Time seemed to stretch endlessly. A strange unease and panic, as if she had nowhere to turn, washed over her. Lian Wan pressed her lips together and lifted her eyes, only to run straight into the woman’s smiling gaze.
The woman had a pair of bright peach blossom eyes. When she looked at someone, she seemed to carry a swaying sheen of water with her, as if hidden hooks lay within those eyes. But her lips were very thin, and even when painted red and curved into a smile, they still carried a chill. Even if she had been born in a thicket of weeds, she would still be a rose. Anyone who saw her at first glance would understand that her sweetness came with thorns, and yet they would still plunge right in, only to be shattered to pieces by her overflowing allure.
Now, just like the first time they met, Lian Wan once again fell into her gaze, feeling danger, and also feeling herself sink in.
Strange to say, although she had come many times already, the woman’s face was still stunning to her. Lian Wan felt that every time she saw her, she became unfamiliar once more, and she could not make sense of why.
So she came again and again, every day, not knowing what she was even looking for.
Cicadas were calling endlessly outside.
Lian Wan came back to herself in an instant. Gripping the bottle of mineral water as if it were a lifeline, she lowered her head and thought:
Maybe she should not have come to buy this bottle of water.
These past few days, she had been possessed.
After a long silence, Zhou Yanqian finally heard Lian Wan deign to speak.
She said a little more this time, but her voice was still soft.
She said, “You gave me the wrong one. This is not the payment code.”
Zhou Yanqian, who had been trying hard to keep up her air of nonchalance since the moment she walked in, nearly lost her composure. “What?”
Lian Wan lifted her head and looked at her quietly. “You gave me the wrong one.”
As she spoke, she even turned the screen of her phone toward Zhou Yanqian and showed her the interface.
What did that mean? Zhou Yanqian was almost amused out of anger. Her emotions churned like rough seas inside her, only to settle on her face as a thin smile at the corner of her mouth. Her tone was half teasing, half reproachful. “I want this one. Add me, and transfer the money to me.”
Lian Wan stood rooted in place like a stake, saying nothing.
Zhou Yanqian did not know what this woman was being awkward about now, but she also realized her own emotions had gone too far. She reminded herself to be careful not to scare her away, and softened her tone, speaking again in that slow, drawn-out way. “If you don’t add me now, then even if you beg me in a few days, I still won’t add you. If this ends up delaying your work later, then don’t blame me.”
She soon saw a flicker of doubt pass through the pretty eyes of the little dazed goose in front of her, but she still did not make a sound, only standing there in silence, no one knew what she was thinking.
Zhou Yanqian stared at her, and without meaning to, she drifted off a little.
…So beautiful. Tall and slim with cool pale skin, long brows and deep eyes, a straight nose and delicate lips. The fingers gripping the bottle of mineral water were well defined, and because she was so thin, a faint blue vein showed on the back of her hand, as if Zhou Yanqian could pin her down with one hand.
Who was she driving crazy? She meant she was driving her crazy.
Inside, she was screaming. For the sake of this level of beauty alone, Zhou Yanqian immediately forgave Lian Wan’s clumsiness and hesitation.
“Don’t be afraid.” She rested her chin on one hand, letting her voice turn gentle, smiling with her eyes curved as she looked up to comfort her. “It’s a good thing.”
She even reached out, pretending to pat Lian Wan on the shoulder, only to be dodged.
Zhou Yanqian looked at the hand that had been dodged, the corner of her mouth lifting as she smiled until Lian Wan was flustered all over again.
In any case, the two of them still ended up adding each other as friends.
When Lian Wan left with that wet bottle of mineral water in her hand, she heard the bell hanging on the glass door ring again behind her.
Ding, a single chime, like ice tumbling into her palm, like it was about to shatter the heat and silence of this summer.
After coming out of the woman’s shop and turning into the stairwell, the temperature around her dropped at once. The stairs were also cold cement stairs, and the wall was mottled with layers upon layers of small advertisements. Lian Wan went all the way up to the third floor and took out her keys to open the door.
The room was bare at a glance, a not very large one-bedroom with very little furniture, not even many chairs. A pale green refrigerator stood by the table, and opposite it was a bed covered with a bamboo mat. There was a light bulb hanging from the wall, and a small balcony with foam boxes planted with scallions and cilantro.
The wooden door closed behind her. Lian Wan went inside, and the cement floor brought even more coolness. Her home did not have air conditioning, but it was not very hot year round anyway.
She had broken a light sweat on the way back, but Lian Wan was not in a rush to turn on the fan overhead. Instead, she first opened the refrigerator and put the bottle of mineral water she was holding inside.
Aside from a bit of greens and a few cans of beer, the nearly empty refrigerator was full of neatly arranged bottles of mineral water. There had to be seven or eight of them, the same brand, the same size.
Lian Wan’s mouth curved unconsciously.
The clothes on her body had already gotten filthy while unloading this morning. After she finished unloading, she had simply rinsed off with the hose connected to the wall. By now it had dried, leaving behind streaks of dust and white marks from sweat.
Lian Wan took off her clothes, quickly rinsed herself with a cold shower, put on a T-shirt and shorts that served as pajamas, and lay down on the bed with one arm tucked under her head.
The fan overhead blew slowly. The bamboo mat gave off a reassuring, clean fragrance, and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
That afternoon, Lian Wan once again dreamed of those bare white arms.
The scene from the first time they met replayed in her dream. She backed the Truck up in front of the grocery shop and unloaded the two glass doors from it.
The woman came over, her head full of glossy black hair pinned up. Two thin straps hung from her shoulders, and her posture was graceful.
Behind her, the sounds of construction clanged and rang. Lian Wan had to lean in close to speak to her.
The background was a stretch of blinding white fog, and everyone else who had been there that day was gone. Only the two of them remained.
The white arms so close at hand made Lian Wan dizzy. The woman was speaking and also reaching out to brush at her clothes. That day, Lian Wan trembled. Though deep down she clearly did not want to lose, her feet still took a slight step back.
Two arms soft and smooth like milk crossed in front of her, along with that white shoulder and neck, reserved yet wantonly exposed.
Those thin red lips were moving, breathing out words hot and ticklish enough to make her restless. “Take a break first. Come sit over here, look at you, all covered in sweat…”
Lian Wan’s back stiffened with tension.
The woman was still as she had been that day, disregarding her avoidance as she pressed her soft body close, even inviting everyone there to eat chilled watermelon. She pulled open the newly installed refrigerator, and with that movement of her arm and body, she drew out a curve that was trembling and irresistible.
Her youthful understanding of female beauty truly began that day.
But the Lian Wan in the dream was bolder than she had been that day, rendering every detail in sharp relief.
The watermelon was cold to the touch, but the woman’s arm was warm, with a thin layer of sweat on it. When Lian Wan accidentally brushed against it, it felt astonishingly smooth, and the skin she touched seemed to burn as if it might catch fire.
Her heart fluttered in confusion. She stepped farther away, but the woman stubbornly pressed in closer. Lian Wan felt like she was doing it on purpose, and yet maybe not. The woman smelled very nice, not like Olay, nor like shampoo. Lian Wan could not say what that scent was, only that the fragrance rushing into her nose climbed straight into her head, burning her until her whole body grew more and more dazed.
Suddenly, the woman’s legs went weak, and she tilted into Lian Wan’s arm. Lian Wan hurriedly reached out to support her, and her soft body fell into her arms at once.
The two of them’ body heat piled together, and the woman’s was even hotter than hers. Watermelon juice fell to the corner of her lips. It was sweet. Lian Wan tasted it.
The woman caught her hand, and for something deeper, she guided her to reach out and explore.
…Hot, sticky heat spread from the air all the way into her lungs. Lian Wan woke in a steamy, sweat-soaked haze. The room was already dark. She did not know when the fan had stopped. The bamboo mat was damp with a large wet patch from her sleep, and outside was pitch black too, with not a trace of light.
…Looks like the power is out.
Lian Wan lifted one arm and covered her eyes. It took her quite a while before she rolled out of bed. Just to be safe, she still took a flashlight to check the fuse box, then walked out to the balcony and looked out at the darkness nearby.
Her hand resting on the railing, she felt a little dazed in this summer night so dark it made her uneasy. It was as if the dream had not yet ended, and the soles of her feet were soft and unable to touch solid ground.
Something itched across her back. A few beads of sweat rolled down. This heat made the dream she had just had seem to replay in front of her eyes again. Lian Wan was dry-mouthed and a little restless as she twisted open the slightly rusted faucet to wash her face.
Water trickled on. She scrubbed hard, and her face, along with the skin of her neck and collarbones, started to ache, but she still could not forget that soft, warm fragrance.
The faucet ran with water, then was quickly shut tight. Lian Wan buried her head in her hands and took a deep breath.
She steadied herself, turned, and went back inside to take a can of beer from the refrigerator after the power had gone out.
Her fingertips had originally brushed past that row of mineral water, but she still veered away in a restless mood.
Once the earth fell into darkness, the night sky grew bright. Leaning against the balcony, Lian Wan sipped at the beer, which had already grown somewhat warm, and when she looked up, she realized there were especially many stars tonight.
In the night, the lush tree canopies and flowers and plants below were no longer visible, and only a faint clean fragrance could be smelled.
Not far away, there were a few vague patches of white light, likely some family’s emergency lamp, and she could make out the faint silhouettes of a few people. The night was quiet. As time slipped on without sound, the sweat on her body dried, and Lian Wan felt the muscles all over her body slowly loosen, as if she had taken a hot bath. She could not make out exactly what she was thinking, only felt relieved that the feverish state of her mind was gradually calming down.
She did not know how long had passed before the window of the house diagonally below suddenly lit up, casting out a hazy glow that flickered slightly, as if it were the yellow light of a candle.
Right after that came the creak of a door being shut, the sound of a water heater failing to ignite, and then, very soon, the sound of water pattering down.
Someone was clearly taking a shower.
Lian Wan did not pay it much mind. Her brain was still in the recovery period after all that heat, so she only took a calm sip of beer and silently savored the faint bitterness lingering at the base of her tongue after the refreshment.
Gradually, steaming mist, carrying a drifting fragrance, rose up,
This fragrance was not Olay, not shampoo. This fragrance felt strangely familiar, as if she had just run into it.
Lian Wan suddenly remembered. The second floor of the grocery shop where that woman lived was directly below and diagonally across from her own place. That protruding iron-railed balcony, like a small peninsula, had held all of her voyeurism these past days.
It was that woman taking a shower.
The moment that thought jumped up, Lian Wan could not help holding her breath. Her body reflexively made useless resistance.
But that fragrance was still drifting over, baring its teeth and claws as it occupied the air around her, curling and weaving into a sticky mist. Lian Wan felt that she had once again run straight into it. Like a wild beast rushing headlong into an iron cage, crashing until she was dizzy and unable to escape no matter how hard she struggled.
She no longer knew what day or night it was. The pale, tender arms from the dream leapt back into her vision, and that fragrance drifted out from the hollow of the neck, as if spreading from a dense mass of plants, carrying the unique reach and vitality of vegetation. It sprouted a hand and seized her, dragging her inside.
Heat and sweat welled up again on Lian Wan’s back and forehead, as if those thoughts were flowing out of her body.
The emptied beer can was suddenly squeezed tight, making a creaking sound. It was crushed flat and tossed aside, and in this power-out night, it gave off a hollow echo.