Chapter 29 – Zhong Yuan is jealous
There was an open space in our backyard. My father had turned it into a vegetable garden. The garden had lots of seasonal vegetables, all of it grown organically. When I was in City B, I bought a few tomatoes but they were grown with fertilisers and hormones. If I kept it eyes open while eating them , I knew I was eating tomatoes. But if I closed my eyes , it didn’t taste like anything natural.
So when I ate the tomatoes grown here by my dad , I almost burst into tears. My dad panicked at my overwrought emotions and asked me what was going on. “ Hey, why don’t you have a few more tomatoes ?”
On that particular day , I was holding a cucumber in one hand and a tomato in the other. I was eating with great focus while wondering what Zhong Yuan was doing. He had gone out after lunch and was not back yet. I had asked him where he was going , but he had been very mysterious about it. He just told me ,”You will know when it is time .” As if he was an underground spy !
Although I wasn’t happy with all this secrecy , a day without Zhong Yuan around was a day without oppression. I had to wholly cherish such a rare opportunity. So I swung in the hammock under the Phoenix tree , watching the scenery around while eating cucumber.
Suddenly, a figure blocked my view.
Zhang Xu stood beside me.He bent down slightly and looked at me.
I was shocked by a person suddenly coming into my view. I quickly sat up and looked at him, “ Zhang Xu… what are you doing here?”
He held a bamboo basket in one hand. He looked like a little girl going to pick mushrooms. He saw me looking at him and immediately blushed. He lowered his read and after a bit of silence asked me , “ Why are you not calling me brother Zhang Xu?”
I tidied my hair as I replied ,” Oh, just forgot !”
If I didn’t change the way I addressed him, a certain guy would take revenge !
Zhang Xu continued to keep his head lowered. He twisted and pinched his fingers for a long time without a single word. To me, he looked like a shy daughter in law in front of her mother in law. I really could not gifted out why he was so shy. I remembered that he had spoken to me before and we were no longer enemies. Moreover , he had been a squad header fir ten years. When he spoke to others , he spoke with confidence. What was happening now ?
The more I thought about it, the more I could feel a headache coming on. So I decided to stop thinking about it. I took a bite of a tomato in my have and asked him straight ,” What are you here for?” Please excuse me for the rude words. This old thing had been tortured over a long period. All I wanted to do was rest and enjoy my freedom
Zhang Xu handed the basket to me. “These are some fruits from the family garden. My mom asked me to give them to you. “
I looked down and saw that there were a lot of plums in the basket. They were brightly coloured , plump and juicy. I started drooling. I gulped and shook my head .” No need , we already have so many at home. You can keep it.”
Although I was tempted , I had to prove to my Dad with practical actions that I was a mature person.
Zhang Xu put the basket on the small table and said ,” This year, we had a bumper crop. So we are distributing to all our neighbours. There’s nothing else to it.”
After he says this, I no longer needed to decline. Ok. I had to be polite. So I stared at the plums, secretly running my hands in anticipation of when I could lay my hands on them.
After he put down the basket , Zhang Xu stood still. I felt it would be awkward to start eating right in front of him so I asked again,” Is there anything else?”
Zhang Xu once again started the whole shy Daughter in law act and I had to endure it. I gazed at the plums on the table.. those plump fresh fruits were beckoning to me, “ Come and eat me, come eat me..”
Zhang Xu seems to have come to a conclusion., he raised his eyes and looked at me with full focus. Then he said, “ Mu er, I want to ask you…you and Zhong Xu.. are you..are you dating ?”
I was stunned.
I had no idea he was going to say this. After twisting and hesitating for such a long time, all he wanted was to know what was happening between Zhong Yuan and I?
Although some people were already speculating about us, I needed to deny everything to uphold the principle of honesty. So I shook my head and said, “ How is that possible?” I shuddered as I imagined being the girlfriend of someone who was torturing me day and night.
Zhang Xu did not believe me.”But…”
“ We are really not dating.” A voice suddenly rang out. I looked back MR saw Zhong Yun walking into the courtyard with a bag in his hand. He approached us, then stood still, looking at me first. Then he smiled and turned to look at Zhang Xu.
“ We are in a serious relationship.”
Part 2
I had no idea what to say. I knew there was no good way to get out of this situation.
Zhang Xu’s eyes widened. He looked at Zhong Yuan, then at me again. After a long time, I finally said, “ You…”
Zhong Yuan continued to smile evilly. “What has any of this got to do with you? If you are really interested, I can tell you a bit. For example”, he suddenly turned his head and smiled at me, “ for example, Mu er can confirm my size.”
I was speechless.
I felt that I could only understand a little bit of what Zhong Yuan was saying. Then, his last words penetrated my brain and I lowered my head as my face turned red. Zhong Yuan, you are such a beast ! By saying these words , you are destroying my innocence,my name by your own hand!
I calmed down a little and tried to explain something, only to find that Zhang Xu had already left.
I was really annoyed with Zhong Yuan. “ Why did you say all this to him?”
Zhong Yuan’s smiled calmly and asked,” What did I say?”
I was furious and really didn’t have the patience to clarify my words. Instead, I blushed and turned my head, completely ignoring him.
Zhong Yuan came over and sat on the hammock, staring at me. He touched my arm gently and said, “ Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.Zhang Xu is certainly interested in you.”
I moved aside and avoided him. “That’s probably true, but…”
”So,” Zhong Yuan interrupted me. “I am actually helping you. You certainly would not like to be entangled with him, right?”
I thought about it. His argument seemed reasonable. But I really could but accost the way he tried to help me out.
So I continued complaining, “ If you say such things, people will think that I am a person with a bad character. No one will dare marry me in the future.”
Zhong Yuan smiled and said: “No one wants you anyway.”
This made me blazing mad. Was this guy really helping me by destroying my reputation and future ? I didn’t understand his logic. I glared at him in anger and frustration and shouted, “ Zhong Yuan, will you not be able to digest your food if you don’t abuse me so many times in a day?”
Zhong Yun suddenly turned his face and stared at me without a word. My heart froze. This guy had thus Nikita. Even without a single word, he could kill you with his stare.
I coughed and summoned my courage, “ If I were to look at it clearly, you are obviously destroying my reputation. What kind of help is this ?”
“Mu er”, Zhong Yuan called out and raised one hand to smoothen the hair on my head. My back stiffened with shock. He leaned closer to me all of a sudden. He was so close that the tips of our noses almost touched. He stared at me, his dark pupils reflecting my guarded face. Then he turned his face and whispered in my ear,” Sometimes, I really want to kill you.” Then he stood and walked away.
I sat stiffly on the hammock. A chill passed through my body. I knew that Zhong Yuan hated me, but I never realised that he hated me so much. It wasn’t enough for him to torture me every day. He even wanted to murder me!
I really could not fathom why Zhong Yun was so dissatisfied with me. I usually got along fairly well with my teachers and classmates. Even if I made mistakes sometimes. Sometimes I would end up breaking the lab instruments. The lab teachers would not scold me too much. They would even give me a discount on the reimbursement amount. But here I was standing in front of Zhong Yuan , who was not only intent on abusing me Everyday, he even wanted to kill me.
I continued thinking about this. Finally, I concluded that this was probably because Zhong Yuan had very high standards. Maybe, as his playmate and study partner,my work had been below par and that had angered him. Well, if he had told me he was unsatisfied, I would certainly change !
After such profound self reflection, I realised that my attitude had been unfriendly. Anyway. He had helped me. I hadn’t even said thank you. Instead, I had scolded him. Yes, my behaviour had been abominable.
Now my boss was really angry, and I needed to calm him down.
So I carefully washed the basket of plums that Zhang Xu had brought. Then I carried the basket and knocked on the door to Zhong Yuan’s room.
He opened the door and leaned against the door frame, his chin slightly lifted. He looked at me with a very condescending attitude and said, “ You want to say something ?”
“ Zhong Yuan, this is for you.” I handed over the basket carefully to him, as if it was a rare treasure and smiled at him.
Zhong Yuan looked at the plums and raised his eyebrows, “ Is this what Zhang Xu got?”
“ Yes. I haven’t eaten even one. I kept it all for you.” I realised that I was quite skilled at flattering someone.
But Zhong Yuan looked unhappy. “ I don’t eat this.”
I was stumped. I didn’t know how I had offended him. I stood in the same place in silence, hoping that he would offer me some clue.
Zhong Yuan did not speak as well and the two of us continued looking at each other in silence for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said, “ Dumbo, aren’t your arms aching?”
Saying this, he took the basket from my hand and pulled me into the room.
Miumiu – Is Mu er really as dumb as this ? She has every reason to be angry at Zhong Yuan’s declaration, yet she is the one who comes with a peace offering ? Or is she so money minded that she is willing to submerge her ego to keep her boss happy ? Me thinks, that subconsciously she realised ZY his feelings for her and that she reciprocates it. That is why she is upset when he walks away. In her own mind, she is justifying this with stupid rationale, but in reality, she is just behaving like a girl who likes a boy..what do you think ?
Ch 30 – First kiss, first kiss.
As soon as I walked into the room, I lowered my head and admitted my mistake, “ Zhong Yuan, I am sorry. I was wrong.”
Zhong Yuan’s voice was faint and there was no hint of any anger. “ Where were you wrong?”
I looked at him like a supplicant and said, “ I should not have been mad at you, I should not have misinterpreted your kindness. I don’t work hard enough. I often ignore your feelings..I often think that you are abnormal.”
I saw that Zhong Yuan’s face turned sullen again, so I added, “ Actually, you are not, hey, how can you be abnormal ? You are so tall and handsome…”
The narcissistic Zhong Yuan immediately lit up at the mention of the word ‘handsome’. His eyes started shining and a corner of his lips curled upwards in a faint smile.
I secretly stored this important bit of information in my heart. Zhong Yuan
Inked to hear others call him handsome.
Seeing that his mood had turned better, I took the opportunity to plead my case, “ Am I forgiven?”
Zhong Yuan smiled slightly and said, “ What do you think I should do?”
Well, although these words sounded strange but I thought it meant that Zhong Yuan was ready to forgive me. This excited me and in a fit of inopportune generosity, I immediately blurted out, “ I am willing to do anything you want to make this up to you.”
As soon as I finished saying this, I regretted it. I was sure Zhong Yuan would be taking advantage of this….
Sure enough, he took out the bag he had carried back and handed it to me. He said, “ That sounds right. You can make it up to me with this.”
I took the bag suspiciously and looked through the things inside. It was a newly bought cross stitch mat. The pattern seemed to be of two fishes playing in the sea.
Zhong Yuan reminded me, “ You promised you would embroider a big piece for me.”
I unfolded the mat and flinched. “ But this is too big.”
What you liked was just a mobile charm. This was a pillow ?!
Zhong Yuan frowned. “There is no sincerity.”
I was speechless and hesitated for a long time. Finally I gritted my teeth and said, “Okay, I will work on this. Of course I will. After all, I had promised you. But I have never done this before , and this is too big. I don’t know when I will finish this.”
Zhong Yuan waved his hand very generously. “No hurry.”
So I took cross stitch pillow case and walked out of Zhongyuan’s room with a smile.
Later, I wondered how things had played out like this.
The next day, Zhong Yuan returned an empty basket to me, and there were no plums.I asked him if he had eaten them, but he denied it. Even if he had denied it, I knew that he had eaten them. This person was really hypocritical !
Miumiu – Did he eat it or throw it away ? I doubt he would eat anything his love rival brought.,:)
……
It was a summer afternoon and the weather was hot and stuffy. I knew I couldn’t sing out loud so I was singing in my heart. I was sitting under the sycamore tree , embroidering the pillow case. It was a really difficult pattern and my eyes were tearing up. I had already unraveled my stitches several times before because I had made mistakes , and the unraveling was even more laborious than the actual stitching. This Zhong Yuan, he could really figure out cruel methods to torture me. I must have owed him in my earlier life.
And what was Zhong Yuan doing? I didn’t want to talk about it because talking about it would make me furious. He was lying leisurely in the hammock with his eyes closed and his headphone on his ears. His expression showed a lazy comfort while my eyes were burning. On the table next to him, apart from a laptop, there was a plate of fruits , a knife and a bottle of Eau de cologne. I firmly despised people who led such a hedonistic life.
I put down my cross stitch and stood up. Zhong Yuan opened his eyes and looked at me
“What?”
I rubbed my hands together and said ,” I am hungry. I’ll get a tomato. Do you want one ?”
Zhong Yuan closed his eyes again and replied lazily: “Okay.”
Ignoring this attitude of a royal used to being served , I walked to the vegetable garden
Suddenly , Zhong yuan called out to me ,” Come back here .”
I walked back impatiently and stood beside him, “ What now?”
Zhong Yuan sat up on the hammock and picked up the Eau de cologne on the table. Then he sprayed me a few times with it. The smell of the cologne was very strong and I started coughing. He waved his hand in satisfaction. His expression was still of a royal looking at a commoner. “You can go now. “
So I went to the garden.
There were a lot of mosquitos in the garden. However , since I had just been doused by generous amounts of cologne , none of the mosquitoes bit me. So it turned out that this guy had a little bit of conscience. But when I thought of how this guy was always exploiting me , how he was sleeping in a hammock and listening to music while I was toiling on the cross stitch, I still felt furious. So I picked up a large , ripe tomato and a green chilli.
After washing both, I ran back to Zhong Yuan with barely concealed excitement. Zhong Yuan was still lying on the hammock, swaying gently. When he saw me , he smiled slightly and said ,” Are you so happy because you are going to eat a tomato?”
I smiled and said ,” Zhong Yuan, close your eyes.”
Zhong Tuan looked at me for a moment. Then he smiled beautifully and closed his eyes.
I tried to suppress my glee as I instructed ,” Opeb your mouth.”
He quickly opened his mouth
“ Zhong Yuan, that’s perfect!” As I said this, I split the chilli open and dug out the seeds inside. The spiciest part of the chilli were the seeds. After I dug out the seeds , I tossed them in Zhong Yuan’s mouth. Then I waited with bated breath to see his reaction.
As soon as he started chewing , he realised something was wrong. He rushed out of the hammock, then spit out all the chilli seeds in his mouth,coughing while he spit. However, he was too late. His mouth must have been already burning from the chilli seeds.
I looked at him and laughed silently. Zhong Yuan, Zhong Yuan, did you realise you would see such a day ? Yes, torturing other people was quite satisfying. No wonder this guy tortured me all day !
Zhong Yuan spit on one side then raised his eyes to look at me. His gaze was sharp and a cold chill crept through my body. I coughed twice. I was suddenly scared. What if this guy retaliated ?
He sat up straight. His chest was undulating, a clear sign of his anger.
I stopped laughing and said, “ I..I am…hey!”
Before I could finish , my mouth had been blocked. My brain blanked out completely and I could not react.
Zhong Yuan…hey!
His mouth was on my mouth. His tongue licked my lips and then he bit me! As I opened my mouth, his tongue slipped in. I was like a statue, till my senses came back. I struggled. I moved my head away while using my hands to push him away.
Zhong Yuan could feel my resistance. He let me go, but his hands were still on my shoulders. He lowered his head and whispered, “ What do you feel?”
I only felt one thing- pain.
I am allergic to chillies and almost never eat spicy food. Zhong Yuan had eaten that chilli and then attacked me. Naturally, there was a spicy taste in my mouth. I could feel the burning pain in my mouth. I felt like there were many small wounds in my mouth that were oozing water. It hurt so much that I had started crying. Big tears fell down my face. And once the spice stained my lips, my lips had started to swell. They now looked like two sausages.
I screamed at Zhong Yuan, “ You wish,washter. A new man!”( Translation-you beast,bastard. Inhuman!”
As far as I was concerned, chillies were the most cruel weapon. And he had used mouth to mouth! Heavens, I was a pure and innocent child, I hadn’t even had my first kiss!
Zhong Yuan seemed extremely regretful. He looked flustered.”I’m sorry. I didn’t realise..”
The facts speak louder than words, and I didn’t want to hear his clever explanations. I turned away and said, “ I wo kay.”( Translation I don’t care)
Zhong Yuan grabbed my wrist. His face was red and he looked really worried. “ Please don’t be so upset. I won’t be like this next time.”
I yelled at him,” Next time? You want another time?”
Zhong Yuan lowered his head and held on to my wrist. He hung his head and said softly, “ I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it.”
I was a soft hearted person. At that time, when I see how regretful and sorry he looked, the anger in my heart was inexplicably quelled. Ok, although he knew that I didn’t eat spicy food, there was no way he would have known that I’m allergic to peppers. Maybe he was just trying to prank me. He would not have realised I would get hurt like this. Well, this was no big deal. Of course, the method he used to prank me was still difficult for me to accept, but I was the one who started this. I should not have put the chillies in his mouth.
Thinking through all of this, I blamed myself . I sighed and looked up at the sky, “ Zhong Yuan, how much did I owe you in my lush life?” ( Translation – last life.)
Zhong Yuan also sighed, “ I owe you.”
……
I lay on the hammock, twisting this way and that. The hammock was more comfortable than the bench, but I had earned this position through great sacrifice.
Zhong Yuan was sitting on the small bench next to me. He held a bottle of medicine and softly instructed, “ Don’t move.”
His voice was gentle, like a good boy who knew it was all his fault.
He held the medicine bottle in his right, while in the left hand, he had a cotton swab. Gently, he swabbed my lips with it. He used very light movements , but I still inhaled sharply at the pain.
But soon the pain receded, and I wondered at the contents of Zhong Yuan’s suitcase. He even had anti swelling medication !
I had my eyes closed as I enjoyed the ministrations when suddenly I heard a voice, “ What are you doing? What happened to you ?”
I opened my eyes to see Zhang Xu carrying a basket again. He reminded me again of the little girl picking mushrooms.
In our village, people generally allowed open access to their yards during the day and visitors did not hesitate to come in with no advance warning. Of course, if you wanted to indulge in private activities, you do it in your own house. If a person wanted to enter the house, he would knock on the door and shout from the yard.
So when Zhang Xu came in suddenly, it was nothing out of the ordinary, but I felt awkward.
I sat up and wanted to explain, but Zhong Yuan had beaten me to it. “Nothing..I blame myself for not being careful…cough, cough!”
As he said this, he coughed twice in embarrassment.
As he coughed, the scene of our lips on each other suddenly flashed in my mind and I blushed. Zhong Yuan, this beast had ruined my first kiss!
“I…I came here to give you some peaches, which I picked up in my uncle’s garden.” He put the bamboo basket on the table.
I saw a strange light in his eyes and his face had turned red. He must have got the wrong impression.Anyway, he was free to think what he wanted, I was really unwell..
After Zhang Xu put down the basket, Zhong Yuan spoke out , as if feeling slightly bad for him, “ Anything else?”
“ No, no..”, he finished and hurried away.
After Zhang Xu left, Zhong Yuan continued to dab the medication on me and murmured to himself , “ Why is this guy still alive?”
I blinked and replied, “ He is still here wikos his weather sent him.” ( Translation wikos – because, weather – Mother.)
Zhong Yuan scolded me, “ Stop talking!”
I:”……”
As Zhong Yuan dabbed the medicine, I tried to stretch my neck and see the peaches. I wanted to eat them. He moved the basket away and used my dad’s time to diminish me, “ No need to trouble yourself.”
I stared at the peaches and miserably said, “ But I haven’t eaten them”
If he ate them instead, it would be a pity.
Zhong Yuan took the basket and walked to the door. He called out to a child,” Pang Zhu, come over, this is for you. After you finish the peaches, please give the basket back to Zhang Xu Brother.”
Little Pang Zhu happily took the basket and said, “ Thank you Brother”, and ran away.
I opened my two sausage lips and looked at little Pang Zhu with resentment.
Zhong Yuan sat down on the bench and raised his hand to rub my head, “ I will buy peaches for you tomorrow.”
……
Zhong Yuan’s admitted his mistake. As compensation, I had been permitted to occupy the hammock for the last few days. Wait a minute, the hammock was actually mine….
Anyway, as we enjoyed the cool breeze, I was on the hammock while Zhong Yuan sat on the small bench. He would sometimes surf the web, playing games or something, while I lay in the hammock. Of course, I was no longer embroidering. When one had nothing to do, one easily fell asleep.
That afternoon, as I swayed in the hammock , I fell asleep.No the main point is not that I fell asleep. The key here is that I had a dream. And I had never dreamt before with such clarity.
I dreamt that I was eating the crystal pig tongue made by Chef Li in the Lijia hotel in the west of the village. Chef Li’s crystal pig tongue was as smooth as crystal pig skin and it was really delicious! It was one of my favourite dishes. I dreamt that as I put the crystal pig tongue inside my mouth and sucked, my mouth has become very full. But my lungs seemed to be affected as well, and I had difficulty breathing. This woke me up.
I opened my eyes and took a few deep breaths till I felt better. But I still had the feeling that the pig’s tongue in my mouth was real. My mouth felt like I had tasted something slippery. I couldn’t help but stretch my hand and touch my lips. I found that my lips were wet. I guessed that I had drooled in my sleep. I was ashamed of myself!
I carefully peeked at Zhong Yuan , hoping that he had noticed me dreaming and licking my lips. But I was stunned with what I saw!
Zhong Yuan was cutting peaches absentmindedly. No no, that’s not the main point. The point is that he had nicked his hand and hadn’t realised it. The cut was deep, and blood was flowing out of the cut, staining the peaches. It was quite a bloody scene.
I stared at the scene for sometime, so shocked that I didn’t call out. Then I looked at him and realised that his eyes were staring at some unknown point far away and his face was red. He was obviously not in the right state of mind. The poor peaches had been abused by him, and of course his hand was wounded….
“Zhong Yuan, Zhong Yuan?” I called out to him in a worried voice.
“Huh?” He turned to look at me, his expression confused.
I didn’t care how bizarre his expression was, but pointed at his hand and said, “ You cut your hand, didn’t you realise?”
He looked down and immediately put the knife down. He stared at his hand, “ Oh, it’s nothing.”
I went into the house to get a band aid and some ointment. As I applied it to the wound, I asked him,” Did you get a heatstroke? Why is you face so red ? And you didn’t even realise that you cut your hand!”
Zhong Yuan did not answer my question. Instead he asked me, “ Were you asleep ?”
His voice was strangely gentle.
I snorted and swabbed the wound with some cotton to clean it. The wound was quite deep l I seriously could not understand what he was thinking. How could he have nit felt any pain ?
Zhong Yuan asked again: “You… were you dreaming?”
I snorted again, stained the cotton with the antiseptic and applied it to his wound.
Zhong Yuan’s voice was as gentle as silk. “What did you dream of?”
“Oh,” I was a little embarrassed. “I dreamt that I was eating pig tongue.”
Zhong Yuan suddenly pulled his hand back. He glared at me with a sullen face. The corner of his mouth was twitching.
I was shocked by his sudden change of expression. “What happened to you?”
Zhong Yuan ignored me and stood up and walked away.
I followed him and said, “What’s wrong with you, I haven’t finished applying medicine.”
Zhong Yuan did not turn back , “I won’t die.”
He was angry, but I could not understand what I had done to upset him. “Hey, what’s the matter with you?”
Zhong Yuan replied in a loud voice: “Don’t follow me, I am worried that I won’t be able to resist the urge to kill you.”
I:”……”
What had I done to provoke him!
Miumiu – I love how the author has these hidden Easter eggs. Anyone notice how Mu Er’s dad said ZY was having a nosebleed ? . Anyone else thinks it’s because he saw Mu er undressing ? No matter how he tells her there was nothing to see, he was affected. Then we have the dream of pig tongue. ZY is upset because his kiss was converted to dreaming of food. That’s why I suppose the chapter reads ‘ first kiss’ twice. I think Mu er wins this round. Tell me what you think. With no comments , I feel like no one’s reading !
Chapter 29 – Zhong Yuan is jealous
There was an open space in our backyard. My father had turned it into a vegetable garden. The garden had lots of seasonal vegetables, all of it grown organically. When I was in City B, I bought a few tomatoes but they were grown with fertilisers and hormones. If I kept it eyes open while eating them , I knew I was eating tomatoes. But if I closed my eyes , it didn’t taste like anything natural.
So when I ate the tomatoes grown here by my dad , I almost burst into tears. My dad panicked at my overwrought emotions and asked me what was going on. “ Hey, why don’t you have a few more tomatoes ?”
On that particular day , I was holding a cucumber in one hand and a tomato in the other. I was eating with great focus while wondering what Zhong Yuan was doing. He had gone out after lunch and was not back yet. I had asked him where he was going , but he had been very mysterious about it. He just told me ,”You will know when it is time .” As if he was an underground spy !
Although I wasn’t happy with all this secrecy , a day without Zhong Yuan around was a day without oppression. I had to wholly cherish such a rare opportunity. So I swung in the hammock under the Phoenix tree , watching the scenery around while eating cucumber.
Suddenly, a figure blocked my view.
Zhang Xu stood beside me.He bent down slightly and looked at me.
I was shocked by a person suddenly coming into my view. I quickly sat up and looked at him, “ Zhang Xu… what are you doing here?”
He held a bamboo basket in one hand. He looked like a little girl going to pick mushrooms. He saw me looking at him and immediately blushed. He lowered his read and after a bit of silence asked me , “ Why are you not calling me brother Zhang Xu?”
I tidied my hair as I replied ,” Oh, just forgot !”
If I didn’t change the way I addressed him, a certain guy would take revenge !
Zhang Xu continued to keep his head lowered. He twisted and pinched his fingers for a long time without a single word. To me, he looked like a shy daughter in law in front of her mother in law. I really could not gifted out why he was so shy. I remembered that he had spoken to me before and we were no longer enemies. Moreover , he had been a squad header fir ten years. When he spoke to others , he spoke with confidence. What was happening now ?
The more I thought about it, the more I could feel a headache coming on. So I decided to stop thinking about it. I took a bite of a tomato in my have and asked him straight ,” What are you here for?” Please excuse me for the rude words. This old thing had been tortured over a long period. All I wanted to do was rest and enjoy my freedom
Zhang Xu handed the basket to me. “These are some fruits from the family garden. My mom asked me to give them to you. “
I looked down and saw that there were a lot of plums in the basket. They were brightly coloured , plump and juicy. I started drooling. I gulped and shook my head .” No need , we already have so many at home. You can keep it.”
Although I was tempted , I had to prove to my Dad with practical actions that I was a mature person.
Zhang Xu put the basket on the small table and said ,” This year, we had a bumper crop. So we are distributing to all our neighbours. There’s nothing else to it.”
After he says this, I no longer needed to decline. Ok. I had to be polite. So I stared at the plums, secretly running my hands in anticipation of when I could lay my hands on them.
After he put down the basket , Zhang Xu stood still. I felt it would be awkward to start eating right in front of him so I asked again,” Is there anything else?”
Zhang Xu once again started the whole shy Daughter in law act and I had to endure it. I gazed at the plums on the table.. those plump fresh fruits were beckoning to me, “ Come and eat me, come eat me..”
Zhang Xu seems to have come to a conclusion., he raised his eyes and looked at me with full focus. Then he said, “ Mu er, I want to ask you…you and Zhong Xu.. are you..are you dating ?”
I was stunned.
I had no idea he was going to say this. After twisting and hesitating for such a long time, all he wanted was to know what was happening between Zhong Yuan and I?
Although some people were already speculating about us, I needed to deny everything to uphold the principle of honesty. So I shook my head and said, “ How is that possible?” I shuddered as I imagined being the girlfriend of someone who was torturing me day and night.
Zhang Xu did not believe me.”But…”
“ We are really not dating.” A voice suddenly rang out. I looked back MR saw Zhong Yun walking into the courtyard with a bag in his hand. He approached us, then stood still, looking at me first. Then he smiled and turned to look at Zhang Xu.
“ We are in a serious relationship.”
Part 2
I had no idea what to say. I knew there was no good way to get out of this situation.
Zhang Xu’s eyes widened. He looked at Zhong Yuan, then at me again. After a long time, I finally said, “ You…”
Zhong Yuan continued to smile evilly. “What has any of this got to do with you? If you are really interested, I can tell you a bit. For example”, he suddenly turned his head and smiled at me, “ for example, Mu er can confirm my size.”
I was speechless.
I felt that I could only understand a little bit of what Zhong Yuan was saying. Then, his last words penetrated my brain and I lowered my head as my face turned red. Zhong Yuan, you are such a beast ! By saying these words , you are destroying my innocence,my name by your own hand!
I calmed down a little and tried to explain something, only to find that Zhang Xu had already left.
I was really annoyed with Zhong Yuan. “ Why did you say all this to him?”
Zhong Yuan’s smiled calmly and asked,” What did I say?”
I was furious and really didn’t have the patience to clarify my words. Instead, I blushed and turned my head, completely ignoring him.
Zhong Yuan came over and sat on the hammock, staring at me. He touched my arm gently and said, “ Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.Zhang Xu is certainly interested in you.”
I moved aside and avoided him. “That’s probably true, but…”
”So,” Zhong Yuan interrupted me. “I am actually helping you. You certainly would not like to be entangled with him, right?”
I thought about it. His argument seemed reasonable. But I really could but accost the way he tried to help me out.
So I continued complaining, “ If you say such things, people will think that I am a person with a bad character. No one will dare marry me in the future.”
Zhong Yuan smiled and said: “No one wants you anyway.”
This made me blazing mad. Was this guy really helping me by destroying my reputation and future ? I didn’t understand his logic. I glared at him in anger and frustration and shouted, “ Zhong Yuan, will you not be able to digest your food if you don’t abuse me so many times in a day?”
Zhong Yun suddenly turned his face and stared at me without a word. My heart froze. This guy had thus Nikita. Even without a single word, he could kill you with his stare.
I coughed and summoned my courage, “ If I were to look at it clearly, you are obviously destroying my reputation. What kind of help is this ?”
“Mu er”, Zhong Yuan called out and raised one hand to smoothen the hair on my head. My back stiffened with shock. He leaned closer to me all of a sudden. He was so close that the tips of our noses almost touched. He stared at me, his dark pupils reflecting my guarded face. Then he turned his face and whispered in my ear,” Sometimes, I really want to kill you.” Then he stood and walked away.
I sat stiffly on the hammock. A chill passed through my body. I knew that Zhong Yuan hated me, but I never realised that he hated me so much. It wasn’t enough for him to torture me every day. He even wanted to murder me!
I really could not fathom why Zhong Yun was so dissatisfied with me. I usually got along fairly well with my teachers and classmates. Even if I made mistakes sometimes. Sometimes I would end up breaking the lab instruments. The lab teachers would not scold me too much. They would even give me a discount on the reimbursement amount. But here I was standing in front of Zhong Yuan , who was not only intent on abusing me Everyday, he even wanted to kill me.
I continued thinking about this. Finally, I concluded that this was probably because Zhong Yuan had very high standards. Maybe, as his playmate and study partner,my work had been below par and that had angered him. Well, if he had told me he was unsatisfied, I would certainly change !
After such profound self reflection, I realised that my attitude had been unfriendly. Anyway. He had helped me. I hadn’t even said thank you. Instead, I had scolded him. Yes, my behaviour had been abominable.
Now my boss was really angry, and I needed to calm him down.
So I carefully washed the basket of plums that Zhang Xu had brought. Then I carried the basket and knocked on the door to Zhong Yuan’s room.
He opened the door and leaned against the door frame, his chin slightly lifted. He looked at me with a very condescending attitude and said, “ You want to say something ?”
“ Zhong Yuan, this is for you.” I handed over the basket carefully to him, as if it was a rare treasure and smiled at him.
Zhong Yuan looked at the plums and raised his eyebrows, “ Is this what Zhang Xu got?”
“ Yes. I haven’t eaten even one. I kept it all for you.” I realised that I was quite skilled at flattering someone.
But Zhong Yuan looked unhappy. “ I don’t eat this.”
I was stumped. I didn’t know how I had offended him. I stood in the same place in silence, hoping that he would offer me some clue.
Zhong Yuan did not speak as well and the two of us continued looking at each other in silence for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said, “ Dumbo, aren’t your arms aching?”
Saying this, he took the basket from my hand and pulled me into the room.
Miumiu – Is Mu er really as dumb as this ? She has every reason to be angry at Zhong Yuan’s declaration, yet she is the one who comes with a peace offering ? Or is she so money minded that she is willing to submerge her ego to keep her boss happy ? Me thinks, that subconsciously she realised ZY his feelings for her and that she reciprocates it. That is why she is upset when he walks away. In her own mind, she is justifying this with stupid rationale, but in reality, she is just behaving like a girl who likes a boy..what do you think ?
Ch 30 – First kiss, first kiss.
As soon as I walked into the room, I lowered my head and admitted my mistake, “ Zhong Yuan, I am sorry. I was wrong.”
Zhong Yuan’s voice was faint and there was no hint of any anger. “ Where were you wrong?”
I looked at him like a supplicant and said, “ I should not have been mad at you, I should not have misinterpreted your kindness. I don’t work hard enough. I often ignore your feelings..I often think that you are abnormal.”
I saw that Zhong Yuan’s face turned sullen again, so I added, “ Actually, you are not, hey, how can you be abnormal ? You are so tall and handsome…”
The narcissistic Zhong Yuan immediately lit up at the mention of the word ‘handsome’. His eyes started shining and a corner of his lips curled upwards in a faint smile.
I secretly stored this important bit of information in my heart. Zhong Yuan
Inked to hear others call him handsome.
Seeing that his mood had turned better, I took the opportunity to plead my case, “ Am I forgiven?”
Zhong Yuan smiled slightly and said, “ What do you think I should do?”
Well, although these words sounded strange but I thought it meant that Zhong Yuan was ready to forgive me. This excited me and in a fit of inopportune generosity, I immediately blurted out, “ I am willing to do anything you want to make this up to you.”
As soon as I finished saying this, I regretted it. I was sure Zhong Yuan would be taking advantage of this….
Sure enough, he took out the bag he had carried back and handed it to me. He said, “ That sounds right. You can make it up to me with this.”
I took the bag suspiciously and looked through the things inside. It was a newly bought cross stitch mat. The pattern seemed to be of two fishes playing in the sea.
Zhong Yuan reminded me, “ You promised you would embroider a big piece for me.”
I unfolded the mat and flinched. “ But this is too big.”
What you liked was just a mobile charm. This was a pillow ?!
Zhong Yuan frowned. “There is no sincerity.”
I was speechless and hesitated for a long time. Finally I gritted my teeth and said, “Okay, I will work on this. Of course I will. After all, I had promised you. But I have never done this before , and this is too big. I don’t know when I will finish this.”
Zhong Yuan waved his hand very generously. “No hurry.”
So I took cross stitch pillow case and walked out of Zhongyuan’s room with a smile.
Later, I wondered how things had played out like this.
The next day, Zhong Yuan returned an empty basket to me, and there were no plums.I asked him if he had eaten them, but he denied it. Even if he had denied it, I knew that he had eaten them. This person was really hypocritical !
Miumiu – Did he eat it or throw it away ? I doubt he would eat anything his love rival brought.,:)
……
It was a summer afternoon and the weather was hot and stuffy. I knew I couldn’t sing out loud so I was singing in my heart. I was sitting under the sycamore tree , embroidering the pillow case. It was a really difficult pattern and my eyes were tearing up. I had already unraveled my stitches several times before because I had made mistakes , and the unraveling was even more laborious than the actual stitching. This Zhong Yuan, he could really figure out cruel methods to torture me. I must have owed him in my earlier life.
And what was Zhong Yuan doing? I didn’t want to talk about it because talking about it would make me furious. He was lying leisurely in the hammock with his eyes closed and his headphone on his ears. His expression showed a lazy comfort while my eyes were burning. On the table next to him, apart from a laptop, there was a plate of fruits , a knife and a bottle of Eau de cologne. I firmly despised people who led such a hedonistic life.
I put down my cross stitch and stood up. Zhong Yuan opened his eyes and looked at me
“What?”
I rubbed my hands together and said ,” I am hungry. I’ll get a tomato. Do you want one ?”
Zhong Yuan closed his eyes again and replied lazily: “Okay.”
Ignoring this attitude of a royal used to being served , I walked to the vegetable garden
Suddenly , Zhong yuan called out to me ,” Come back here .”
I walked back impatiently and stood beside him, “ What now?”
Zhong Yuan sat up on the hammock and picked up the Eau de cologne on the table. Then he sprayed me a few times with it. The smell of the cologne was very strong and I started coughing. He waved his hand in satisfaction. His expression was still of a royal looking at a commoner. “You can go now. “
So I went to the garden.
There were a lot of mosquitos in the garden. However , since I had just been doused by generous amounts of cologne , none of the mosquitoes bit me. So it turned out that this guy had a little bit of conscience. But when I thought of how this guy was always exploiting me , how he was sleeping in a hammock and listening to music while I was toiling on the cross stitch, I still felt furious. So I picked up a large , ripe tomato and a green chilli.
After washing both, I ran back to Zhong Yuan with barely concealed excitement. Zhong Yuan was still lying on the hammock, swaying gently. When he saw me , he smiled slightly and said ,” Are you so happy because you are going to eat a tomato?”
I smiled and said ,” Zhong Yuan, close your eyes.”
Zhong Tuan looked at me for a moment. Then he smiled beautifully and closed his eyes.
I tried to suppress my glee as I instructed ,” Opeb your mouth.”
He quickly opened his mouth
“ Zhong Yuan, that’s perfect!” As I said this, I split the chilli open and dug out the seeds inside. The spiciest part of the chilli were the seeds. After I dug out the seeds , I tossed them in Zhong Yuan’s mouth. Then I waited with bated breath to see his reaction.
As soon as he started chewing , he realised something was wrong. He rushed out of the hammock, then spit out all the chilli seeds in his mouth,coughing while he spit. However, he was too late. His mouth must have been already burning from the chilli seeds.
I looked at him and laughed silently. Zhong Yuan, Zhong Yuan, did you realise you would see such a day ? Yes, torturing other people was quite satisfying. No wonder this guy tortured me all day !
Zhong Yuan spit on one side then raised his eyes to look at me. His gaze was sharp and a cold chill crept through my body. I coughed twice. I was suddenly scared. What if this guy retaliated ?
He sat up straight. His chest was undulating, a clear sign of his anger.
I stopped laughing and said, “ I..I am…hey!”
Before I could finish , my mouth had been blocked. My brain blanked out completely and I could not react.
Zhong Yuan…hey!
His mouth was on my mouth. His tongue licked my lips and then he bit me! As I opened my mouth, his tongue slipped in. I was like a statue, till my senses came back. I struggled. I moved my head away while using my hands to push him away.
Zhong Yuan could feel my resistance. He let me go, but his hands were still on my shoulders. He lowered his head and whispered, “ What do you feel?”
I only felt one thing- pain.
I am allergic to chillies and almost never eat spicy food. Zhong Yuan had eaten that chilli and then attacked me. Naturally, there was a spicy taste in my mouth. I could feel the burning pain in my mouth. I felt like there were many small wounds in my mouth that were oozing water. It hurt so much that I had started crying. Big tears fell down my face. And once the spice stained my lips, my lips had started to swell. They now looked like two sausages.
I screamed at Zhong Yuan, “ You wish,washter. A new man!”( Translation-you beast,bastard. Inhuman!”
As far as I was concerned, chillies were the most cruel weapon. And he had used mouth to mouth! Heavens, I was a pure and innocent child, I hadn’t even had my first kiss!
Zhong Yuan seemed extremely regretful. He looked flustered.”I’m sorry. I didn’t realise..”
The facts speak louder than words, and I didn’t want to hear his clever explanations. I turned away and said, “ I wo kay.”( Translation I don’t care)
Zhong Yuan grabbed my wrist. His face was red and he looked really worried. “ Please don’t be so upset. I won’t be like this next time.”
I yelled at him,” Next time? You want another time?”
Zhong Yuan lowered his head and held on to my wrist. He hung his head and said softly, “ I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it.”
I was a soft hearted person. At that time, when I see how regretful and sorry he looked, the anger in my heart was inexplicably quelled. Ok, although he knew that I didn’t eat spicy food, there was no way he would have known that I’m allergic to peppers. Maybe he was just trying to prank me. He would not have realised I would get hurt like this. Well, this was no big deal. Of course, the method he used to prank me was still difficult for me to accept, but I was the one who started this. I should not have put the chillies in his mouth.
Thinking through all of this, I blamed myself . I sighed and looked up at the sky, “ Zhong Yuan, how much did I owe you in my lush life?” ( Translation – last life.)
Zhong Yuan also sighed, “ I owe you.”
……
I lay on the hammock, twisting this way and that. The hammock was more comfortable than the bench, but I had earned this position through great sacrifice.
Zhong Yuan was sitting on the small bench next to me. He held a bottle of medicine and softly instructed, “ Don’t move.”
His voice was gentle, like a good boy who knew it was all his fault.
He held the medicine bottle in his right, while in the left hand, he had a cotton swab. Gently, he swabbed my lips with it. He used very light movements , but I still inhaled sharply at the pain.
But soon the pain receded, and I wondered at the contents of Zhong Yuan’s suitcase. He even had anti swelling medication !
I had my eyes closed as I enjoyed the ministrations when suddenly I heard a voice, “ What are you doing? What happened to you ?”
I opened my eyes to see Zhang Xu carrying a basket again. He reminded me again of the little girl picking mushrooms.
In our village, people generally allowed open access to their yards during the day and visitors did not hesitate to come in with no advance warning. Of course, if you wanted to indulge in private activities, you do it in your own house. If a person wanted to enter the house, he would knock on the door and shout from the yard.
So when Zhang Xu came in suddenly, it was nothing out of the ordinary, but I felt awkward.
I sat up and wanted to explain, but Zhong Yuan had beaten me to it. “Nothing..I blame myself for not being careful…cough, cough!”
As he said this, he coughed twice in embarrassment.
As he coughed, the scene of our lips on each other suddenly flashed in my mind and I blushed. Zhong Yuan, this beast had ruined my first kiss!
“I…I came here to give you some peaches, which I picked up in my uncle’s garden.” He put the bamboo basket on the table.
I saw a strange light in his eyes and his face had turned red. He must have got the wrong impression.Anyway, he was free to think what he wanted, I was really unwell..
After Zhang Xu put down the basket, Zhong Yuan spoke out , as if feeling slightly bad for him, “ Anything else?”
“ No, no..”, he finished and hurried away.
After Zhang Xu left, Zhong Yuan continued to dab the medication on me and murmured to himself , “ Why is this guy still alive?”
I blinked and replied, “ He is still here wikos his weather sent him.” ( Translation wikos – because, weather – Mother.)
Zhong Yuan scolded me, “ Stop talking!”
I:”……”
As Zhong Yuan dabbed the medicine, I tried to stretch my neck and see the peaches. I wanted to eat them. He moved the basket away and used my dad’s time to diminish me, “ No need to trouble yourself.”
I stared at the peaches and miserably said, “ But I haven’t eaten them”
If he ate them instead, it would be a pity.
Zhong Yuan took the basket and walked to the door. He called out to a child,” Pang Zhu, come over, this is for you. After you finish the peaches, please give the basket back to Zhang Xu Brother.”
Little Pang Zhu happily took the basket and said, “ Thank you Brother”, and ran away.
I opened my two sausage lips and looked at little Pang Zhu with resentment.
Zhong Yuan sat down on the bench and raised his hand to rub my head, “ I will buy peaches for you tomorrow.”
……
Zhong Yuan’s admitted his mistake. As compensation, I had been permitted to occupy the hammock for the last few days. Wait a minute, the hammock was actually mine….
Anyway, as we enjoyed the cool breeze, I was on the hammock while Zhong Yuan sat on the small bench. He would sometimes surf the web, playing games or something, while I lay in the hammock. Of course, I was no longer embroidering. When one had nothing to do, one easily fell asleep.
That afternoon, as I swayed in the hammock , I fell asleep.No the main point is not that I fell asleep. The key here is that I had a dream. And I had never dreamt before with such clarity.
I dreamt that I was eating the crystal pig tongue made by Chef Li in the Lijia hotel in the west of the village. Chef Li’s crystal pig tongue was as smooth as crystal pig skin and it was really delicious! It was one of my favourite dishes. I dreamt that as I put the crystal pig tongue inside my mouth and sucked, my mouth has become very full. But my lungs seemed to be affected as well, and I had difficulty breathing. This woke me up.
I opened my eyes and took a few deep breaths till I felt better. But I still had the feeling that the pig’s tongue in my mouth was real. My mouth felt like I had tasted something slippery. I couldn’t help but stretch my hand and touch my lips. I found that my lips were wet. I guessed that I had drooled in my sleep. I was ashamed of myself!
I carefully peeked at Zhong Yuan , hoping that he had noticed me dreaming and licking my lips. But I was stunned with what I saw!
Zhong Yuan was cutting peaches absentmindedly. No no, that’s not the main point. The point is that he had nicked his hand and hadn’t realised it. The cut was deep, and blood was flowing out of the cut, staining the peaches. It was quite a bloody scene.
I stared at the scene for sometime, so shocked that I didn’t call out. Then I looked at him and realised that his eyes were staring at some unknown point far away and his face was red. He was obviously not in the right state of mind. The poor peaches had been abused by him, and of course his hand was wounded….
“Zhong Yuan, Zhong Yuan?” I called out to him in a worried voice.
“Huh?” He turned to look at me, his expression confused.
I didn’t care how bizarre his expression was, but pointed at his hand and said, “ You cut your hand, didn’t you realise?”
He looked down and immediately put the knife down. He stared at his hand, “ Oh, it’s nothing.”
I went into the house to get a band aid and some ointment. As I applied it to the wound, I asked him,” Did you get a heatstroke? Why is you face so red ? And you didn’t even realise that you cut your hand!”
Zhong Yuan did not answer my question. Instead he asked me, “ Were you asleep ?”
His voice was strangely gentle.
I snorted and swabbed the wound with some cotton to clean it. The wound was quite deep l I seriously could not understand what he was thinking. How could he have nit felt any pain ?
Zhong Yuan asked again: “You… were you dreaming?”
I snorted again, stained the cotton with the antiseptic and applied it to his wound.
Zhong Yuan’s voice was as gentle as silk. “What did you dream of?”
“Oh,” I was a little embarrassed. “I dreamt that I was eating pig tongue.”
Zhong Yuan suddenly pulled his hand back. He glared at me with a sullen face. The corner of his mouth was twitching.
I was shocked by his sudden change of expression. “What happened to you?”
Zhong Yuan ignored me and stood up and walked away.
I followed him and said, “What’s wrong with you, I haven’t finished applying medicine.”
Zhong Yuan did not turn back , “I won’t die.”
He was angry, but I could not understand what I had done to upset him. “Hey, what’s the matter with you?”
Zhong Yuan replied in a loud voice: “Don’t follow me, I am worried that I won’t be able to resist the urge to kill you.”
I:”……”
What had I done to provoke him!
Miumiu – I love how the author has these hidden Easter eggs. Anyone notice how Mu Er’s dad said ZY was having a nosebleed ? . Anyone else thinks it’s because he saw Mu er undressing ? No matter how he tells her there was nothing to see, he was affected. Then we have the dream of pig tongue. ZY is upset because his kiss was converted to dreaming of food. That’s why I suppose the chapter reads ‘ first kiss’ twice. I think Mu er wins this round. Tell me what you think. With no comments , I feel like no one’s reading !
