Chapter 34
“Want some?”
Pei Yunle picked up a piece of stir-fried pork with sour chili with her chopsticks. This time, she didn’t put it directly into Chen Qingtang’s bowl, because her bowl was already full of dishes she had given her. But Chen Qingtang hadn’t touched a single bite, just picking at the white rice next to it.
Chen Qingtang didn’t even glance at her, just lowered her eyes and shook her head.
Pei Yunle rubbed her fingertips. A few small blisters had formed there from being burned, and the dense, needle-like pain made her want to scratch them.
“Look, I got burned.” She almost stuck her fingers into Chen Qingtang’s bowl. Chen Qingtang stared at the few small red dots with broken skin, her lips slightly parted. A moment later, she lowered her head again.
Something was wrong. Pei Yunle stuffed the stir-fried pork into her mouth. The piece of meat was covered with a sour chili skin, and it got stuck in her throat when she swallowed. She choked a few times, and the physiological tears that came out created a pitiful and miserable look. But the other person was still just focused on eating.
“I’m full.” She dropped the sentence, picked up her bowl, and left. At this time, only two people were left at the dining table.
Pei Yunle lay on the bed. The wind carried the coolness of early autumn, and she got goosebumps. But when she closed the window, the room became hot again in a short while. But she didn’t want to leave the door open, which would make her feel like she had no privacy.
After walking around the room a few times, she chose to take off her leather jacket, leaving only a pure white camisole.
Lying back on the bed, Pei Yunle began to reflect on whether she had annoyed Chen Qingtang again. But yesterday, she had clearly been very normal, with no unhappiness or discomfort.
Even with some unintentional offenses, Chen Qingtang would just smile and not argue with her.
After thinking about it for a long time, she couldn’t come up with anything. Pei Yunle decided to ask her. She liked to solve problems immediately. It was terrible to let emotions linger overnight.
But just asking like that would probably have no effect. That person would definitely not say anything. Pei Yunle rummaged through a pile of express cardboard boxes and took out two dice. She had said she would teach Chen Qingtang to play mahjong last time, but she had never had the time or opportunity, so it had been put aside.
She held the dice and “thumped” down the stairs. Grandma Liu was organizing her pile of cardboard and water bottles.
“Grandma, is there any of the rice wine from last time?”
Grandma Liu’s already somewhat cloudy eyes rolled. “It’s under the cabinet in the kitchen. You want to drink?”
Pei Yunle walked towards the kitchen, her voice fading in and out. “Yeah, I’m a little bored.”
The wine jar was quite heavy. It was too tiring to carry it all up. Pei Yunle took a large stainless steel bowl, poured a full bowl, and then took two small bowls before going upstairs.
Passing her own door, she went straight into Chen Qingtang’s room, not even knocking this time.
“Sorry, I didn’t have a free hand to knock.”
Chen Qingtang looked at her with a smile on her lips, not at all embarrassed.
“Clang—”
Pei Yunle didn’t put the things on the table, but instead put them all on the floor. She spread out the two pieces of clothing she had brought.
“We’re going to play a very old game called Truth or Dare.”
It was not a questioning tone, nor a negotiating tone. It was a direct announcement to Chen Qingtang that she had to play tonight.
Chen Qingtang slowly got out of bed. Seeing Pei Yunle pour two full bowls of rice wine, she squatted down with her eyebrows drooping.
“Sit down, your legs will get numb if you squat. Just sit on my clothes. They haven’t been washed yet.”
Seeing the person obediently sit down, Pei Yunle had been afraid that Chen Qingtang would just kick her out. But now it seemed okay. The two red-dotted dice were thrown into the air by her, drawing an arc before landing steadily on the back of her hand.
“Let me explain the rules. We each take a die to compare the numbers. The loser has to drink, and then choose either Truth or Dare.”
“How about it, is it acceptable?” Pei Yunle had wanted to start the game directly, but she was afraid that Chen Qingtang had never played before, so she continued to explain, afraid that the other person would be a sore loser. “Um, whether it’s Truth or Dare, it’s decided by the winner.”
“If there are no other objections, let’s start now, until one person’s bowl of wine is finished.”
She watched as Chen Qingtang hesitated and nodded. Pei Yunle wanted to pat her on the head, but Chen Qingtang turned her head, and her hand missed.
But, it didn’t matter. The kind are destined to be wifed.
The two of them rolled the dice at the same time. Pei Yunle rolled a three, and Chen Qingtang was just one point higher.
Although it was an unlucky start, the game had just begun.
Pei Yunle took a small sip of the rice wine. The sweet and spicy taste was very good. “I’ll choose Truth. What do you want to ask me?”
She clearly saw Chen Qingtang’s eyes light up, but Chen Qingtang still shook her head.
This time it was Pei Yunle’s turn to droop her eyebrows. Why didn’t she ask if she had something to ask? “Really not? You’re not interested in me at all?” She leaned closer, the sweet smell of wine wafting between them.
“Does your lack of interest mean you’re not interested in me anymore? Do you not like me anymore? Then will you still come home in the future? Will you still come into my room? Can we still kiss?”
Pei Yunle asked a series of “will you” questions. Chen Qingtang was so annoyed by her unreasonable questions that she looked up, her lips slightly parted. If Pei Yunle leaned closer, she could even hear Chen Qingtang’s vocal cords wanting to vibrate. She saw a blush creep up Chen Qingtang’s earlobes, so she buried her head in the crook of Chen Qingtang’s neck. “Okay, I won’t tease you anymore. You’re so anxious you’re about to scold me.”
Chen Qingtang suddenly realized that Pei Yunle was playing with her. A wave of anger rushed to her head. She pushed Pei Yunle away and sat next to her with her legs hugged.
“Truth, what you want to hear are things you don’t know. Since you’re not asking, then I’ll tell you something I haven’t told you before.”
“When I was a child, my mom was busy making money, so I could only play by myself. The residential building we lived in at that time was very old, but there was a small public courtyard below. I didn’t like to play with people at that time, so I just played with mud there. Because I didn’t have any toys, it was really just mud.”
Pei Yunle used her fingers to show a few things she had made at that time.
“Then suddenly a dog ran out and chased me, so I could only run. At that time, I didn’t dare to run up the stairs, because I was afraid of being caught. So I had to climb a tree and hold on. The people in the building across the street were laughing.”
“Later I found out that it was a few very annoying boys who had deliberately let the dog out to chase me. But who told me that my athletic talent was so maxed out? I had never climbed a tree before, but I learned on my own and climbed halfway up.”
She patted her chest, the smile on her lips still not fading. “At that time, I even squatted and waited to retaliate against them. I hid behind that tree and threw stones at those boys. You don’t know how funny it was to see them running and cursing at the same time, hahaha.”
Pei Yunle laughed so hard that the corners of her eyes squeezed together, and a few fine wrinkles accumulated the tears of laughter.
After she finished her joke, her eyes finally relaxed, and the tears naturally flowed back. Only then could she see Chen Qingtang clearly.
Chen Qingtang was still in the same position of hugging her legs, but there was no smile on her face, just a solemn expression.
Pei Yunle touched the markings on the dice. “What’s wrong? Is it not funny?”
Chen Qingtang didn’t nod or shake her head. She didn’t understand how someone could tell a painful story as a joke. And, it wasn’t funny.
Unfortunately, she was clumsy with words and couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even offer a word of comfort.
After staying in one position for a long time, her limbs began to go numb. Chen Qingtang changed her position and sat next to Pei Yunle, their knees touching again.
“Round two begins.”
The two dice spun a few times on the ground. Pei Yunle had a 6, and Chen Qingtang had a 4.
She obediently drank a mouthful of rice wine and was hesitating whether to choose Truth or Dare.
But usually, people don’t choose Dare, because it’s easy to be ordered to do things you don’t want to do.
Chen Qingtang thought so too. As the rice wine rolled down into her stomach, she chose Truth.
Finally, it was time for today’s main topic. Pei Yunle clenched the dice in her hand and cleared her throat.
“Why were you unhappy today?”
She didn’t even bother with a prelude and went straight to the point.
Chen Qingtang glared at her resentfully, then reluctantly took out her phone from her bag.
“Wait a minute, write it down.”
The words written on the phone would be deleted. The words written on paper would not be easily erased. Pei Yunle could take it back and keep it, in case Chen Qingtang was unhappy next time.
A thick notebook slid over from the ground, followed by a new ballpoint pen.
Chen Qingtang held the pen tightly. The surface of the pen was stained with some sweat and kept wanting to slide down. She felt that it was difficult to talk about jealousy, and she was afraid that Pei Yunle would think she was very petty.
So, she picked up her bowl and drank half a bowl of rice wine.
Seeing her posture, Pei Yunle didn’t know who would get drunk first today. She just felt that this matter was very serious.
Chen Qingtang drank fiercely. The alcohol quickly climbed from her neck to her face, revealing a warm, pink flush.
She picked up the pen again.
—Unhappy.
Pei Yunle looked at these two words. Didn’t she just ask this question?
She had to treat the previous round as invalid and asked again, “Why were you unhappy?”
Chen Qingtang frowned. The tip of the pen poked a hole in the paper, and a large amount of ink began to bleed around the small hole.
She dipped the pen in the excess ink and wrote a blurry string of words.
—Because you were playing with other girls.
Chen Qingtang wanted to add more words after “playing,” but she couldn’t think of anything suitable. She treated those exaggerated, provocative, and bold words as “playing,” including the dance Pei Yunle had performed and the video she had posted.
Pei Yunle stared at this sentence, unable to figure it out for a moment. She then touched the paper. The strokes of the words were almost carved into the paper. The person who had written them had used a lot of force.
Sigh, it seemed that even without eating the stir-fried pork with sour chili, someone was still sour.
“Did I? Don’t I only play with you? So, who did you see me with?”
Pei Yunle asked her sincerely, without any jokes.
Chen Qingtang wrote a question mark and then a big cross.
Pei Yunle sat with her legs crossed, her other hand around Chen Qingtang’s waist. The fingertips that had been on the cold, hard floor were now lifted. She pointed at Chen Qingtang’s back and also drew a question mark.
The force was very light, but Chen Qingtang’s whole body trembled.
—I’ve answered. This is another round.
The stupid little cat had learned to be smart after being teased so much.
It was the first time Pei Yunle was speechless, unable to fight back.
She calmly started the third round immediately.
A draw, both were two points.
In the fourth round, Chen Qingtang won again. Pei Yunle had two points, and Chen Qingtang had six.
Pei Yunle unexpectedly chose Dare. She prided herself on being fearless.
Chen Qingtang didn’t know what to make her do. If she really punished her, she would be unhappy. If she didn’t punish her, she would also be unhappy.
If she punished Pei Yunle to solve the thorn in her heart…
Drunk and hazy, Chen Qingtang rubbed her face. Forget it!
—Delete your account and delete the app.
Pei Yunle looked at the two small things that were thrown at her. She had already guessed seven or eight out of ten of Chen Qingtang’s abnormality. She didn’t even need to ask for any more rounds of Truth.
She did it very quickly, deleting her account and the app, and even turning off her phone.
Chen Qingtang waited for Pei Yunle to ask her the reason, until the long silence swallowed them little by little. Pei Yunle didn’t say anything.
“You look a little drunk. It doesn’t matter if you finish the wine or not. Let’s play one last round.”
Chen Qingtang agreed. She was still a little unhappy.
Why didn’t Pei Yunle ask her? Was this kind of seemingly unreasonable thing so insignificant in Pei Yunle’s eyes?
Chen Qingtang lowered her eyes and just stared intently at the dice in her hand, completely unaware that Pei Yunle next to her had been holding that die for a long time.
Pei Yunle deliberately pulled away a little. She didn’t throw it out with force like in the previous rounds, but just pretended to slide it.
The die naturally also pretended to spin once and still had the same number of points as the previous round, two.
Pei Yunle was betting that Chen Qingtang would not be a one this time.
God bless, Chen Qingtang was a four.
Chen Qingtang had no reaction to this result, because she was still lost in thought from the alcohol. It didn’t matter who won or lost.
But Pei Yunle was very happy to lose.
“I choose Dare.”
That matter had already been resolved. Chen Qingtang had nothing else she wanted her to do. She was thinking whether she should make Pei Yunle wash the toilet or wipe the kitchen.
Her head was dizzy, and her limbs were weak. She was probably drunk to a certain extent. She felt that the ceiling was spinning, and the floor behind her was starting to become soft.
Until she touched the cotton fabric.
The last bit of her consciousness made Chen Qingtang come back to her senses. Behind her was the bedsheet. She was lying on the bed, and what was falling on her head was not a bright light, but a shadow that was emitting heat.
She realized another thing—on top of her was Pei Yunle.
Pei Yunle had one long leg on the ground, and the other leg was bent and resting on the side of the bed. Her arms were blocking Chen Qingtang’s side. Whether it was left, right, front, or back, it formed an airtight wall.
“You can say I cheated once. The dare I planned this time—is you.”
Chen Qingtang didn’t know if it was because she had drunk too much and her whole body was hot, or because Pei Yunle’s body was too hot. She felt like she was soaking in a hot spring, every cell expanding. And after the extreme heat, there would be a shiver.
Pei Yunle looked down at her, from her slightly raised brow bone downwards. Chen Qingtang had no reaction.
Except for the bright light in her clear eyes, which was the only bright color at the moment.
Chen Qingtang was lying on a cloud, and she heard Pei Yunle’s very light voice, which was carried by the wind.
“It might be difficult for me alone, so, do you want to complete this dare with me?”
Pei Yunle was afraid that she was drunk and her consciousness was blurry. Reason told her to be a good person, but her wicked emotions made her unable to resist saying those tempting words.
1 second.
2 seconds.
Chen Qingtang didn’t react, not even frowning.
Until the third second, Pei Yunle’s gaze couldn’t help but move to the corner of Chen Qingtang’s eye. It was already stained with an intoxicating red, which bloomed in the twilight.
Pei Yunle lowered her head and kissed her. The temperature at the corner of her eye was higher than the warmth of her lips. Her breath brushed past Chen Qingtang’s earlobe.
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a yes.”
The sound of the fabric being stripped off was like the light sound of a cicada shedding its skin. Chen Qingtang looked at the mold on the ceiling, which was stained with some moss. She endured the fine, tingling itch caused by the thin calluses.
Pei Yunle’s hair was dyed and permed, and it was inevitably a little frizzy. The fine hairs were clearly visible in the dim yellow light, brushing past Chen Qingtang’s knee. The cotton cloth underneath faithfully swallowed all the shivers.
In the dead of night, looking at the already asleep Chen Qingtang, Pei Yunle’s fingertip pressed on her seventh cervical vertebra, the bone that protruded slightly outwards. This was the matchmaker of their first intimate physical contact.
Chen Qingtang’s back was very beautiful. Her spine was like the crack in a piece of porcelain. The beads of sweat meandered along the crack, forming a secret stream of water. Pei Yunle lifted her fingertip. It was glistening with water. It was hard to tell which component was more. Even the blisters from being burned while cooking at night were not very clear.
The rain fell on the iron roof, like candy hitting a glass window outside, and then breaking into a pattern like chrysanthemum petals.
Pei Yunle was so tired that she couldn’t sleep. She looked at the quilt on her body and roughly outlined the closeness of the two of them, as if the two hard candies in the room had melted into soft candies.
She suddenly thought of a time at the seaside when she saw two silver fish stranded on the beach.
