“He didn’t say it outright,” Xia Yujin hurried to explain, “but that’s what I guessed.”
“And you believe it?” Ye Zhao retorted.
“A little bit…” Xia Yujin said nervously.
Ye Zhao looked at him as she would have looked at a naive child. A long moment later, she let out a long sigh, sorrowful. “Never in a million years would I have expected that there would be someone to believe what Fox says…”
“I don’t think he faked the look on his face,” Xia Yujin said, quick to defend his friend. “Why do you say that about him?”
“If he told you he was a cut-sleeve, would you believe him?”
Xia Yujin shook his head.
“Or that he liked widows? Would you believe it?”
Xia Yujin shook his head again.
“If he said the goddess of the Luo?[1] You’d believe that?”
Xia Yujin kept on shaking his head.
“And if he said that he was a Buddhist monk reincarnated and that he had to devote his life to his spiritual development to become a buddha, would you believe him then?”
Xia Yujin was still shaking his head.
Ye Zhao patted his shoulder, sadly asking, “Then why are you stupid enough to believe him when he says he likes me?”
“When he told me, the look on his face was genuine!” Xia Yujin said angrily.
“Has he ever looked anything other than genuine when he said any of those things? He still fooled Mao Erzhu into spending a whole night in the middle of winter hiding in the bushes on the bank of the Luo River to get a peep at the goddess. He was ill for two weeks when he came back,” Ye Zhao said, exasperated. “How do you think he got nicknamed ‘Fox’? It’s in this jerk’s nature to aggravate people! He lies even when he doesn’t need to, just to catch the people he manages to fool! He probably didn’t like the look of you and decided to toy with you!”
Seeing that her anger didn’t seem to be faked, Xia Yujin instinctively believed her a little. He stammered, “But… But…”
“There’s not but!” Remembering the past, Ye Zhao gritted her teeth. “When he gets drunk, he’ll sing love songs to anyone who passed by—me, Qiu Hua and Qiu Shui, Qiu Laohu, the old cook. Completely off-tune. It’s as bad as it sounds. The noise disturbed the whole camp. Even when he’s not drunk, he’ll deceive everyone around him. Except for official business, he lies almost all the time. Only a few fools still believe anything he says.”
Xia Yujin was struck on the spot, stunned under the moonlight. He stood there dazedly, mind blank. With difficulty, he managed to grit out two words: “I see.” Then, stupefied, he turned around, making to go back to his room.
“Wait!” Mind restless from the wine, Ye Zhao grabbed his shoulder with a little too much strength and dragged him back. Then she leaned close once again, scrutinizing his face. The corners of her mouth suddenly and ominously curled up, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth. “Why do you look so happy that Fox loves me?” she asked in a strange voice.
“I’m not.” Having a bad feeling about this, Xia Yujin tried to slip away.
“Really?” Under Ye Zhao’s long eyelashes, there was now a cold glint in her glass-colored eyes turned pitch-black. Like a panther on a hunt, she stretched out her claws and snatched her prey. Her voice becoming more and more gentle, she said, “Are you looking for a new husband for me before the three years are even over?”
Any animal with a brain could hear the danger lurking beneath that gentleness.
“Well, I…” Xia Yujin was so frightened that sweat started beading on his forehead. After several unsuccessful attempts at freeing himself, eyes roving madly, he tried to defend himself even though he couldn’t look straight at her. “I just hope you have a good life.”
“Really?” Ye Zhao got closer. Her lips brushed his cheeks, perhaps inadvertently, when she ambiguously said, “My husband has such a good heart. I feel so moved…”
The warm touch on his face brought him a strange thrill. Under her bewitching eyes, his heart started beating faster, almost jumping out of his chest. This whole situation felt familiar, like déjà vu. Flustered, he searched for a nice-sounding rebuke, but when the words came to his lips he found them too weak, so he settled on blunt, coarse language: “Fuck you…”
He didn’t finish.
Ye Zhao had already firmly sealed his mouth with hers, her breath warm and smelling like wine. She kissed him quickly, then leaned back slightly, a hair’s breadth away.
The sound of their breaths was loud in their ears.
He stared wildly at the person in front of him, who was still grasping him and cutting off his escape.
Her lips were still curled around a smile, as though she was playing with her prey. Then, leaning forward, she once more whispered in his ear, “You want to fuck me? Come on.”
It took Xia Yujin several long minutes to react. Flushed with anger, eyes wide open, he exclaimed, “I’ve seen shameless women, but I’ve never seen one as shameless as you!”
Ye Zhao brushed his lips with her fingertips. “Does my husband still know the meaning of shame?”
“Let go!” Xia Yujin wished he could kill that asshole. He took two deep breaths and calmed his heartbeat. Then he looked at her smirk, and finally realized where he’d seen that expression—didn’t he and his useless friends sport this exact same look when they went out to flirt with women? The realization hit him at once. He had to make sure. “You bastard! Are you molesting me?”
“Mhm,” Ye Zhao seriously replied. “You could say that.”
“You fucking asshole! How many people have you done this to?” Faced with his wife’s brazen moves, Xia Yujin wanted to tear out his hair in anger. They were clearly the result of years of practice, and not the slightest bit inferior to his own. How many people had she targeted? Even worse: were they men or women?
“I was young and stupid, thinking I was a man. I’ve teased my share of girls. But I’m careful now,” Ye Zhao said, finally releasing his hand and propping him up. She calmly added, “I only play with my own husband.”
Xia Yujin straightened and pointed his finger at her nose. “Brazen fellow!” he cursed. “Where else in the world can you find another married woman who behaves like this? Fuck! I finally get it…”
“What do you get?” asked Ye Zhao, crossing her arms with a smile.
Xia Yujin was fuming. “Even if you put on the act of an upright and cold general, you’re still the same brash thug inside!”
Ye Zhao licked her lips. “Well, I was one for so many years after all,” she said, nostalgic. “Occasionally I feel the need to revisit my past.”
“So you admit it?” Xia Yujin was getting more and more incensed. “Well, believe it or not, I’ll… I’ll…”
His voice came out smaller and smaller as he talked. He didn’t know how to continue.
“You’ll tell everyone that your wife is a rascal,” Ye Zhao “kindly” reminded him, “and that she forcibly kissed you? Felt you up?”
Which man could bear to admit this?
Xia Yujin had no choice but to suffer this unspeakable and bitter ordeal in silence. He kept consoling himself: after all, he had many concubines and many tongfang maids. He often went to brothels and pleasure boats to sample women. He had plenty of experience. However, though his wife may be the one with the long teeth now, upon second thought he wasn’t at a disadvantage.
“Husband, you’re a man of character. Don’t get angry for so little.” Ye Zhao was aware that she was possibly drunk; she’d acted rashly and let go of her cool head. But, as matters stood now, she’d already seized her slight advantage, taken her bite, played the rascal, and there was no changing the ending. She may have wanted to catch him, but she couldn’t go any further since he did not enjoy being chased so forcefully, and angering him too much was no use. They still had to live together…
“Go away!” Xia Yujin said angrily, seeing her standing there lost in thought.
“Alright. Don’t stay up too late.” Ye Zhao turned around decisively, choosing not to bother him any longer, and sauntered away to sleep.
That was how she left after toying with him?
Xia Yujin stared at her retreating figure incredulously. He directed a punch at the curtain fig tree next to him, then held up his hand, almost crying from the pain.
“He didn’t say it outright,” Xia Yujin hurried to explain, “but that’s what I guessed.”
“And you believe it?” Ye Zhao retorted.
“A little bit…” Xia Yujin said nervously.
Ye Zhao looked at him as she would have looked at a naive child. A long moment later, she let out a long sigh, sorrowful. “Never in a million years would I have expected that there would be someone to believe what Fox says…”
“I don’t think he faked the look on his face,” Xia Yujin said, quick to defend his friend. “Why do you say that about him?”
“If he told you he was a cut-sleeve, would you believe him?”
Xia Yujin shook his head.
“Or that he liked widows? Would you believe it?”
Xia Yujin shook his head again.
“If he said the goddess of the Luo?[1] You’d believe that?”
Xia Yujin kept on shaking his head.
“And if he said that he was a Buddhist monk reincarnated and that he had to devote his life to his spiritual development to become a buddha, would you believe him then?”
Xia Yujin was still shaking his head.
Ye Zhao patted his shoulder, sadly asking, “Then why are you stupid enough to believe him when he says he likes me?”
“When he told me, the look on his face was genuine!” Xia Yujin said angrily.
“Has he ever looked anything other than genuine when he said any of those things? He still fooled Mao Erzhu into spending a whole night in the middle of winter hiding in the bushes on the bank of the Luo River to get a peep at the goddess. He was ill for two weeks when he came back,” Ye Zhao said, exasperated. “How do you think he got nicknamed ‘Fox’? It’s in this jerk’s nature to aggravate people! He lies even when he doesn’t need to, just to catch the people he manages to fool! He probably didn’t like the look of you and decided to toy with you!”
Seeing that her anger didn’t seem to be faked, Xia Yujin instinctively believed her a little. He stammered, “But… But…”
“There’s not but!” Remembering the past, Ye Zhao gritted her teeth. “When he gets drunk, he’ll sing love songs to anyone who passed by—me, Qiu Hua and Qiu Shui, Qiu Laohu, the old cook. Completely off-tune. It’s as bad as it sounds. The noise disturbed the whole camp. Even when he’s not drunk, he’ll deceive everyone around him. Except for official business, he lies almost all the time. Only a few fools still believe anything he says.”
Xia Yujin was struck on the spot, stunned under the moonlight. He stood there dazedly, mind blank. With difficulty, he managed to grit out two words: “I see.” Then, stupefied, he turned around, making to go back to his room.
“Wait!” Mind restless from the wine, Ye Zhao grabbed his shoulder with a little too much strength and dragged him back. Then she leaned close once again, scrutinizing his face. The corners of her mouth suddenly and ominously curled up, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth. “Why do you look so happy that Fox loves me?” she asked in a strange voice.
“I’m not.” Having a bad feeling about this, Xia Yujin tried to slip away.
“Really?” Under Ye Zhao’s long eyelashes, there was now a cold glint in her glass-colored eyes turned pitch-black. Like a panther on a hunt, she stretched out her claws and snatched her prey. Her voice becoming more and more gentle, she said, “Are you looking for a new husband for me before the three years are even over?”
Any animal with a brain could hear the danger lurking beneath that gentleness.
“Well, I…” Xia Yujin was so frightened that sweat started beading on his forehead. After several unsuccessful attempts at freeing himself, eyes roving madly, he tried to defend himself even though he couldn’t look straight at her. “I just hope you have a good life.”
“Really?” Ye Zhao got closer. Her lips brushed his cheeks, perhaps inadvertently, when she ambiguously said, “My husband has such a good heart. I feel so moved…”
The warm touch on his face brought him a strange thrill. Under her bewitching eyes, his heart started beating faster, almost jumping out of his chest. This whole situation felt familiar, like déjà vu. Flustered, he searched for a nice-sounding rebuke, but when the words came to his lips he found them too weak, so he settled on blunt, coarse language: “Fuck you…”
He didn’t finish.
Ye Zhao had already firmly sealed his mouth with hers, her breath warm and smelling like wine. She kissed him quickly, then leaned back slightly, a hair’s breadth away.
The sound of their breaths was loud in their ears.
He stared wildly at the person in front of him, who was still grasping him and cutting off his escape.
Her lips were still curled around a smile, as though she was playing with her prey. Then, leaning forward, she once more whispered in his ear, “You want to fuck me? Come on.”
It took Xia Yujin several long minutes to react. Flushed with anger, eyes wide open, he exclaimed, “I’ve seen shameless women, but I’ve never seen one as shameless as you!”
Ye Zhao brushed his lips with her fingertips. “Does my husband still know the meaning of shame?”
“Let go!” Xia Yujin wished he could kill that asshole. He took two deep breaths and calmed his heartbeat. Then he looked at her smirk, and finally realized where he’d seen that expression—didn’t he and his useless friends sport this exact same look when they went out to flirt with women? The realization hit him at once. He had to make sure. “You bastard! Are you molesting me?”
“Mhm,” Ye Zhao seriously replied. “You could say that.”
“You fucking asshole! How many people have you done this to?” Faced with his wife’s brazen moves, Xia Yujin wanted to tear out his hair in anger. They were clearly the result of years of practice, and not the slightest bit inferior to his own. How many people had she targeted? Even worse: were they men or women?
“I was young and stupid, thinking I was a man. I’ve teased my share of girls. But I’m careful now,” Ye Zhao said, finally releasing his hand and propping him up. She calmly added, “I only play with my own husband.”
Xia Yujin straightened and pointed his finger at her nose. “Brazen fellow!” he cursed. “Where else in the world can you find another married woman who behaves like this? Fuck! I finally get it…”
“What do you get?” asked Ye Zhao, crossing her arms with a smile.
Xia Yujin was fuming. “Even if you put on the act of an upright and cold general, you’re still the same brash thug inside!”
Ye Zhao licked her lips. “Well, I was one for so many years after all,” she said, nostalgic. “Occasionally I feel the need to revisit my past.”
“So you admit it?” Xia Yujin was getting more and more incensed. “Well, believe it or not, I’ll… I’ll…”
His voice came out smaller and smaller as he talked. He didn’t know how to continue.
“You’ll tell everyone that your wife is a rascal,” Ye Zhao “kindly” reminded him, “and that she forcibly kissed you? Felt you up?”
Which man could bear to admit this?
Xia Yujin had no choice but to suffer this unspeakable and bitter ordeal in silence. He kept consoling himself: after all, he had many concubines and many tongfang maids. He often went to brothels and pleasure boats to sample women. He had plenty of experience. However, though his wife may be the one with the long teeth now, upon second thought he wasn’t at a disadvantage.
“Husband, you’re a man of character. Don’t get angry for so little.” Ye Zhao was aware that she was possibly drunk; she’d acted rashly and let go of her cool head. But, as matters stood now, she’d already seized her slight advantage, taken her bite, played the rascal, and there was no changing the ending. She may have wanted to catch him, but she couldn’t go any further since he did not enjoy being chased so forcefully, and angering him too much was no use. They still had to live together…
“Go away!” Xia Yujin said angrily, seeing her standing there lost in thought.
“Alright. Don’t stay up too late.” Ye Zhao turned around decisively, choosing not to bother him any longer, and sauntered away to sleep.
That was how she left after toying with him?
Xia Yujin stared at her retreating figure incredulously. He directed a punch at the curtain fig tree next to him, then held up his hand, almost crying from the pain.
