at the blue sky, recalling every moment he and Xia Jing had spent by the lake. As he reminisced, a glistening tear slid down Zhang Zhentian’s cheek, and he cried, feeling the pain in his heart. Half an hour later, he shouted across the vast waters, ”Xia Jing, I know I was wrong, please come back! I shouldn’t have made you sad, don’t leave me alone, come back...” His shouts echoed one after another, thinking that if he called out loudly enough, Xia Jing would appear before him just like before.

But no matter how long Zhang Zhentian called out, Xia Jing’s figure never appeared. He believed that this time, Xia Jing had truly left him behind.

Zhang Zhentian returned home, locked himself in his room, and wouldn’t come out to eat even when Aunt Xu called him. He just sat dully by the bedroom window, drinking bottle after bottle of liquor until he was so drunk he could hardly stand. Then he dragged a chair to the window and sat there to continue drinking, mouthful after mouthful, bottle after bottle, until he passed out.

Even as Zhang Zhentian slept, he muttered Xia Jing’s name. Old Master Zhang came in to see his son in such a state, and his heart inevitably sank. He walked over to Zhang Zhentian, gently covered him with a blanket, and his son grabbed his hand, babbling, ”I’m sorry, Xia Jing, I didn’t mean to say those words to make you angry, I know I was wrong, please don’t leave me, okay...” As he spoke, tears flowed down his face. Elder Zhang felt torn as he watched his son like this; he wanted to tell him where Xia Jing was, but he had promised to keep her secret. In the end, Elder Zhang decided to wait until Zhang Zhentian asked again to tell him.