“Awake? Here, have some porridge.”
As soon as she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Jiang Chi’s handsome face, brimming with concern. He sat at the bedside, holding a bowl of millet porridge, gently bringing the spoon to Ji Yuenián’s lips.
Ji Yuenián didn’t open her mouth, but instead rolled over and sat up, taking in her surroundings. Her clothes had been changed, and her body felt refreshed and clean—she must have been carried to the bathroom and washed by this man.
“What time is it?” she asked offhandedly.
“3:30 in the afternoon.” Jiang Chi answered steadily, still holding the bowl in the same posture, unmoved.
“It’s not early, I should be going.” Ji Yuenián spoke while hurrying to get out of bed, but when her gaze inadvertently landed on the set of women’s clothes she was wearing, her movement suddenly paused. She lifted her head, looking straight at Jiang Chi.
“Give me a set of men’s clothes. I’ll transfer you the money as soon as I get back.”
“Alright.” Jiang Chi nodded. Seeing that she had no intention of eating, he set the millet porridge aside. Then he took out a golden bell from his pocket, its surface shining brilliantly.
“First, play a game with me.”
“What game? Tell me.” Ji Yuenián saw the golden bell in his hand and couldn’t help but think of the silver bell hanging around her own neck. In that instant, her pretty face flushed with a rosy hue, turning red in a blink.
Seeing that she didn’t refuse immediately, a faint, meaningful smile lifted the corners of the man’s lips. “This game is called…”
The golden bell shook gently, and its crisp, pleasant chime filled the room.
“Absolute Trust.”
“Do we really have to do it this way?”
“Why does your game feel so childish?”
“You said it yourself, just for two and a half hours.”
“You help me feel good, I play your game—let’s call it even. Neither of us owes the other.”
In the spacious living room, the moment the blindfold was put on, Ji Yuenián’s vision was plunged into darkness. Only now did she realize what purpose those pressure plates and dumbbells scattered around the room served—obstacles.
“Take five steps forward.” The man’s clear and steady voice sounded by her ear. Ji Yuenián followed his instructions, her toes tapping the floor, cautiously moving five steps ahead.
One, two, three…
Wait, why am I listening to Jiang Chi’s commands?
When it came down to it, there wasn’t much genuine affection between her and Jiang Chi. She merely saw him as a tool for satisfying her desires. As for Jiang Chi, he surely understood her attitude towards him.
Would he mess with me on purpose, just to watch me stumble over these obstacles and make a fool of myself?
“Mm?”
Ji Yuenián paused abruptly.
Doubts churned in her mind, but at this moment, she couldn’t spare the energy for such things. She’d already lost all sense of direction.
Her sight was tightly blocked by the blindfold; surrounded by darkness, she could no longer tell east from west. The world felt shrouded in thick fog. Ji Yuenián had to stop moving, not daring to take another step.
“There are two steps left. Go forward two steps.” Jiang Chi’s voice broke the silence.
Instead, she instinctively took a few steps back.
“Now you need to walk six steps.”
“Um… um, Jiang Chi, you’re not going to prank me on purpose, are you?” Blindfolded, Ji Yuenián’s voice held a hint of anxiety and unease.
“Don’t think. Just trust me.” The man replied.
Trust you, trust Jiang Chi, trust a man.
Ji Yuenián swallowed hard.
This little game was far less simple than she’d imagined.
Especially now, with her eyes closed, she could only rely on hearing to perceive her surroundings from a distance, making her inner unease swell even further.
Unable to see, without visual aid, if she wanted to pass these obstacles unscathed, she could only trust Jiang Chi.
But was trust really that easy?
If Jiang Chi wanted to see her embarrass herself, a single mistake in his instructions—or her own misunderstanding—and she’d trip over the obstacles.
Such trust meant ceasing to think, handing her heart over to this man, entrusting herself entirely to him.
Complete trust, wholehearted trust, trust from heart to heart.
*****
“Oh no, I forgot my documents.”
Today was her dad’s monthly day off. Ji Haotong had just driven to the company when he realized he’d left an important qipao design sketch at home and rushed back.
He pushed open the door, only to be stunned by the scene inside.
“Dad, Mom, what are you doing?”
The room was strewn with discarded cardboard boxes and pressure plates for the feet. Every few steps, there was an obstacle placed, piled up front and back, winding like a maze. In the center of this labyrinth stood a beautiful woman, blindfolded.
And more than ten meters away on the sofa sat a middle-aged man, long-legged and slim-waisted, handsome and poised, methodically guiding the blindfolded beauty through the maze.
Ji Hong was just as surprised to see Ji Haotong suddenly appear.
“Dom, I think I heard Tongtong’s voice.” The blindfolded beauty—Huang Qingchuan—asked aloud, noticing the strange sound.
“Haotong’s back.” Ji Hong replied calmly.
“Oh, Tongtong is back… Ah! What! Tongtong is back!!”
Huang Qingchuan’s delicate face flushed bright red. In her fluster, she tried to turn away, but blindfolded, she had no sense of direction. Her foot missed the floor, her body swayed, and she nearly fell.
Barely regaining her balance, she called out in embarrassment, “Dom… Honghong, should I take off the blindfold?”
“Not yet, let me guide you back.”
Ji Haotong could only watch as his mother carefully retraced her steps from the maze, following his father’s instructions, finally plopping squarely onto his father’s lap.
Huang Qingchuan removed her blindfold, her beautiful eyes meeting her eldest son’s wide-eyed stare at the door.
“Tongtong, let me explain!” she blurted.
“Dad, Mom, you… uh… the weather’s great today, I didn’t see anything, really!”
With that, Ji Haotong made to flee, pretending he’d never been here, but Ji Hong stopped him with a call.
Ji Haotong froze in place.
He turned back awkwardly, coughing a few times. “Dad, Mom, I just came back for a design sketch, that’s all.”
“Tongtong, it’s not what you think.” Huang Qingchuan, sitting in Ji Hong’s lap, pressed a hand to her forehead, both helpless and embarrassed.
What could Ji Haotong say? Of course it was, “Yes, yes, sure, whatever you say, I have no objections.” Yet inwardly, he muttered,
No wonder Dad takes a day off every month—turns out he stays home with Mom. As expected, women in their thirties are insatiable, and after turning in… pfft, what am I thinking!
Seeing Ji Haotong’s wild imaginings and forced calm, Huang Qingchuan couldn’t hold it anymore. Blushing, she buried her head in her husband’s chest, wishing she could disappear.
In the end, it was Ji Hong, the head of the family, who cleared things up in a few words: the two of them were indeed playing a certain trust game from their circle, but it wasn’t anything too indecent.
Ji Haotong grabbed his design sketch and dashed out the door to the underground garage.
Only when Ji Haotong was completely gone did Huang Qingchuan, her face still pink, dare to lift her head. She nibbled on her husband’s finger on her cheek, as if only that could give her confidence.
“Hong… Dom, did we scare Tongtong?”
“Yes.” Ji Hong nodded.
Hearing her husband’s reply, Huang Qingchuan’s lips pouted like a bun, her beautiful face turning into a bitter melon. “Do you think he sees his mother as some wanton woman, shameless in broad daylight, am I an unfit mother…”
“He won’t.” Ji Hong cut her off. He lowered his head, his forehead pressing to hers, nose to nose. “Qingchuan, you’re a gentle and virtuous wife, and you’re a very good mother.”
“Don’t worry, we raised Haotong ourselves. Now that he’s grown up, he has his own thoughts, gets embarrassed, gets awkward. That’s perfectly normal.”
“Do you remember why we started this game?” Suddenly, Ji Hong asked.
Huang Qingchuan nodded. “Absolute trust between husband and wife, wholehearted trust, trust that goes beyond love between Dom and Sub.”
Because of trust, she let Ji Hong know about her illness; because of trust, she was willing to entrust herself to the man before her; because of trust, she opened her heart without reservation, cooperating with Ji Hong to research treatment plans for her illness, no matter how difficult the process; and because of trust, she offered up her heart, now riddled with disease, to her Dom, completing the union and sublimation of their hearts.
“I trust Dom the most.” Huang Qingchuan’s eyes sparkled as she suddenly wrapped her arms around Ji Hong’s neck, taking the initiative to kiss his lips.