Edited by renderedreversed
Zihui really brought me to the flower house. But… I looked at the five story wooden house. On the balcony, there were many glamorous flowers filling the platform. I pointed at it and asked Zihui, “Is this the flower house that you talked about? Isn’t this where the people in town go for sacrifice?”
Zihui smiled. “This is also known locally as a flower house. A Xiang lady doesn’t want to go inside and take a look?”
“I want to hear Chu Kong’s words from his heart.”
“Why hurry, a Xiang lady? When Chu Kong goes back to the inn and doesn’t see us, he’ll come looking. I asked the waiter to tell Chu Kong that we are here watching the stars.”
Zihui raised the jar of wine. “Before he gets here, let’s drink a few cups of wine, alright?”
I wondered, “How do you know that he’ll go back to the inn?”
Zihui winked at me and smiled playfully. “If I didn’t know that, wouldn’t it be a waste for Chu Kong to give me his heart?”
I was silent for a moment, and then my gaze fell onto Zihui’s chest. I stared at it for a while. I took the jar of wine and said, “Everyone wants to live. I can understand what you were feeling at that time. Although, pursuing something that happened in the past has no meaning; Chu Kong isn’t going to say it and I also won’t bother to say it, but Zihui, you have to remember that this heart is stolen from Chu Kong. You set a trap for us when I was stupid. I won’t allow that to happen a second time.”
“Ah.”
Zihui was silent for a long time and then smiled. “You and Chu Kong are really a perfect match made in Heaven. You know, Chu Kong also told me what you just said. Only this time, I really just want to repay you without any ulterior motives.”
I hesitated. Zihui turned and jumped onto the high balcony. I looked at the jar of wine in my hand and also jumped up.
“Let’s sit for a moment,” Zihui patted a spot beside him. I sat down and let my feet dangle. I unplugged the jar of wine and inhaled its scent. It immediately lifted my spirits.
“Good wine. Where did you buy it?”
“This isn’t bought.”
Zihui looked up at the stars.
“Many years ago, I had been to this small town. This wine was personally made by me. I wanted to take it out and drink it on the day I married.”
My mouth just touched the opening of the jar. After I heard that, my throat suddenly closed up like I was choking. I bore with the pain and put down the jar of wine. I looked at Zihui and saw him laughing. He said, “Drink, I can’t get married anymore.”
I thought back to the female soul and asked, “Do you really not have a deceased wife? You don’t know a Luo?”
Zihui continued to smile. “In this life, I only loved one person, but that person... Even though I gave her my heart, I didn’t get that person. The day before we got married, she took my original heart and ran away.”
He narrowed his eyes and looked at the distant stars. He said seriously, “I didn’t marry anyone, don’t have a wife, and also don’t know a Luo.”
But that woman called a Luo knows Zihui.
Looking at his face, I couldn’t bear to say it.
The sweet wine drifted into my nose. It was a fresh and sweet taste, as if it traveled through time and space to tell me the longing of the person who made the wine.
I handed the jar of wine back to Zihui. “The first gulp of this wine that has been hidden for so many years must be from you. The flavor now must be different from the flavor back then.”
Zihui hung his head. He bitterly laughed. “I don’t need to taste it; I already know.”
“Hehe, in the middle of the night, a man and a woman alone in front of the flowers and under the moon, talking and singing together and also having the same thoughts. Very good, very good.”
From behind came a strange laugh. I turned and saw Chu Kong standing there. The crimson whip in his hand seemed violent.
Zihui turned and looked at Chu Kong. Then he turned around again, looked at me, and said, “The wine has a surprise.”
After saying that, he grabbed my hand, raised his own, and shoved the opening of the jar into my mouth. I instantly tasted the sweetness of the wine as it poured down my throat.
A piercing sound sliced through the air. Zihui barely escaped Chu Kong’s whip. He smiled with squinted eyes. “You two should go see the stars. I want to go back and sleep.”
After saying that, he waved and disappeared into the night.
Meanwhile, I was choking on the wine. I clutched my chest and coughed. After a moment, I felt a warmth slide down my throat into my stomach. Then it came back up like a punch to the head… Wait, wait, what did Zihui say? The wine had a surprise? He prepared this wine for the day he married. In that kind of scenery, what kind of wine should be drunk? Even with only the hair on my head, I knew what kind of wine it was!
But this was used by the local people of this small town, ah! He also wanted Chu Kong and I to be wild, wild, wild…wild…together?!
Chu Kong didn’t know what I had drunk. He was still lecturing me. “You really forget fast. That lifetime, you fell into his trap, now you want to fall into his trap again, do you? A little gift and a small favor can buy you. Very good; really, well done!”
Sweat slowly began to form on my forehead. This situation was really bad, ah…
Seeing that I didn’t speak for half a day, Chu Kong squatted down beside me. “You really… What’s the matter with you?”
His face was serious. His hand touched my forehead. I saw a hidden anger light in his eyes.
“What tricks did that guy play again?!”
“There’s a drug in the wine.”
At first, I wanted to deceive Chu Kong and then run. But this mouth of mine seemed like it lost all control, just blurting out whatever it wanted. I couldn’t even cover it up to mute myself.
Chu Kong picked up the jar of wine. He asked himself, “What kind of drug?”
“Spring…”
I slapped my hand across my mouth, but my mouth didn’t let itself be controlled. The two words that I thought in my heart came out through my teeth, just for Chu Kong’s ears to hear. “Spring…drug…”
Chu Kong was startled. His body suddenly softened and he sat down beside me. He looked coldly at me in silence. I covered my mouth and swallowed, nervously waiting for his response. I never thought that after such a long period of silence, he’d ask me, “Then…then what do we do?”
Aside from you helping me, what else is there to do?! I was roaring it in my heart, but didn’t expect that my mouth would slip up on me again. “You need to help me, of course!”
The air was silent. Our warm breath formed white mist in the cold air. We stared at each other for a while, and finally, I looked away. I slapped my mouth a few times.
Shouldn’t have said it, ah! Why couldn’t I control it?!
Could it be… My eyes fell onto the jar of wine in Chu Kong’s hand.
Chu Kong suddenly trembled. He put the jar on the wooden table. The wine spilled out. With a “gululu” sound, it rolled down the five story house.
I looked up at Chu Kong and saw that he walked a few steps back, his face a sun-like transparent red.
“Help, help?”
I didn’t know what kind of images he formed in his mind. His voice was really hoarse.
His shy appearance made my ears feel hot. I touched my face to try and calm myself down.
“Don’t think so hard. Maybe this wine has something else in it.”
I didn’t know if Chu Kong heard me. I only saw him quickly stand up, his back to me. I heard him take a few deep breaths, and then he rapidly said, “Let’s go back first. If there’s really no other way…go roll in the snow.”
When I heard his words, I felt like we weren’t talking about what Zihui put in the wine anymore. I looked at his back for a while, then blurted out again the words I held close to my heart. “Say, Chu Kong, do you really like me?”
Chu Kong’s back stiffened. He was silent for a long time before he said, “You…go roll a few more laps in the snow. I’ll guard you. I won’t let others look at you…”
I saw my own fists clench and release several times. It was like a bunch of silent fires had suddenly flared up inside of me. I tried and tried to hold it back, but after hearing those words from Chu Kong, they all broke out. I stood up and walked in front of him.
Chu Kong looked up at the stars and didn’t look at me. I reached out and yanked his collar.
“Chu Kong, let’s lie down and talk, alright?”
Chu Kong looked stunned for a moment. I put more force behind my grip and tripped his foot. Of course, Chu Kong didn’t guard against me and stumbled straight onto the wooden platform with a “zhi ya” sound. There, he obediently lied on the platform. I sat on top of his belly, tugging at his collar while condescendingly staring at him.
“No!”
Chu Kong’s face was so red that his blood looked like it would burst out of his cheeks. He stared into the distance and sternly said, “Even if the drug is really strong, you need to restrain yourself.”
He struggled to get up. I grabbed his forehead with one hand and pressed him down, practically gluing his head to the wooden platform. This time, I might have hurt him. He frowned. His right hand grabbed the hand that was holding his collar. My heart hurt. I blurted out, “I like you.”
This sentence made Chu Kong go into shock. He stared at me with big eyes.
The dark sky was filled with stars, as if even the heavens were hiding my shadow from me.
I also didn’t speak, and didn’t even know what to say next. Still, the troubled thoughts I had locked up tight in my heart somehow leaked out. “You’re violent, and you don’t understand how to be gentle. Occasionally, you’ll also want to beat me. You look a little childish. Your temper isn’t calm and your mind isn’t so good. And you totally don’t understand a woman’s mind. When you’re angry, you don’t know how to give in. Your moods are really hard to grasp…”
Chu Kong’s eyes that were originally stunned, changed with my words.
“But.”
I wanted to shut my mouth, but once I started, it was like a door in my brain refused to be closed. So…I just spoke honestly.
I thought, Chu Kong was a proud guy. If he couldn’t say it, then I would say it. He didn’t dare to be straightforward, so I could only be brave… Then, I’d force him to open his mouth, force him to say it.
“But! I still want you! We’ve already kissed, already hugged, and at one point we even touched each other’s body! Today, if you want to obey me, then you have to obey me. But if you don’t want to obey me, then you still have to!”
I grabbed his collar and fiercely pulled at it.
“Say it! Say you like me! Hurry up and honestly admit it!”
After releasing all the storms that had previously weighed me down, I looked at Chu Kong. He was in a daze. Suddenly helpless, I thought, obviously I came to hear his own thoughts, but he hasn’t even spit one word out and I’ve already said so much myself, really… I’d really loaded the cart before getting the horse.
“You, get up.”
I didn’t know how long we were silent; suddenly Chu Kong said those words.
I didn’t loosen my hold. “You admit it first!”
“I told you to get up first,” Chu Kong shouted angrily.
I was also angry. “When you admit it, I’ll naturally get up!”
“You really don’t know when you’ll live or die!”
His words had hardly left, when I suddenly felt myself being dumped on the ground. After spinning, my back landed against the cool wooden platform. My eyes were full of Chu Kong’s face, and around it were the stars in the sky. I saw the red of his ears. I felt his hot breath on my face and heard him say through gritted teeth, “Xiao Xiang Zi, remember this well. You forced me!”
My lips felt warm. Something wet and slippery got into my mouth. In that moment, being kissed by the unique strength of a man, it almost completely drained the breath out of my life.
This thing…actually dared to say that I forced him? In all these hot and crazy thoughts, one thought made me a little calmer.
Those ten copper coins… I really made the wrong bet!
________
Comment:
Raised my hand in this chapter for XXZ.