Starlight Has No Past

Chapter 3 Part 2

The unusual coincidence made her forget her explanation.

Zhou Tingshen helped widen her wounds so the water could wash away

all the dog's saliva and any possible germs. He mercilessly tore open the

wound without any pity in his eyes.

The excruciating pain almost paralyzed Ye Qiao, her legs becoming wobbly.

She took a deep breath to force herself through the pain. He held her arm

with his hand. She could feel the warmth of his body, yet his voice was without

any warmth: “You can really tough it out.”

Ye Qiao wasn't comfortable being so close to him especially with his chest

bare. Furthermore, the way he treated a wounded woman was too rough,

treating her as if she were a wounded soldier on the battlefield.

She turned her head to check if he was only teasing her, but met with that

familiar indifferent eyes.

Other than his eyes however, everything about him seemed different from

the person she saw last night who was having an affair with a young student

in an old residential area at the middle of the night and frightening a clerk in

the drugstore. Neither of those images matched the religious man in front of

her who lived in a high end apartment building and even hung one of her

father's famous painting as a decoration in the entranceway.

Ye Qiao didn't know what to say. Then she suddenly realized something, she

abruptly turned her head back: “You set up that pa.s.sword because of the

painting at the doorway?”

Zhou Tingshen shut off the water, brought some alcohol to disinfect the wound,

and raised his head when he heard the question: “That's right.” He dipped the

cotton ball into the alcohol and tried to hold her wounded hand. Ye Qiao

subconsciously pulled her hand back: “I can do it myself.”

Ye Qiao took the cotton ball and dabbed it lightly on her wounds. She clenched

her teeth and tightly closed her eyes from the stinging pain. She opened her eyes

a while later, with a look of excitement deep in her eyes.

Zhou Tingshen felt that she was applying it too lightly and too slowly, he held her

hand and wiped the alcohol on for her. Ye Qiao disapproved his aggressive method

of treating the wounds, but didn't say anything. She fixed her eyes on his hand:

“Why were you at that place last night?”

While she was asking, Zhou Tingshen's index finger suddenly moved a bit. Ye

Qiao s.h.i.+vered.

He laughed: “If you're afraid of the pain, then turn around, don't look.”

Ye Qiao didn't move her eyes away from his hands: “I'm used to watching.” The

unknown was even more frightful than the pain. She was used to toughing it out.

“You want to look even if you're afraid of the pain?”

“I'm not afraid of the pain.”

Zhou Tingshen repeated the trick, pretending to touch the wound again. She

s.h.i.+vered again. “There's no point in lying.” Ye Qiao got annoyed: “You……” A wide

and thick palm suddenly covered her eyes.

At the same time, he doused alcohol on her wounds.

He was far from gentle, yet made sure the pain was bearable and quick. Ye Qiao

half opened her mouth; it ended up being less painful as she had expected. She

took two deep breaths and could see again.

She frowned and spoke coldly: “Has anyone mentioned to you that you're really

annoying when you take things upon yourself.”

A typical Chinese man, a male chauvinist.

Zhou Tingshen didn't seem to care, raised his eyebrows, and turned to ask: “You

like that painting, too?”

The painting at the doorway was the last oil painting by the master artist Xu Zang,

named

. The artist used impressionist colors and lights

to weave six hidden numbers on the painting and created an image of sunset at the

river bank. Because of the numbers, it was also named as <679352> by collectors.

Ye Qiao's facial expression changed a bit: “No, I don't. You?”

“I don't have the apt.i.tude for these things. I can't say that I like it or not.” He backed

away to lean against the wood and gla.s.s cabinet in the living room. His handsome

face and lean body reflected off the gla.s.s. The fingers with the thin ring were b.u.t.toning

the s.h.i.+rt one b.u.t.ton at the time.

The air in the room seemed to freeze.

The dog slowly walked over and sat down in front of Zhou Tingshen.

Zhou Tingshen knelt down to stroke its sleek back. Desa closed its eyes in delight.

Zhou Tingshen used two fingers to squeeze the dog's chin and twist its head to face

Ye Qiao: “Come, apologize to her.”

Ye Qiao was applying bandages on herself. When she turned her head, she heard a

loud bark. The dog had received strict training. The way it sat upright with a serious

look made it looked like a saluting soldier.

She was still scared of the dog. With a pale face, she wanted to smile but couldn't.

“It looks like it hurt itself.” Ye Qiao slanted her head to look at its paw.

Zhou Tingshen lifted the dog's right paw. Indeed, there was red gash on it, probably

from the broken pieces on the floor. He took out the first aid kit from the coffee table

to disinfect and bandage the cut. He seemed quite skilled at what he was doing and

had a serious look the entire time. The dog hummed a couple times towards him,

acting especially pitiful.

Ye Qiao could tell that he greatly cared for his dog. “I'm sorry.”

“Desa is a military dog. This is only a cut. You don't have to say sorry.”

Ye Qiao could only change the subject: “And that pair of candlesticks, I'm not too sure

what I pulled to the ground. You take a look and I'll pay everything back.” Ye Qiao's

senses all came back to her when she mentioned the candlesticks. Ye Qiao was quite

solemn-- --when it involved hurting other's religious belief, she felt it was a very serious

offense and didn't even know how to apologize for it.

“You don't need to pay for it.” Zhou Tingshen seemed to know why she was so serious

about the matter: “Do I look like a Christian?”

Ye Qiao shook her head. He didn't look like a Christian who believed in heaven; he

looked more like the devil from the h.e.l.l.

Zhou Tingshen smiled and shook his car keys: “Let's take you to get a rabies shot. Let's go.”