Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 280 - 276: Seeing Ghosts

Chapter 280: Chapter 276: Seeing Ghosts

In the deep, dark night, the streets lay silent. Qin Guanglin slowly crouched down against the wall, his eyes fixed on He Fang beneath the streetlamp, his brow gradually furrowing.

Several hundred meters away stood an old, dilapidated phone booth, weather-beaten and scarred, exuding an air of antiquity.

Besides the occasional child playing in it, hardly anyone spared it a second glance. At most, people used it as a landmark, mentioning it casually when giving directions: "that broken phone booth."

He Fang was in that very booth now, holding the receiver and speaking softly. The distance was too great for Qin Guanglin to discern her expression.

Could that old thing still be working?

That was the first thought that popped into his head.

In just over a minute, He Fang hung up the phone, lingered briefly in the booth, and then started walking back.

Qin Guanglin instinctively stepped back, watching as He Fang approached, head down, her stride deliberate, his mind racing.

To ask?

Or not to ask?

Sneaking out to a phone booth to make a call at midnight— that call must have been very important.

She had been feeling down tonight, perhaps... no, it must be related to this.

Why avoid him?

Why not use her cell phone?

A series of ’why’s tumbled through Qin Guanglin’s mind as He Fang drew closer. He pursed his lips, turned around, and quietly walked back upstairs.

The word "cheating" flashed through his mind and was swiftly dismissed—if someone had told him He Fang might cheat, he would have staked his head on a bet against it.

But what could she be hiding from him?

Halfway up the stairs, Qin Guanglin stopped again, torn over whether to go down and confront her so she could explain, but then he gave up the idea.

He took off his clothes and lay back down in bed, the bedroom light on. He leaned against the headboard, facing the door, noticing that He Fang was taking longer than he expected to return.

The sound of the door opening, then soft footsteps—the bedroom door eased open, and Qin Guanglin saw He Fang pause briefly before she came in and closed the door behind her.

"Are you awake?"

"Yes, it’s late... where did you just go?"

"I couldn’t sleep, felt like eating duck feet..."

He Fang gestured with a disposable bag in her hand, and only then did Qin Guanglin notice she was carrying something.

"...I couldn’t resist and went down to buy some—do you want some?"

She fished out a packaged duck foot from the bag and shook it, the kind that cost one Yuan fifty, which Qin Guanglin had bought for her many times.

"..."

Qin Guanglin was stunned. Seeing her natural demeanor and casual tone, he almost wondered if what he had witnessed downstairs had been a dream—if he hadn’t seen her enter that decrepit phone booth with his own eyes, he would have believed her story.

"Just bought a duck foot?" He did not take the duck foot He Fang offered him, but continued to watch her.

The reason he had abandoned catching her in the act was to see how He Fang would react—would she explain, or continue to conceal.

Otherwise, even if he had caught her, she could have easily spun some excuse... Qin Guanglin didn’t know what excuse she might use; she had once concocted a lie about seeing the future, so this time she might claim she was talking to her mother planet.

"I also bought some chips." He Fang pulled out a pack of snacks from the bag.

"..."

The room fell silent. He Fang glanced at the window, then bowed her head and began eating the duck foot with small bites.

Qin Guanglin watched her, complex emotions flickering in his eyes as she ate like a cat, leaning over the trash bin to spit out bones.

"I..." he started to speak, but then stopped, closing his mouth.

What could he ask now? She had done everything as though nothing was wrong.

Say he had seen her making a phone call? She could easily sidestep it with another lie.

Trust was already crumbling.

Unless she explained on her own or he found out the reason himself, nothing she said in response to his questions would be credible.

"What’s wrong?" He Fang stopped eating the duck foot and turned her head towards him.

"I’ll go back to sleep, remember to turn off the light."

"Okay."

...

A sleepless night.

Qin Guanglin lay with his eyes closed, listening to He Fang eating, waiting for her to turn off the light, feeling her crawl back into his embrace, embrace him as she fell asleep, and then get up to quietly make breakfast outside.

He lay in bed, thinking all night.

He Fang did have secrets; he had known about them long before but had never taken them seriously.

But now they were genuinely starting to affect their lives.

From the moment she brought out the chips, even if he continued to ask, even if she told the truth, he would not believe her—

Only by truly understanding the things she hid could there be a chance for things to go back to how they were.

"Get up, have breakfast." He Fang came in, wiping her hands on her apron, leaned over and kissed Qin Guanglin on the cheek, then rested her head against his forehead and gently rocked it.

"Okay."

Qin Guanglin finally opened his eyes, pretended to just wake up, rubbed his eyes, and sat up to look for his clothes.

"You didn’t hug me."

"Ah?" Qin Guanglin was stunned.

"When you wake me up, you usually hug me first."

"...Come here for a hug."

Qin Guanglin embraced her, took a deep breath, smelling the familiar scent that slightly relaxed his heart, "I love you."

"Okay, get up now." He Fang stood up satisfied, turned her head, and prepared to leave.

"Wait."

"Hmm?"

"If there is anything, you must tell me," Qin Guanglin said seriously, looking at her.

No matter what she said now, as long as she initiated the conversation, he would make himself believe.

He did not want any more conflicts.

He Fang stared at him for a moment, nodded, and said, "Okay... what’s wrong with you?"

"...Nothing, let’s go eat."

Qin Guanglin sighed, got dressed, came out, quickly finished breakfast, and while arranging his scarf, he remembered something, took out his cellphone, and said, "Today is Saturday."

"Ah?" He Fang paused while washing dishes, "...I’m so confused, kept thinking today is the first day of winter vacation—why didn’t you say something just now?"

"..."

Qin Guanglin didn’t respond, took off his scarf again, removed his coat, and prepared to lie down on the bed for a nap.

Was he supposed to say he also hadn’t noticed?

He irritably ran his fingers through his hair, both harboring their own concerns, which made him feel uncomfortable. He peeked out from the bedroom door, intending to say something to He Fang, but ultimately shut his mouth and lay back on the bed.

He Fang, after cleaning the dishes, came into the bedroom, saw Qin Guanglin napping, joined him under the cover despite not being able to fall asleep herself.

"Xiaoqing asked me to go shopping, you sleep well."

At ten o’clock, He Fang got out of bed, put on her shoes, and said,

Qin Guanglin responded with an "Oh," hugged the covers, turned over, paused for a moment, then turned back and advised, "Take the car."

"No need..."

"It’s very cold outside."

"Alright."

He Fang got dressed, found the car keys in Qin Guanglin’s bag, came back to kiss him, "I’m leaving."

"Come back early."

Qin Guanglin listened to the sound of the door, opened his eyes, got up, and drew the curtains to look out the window. He Fang soon appeared downstairs, got into the car, started it, and slowly drove away.

He withdrew his gaze, was about to lie back in bed when his eyes briefly caught the dilapidated phone booth a few hundred meters away downstairs. He thought for a moment, then put on his coat and went downstairs.

Entering the phone booth, Qin Guanglin curiously examined its structure.

This was a remnant from a bygone era, long forgotten by the city. He had never used it and even now there was nowhere to buy an IC card.

Wondering if it could still redial numbers...

After studying it for a while, Qin Guanglin ultimately gave up, since he didn’t have an IC card and thus couldn’t dial back even if there were a redial function.

IC card... where had He Fang found one?

He fixed his gaze on the card slot, momentarily startled.

It was rusty and seemed like it had been stuffed full of small twigs by mischievous kids or some bored person, completely clogging the gap.

Qin Guanglin’s heart raced, he picked up the handset, the old monochrome LCD faintly lit up.

He pursed his lips, glanced at the usage instructions beside him, and raised his hand to press three digits.

Dial...

The phone had just rung once when Qin Guanglin abruptly hung up.

...It functioned correctly, but could only make free calls—this discovery overturned all his speculations.

Qin Guanglin stood still, staring at the four free numbers printed beside, lost in thought.

Damned.