Jin Zhuo was utterly mortified. “It is, hiccup, been a few days.”
Just as expected.
Xun Long asked again, “Did you know I take sleeping pills?”
Jin Zhuo opened her mouth to speak, only to let out another hiccup.
She seemed to care quite a bit about keeping up appearances, covering her mouth with her hand, nodding, and stubbornly continuing to gaze at Xun Long with such affectionate eyes.
For no apparent reason, Xun Long was completely certain that Jin Zhuo was fantasizing about her in her head.
Outside, the sound of cats fighting drifted in. It sounded intense, an irritating noise that grated on the nerves.
Yet Jin Zhuo could no longer hear any of it. Her body was in a state of extreme agitation, and she looked at Xun Long, brimming with anticipation.
“So, hiccup, what, how are you going to punish me?”
Xun Long was a few years older than Jin Zhuo. Having never been in a relationship and remaining perpetually single, anyone close to her could more or less guess her preferences.
In certain settings, Xun Long’s gaze would always linger on women.
A former colleague who had since left the company had once invited Xun Long to attend an event, but Xun Long had never agreed.
She disliked how purpose-driven those environments were, as bonds could shatter at any moment, and relationships that could be unilaterally broken off held no appeal for her.
Was this karmic retribution?
This was no longer a question of whether it was purpose-driven or not; the very word “purpose” had vanished, leaving behind only raw desire.
Inexperienced as she was, Xun Long could easily tell from Jin Zhuo’s tone that the punishment she spoke of sounded much more like a reward.
Under the play of light and shadow, Jin Zhuo’s sickly complexion looked like a fragile windowpane battered by the wind. The irritability brought on by sleep deprivation overshadowed her inherent kindness and curiosity.
Impatiently, Xun Long reached out a hand toward Jin Zhuo. “Call the police. Give me your phone.”
“No!”
Jin Zhuo scrambled away, clutching the blanket, while Xun Long yanked it back.
Her light summer quilt was a pale color, and as it was pulled away, it was stained with damp patches.
How it had gotten wet, and what had moistened it, Xun Long was all too clear on that.
The only source of light in the room was the bedside lamp. Losing one eye impaired her field of vision and depth perception, so even with the light, it was exceedingly difficult for Xun Long to touch what was right in front of her.
Her hand fell an inch off, grazing Jin Zhuo’s chest, prompting the other woman to let out a strange cry.
Xun Long withdrew her hand. “Shut up.”
Jin Zhuo bit her lower lip. Mistaking Xun Long’s action for a sign of interest in her, she whispered, “If you want to touch, you are welcome anytime.”
Xun Long would not about to admit that her eyesight was poor.
Stunned into speechlessness for a long moment, she finally said, “Everything you have, I have too.”
“That is different.” Jin Zhuo hid Xun Long’s phone, knelt on the bed, and slowly crawled toward her. “Do you want to try?”
The light source was on the right, leaving Xun Long’s left eye shrouded in shadow. Unless one looked closely, it was not immediately obvious that her eye socket was empty.
This time, the distance was very close. Xun Long reached out and slowly pinched Jin Zhuo’s chin, her fingers brushing over a face that remained intensely flushed even under the dim yellow light, brimming with a tremor of emotion, like a puppet manipulated by lust.
The woman’s sound right pupil was light in color. Brought so close under the ambient glow of the lamp, Jin Zhuo had the illusion of being immersed in a jar of honey.
Her breathing tightened, and she could barely maintain her kneeling posture.
It was as if Xun Long’s gaze alone could transport her to the happiest place imaginable. Earnestly, she looked at Xun Long. “Try it. Since I am already here.”
Am I some kind of tourist attraction?
What was that supposed to mean, since I am already here?
Xun Long let out a dry, mocking laugh. “Then I am going to call for help.”
Her voice sounded fragile, and her cry certainly would not be loud. But the outside was too quiet, and coupled with the early dawn of summer, Jin Zhuo, who had lived here all her life and knew the daily routines of the people on this street all too well, hurriedly grabbed Xun Long’s hand. “Don’t yell, I will do whatever you say.”
Xun Long asked, “Anything?”
Jin Zhuo looked like a helpless little puppy being grabbed by the scruff of its neck. Her soft affirmation was squeezed out from between her lips, and she gazed up at Xun Long with tearful, pleading eyes. Anyone watching would have thought Xun Long was the villain and she the victim.
Yet, to someone like her, being pinched by the chin by Xun Long was its own kind of reward.
Soon, her eyes grew hazy again as she lost herself in some unfathomable thought, letting out an ambiguous, humming chuckle.
Xun Long had never encountered this type of person before. Releasing her grip, she asked, “You have a car, right?”
Jin Zhuo’s chin still bore a red mark from the pinch. She rubbed it herself, seemingly wanting more, her gaze lingering affectionately on Xun Long. After a moment, she replied, “I do.”
The gap between them felt like the deep, bottomless cliffside scenery of the town.
To someone who adored her, everything about Xun Long was priceless. Feeling deeply unworthy, Jin Zhuo said apologetically, “My car is very ordinary; it cannot compare to your luxury car.”
Xun Long chuckled. “What luxury car do I have? Who did you hear that from?”
Jin Zhuo: “Your grandmother said so.”
Xun Long scoffed. “My grandmother only knows that the king of luxury vehicles among tricycles is the Tianba Li.”
Jin Zhuo fell silent.
Not knowing what she meant, Xun Long asked, “Is your car very big?”
Jin Zhuo’s eyes lit up. “You knew?”
Xun Long: “Grandfather mentioned it.”
Since Xun Long was currently recuperating and could not drink, she occasionally made lanterns with her grandfather after meals.
The old man would talk about everything, ranging from the price of peaches to whose son had been caught cheating with two women at once. He had mentioned that old neighbor Jin’s wine was quite good, and added that little Huo Shao was doing very well for himself and had bought his own car long ago.
It would have been hard for Xun Long not to know.
Jin Zhuo let out an oh, sounding somewhat disappointed.
Xun Long did not have time to chit-chat with her. Since she happened to have a use for Jin Zhuo, she laid out her demands.
“For the next, let us say three months, I will have tasks for you, and you need to be on call whenever I need you.”
Jin Zhuo was still wrapped in her blanket, leaning against the wall. Her bare shoulder line was quite pretty, making it clear she worked out.
If the situation had not been so bizarre, Xun Long probably would have lingered a bit longer.
Glancing down at her damp quilt, she finally seemed to understand why she kept finding her bedding mysteriously soaked with water.
The problem was that she always woke up completely oblivious, as if she had been toyed with in her sleep.
Being used as a tool and being toyed with did not really have much of a difference.
“What kind of tasks?”
Xun Long yanked the blanket back. In the middle of summer, her body was cold enough that she actually felt chilled. “What do you think?”
Jin Zhuo lazily pulled up her thin shoulder strap, snapping back to a modicum of reality from her infatuation. “You mean you are going to treat me like a slave for three months?”
Xun Long was already exhausted. Her temper grew worse and her tone colder and harder when she was weary. “What, would you rather I call the police instead?”
Surprisingly, Jin Zhuo felt that she looked even more delectable right now.
What an animal.
She cursed herself inwardly, only to discover with a sad realization that she was worse than an animal, because she still wanted to sleep with Xun Long.
Jin Zhuo: “Then I am getting the short end of the stick.”
Xun Long closed her eyes to rest, but opened them slightly upon hearing that remark. “Then what do you want?”
Jin Zhuo: “I want to keep coming back.”
Xun Long was certain: this was the thickest-skinned person she had ever met in her life.
She did not seem to feel the slightest bit of shame over her actions.
“Have you no sense of shame?” Xun Long glanced at Jin Zhuo’s disheveled clothing. “If your followers found out what you have been up to…”
Yet Jin Zhuo was entirely unfazed. “You are not going to go around telling people.”
Xun Long: “Why? Am I not allowed to talk about it?”
Jin Zhuo had stopped hiccuping, looking dead certain of something. “Because you need me, too.”
She had put her slip dress back on, revealing a stunning figure.
Whenever Xun Long had seen Jin Zhuo in the past, it seemed to be during shop closures; she loved wearing athletic wear to hike the mountains and rivers, bringing her younger sister along for summer vacation.
Did not her sister live right next door? Had not she noticed her older sister scaling walls and climbing into beds in the middle of the night?
Xun Long: “Am I really that dependent on you?”
Jin Zhuo hummed. “For now, I would say there is probably no one more suited for you to keep under your thumb.”
She was much smarter than Xun Long had imagined. Rather than concealing her desires, she effortlessly converted this behavior into a transaction.
Gutsy.
Xun Long asked, “Why did you sneak into my bed in the middle of the night?”
“Finding a girlfriend would make this a lot easier for you, wouldn’t it?”
Jin Zhuo was not unattractive, and her profession and background made her a natural fit for the industry she currently ran.
Xun Long did not know if she had any real substance to her skills, but from a visual standpoint, a beautiful woman blacksmith was undeniably a striking sight. According to online review platforms, many customers came specifically by name recognition.
“It is not easy,” Jin Zhuo said. “Do not look at my dad as someone who is always cheerful and drinking with your grandpa, since he is terribly rigid when it comes to this stuff.”
Even after dressing in her dress, she did not leave. Seeing Xun Long covered in the blanket, she simply walked over to the foot of the bed, turned the electric fan toward herself, and could not help complaining, “Is your air conditioner just for decoration?”
Her hair ends had a slight wave, resembling the soft fuzz of cats and birds gathered to line a nest. Under the dim, unbright light of the bedside lamp, her silhouette was cast as if traced by a fine brush.
As the fan blew against her face, Jin Zhuo finally let out a breath. “Ah, that is the spot.”
Xun Long narrowed her eyes, suppressing a sleepy yawn. “You seem awfully familiar with the layout of my room. Why did not you just turn on the AC yourself?”
Jin Zhuo had actually considered it. “Could not find the remote.”
“Though you seem terribly afraid of the cold, so never mind. If you woke up, I would be, well, I guess I am already done for.”
Xun Long, however, latched onto her previous remark. “You have not come out to your parents, which is why you are targeting me?”
“They would never agree to it, and besides, they want me to marry a husband and keep the family line going,” Jin Zhuo said. “There are two daughters in our house, so that is how it is always planned.”
Before Xun Long could say anything, Jin Zhuo followed up with a remarkably blunt statement: “As for why I chose you, of course it is because I like you.”
Silence hung in the air for a dozen seconds, broken only by the steady clacking of the old-fashioned electric fan.
“You call this liking someone?” Xun Long laughed. “What you are doing is trespassing.”
“Cannot be helped, Big Sister.” Jin Zhuo turned her head. Even in her slip dress, part of her was still exposed, the protruding curves inviting wandering thoughts. “Since you have caught me, I will listen to you. Whatever you say, I will do.”
Despite saying that, she was still effectively bargaining with Xun Long.
“Then do not come back.”
Xun Long stared at her. Her blind eye was swallowed by the darkness, leaving the contour of half her face with a pitiful, delicate look that made one hesitate to disturb her.
“Cannot do that.”
True to form, she was remarkably stubborn about this.
Since life back in her hometown was dull anyway, and Xun Long was already suffering from insomnia, she actually found herself chatting with the woman.
“You have seen it yourself. I am exhausted, and my body has not healed.”
Jin Zhuo had grown up on this street, unlike Xun Long, who only returned during holidays.
Many people whispered that Xun Long did not have many years left to live; others claimed she had contracted a terminal illness, while some felt her future was pitch black, destined to end in ruin without anyone to care for her.
Those were just rumors from outsiders; Jin Zhuo knew the true state of Xun Long’s health.
There was still a chance she might walk again, because that right leg of hers had not completely lost hope.
And that meant a phoenix whose wings had been broken still had a chance to fly away once more.
The time Jin Zhuo had left by her side could be counted on one hand.
Besides, if she did not take the initiative, Xun Long would never need her to stay.
Perhaps this was the only opportunity she would ever have in this lifetime to draw close to Xun Long.
“So just let me help you out.” Jin Zhuo turned around, sat down at Xun Long’s side, and boldly took Xun Long’s hand. “I like being tormented by you.”
With clear insinuation, she intertwined her fingers with Xun Long’s, pressing them together. “Your hands… I like them very much.”
Xun Long lowered her gaze, unable to forget the sticky sensation still lingering on her fingers.
Jin Zhuo’s fierce ardor exceeded her expectations. She could not understand how a person could become a slave to desire, letting herself be consumed to the point of doing something like this.
“Just my hands? How do I remember you putting this place…”
Xun Long used her other hand to gesture lightly at the spot that had nearly popped out when Jin Zhuo leaned over earlier.
Soft, and equally sensitive to stimulation.
Xun Long’s field of vision was narrowed by the loss of one eye. Perhaps it was only when one’s life hit rock bottom that people like Jin Zhuo could find an opening to slip in.
“Put it on my face.”
Xun Long gave a light pinch, causing Jin Zhuo to let out a gasp before quickly biting her lip the next second.
“Do you like this kind of thing?”
Jin Zhuo’s affirmation was mixed with breathy pants, and her earlier arrogant menace had completely vanished. “I like it, I love it to death.”
Xun Long released her grip, rubbing her fingertips together as if trying to shake off the lingering sensation. “I can agree to it.”
Jin Zhuo looked at her eagerly.
Xun Long gave her a half-smiling, half-mocking glance.
Though she was not looking down from above, it gave Jin Zhuo the distinct illusion that Xun Long was sitting high upon a lotus throne.
“Only when I give permission are you allowed to come.”