Huo Weiwu saw an earring on the ground. It was something that her mother had left behind for her.
She touched her earlobe self-consciously.
She really had left one of her earrings behind.
Huo Weiwu squatted down to pick it up.
However, Gu Haoting was one step ahead. He stepped on the earring.
Huo Weiwu felt as though he was stepping on her pride. There was an ache in her heart.
"Gu Haoting, don't step on that," hollered Huo Weiwu.
Gu Haoting bent over and lifted her chin. His gaze was like a burning torch as he looked down at her and said sternly, "I don't have the time to waste on you. Since I agreed to give you freedom, I don't have to put effort into monitoring you. Neither am I interested in playing games with you. Since you wanted to have two lovers at the same time, I'll make sure it's not possible. Go inside and brush your teeth one hundred times, with each brush lasting three minutes. Lieutenant Shang, come on in."
Lieutenant Shang opened the door and entered the apartment obediently with a nod.
"Monitor her until she finishes this task. She's not allowed to eat if she doesn't," commanded Gu Haoting. He shifted his foot, turned around, and left angrily.
Huo Weiwu saw that her earring had been bent out of shape after Gu Haoting stepped on it. It felt twisted like the person she had become now.
This was the only thing she had left from her mother.
Huo Weiwu picked up the earring. Her heart was aching unbearably.
She wrapped her fingers around the earring, securing it against her palm.
She could not find an outlet for her feelings of vexation and frustration.
All she could do was clench her fist around the earring and allow the sharp stud to pierce her palm.
"Madam, the Commander has an important award ceremony to attend tonight, but he rushed back to the beach villa just to retrieve this earring. He was not monitoring you; it was just a coincidence that he came back here to return this earring to you. You've unfairly accused him, and he's furious.
"On top of that, no man in this world can accept his wife kissing another man, even if it was just a goodbye kiss—much less a man of the Commander's status," Lieutenant Shang nagged her.
Huo Weiwu clenched her teeth, refusing to let the tears in her eyes fall.
She thought, "Everyone is telling me that I'm at fault!
"Am I really at fault?
"Wei Yankang came on his own accord. I rejected him ruthlessly, but he forced himself on me. I could not avoid his kiss and that makes me angrier than anyone else. It makes me feel indignant and upset.
"But nobody helped me or believed in me.
"I have to shoulder this on my own and be subjected to humiliation."
Huo Weiwu stood up. She placed the earring in her hand in her accessory box. Then, she removed the other earring from her ear and did the same before leaving the box on the couch.
"I have to brush my teeth 100 times, and do it for three minutes each time, right? Let's begin," said Huo Weiwu coldly. She entered the bathroom and picked up her toothpaste, toothbrush, and mug indifferently.
She caught sight of her sullen reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she grew increasingly angrier at herself.
She thought, "Why am I so useless?
"I let Wei Yankang and Gu Jiaoxue push me around, and now I'm letting Gu Haoting bully me too.
"I can't do anything about this!
"I didn't even do anything wrong, yet I have to be humiliated and punished."
Huo Weiwu brushed her teeth, each stroke more forceful than the previous as she picked up speed.
"Three minutes, one time," Lieutenant Shang's cold voice rang out.
Huo Weiwu stopped. She poured some water into her mouth, gargled, and spat it out. Then, she continued squeezing some toothpaste onto her toothbrush and started another cycle.
One time, two times… Ten times.
Lieutenant Shang had felt furious when he first started monitoring Huo Weiwu, feeling that his Commander was wronged. He wanted Huo Weiwu to be punished as well.
Yet, when he saw Huo Weiwu brush her teeth with increasing force and speed, he vaguely started to worry.
"Three minutes, eleven times," declared Lieutenant Shang.
Huo Weiwu sat out some water. There was blood in it.
She acted like she didn't see the blood and continued brushing her teeth.
More and more blood flowed out in the subsequent cycles, growing increasingly thicker as well.
During her twentieth time, Lieutenant Shang saw that all she was spitting out was blood. It was slightly unbearable for him and he said, "You can take a break before you resume. You've already been brushing your teeth for one hour."
"Let's continue," replied Huo Weiwu as she squeezed out more toothpaste with an expressionless face and started brushing her teeth.
Lieutenant Shang grabbed Huo Weiwu's hand and reminder her, "You are allowed to take a break."
"I said let's continue, did you not hear that?" Huo Weiwu raised her pitch as she flung Lieutenant Shang's hand away and continued brushing her teeth.