Chapter 2: This is Just the Beginning
Proofread by Zhou Zhijie
Lin Xi'er's coquettish voice echoes along their way to the room. Ding Manman's eyes are full of satire. She originally viewed Zhong Shaoting as a virtuous man who is aloof from the worldly affairs, however... Just as a proverb says, "Dogs bite in every country." There is no good man any more.
"Close the door!" While commanding Ding Manman, Zhong Shaoting enters the room and leisurely sinks himself into the sofa.
Lin Xi'er rolls her eyeballs towards Ding Manman, meanwhile she clings her lithe body to Zhong, with her waist twisted so as to please the man in front of her to the best of her abilities. All her seducing skills are employed as she seeks to evoke the man's sexual desires.
However, the man in the sofa, whose face is overclouded as usual, remains reticent and grim, with his cold eyes staring at Ding Manman.
Meantime, Ding Manman is also looking at him, never bothering to conceal her feelings of disgust and sarcasm in her eyes.
Seeing that, Zhong Shaoting suddenly squeezes Lin Xi'er to his breast and begins kissing her intensely. The sound of the hot kiss breaks the quietness of the room, which makes Ding blush and turn pale alternately due to embarrassment.
"Disgusting." She says coldly. Then she turns and leaves the room, slamming the door hard.
Zhong Shaoting immediately pushes Lin Xi'er to the floor. Knitting his brows, he follows Ding out.
Lin Xi'er, almost naked, is discarded on the floor like a toy. There is a flash of non-reconciliation on her face. "Ding Manman, right? I won't forgive you!"
Ding Manman rushes into the dark room and locks the door. After a short while, Zhong Shaoting's footsteps are heard outside.
"Open the door." His chilly voice rings at the door.
"No way!"
Hardly has she got the last word out when she hears a boom as the door is kicked open by Zhong, the demon, who is striding towards her. He grabs her neck between his fingers, with ruthlessness and brutality reflected in his eyes.
"How dare you!"
With her eyes wide open, Ding Manman senses that the strength of the man's hand is increasing. When she starts to struggle fiercely, Zhong throws her to the floor.
When she is still feeling dizzy, he comes forward and rips at her pajamas violently. By placing her hands above her head, he pins her there.
The body is once again beyond her own control. The feeling of darkness and despair of the previous night overwhelms her again, which makes her extremely terrified. She sinks her teeth severely into the man's shoulder.
Instead of hindering the man's actions, it earned her the same treatment on the shoulder. Two rows of red teeth prints appear on her snow-white skin immediately. "You still have chance to beg for mercy."
Ding Manman spits on him ferociously. "Bah! No way!"
"Very good!"
With no more hesitation, once again in the dark room he presses Ding Manman under his body.
With tears shedding down her cheeks and teeth clenched, Ding Manman hurls a final defiance in a hostile silence.
It is not until the next evening that Ding Manman wakes up. Dizzy and hungry, she feels very uncomfortable with the slimy body.
The maid, Xiao Fang opens the door at the moment. When noticing that Ding Manman is half-naked, she quickly lowers her head and says hastily, "Mr. Zhong tells me to bring you something to eat."
Ding Manman, extremely hungry, starts eating right away while glancing around, "Where is Zhong Shaoting?"
Xiaofang whispers, "He is out!"
"Oh..." All of a sudden, something occurs to Ding Manman and her eyes brighten up. She suddenly covers her mouth with the hands. Then she starts vomiting. She doesn't stop until everything she has just eaten down is thrown up.
Xiaofang is shocked and quickly steps forward to help pat on her back. "What's wrong…with you?"
"Doctor... I want to see a doctor!" Ding Manman puts her hands on her lower abdomen and her face is so pale that no trace of blood can be seen.
Owing to the emaciation of her figure caused by recent tortures, plus her deliberate acting, she looks like a dying woman with severe illness.
On seeing this, Xiao Fang hastily says, "I'll call the doctor right away."
A doctoress soon comes in and the servants in the house crowd at the door. Ding Manman deliberately reveals the red traces of love-making on her body, which makes the servants blush.
Biting her lip, Ding Manma says with humiliation, "Except the doctor, everyone gets out!"
Though her voice is as low as the sound from a mosquito or fly, it touches the sympathetic part of the servants' hearts. They know what has happened to this poor girl in the past few days. Realizing that she will be accompanied by the doctor, they leave with a sigh.
As soon as the door is closed, Ding Manman grabs the doctor's hand and begs, "Doctor, please, please help me!"
The doctor, a woman around 40 years old, glances at Ding who is rather discomfited, and asks indifferently, "What is the matter with you?"
Ding's heart sinks when she sees the doctor's indifference. She bites her lip and says in a low voice choked with sobs, "Help me, please! And a little more of this, I will die!"
The doctor, sitting by the bedside, doesn't stir a little, but the awkward expression is obvious to be noticed, "Miss Ding, if I help you, I will die!"
Ding Manman stays stunned for a second and then says suddenly, "Then… may I use your phone? Just to make a call!"
The doctor pushes Ding's hands aside. Noticing her tearful eyes, she sighs and hands her phone over, "All right, hurry up."
Ding Manman again and again thanks for the doctor's help and quickly dials the number. Before hearing the receiver's voice she starts asking for help. "Fang Hao, save me, I am kidnapped and locked in Zhong Shaoting's house..."
Before her voice dies away, a sneer is heard on the phone.
This is not the voice from Fang Hao.
Breaking out into cold sweat, she recognizes the voice which is very familiar to her and whose owner is no one else but Zhong Shaoting himself.
"Ding Manman, I've told you, this is just the beginning." What he is saying mercilessly disheartens Ding Manman.
Just at this time, Zhong Shaoting's figure appears at the door. With her pupils contracted, Ding Manman opens her mouth but no sound comes out. The doctor lowers her head and takes her phone back from Ding's hand. "I will be back later." Then, the doctor leaves the room, without casting a single glance at her at all.
"Zhong Shaoting... Why are you doing this to me?" Seeing Zhong slowly walking towards her, Ding Manman speaks out her confusion.
A shadow of insidious smile appears at the corner of his mouth. Zhong Shaoting squeezes Ding Manman's chin between his fingers, forcing her to see clearly the hatred in his eyes. "You don't know me, but do you remember…"
Under the gaze of Ding Manman, he slowly utters the name, "Zhong Shaoyan?"
Shocks flash among Ding Manman's expressions, "How do you know Zhong Shaoyan?"
What she said verifies the relationship between her and Zhong Shaoyan. Zhong Shaoting's expression turns to be more ferocious and he says slowly word by word, "Zhong Shaoyan died just because of you."
It is a quiet night, a night without moon or light.
Doctor Liu walks out of the room, seeing Zhong Shaoting, who is smoking by the door. The haze of cigarette smoke blurs his expressions. "Do you feel happy when you torture her like this?" Doctor Liu sighs deeply and closes the door. When receiving no answer, she goes on saying, "Her body will be stressed to its limit. If it goes on like this, I'm afraid there will be something wrong with her mind."
Zhong Shaoting stiffens a little, which is hardly noticeable. Then he turns to look at the doctor and asks her in a hoarse voice, "Becoming insane?"
Dr. Liu is nearly scared by this ghost-like hoarse voice. She thinks of something and smiles bitterly. "The dead could not rise from the grave."
Zhong Shaoting pesters the doctor for the answer to his question, "Will she become insane?"
"What do you think?" Without answering, Dr. Liu asks him instead with the corners of her mouth twitched a little. "I know you can't let go of the death of Shaoyan…but, you won't feel relieved even if you go on torturing her."
Zhong Shaoting looks indifferent and turns a deaf ear to Doctor Liu's words. "I don't care. She is a sinner and she has to make atonement."