Bringing the Nation's Husband Home

Before Xu Jiamu got into the car, he stopped as though having realized something. With his head slightly lowered, he said to Song Xiangsi, ”I changed my mind. I don’t need you to spend three days and nights with me. I just need two hours at eight on Sunday at the Four Seasons hotel.”

After he said this, he bent down and got into the taxi. The taxi drove off before Song Xiangsi could snap back to her senses.

-

The next day after after blood donation, Xu Jiamu lay groggily in bed with a fever all day. It was not until nightfall that his temperature fell.

He was still a little weak after he ate some food, but he wasn’t the least bit sleepy. He was the only one in the villa, and the silence left him a little flustered.

When Song Xiangsi was back in America, he would often feel lonely, but now that she was back and he was in the same city, he felt even more lonely.

Xu Jiamu smoked two cigarettes, then walked into the study room. Since he hadn’t been in the office for a day, there were dozens of emails in his inbox. He sat in front of his desk and looked through them one by one. When he finished working, it was already 5 am in the morning. He took a shower, and then drove to a random breakfast cafe for some food, then went to the office.

There was a tall pile of documents on his desk. He sat down and started to read through them, as though he didn’t know what tiredness meant. He waited for people to come to work one after the other. He signed all the documents. Next, the secretary had to give him a run down of the day’s schedule. Then, he had a meeting, and lunch... All in all, he was so busy the entire day, he had no time for a breather.

Xu Jiamu and Song Xiangsi didn’t see each other after the day he donated his blood, nor did either of them take the initiative to contact the other.

That weekend, Xu Jiamu was alone in the office, working overtime for two days. It was not until six o’clock in the evening on Sunday that his phone reminder alarm started to ring. He saw the three words: Evening, 8 PM.

Xu Jiamu stared at those words for a long time, but eventually flipped his phone over and continued to work on his computer, all the way until twenty past seven. He then shut down his computer and cleaned up his things, then walked out the door.

It was twenty to eight when he reached the Four Seasons hotel. He booked a room, yet he wasn’t in a hurry to go up. Instead, he waited in the lobby for about twenty minutes. At six past eight, he finally saw Song Xiangsi’s car parked at the entrance of the hotel.

She stepped into the hotel lobby. Xu Jiamu waited until she noticed him before he got up and silently walked up to the elevators.

Song Xiangsi kept to about five meter distance behind him.

The elevator doors opened. Without even bothering with her, Xu Jiamu headed right towards his room. He swiped his card, pushed open the door, and walked in.

Seconds later, Song Xiangsi followed him in. She stood at the door for a while, before gently closing it.

Xu Jiamu sat sluggishly down on the sofa, then casually turned on the TV. After a while, he saw Song Xiangsi still standing at the entrance. He then turned the TV’s volume down. Without thinking before he spoke, he suddenly asked, ”Does your husband know that you’re in a room with another man?”

When she heard his taunt, her usual arrogant eyes turned dark and she slightly lowered her head.

Xu Jiamu’s mood grew increasingly more annoyed when he saw that look on her face. He turned his head and wouldn’t stop clicking the remote control, changing the channels. In his head, he thought back to how similar this scene was to the first night they’d spent together many years ago.