Chapter 49

Summer clothes were already thin. On top of that Ye Wanqing was wearing a slip, even cooler.

On her round shoulders there was nothing to cover her except two slender straps. That stretch of snow-white, fine skin at her shoulder and neck was right there in Ge Yuan’s eyes. It was sacred as first snow on a high mountain, yet it only made him want to desecrate it. In an instant it lit the dark fire in his black eyes.

This close, he only had to lower his head to kiss…

Kiss and then bite a couple of times. That taste…

Ge Yuan’s wildly beating heart felt as if it had been brushed a few times by feathers—tingling, numb, going soft all over.

As if possessed he lowered his head, but just as his lips were about to touch Ye Wanqing’s slender neck he jerked to a halt, covered his mouth and nose in a fluster, and cursed in exasperation, “Fuck!”

Ye Wanqing: “…Nosebleed again?”

Ge Yuan said nothing. His black eyes were full of gloom. He was extremely dissatisfied with himself at this moment.

Right now he looked like a big wolfhound that had bitten a flying disc to pieces, knew it had done wrong, was afraid its owner would not like it anymore, and crouched in place holding the broken disc, not daring to move.

Ye Wanqing found it funny.

She pulled the man’s hand away and sure enough found quite a bit of blood on it. It had even gotten on his chin. He looked pitiful beyond words.

With this interruption, the dry wood and raging fire could only hit pause.

“Fool.” Ye Wanqing kissed him on the cheek without the slightest disgust. “I’ll go get a basin of well water to ice you. Tonight… I’ll definitely let you let the fire out properly, all right?”

Ge Yuan: “…”

Let the fire out properly?

Then, then…

Done for. His nosebleed ran even faster!

He wailed inwardly at his own lack of promise, tipped his head back to look at the sky, and simply did not dare glance at the smile on his little woman’s face. He could control his eyes, but he could not control his thoughts. The runaway desire made the blood in his body surge even harder.

If the nosebleed kept going, was he still going to do the big thing tonight?!

Damn it. Absolutely not like this!

Ye Wanqing brought in a basin of cool well water and bustled about for a long time before she finally stopped Ge Yuan’s bleeding. Then she went to pour the water out and tidy up a bit. When she came back she found a certain someone tipping a bottle of liquor into his mouth. Only a few drops were left in the bottle.

“You’re drinking at a time like this?”

“Mm.” Ge Yuan nodded.

Perhaps he was a little drunk. The black, deep, bright eyes of usual days were filmed with a thin mist and carried a trace of intoxication. One corner of his mouth hooked up as he smiled at her. Under the light he actually looked a little unrestrained and wicked, very alluring.

Ye Wanqing instinctively pressed a hand over her heart and glared at him. “Why drink? Aren’t we… doing that?”

If he got too drunk he might not be able to get hard. Comrade Ge Yuan!

“Of course we are!!!” Ge Yuan grew anxious. Without hesitation he tossed the bottle to the floor, strode over, pulled her into his arms, buried himself in the crook of her neck and drew in a deep breath of the scent that belonged only to her. Only then did he settle. He said in a muffled voice, “I just didn’t want to make a fool of myself again. Gathering courage…”

“So now you’ve got courage?”

He did not answer that question. Ge Yuan buried himself against her neck and laughed low, as if a little shy and a little proud, then took her hand and pressed it to himself. “…Not only courage. There’s this too. Touch.”

Ye Wanqing swallowed. She did not pull her hand away. “…Yuan-ge, your courage really has gotten big.”

To be honest she was still a little shy. Her face burned.

In her previous life there had been quite a few intimate acts, but directly putting her hand on him was truly rare, and… rather fresh.

“You wanted to touch me before. I know. Touch all you want!” Ge Yuan laughed low, a little drunk and rather pleased, then gripped her hand and pressed it against his abs. “Comfortable… You like it! You peeked at me!”

A certain someone felt he was being very generous and even understood that exchange meant giving first. Only after she had touched enough would he make a request.

“I want to kiss you too.”

Ye Wanqing held back a laugh and lifted her face. “Come.”

She thought her man wanted to kiss her lips. Unexpectedly those dark eyes lingered on her mouth for an instant, then quickly followed her delicate, fair collarbones downward and locked firmly on that even more tempting, never-before-entered mysterious holy ground.

“Want to kiss here.”

Ye Wanqing: “…”

Before she could react the man roughly tugged her nightgown and peeled her half out of it. Luckily the gown was good quality. Otherwise with the strength he had to pull several oxen he would have torn it.

A chill hit her skin. Ye Wanqing instinctively wrapped her arms around herself, but she was pinned by Ge Yuan, whose breathing was already heavy. Under his dark gaze she lost her armor.

Forget it…

She thought, shy and helpless: Anyway it was going to be his. Even if it was not the process she had imagined—“lie on the bed first, hold each other and talk a while, then let things happen naturally”—this… was good too.

With Ye Wanqing’s gentle cooperation, the fire Ge Yuan had lit burned fiercely and could not be stopped.

Kissing and kissing, he laid her gently on the bed, gazed at her deeply, then kissed her lips hard again.

Only at the last step he stopped again, breathing heavily.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Wanqing’s breathing was a little quick too. She opened hazy eyes to look at Ge Yuan and saw his face full of restraint and struggle. The drunkenness in his eyes had lightened a good deal. He actually looked sobered up.

“…” Ge Yuan held it in for half a minute. “No.”

“No?”

Had he sobered up and now it wouldn’t work?

That couldn’t be.

Ye Wanqing did not understand. Her gaze dropped to the man. Clearly… it worked very well.

Following her gaze, Ge Yuan’s face flushed too. Then he pressed her down with his body, hiding himself, not letting her look at him anymore.

And by her ear he said in a low, aggrieved voice, “I know you went to the clinic. You… aren’t suited to share a bed with me yet. I don’t want to harm your body.”

“You followed me?”

“…Mm. I was afraid you weren’t feeling well and were hiding it from us, not taking care of yourself.” Ge Yuan was a little guilty, but his eyes were clearly stubborn. If he had it to do over he would still walk into that clinic she had gone to.

Ye Wanqing was both angry and amused.

Angry that this fellow knew she had gone to the clinic and still did not tell her, foolishly holding himself back at a time like this. Amused because… her heart felt warm. He was this impulsive, yet he still restrained himself for her.

Tonight this fellow had thrown her original plan into chaos. She herself had gotten a little carried away and actually forgotten this matter.

She lifted her head, kissed her man’s face, sat up a little, felt around, and from under the pillow took out a “little raincoat.” Holding back her embarrassment she said, “My body’s all right. The doctor said sharing a bed isn’t forbidden. As long as I don’t get pregnant it’s fine. Using this is enough.”

After leaving the old Chinese doctor’s clinic, for the wedding night she had specially gone to the hospital, endured strange looks, and shyly asked to buy some “little raincoats,” preparing them for after the wedding.

Although the little raincoats of this time were rather crude, without the later world’s ultra-thin, scented, lubricated and other categories, they were still fairly practical.

Ge Yuan: “…”

But he still did not agree.

“No…” He nipped her once, aggrieved. “It’s only this thin layer. What if I rub it broken? What then?” He was very formidable!

“How would it get rubbed broken? This thing’s quality is still pretty good.”

Ge Yuan looked even more pleased. “I asked the doctor too. She said even if it doesn’t break it might not necessarily keep it out… I’m that formidable. Mine is definitely formidable too! We’re not suited to have a baby now…”

“…” Ye Wanqing held back a laugh. “Then what do you want to do?”

This foolish man…

Let’s see what good idea he could come up with.

Ge Yuan drew a deep breath and suddenly grew gloomy.

He was tall and solid. At this moment he pressed on Ye Wanqing like a mountain and acted spoiled. “I’ll just kiss you more. Forget the rest. In a while it’ll settle down on its own.”

“Then I really can’t bear that.” Ye Wanqing’s brows and eyes held a smile.

Kiss more and it would settle down? That would be strange.

It was hard enough that her rough man could think this carefully for her. How could she watch him suffer? Methods… there were plenty.

“Yuan-ge, how about I teach you a new way of being close?” Her voice carried temptation as she spoke softly by his ear.

“…” Ge Yuan thought of something and flushed a little. “All right.”

Ye Wanqing pressed her lips and smiled, leaned to his ear, and whispered two sentences.

Ge Yuan: “Ah…”

So it was like that. But it was pretty good too.

He flipped onto his back with a red face, his gaze burning as he watched his little woman nestle softly against him. She carried a penetrating fragrance. That warm scent was intoxicating and made him a little light-headed again.

She held his lifeline. His joy and anger were born because of her, strong and unending.

The night was thick. So was the feeling.

Only, just as they reached the final moment, Ge Yuan felt that wave-like pleasure pushing higher and higher. Just as he was about to burst, the courtyard gate was suddenly smashed hard.

Someone outside roared, “Brother Yuan, something’s happened!”

Startled, Ye Wanqing’s hand shook with it and she failed to control her strength. Ge Yuan, who had been feeling proud, let out a miserable cry, arched with an “aow,” and was no longer well at all.

Ye Wanqing: “…”

Done for.

She was wrong…

—

“Bang bang bang!”

“Brother Yuan, something’s happened. Something really happened!”

“Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law, have you gone to sleep?”

“Wanqing, hurry and open the door!”

“…”

The knocking did not stop. The people outside seemed to be more than Ge Yuan’s brothers. There also seemed to be people who knew Ye Wanqing. Listening from a distance, some voices were familiar.

It was already eleven at night. Ordinary people had long gone to bed. The people outside were this anxious. Perhaps something really had happened.

“Let’s go out and see.” Ye Wanqing met her man’s aggrieved gaze and guiltily kissed his face. “Just now was my fault. I was wrong… When we come back I’ll serve you properly once more?”

Ge Yuan was in agony, but he could not say so. “…All right.”

The two of them got up quickly, tidied themselves, put on clothes they could go out in, and opened the courtyard gate.

The situation seemed even more serious than Ye Wanqing had imagined. Several people were standing outside the little courtyard. Not only Monkey and Flower Shirt, there was actually Director Li from the bus station and several other workers Ye Wanqing knew well. Even a few of Ye Xiangdang’s comrades had come.

“What’s going on?” Ye Wanqing asked.

She did not feel much dissatisfaction at being interrupted, but Ge Yuan stood behind her with a cold face, his presence pressing.

Only then did everyone remember that tonight was Ye Wanqing and Ge Yuan’s wedding night. The couple might have been in the middle of tenderness and had suddenly been disturbed like this… Who would have a good face after that?

Remembering their boss’s unmatched Buddhist Shadow Kick, Monkey raked a hand through his hair and explained first. “Brother Yuan, it’s like this. Sister-in-law’s younger sister… that Ye Mingzhu from the Ye family got into trouble. People from the bus station came looking here. They couldn’t knock your door open. We found out and followed to take a look.”

Meaning: they were not the ones making trouble. Other people had knocked first.

“What happened?” Ye Wanqing asked at once.

The moment the question left her mouth, everyone present went still. The looks on their faces were extremely ugly.

Ye Wanqing understood. The matter was definitely very thorny.

Although she had already cut ties with the Ye family, all these people had come to the door. Ye Wanqing had to go this time no matter what, at least to look at the situation.

As for what came after, they would see after.

—

On the way to the bus station, Ye Wanqing heard what had happened from Director Li.

It turned out Grandma Chen had gotten up in the night and heard movement upstairs. The movement was also abnormal, so she woke her son and daughter-in-law, who had rarely come home, and had them go upstairs to look. Unexpectedly they found thieves had entered the Ye house.

There were three thieves in all. One was keeping watch at the door. Whether from carelessness or something else, he only discovered someone coming upstairs when Chen Jian pushed open the door that had been left with a crack.

Chen Jian was tall and powerfully built. The lookout thief traded two or three rounds with him, found he could not win at all, and was also afraid of drawing more people, so he did not dare keep tangling. He quickly called the other two. They went straight over the balcony.

The Ye family lived on the third floor. Not far outside the balcony there was a pipe. The three thieves climbed down it and quickly vanished. They could not be chased.

Because of this, although Ye Xiangdang had woken he had not left the hospital, and Liu Lizhen was locked in the public security bureau. With no other choice, these people had come looking for Ye Wanqing.

Ye Wanqing frowned. “Was the money stolen?”

Director Li nodded. “It should have been.”

“It’s been several days. Why didn’t Ye Mingzhu put the money in the bank?”

Director Li also felt the Ye family had been careless. Hugging a gold brick and hiding it at home—it was impossible for thieves not to have their eyes on it.

But she could not say much. She sighed and could only say, “Maybe she didn’t have time.”

“Director Li, did something else happen?” Ye Wanqing asked again.

This time Director Li only nodded. “You’ll know when you go.”

Ye Wanqing’s heart sank. She felt the situation was definitely worse than she had thought. Don’t tell her…

At the time she had only agreed to give the Ye family five thousand to buy out more than ten years of raising, saying two hundred a month over two years, precisely because she did not want to flaunt wealth and attract thieves. It had also been her last consideration for the Ye family.

She had not expected Liu Lizhen would not trust her at all, insist on ten thousand, and insist on being paid all at once.

When Ye Mingzhu went home hugging ten thousand, Ye Wanqing had vaguely worried something would happen and had even asked people at the bus station to pay more attention and look after her… She had not expected something would still happen.

Think about it. She had asked people at the bus station to look after Ye Mingzhu before, so those people with ill intentions might have found it hard to get an opening.

And today Ye Xiangdang had already woken. No one knew when he might leave the hospital. Once he was out, making a move would be much harder. So those scum chose tonight to take the risk.

As a result, they succeeded.

—

Arriving at the foot of the bus station dormitory building, Ye Wanqing walked back into the familiar stairwell, her heart a mix of flavors.

Once upstairs she saw at a glance that the Ye family’s door was wide open. Light and voices spilled from inside. The room was packed with people watching the excitement. It looked strangely lively.

Most of the people in the room were women. Familiar faces clustered in twos and threes, chattering without stop, saying all kinds of things.

“The Ye family really brought this on themselves.”

“What use was asking the eldest daughter for so much money? She’s locked in the bureau with no chance to spend it, and they even harmed the younger daughter.”

“Isn’t there a bank? Why not put it in the bank?”

“If I had money I wouldn’t put it in the bank either. Money feels more solid in your own hands.”

“How is the Ye family’s little daughter supposed to live after this? How is she supposed to find a husband’s family? If it were me I’d bash my head and die right now. I absolutely wouldn’t live.”

“Tsk… If she hadn’t dressed herself up so flowery at just over ten, people wouldn’t have had their eyes on her.”

“It’s all because she wasn’t proper herself.”

“…”

Director Li stood in the doorway, frowned, and shouted, “Make way, all of you make way! It’s this late and you’re not sleeping, crowding into someone else’s house to watch a show. You really have some nerve! Every one of you is gloating, talking while you stand and don’t feel the pain! Keep a door on your mouths and accumulate a little hidden virtue for yourselves and your families!”

The people inside all knew Director Li. Being scolded made their faces sheepish. They fell silent one after another and opened a path.

But no one showed any intention of leaving.

Ye Wanqing had heard a few sentences just now. Her heart sank hard. She already understood roughly what had happened.

Unwilling to let so many idle people watch like a monkey show, she looked at Ge Yuan and requested in a low voice, “Yuan-ge, please get these people out.”

“All right.” Ge Yuan nodded heavily.

With him and Monkey and the others there, direct force would do.

They forcibly grabbed the two noisiest men, punched them a few times, and threw them out the door. The other women then rolled out of the Ye house on their own. Only, before leaving they inevitably muttered, quietly gossiping about Ye Wanqing and Ge Yuan.

Nothing more than that they were barbaric, unreasonable, and the like.

This kind of talk was neither here nor there. Ye Wanqing did not take it to heart at all.

Once the people were cleared out, Ye Wanqing finally opened the bedroom that had once belonged to her and Ye Mingzhu.

A dim yellow bedside lamp was on in the room. Ye Mingzhu sat curled at the edge of the bed, hair loose, her expression dazed, hugging her body tightly and trembling, like a badly injured little bird. Only like this could she ease her fear and panic.

The bed was in chaos. Some bright red bloodstains could faintly be seen. Two slap marks were left on Ye Mingzhu’s face. The clothes on her body had been torn to shreds. The exposed skin was covered in red marks. One look and you knew what terrible thing she had just gone through.

Ye Wanqing bit her lip hard. Her heart hurt fiercely.

If the person who had met with this tonight had been a stranger, as long as she had the ability to lend a hand, she would have reached out and pulled her up. Not for any other reason—only because she was also a woman, only because she could not bear it.

It was Ye Mingzhu she found hard to measure.

She took a piece of clothing from the wardrobe, walked over and crouched in front of Ye Mingzhu. She had just prepared to drape the clothes over her when Ye Mingzhu suddenly shied to the side, as if rejecting her concern.

Ye Wanqing froze.

“Are you satisfied now?” Ye Mingzhu lifted her head. Her eyes were full of tears, and also clear resentment and hate. “Back then you gave the money so readily. Did you already know today would come? Because Dad and Mom didn’t like you and treated me well, you were jealous of me and wanted to ruin me, right?”

“Sister, I’m your younger sister! Can you really be this cruel to me, this hard-hearted?”

“You’re all here to watch me make a fool of myself. Don’t think I don’t know!”

Every word from Ye Mingzhu dripped blood. Her voice was dry and hoarse, even a little unclear, yet each word still stabbed into Ye Wanqing’s heart like a sharp knife.

Ye Wanqing paused, then suddenly felt powerless.

She draped the clothes over Ye Mingzhu, then stood. “At the time I proposed giving only five thousand, two hundred a month. Your mother wouldn’t agree. If you insist on finding someone to blame for your miserable experience, I think Liu Lizhen is more suitable. She was too greedy and didn’t consider whether you had the ability to keep ten thousand safe.”

She was willing to make this trip tonight, but she absolutely was not willing to have dirty water poured on her like this.

She could do without thanks, but she also politely declined Ye Mingzhu’s barefaced “slander.”

Even if she knew Ye Mingzhu had been shocked and her emotions were certainly extreme right now, and the heavy words spoken on impulse might have been without thinking—still… what had she done wrong?

At this moment there was only one sentence in Ye Wanqing’s mind: Different views of the world. Not suited to be friends.

Perhaps because she spoke so calmly and reasonably, Ye Mingzhu said nothing more. She only buried her head in her knees and wailed, crying so hard it tore the heart, so that anyone hearing it could hardly bear it.

But Ye Wanqing slowly let out a breath and did not go closer again. She walked over to Director Li.

“Director Li, you know my situation with the Ye family. You should understand my difficulty. I came today, but looking at Ye Mingzhu’s state, I don’t think I should keep getting involved in this.”

She counted out fifty yuan and put it in Director Li’s hand. “Director Li, this will still have to trouble you. This fifty should be enough to cover Ye Mingzhu going to the hospital. Treat it as a token of my heart. As for the rest…”

Ye Wanqing paused and did not go on, but the reluctance and difficulty in her eyes were perfectly clear.

Director Li sighed and patted her hand. “I know. With the Ye family’s situation I had no other way. I could only come find you.”

Ye Mingzhu’s incident had happened at the bus station. In a manner of speaking the station also had a little responsibility. Besides, with things in this state, someone from the Ye family had to step forward… Although Ye Wanqing had cut ties with the Ye family, her relationship with Ye Mingzhu had still been all right.

She had thought Ye Wanqing’s comfort might make Ye Mingzhu feel a little better, at least keep her from thinking of ending things. She had not expected Ye Mingzhu to be this thoughtless and actually say such things…

Director Li felt that if she were Ye Wanqing she would not want to manage this either. Not getting a single good word, and possibly still ending up smeared.

Ye Wanqing nodded, showing she understood.

She said a couple of sentences to Director Li, nothing more than asking them to look after Ye Mingzhu carefully, talk to her, and not let her take a dead-end road.

Besides the people from the bus station, a few of Ye Xiangdang’s comrades were still at the Ye house. Only, because of the difference between men and women they had not gone into the bedroom and were waiting in the living room outside. Ye Wanqing greeted them and prepared to leave.

—

The heavy summer night had only cheerful cicadas and insects.

Ye Wanqing was quiet for a long time, then tugged Ge Yuan’s sleeve. “Yuan-ge, do you think I’m too hard-hearted?”

She had thrown down fifty yuan and then left Ye Mingzhu alone…

If it had been someone else, would they have stayed by Ye Mingzhu’s side no matter how she vented, and stayed with her through the darkest time? Ye Wanqing struggled in her heart too, but she still left.

Ge Yuan shook his head. “No.”

He did not explain much, but Ye Wanqing felt a little more at ease.

At this moment Monkey spoke angrily. “Sister-in-law, this is already good of you. You’ve done more than enough! If it were me, whoever made this kind of rotten mess on my wedding night—I’d rush over in a hurry and still get a face full of blood sprayed on me. I wouldn’t care if they lived or died!”

Flower Shirt chimed in. “Exactly. Ungrateful white-eyed wolf!”

Ye Wanqing: “…”

She had once been called a white-eyed wolf. She had not expected it would now be Ye Mingzhu’s turn to be spoken of that way… The world really was unpredictable.

But she was not someone who needed repeated affirmation to erase a sense of guilt. Her mind was not that fragile. With one or two sentences of comfort she already felt it was enough.

People who understood her naturally understood. People who did not, no matter how hard she tried to give, would still only think she could have done better, that she had not done her utmost, that she had let down so-and-so or even everyone.

Let it be.

—

Back home, tidied up and lying on the bed, it was already past one in the morning.

Ye Wanqing nestled into Ge Yuan’s arms, wrapped an arm around his firm waist, pressed her cheek to his solid chest, and listened to his strong, powerful heartbeat. Only then did she feel those messy, tangled things recede a little.

“Yuan-ge… if one day I ran into something like this, would you mind me?”

Ge Yuan’s breath hitched. He reached out and knocked a chestnut on her head. “Don’t ask that question! With me here, how the hell could something happen to you? You’re my person. Only I can touch you!”

“…” Ye Wanqing went on. “Then what if?”

“Shut up!”

Ge Yuan could not stand any hypothetical. If something happened to her… he would certainly not mind her, but he would feel he was not worth anything, unable even to protect his own woman.

“Oh…” Her man was a little fierce. Ye Wanqing did not want to ask these stupid questions anymore either. But she wanted someone to talk to, to ease the gloom in her heart, so she found another question. “Yuan-ge, when did you start liking me?”