Chapter 15
A Bitter Task
(1)
She walked towards the door, turned around and motioned for Big G to follow her. Such white, delicate hands.
No matter how white and delicate someone's hands are, if they were firmly grasped around your neck, it wouldn't feel so good.
All Big G could do was stand up, he looked at Swally.
Swally wasn't looking at him.
Big G looked at Dash.
Dash was having a drink, the cup was blocking his eyes.
Big G looked at Forest.
Forest was in a daze.
Big G was biting his teeth, "My ancestors must have stored up a lot of righteousness in their past lives, otherwise how could I have made friends with the likes of you guys," he said bitterly.
All he could hear was, "What did you say? Why aren't you outside yet?"
Big G sighed, "I didn't say anything, it was just me farting."
He finally walked out. Looking at his troubled expression, hanging his head in sorrow, he resembled someone being carried forcedly to the gallows.
After some time, Forest suddenly let out a sigh, "I never imagined that this guy sure knows how to play dumb, he is clearly enjoying this, but putting on this bitter, depressed act, makes me angry just looking at him, " he muttered.
There was a tinge of envy in his tone, as if the wine in his stomach had turned to vinegar.
Dash smiled, "You are wrong about something."
Forest: "What's that?"
Dash: "He isn't enjoying this."
Forest: "Not enjoying this? Do you actually think he is too good for Miss Plum?"
Dash: "Being a good match is a totally different matter, whether he is enjoying this or not is entirely different."
Forest: "How do you know that he isn't enjoying this?"
Dash: "Because he hasn't lost his sense of mind, nor has he gone mute."
Forest just blinked, he didn't understand.
Dash was aware that he didn't understand, so he continued explaining, "A smart person once said something very reasonable, he said, no matter how smart someone is, if they fall for a women, they will lose their senses, even to the point of not being able to talk."
He unintentionally took a casual glance at Swally, "But in front of Miss Plum, he is speaking more than others..." he said with a smile.
Swally cut him off, "That's only because some people are born with bigmouths," he said coldly.
Dash smiled, he didn't say anything else.
Nobody wants to be a bigmouth—most of the time people wouldn't consider themselves to be bigmouths, but today there did appear to be something different, he was certainly talking a lot more than usual.
Forest found it strange: "Why is this person so talkative today? Who did he say all of that for?"
Forest only knew one thing: Dash wouldn't even move his mouth, unless there was a good reason to.
(2)
The moonlight was beautiful.
Perhaps people didn't notice very often; winter moonlight isn't necessarily less compelling than in the spring, a winter moon can move the hearts of young women just as easily.
A full, round moon was hanging above the trees, she was standing by the trees. The moonlight was reflecting off her face, brightening her eyes. Her eyes were more beautiful than the light of the moon.
Even Big G had to admit, she was definitely an attractive young women. Especially her body, Big G could barely recall ever seeing a women with a more attractive body.
She was even prettier than the first time Big G had laid eyes on her. Perhaps this was because of her clothes, or because of the way she was smiling.
She was no longer wearing clothes made of coarse material, she had a narrow waist, and her long skirt accentuated her slender body, adding to the appeal of her intoxicating figure.
She was looking at Big G, smiling sweetly.
Big had been most attracted to her smile, but now he could barely bring himself to look at her.
A women's smile can be just like her clothes, jewelry, and rouge powder, all for the purpose of luring a man, with bait and hook. A smart man knows to not even take a look.
If Big G had understood that principle the day he saw her, would he still be in such a predicament now?
He quietly sighed, tepidly walking towards her, "Your brother sure can drink a lot," he suddenly said.
"It was all fake, he doesn't normally drink."
"That's even worse," Big G smiled bitterly.
"What's worse?"
Big G smiled, "I was thinking that I could try and get him drunk as soon as I see him, he might forget about what happened yesterday, instead of causing trouble for me."
"If you're worried about him looking for trouble, you might as well avoid him for a few days, you can go see him once his anger has subsided."
"Aren't you in a rush to take me home to see him?"
Her eyes suddenly went wide, she stared at him, "You think... you think..."
She burst out laughing, she was hunched over from laughing so hard.
Big G was shocked, he was staring blankly at her, "It's not me," he mumbled.
She was laughing so hard she wasn't able to speak, she just kept shaking her head no.
"Then who is it?" He couldn't help asking.
It took some effort to regain her composure and take a breath, "It's Swally."
"Swally?... You've fallen for Swally?" he yelled.
She nodded her head.
In that moment Big G was truly shocked.
He didn't actually want to marry her, he didn't want to marry anybody.
She hadn't actually fallen for him, he should have been happy, should have taken a big sigh of relief.
But he couldn't explain why, he suddenly felt dejected and hopeless, he even felt a little bitter inside. After a long while, he finally overcame his feelings of bitterness, "I really don't understand, how you could like him?" he muttered.
Her eyes came alive, "I think he is great, everything about him is great," she said with a smile.
"Is him not showering also great?"
"He has character, there is no point in trying to fix him up before we are even married, but wait until his loving wife takes care of him, then you will see some change."
Her eyes were glowing, as if she was in a dream, she was smiling foolishly, "To be honest, I have always liked men who don't get caught up with little details, the real manly type. The little pretty boys who always care about their looks, they make me want to barf."
Big G was watching her eyes, he suddenly felt that there wasn't anything beautiful about her eyes, and they might as well of belonged to a blind person.
"I know that he is always avoiding me, as if he can't stand me, but actually, that's just how all men with real personality act. I can't stand the type of men that get all excited as soon as they see a women."
Big G's face seemed to be getting hot, he coughed dryly a couple of times, "Well it sounds like you really like him?"
"Can't you tell?"
Big G sighed, "I just felt that you were showing me a lot of affection" he smiled bitterly.
"That was just me trying to make him angry," she said sweetly.
"Since you like him, why would you try and make him angry?"
"I wanted to make him angry just because I like him, don't you get it?"
Big G smiled bitterly, "Sounds like its better not to be liked by anyone, maybe men would be happier if no women ever like them."
She stood there blinking, "Are you happy now?"
"Obviously I am happy, extremely happy."
× × ×
When Big G walked inside even a blind person would have been able to tell that he wasn't happy.
If he had looked like a prisoner being carried to the gallows on his way out, he now looked like a dead man. He just had a little more breath in him than a dead man would.
He looked thoroughly bitter and dejected.
The room was more or less the same as when he had left. Dash was still drinking, Forest was sitting there dazed out, and Swally was pretending not to notice him.
Big G grabbed Dash's drinking cup, "What's with you today? Have you turned into a wine casket?" he said loudly.
Dash smiled, "Can't I have a drink to celebrate my friend's good news?"
Big G had wanted to laugh, but he couldn't, he glanced over at Swally, "There certainly is a bridegroom here, but it's not me."
Dash didn't look surprised, "Then who could it be?" he asked casually.
Big G didn't answer.
He had already turned around, he was staring wide eyed at Swally.
"What are you looking at?" He couldn't help but ask.
Big G: "You."
"What is there to look at? I think you have the wrong person," he smiled coldly.
Big G took a deep breath, "I was thinking the same thing, and I am trying to figure out what someone could see in you."
Swally frowned, "Who sees anything in me?"
Big G: "The bride."
Swally started to look surprised, "What does the bride have to do with me?"
"If the groom doesn't have anything to do with the bride, then who would?" Big G finally smiled.
Swally's eyes started to go wide, "Who is the groom?"
"You."
Swally was shocked.
He looked shocked at first, but suddenly became very happy, he finally let out a big smile, as if a huge gold ingot had abruptly fallen from the sky.
Big G blinked, "Seems like you liked her all along."
Swally didn't say anything, he just smiled.
Big G: "Why would you be smiling so happily unless you liked her?"
"Where is she?" he asked, ignoring the question.
"She is waiting in the courtyard for her groom, you better not let her get impatient," he said casually.
Swally didn't make her wait, he jumped up and ran outside before Big G was even finished speaking.
Big G slowly started to shake his head, looking out after him, "Looks like the groom is more impatient than the bride," he muttered.
Dash laughed suddenly, "Are you unhappy about admitting defeat?"
Big G stared him down, "I just find something a little strange," he said coldly.
Dash: "What's strange?"
Big G: "Why do all women have such bad taste?"
Dash: You don't think Miss Plum should have fallen for him? Do you think he is ugly?
Big G thought about it, "It's not that he is too ugly, at least his eyes aren't ugly."
Actually, Swally had very attractive eyes, especially when he was smiling, just like clear lake water blown gently by a spring breeze.
Dash: "Is his nose ugly?"
Big G thought about it, "Not really no, but when he laughs it looks just like a steamed pork bun."
Whenever Swally laughed his nose would always wrinkle slightly, but it didn't look anything like a pork bun, it was quite beautiful, very attractive.
Dash: "Is his mouth ugly?"
Big G suddenly laughed, "I rarely see his mouth."
Dash: "Why?"
Big G: "I think his mouth might be even smaller than the Golden Poodles'."
Dash: "Are small mouths not attractive?"
All Big G could do was scratch his head, because he wasn't very good at speaking against his conscience.
Dash: "What part of him isn't attractive?"
Big G thought about it for a long time, he suddenly realized that Swally was all around pretty good looking.
Even that pair of dirty hands were more elegant than most people.
All Big G could do was sigh, "If he bathed regularly perhaps he wouldn't be unattractive."
Dash suddenly smiled, "If he really took a bath maybe you would be startled."
Big G smiled too, "I truly hope that one day he gives me a good startle."
Dash: "Since you think he is ok, than what is wrong with Miss Plum falling for him?"
Big G sighed, "Nothing, it's just great."
He suddenly heard a scream coming from the courtyard.
It was Sour Plum screaming, screaming like a cat when their tale is stepped on.
Big G stood up, like he wanted to go have a look, but he sat back down, shaking his head smiling, "I knew the groom was impatient, but I never imagined it would be so urgent."
As soon as he was finished speaking he saw Swally walking inside.
Walking alone.
Big G: "Where is the bride?"
Swally: "There is no bride."
Big G: "If there is a groom then there has to be a bride."
Swally: "There isn't any groom either."
Big G was looking at him, he suddenly smiled, "Has the bride already been scared away by the groom?"
He suddenly noticed that there were three long nail marks on Swally's face, as if he had been scratched by a cat.
Swally wasn't worried in the least, he looked quite happy, "She is definitely gone, but it wasn't me who scared her away," he said blinking.
Big G: "No? Why was she screaming if you didn't even make a move?"
Swally smiled, "If I had made a move, wouldn't she still be here?"
"Yeah," Big G had to admit.
He was aware that if a women liked a man, the only thing she would be worried about was him not making a move.
"Then why did she leave?"
Swally: "Because she suddenly changed her mind, she doesn't want to marry me anymore."
Big G was astounded, "She changed her mind? How is that possible?"
Swally: "Because... because I told her something."
Big G shook his head, "I don't believe it, if a women was set on marrying you, even if you said a thousand things to her, she still wouldn't change her mind." He laughed again, "Have you ever seen someone let a big catch go that was already hooked on good."
Swally smiled, "Perhaps she realized that this fish has too many quills, perhaps she doesn't even like eating fish."
Big G: "There is not a cat in the world that doesn't like eating fish."
Swally: "She isn't a cat."
Big G was looking at him, "If she isn't a cat, how does she catch people?" he smiled.
× × ×
Big G obviously knew that women knew how to lure people in, and were indeed more ruthless than cats.
Cats normally have a reason for catching things, women, not necessarily.
If luring someone in makes her happy, then that's enough.
There was just one thing Big G couldn't figure out, "What did you do to make her change her mind?"
Swally: "I didn't do anything, I just told her one thing."
Big G: "What did you say?"
Swally: "That's none of your business, why must you insist on asking?"
Big G: "Because I want to learn your ways."
Swally: "Why?"
Big G laughed, "What man wouldn't want to learn?"
Swally: "Then there is no way I'm telling you."
Big G: "Why?"
Swally was smiling, "Because that's my secret, I can't let you put me out of business."
Big G sighed, "I thought you were my friend, who would have thought..." he muttered.
Dash suddenly interrupted him, "Can't friends have secrets?"
Big G: "That depends on what kind of secret."
Dash: "Secrets are secrets, all secrets are the same."
Big G: "It sounds like you have secrets as well."
Dash nodded, "And you? Don't you have any secrets?"
Big G thought about it, he reluctantly nodded his head.
Dash: "If somebody asked you about your secrets, would you tell them?"
Big G thought about it some more, he reluctantly shook his head.
Dash: "Then you shouldn't ask about other people's secrets."
He laid down.
After lying down, it meant that the conversation was over.
(3)
A conversation needs to end with the right conclusion.
Dash's conclusions were always right.
Everyone has secrets.
Everyone is free to keep secrets, which is their right.
Notes:
1.喜酒/ [xǐ jiǔ]: Wine drank at a wedding feast (to celebrate the good news).