Fleeting Midsummer

Military Training (4)

After I came out of the restroom, Fang Yuke turned towards me like a door god, taking the IV bag in passing and then holding my arm to assist me back.

“Linlin, in the future if you talk like that with Wen Tao again, I will ignore you, all right? I will really slam the door and leave, and never come back. I won’t come back for any reason.” Fang Yuke suddenly stopped and looked into my eyes as he spoke earnestly.

“You think you’re amazing because you can slam the door? If you have the ability, then tear down the door. Plus, on what basis am I not allowed to interact with Wen Tao? Didn’t you and Ru Ting interact very intimately?”

“That’s not the same.”

“How is it not the same? Only the official is allowed to light the fire [1]. Don’t be such a male chauvinist. Right now, women’s rights are moving up, so don’t grab Confucian moral injunctions to demand something from me. All my women comrades in the world will not agree.”

“My meaning is that you are not Wen Tao’s opponent. Just use your IQ to deal with me, that’s enough.”

“Hey, what does that mean? How come you came back to the matter of my IQ? Do you mean that your IQ is high so you can date two people at the same time?”

“Previously when we were carrying out the project in the summer, didn’t we agree to do something? Ru Ting is my little sister. My relationship with you is a pure intimate relationship.”

“Pah! Then Wen Tao is my big brother, and our relationship is even more pure than mineral spring water.”

“Wen Tao held your hand and you call that pure?”

“Well, you took the initiative to hug Ru Ting at the time, so how come you guys are pure?”

“That hug was like a big brother to a little sister. It’s totally different from Wen Tao pervertedly holding your hand.”

“Don’t make the scene so erotic. When we were on the Tian bridge telling your future, your imagination was so rich……”

My eloquence today erupted. I just wanted to display my upright and honest soul with a few sentences, but I saw Fang Yuke suddenly lowering his body and approaching my face. His face magnified, as his five sense organs became more and more distinct. When he was only one centimeter away from my face, he suddenly stopped again and looked at my lips as he mumbled, “Recently it has been so noisy…….”

My heart stopped.

The whole world stilled.

The afterglow that sprinkled into the corridor endlessly through each little lattice of glass, sprayed all over the floor, leaving some mottled light and shadow. The sunshine sprayed over my IV bag and refracted into dazzling light, so much so that I almost could not open my eyes.

But I still stubbornly opened my eyes wide. Underneath Fang Yuke’s thick eyelashes that were like tiny fences, were black inky pupils. I saw that on his high nose, there was a faint little charming birthmark. I saw his plump lips in what seemed like a smile, yet not exactly like a smile as he seduced me. I stood on tiptoe as both of my hands clasped this work of art that God was proud of. The red blood in the transparent IV flowed back, contrasting with Fang Yuke’s face that had a thread of beauty that was pretty and flirtatious. It was like I had been bewitched as I moved my lips closer to his.

I lightly pecked him, narrowing my eyes. The happiest moment of a human life is holding and kissing one’s one true love. When I touched Fang Yuke’s lips I was like an infant in my mother’s womb feeling secure and cozy. I clearly remembered how Fang Yuke seized my waist, and how he carefully lifted the IV bag so as to prevent me from getting injured. I also remembered how he softly said to me, “In the future, don’t get so noisy, all right? Be obedient, all right?”

And, there was also that sentence that was about to be swallowed up by his lips, “I love you, Linlin.”

I felt Fang Yuke’s soft, flexible lips as they lightly covered my lips. It was almost as if the dragonfly touched the water lightly [4], making everyone recall their grandmother’s house when they were little. Under the setting sun and within the creeks and rivers, I rolled up my pants and built a little dam made up mud, grabbing a broken wicker basket as I obstructed many tiny young fish. The splashes rose revealing a cool and refreshing heart. Unconsciously, I hooked onto Fang Yuke’s neck. Fang Yuke’s mouth had a whiff of a nice scent of peppermint that was just as natural and fragrant as the medicinal herbs in the field. I became engrossed as I lived it up when Fang Yuke lifted my jaw. I heard us breathe together, scorching hot. I really wanted to laugh. Who said that kissing needed technique? This was obviously the instinct of love……

When we returned to the infirmary, my bashful girly heart slowly came to. In a flash I felt embarrassed. All the romantic fiction novels, movies, and television talked about kissing as something that could muddle the sky and darken the earth. After much confusion, they switched scenes as they continued to be romantic and love each other with affection. Otherwise, they would immediately go have sex. When they awoke, they would cover themselves up with  blankets,  and then she would be assailed again before it was over. Who can tell me what I should say after a kiss? “Your lips really feel soft and real?” Too erotic; “You must take responsibility for me, this is my first time?” Too naive.

I cleared my throat, “That…….today’s sun is not bad…..” After I finished I wanted to commit suicide by biting my tongue off.

Fang Yuke laughed weirdly and cupped one fist in the other hand [5], watching me as I continued speaking.

“Right, my meaning is that the sun caused misfortune, so I would do…that…….” My face felt as if it were burning.

“Yep, that’s right. For other people, the moon stirs up trouble, but you are more special. What comes out has to be top class.” Fang Yuke continued to watch me, calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos.

My head lowered even more. I wished I could shove this head into a thoracic cavity.

“Zhou Linlin, I didn’t know  that you were the type that likes to take the initiative. Even though I won’t reject it, in the future I should probably be the one to do it.” Fang Yuke laughed as he finished.

I lifted my head, “I had a reason. Who let you get so close to me? This is called seducing! I have a love of beauty, so if Wu Yanzu and Brad Pitt both stood in front of me, I wouldn’t need to get closer. I would just go up and fiercely kiss them both.” Each of these great handsome guys rotated around and replayed in my mind like a rotating carousel. I believed that my eyes were already filled with lust, and a debauched light.

“Idiot. Your saliva is flowing so much that it’ll almost submerge the field. Everyone will then be grateful to you for causing the cancellation of military training.” Fang Yuke suddenly thought of something, “Don’t let Wen Tao get too close, all right?”

At that time, Wen Tao grabbed a drink and entered with the doctor. The two of them were talking and laughing. It seemed like Wen Tao had already gotten to work. Wen Tao sat down next to me, and grabbed a leather book, very professional as he prepared to start the interview. The doctor came over and said to Fang Yuke, “Just now, I ran into your squad leader who wants you to go back to military training. She’s all right now. Let’s not influence someone else’s news work. I’ll also be avoiding them and leaving.”

Fang Yuke got up unwillingly and shot me a threatening gaze before he walked out.

Wen Tao’s laugh was very unsightly, “It seems you guys have gotten back together again.”

I embarrassedly nodded my head.

“Springboard, don’t you think I am being very sacrificial? You guys quarreled and I gave you time and space to make up. Other people always say that I am smart, but I think I am the most stupid. In the past I always thought, I would wait for you to get hurt and then I would come help you heal. You would be a little moved. But when you really got hurt, and I saw you angrily quarrelling with Fang Yuke, I saw that you spontaneously accepted a compromise and conceded until you reached terms with him. Then, I became softhearted. So even if you are not laughing for me, I cannot give you any reason to cry. When I fell in love with you, didn’t it stem from the smile that came from the bottom of your heart?”

I didn’t know how to reply, so silence was golden.

“I used to like a girl……”

“Ru Ting?” The moment I heard gossip, my energy came back.

Wen Tao shook his head, “The world isn’t that small. The girl I used to like is now settled down in America. At that time she also really liked to laugh. She laughed as simple-mindedly as you do. But she was prettier than you by a lot……”

My face turned black and I pouted in protest.

“But she was different from you in one way. When problems occurred, she always wanted to get closer and she absolutely wanted to come to  a “you die, I live,” or an “either the fish dies or the net splits,” kind of solution. As for me, I also did not explain things to her when I should have. When I should have urged her to stay, I did not. In the end, we were both beaten down and we could not bear it, so we could only go our separate ways.”

“Then do you still like her? Are you going to America to find her?” Now I was the one to interview him.

“Do you still like Xiao Xi? I’m only going to America to study, with a pure objective. That love taught me that just with love, a relationship cannot prosper. Fang Yuke and you may commit the same mistakes that we did. At that time you can find me when you’re tired and hurt.”

I lowered my head, “I know that emotions have to be carefully broken in but as long as there is love, I believe that we can all learn to slowly forgive. In the past I would imitate an ostrich, and refuse to face my problems, but only now that true love has come do I realize that I can rack my brains to solve problems.”

Wen Tao laughed, “Springboard, I’ve found that every time I talk to you, you can dig deeper into me. Have I been born with such a pure and relaxed face that even if I move, I become the focal point of the interview. Do you think my heart is made of iron? Speaking love to me from left and right.”

“Obviously you were the one who brought it up first. I don’t want to share my feelings with you anyways.”

“Springboard, I am not okay with letting you go, but I am not the type of person who can watch from the sidelines and be satisfied either. Do you think I am someone without elegance, who cannot make trouble between you and Fang Yuke? I think that at that time you will hate me. Each time you will not leave a bit of face for me. When you say no, it is no. Alas, aren’t you a Sagittarius? Can’t you be just a little unfaithful and give me some opportunity?”

I lifted my head to the heavens, “I had thought about it before, but I’m afraid that you guys won’t be happy. What about you two talk it through. One will be responsible for getting water to me and the other will be responsible for massaging my shoulders. One will be responsible for making food and the other will be responsible for washing the dishes. One will be responsible for earning money while the other will be in charge of accompanying this highness to take a walk. Sound good?”

Wen Tao scratched his head in puzzlement, “Originally you had a special quality of a Sagittarius, and I thought your mother recorded the wrong birthday for you, changing you from a Scorpio to a Sagittarius.”

I laughed, “Wen Tao, in the future, we should still stay the same. When you are busy, continue to work. When you are bored and you think of me, you can send me a text or something. But don’t use official authority for private interest [6]. You aren’t suited for the kind of romance between childhood lovers. Right now, you are holding a book and interviewing me, so terrified that you are losing your head.”

“Then what am I suited for?”

“You are suited to be a workaholic, or……fit to undergo fierce suffering…..”

Wen Tao stared blankly and helplessly shook his head, “Next let’s just get to the main topic of the interview. Dear classmate, may I ask when you entered the path of Fujoshi, where a single slip may cause everlasting sorrow with no return?”

I smiled from ear to ear, “From the way you male comrades wear V collars, with stud earrings, with lipstick…..also, Wen Tao there is one thing I have to tell you even if I have to die. Even if you say there is a possibility of a cruel outcome and merciless revenge, as a fujoshi and a god, it is my divine duty and I have no choice but to say: in the future, definitely do not wear chrysanthemum [7] shaped earrings. Right now it is very easy to let one’s imagination roam, so even if you don’t want to be askew, I would feel sorry for you.”

—

[1] 只许州官放火，不许百姓点灯: (lit) only the official is allowed to light the fire while the citizen is not allowed to light the fire / Gods may do what cattle may not / quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi

[2] Confucian moral injunctions for women, namely: obey in turn the three men in the family – father, husband and son, plus the four virtues of morality 德, physical charm 容, propriety in speech 言 and efficiency in needlework 功

[4] 蜻蜓点水: lit. the dragonfly touches the water lightly / superficial contact (idiom)

[5] 抱拳: Cupped fist (http://img6.itiexue.net/2192/21923622.jpg)

[6] 假公济私: official authority used for private interests (idiom); to attain private ends by abusing public position

[7] chrysanthemum can also refer to anus/ gay guy- basically saying that him wearing those earrings might cause others to assume he’s gay