The snow-white horse came to a halt before the Su residence, and the young girl was lifted down from the saddle, looking utterly bashful. The hands encircling her waist were quickly withdrawn. Xue Lingmiao felt an intuitive pang—had she said something wrong? Why was Ayu suddenly avoiding her touch?
Moonlight bathed the earth, and an evening breeze sighed through the trees. Su Yu turned away, fidgeting with the gold-threaded silk tassels at her waist. Her eyes were dark and deep, and for some reason, a flicker of coldness escaped from the corners of her gaze. “A-Zhi, take your mistress back to her room.”
The atmosphere was stiflingly odd. The young maid glanced at Su Yu, then at her bewildered little mistress. She said softly, “Miss, allow me to help you back to rest.”
Xue Lingmiao’s fingertips trembled. Her keen senses told her to stay by Ayu’s side, but staying required a courage she currently lacked. Her mind was in a whirl; she hadn’t yet figured out how things had turned out this way, and she didn’t dare intrude further.
Watching her retreat, Su Yu let out a long, slow breath. “I’ve truly gone mad. She doesn’t understand a thing.”
That intimate, ambiguous moment on the horse—Su Yu had momentarily thought the girl was trying to seduce her. It turned out it was her own heart that was “dirty,” using cynical, ugly suspicions to measure a child as clean as a spring breeze.
Su Yu curled her lips in self-mockery. She returned to her room and sank into the warm bathwater. Stop overthinking. So, she rubbed her face against yours—so what? Is it really such a big deal?
She stared at her reflection in the water and muttered, “Is pitch-pot no longer fun? Is Cuju (ancient football) no longer exciting? Why am I picking a fight with an unweaned little kitten? A little kitten, tsk, she really is a little troublemaker.”
After cleaning up, she stepped out of the tub and lay listlessly on her bed, wrapped in a simple robe.
One window was left open, letting the breeze slip inside. Su Yu lay with her legs stretched out, one crossed over the other. Her head was filled with the memory of the girl’s sweet, tender voice—like a two-month-old kitten, meow, meow, meow—those innocent eyes looking up at her, those soft paws scratching at her heart.
She pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling both ashamed and ridiculous for her earlier “dirty” thoughts. How could such a pure girl do anything so shameless or wanton?
Perhaps she didn’t even know the meaning of the word “wanton.” She was as white as xuan paper, a soul without blemish. She couldn’t see the filth of the world, and thus she retained her primal innocence.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock sounded at the door. Knowing exactly who it was, Su Yu asked, “Why aren’t you sleeping? What are you doing here at this hour?”
Outside, the girl leaning on her bamboo cane pleaded loudly, “Ayu, please open the door. I have something to say to you.”
“It’s late. Go back to sleep.”
“Should I, should I just stand outside and tell you?”
“Come in. The door isn’t locked.”
The door creaked open. The inner chamber was dim, with no candles lit; only the cool, silver radiance of the moon spilled across the floor.
Through the translucent azure bed curtains, Su Yu watched the girl as she navigated the shadows with her cane. Every step was cautious. Her silhouette looked thin and fragile—so weak that a sudden gust of wind might knock her down.
“Ayu, where are you?”
“Here.”
The girl followed the sound of her voice with care until her hand brushed against the gauze curtains. She bit her lip. “Ayu, don’t be angry with me anymore.”
“Angry? Why would I be angry?”
“You’re angry because I don’t understand anything.” Her eyelashes were slightly damp. “I, I will learn.”
Learn? Su Yu’s heart skipped a beat. That’s not something you can just ‘learn’ at random. Shifting into a more comfortable position, she let out a lazy laugh. “Silly girl.”
“You’re right, I am silly.” Lingmiao sniffled sadly. “Even if I don’t understand, Ayu can teach me. I am your fiancée—we are supposed to nurture our feelings, aren’t we?”
She said this with total sincerity, a girl who didn’t even know what “flirting” meant. Su Yu shook her head. “Nurturing feelings is nowhere near as interesting as having fun.”
At the implication that Su Yu refused to “teach” her, the girl shivered. In a sudden rush of heat to her head, she stepped forward and reached through the curtains to find Su Yu’s face.
She found it. Ayu’s face was no longer burning hot as it had been; it was slightly cool from the night breeze. That coolness seeped from the girl’s fingertips into her heart. Lingmiao was lost for words; her eyes reddened instantly.
“Have you touched enough?”
“No.”
Her heart felt swollen and aching. A sudden realization told her clearly: she was physically close to Ayu, but their hearts were worlds apart. Lingmiao sat on the edge of the bed in fear, pleading in a low voice, “Ayu, don’t be like this.”
“Like what?”
“Please, don’t be so indifferent.”
Su Yu no longer wanted to misinterpret the girl with cynical thoughts. She sat up with a sigh, but before she could speak, the girl collapsed into her embrace. The two of them lay half-reclined, their breaths intertwining.
“If it takes losing your temper to make things better, then scold me. Just don’t give me no reaction at all. You, you were clearly blushing before.”
Caught off guard by the hug and surrounded by the scent of flowers, Su Yu couldn’t help but reflect: Had she been losing her temper? Perhaps. She was annoyed by the girl’s oblivious, unreserved closeness, and annoyed with herself for being momentarily dazed by her beauty.
“Ayu, can’t I play with you?”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“It isn’t nonsense!” The girl didn’t dare nuzzle her cheek again; instead, she used her fingertip to trace her fiancée’s ear. “I’m serious. I like Ayu. Don’t push me away like you did before. The things I don’t understand, I will figure them all out.”
She whimpered softly, following her instincts to act spoiled. “Give me another chance, alright? Let me stay by your side.”
“You, you get up first!”
“I won’t.” She stubbornly toyed with Su Yu’s ear, which was beginning to burn. She felt a secret surge of joy, sensing she had found the right approach. “If you won’t teach me, I won’t get up.”
Su Yu looked utterly embarrassed. It was a good thing she wasn’t particularly interested in “sensual pleasures,” or this girl would have been devoured whole without even knowing what hit her. “Fine, I’ll teach you. Just get up.”
“You’ll really teach me?”
“I won’t lie to you.”
The girl climbed off her with a suppressed giggle and said earnestly, “Then teach me, Ayu.”
“This sort of thing requires talent. Do you have enough?” Su Yu composed herself, smoothing her sleeves with feigned nonchalance. Lingmiao gave her full attention to the words, lost in thought, worried that a lack of talent might earn her fiancée’s disdain.
She pouted slightly. “Diligence can make up for a lack of skill.”
A light laugh rang out, followed by a soft gasp. Su Yu decisively pinned her down. By the moonlight streaming in from the window, her fingertip grazed and toyed with the girl’s delicate lower lip. Her voice was lighter than a feather falling to the floor: “Lingmiao, do you understand now? This is flirting.”
Lingmiao: “?”
A thousand restless rabbits seemed to be thumping in her chest, leaving her dizzy and lightheaded.
The young girl returned to her room in a daze, lying in bed with a silly grin on her face. So flirting and “teasing” are quite similar.
She had heard the word “teasing” from the servants when she was younger. The day after she learned what it meant, the servants were dismissed and sent back to their hometowns, and no one dared speak such “wild words” in her ear again.
Everything she had learned growing up came from her father. He said she was a good girl with a fiancée and must not learn “bad ways,” for failing to raise a virtuous daughter would be an insult to the Su family. He also said that after they married, she would belong to Ayu, and Ayu would belong to her.
Curled up under her silk quilt, the girl relished the memory of her fiancée “bullying” her with a fingertip, tasting a hint of sweetness in it. She didn’t like being teased by irrelevant people, but she loved being flirted with by Ayu.
That’s it, she thought. Teasing is one-sided, frivolous, and unreasonable. Flirting is mutual, a shared desire that makes the heart race and the face flush.
When Ayu asked her that question on the horse, was she hinting for her to continue? This was perfect. She curled her toes in shy delight.
Meanwhile, Su Yu—who had sacrificed her own pride to provide a “live demonstration” in hopes the girl would have an epiphany—had no idea that the girl’s train of thought had jumped the tracks so far that even eight horses couldn’t pull it back. She rubbed her fingertips, the warmth of those soft lips still lingering. Grumbling “little troublemaker” under her breath, she rolled over and fell asleep.
When Su Yu woke up, the girl had already changed into fresh clothes and was standing outside the door, calling out cheerfully, “Ayu? Ayu, time to get up.”
Her beautiful dream interrupted, Su Yu grumpily pulled the covers over her head. “Stop bothering me!”
Her voice sounded quite harsh. The maid, A-Zhi, looked worriedly at her blind young mistress, fearing that the one whose sleep had been disturbed might storm out in a rage.
Xue Lingmiao thought for a moment, then pushed the door open and walked right in. “You were the one who told me to wake you up no matter what. Ayu, stop sleeping. If you stay in bed any longer, the North Market will have closed up for the day.”
“I said stop bothering me,” came the muffled, sulky voice from under the quilt.
The girl’s lips curved into a smile. “So Ayu is the type to linger in bed. You said last night that if I didn’t wake you this morning, there would be no need for me to follow you anymore. You can’t blame me, Ayu.”
She felt a pang of regret that she couldn’t see her fiancée’s sleepy face. She sat carefully on the edge of the bed, feeling around until she pulled back a corner of the quilt. She took a lock of her hair and gently brushed it across Su Yu’s face.
It was ticklish and carried a faint fragrance. Su Yu tilted her head away in exhaustion, her eyes still squeezed shut. “My little ancestor, just let me sleep a bit longer, just a little while?”
“No. If I let you miss the North Market, I’ll be kicked out of the house.”
Su Yu deeply regretted using that threat to scare her last night. She opened her eyes gloomily. “Fine. You win!”
Taking advantage of her grogginess, Lingmiao leaned in and brushed her cheek against Su Yu’s. “Good morning, Ayu.”
This unconventional way of greeting her left Su Yu paralyzed with shock. She blinked incredulously. “What kind of madness is this?” I thought I made myself clear last night—how does she still dare to do this?
The girl, bashfully assuming Su Yu was also being shy, leaned halfway over her. “Ayu, take me to the North Market too. I want to play with you.”
“Play? Play what?” Su Yu was suddenly wide awake. She said crossly, “First of all—get off me!”