Chapter 6

Zhao Ben was reluctant: “But my dad is still at home…”

Me: “Your dad has been on dialysis at the hospital lately, staying at your sister’s place.”

Zhao Ben finally gave up resisting.

His home was near the gym, just around the corner in a bustling alley-a place famous in our city as the urban village.

During the day, all the barbecue stalls disappeared without a trace.

But the ground was always stained with grease.

I hadn’t been to a place like this in years.

The neighborhood where Ding Ning and I lived didn’t have a single cigarette butt or fallen leaf on the ground, and our home was spotless.

Zhao Ben rented a farmer’s house.

Rough furniture, dim walls, shabby potted plants, suspiciously colored bed sheets…

Was this the place where those two dogs had their affair?

It was the kind of place where you could just dig a hole and lie down.

I felt not only angry, but also bitter.

Why would she come to a place like this and degrade herself?

Just for a bit of physical pleasure?

Was it worth it?

I could almost hear the sound of my heart breaking.

Zhao Ben poured me a cup of tea in a disposable plastic cup.

He sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed.

Yes, the room was cramped-the sofa and the bed were just a step apart.

“How’s Sister Ning lately?” he tried to make conversation.

I rolled my eyes: “She’s fine.”

“Next time, you and Sister can come to the gym together to see me.”

I grunted in response, staring at the makeshift boxing equipment in the middle of the living room.

Zhao Ben volunteered: “I’ve loved working out since I was a kid. Even at home, I can’t sit still.”

I gave another noncommittal “hmm.”

Zhao Ben got up, wanting to turn on the TV, but I stopped him.

The oppressive silence in the room made Zhao Ben feel like he was sitting on pins and needles.

He spoke first: “Bro, didn’t you say there was a business deal?”

I stared at him in silence, unable to control the waves of anger and jealousy surging in my heart.

This dog of a man in front of me had so easily trampled on my dignity as Ding Ning’s husband and as a man.

He was unnerved by my gaze: “Bro, why are you looking at me like that? What do you mean?”

“Honestly, you’re scaring me a little.”

I said, “If I were you, I’d be a little scared too. No, actually, there’d be some excitement mixed in with the fear.”

Zhao Ben forced a few awkward laughs.

“Bro, I don’t really understand what you’re saying. Didn’t you say you had business to discuss? Why are you talking so cryptically? Why would I be both excited and scared? There’s no need for that…”

I interrupted him: “Because you slept with my wife.”

Zhao Ben was visibly flustered, stammering: “Bro, bro, you’ve got it wrong, I didn’t… It must be a misunderstanding!”

I said expressionlessly: “Don’t call me ‘bro’ anymore. You should call me President Zhong. No need to deny it-I know everything.”

Seeing that I’d laid my cards on the table, Zhao Ben immediately cowered, apologizing left and right.

He said things like she made the first move, he was just looking for excitement and didn’t know the man behind her was me… and so on.

In the end, he stated that since he really owed me, if there was anything I needed from him, I should just ask-he would definitely do it.

I waved him off in disgust and told him my demand: that he should find another opportunity to sleep with my wife again, and then find someone else to rape her.