Cui Fang intended to have a conversation with me. She confessed to the calculated murder of her stepdaughter, yet she did not consider herself a bad person.
…
Initially, Cui Fang was a kind and educated young woman who enjoyed transforming her life into art. In her twenties, she and her boyfriend were recommended to study at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. Before departing, she secretly married her boyfriend without informing her family. Afterward, they were assigned to different European cities.
Cui Fang didn't mind, for it was autumn, and the foreign cities were breathtaking, completely captivating her. Every day, she was drawn to the urban scenery, sometimes staring blankly for a long while, other times dancing gracefully to the light melodies of Viennese music.
It wasn't until Christmas that she reunited with her boyfriend. Cui Fang decorated a rented house with simple elegance. She and her boyfriend spent a beautiful and romantic "honeymoon" in this little abode.
Often, Cui Fang liked to sit quietly by the fireplace. Her boyfriend would embrace her from behind, and together they would watch the leaping flames, as if even the European fireplace radiated a romantic aura.
Alternatively, they would soak together in the bathtub that occupied a significant portion of the living room. Cui Fang would pour fragrant bath oil onto his body, while he turned on the faucet. The rising steam, condensing on the incandescent bulbs on the ceiling, made the entire room appear romantically aesthetic through the misty haze. They would bathe for extended periods, wishing they could be so exhausted by the romance that they would simply pass out.
…
A year later, Cui Fang suddenly heard news of a death. A girl who had come with them had died in the city where her boyfriend was studying.
This plunged Cui Fang into contemplation. Before her death, this girl had called Cui Fang long-distance. They weren't very familiar with each other, yet Cui Fang heard many unsavory things about her boyfriend from the girl.
Cui Fang didn't believe it. She wanted to hang up the phone, but the girl asked, "Does he truly love you? Or does he love your romance?"
In the end, Cui Fang offered no answer. Her heart was in turmoil. Shortly thereafter, she heard about the girl's death: suicide, driven by heartbreak.
Afterward, her boyfriend came to see her, looking utterly gaunt.
Cui Fang understood. This time, she didn't deliberately romanticize. She simply said, "Let's get a divorce."
That night, her boyfriend jumped from her apartment building. The police could not rule out the possibility of a crime of passion. Cui Fang was forbidden from returning home, and her foreign degree was revoked. It took about two months for Cui Fang to return to her country. When her mother hugged the pitiable Cui Fang, she offered a cold smile.
…
Despite being divorced, Cui Fang, with her status as an overseas returnee, once again became a sought-after woman. She married her ex-husband. She knew he was a philanderer, but she chose him nonetheless.
During those years, Cui Fang, with her intelligence and resourcefulness, helped her husband manage his business. Moreover, she worked diligently, eating boxed lunches and working overtime. Her slender, graceful figure was ravaged by her efforts.
She, who only understood work and not romance, quickly became a haggard housewife.
Cui Fang didn't care; she just kept working hard. Once, someone at her workplace secretly told her that her husband was having an affair. Cui Fang found the other woman. She looked into her eyes, and those eyes were strikingly similar to her own from years ago, possessing a clarity like lake water reflecting the sky.
To be honest, she had more affairs than men. In twenty years of marriage, she and her husband had slept together only a few times. But she didn't lack male companionship. Some men were younger than her. She would wash their hair, and watching the soap lather in their hair and their expressions of enjoyment, she would kiss them without hesitation. The soap suds would make her gag, yet she would laugh uncontrollably.
Cui Fang was very willing to associate with men who could keep secrets. Although some men were lacking in affection and were rough with her, causing her pain akin to a shrimp shedding its shell, she endured it all. Upon returning home, she would play Viennese operas on the phonograph, savoring them, as if she were a woman detached from vulgar tastes.
Over the years, Cui Fang became increasingly less beautiful, but her men grew increasingly more handsome. Until one day, a man named Kate revealed her secret to Cui Fang's husband.
Cui Fang's husband had an extramarital affair, but he forbade her from having affairs. In his eyes, she was merely the tool that earned him money, a woman who had become a haggard housewife through hardship.
…
When it came to love, Cui Fang was the one who held the power of life and death. She would not allow a tool to boss her around. Cui Fang found her husband's mistress and told her to bring the child home.
Cui Fang, however, left with nothing. She possessed too many stratagems. The money she had earned through the family business was far more than her husband had ever seen. Her wealth was conservatively twenty times that of her husband.
Her husband was unaware of this. Like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins, he had once feared Cui Fang and only kept one woman secretly on the side. He also knew that Cui Fang had seen the woman he kept.
After the divorce, her husband had no more reservations and became a womanizer.
The mistress called Cui Fang, weeping. Cui Fang said, "If you report him, he'll be able to settle down."
Her husband's mistress reported him. As a result, he was convicted of bribery. News of the business's decline, without Cui Fang's management, followed. Her husband committed suicide. The mistress was filled with remorse. Cui Fang found her and said earnestly, "Your daughter's personality has been quite isolated since childhood. Her father did not fulfill his responsibility to educate her. From now on, I will take care of her. Although I am not her biological mother, I will treat her well."
Hearing Cui Fang say this, the mistress wept like a broken dam. "Sister, you are truly a good person. I was wrong, little sister. I shouldn't have been blinded and broken up your family."
Cui Fang secured a future for the mistress's child and extinguished any lingering hope for the mistress.
…
Although Kate had betrayed Cui Fang regarding her husband's affairs, Cui Fang was still fond of Kate. Kate was a man, yet he would often exhibit behavior like a spoiled woman resting her head on someone's shoulder, a gesture that sent shivers down one's spine.
Nevertheless, Cui Fang liked it. She enjoyed different kinds of men, endlessly pursuing different thrills. Until one day, she saw Kate chatting with her stepdaughter. Kate was not much older than her stepdaughter, and they made a handsome pair.
A new idea began to take shape in her mind. She had a long talk with her daughter, discussing men. The conversation was very open, leaving the inexperienced daughter blushing and her heart pounding.
Cui Fang taught her daughter plenty of methods for capturing a man's heart. Then, according to her plan, she sent Kate to her daughter's club, creating the perfect opportunity for them to come together.
…
I sipped my red wine, frowning, and listened silently to everything Cui Fang recounted. Her life was filled with an artistic color that ordinary people couldn't comprehend, but within this art, there was a great deal of impactful bloodshed.
"This is not what I expected. I thought Kate was the insidious one," I remarked with emotion.
"He is."
"But, he loves…"
I didn't finish. Was I mistaken? In Cui Fang's story, I had inferred that Cui Fang's daughter had perfectly captured Kate's heart, but given Kate's avaricious nature, could there truly be love?
"Insidious people are still human. Under the guise of beautiful romantic art, he too believed he had found love."
I fell silent, contemplating Kate's despondent state after the death of Cui Fang's stepdaughter.
…
Seeing my reaction, Cui Fang smiled faintly. "Do you know, every time I saw my stepdaughter secretly suppressing her feelings for Kate in front of me, I felt an urge to crush this twisted art. But I didn't. The reason she always lived by my side was because she was different from her parents. She had no guilt; she was an innocent child."
"Guilt?"
"Yes, but she didn't know it until Zhang Ying'ai came to me and catalyzed the situation."
"What did Zhang Ying'ai come to you for? To steal a painting?"
"No, no. Zhang Ying'ai is a junior of mine. During the time at 'Zhengqi,' she was humble and very respectful of me. So, we maintained contact after she left 'Zhengqi.' She came to me wanting to know how to capture your heart. For that, I set a condition: she would orchestrate Kate's exposure of his ambition. Zhang Ying'ai is a clever woman. She planned the theft of the national treasure."
This I had suspected. I had a plan at the banquet at the time, and the painting was stolen right after it was conceived.
But now was not the time to inquire about how Zhang Ying'ai stole the painting. The question was, "What did Kate do after stealing the national painting?"
"Kate and my stepdaughter conspired to extort me first with their illicit affair, and then to frame me for the theft of the national painting, ruining my reputation. Kate didn't have the courage for that. This was all my dear daughter's doing. She wanted to avenge her father and utterly destroy me. Kate had fallen hopelessly in love with my daughter; he would do anything she said. I don't care much about what my daughter said; what matters more is that my daughter committed a crime: extortion and blackmail."