64: Accomplice
Pei Xuan placed his cup on the table, his long slender fingers were caressing it as he asked in a slow manner, "Who are you acting as?"
Ning Ning blinked quickly.
"You have been acting like another person in front of me these days. A conservative old-fashioned yes man dressed like a nun who could not be more afraid of Li Ping Ping." Pei Xuan looked at her, seemingly smiling. "But we both know that...you are not that person at all."
Ning Ning's heart thumped.
"I don't know why you dressed up like this. To be honest, I'd rather see you wear that tasteless red and green dress from before." Pei Xuan gestured at her then shook her head, "We know each other so well already, can't you be more honest and open with me?"
A red and green dress...
Ning Ning went back to the dormitory after the two of them went their separate ways. She decided to go through her wardrobe and found an exotic foreign flag, red on the left and green on the right... Wait! Upon closer inspection, it really was a dress! What kind of twisted person would buy this kind of thing?
But no matter how much Ning Ning did not want to admit it, this dress was in her wardrobe. Yun Lin bought it, she might have even worn it in front of Pei Xuan.
So what Pei Xuan said might have been true. Conservative and old-fashioned, being a yes man—that was all to fool others! To fool Ning Ning! The true Yun Lin was nothing like that.
"You're back." Li Ping Ping came out of the bathroom as she finished washing her hair, she seemed to be very anxious to know what happened as there were still bubbles remaining on her head. "How did it go with Mr Pei?"
Ning Ning looked at her while holding the dress.
When two people were together there would definitely be one who was stronger and one who was weaker. Ning Ning had always thought that Li Ping Ping was the stronger one and she was the weaker one, but was that how it really was?
"A candlelit dinner date." Ning Ning said, "I promised to go over to his house next week. He wants to renovate his living room the way I like it. Give me your opinion, do you think it should be western or eastern style?"
Li Ping Ping was prepared to smile victoriously, but after hearing what Ning Ning had to say, she could only flash a constipated smile.
"...That is impossible!" She had a look of disbelief, or maybe she could not accept what Ning Ning had said. "I know Mr Pei has already broken up with you. Don't lie to me, you're just lying to yourself, you..."
She was interrupted before she could finish.
"If you want us to break up, you should not have asked him." Ning Ning walked up to her and caressed her cheek with her right hand. "You should have asked me."
The two of them were reflected in the mirror on the wall. One was tall, the other was short, one was fatter the other was slimmer, the strong and the weak clashed as they vied to be on top of each other.
"Huh? Ask you?" Li Ping Ping said stiffly. She tried to be strong, but her final sentence had a hint of nervousness, "...Why should I ask you?"
"Because you have already used your last resort to no avail. Pei Xuan did not break up with me." Ning Ning said with a laugh. She did not intentionally try to make herself look strong, but once the other party showed weakness, she naturally looked stronger. "You could only ask me to break up with him."
Li Ping Ping firmly fixed her gaze on Ning Ning's face.
Rage slowly engulfed Li Ping Ping's face as time passed, it seemed like the rage would turn into violence at any moment.
"...I really don't understand." She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "You are not beautiful nor kind. Yan Qing treated you as her best friend, the two of you would always sleep on the same pillow, she told you everything. But when you sabotaged her, you did not hold back at all...why would Mr Pei choose you?"
Saying this seemed to have exhausted the last of her energy, Li Ping Ping stumbled a little after she finished speaking. She leaned on the wardrobe weakly, her body bent over as if she was a forty-five-year-old woman, looking down at both her hands.
"...Why did the same thing happen again even with a redo?" She muttered in a low voice, "You were not the person who gave him flowers at the funeral, but he still chose you. He said he wanted to look for an ordinary and kind girl, but you are not that kind of person. It's useless even after I told him the truth, it's useless no matter what I do..."
She started crying as she spoke.
Ning Ning looked at Li Ping Ping with a look of confusion. She didn't seem to have heard what the other had just said, her mind was already overwhelmed. She felt that she had already guessed the real identity of Li Ping Ping.
The other customer of Life Theater.
The customer had their back faced towards Ning Ning, so she could not determine the age or gender of the customer.
Today she turned around and revealed her true self to Ning Ning.
This customer was Li Ping Ping herself. In her old age, she used the odd-numbered designated ticket's attribute to transmigrate as the younger version of herself.
That was why she said: "Why did the same thing happen again even with a redo?"
This was fortunate and unfortunate at the same time.
She actually ended up in the same spot even with the chance to redo her life...
"I beg you." Li Ping Ping suddenly hugged Ning Ning's arm while she begged with a faceful of tears. "I only have this one chance. Help me, give him up to me. As long as you are willing to give up Mr Pei to me, I will do anything for you."
Ning Ning looked at her silently.
She was looking at the true Li Ping Ping.
After a while she slowly turned over and looked at herself in the mirror—the true Yun Lin.
She was a terrifying woman.
Ning Ning had never met such a person. What she showed in front the others was but a facade. Even the books in her room, the clothes in her wardrobe, they were all a facade. Or maybe this was one of her faces, the face which floated on her surface. But she had another face, hidden beneath her old-fashioned face, hidden in the old-fashioned clothes, hidden in the plump body—
What did that face look like?
Pei Xuan might be the only one who had seen it, Pei Xuan might be the only one who knew the answer.
There seemed to be only one choice if she wanted to obtain the answer from him...
Ning Ning looked down at the red and green dress in her hand with a subtle awkward look on her face.
The weekend, Pei Xuan's house.
Ding dong, the doorbell rang.
Pei Xuan who was setting up a candlelight dinner walked over and opened the door, his eyes narrowed as he saw the figure at the door.
Ning Ning stood at the door, she let her hair which was usually tied up in a ponytail down. She had light make-up on her usually bland face, but these weren't the point, the point was that...she was wearing the red and green dress.
"Did you know?" She let out a mocking laugh, "When I was crossing the road just now, one side of the road stopped while the other side of the road started driving when they saw me, I think they saw me as a traffic light."
Pei Xuan was amused by her, he laughed as he gave way, "They were just admiring you, just like me."
Ning Ning walked into the house. She would usually portray herself as a reserved girl in love, but tonight she portrayed a bolder self. She kicked off her shoes as she walked into the villa, her attitude seemed like the female owner naturally returning to her home. From the moment she walked in from the entrance all the way to the dining room, to the way she picked up the wine glass from the table to have a drink.
She let out a long sigh as she finished the entire glass of wine. She turned around and looked behind her.
Pei Xuan leaned on the wall with his arms folded. He was not surprised nor dissatisfied with how she looked now.
She guessed correctly, the two of them had a very special relationship.
They were not lovers but closer than lovers, they were not husband and wife but closer than husband and wife. If there were to be a more appropriate term, that would probably be—accomplice.
Ning Ning put down the wineglass abruptly and walked towards him. She reached out and grabbed his necktie then viciously pulled him towards herself.
The two of them kissed.
Ferociously, touchingly, ruthlessly, as if they were two venomous snakes kissing each other.
They only separated after five full minutes.
They kissed for so long that when they separated Pei Xuan had difficulties maintaining his usual demeanour. His hair was a little messy, his breathing was a little off-rhythm, even his tie was in a mess. He fixed his gold-framed glasses, overlooking the girl who was also panting with a smile and asked, "Are you satisfied now?"
Ning Ning looked up at him with a smile. Her lipstick was smudged at the corners of her mouth, it was beautiful and charming.
"A perfect lover, a perfect love life, is that satisfactory?" Pei Xuan cleaned Ning Ning's lips with his thumb, his voice had a trace of teasing, "Should I propose to you now?"
This sentence sounded really familiar.
She remembered.
Yun Lin's diary had this sentence written within.
"4th April, cloudy day. Yan Qing told me Mr Pei proposed to her. I'm so envious of her, I also want to have a perfect love life with such a perfect person, then have the perfect wedding."
Ning Ning had once thought that that was a diary about her crush, but now it didn't seem to be the case from the looks of it.
Fourth of April, might be the day the two of them became accomplices. A perfect pair of lovers, a perfect love life, a perfect marriage, was that the reason Yun Lin laid her hands on Yan Qing?
Ning Ning began laughing, "Kneel down."
Pei Xuan was taken aback, then he knelt down and pulled Ning Ning's hand in front of himself, he asked affectionately, "Yun Lin, would you marry me?"
"Yes." Ning Ning said.
Li Ping Ping revisited her life, Ning Ning also revisited Yun Lin's life, who married her best friend's husband after her best friend passed away.
Everything remained unchanged...
But was that truly the case?
Ning Ning slowly turned and looked at the photo frame on the wall, she had the same impression as the last time, it felt as if the Yan Qing in the photo frame had blinked.