Ever since the day, Jiang Li had spoken his nonsense with the sweet receptionist, my passage to his office has been extremely smooth and XQ employees looked at me full of awe and occasionally mixed with a trace of ambiguity and jealousy. I rarely get to enjoy such looks, and so like a villain, I sent him his lunch with more enthusiasm.
Time flew passed quickly and in a blink of an eye, Lunar New Year was coming. Most of XQ Network staff had already gone on leave. Jiang Li had also made his arrangements for his leave too.
So the day before Lunar New Year Eve, Jiang Li and I boarded a plane to L City.
K City is an ordinary place in the north of China, not far from L City. A car ride would take an hour and a half to reach. Jiang Li's parents have been staying in K City, all this while. I had looked forward to visiting K City because I especially wanted to see what was so special about the place where a human scourge like Jiang Li could be produced.
When we reached Jiang Li's home, it was already late at night. The surroundings were very quiet and we kept ourselves low-key. His parents stayed in an apartment in the building. A lot of the residents residing there were teachers and a few of them were language teachers.......
Nothing, it is alright, I am not afraid. My mother-in-law is just a language teacher, nothing to fear......
I followed closely behind Jiang Li and was thinking all sorts of nonsense to muster up courage.
Jiang Li's parents greeted us warmly but when I saw the beautiful language teacher, my heart sank. How could I compare to her?
After dinner, we talked for a while. I decided to retire for the night. Today was a rush and I felt tired.
But when I wanted to sleep, there was a problem. I had to sleep with Jiang Li on the same bed and use the same quilt.........
The bed was a standard double bed, much smaller than Jiang Li's bed. And .......we had never shared the same quilt before........
I stole a look at Jiang Li but he seemed indifferent.
Even if you do not feel anything for a woman but it does not mean I do not feel anything for a man!
Unconsciously, I blushed, bowed my head, pulling at the quilt and said. "That.....do you want to ask your mother for another quilt?"
Jiang Li's face was expressionless. "That is..... our mother"
"Okay....our mother" I swallowed my saliva, felt a little nervous, said. "That.....then.... is there a quilt....."
His answer almost made me choked. He said. "Our family is a bit poor, probably there is no other quilt."
I was taken aback and stood unsteadily.
That is a good one! Your family poor? Oh my God, as a dignified XQ founder, you cannot even afford a quilt?
Jiang Li thought for a moment and realized his statement was a bit unrealistic. So he said. "I will go and ask for one." He turned around and went out. Not long after, he came back again. "There are other quilts but my mother said, recently the quilts were attacked by moths and now the quilts are all being treated with mothballs."
I gritted my teeth. "It's alright, I don't mind." Anyway, the quilts had been treated with mothballs for a few days already. Lately, I have been having erotic dreams and had dreamed of Jiang Li kissing me. Just in case, during such erotic dreams, accidentally my beastly instincts was released and gave Jiang LI a scare, then what should I do?
"Are you sure." Jiang Li asked me mischievously. "Are you sure, you do not mind the smell of clove mixed with camphor which produces the smell of urine?"
I shuddered. What type of mothballs are these? Clove, camphor and urine?!
So I dropped my head and said. "Sorry, I really do mind." Well, a quilt and a bed, so what? I am not a person who had no restraint. Huh!
I lay on the bed and could clearly hear the sound of his breathing including the sound of my own heartbeat. I felt myself going crazy. Occasionally, I did feel lustful but I was definitely not a sex maniac. Moreover, my approach towards beauty had always been observing from afar and not in participation, but now......
I turned my back towards Jiang Li and tried to suppress the sound of my heartbeat.
I was deeply depressed that I could have such feelings for a homosexual. Because I was tired after a hectic day, so after having such mingling crazy thoughts for a while, I eventually fell asleep.
The next day, I got up early. Of course, Jiang Li woke up earlier than me and to be exact, his family of three got up early for their morning exercise...... so in actual fact, this habit of the pervert, Jiang Li, was a traditional habit observed by his family.
From morning till now, Jiang Li had been sneezing from time to time. So I enquire after him and did not expect to see his dissatisfaction. "It was all because of you. You grabbed the quilt in the middle of the night and kept tossing and turning the whole night."
I blushed and ignored him.
After breakfast, my parents-in-law took out their brush and ink to write couplets. For a long time I have not seen couplets being written and in my mind, now all couplets were bought instead of being written. Looking at this scholarly family of three gathering together over the couplets, I suddenly felt my knowledge was so lacking........
After finishing writing a pair of couplets, the beautiful language teacher raised her head, looked towards me and smiled kindly. "Xiao Yan, come over and join us."
I declined and shook my head solemnly. "Oh, I.......I don't know......."
She enthusiastically pulled me over and said. "Never mind, Jiang Li also doesn't know. Write a few words for the New Year and paste it up to bring good luck."
I looked at the big nice character 'Blessing' that Jiang Li had written and realized that she was indeed capable of lying and was also superstitious........
Forget it, I will write one since you insisted, as I am not a hypocritical person.
I had already told her that I did not know then why should I feel ashamed?
I lifted up the brush and with a wave of my hand, wrote four characters 'Wide Source of Wealth' on the red paper. My brush strokes were a mixture of thick and thin, some as thick as crayons and some as thin as matchsticks. After completing the couplets, I did not even have the heart to look at my own writing.
The beautiful teacher smiled, took the couplets and placed them on the side table to dry. I was embarrassed and sneaked a look at their facial expressions. As usual, my father-in-law was smiling and Jiang Li laughed scornfully. Feeling belittled, I said to him. "Actually, I wrote the characters in cursive form."
After I had said this, Jiang Li's father had a twisted expression on his face......
I felt even more embarrassed. Just then, the beautiful language teacher walked over and I hoped that she would help me out of this situation. However, she eagerly rushed over to write another couplet, the words written were 'Early Birth of Baby'. After completing the couplets, she happily took them aside to dry..........
I lowered my head very low, afraid to look at Jiang Li. My face was burning hot, very seriously hot and felt I should be sick, inexplicable sick.
Jiang Li and I were given the task of putting up the couplets. When I pasted the 'Wide Source of Wealth' couplet on his cupboard, I turned to look at Jiang Li and said. "My writing was terrible, right?" Actually, I wanted to hear some comforting words from him.
Sure enough, he did say some comforting words. "It was okay." (>_<)
Gratefully, I looked at him and he added. "At least, it can keep the evil spirits away."
Me: "....."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.Couplets are red paper with black or golden characters written on it. Spring Festival Couplets are composed of a pair of poetry lines vertically pasted on both sides of the front door and a four-character horizontal scroll affixed above the doorframe. Pasting couplets expresses people's wishes for a better life in the coming year.
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In the afternoon, Jiang Li and I visited the temple. The New Year atmosphere at the Temple was lively. I bought a lot of things and shoved everything to Jiang Li to let him carry them. It was fun visiting the temple as there were a lot of things to see but there was one thing that amazed me. I found that on the way to the temple, in a short span of fifteen minutes, eight out of ten people that we met, knows Jiang Li and he was affectionately greeted. The elders greeted him as 'Xiao Li' or 'Xiao Jiang' and the younger ones would greet him as 'Jiang Brother' or 'Li Brother'........
I found it amazing. K City was not large nor was it small. How come everyone was so familiar with him?
Feeling a little weird, I asked him. "You know them?"
He answered frankly. "No, I don't know them."
Me: "....."
I looked at him and saw that he was indifferent. I asked him again. "But they seem to know you......."
Jiang Li answered calmly. "Maybe it is because my parents' reputation is very good."
Looking at Jiang Li so calm, I believed him. Secretly I began to worship the two teachers. Of course, later I learned the real reason from Han Xiao.
In actual fact, his reputation overrode his........uh, our father and mother. Why?
K City is a very small city where education is relatively backward. If there is a child that can be admitted to Tsinghua University, the elite university, it was sensational. And Jiang Li was the top student for the provincial college entrance examination during the session he sat for and was considered the provincial college entrance examination champion.
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Many Chinese people like to watch the Spring Festival Evening TV program during New Year Eve. My parents-in-law and I also like to do so. As for Jiang Li.......whether he likes or does not like, was of no importance anymore..........
So, the four of us sat happily in front of the TV and watched the program. The hostesses' costumes were beautiful and the dances were dazzling, and I thought the stage lights were really beautiful. After watching for two hours, the other three people began to yawn, except for me. I looked at them and said in embarrassment. "Why don't we sleep early tonight?"
My father-in-law shook his head. "We have to welcome for the arrival of the New Year. If you are sleepy, you can sleep first."
But I was very excited and was not sleepy.
At this moment, Jiang Li suddenly said. "This spring evening is boring isn't it?"
I was about to shake my head but my parents-in-law both nodded their heads in agreement. So, they did not think the stage show was beautifully done? (Do look at the good points, okay?)
My father-in-law suggested. "Let's watch a film."
The other two agreed. I asked Jiang Li. "What film?"
He calmly replied. "Horror film."
Me: "....."
Are you so perverted to watch a horror film during New Year's Eve night? What type of people is this family of three? ...........
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All the lights in the house were turned off. The four people sitting on the sofa were watching the TV with faint blue light falling on their faces giving out an exceptional eerie atmosphere.
I listened to the chilling music coming from the TV and felt my hair standing on ends.
It was not that I had not watched horror films before but in actual fact, I had watched a lot of such films and therefore I knew how frightening these films were. If I had watched this film before, then it would not be a problem. But because this film was a new release, the two old folks were reluctant to watch the film on their own and had purposely waited for their son and daughter-in-law to return so that everyone could watch the film together.
This was an added experience for me as now only did I know that horror films could also be used to celebrate the New Year. (>_<)
Finally, I understood Jiang Li, a bit more. Having such strong sturdy parents, it was natural that he was also strong and sturdy. At the same time, I sympathized with him. As a small kid, he was exposed to horror films and therefore it was natural that he had such abnormal character which was not totally his fault.......
Suddenly a bloody head popped out of the screen!
"Ah!" I gave out a scream and unconsciously grabbed something with my hand and clutched tightly. When that something 'clutched' back at my hand, I found that I had actually clenched Jiang Li's hand.
I blushed and awkwardly pulled away my hands from his grasp and continued to watch TV. Fortunately, the room was relatively dark and no one could see my embarrassment.
As the film played on, from time to time, I would let out a scream and the only creepy sound was coming from the TV.
As the show progressed, in the middle of the night, the heroine came to her garden. Surrounded by faint dull light, the garden was very dark and quiet giving out an eerie feeling that made the suspense heavier. It was as if........waiting for something to happen.
The heroine slowly walked deeper into the garden, step by step.
I held my breath and stared at the TV screen without blinking......someone was going to appear.......
At this time, there was a hand, moving slowly on my shoulder.......
"Ah!" I shouted out of fright and on reflex had wanted to jump up from the sofa to avoid the hand but was tightly pressed down by that hand!
I had no time to react and was pulled by that hand into its owner's embrace. He held on to me tightly and laughingly whispered into my ear. "All these are false, why are you so frightened?"
Nonsense, of course I know they are false.......but this is horrifying........
As I collected my wits, I realized Jiang Li was trying to scare me. I reacted by struggling to free myself from his arms and angrily said to him. "Jiang Li, why did you scare me?! Do you know I can die from fright?!"
He did not let me go but instead lifted his chin towards the TV and urgently said. "Look, that headless corpse is making an appearance."
I turned my head around to look at the TV screen and saw the headless corpse quietly appeared behind the heroine and then raised his hands to gently hold her head........
I screamed, grabbed Jiang Li tightly with both my hands and buried my face in his chest, unable to continue watching the film. It was horrifying!
I was scared stiff by the horror film and felt some movement from him as I stayed buried in his chest. He seemed to be.......laughing?
Not screaming when watching a horror film is not a problem but how can he laugh while watching a horror film? Surely this world is not realistic compared to horror films!
I was lying in his arms and suddenly realized that we were cuddling each other and our position was very ambiguous. I felt my face burning, the surrounding and everything seemed to fade away, leaving only Jiang Li's powerful arms and hard chest. I carefully looked up and saw him looking at the TV screen without any expression. His arms were still embracing me, without any intention of releasing me as if this was a natural occurrence.
I bowed my head and felt sadness in my heart. Jiang Li really did not care, he really did not care. He hugged me like he was holding a frightened cat, calm and natural.
He will not like me because he likes men. But it seems, I like him a little bit.........
I used my hand and rubbed his neck, and nestled against him, finding a comfortable position to rest. Although this embrace did not belong to me but.......allow me to take this opportunity to rest for a while even though I knew it was wrong to do so but I could not control myself.
I really admired myself that in such a chaotic situation, I could even fall asleep. Probably because his embrace was very warm and very comfortable.
I did not get to witness the passing of the old lunar year nor the fireworks display at midnight. When I woke up, it was already late in the night. By the bedside was a lamp with an orange light, warm and quiet.
I was awakened by nature's call.
I woke up in a daze, feeling a weight on my waist with my back leaning on something hard. I subconsciously reached out to my waist and touched a hand.
Then instantly I became wide awake. I realized that I was actually sleeping in Jiang Li's arms.
At this time, we were lying on the bed. I was leaning against his chest, his chin resting on top of my head and he was hugging my waist in a very intimate position, just like a loving couple.
I was unable to think and felt l had been hit by a heavy object. After a long time, my head slowly cleared and my heart was troubled. Why did he hold me while sleeping?
My heart longed for an expectant answer but that answer I had again and again denied.
In my heart, I struggled for a moment and found that I really could not find a balance between feelings and reason. I had to rid my mind of all nonsensical thoughts but first I had to solve my physiological problem.
So, I broke free from his embrace, got up from the bed and went into the bathroom.
Later, when I returned to the bedroom, I hesitated then lay beside Jiang Li, a little distance away from him. Whatever I could not obtain, I would rather not hope nor see, then it would be easier to give up when the time comes.
However, just as I lay down, he pulled me into his arms and hugged me again.
My heart almost jumped out and I stiffened my body, not daring to move.
Jiang Li muttered dreamily into my ear. "Do not think of unnecessary things. Just sleep."
My heart sank and summoned enough courage, called out to him. "Jiang Li."
He gave a monosyllable answer.
I swallowed my saliva, extremely nervous, asked. "You....why do you want to hug me when you sleep?"
JL: "Guan Xiao Yan, do you really want me to freeze to death?"
My body relaxed and did not know whether I should feel joyful or sad.