My business marriage with Fu Chengyu is only interests, but no feelings.
On the night of signing the agreement, he pushed the pen: "Gu Qing, remember your identity."
Three months later, he hooked my ankle under the breakfast table.
"Mrs. Fu, can I take you to the law firm today?"
I took my feet back and continued to read the file: "The third article of the agreement is not to interfere with each other's private lives."
He suddenly clasped my wrist: "Then you came home drunk last night. Why did you hug me and call me husband?"
---
The air in the conference room was as cold as if it had been frozen. The miserable white light above the head fell straight down, showing a dazzling white spot on the wide black conference table, which made people's eyes astringent. In the air, there is only the monotonous buzzing of the central air conditioner, and the subtle and extremely clear stuttering sound when the paper is turned over.
The spread prenuptial agreement is as thick as a cold brick. The dense clauses, each word silently emphasizes two words: transaction.
Gu Qing sat at the other end of the long table, his fingertips were cold. She took a slight breath, suppressed the unrealistic floating in her heart, and calmly swept over the last line of words. The man opposite - Fu Chengyu, her "fiance", is now more like a party A who is about to sign an important commercial contract. His back was straight, and his meticulous dark gray suit outlined almost stereotyped lines. His eyes behind the lens were sharp and accurate, without any unnecessary temperature.
"Have you finished reading it?" Fu Chengyu's voice sounded, like metal quenched with ice, neither high nor low, just piercing the buzz of the air conditioner.
Gu Qing raised his eyes and met the scrutining gaze: "Hmm."
He nodded slightly, and his bony fingers pushed a heavy black pen. The pen slid over the smooth table, made a slight friction sound, and finally stopped at Gu Qing's hand.
"Gu Qing," Fu Chengyu's eyes locked her firmly, and every word was unquestionable, "remember your identity. This is just a contract for the benefit of our respective families. Other than that, there is nothing else.
The gaze was like a searchlight, coldly sweeping through every inch of the subtle expression on her face, as if to confirm whether she really understood and accepted the cold reality.
Gu Qing stretched out his hand, and his fingertips touched the cold pen, and the coolness seemed to run down his fingers to his spine in an instant. Without any hesitation, she pulled out the pen cap, and the tip of the pen fell on the signature. The rustling sound of writing was infinitely amplified in the overly quiet conference room, with a kind of lonely determination. She signed her name, and every stroke was written steadily and clearly.
"Don't worry, Mr. Fu," Gu Qing put down his pen and his voice was as calm as a pool of deep water. "I know my position very well. Have a good cooperation." She even raised the corners of her lips slightly, but there was no warmth in the arc, only a formulaic and impeccable alienation.
Fu Chengyu's eyes stayed on her face for a few seconds, as if he was evaluating a target that had just been delivered. In the end, he just nodded his chin very slightly, which was a response.
Three months, as fast as water flowing through your fingertips.
Located in the west of the city, this top-floor duplex apartment is surprisingly open, with cold lines and simple decoration that is almost empty. Outside the huge floor-to-ceiling window is the bright night view of the city. The flowing river of light winds underfoot, but it does not illuminate the coldness of the room at all. This is Fu Chengyu's residence in the west of the city, and now it has also become Gu Qing's nominal "home".
In this so-called home, "Mrs. Fu" and "Mr. Fu" are more like two co-rents who abide by strict conventions. They strictly abide by the core terms of the agreement - do not interfere with each other and do their own thing. Fu Chengyu is an aerial man, and his itinerary is amazingly dense. Gu Qingze plunged into the top law firm she had just joined, threw herself into the mountains of case files day and night, paralyzing herself with high-intensity work. The two of them rarely met each other. Even if they occasionally met in the restaurant in the morning or in the porch late at night, they just nodded and politely said "earning" or "I'm back" to each other, alienating them like noding neighbors.
The prenuptial agreement, like an invisible and cold wall, separated the apartment into two distinct worlds.
It's another ordinary morning.
The huge floor-to-ceiling windows filter out the faint light of the city's awakening, and the restaurant is filled with the rich burnt smell of coffee. Gu Qing was wearing a neatly tailored smoky gray suit skirt, with her long hair meticulously tied behind her head, revealing her clean forehead and slightly tired but still clear eyes. A thick stack of files was spread out in front of her, and the edges of the paper were turned over a little rough. There was a half-drinked black coffee in hand, and the bitter smell was lingering.
Fu Chengyu sat at the other end of the table, still with his usual reserve. He used breakfast slowly and orderly, and the plate in front of him was arranged like a work of art. The dark blue velvet morning robe made his skin pale. He lowered his eyes and focused on browsing the financial news on the tablet, and the side lines of his face looked particularly cold in the morning light. In the air, there is only the soft sound of the knife and fork occasionally touching the porcelain plate, and the sound of Gu Qing quickly flipping through the paper.
Suddenly, Gu Qing's hand holding the coffee cup shook slightly. Not because of her, but under the table, something warm, gently and with a tentative force, rubbed her ankle in thin stockings.
The touch is too awkward, with a hint of strange intimacy.
Gu Qing's hand holding the coffee cup suddenly stiffened, and the edge of the cup almost hit his teeth. A subtle but clear sense of electric current suddenly exploded from the ankle and ran all the way up the spine along the calf nerve. She subconsciously held her breath, and the knucles holding the cup handle turned slightly white because of the force.
She raised her eyes sharply, like two sharp arrows, at the man across the table.
Fu Chengyu still maintains that reserved posture. The velvet of the morning robe was shining with a faint blue light. His slender fingers were pinching the silver fork and sending a small piece of fried egg white into his mouth. He chewed slowly, and his throat rolled and swallowed. Then, he slowly raised his eyelids.
The eyes behind the lens are no longer the usual sharp gaze, but like a layer of mist, which is bottomless. His eyes crossed the delicate vase on the dining table and fell steadily on Gu Qing's face, with an indescribable focus that Gu Qing had never seen in his eyes.
The restaurant was terribly quiet. Only when he put down the fork, the crisp "ding" made by the collision between the metal and the edge of the bone china plate was particularly harsh.
"Gu Qing," Fu Chengyu said in a low voice, a little less cold than usual, but with a trace of imperceptible, almost gravel-like texture, "Today... can you take you to the law firm?"
This sentence is like a stone, thrown into Gu Qing's stagnt water-like heart lake. She pinched the corner of the file with her fingertips, and the paper was pinched with small folds. My heart tightened inexplicably, and an indescribable irritability quietly arome. Send her off? What kind of business is this? What about the tacit understanding that the well water has not violated the river water for three months?
She almost immediately remembered the black and white clause on the agreement - Article 3: The two parties promised not to interfere with each other's work and private life and to keep the necessary distance.
"Mr. Fu," Gu Qing said in a crisp voice at work, and even deliberately aggravated the alienated name. His eyes fell back on the file, as if the ripples just now had never happened. "The third article of the agreement is not to interfere in each other's private lives. It's convenient for me to take a taxi.
Her refusal was crisp and did not drag on at all, like a lawyer rejecting a motion that lacked evidence support in court.
Fu Chengyu's eyebrows frowned almost imperceptably, and the misty eyes seemed to be fixed for a moment. His hand on the table curled his slender fingers unconsciously. The air on the dining table seemed to be stagnant, and even the morning light coming in through the window seemed to be a little colder.
Just as Gu Qing thought that this small and sudden cross-border trial was over, Fu Chengyu suddenly moved.
He stood up without warning. The tall figure with a sense of oppression instantly covered the morning light in front of Gu Qing. He bypassed the wide dining table and walked to Gu Qing's side in a few steps. Gu Qing still had time to react, but he only felt that his right wrist suddenly tightened!
An irresistible force came, with the burning temperature of the man's palm, clasped her wrist firmly like an iron hoop.
Gu Qing's heart jumped suddenly and he was forced to raise his head. The file slipped from her other hand and fell on the carpet with a "bang". She bumped into Fu Chengyu's gaze. The eyes were very close to each other, and the pupils behind the lens were as deep as a bottomless cold pool. At this moment, the undercurrent she could not understand was clearly surging, which was so thick that it almost drowned.
He leaned slightly and pulled the distance between the two closer, so close that Gu Qing could smell the clear aftershaved water on his body, mixed with a faint smell of tobacco. The strange and aggressive masculine breath enveloped her in an instant.
"Do not interfere with each other?" Fu Chengyu's voice was very low, and every word seemed to have a hot temperature, hitting Gu Qing's eardrums heavily, and the ending sound was slightly raised, with a dangerous playful taste. "Then Lawyer Gu, explain, why did you come back drunk last night? Why did you hold me and shout 'Husband... Don't go'?"
He spoke very slowly, and every word was extremely clear, as if he was reading an undoubted evidence in court.
With a "boom"!
Gu Qing only felt that a hot blood gas rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head in an instant, and his whole face seemed to be thrown into boiling water, burning hot. My mind was blank, only Fu Chengyu's hot question and the hot touch that almost burned into his skin on his wrist.
Last night?
Last night at the law firm's celebration banquet, she was indeed drunk a lot by her colleagues... Later... How did she come back? The memory is like a cliff covered with thick fog, a mess. Only sporadic fragments flashed: the shaking lights, the vague smiles of colleagues, and... and the cold touch of the floor tiles in the porch?
Honey... Don't go?
Gu Qing's eyes widened, and Fu Chengyu's close face was clearly reflected in his pupils. His sharp eyes seemed to be with a hook, and he was scratching the undisguised embarrassment and unbelievable confusion that suddenly rose on her face inch by inch.
Those three words, like a red soldering iron, burned her heart fiercely.
The thick solid wood door closed behind Fu Chengyu. The "click" sound was like a cold lock, completely sealing the short but thrilling conflict just now. It also seemed to lock the strength of Gu Qing's whole body.
The huge top-floor duplex apartment fell into a vacuum-like silence. The slight buzzing of the air outlet of the central air conditioner is infinitely amplified, becoming the only sound background. There is still the burning fragrance of coffee in the air, mixed with the clear smell of aftershave water on Fu Chengyu's body, and... a trace of smoke that has not yet dissipated.
Gu Qing's back was tightly pressed against the back of the cold and hard chair. The little coldness tried to penetrate into her hot skin through the thin shirt fabric, but to no avail. The residual burning sensation on the wrist was like a branding, and the pinched position on the chin was faintly painful. On the lips, there was a clear impression of the almost rough rubbing touch of Fu Chengyu's fingers - hot, with unquestionable force, and a trace of... indescribable breath that belonged to him.
Like a puppet whose string was pulled off, she slid down the back of the chair stiffly and fell on the thick carpet. The scattered file paper messed up her calves and ankles, and the sharp edges of the paper brought a slight tingling, but it was far from the chaotic stirring in her heart.
"Wait for me to come back."
Fu Chengyu's last words, like nails quenched on ice, nailed fiercely in her chaotic mind with an unquestionable commanding tone. It's not a discussion, but a notice. What is he on? With that cold agreement? Or with his... almost out-of-control question just now?
Gu Qing raised his slightly trembling hand and covered his still amazingly hot cheeks. The eyes leaked between the fingers, blankly looking at the city light and shadow flowing outside the floor-to-ceiling window. Those bright lights are usually a symbol of prosperity, but at this moment they are like countless cold eyes, laughing at her embarrassment.
Shame was like a surging tide, washing her in waves. Drunk and lost his posture, holding the agreement husband and shouting "husband", and holding him and not letting go... Crying?! Each of these words is like a whip, hitting her proud self-esteem fiercely. When did she become so unbearable? What made her even more panicked was that in the face of Fu Chengyu's heart-piercing question - "What do you think in your heart is that damn agreement, or... me?" - she couldn't refute a word.
It's not that I don't want to refute. It was at that moment, looking at the surging darkness in his eyes that was about to swallow people and a kind of near-desperate intense emotion, her brain went blank. That agreement, the security barrier she regarded as a guide and used to isolate all emotions, was too fragile in his eyes. The pain flashed in the depths of his eyes, as fast as an illusion, but stabbed her like a needle.
The agreement is dead, but the person is alive.
Fu Chengyu's words echoed repeatedly in her confused thoughts like a spell, which made her restless. She shook her head irritably, trying to get rid of these unnecessary thoughts. Her eyes fell on the scattered file, which was the key chain of evidence she had carefully prepared for the court this morning.
Open the court!
Gu Qing woke up suddenly. She struggled to stand up, but her legs were weak for a while, and the discomfort on her wrists was clearly transmitted. She looked down and saw a clear red mark on her fair skin, which was the evidence left by Fu Chengyu's strong clamp. This trace instantly reminded her of his burning breath, the feeling of oppression at hand, and the sentence "Wait for me to come back".
A strong sense of resistance surged up. Why do you have to listen to him? Why do you have to "rest" at home? Her work, her battlefield, in the court! Not in this cold cage framed by the agreement!
Gu Qing gritted his teeth, held the back of the chair, and stood up. She bent down and began to clean up the files on the ground one by one, flattened and folded them one by one, as if she was sorting out her equally messy mood. She went to the porch and picked up her briefcase and car keys. When the finger touched the cold metal key, a trace of hesitation still slipped uncontrollably through my heart. Fu Chengyu's sentence "I will deal with it in the law firm" is like an invisible shackle.
But she shook off the hesitation with force. She can't be trapped here. She needs a job. She needs the familiar battlefield that can let her control everything to prove that she is still Gu Qing, not the woman who is in a mess in front of Fu Chengyu.
The elevator went down smoothly. Gu Qing leaned against the cold car wall and looked at himself reflected in the mirror. His face was still abnormally flushed, his lips were slightly red and swollen, and his eyes were full of shock and stubbornness. She took a deep breath, straightened her back, and tried to make the image in the mirror look like the calm and sharp lawyer Gu.
The car flowed into the morning rush hour and moved slowly. The host's noisy voice in the car radio became the best background noise, trying to fill the suffocating blank in her mind. However, Fu Chengyu's close face, the darkness in his eyes, the hot touch of his fingers, his low and hoarse questioning... Every detail is extremely clear and stubborn.
The car was parked in the underground parking lot of the law firm. Gu Qing turned off the engine, but did not get out of the car immediately. She leaned on the driver's seat and unconsciously stroked the steering wheel with her fingers. The unique shady smell of the parking lot enveloped her, slightly relieving the heat on her face. She closed her eyes and let out a long and silent breath. You need to be calm, you must be calm. Last night was an accident, because of alcohol. Fu Chengyu's reaction... is probably just anger after being offended, or... the unhappiness of being challenged by the authority of some superiors? Yes, it must be so. The agreement must return to the track of the agreement.
She repeatedly emphasized to herself, as if she was strengthening a crumbling dike.
After tidying up his expression, Gu Qing pushed the car door and stepped on the cold concrete floor with high heels, making a crisp and regular sound. She walked into the special elevator, and the metal door reflected her cold and professional face again. Good, Lawyer Gu is back.
The elevator door opened with a "ding" on the top floor. As soon as Gu Qing stepped out, he saw her assistant Xiao Zhao trotting anxiously to meet her.
"Lawyer Gu! You are finally here!" Xiao Zhao's voice was relieved, mixed with obvious tension.
Gu Qing's heart sank slightly, but his face did not move: "What's wrong? It's still early to start the court.
"It's not about the court," Xiao Zhao lowered his voice and came closer, his eyes full of worry and a trace of fear. "Yes... it's Mr. Fu's side..."
Gu Qing's heartbeat suddenly missed a beat, and the calmness on his face almost collapsed. Fu Chengyu? What did he do?
Xiao Zhao swallowed his saliva and said quickly: "Not long after you left, Mr. Zhang, Mr. Fu's special assistant, came! I went directly to Director Wang's office and stayed for almost half an hour before I came out! Then Director Wang came to me in person and said... that you suddenly felt unwell today and needed a rest. The trial of the foreign-related merger and acquisition case has been urgently transferred to Chen Lv's team to take over! Let's not disturb your rest!" Xiao Zhao finished speaking in one breath and looked at Gu Qing nervously, "Lawyer Gu, are you... are you okay? Your face is not very good in the morning..."
Are you not feeling well? Rest? Transfer the case?
Fu Chengyu!
He actually did this! And it has been done so thoroughly, so efficiently, so unquestionable! He bypassed her directly, used his network, and easily erased her sense of existence today and the work she had carefully prepared for weeks!
A cold anger instantly replaced all the chaos and shame just now, and wrapped around Gu Qing's heart like a poisonous snake. She pinched her fingers on the briefcase until her knuckles turned white. Agreement? Don't interfere with each other? What a great irony! Fu Chengyu's words can make her existence in the law firm dispensable, and can forcibly "place" her at home like dealing with a troublesome item!
"Lawyer Gu?" Xiao Zhao shouted again worriedly.
Gu Qing suddenly sento his senses and looked at Xiao Zhao's concerned eyes. She forcibly suppressed the surging anger and a sense of powerlessness of being completely controlled, and squeezed out an extremely reluctant, almost distorted "calm" smile on her face.
"I'm fine." Her voice was very dry, and every word seemed to be squeezed out of her teeth. "It's just a little... low blood sugar. Director Wang arranged it well." In the last few words, she said it with great difficulty, with a kind of humiliation of self-rejection.
"That's good, that's good." Xiao Zhao was relieved and couldn't help nagging, "You look really bad. Why don't you go back and have a rest? Mr. Fu also cares about you..."
Care?
These two words were like a red soldering iron, burning Gu Qing's heart fiercely. She almost sneered. Is that concern? That's a naked declaration of ownership! It's a merciless warning! He is telling her in the most direct way: within the agreement, he has the right to intervene and dispose of everything about her! He asked her to "rest at home", so she must "rest at home"!
"Hmm." Gu Qing responded vaguely and could no longer maintain the apparent calm. She didn't even have the courage to walk into her office again, for fear of seeing the sympathetic or inquiring eyes of her colleagues. She was afraid that she would lose control on the spot.
"I... I'm going to the bathroom." She hurriedly dropped a sentence, almost ran away and turned around. She walked quickly to the bathroom at the end of the corridor. The sound of high heels hitting the ground was imperceptible.
Xiao Zhao stood in place, looked at Gu Qing's obviously stiff back, and scratched his head doubtfully. I always feel that Lawyer Gu is strange today, not just because of his physical discomfort.
The cold induction faucet is ratling with water. Gu Qing stood in front of the huge washstand mirror, with his hands on the cold marble table and his back slightly arched. The mirror reflected a pale, tired face with anger, humiliation and huge confusion in his eyes.
The sound of water covered her rapid breathing. She looked at herself in the mirror. The lawyer Gu, who was sharp in the court and controlled the whole situation, was like a puppet controlled by invisible silk thread at this moment, and he couldn't help his every move.
Fu Chengyu... What on earth does he want to do? Just because of the offense of her drunkenness last night, you used this way to punish her and declare his absolute dominance? Or... What does his sentence "you broke in first" and the strange and surging darkness in his eyes really mean anything else?
She didn't dare to think deeply and refused to think deeply.
The agreement is dead, but the person is alive.
This sentence appeared like a ghost again. It is no longer a cold statement, but like a cursed slang.
Gu Qing tightened the faucet sharply. The sound of water suddenly stopped, and only her suppressed breathing was left in the bathroom. She raised her head and looked at the woman with broken eyes in the mirror. She straightened her spine hard, as if she had to do her best to fight against the invisible shackles and the panic in her heart.
She can't stay here anymore. Fu Chengyu's "arrangement" was like a huge mockery, reminding her of her powerlessness.
Picking up the briefcase, Gu Qing did not go back to the office and went straight to the elevator. She needs to leave here, away from the environment that suffocates her. Where are you going? Go home? The place where Fu Chengyu ordered her to "wait for me to come back"? No. She needs a place where she can breathe and regain a sense of control.
The elevator goes down. Gu Qing leaned against the carriage wall and closed his eyes tiredly. The scattered files in the apartment flashed uncontrollably in my mind, and the cup of black coffee on the table that had only been half drunk and had already cooled.
Finally, she started the car, and the low roar of the engine echoed dullly in the underground parking lot. The car drove out of the basement and re-entered the traffic in the city. The sunlight shines in through the car window, which is a little dazzling. Gu Qing drove aimlessly, like a boat lost in the turbulent river.
By the time she realized where she was, the car was already parked next to a secluded street park. It is not far from the law firm, the environment is quiet, and there are several benches for people to rest.
Gu Qing turned off the engine, leaned on the back of the chair, and looked blankly at the sparse pedestrians outside the window. The red marks on the wrist are more dazzling in the sun. She took out her mobile phone, the screen was unlocked, and her fingertips hung on the address book, but finally put it down decadently. Who can I call? What did you say? Say that her husband went crazy inexplicably this morning, and then forcibly deprived her of her job, ordering her to stay at home and wait for him to "come back"?
It's ridiculous. Even she herself felt ridiculous.
Time goes by little by little. The screen of the mobile phone went dark. Gu Qing maintained the same posture, like a solidified statue. Until the car window was gently knocked.
She was shocked and turned her head to look. Outside the car window, there was an old man in a park manager's uniform, looking at her with concern.
"Girl, are you all right? Seeing that you have stopped here for almost two hours, you don't look very good. The old man's voice came through the crack of the car window, with simple care.
It's almost two hours? Gu Qing glanced at the time blankly. Sure enough.
"I... I'm fine, thank you." She barely squeezed out a smile, and her voice was a little hoarse.
"It's okay, it's okay." The old man nodded and walked away.
Gu Qing looked forward again. The sunlight casts a mottled light and shadow on the windshield. She took a deep breath and started the car. There is nowhere to escape. Whether it's this city, that agreement, or Fu Chengyu's strong shadow. After all, she will go back to that cold "home".
The car started again and drove towards the top-floor duplex apartment. The scenery outside the window is rapidly regressing. Gu Qing's hand holding the steering wheel was very steady, but his eyes looked blankly ahead. The cold cup of coffee in the apartment is like a cold metaphor.
The agreement is dead. People are alive. But when the "living" person breaks in with enough strength to destroy all established rules and unpredictable thoughts, how should she go on the "dead" road that runs according to the protocol track and thinks it is safe?
She doesn't know. The only clear thing is the piercing red mark on the wrist, and the stagnt water in the bottom of my heart that can no longer be restored after being forcibly stirred. In the water, there seems to be something that is slowly struggling to emerge from the water.