Chapter 27: Running Away With the Bucket
It started to rain. The raindrops were small but very dense. Cheng Fei hurried upstairs. After opening the door, the living room was still dark. She thought Gao Ming had already gone to sleep, but after turning on the light, she saw the shoe cabinet was almost empty except for a few pairs of slippers.
He had not come back yet. Good. She could relax comfortably by herself.
She had not eaten a proper dinner. She only drank beer and ate peanuts earlier. Her stomach had almost nothing in it. After being scared half to death by that terrifying scene, she was already starving.
It was too late to cook anything complicated. In the morning, she had been sleepy and accidentally cooked too much rice. She boiled some water in the rice cooker and poured the leftover rice into it. Then she opened a can of luncheon meat and a can of spicy hairtail fish, placed them on plates, and put them in the steamer tray. Simple rice porridge with small side dishes, easy but still tasty.
Meanwhile, Zhou Lin had also gotten home safely and sent her a message through chat software. Cheng Fei had already changed her profile picture. Otherwise, if Wang Min, that jealous girlfriend of his, found out, Zhou Lin would definitely suffer again.
After locking her phone screen, she saw it was already past one in the morning. At this hour, and with Gao Ming still not home, the company boss was probably working overtime again.
The cool night wind moved the curtains gently. Cheng Fei shrank her neck a little. The rain outside had become heavier.
Her thoughts drifted like the night rain itself, slowly soaking through her mind.
Working all day, coming home in the middle of the night, entering a dark and lifeless room, with nothing in the fridge except cold leftovers. Even when exhausted, a person still had to think about filling their stomach first before resting.
This scene reminded her of her own past again.
Forget it. Making a little extra food was not difficult anyway. Besides, Gao Ming did pay for food expenses, so she could not be too heartless. Cheng Fei reopened the rice cooker and poured in all the remaining rice. She also added another serving of canned food to the steaming tray.
After eating and taking a shower, she happily went to bed and slept.
At two-thirty in the morning, along with the creaking sound of the door, the owner of the house finally returned.
He changed shoes, took off his clothes, loosened his tie, and suddenly smelled something delicious that woke up his hungry nerves.
Gao Ming glanced toward Cheng Fei’s room, then walked to the rice cooker with an empty stomach. The corners of his mouth slowly lifted into a smile.
……………………………………
Running away was a deep art.
There was an old saying in military strategy: “Running away is the best plan.”
Back then, if George Washington had not constantly escaped the British army during the early days of the Revolution, his forces would have been wiped out, and the United States would have never been born.
Right now, Cheng Fei felt a bit like George Washington, forced to act humble to survive… cough! Bringing ancient people into this topic was going too far.
Running away had already been her plan ever since she learned Gao Ming would never let her go. Her current behavior did not mean she had accepted reality or willingly become some sweet little wife. All of this was only smoke and mirrors, meant to make the enemy lower his guard.
The only thing still holding her back was the unfinished matter from her past life. Cheng Fei had always felt unwilling to let it go and had tried to contact people about it. A few days ago, she even asked Zhou Lin to help investigate, but the result was that the small boss who used to give them freelance work had already moved overseas a year ago.
There was no news about him at all. Contacting him was basically impossible now.
That meant her last worry was finally gone.
However, even though she had decided to leave, she still had not decided where to go. China was huge. Should she go east, west, south, or north? Should she live in the countryside or in the mountains? Should she hide in a modern big city using the crowds as cover, or find a remote small town near the mountains and use nature itself as protection for her identity?
All of these were major questions, and impossible to calculate clearly in a short time.
Besides, with Gao Ming’s skills, hacking into surveillance cameras to track her movements would probably be as easy as flipping a pancake.
“Feifei?”
Cheng Fei was so lost in thought that she did not notice Gao Ming looking at her.
Following Gao Ming’s earlier suggestion, she had come to try on wedding dresses. But she had never had good taste in fashion. The few times she bought clothes for her ex-girlfriend, she got criticized badly.
Since she had no confidence at all, she asked Zheng Qi to come help her choose.
And so, using this as another chance… the two of them went together to the best wedding dress shop in the city.
The moment they entered, they saw a groom secretly running away and abandoning the bride.
Watching the pretty bride chase after him, Cheng Fei suddenly felt emotional. Times really had changed. Normally people only heard about brides running away, but this was the first time she had seen a groom escape.
Sigh… probably another poor guy scared away by an outrageous bride price demanded by the future mother-in-law.
That thought immediately reminded her of her own unresolved problem.
She thought about it while choosing dresses, while trying them on, and even after putting one on.
She stood in front of the mirror for a full two minutes without blinking once. Even the store workers secretly laughed behind her back.
Everyone in this world was somewhat narcissistic, but someone this absorbed in themselves was rare. Sure, her face was beautiful, but not so beautiful that someone should stare at themselves until going blank like this.
Zheng Qi’s voice finally snapped her back to reality.
Seeing the strange looks from the people around her, Cheng Fei laughed awkwardly.
This was not even her full appearance yet. She had already seen herself fully dressed up with makeup before, so what was the big deal?
It was not really the workers’ fault for being shallow-minded. If they could somehow see the huge plans hidden inside her mind, then that would truly be amazing.
“Feifei, I think this dress is the most stunning one. No need to waste time trying more.”
Cheng Fei nodded as well.
Whether it looked good or not did not matter much to her. In Cheng Fei’s eyes, all wedding dresses felt pretty similar. She could not accept the colorful ones, and the white dresses all looked almost the same.
The real difference was not the dress itself.
It was the people wearing it, two hearts tied together forever, sharing happiness for a lifetime.
“Uh, I also…”
“I also think this dress is very beautiful.”
That familiar voice appeared behind her again.
Cheng Fei felt so mentally tired that she wanted to scream out loud.
Didn’t he say he was not coming? Why did he suddenly appear again like a ghost? Looking at the smile on Gao Ming’s face, the kind that clearly showed everyone that the person in front of him was precious in his eyes, Cheng Fei immediately thought, ‘Great, here we go again.’
“Sorry, I came late.”
Forcing out a smile, Cheng Fei said weakly, “If you’re busy, then you didn’t need to come all the way here. I could’ve just shown it to you after I got home.”
“Seeing it at home can’t compare to how stunning you look wearing it right now.”
Heh…
Cheng Fei felt helpless. Zheng Qi felt even more helpless… and shot Cheng Fei a fierce look.
Dragging a single dog here just to hurt her feelings, treating your best friend like this was too heartless!
Cheng Fei was shocked and realized Zheng Qi had definitely misunderstood. She quickly gave her a pitiful look.
After getting Zheng Qi’s approval, Gao Ming followed the staff member to pay. Zheng Qi immediately grabbed Cheng Fei’s arm and almost gritted her teeth as she said, “Little Feifei! You’re really bold, huh? You dare play tricks on me like this!”
“It’s really not what you think. He said he had several meetings today…”
“The facts are right in front of me. What else is there to explain?” Zheng Qi stared at her. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll betray you during the wedding when I’m supposed to help the bride?”
After saying that, she symbolically twisted the soft flesh around Cheng Fei’s waist as punishment.
Then she lowered her head and ignored Cheng Fei completely, sending the bridesmaid dress photos she had taken to Bai Xi.
Bai Xi was still busy working as a teacher, carrying the heavy responsibility of shaping the minds of the younger generation, so she could only temporarily put her best friend’s matters aside. She would attend the wedding, of course, but since she had no time to come try dresses herself, Zheng Qi had to do it for her.
Cheng Fei looked so wronged she almost cried.
Heaven above could testify for her! This truly was not her doing. Gao Ming really decided to come here at the last minute!
“I’m leaving. I won’t disturb you two lovebirds anymore…” Even while saying goodbye, Zheng Qi still had that deadly look in her eyes.
Cheng Fei immediately turned all her sadness and anger toward Gao Ming instead.
Anyone would feel uncomfortable being stared at like that, especially with such a resentful expression. Gao Ming knew exactly why she was upset, so he simply looked away.
“You asked me this morning, and you clearly said you weren’t coming!” Cheng Fei growled through gritted teeth.
“The meetings ended early. I had nothing else to do, so I came to take a look.”
“You seriously had nothing better to do?!” Cheng Fei asked coldly.
Gao Ming did not answer. But his guilty eyes shifted slightly, making it obvious enough.
“Cough… you can just spend more time with your friends later.”
Cheng Fei was so angry her hands shook. She felt like she had fallen into an ice cave.
Trust was the most important thing in dealing with people. After today, her credibility was probably completely ruined. And after teasing Zheng Qi like this, with her personality, she would definitely cling tightly to her boyfriend for a while.
Zheng Qi loved going out and enjoying couple time together. If Cheng Fei guessed correctly, she was probably already making plans now. There would not be any free time left.
Cheng Fei subconsciously picked up her phone. Sure enough, there was a new social media post.
“Getting ready to leave. Total distance: 150 kilometers. Estimated travel time: one and a half hours. Approximately two people needed.”
Below it was a map, with a red heart marking a small town at the foot of Yunqi Mountain.
Cheng Fei glanced sideways at Gao Ming. Faced with the heavy resentment coming from her, Gao Ming did not even dare move closer.
The awkward morning finally passed, and the two returned to their own work.
Because of what happened today, Cheng Fei decided to stop hesitating and move her plan forward earlier than expected. She handed the shop work to Miao Lei and Liu Zhi while she lay on the table with her phone, writing and drawing things out, starting to prepare her great escape plan.
“Sister Feifei…”
Hearing the voice, Cheng Fei quickly hid the paper and pen, then looked up with an awkward grin. She had been too focused and had no idea how long the girl had been standing there. She was afraid the plan had already been seen.
“Planning where to go for your honeymoon?”
“Uh… y-yeah, yeah. The wedding is coming soon after all… hehe.”
Miao Lei smiled softly after hearing that. Everything was understood without needing words. What young girl did not dream about love? Her shy expression carried a trace of longing and fantasy about staying together with the person she loved.
“Ahem, later I’ll help find you a boyfriend.”
The speaker did not mean anything special by it, but the listener took it seriously.
Liu Zhi had just finished cleaning the small tables outside and returned inside to wash the cloth. He happened to hear the conversation and also noticed the excitement in Miao Lei’s eyes.
A young girl dreaming of love, a young boy secretly in love.
At that age, hormones were still running strong. Spending every day together with someone attractive, who could guarantee their heart would not move?
If the boyfriend she mentioned could be him… how wonderful that would be.
His dazed thoughts suddenly stopped when he noticed Cheng Fei staring at him.
Oh my, this young man probably had feelings after spending so much time with her.
Looking at Liu Zhi avoiding eye contact, Cheng Fei narrowed her eyes like a sly fox.
Using the hot afternoon weather as an excuse, Cheng Fei finished lunch and secretly slipped away, saying she needed a walk to help digestion. When she came back, she was carrying a huge travel bag.
Suddenly buying such a big bag naturally needed an explanation, but after what happened this morning, no explanation was necessary anymore.
Both of them understood its purpose clearly. Asking questions would only make things awkward, so they simply laughed and minded their own business.
Cheng Fei found an empty box in the small storage room and lined it with a large plastic bag.
Perfect.
The wedding preparations continued step by step. Every day, Cheng Fei secretly brought a little more “equipment” from home and hid it inside the tea shop.
Using a large woven bag as cover, she was not even nervous doing it right under Gao Ming’s nose.