Chapter 33: Contradiction
She woke up once in the middle of the night and saw that she was not asleep. She was sitting in the shadows, her bones thin. He asked her what was wrong, and then he was suddenly pounced on and was on the bed. She had learned very quickly, and she had figured out every sensitive part of his body. So every time, her desire would rise very quickly.
She had been wanton all night. It was not until it was very late at night, and even the incessant chirping of the insects outside the window had become silent, that her waist was so tired that it was bent. The soreness was shooting up along her tailbone.
She had demanded again and again with a fierce look. Her smooth back was covered with a thin layer of sweat, and it was slippery and greasy to the touch. She was rubbing against his heart, and her lips were on his ear, and she was constantly and softly asking him to promise that he would never leave.
He had said “okay” in a hoarse voice.
But the promise was just verbal. She was still uneasy. With the trembling of her body, it was as if only the smell of his flesh and sex could make her feel at ease.
The peach blossoms had bloomed and had withered, and then they had bloomed again. The pink and tender flowers were more and more vibrant, as if they were sick, and they were swollen. When she was tired and had fallen, she had asked him again.
He was panting heavily, and he had still said “okay.”
The spring had been pregnant with a rain before the summer had come. It had been brewing all night, but in the end, it had not rained.
…
He had woken up when the sky was still slightly bright. The hazy sunlight was on the bed in a ball. Her porcelain-white skin was transparent, and she was lying on her side. He could see the winding curve of her body. She was sleeping peacefully, and the air was filled with a faint and sexual smell of after.
His body was sticky, and it was very uncomfortable. Su Yu did not want to disturb her when he got up. His movements were very light, and he had only moved his body a little. But he had still underestimated her sensitivity. The arm that was on his waist had quickly tightened, and she had soon woken up.
“What’s wrong?”
Xia Qiange’s eyes were hazy with sleep, and she was speaking slowly. She had a sweet and childish coquettishness. She had looked at him, and then she had looked at the half-bright sky outside. She had come back to her senses, and she had teased him. “You want more? Who was it that said that a rogue would sneak into someone else’s bed? I didn’t see you being gentle when you were doing it…”
The bruise on her waist was still there. It was the palm print that was left from being held tightly. At that time, she was as if she had become his thing, and she had been used, and she had been loved. She had been filled with a sense of physical and psychological satisfaction.
She thought that perhaps she had been born with a missing piece. He had gone in, and it had been complete, and it had made her a complete her.
But even the hottest desire would cool down, and then they would have to be separated.
Su Yu looked at her bloodless lips. The two of them had tormented each other. He said in a tired voice, “Let’s rest for a while.”
She nodded obediently, and her forehead was buried in the hollow of his neck. She was rubbing against him like a cat. Her hands and feet were very cold, so she was drilling into his arms. “Ah Yu’s body is so warm. I don’t want to let go.”
Her hands were on his skin, and every texture was so precious to her. The temperature on his body was so hot that it could melt her from head to toe. It was so hot that she wanted to let go, but she was reluctant.
Her hands were in his dark and smooth hair, and she was teasing him from the roots to the ends. The fresh gardenia fragrance was coming out. He had covered her with a blanket, and the two of them were huddling together for warmth in the narrow space.
The girl was humming a song softly, and she was holding his hand and was looking at it carefully in front of her. She was as if she had found a beloved toy, and her eyes were full of joy. She was looking at his slender fingers, and his well-defined and powerful joints. The more she looked, the more she liked it.
It was hers. It was in her hand.
Su Yu was silent. He was completely unsure how long this harmony could last. It was like a huge stone that was on the edge of a cliff. He needed to be tense all the time. If he relaxed for a moment, he would fall down and be shattered.
“Tomorrow… I might have to go back to Jiangnan.” He had said without any warning, and his hand was still on her cheek.
She was stiff, and the smile had disappeared from the corners of her lips. The warm person who had been holding her had suddenly become cold. Xia Qiange had let go of his hand, and her head was on the other side. She was silently looking at the not-so-bright sky, and her ears were so quiet that she could hear his slow and warm heartbeat.
For a long, long time, she had sniffed and had pushed him away, and her voice was cold.
“I don’t agree.”
…
The small house was only filled with silence. The trickling sound of the water when they were washing up and the clashing of the pots and pans had slowly built up a sense of life, but it was also stiff everywhere. They were in a narrow space, and they were politely giving way to each other. Occasionally, they would brush past each other, and their hands would touch, and their shoulders would be against each other.
No one had spoken first. He was busy cooking breakfast in the kitchen, and she was silently washing the desire that the other person had left in her body in the bathroom.
The water in the pot was bubbling, and the water vapor was rushing out of the air hole, and it had turned into a more scattered mist in the cold and damp air.
He had moved his gaze from the phone screen and had seen that the water was about to boil dry. He had been in a hurry and had wanted to lift the lid of the pot. He had been caught off guard, and the hot air had bitten his wrist.
He had spat in pain.
The lid of the new pot was much heavier, and he had accidentally let it go. It had hit the ground, and the iron-colored metal had hit the porcelain tiles. The clattering sound was deafening, and it was so noisy in the already-crowded and cramped space.
The harsh sound was like a fingernail that was heavily scraping on a blackboard. His heart was uncontrollably sour, and it was so stuffy and uncomfortable in the small space where the air pressure had dropped.
Su Yu was stunned for a few seconds. He had come back to his senses in a daze and was about to bend down to pick it up.
“What’s wrong?”
The sound of footsteps in the bathroom was rushed, and it was also flustered. It had covered the trickling sound of the water. Her whole body was wet, and she was roughly wrapped in a bath towel. Her seaweed-like, slightly curled hair was drooping on her snow-white shoulders, and her eyebrows and eyes were unclear. But her voice was filled with an anxiety.
Xia Qiange saw the water in the pot was exposed to the air and was bubbling. The lid of the pot had rolled to a corner and was quiet. It was as if the noise just now had nothing to do with it. She then saw the hand he was hiding behind him, and the tiger’s mouth was a little red from the heat.
“Does it hurt?”, she was almost about to pounce on him. She had grabbed his wrist, which had been in pain for a long time, and had rinsed it under the cold water. Her tone was uncontrollably heavy, as if she were blaming him. “If you’re burned, you should rinse it with water. Why are you just standing there? What if it blisters? You’re a grown-up. How can you not take care of yourself like this?”
He had opened his mouth, and he had wanted to say that it had only hurt for a moment, and he had not felt anything. But he had been silenced by her fierce and angry momentum.
She had watched as his hand had been rinsed until it was white before she had stopped. Her fingertips had slid over the back of his hand, which had well-defined joints. She had let out a light sigh, and her blaming tone had slowly softened. Her voice was so light that it had no weight, and her hot and wet breath was blowing on his palm.
The boiling water was making a fuss in the pot, and the sound of the water was rushing past his palm. Then it had fallen into the previous distant silence.
She had suddenly realized that something was wrong. She had been in too much of a hurry just now, and the knot of the rope that was on the side of her waist had already loosened. The bath towel had been lifted from behind, and a large patch of a white and flowery snow meat was exposed. She had let out a cry of surprise and had lowered her head to cover her body with the cloth.
Su Yu saw her red earlobes, and the side of her neck was hot. He was flustered and had held her. He had held the bath towel and had re-tied the knot for her.
Xia Qiange was blushing, and her watery lips were tender and transparent. She was biting them and was not speaking. She had broken free from his arms and had taken a few steps back, and her expression was uneasy.
In her panic, she had forgotten that her hand had not yet been let go. She had later reacted, and she had not let go.
After a long while, she had lowered her head, and she had only forgiven him half in her heart.
The tip of her foot had gently rubbed against his.
“You be careful. Don’t hurt yourself.”
“Okay. I won’t next time.” Su Yu had let her hold his hand and had answered in a barely audible voice.
