Chapter 21: Pornography Book Crisis
The waterlogged book had its pages all stuck together. It was almost too tragic to look at.
“That…”
I wanted to snatch it away with my hands.
He gave an indifferent look, neither warm nor imposing, but enough to make tremble in place. This was how he stood before , slender fingers flipping page past page as he remained expressionless.
Although the book had been soaked with water, letting so of its ink run, the figures and positions, as well as the actions going underway, were still easy to see. No matter how good his temper was, these clandestine-type pictures would still infuriate him, right?
I bowed my head, docilely staring at the ground in a daze.
From a distance, Han Zichuan walked over with the qin in his arms, his face looking at us in curiosity. Now he had stopped in place, his hesitation obvious.
The dripping book had already made Fang Hua’s clothing wet to the point that they were starting to sag. The drops of water made a pitter patter sound the mont they splashed onto the ground.
My heart suddenly felt heavy.
“You…what did you buy?” he looked at , speaking in a asured tone and pace. The hands holding the book also lowered themselves.
“Shao’er won’t dare to in the future,” I answered ekly.
He sucked in a deep breath, pinching the book between his fingers as he took as step forwards. The cloth rippled like swaying forms of liquid clouds, and was really quite pretty to see, but today the sight frightened .
I trembled and quickly backed away, but he grabbed my hand and pulled towards his chest, resting his head by my neck with a smile. With every breath he took, I felt unbelievably ticklish.
“…thank you very much.”
Ah.
What did he say?
He suddenly thanked …how weird.
Before I could react, yifu let go, pinching the book between his fingers as he spoke to Han Zichuan. The words made want to spit blood. “Look at what Shao’er brought ,” his eyebrows raised in satisfaction, even picking one of the most ‘stimulating’ pictures to wave below the other’s face. “See this? Acupuncture diagrams of humans.”
At this point, I felt like killing myself.
Are you serious…
“Is that so.” Han Zichuan’s reply was obviously ant for . He took ahold of the sopping wet paper before shooting a glance, looking calm and composed. Only his eyes were full of condemnation, demanding a serious self-reflection. It was getting harder to maintain my smile with my face turning stiffer.
“Hmm?” Fang Hua made a soft noise, then gave a steady smile. He looked up to see Han Zichuan, the teardrop-mole beneath his eye filled with particularly tender feelings. “If you want one as well, buy it yourself next ti. I can’t give you this one.”
I was left at a loss. There he stood waving the book back and forth. Han Zichuan turned aside and gave a vicious look. The fingers he was using to hold onto the book started pressing down with enough strength to turn them white. I could only remain silent and stare at the skies.
The weather wasn’t bad today.
I had the distinct feeling that the stare leveled my way was increasing in killer intent. I steeled myself and looked towards the surrounding trees. Each tree had leaves that were leaves, roots that were roots.
Han Zichuan’s eyes on were filled with an extre bitterness.
Fang Hua noticed the turmoil within Zichuan’s heart and smiled at him, his eyes roving charmingly. Just when the other was struck dumb, he deftly tugged on the book and claid it back. Then he used his sleeves to wipe away the water staining its surface.
I broke out into a sweat at the sight.
“Yifu, that book’s already wet. Why don’t you return it to , and next ti…” My eyes turned towards him as I spoke with a genial smile. “I’ll buy a new one for you, all right?”
“That won’t do.” Fang Hua smiled back, a dazzling sight. He was usually such a clean and tidy person, but now he was hugging the wet book to his chest, unwilling to even use the sa sleeve he’d wiped the book with to clean my face. “This trip must have been sweltering for you, you’re sweating so much. There’s still so iced pickled plum soup[1] in the house, I’ll bring so over.”
I wanted to cry, but I had no tears.
I’m not like this because it’s hot, but because you both made break out in cold sweat.
“As for this…” The outline of the book was just visible within his embrace. He touched it and said, “This is the first gift that Shao’er’s even given . I’m going to have to read it everyday.”
His mood seed excellent as he waved his sleeves and walked off.
I stared after him, tongue-tied.
That book of pornographic pictures…was taken away by him in this manner.
Han Zichuan stared at again, stuck between anger and amusent. “I’ll settle things with you later.”
Thus speaking, he followed after him at a quick pace.
A fresh wind blew past, stirring up the fallen leaves. I stood in the midst for a long ti, my mind in disorder. Finally, I clutched at my head and decided to stop thinking about it.
I should take care of the important things first.
After checking to make sure no one else was around, I lifted up my robes and ran to the side of the house, next to a giant Wutong tree. Kneeling on the ground, I picked up a small branch and started digging.
The hole I dug was neither large nor small, but just right. I used a handkerchief to carefully wrap up the large amount of paper money and gold leaves, pressing down the corners before putting them in the hole…
—
I was just about finished. My ears strained to pick up any sign of noise as I threw the dirt back over the opening.
I couldn’t help it. This was a trait I’d picked up from childhood. When I was a beggar, I was always hungry, so I got used to hiding my best things in the dirt to give a chance for survival. Nowadays, there was no way for to change my habits.
“Brother Shao, what are you doing now?” It wasn’t clear when a person had suddenly co to stand behind , but his question scared out of my seven emotions and six spirits.
“Han Zichuan.” I held the tree branch in my hands…my hands shook with the urge to sweep the dirt onto his face, but I held back and sat with a plop on the ground. “Didn’t you go to help yifu? Why’d you co over here?”
He fixed with a stare. I gave a no-good sigh and smiled as my hand grabbed another fistful of dirt, quietly scattering it over my hole.
“The thing you bought…” He narrowed his eyes and leaned in, quietly. “Was it a pornography book?”
“Your experiences are really broad, I can’t hide a thing from you.” Then I paused. “What’s pornography?”
“You’re faking it, aren’t you.”
He gave a sideways glance, then looked at the dirt and smiled. “Don’t sit on the ground. I should really bring one of these things back. I’ve never seen soone act so filial to their yifu before, even buying things like this for him.”
Fellow brother…
I bought it for myself. If yifu wanted to steal it away, what could I do?
I was sullen.
Maybe I’d been squatting for too long, but now my legs had turned numb and my feet were listless. I propped myself up, but my stomach felt strange. The insides felt oddly hot and painful.
“Can you give a hand…”
“What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.” He hurried over to support , eyebrows knitted together. After a long mont of consideration, he placed a hand on my forehead. “Brother Shao, do you feel unwell sowhere?”
I did feel a little unwell…
I leaned against a tree and pushed him aside.
But he ca back over, still worried, and prepared to support again.
“What are you two doing?” a slow and gentle voice rose up, its tender delicacy pierced with a certain coldness.
Both of us were startled.
-o-
[1] iced pickled plum soup (????) ?bing izitang, how do I describe it…it’s not made using fresh plums, but preserved/pickled ones that have a tartness to their sweetness. You boil with with sugar in water I think, and then let it cool…it’s really refreshing for sumr! I wouldn’t call it a soup, it’s more like a drink, but it’s cooked like a soup so….?????
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