Chapter 63: Trash Person

Yin Xian never believed that Wang Jiexiang would leave.

For all these years, she had always been by his side, circling around him like a piece of chewing gum, sticking close.

The luggage she left for him to deal with was all put back by Yin Xian in its original place.

Their work circles had no overlap, no mutual friends. After Wang Jiexiang moved out of the apartment, she no longer called or texted him. In this large city, she blended into the crowd, like a drop of water merging with the ocean, and he lost all news of her.

A month later, Yin Xian passed by the department store where Wang Jiexiang worked. She wasn’t at the cosmetics counter.

She had mentioned having a good colleague named Qianqian. Yin Xian found the saleswoman based on the name tag.

Qianqian told him, “Jiexiang resigned half a month ago. She enrolled in a baking school and wants to switch to another job.”

Yin Xian hadn’t heard Wang Jiexiang mention this.

After breaking up with Yin Xian, Wang Jiexiang found a cheap studio apartment.

She no longer had to wait up for someone until midnight, though her sleep quality didn’t significantly improve. The reason for her insomnia was the anxiety about the future. Previously, her plan only included Yin Xian, and as long as she was with him, nothing else mattered.

Now single, Wang Jiexiang seriously considered her future: What kind of life did she want to live?

Various fantasies flashed through her mind. After eliminating all imaginations involving Yin Xian, her thoughts finally settled on one scene.

— An elderly woman teaching her how to bake cakes, smiling at her.

Surrounded by the sweet aroma of freshly baked cakes every day, she could make delicious cakes, eat them, and share the wonderful experience with others.

Wang Jiexiang slapped the bed and sat up in surprise: This was the life she wanted!

Driven by this impulse, she quit her job at the department store.

She calculated that her savings were sufficient. Although she had no idea where to find the job of her dreams and had no foundation in baking, Wang Jiexiang strangely felt confident that she could do it.

She enrolled in a baking school and began two months of baking lessons.

Two months later, Wang Jiexiang was able to make various breads and cakes, becoming a skilled baking graduate.

After receiving her certificate from the school, she went out to celebrate with the other graduates.

At the end of the gathering, a male classmate she was friendly with asked for her phone number.

The next day, the classmate invited her for coffee, and Wang Jiexiang agreed.

However…

The place he chose was a bit awkward.

The coffee shop was near the company where Yin Xian worked, and when Wang Jiexiang arrived, she had a bad feeling.

After drinking coffee happily with the classmate, when they walked out of the coffee shop, she saw Yin Xian’s car outside.

She didn’t know if there was anyone inside. She didn’t look closely and just walked away, laughing with the classmate.

That night.

Wang Jiexiang received a call from Yin Xian.

“…”

She couldn’t understand how someone like him could call and not speak.

Anyway, they had broken up, and she didn’t need to tolerate him.

“If you’re not going to speak, I’ll hang up.”

Yin Xian suddenly spoke, “Did you find someone that quickly?”

“What?” Wang Jiexiang didn’t understand.

“Why did you get a new boyfriend so quickly? Did you cheat before?”

She was so angry that she immediately ended the call.

— This person is truly trash! After breaking up, he still slanders her!

It got worse after that.

After this call, Yin Xian kept contacting her for no reason, treating her like his housekeeper.

“Where did you put my blue shirt?”

Wang Jiexiang responded irritably, “Why are you asking me? Find it yourself.”

She could hear him rummaging through hangers on the other end of the line.

“I’m in a hurry, where did you put it?”

She sighed, “Is it dark blue or light blue?”

“Light.”

Wang Jiexiang thought for a moment, “Did you check the hangers? Then open the leftmost wardrobe and look in the middle drawer. If it’s not there, it should be in the right drawer.”

“Found it.”

He hung up promptly, without saying thank you.

The next day.

While Wang Jiexiang was having dinner, she received another call from Yin Xian.

When she answered, she heard the sound of stir-frying on his end.

“Hey, Feifei, I’m cooking.”

She absolutely hated that nickname, and Wang Jiexiang’s voice immediately grew louder.

“You’re Feifei. Don’t call me unless it’s necessary.”

Yin Xian ignored her attitude and continued talking.

“How do you make your braised pork? Why does mine taste different from yours?”

“Go eat at a restaurant,” she said, cutting the conversation short by ending the call.

Two seconds later, her phone rang again.

Wang Jiexiang put down her chopsticks and yelled at him, “I told you to go to a restaurant.”

Yin Xian wasn’t on the same wavelength. Calmly, he asked her:

“How much soy sauce should I use?”

“I don’t know!” She was getting more irritated. “How much meat do you have?”

“One pound.”

“Then use two big spoons of soy sauce.”

He opened a cabinet to get cooking utensils. “Which spoon?”

“Just a regular spoon.”

After hearing no movement on his end, Wang Jiexiang hung up.

Yin Xian turned off the stove.

In the cabinet, there was a juicer. He stared at it, lost in thought.

He remembered how she couldn’t get used to carrot juice at first, and how he tried hard to make her drink it.

He threatened her: “If you don’t drink it, I won’t take you home today.”

He rewarded her: “If you drink it, I’ll kiss you.”

After a few times, Wang Jiexiang would bargain with him, asking him to call her “darling” all day long before she would drink.

The day they moved out of the Urban Village, she refused to let go of the juicer.

She said it was the best juicer in the world, and that she would never throw it away.

Yin Xian frowned.

He took out his phone and sent Wang Jiexiang a message.

【Take the juicer with you.】

She didn’t reply.

The next day, when Yin Xian returned home, the juicer was still sitting on the living room table.

Unable to resist, he called her.

“Why didn’t you come get the juicer? The key is under the carpet. Didn’t you know?”

“Yin Xian, you don’t need to tell me where you keep your key,” she replied calmly, her voice cold and decisive. “The juicer is yours since you bought it.”

He didn’t back down. He had his own reasoning.

“You’re the one using the juicer. I don’t drink carrot juice.”

“I don’t drink it anymore.”

There was a pause, and Wang Jiexiang added, “My night blindness has improved a lot.”

This was perhaps the calmest conversation they had recently. No rushing to hang up, no quick pace, no impatience.

After she said that, they both fell silent.

The silence lasted for five minutes, or maybe ten.

She said, “I’m hanging up.”

The juicer was eventually placed back into the kitchen cabinet by Yin Xian.

He no longer called her frequently and returned to his own work.

One day, after drinking a little too much, he wobbled his way home.

His throat was dry, so he took out the key to open the door, thinking about getting some honey water from home.

The lights were off inside, and Yin Xian stood there for a moment, dazed.

Streetlight shone through the window, and he stared at the light, remembering that there was no one at home.

He closed the door and walked into the dark house.

Yin Xian walked slowly, not turning on the lights.

He made his way to their room, pushed open the door, and sat on the edge of the bed, near the side where she used to sleep.

His fingers touched the cold, deflated bedding, and his thin back slowly bent down.