After dinner, Jiang Li forced me to drink a medical concoction and to put it nicely, it was in case I catch a cold.

          I stared suspiciously at the amber liquid in his hand and asked.  "Are you so kind-hearted?"

          Jiang Li bluntly said.  "You have a cold.  It's contagious!"

          Okay, I did not want to say anymore.

 

                                        ***#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#***

 

          At night, before I went to sleep, I summoned up my courage and asked Jiang Li.  "Jiang Li, I want to ask you a question and please answer honestly."

          He nodded generously and said.  "I will also ask you a question in return so that you will not feel that you had taken advantage of me and be embarrassed about it.  You must also answer honestly."

          I nodded and said.  "The dinner that you cooked tonight was so badly done, did you do it on purpose?"

          Jiang Li honestly admitted.  "Yes.  In fact, I can cook well or I can cook again tomorrow so that you can try my cooking."

          I was horrified and quickly shook my head like a rattle.  Whether his words were true or false, it was difficult to distinguish. 

          He showed an expression of regret that was obviously fake and said.  "What a pity……."  Then with a change in his speech, he said.  "It's my turn to ask you."

          "You can ask."  I had not done anything wrong, so he can ask whatever he wants.

          He narrowed his eyes.  "Why did you cry today?"

          Sure enough, he would ask about this.  My expression turned sullen and casually replied.  "None of your business."

          "I don’t want to see a resentful face every day.  If this is not settled, then in the future, I will have to cook every day…….it is difficult to whisk eggs......."

          After thinking for a while, I said.  "Jiang Li, if you find your ex working in the same company as you, will you resign?"

          Jiang Li shook his head and said resolutely.  "Why should I resign?"

          I turned sideways to look at him in disbelief.  "It's easy for you to say."

          Jiang Li said again.  "It’s better to fire him straight away."                      

          Me:   "….."

          Why should I resign, just fire him…….that was Jiang Li's answer.

          Suddenly I realized that it was useless to ask Jiang Li such a question because we were at different levels.

          Jiang Li was quick to catch on and asked.  "What happened?  Met your ex-husband?"

          I nodded.  "He is our Marketing Director in the company and I am the Vice-President's Secretary."  In the future, the chances of meeting each other would be more, right?  Or should I just resign?

          Jiang Li pinched his chin and thought for a while.  Then suddenly he said.  "Guan Xiao Yan, I realized your greatest trait is not your stupidity but because you are useless."

          The words that came from his mouth were really not good but I had grown accustomed to his cynicism and at this moment, I was not in the mood to contradict him so I gave him a smile.

          Probably because he found that I did not respond with much attention to the importance of his words as expected, Jiang Li said with displeasure.  "You have to believe me.  In the first place, it was your ex-husband who had jilted you, then why should you be the one who has to avoid him as if you owed him something?"

          I was baffled by his words.  It seemed that was the case and it also seemed as if it was not…..

          Jiang Li saw that I did not speak and put forth another opinion.  "Or……you still have feelings for him?"

          Uh?  I was surprised.  Do I?  No…… I should not have…….

          I shook my head and said in a very serious tone.  "I am very sure, I don’t like him anymore."

          Jiang Li asked.  "But when you see him, your reaction is stronger than an average couple who had broken up.  Are you afraid of him?"

          I am afraid of him?  Why should I be afraid of him?  He is not a ghost.  So I shook my head......No……not afraid of him.

          He emphasized.  "You are afraid of him.  That day when we were married, I found out you were afraid of him."

          I bowed my head.  My heart became unsettled…….Am I afraid of Yu Zi Fei?  Why should I be afraid of him?

          As if Jiang Li was able to read my mind, he quickly answered the questions in my heart.  "In fact, you are not afraid of him but you are afraid to face the past of when you were together."

          Huh?

          Jiang Li pressed on step by step.  "Guan Xiao Yan, admit that you are useless.  After getting hurt, you hide away and don’t dare to come out.  You desperately wanted to forget and even if you can’t forget, you pretended that you have forgotten.  Once you see the person that had hurt you, immediately you want to hide……hide as far away as possible.  In fact, your situation is like 'Once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of a rope*.  You are now even afraid of the rope, not to mention that the person who actually hurt you was the snake."

          I nodded in a daze.  "There is some truth in what you said."

          Jiang Li expressed his inner thoughts and continued to speak.  "Although I can understand your behavior, he is an enemy that you should despise.  So I don’t understand why you don’t directly catch the snake?   Even if you don’t want to catch the snake, at least why not get rid of it?  People tend to have a bad side.  The more you avoid him, the more he will chase after you until you have nowhere to hide.  If this is going to happen, why not knock him down before he can start?"

           When I heard this, I was a little discouraged.  "Isn't this all nonsense?  If I can knock him down then will I be avoiding him?"

          Touching his chin, Jiang Li thought for a while and nodded.  "It's true.  Your ex-husband doesn’t look like a simple person.  With your IQ and your beauty, you are really not his opponent."

          Hey!

          Suddenly Jiang Li patted my shoulder and said.  "Don’t worry, I'll help you."

          I rolled my eyes and was not convinced.  "Are you so kind?"

          "Of course not!"  Jiang Li shook his head and the corners of his mouth lifted.  "I have conditions."

          As it was expected, I did not feel surprised at all.  "Tell me."

          JL:  "In the future, you have to wash my clothes."                                                   

          I gritted my teeth and nodded.

          JL:  "And also, in future when I come back after socializing, you have to cook supper and prepare sobering soup* for me." (A concoction for dispelling the after-effects of consuming alcohol.)

          Again, I gritted my teeth and nodded.

          "And also……"

          Suddenly I exploded.  "Are you finished yet?"

          "And also…..you have to go to bed early.  A woman who stays up late is a tragedy."

 

                                        ***#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#***

 

          The next day.

          JL:  "If you want to walk with your head held high in front of you ex-husband, you just need to do a little bit more.  You have to convince him that you had forgotten him and that you are doing well now." 

          Me:  "I have actually forgotten him."

          JL:  "What I mean is that now, in your eyes, he should be treated as a passerby.  When you see him, raise your head as if you are looking at a stray cat."

          Stray cat…….this difficulty level is a bit overwhelming.

          JL:  "When you look at him, imagine you are looking at a stranger that you dislike.  You can imagine that he has a lot of peculiar quirts that you loathe like......he possesses dark thoughts, often don’t take baths for a month and also likes to molest children………"

          I wiped my sweat.  "Are you sure this ….is okay?"

          JL:  "Don’t be polite with him or else he will think you are still hankering for him.  If that happens, then whether he likes you or not doesn’t matter, for he will surely start giving you trouble."

          I looked at Jiang Li's confident look and suddenly felt his words were not so reliable. 

          Jiang Li continued talking without noticing my expression.  "In addition, you have to put up a front to let him see that both of us share a good relationship.  Let him see that you, Guan Xiao Yan, even though without good character, without good temperament and without a good figure, there is still someone who wants you."

          Me:  "….."

          Jiang Li, if you don’t speak sarcastically, will you die?!

          JL:  "Once he sees you are leading a happier life than he had imagined or even happier than he is now, maybe he will feel revengeful.  If so, then he will probably look for a chance to seduce you and you must hold him off.  Handsome guys are aplenty under the sun and if you want to look for one, you can always come to me.  If you like one with a good physique, you can look for me…….of course, if you like a rich one, you can still look for me……."

          My……sweat is pouring like the waterfalls!

          Probably Jiang Li felt something was not right, then he added.  "Of course, I will not want you."

          In order to prevent from having a nervous breakdown, I had to shut my eyes, leaned back into my seat and pretended that I was lost in it.

          At this moment, I was sitting in Jiang Li's car.  Initially, for him to send me to work was not included in our discussion but when Jiang Li considered that I would be washing his clothes in the future, he felt very happy.  On the spur of a moment, he bundled me into the car and anyway, according to him, it was on the way.  Of course, I did not care and who did not like to take advantage of another person?  But what I did not understand was, when Jiang Li sent me to the company entrance, it was already 8:55 am........was he not afraid of being late for work?

          So I kindly asked him.  "Do you know you will be late?"

          Jiang Li answered indifferently.  "I'm not worried, why should you worry?"

          What kind of answer is this?!

          Just as I thought that Jiang Li had become a bit friendlier, this sentence once again dissipated all my good thoughts for him. 

 

          Just kidding!   Is he friendlier?  No, he is a freak, a pervert, possesses a dark mentality, and maybe he is also a pedophile.......(Damn, what am I talking about?  *^$&^#@@! )