After spending the whole day on briefing files, my eyes staring at the screen were already dry and aching. I wanted to close my eyes and rest a bit, but after being exposed for so long to the bright, colorful editing interface of the operating system, just as I closed my eyelids and rubbed them lightly, the darkness was filled with vividly flashing colors, so I could only force myself to blink to ease it.
It's almost nine o'clock.
Forget it, let's call it a day for now. I'll take the rest home to finish. A three-day consecutive holiday should be enough to get it done, right? I'll come in early next Tuesday to print the materials. That should be fine. After saving the files to my USB drive, I stood up, stretched, picked up my backpack, turned off all the office lights, and left, closing the door behind me. Walking down the corridor towards the elevator, I glanced at other department offices. Scattered here and there were other workaholics still burning the midnight oil, their desk lamps on as they continued their overtime battles.
Just as I pressed the elevator button, my phone rang.
“Hey, Auntie.”
"Eh, Xiao Yu. Haven’t gone home yet?"
"I'm heading back. I just finished working overtime!"
The elevator door opened. Afraid of poor phone reception, I walked to the floor observation window next to the elevator to continue talking.
"Come back for lunch tomorrow, okay?"
“Oh... okay, no problem.” I sighed inwardly. I had originally wanted to sleep until I woke naturally tomorrow, but it looked like I’d have to set an alarm.
"Go home early and sleep tonight. We have to drive tomorrow; get enough sleep so you'll have the energy to drive."
"I know. "
“Then drive home carefully.”
"Okay, thank you, Auntie. "
"Then, goodbye Xiaoyu."
“Auntie, go to sleep early too, bye!”
Hung up the phone and walked back to the elevator.
"Is that a call from your family?" Miss Wang from the HR department smiled at me.
"Yeah. You told me not to be late when I go back to my hometown to sweep the graves. " I shrugged.
"Where is your hometown?"
"Miao Li. "
"Mm…… woodworking carving there?"
“Heh, that’s also in Miaoli County, but my hometown is in a more outlying place, a bit remote, in a small Hakka village.”
"Oh. I'm not very familiar with Miao Li!" Miss Wang said with a friendly smile.
"It's okay, I'll bring you some local specialties. Maybe you'll be interested in going there to play someday. "
“No need!” Miss Wang shook her hand in surprise. The elevator doors slowly opened.
We entered the elevator; I pressed the first floor, and Miss Wang pressed the underground second floor herself.
“Are you driving?”
“Yeah, that’s more convenient. If overtime runs too late, you don’t have to worry about there being no car to take.” Miss Wang paused. “I’m also not too comfortable taking a taxi.”
"That's true."
“You didn’t drive?”
"No. It's too hard to find parking spaces outside, and there are so few parking spots at the company... I never get one anyway. Taking the MRT is more convenient! "
“Then take care on the way back!” As the elevator descended to the first floor, Miss Wang smiled and reminded me.
"I know. You too, drive carefully at night. "
The elevator door opened, and I walked out of the elevator.
"Zhiyu!" Miss Wang called me from behind.
"Huh? " I turned around.
"Get along well with your family!" Miss Wang smiled warmly and waved to me.
I smiled and waved back at her. I wanted to say something, but the elevator doors closed. Stepping out of the building entrance, the night breeze was cool, the spring chill sharp. I pulled up my jacket collar against the wind.
Miss Wang is a celebrity in the company, beautiful and professionally strong. Although her rapid promotion inevitably attracts envy, she never participates in unnecessary social engagements. On occasional company trips, she always brings her husband and children. While people might gossip, they can't fabricate any rumors.
It was only that last year her husband died of a terminal illness; she had to work to earn money to support the family and also take care of the children’s lives, which was very difficult. I heard that her husband’s family and her natal family each had their own plans, but I was not very clear about the details in between, and since I had only business dealings with Miss Wang from a different department, it was not appropriate to ask too much. I only heard that people in the company had already begun to covet her, and I also once heard male colleagues discussing Miss Wang’s clothing and figure in the restroom, their teasing words explicit and vulgar.
I don't particularly look down on such things either; I just feel that a woman's image and position in the workplace are indeed hard to maintain, especially someone with Miss Wang's circumstances and experiences. After her husband died, gossip behind her back spread without restraint, as if those who couldn't match her rank at least had to viciously belittle and mock her with words to feel satisfied. Thinking of this, I feel some sympathy for her. Moreover, she has been quite kind to me, so I think I should properly buy a souvenir gift to express gratitude for her professional care and the polite concern of social niceties.
By the time they got home, it was almost ten o’clock.
The room light was still on. As I passed by, the person inside didn't deliberately turn to look at me.
"I'm back. " I called out, but got no reply.
Walked to my room, took off my shirt to change clothes, then sat on the edge of the bed after removing my suit pants to take off my socks.
“My mom called in the evening...” The figure standing at my bedroom door retreated a few steps. “Why aren’t you turning on the light when you change clothes!”
"This is my room, you know."
“Then why don’t you close the door!”
"Then why didn't you knock before poking your head in?"
“I always close the door when I change clothes!”
"Thanks. You don't have to turn the light off either!" I groped around in the dark for my loungewear pants and shirt.
A snort came from outside the door, and footsteps retreated. I changed my clothes and followed out of the room, heading to the kitchen. Craving something to eat, I already heard the sounds of pots and pans. I opened the fridge and took out fresh milk.
“Do you want a late-night snack?” I got a glare in return.
“My mom called in the evening and asked what time I was coming back tomorrow.”
"Mm, I also received Auntie's call when I was working overtime. She told us to go back for lunch. "
“Then don’t be late again and not be able to get up.” A bowl of fried rice and a plate of cabbage mixed with bacon were slapped onto the dining table.
“Do you want some fresh milk?” I asked, holding up the milk.
“After you finish eating, take your bowl and chopsticks to wash.” Only a graceful back disappeared into the room.
Awkward.
People who don’t know better would think she owed him a lot of money or had offended him somehow. She always spoke without any politeness or tact, and her responses were a mess too. Nobody knew what she was acting so arrogant about. Luckily, I had long gotten used to it. Anyway, that was just her awkward way of being; she wasn’t really angry about anything, she just wasn’t able to communicate or interact properly with people.
Li Xiangru is my niece, to be clearer, my cousin's daughter.
Li Xiangru's mother is my cousin. According to my cousin, when she was pregnant with Xiangru, she was obsessed with romance novels. There was a particularly touching heroine in one of them named Xiangru, and the name Xiangru itself sounds pleasant and elegant, so Li Xiangru's name was decided that way. However, perhaps many people also like the name Xiangru. From my perspective at this age, the name has actually become so common and overused to the point of being too widespread.
I've already forgotten what Li Xiangru's original surname should have been. Anyway, after my cousin got divorced, she moved back to her parents' home with her daughter and had the daughter take the mother's surname. Since I first saw her when I was little, I've always called her Li Xiangru. However, she has never called me 'uncle.' Whenever she calls me, she never uses my name or a title, always just casually glossing over it. If she absolutely has to call me, it's only 'hey.'
I used to think I had somehow upset Li Xiangru, otherwise why did she always wear that expression as if I owed her money? Later, I realized she was just born with that awkward demeanor, and ignoring that attitude of hers actually allowed us to get along a bit. Anyway, I'm not that much older than Li Xiangru, and forcing her to call me by seniority might be awkward for both of us, so it's better to gloss over it and treat each other as peers.
Although Li Xiangru's attitude wasn't very good, and her mother, my cousin, seemed to live a somewhat casual life, Li Xiangru was, after all, a rare girl in our family who was good at studying. When she graduated from elementary school, her homeroom teacher kept begging my cousin to send her to a good school in the city, saying Li Xiangru had a talent for studying and must not be buried.
At the time cousin sister was indifferent. Cousin sister had not studied properly before, and Li Xiangru was also the result of cousin sister's youthful recklessness and a bad fate, so cousin sister did not seem to take it very seriously either. In any case, as long as Li Xiangru could grow up with healthy hands and feet, it would not count as being too ungrateful. As for whether Li Xiangru had any prospects, cousin sister did not seem to have put much thought into caring about that.
It was my aunt, my cousin's mother, who was concerned and made efforts, running around and asking for help. In the end, my father registered Li Xiangru's household under ours so she could attend junior high school in Beiyi City. Beiyi is two counties away from Miaoli, so my father also took on the responsibility of caring for Li Xiangru's daily life.
Although my parents were responsible for Li Xiangru's food, clothing, housing, and transportation, any problems with Li Xiangru's studies were pushed to me to help handle. In short, Li Xiangru was the second person in the Li family after me with hope of attending a national university. Although our family isn't some wealthy or noble clan, both sides' parents shared the expectation of hoping their children would succeed. So, although I was mostly away due to military service when Li Xiangru lived at my house during middle school, I was still kept at home during holidays to serve as her tutor.
When Li Xiangru was admitted to Beiyi First Girls' High School last summer, her aunt held several tables of banquets in their hometown Miaoli to celebrate with the neighbors. I was also invited to join the celebration. My aunt and cousin poured several bottles of whiskey into me, and I was drunk until the next day before waking up.
Sometimes looking back, it seems that the happy memories related to family end there.
At the end of last summer, my parents drove out and died in a car accident. The incident happened suddenly, and there were many things I didn’t know how to deal with for a while. I had only just entered society and worked for one year, and much of life’s experience was basically a blank.
The closest in the family is my aunt's family. My aunt came from Miaoli to Beiyi and stayed at our house to help handle funeral arrangements. I'm the only child at home, and my aunt also helped me sort out all the property inheritance matters one by one.
Aunt had lived in Beiyi for quite a while, and only moved back to Miaoli after making sure my life was stable. I asked Aunt about whether Li Xiangru would stay or leave, and Aunt said Li Xiangru was already able to take care of herself and live independently; if I minded, she could move out and rent a place. I shook my head and said I didn’t mind. As long as Li Xiangru herself didn’t mind, then continuing to live in the house was no problem, and having one more person living there also made it feel livelier.
After returning to work from bereavement leave, I used busy work to escape from the routines of daily life, often working overtime until the middle of the night before going home. I don't know if the academic workload at Beiyi Girls' High School is heavy, but every time I came home, the light in Li Xiangru's room was still on, and she was sitting quietly at her desk studying.
She handled all the dinners herself, whether ordering takeout or cooking herself. If there were leftovers, she would refrigerate them, and when I came home late and hungry, I would heat them up myself. Occasionally, when I got off work early, we would also arrange to go out for a meal together or buy more groceries for her to cook. I thought I was very independent after studying away from home for four years in college, and that living alone wouldn't be a problem. But I realized that having someone living at home together—the sounds of lights switching on and off, the toilet flushing after use, the showerhead water in the bathroom, the clattering of pots and pans in the kitchen—all these sounds I never paid attention to before, or found annoying and noisy, now made me feel that they were proof of someone living.
Sometimes touching the still-warm showerhead or stepping on the damp bathroom floor, my eyes would get a little misty.
So sometimes after work, I would walk into Li Xiangru's room, pat her head, and say I'm back. When she was in a good mood, she'd hum in response; when she was in a bad mood, she'd nag me for not knocking before entering. Regardless, I've become accustomed to Li Xiangru's quirks. It's as if her quirks are a way of maintaining distance, yet also a domineering form of concern, a willful presence.
Li Xiangru's way of waking me up was quite rude. I opened my bleary eyes and saw her face looking very willful.
I propped myself up to feign a response to her, watched her turn and leave, then lay back down to continue lazing in bed.
“Waaah!” Something icy covered my face, and I immediately woke up.
“Don’t stay in bed. If we drive back now, we’ll be late.” Li Xiangru’s voice was equally icy.
"That's way too cruel." I yanked the icy towel off my face. "I say, since you're so thoughtful as to come up with something like an ice towel, why don't you go fix me breakfast and bring me a basin of wash water to serve your young master?"
"I've made breakfast. Brush your teeth and wash your face, okay? Young master, you don't lack hands or feet; you don't need anyone to serve you, right?"
Li Xiangru leaned against the doorframe of my room, already changed into her clothes. A thin cardigan covered a pink casual short-sleeved shirt. The jeans looked a bit tight—was it that young people nowadays really liked such tight pants, or was her development just too good? When I go back, I'll tell her mother to allocate more clothing allowance for the kid, and not always spend it on herself, making herself look like a flirtatious bride-to-be.
I simply packed a few clothes, grabbed my laptop, and drove back to Miaoli hometown with Li Xiangru. English oldies were playing in the car. Li Xiangru didn't voice any objections, so I assumed she could use it as English listening practice and didn't switch to pop music.
As the highway approached Miaoli, it began to be tinged with fog; by the time we exited the interchange, it was already considered thick fog. With fog lights on, we slowly navigated the country roads. Andy Williams was singing "Killing Me Softly," and Li Xiangru, tilting her head to listen, suddenly said, "Is this the song from the movie 'About a Boy' starring Hugh Grant?"
"Yeah! " I laughed. "You're pretty impressive! "
"The English teacher showed a movie in class. It was an old film, right?"
“……” I’m not that old either; back then I even went to the cinema to watch the theatrical release.
Then we arrived at the hometown.
The old home is a very traditional building, a typical three-sided courtyard surrounding a square. The only variation is the outer wall, which was expanded into a simple storage room because farming tools or fertilizers needed to be stored during busy seasons. When we were kids, we always called it a 'siheyuan' (quadrangle courtyard), and adults kept correcting us that it's a 'sanheyuan' (three-sided courtyard). We didn't understand—it's clearly enclosed, and you could even sleep in the storage room if you wanted, so how is it a three-sided courtyard? So we kept calling it a quadrangle anyway. Unexpectedly, after calling it that for so long, the adults ended up influenced by us and often misspoke.
Times have changed. Now our family no longer farms. The once-crowded courtyard house, formerly piled with farm tools, now looks somewhat desolate instead. Surrounding the courtyard are tall Bauhinia trees. In season, the hoof-shaped leaves are lush and green, clusters of pink petals bloom profusely, their competing beauty almost drowning out the green leaves. When I was little, I always thought they were peach blossoms. Pointing and shouting randomly got me laughed at by my older cousins for a long time.
In the courtyard square, two cherry trees were planted in front of the main hall's eaves. Around the Lunar New Year, they were in full bloom, with delicate, colorful cherry blossom petals covering the trees and the ground. However, the season had already passed, and now the two cherry trees were only adorned with green leaves filling their branches.
In the corners between the flanking wings and the courtyard walls, large water vats were placed to collect rainwater. When I was little, duckweed used to float on them. Now, my aunt or cousin casually grows simple aquatic plants in them; the simple green ripples on the water's surface have always felt very soothing to me.
“You’re back?” Aunt came out from the main hall and waved at us. “The dishes are all cooked; we’ve been waiting for you!”
"There was a bit of a traffic jam on the highway!"
“Li Zhiyu overslept again!”
I shot a sidelong glare at Li Xiangru with a forced smile piled on my face; she didn't care at all and walked straight into the main hall. Auntie smiled, her expression not one of blame. We left our luggage on the sofa chairs in the living room first, then went to the adjacent dining room to prepare for the meal. Sister-in-law was serving rice, and we filed in and sat down.
"Zhigang is at work? " The dining table was actually a little deserted, with only Auntie, my cousin-in-law, me, and Li Xiangru.
“That’s right, Zhigang and Zhihui are both looking after the shop, so they’re used to having lunch in the shop.” Auntie handed over the rice bowl as she signaled that I didn’t need to stand up to take it.
"Little uncle, try the sausage. I made it myself, with a little wine added for seasoning." My cousin-in-law eagerly called to me. "You didn’t come back for dinner this New Year, so Mom specially told me to keep a sausage frozen for you to eat when you came back."
“Oh, thank you, thank you.” Blushing, I夹ed a few slices of sausage into my bowl and shoveled in rice.
While eating lunch we chatted as we ate; after we finished, Aunt went to the living room to watch TV, and I asked Li Xiangru to help wash the dishes. My cousin-in-law drove us out of the kitchen and told us to go to the guest room to rest. Li Xiangru and I both lived on the west side of the siheyuan, and my room was the room my cousin Li Zhihui had once lived in. After she divorced and moved back, she lived on the east side, and my cousin Li Zhigang also lived on the east side. Before Li Xiangru came to Beiyi City to study, she already had her own room on the west side, so the two of us silently claimed our own rooms and went in to rest.
I actually wasn't very tired yet, so I took my laptop and continued with the unfinished work from last night. I don't know how long I worked when my cousin's wife stood at the bedroom door and knocked.
"Zhiyu, have some fruit!" Cousin-in-law came in smiling and carried a plate of fruit. Actually, I and my cousin-in-law are the same age, and she is even a few months older than me, so privately we just call each other by our names, which feels less awkward and strange. "You're working, huh?"
"Yeah, I've been pretty busy lately, especially during this long holiday week. A lot of things have to be handed in when I go back to work on Tuesday. "
“Then I won’t disturb your work.”
“No, I just happened to eat some fruit and take a break.” I closed the computer. “Has your husband been okay lately? Has he been causing trouble again?”
"Haha, not bad!" Every time my cousin-in-law heard me not call my cousin’s name but instead say "your husband," she would laugh at it.
Cousin is only two years older than me. When we were young, we were best playmates, and all the good and bad things were stirred up by the two of us working together. But in fourth grade of elementary school, I moved to Beiyi City to live, and cousin did not like studying. In high school, he transferred to several private high schools, with fighting and skipping class being everyday occurrences. Later, he could not go on studying and went to the army; even during his service there were many ups and downs. After discharge, he played harder and harder, hanging out in hostess bars and betting on matches, which was one thing, but later he also got involved with drugs. While cousin was in the rehab center, uncle passed away. Aunt silently took on the family's responsibility, repaid one by one the gambling debts cousin had incurred while fooling around, stopped the already half-suspended farm work, and transformed a small shop in Miaoli City that sold fertilizer and rented farm tools into a grocery store, managing it together with cousin sister.
After cousin returned from the rehab center, he behaved much more restrained. He let aunt rest at home, and he and cousin sister supported that small grocery store together. In the morning, they bought wholesale fruits, vegetables, and meat to sell; in the afternoon, they simply watched over the shop and sold sundries. Cousin sister-in-law was a hostess cousin picked up while fooling around at a hotel. Uncle and aunt disliked her very much, but given cousin's character, even a matchmaking introduction would not have been accepted by anyone. Besides, he had gotten cousin sister-in-law pregnant, so they could only reluctantly let them marry.
Maybe it was because she couldn’t adapt to the living environment, or because there was stress from poor interactions between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, but not long after my cousin-in-law finished the wedding, she miscarried. Since then, right up to now, there has been no news from her belly, and during this period so many things happened at home that the atmosphere between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law became even more depressed.
When I first learned what profession my cousin-in-law had before marriage, I couldn’t help but look at her through colored glasses. However, my cousin-in-law was gentle on the outside but strong on the inside; even as a housewife she gritted her teeth and insisted on doing everything flawlessly, and when interacting with her she was always relaxed, humorous, and eloquent, so I quickly stopped dwelling on it.
Once I gave my ex-girlfriend's nail polish that she left at my place to my cousin's wife, and she smiled so wide her mouth couldn't close.
"I do housework every day. If I put on nail polish, it'll get scratched off!"
"It's fine. Just think of it as putting on makeup for your nails—apply it and remove it; no need to worry about that little bit of effort. If you feel bad about it, at most, after you use up this bottle, I'll buy you other styles. "
That time we really opened up and talked a lot. Maybe because we were the same age, our topics and values were actually very similar, and we started feeling very close. My cousin's wife is named Lin Wenhui. Because the last character of her name sounds the same as my cousin's, my aunt was used to calling my cousin 'Xiao Hui' and calling my cousin's wife by her full name, Wenhui. I initially called her 'Sister-in-law,' but later, because we became familiar, I also directly called her Wenhui.
Perhaps infertility was a factor. Although my cousin no longer touched gambling or drugs, he still liked to flirt with women; he just switched from more lavish hotels to little shops in the alleys at the end of the street. My cousin once asked if I wanted him to take me to lose my virginity, and I laughed it off and said let’s talk about it next time. But the next time, I heard the police raiding an illegal brothel for undocumented migrants, and they happened to drag out my cousin, who had his face covered. Thinking back, that was really close.
During that time, the atmosphere at home was low, but my cousin held back for only a short while before reverting to his old ways. Perhaps because Wenhui's belly wasn't cooperating, the whole family seemed to tacitly turn a blind eye. That year, during the Lunar New Year, we stayed at the old home for a few days. As usual, my cousin only showed his face at mealtimes; the rest of the time, he was like a dragon whose head is seen but not its tail. Every meal during the New Year was a big feast. On the second day of the New Year, Wenhui didn't return to her parents' home. After lunch, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Feeling bored and restless, I walked to the kitchen and saw Wenhui silently washing pots, bowls, ladles, and basins all by herself.
I opened the fridge, took out an apple, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Wenhui by the sink, chatting idly while peeling it. After peeling, I cored and sliced it, placed the pieces on a small plate, and handed it to Wenhui.
"I didn't sprinkle salt water on it. Apples turn black very quickly, so eat them while they're still pretty. "
Wenhui was taken aback, "Huh? It's okay, no need..." She lowered her head and continued washing the dishes.
“Oh, but your face is all yellow, and your eye bags are swollen too. It’s ugly.”
"Hey!" Wen Hui glared at me.
“Look, this imported Fuji apple is obviously a good thing. If you eat it, not only can you supplement vitamins, but your face will also become fair, tender, and glowing, like the news anchor on TV!”
Wenhui grinned, took the apple, and began eating it in small bites.
“But those eye bags... eating apples won’t help anymore; you need more rest.” While Wenhui was eating an apple, I continued her cleaning work.
Wenhui ate very slowly; I had already cleaned the countertop, and she still hadn't finished.
“Anyway... anyway, your husband probably won’t be back this afternoon, so why don’t you go take a nap?”
『
Wenhui held the last slice of apple in her mouth and looked at me, a hint of moisture flickering in her eyes, "Okay." Then she put the apple back on the plate. "Can't eat anymore, I'll have it later."
I watched her walk out of the kitchen and suddenly couldn't recall how such a young wife, whose world seemed limited to the courtyard and kitchen, once swayed and shone brightly, commanding attention among the glamorous men and women in hotels.
Lowering my head, I looked at the lonely slice of apple on the plate, not wanting to put it back in the fridge to take up space. I pinched it up, intending to eat it, but I couldn't help bringing the spot that Wen Hui had just held in her mouth up to my nose to sniff. The apple fragrance mixed with saliva, making the taste sticky. My heart thudded, and I opened my mouth and ate it.
In Japanese manga, this is called indirect kissing. I was walking back to my room while letting my mind wander.
Pushing the door open and entering the room, I found Wenhui wrapped in a quilt sleeping on my bed, her breathing already slightly snoring. I was a bit startled, glancing over I saw a note pressed on the table saying: Wake me up at 4:30, I need to prepare dinner, Hui². That ² was written small in the upper right of the character Hui, it's the square symbol, back in class when passing notes we'd be lazy to write repeated characters and would use this trick.
I sat by the bed looking at Wenhui's sleeping face: slender eyebrows, long and thick eyelashes, the crease of her double eyelids still distinct even with her eyes closed, a small and delicate nose, lips slightly parted as she breathed, a bit chapped from winter but still rosy and natural.
Even without makeup, she was still beautiful. I wonder whether, back then in the hotel, when my cousin first saw Wen Hui in heavy makeup, she was even more captivating than she is now? Or has seeing her every day now, with a bare face, made him no longer find her attractive?
I watched for a while, then mustered my courage, bent down, leaned close to Wen Hui's hair, and gently sniffed—it smelled of cooking oil fumes. She's really a housewife now, I thought. While I was lost in thought, Wen Hui turned around, and our lips lightly and quickly brushed past each other.
I was so scared I immediately sat up straight, but Wen Hui continued to emit soft snores.
Although he had even had sex with his ex-girlfriend, after breaking up, he hadn't been in a new relationship. Not to mention the warm and slippery tenderness inside a vagina, he hadn't even held hands, let alone kissed?
That night, I dreamed of having sex with Wenhui and had a wet dream. Although I had brought spare underwear, having a wet dream while staying out was honestly both troublesome and embarrassing. Fortunately, once the mattress and quilt dried, no traces were visible, and unless someone got close to smell, probably no one would notice.
Later, I would occasionally use Wen Hui as the object of my masturbation fantasies, imagining that being tainted by taboo made it exciting, and I actually got a stronger pleasure than masturbating to AV.
After that, whenever I went back to my hometown and met Wen Hui privately to chat, I would casually call her Hui Hui, just like the signature on that note. At first Wen Hui’s eyebrows would lift slightly to reveal a flicker of emotion, but later she got used to it and it became natural; every time I called her Hui Hui, she would curve her eyes and smile sweetly, as if it were our little secret.
"And you, you're still busy lately, right?" I pointed at Wen Hui's eye bags.
"Eh, being a housewife is just like that! You don’t do anything major all day, just cleaning, doing laundry, cooking rice, making dishes, serving everyone so they can eat and be warm, and before you know it the day is over." Wen Hui shrugged. "As for you...
Are you okay? “Wen Hui narrowed her eyes and smiled faintly.
"Mm, I've gotten used to it. " I lowered my head a little embarrassed.
"You didn’t come back for New Year, I was so worried."
“The company just happened to have a business trip...” I paused. “At that time, I really did want to avoid it, especially coming back for meals. I was afraid I’d end up crying. Seeing all of you living together, I was also afraid I’d get jealous.”
"Silly, we're all family. What jealousy could there be?" Wen Hui reached out and stroked my head, just as I often did to Li Xiangru.
We chatted for a bit. Wenhui's voice was soft, and she kept finding topics to comfort and encourage me. Later, she yawned, so I urged her to take a nap. She playfully slept on my bed and told me to wake her up at 4:30 to prepare dinner.
I turned the computer back on and resumed working. I hadn't typed more than a few lines before I heard Wenhui's snoring. The weather was starting to get a bit warm. Wenhui was wearing a thin three-quarter sleeve shirt; due to work, the cuffs had been pulled up to her upper arms. A set of thin cotton bedding was folded on the bed, but Wenhui, preferring coolness, only had a thin blanket covering her, which barely covered her short shorts.
Wenhui's fair and plump legs were curled and crossed, her thighs full and fleshy, while the muscles of her calves lightly traced beautiful arcs. I stared痴痴地 at her body, my heartbeat quickening. After saving the file, I closed the computer screen and simply stopped working.
Wenhui's snoring suddenly stopped; she let out a soft moan, then turned over onto her back, frowning impatiently as she pushed the thin blanket away before her expression slightly relaxed and she resumed light snoring. One foot was bent and propped up at an angle, while the other was curled and lying flat, the space between her legs open and facing my line of sight; one hand clutched a corner of the pushed-away blanket, while the other unconsciously pulled at her clothes, lightly scratched her belly a few times, and then went limp beside her. Her snow-white belly rose and fell slightly, her navel like a mysterious little hole rising and falling with it.
For a good while, Wenhui maintained this posture.
So I quietly moved to the side of the bed, and Wenhui was sleeping soundly on her side. Probably because the clothes fit so tightly, Wenhui's actually not very large breasts were packed full, like two round bowls inverted on her chest. Yet there were two slightly protruding points on her chest. At first I thought they were wrinkles in the clothes, but her whole chest shape had filled out the clothes, smooth and without a single crease. Then... Wenhui wasn't wearing a bra? I suddenly felt hot too, my imagination racing, and my penis began to harden.
Looking down, the hot pants also fit snugly and tightly around Wenhui's hips and private area. With her legs spread, her entire lower abdomen and mons pubis appeared fleshy and rounded. The hem of the hot pants flared open, revealing white silk panties edged with intricately embroidered lace. The thigh root of the bent leg, connected to the pubic bone, formed a beautiful concave curve.
Wenhui was still sound asleep.
I bent down and lay prone before Wenhui's mons pubis. Was this too bold? Even as I thought this, I was already gently moving my nose around the outer edges of her mons, breathing in deeply. That was the scent of Wenhui's body. The restless, thin sweat carried a faint, murky saltiness and an elusive sourness; the gradually accumulating faint smell of urine mixed turbulently with the sweat's sourness, tangling together into an inexplicably sweet, cloying body odor. Whether it was my breath or the fluids from Wenhui's vagina, that body odor gradually became moist and greasy, the smell seeming to turn into tangible, touchable particles constantly drilling into my nostrils and filling them. Gradually, my breathing became rapid and somewhat labored.
I propped myself up and sat on the edge of the bed, finally feeling like I could breathe smoothly again. Turning to look at Wenhui's body, I wondered if it was an illusion—was there a faint shadow in the center of her mons pubis, a crease from her hot pants, or was Wenhui now so wet it had soaked through her pants? I couldn't think about it further; my penis was hard and swollen to the point of slight pain. I quickly left the room.
Crossing the square surrounded by the courtyard house, I walked to the bathroom-cum-toilet in the eastern corner, turned on the faucet at the sink, and vigorously washed my face. After splashing the cold water on my face several times, the lust in my mind was barely suppressed. Although my penis was still hard and swollen, it wasn't as painfully tense as before. I stared blankly at the mirror for a good while before snapping back to reality.
Walking out of the bathroom, the afternoon sun suddenly felt a bit strong, with sparkling sunlight flooding the square. Although it wasn't as oppressively hot as summer yet, the air had already begun to carry a restless atmosphere. So I thought of taking the eastern inner corridor past the lobby to return to my room, that tempting room. Why did Wen Hui, who has her own perfectly good room, come to crowd into mine? I couldn't help but complain about Wen Hui in my heart.
When I walked to Auntie's room next to the east corner near the lobby, I heard Auntie's voice. Initially thinking she was on the phone, I passed by without much thought. Just as I was about to step into the lobby, I suddenly heard Auntie let out a loud sigh. I was startled, turned around, and was about to knock when I heard another long moan from inside the room. That sound didn't seem like surprise; rather, its尾音 was lazily drawn out and绵长.
No way? I couldn't help but start fantasizing again.
But standing outside the door with his ear pressed to it, he unexpectedly began to hear continuous moaning. My first thought was: did Auntie have an affair? Thinking of the age gap between Auntie and Uncle, since Uncle passed away when Auntie was only forty, and now she is only in her early forties, there are plenty of mature ladies in their forties in the company; with a little makeup, dressing up, and some maintenance, they really don’t look old at all. Some, without knowing their age, you’d even think they were pretty urban career women.
Since Auntie usually chatted and interacted with Uncle and my parents, she always spoke steadily and dignifiedly. Although rarely stern, her calm and unhurried tone naturally exuded the maturity of the highest-ranking elder in the family. Her expression was also composed and rarely showed agitation. Looking back now, I really overlooked the fact that Auntie is still in her prime years. And isn't this age what people call the 'wolf and tiger years'? But Auntie is usually so resolute and upright, and she handled my parents' funeral affairs tirelessly, so it's really hard to associate her with the image of having a secret affair.
While feeling suspicious and guessing in my heart, I continued listening. If it really was an affair, that man was too repressed, not even a muffled groan could be heard! Listening more carefully, the moans had their own rhythmic rise and fall, sometimes suppressed, sometimes lost in passion. It didn't sound like the intense, sudden thrusts of two people having sex, but more like one person's self-indulgence.
So... masturbation?
At first, that was what I thought. The image in my mind outlined a naked aunt constantly stroking and probing that hidden private area with her hands, yet I could never imagine how Auntie's face could become so enchanting and wanton as she moaned. Suddenly, Wen Hui's expression fit perfectly into that imagination, and then Wen Hui, just like before, lay on her back and began masturbating, her hand moving faster and faster, beads of sweat hanging all over her body, her skin faintly flushed pink, and that damp, heavy slutty smell like intoxicating burning musk.
But in my ears, I could clearly hear Aunt’s moans. Her formerly dignified and steady voice, once thrown off and transformed into something coy and lingering, was unexpectedly so gentle and so captivating. At last the moans turned into rapid, intertwined hmm-hmm sounds, then came cat-like whimpers that melted everything away in a sticky, drawn-out way, and finally there were breathless sobs with a crying tone, sometimes short gasps and sometimes choking, until all the sounds gradually faded and stopped.
Enduring my nearly exploding penis, I tiptoed back to the bathroom, locked the door, and took off my pants as quickly as possible. Just as I was about to vigorously stroke my penis toward the shower area to ejaculate, I suddenly heard a knock on the door.
“Is there, anyone, there?” Outside the door was Li Xiangru's cold, word-by-word voice.
In an instant, all thoughts were cut off. “It’s me!” I said, holding back my panting.
"What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? " I was a little baffled. "Do I have to report to you even when I poop? "
"Hmph!"
“Go use the toilet on our side!”
"The toilet over there usually isn’t used by many people anyway, and it’s dirty, smelly, and dark!"
"There's no choice. If you need to use the toilet, you'll just have to wait until I'm done with my big one."
It was quiet outside the door for half a moment. 'Hmph, I don't want to use the toilet after you!' Then came the sound of footsteps walking away.
After this chaotic conversation, my nearly erupted penis had already begun to soften, though it hadn't fully retracted yet, it was hanging low. Helplessly, I put my pants back on, left the bathroom, and dared not pass by the aunt's room again, so I walked back to the west side via the square.
Stepping into the west inner corridor, Li Xiangru had just come out of the toilet, wiping her hands on the back of her jeans. Seeing me, she snorted again and walked back to her room. The west-side toilet was originally a storage space, previously filled with farming tools and other miscellaneous items. Later, an outer wall was added to create a new storage room, so the larger items were moved there. The original storage space was cleared out, and a small area was partitioned with wooden boards to make a toilet. Because it was an addition, the entire toilet was very rudimentary. The drainage channel was probably dug carelessly, so it often got clogged. After rain, once the weather cleared, the waste stuck in the channel would unceremoniously emit a foul odor.
Because of this, everyone tried to avoid using that toilet unless, during bathroom fights, those who couldn't hold it would use it. Although Uncle originally built it for convenience during busy farming seasons, providing a simple toilet, and occasionally hired workers could be distinguished from the family's toilet, indeed this toilet was too rudimentary; overhead, just a casually strung wire with a light bulb. So the women in the family particularly disliked coming to this dark and dirty toilet.
I walked back to the room. Wenhui had already sat up, her eyes still a bit drowsy, but she was mostly not going to turn back and sleep. After casually chatting with me for a few sentences, she went off to prepare dinner. I relaxed completely and couldn't help but collapse onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep.
A jolt woke me up. I opened my eyes groggily, and just as I used my hand to prop up my body, a hand reached down into my crotch.
“Li Zhiyu! Still sleeping in!”
I widened my eyes and focused. 'Damn... you're the lazy one!' I protected my crotch with both hands, preventing my cousin from succeeding again. 'Li Zhigang, how old are you, still playing this childish game of touching the lazy one!'
"No way, I’m helping you measure your size to see whether you’ve developed!" Li Zhigang burst into laughter, showing yellow teeth with red gaps; he had really quit drugs, but not smoking and betel nut.
"I've long passed the growth period, okay! " I rubbed my eyes and picked the eye mucus away.
"Huh! Then why is your size the same as when I was little?"
"Because your growth period ended in elementary school! "
"Hahaha! I really can’t take advantage of you, can I!" Li Zhigang said, shaking my shoulders.
"Easy, easy. "
"How is it? Brother, tonight I'll throw you a welcome party, and after dinner I'll take you out to continue the fun..."
"Hey, that's hard to say. I don't want to be stopped by the police and still have to cover my face with a paper bag! "
"Oh, what were you thinking? I'm taking you for a massage, okay! It's body maintenance, maintenance, not that sleazy stuff you're imagining!" Li Zhigang said smugly.
"Forget those bone-cracking or sole-massaging things that hurt like hell, okay?"
“Do I look like such a tacky person? Those things are outdated, okay!”
"So how amazing is the so-called epoch-making new massage therapy you mentioned? "
"Prostate massage care! This is impressive, isn’t it!" Li Zhigang laughed until he could no longer stop.
"Damn... prostate care..." I looked weakly at Li Zhigang. How could I be cousins with him?
“You might as well go figure it out yourself... uh, no, have your wife take care of you. Don’t be fooling around outside all day long!”
『
Mentioning Wenhui, Li Zhigang lost his interest in telling jokes. "Alright, slept for a long time, time for dinner!
Everyone has been waiting for you. "
"Then why are you still arguing with me here?" I put on my slippers and followed my cousin out of the room.
Li Zhigang turned his head back with a mischievous smile. He really did look a bit like Tony Leung playing an undercover in 'Infernal Affairs,' no wonder he was so popular in the pleasure-seeking scene.
Entered the restaurant and took seats in order, with one empty spot still between Auntie and Li Xiangru.
"Where's Sis?"
"Who, told, me?" A burst of rich perfume assaulted me from behind, and suddenly a hand tightened around my neck, then a stabbing pain hit the top of my head. Looking up, I saw Cousin Li Zhihui using her chin to drill against the top of my head. I tried to挣脱 slightly, but the hand around my neck exerted force and I was pulled backward, crashing into her chest, the back of my head as if resting on a very elastic, fleshy pillow.
"Okay, stop fooling around, you’re all grown up, aren’t you?" Auntie spoke to stop her. Li Zhihui stuck out her tongue and shrugged, walking casually to her seat. I looked at Auntie, and at her now dignified and steady voice.
Just as Li Zhihui was about to sit down, she suddenly reached out and brushed Li Xiangru's hair.
"Do, what, the heck!" Li Xiangru glared sidelong at Li Zhihui. She wanted to get angry but didn't dare to lash out, so she could only grit her teeth and say each word with pauses.
"You, your, hair, why, cut, so, short?" Li Zhihui giggled and imitated Li Xiangru's way of speaking.
"It’s not that short, it’s fine!" Li Xiangru used her hand to push her shoulder-length messy hair back into its original style.
"Is there a ban on hairstyles at your school now?" Li Zhihui asked curiously.
"No way!"
“Then why don’t you keep your hair long like me? It looks so much better!” Li Zhihui shook her long, large wavy hair.
"It’s all because of Li Zhiyu! He said keeping his hair too long takes a lot of time to arrange, and that when he was studying, the female students all had short hair—easier to take care of, so they had time to study." Li Xiangru complained very impatiently. Actually, what she didn’t say was that if she didn’t cut her hair short, I wouldn’t be her tutor anymore.
"Oh my god! Li Zhiyu, are you from ancient times? Banning long hair was something from hundreds of years ago!" Li Zhihui exclaimed in shock. "What are you trying to do, make my daughter look like a nun?"
“Aiyo, she’s already very pretty, there’s no need to spend so much time dressing up, right?” I said while shoveling rice and dishes into my mouth. “By the way, you should give your daughter a bit of pocket money once in a while, okay?”
"Oh, does she not have enough money?"
I thought for a moment. 'I see she wears the same few clothes and pants all the time. Girls in their growth spurt keep growing, so clothes get small quickly!'
“It’s... where is it growing?” After Li Zhihui asked, he and Li Zhigang laughed together.
"Sis... you're Li Xiangru's mom! Can't you be a little more serious?" Sigh, Li Zhihui and Li Zhigang really are siblings, both equally unserious. On the other hand, Li Xiangru glared at me fiercely, probably annoyed that I had turned her into a target for jokes. Wenhui ate quietly, occasionally tugging at the corners of her mouth in an awkward smile; Aunt was used to her son and daughter being this way, and ate with a calm expression.
We were eating and laughing heartily. During the meal, Li Zhigang brought out a round of beers, and we all drank them happily. When Li Zhigang went to get a second round, Auntie flushed and said she wouldn't drink anymore. After finishing the second round, Auntie and Li Xiangru were full and left the table. Li Zhigang opened some imported liquor, while Wenhui got up to stir-fry a few more side dishes to go with the drinks.
My cousin, my cousin-sister, and I drank two whole bottles of whiskey before stopping. The three of us, unsteady on our feet, each went back to our rooms to rest, leaving Wen Hui alone to clean up the kitchen. I returned to my room and fell asleep immediately. I don't know how long I slept. Hazily, a surge rose in my throat, so I got up wanting to vomit.
I staggered across the square, wanting to get to the bathroom to throw up properly, but the bathroom door was tightly shut, with the sound of running water inside—someone was showering. If it was Li Xiangru, then she had gotten her revenge for my jab this afternoon. Unable to make it back to the toilet in the storage room, I vomited by the east wall, spewing out a huge mess of dinner. After catching my breath, I vomited again, this time probably even lunch came up.
After I spat everything out, I felt a little clearer overall. I wanted to go into the bathroom to rinse my mouth, but the bathroom door was still closed. I didn't know what time it was now. I wanted to go around the east side to the hall to check the time, and just as I passed Li Zhigang's room, I heard a wildly chaotic human noise coming from inside. If my aunt's masturbation in the afternoon was a solo, then this performance now was of course a brilliant ensemble!
There's absolutely no flirtatious language, only the panting male voice and moaning female voice, yet both sounds are released without any concealment, male and female voices overlapping and intertwining chaotically, accompanied by the crisp sound of skin slapping against skin, just listening to the audio you can imagine the intense physical battle happening inside the room!
I originally thought the relationship between Li Zhigang and Wenhui was quite cold, but hearing this now, it seems their sex life is quite compatible. However, such passionate and unrestrained actions—aren't they afraid of disturbing Li Zhihui in the next room? Or if the aunt gets up to use the bathroom and passes by, even though she's at the age of having grandchildren, she'd still blush, right? Anyway, I don't know how they compromise in their daily life, but if I keep standing here listening, I don't know how I'll compromise with my own brother. This courtyard house is really something, always making me eavesdrop through walls and then mentally fill in the gaps. I can manage my mental state this way, but my physical state can't be satisfied! I had no choice but to give up and walk back to my room.
As I walked, I kept rubbing my penis, which was hard and pressing against my pants. The more I rubbed, the more it swelled; the more it swelled, the more forcefully I rubbed—it was an utterly unmanageable contradiction. Although I hadn't reached the point of爆发 yet, the aftereffects of drinking so much were only now triggered by the erection: I desperately needed to pee! Before my penis could爆发, my bladder was about to explode. I endured, trying to walk to the storage room's toilet as quickly as possible without过度刺激 my penis.
The storage room now had only the manually operated light bulb hanging right above the toilet; if it wasn’t turned on, the entire storage room was pitch-black and you couldn’t see anything at all. No wonder Li Xiangru disliked this toilet so much—she must have been afraid of the dark, or perhaps even of ghosts, since that is a weak point for girls.
Relying on faint memory, I groped my way toward the bathroom. Along the way, my knees bumped into something, and my feet kicked hard objects several times, as clumsy and pathetic as a bumbling thief in a comedy movie. I endured the pain without cursing aloud, feeling my way to the bathroom only to find the door closed.
No way? We've come this far!
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