White Lotus 13
13 | Thirteen Roses
Tang You used to be a girl who would blush shyly when she saw the hero and heroine kissing on TV. At that time, when she read novels and came to certain “embarrassing” parts, she would skip over those sections with trembling fingers.
Later, she became one who was able to read those parts in web novels thoroughly, over and over again, and even left comments in the comments section below:
“Jinjiang is really too strict now, there’re barely any descriptions.”
“Is this written for kindergarteners?”
…etc.
Having read “widely”, Tang You thought that she could now face intimate contact calmly, but when her own lips met another’s, she was as stiff as a dying fish in the water.
Her cheek was cupped in his hand—his hands looked pale and slender, but possessed great strength; there were slight calluses on his fingertips.
The smell of alcohol and cedar wove into a dense net and practically smothered her—the slight coolness was tinged with warmth. Tang You tried to escape but was still clamped on the wrist, invaded by his breath unrestrainedly.
Tang You was trembling with fear; she finally managed to recover herself and bit down hard on his lip.
It worked.
There was the faint taste of rust between her lips and teeth—it was his blood.
Xiao Zexing finally let go of her. He got up slightly, still holding onto her wrist, and frowned, “Tang You?”
He finally let go of her completely.
Tang You was anxious and angry. As soon as he loosened his grip, she immediately wrapped herself in the blanket and moved backwards. With her back against the wall, she was so angry that she almost burst into tears, “What are you doing?!”
This time, the voice that bordered on tears was not faked.
Xiao Zexing sat up slowly; his figure froze for three seconds before he reached out and turned on the main light.
The bright light filled the dim room, and Tang You was finally able to see Xiao Zexing's current condition.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed; there was a small wound on his lip, which was caused by her bite just now.
Pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, Xiao Zexing said thickly, “Sorry, I drank too much, and thought I was dreaming.”
Tang You ignored him. Curled up and hugging the blanket close around her, she had to take deep breaths to restrain herself from beating him up.
The white lotus image cannot crumble.
She was still a little aggrieved.
It was sour, with a bit of bitterness, like having juice accidentally splash into one’s eyes when peeling an orange.
——She was supposed to be obsessed with Xiao Weijing, how could she be angry because of a kiss? A normal person would be happy or excited to receive a kiss from their beloved, right?
Tang You couldn’t make that kind of expression now.
She just couldn’t.
She felt awful.
It wasn't because she had lost her first kiss just like that, but because she was actually kissed by “Xiao Weijing”.
She was kissed by a man who had another woman in his heart.
Even if this man was supposedly her fiancé.
Tang You gritted her teeth and covered her face. “S’okay, I'm very happy.”
She was so happy that she wanted to tear him into pieces and throw him into the sea to feed the fish.
As she wallowed in her misery, the mattress beside her sank slightly.
The light smell of alcohol wafted over again.
Xiao Zexing did not smile as he came closer.
He was looking at her like a predator observing its prey.
The alarm bells went off in Tang You's heart and she shrank back desperately, but then could no longer avoid him.
Xiao Zexing reached out and brushed his fingers across her cheeks and the corners of her eyes.
There was a small mole under the end of Tang You's right eye. It wasn’t obvious, and it was so light that it usually couldn’t be seen with makeup on. However, after removing the makeup, it could no longer be concealed on such fair skin.
Similarly, unconcealed, were the tear stains and the watery look in her eyes.
Full and moving.
Tang You was about to freak out.
Did this guy want to do this and that with her?
That was too shameless, right?
Although Tang You wasn’t a conservative person, she still hoped that her first experience would be harmonious and gentle, and should happen in a natural way; and the other party must be someone she admired or approved of, not the Xiao Weijing who had Wen Ling in his heart.
In her panic, she brought out the excuse she had thought of beforehand, and reminded him in an extremely small voice, “Mr Xiao, I’m very afraid of pain, and I’m very conservative. I want to wait until after marriage… is that okay?”
Tears trickled down as she spoke; they were warm, and touched Xiao Zexing's finger.
Xiao Zexing let go.
He said, “I won't touch you. Rest well.”
That's good.
Tang You breathed a sigh of relief.
“It's too late now,” said Xiao Zexing. “Rest here. I'll sleep on the sofa. I’ll get someone to rearrange the accommodations tomorrow when we get to the island.”
Tang You stared blankly at him, obviously not expecting this man to be so acquiescent.
Xiao Zexing stood up; she couldn't help sneaking a look, and found that not only the man’s shirt was unbuttoned, but even his belt was unbuckled.
This discovery made Tang You cower and shrink tremblingly under her covers.
Damn it, drunken men are too terrifying.
If she had woken up a little later…
Tang You dared not imagine it.
Although the room she was in was very spacious, it wasn’t compartmentalised, and partitioned with a curtain of gauze and beads. Xiao Zexing walked straight out, opened the closet on the side, and took out the pyjamas matter-of-factly.
Through a gauze curtain, he began to unbutton his shirt.
The figure was blurry, but the movements were exceptionally clear. The man's shadow fell upon the side of the bed, and the faint smell of alcohol and cedar lingered in the air; it was as if he was right there.
The shirt had come off and was casually tossed to the side, and he began to unbuckle his belt.
Before the shadow bent over, she turned her face and closed her eyes.
Tang You's mouth was dry; she dared not continue to look, and silently burrowed her head under the blanket.
She couldn't help but spurn herself hard inwardly.
Tang You, you’re really cheap, even in this situation, you actually dare to covet his body!
Thanks to this little episode, Tang You didn't sleep very well at all.
Usually, the quality of her sleep was quite good, and she was relatively undisturbed by dreams. However, perhaps because there was another man in the bedroom that night, Tang You had many strange dreams that Jinjiang would not allow detailed descriptions of.
She couldn't see the man's face in the dream, but his voice and the sensation of his touch were extremely realistic, especially the pain of being nipped at the waist.
Tang You curled up and tried to hug herself. She vaguely heard someone call her name, slightly low and hoarse, “Youyou.”
The voice in the dream matched up with the one in reality; the dream was instantly shattered, and Tang You finally opened her eyes and saw Xiao Zexing.
He was wearing a black shirt today, which was rare for him. He stood beside her bed at just the right distance, so as not to make her feel uneasy. “Wake up, it's time to disembark.”
Tang You responded dazedly and sat up slowly.
The dream was too chaotic and messy; she held her head, still groggy, “What time is it?”
“Nine o'clock.”
…It was only nine o’clock and she had to get up already?
Tang You got out of bed sleepily. The silk down duvet was soft and light, and a corner hung down from her movements, swaying. A small, white foot stepped searchingly, trying to reach into the shoe; she yawned, and her blouse rolled up slightly, revealing a white, slender waist that bore red finger marks.
She didn't notice that Xiao Zexing's eyes were dark and sunken.
When Tang You went to wash up and change, Xiao Zexing had already gone out.
At least he still knew when he should leave.
It seems that this man's character was not so bad as to be irredeemable.
Tang You turned it over in her mind; she felt that it was most likely because he was drunk that he’d lost his mind last night. But why would he still call out her name when he was drunk? Shouldn't he be calling out for Wen Ling?
Or, were men simply creatures controlled by their lower bodies, and would be fine with no matter who the other party was?
She began to hate Xiao Weijing.
She was fine with Xiao Weijing liking Wen Ling, it was Wen Ling that she hated. But he had kissed her even though he clearly had Wen Ling in his heart…
Bleaugh.
The angry Tang You brushed her teeth twice more.
Tang You deliberately spent more than half an hour labouring over her makeup and deciding on her outfit. She thought that the man outside would be impatient from waiting, but unexpectedly found Xiao Zexing on the phone when she stepped out.
“Big Brother, don't worry, I will take care of Youyou,” his tone was calm. “You also have watch the old man, and advise him not to strike too hard.”
Tang You coughed lightly to prompt him.
Xiao Zexing glanced at her, said “We'll talk again next time”, and hung up.
The two of them walked out side by side. Tang You tried to hypnotise herself to forget about the incident last night. She was in the midst of self-hypnosis when she heard Xiao Zexing ask lightly, “What did you dream about last night?”
Tang You froze, “Huh?”
Dreams were like dew drops on leaves and flowers; condensing bit by bit at night, and staying well into the early dawn, but when the sun rose, they immediately evaporated without a trace.
She had already forgotten it; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t recall the details, and only had the vague impression that it was very charming, yet absurd.
Anyway, why was he concerned about what kind of dreams she had? Was he a dream-eating beast? Or a dreamcatcher?
Xiao Zexing slowed his pace, “You were talking in your sleep.”
I was talking in my sleep?
Tang You's eyelids twitched, and a nasty feeling crept into her heart.
Xiao Zexing spoke slowly, “You said, ‘Don’t’.”
Tang You, “…Ah?”
She wished that heaven would grant her a thunderbolt to strike her dead.
Tang You racked her brains to compose lie in response, “Ah, I remember, I dreamt that I went to a restaurant to order food, and the waiter asked if I wanted him to add cilantro, and I said don’t….”
Xiao Zexing lowered his head and cast his gaze upon her face; taking in her nervousness, he smiled, “You call cilantro, Brother?”
Tang You, “……”
Seeing that Tang You was about to explode from embarrassment, Xiao Zexing stopped teasing her and stepped out the cabin door. He saw Deng Jue waving at him from a distance, straightened his shirt, smiled, and walked away.
After disembarking on the island and checking into the hotel, Tang You immediately locked herself in her room. She was in such utter despair that she didn't even want to go out.
Why did I sleep in the same room as “Xiao Weijing”!?
Why did I have to have that kind of weird dreams and even talk in my sleep!? Why did he hear me sleep talking!?
After sorting out her emotions, Tang You breathed in and out deeply as she tried to convince herself that maybe such behaviour would make “Xiao Weijing” more disgusted with her.
After finally persuading herself, Deng Jue knocked on the door.
He was wearing a big flowered shirt and board shorts, seemingly fully integrated into island life. Beaming, he asked, “Sister-in-law, do you want to go fishing?”
The term, “sister-in-law”, made Tang You feel rather uncomfortable.
She didn't know Deng Jue, but had met him once before.
When they were playing polo, Deng Jue had been standing next to “Xiao Weijing”.
Now that he was calling her sister-in-law, she guessed that he was probably Xiao Weijing’s friend.
When they went outside, the sun was still quite bright. Deng Jue looked at Xiao Zexing who was on the superyacht and waved at him with a smile. Just as he was about to call out his name, he remembered what he was told, and changed his term of address in the nick of time, “Brother!”
Many people were dressed casually, but Xiao Zexing was a special case. He was still in a shirt and pants, but the sleeves of his shirt were partially rolled up, revealing the smooth lines of his forearms.
Tang You averted her eyes after one glance.
As Miao Jiaxi had said, this person's appearance and body were all top-notch.
Tang You was really afraid that she would fall for the enemy; she repeated silently in her mind “he and Wen Ling are lovers” several times, promptly dispelling all bad thoughts.
Tang You had gone out to sea once to fish with the old man, but the kind of fishing now was quite different. Usually, on such chartered excursions, experienced seafarers would look for traces of fish according to the large number of sea birds circling at low altitudes. There were also special personnel did the baiting and hooking, and all one had to do was rest and wait for the fish to bite before they would be notified to reel in.
Tang You wasn’t interested in such fishing. Without looking at the fishing rod, she headed straight for a parasol and laid on a sun lounger to cool off. Although she had already applied sunscreen, the ultraviolet rays were still too strong here.
Tang You couldn’t get tanned; her skin would only turn red, then shed.
The superyacht headed slowly towards the predetermined fishing spot; before long, it arrived at the destination.
On the afterdeck, Hao Yun came up to Xiao Zexing and said with a smile, “I heard that Second Uncle has been socialising quite a lot these days, and last night was even made drunk by the old foxes in Xinjian. I didn't expect that Second Uncle could still find time to come out and play.”
Those who had a good personal relationship with Xiao Weijing all addressed Xiao Zexing as Second Uncle in accordance with the rules.
Putting everything else aside, Xiao Zexing’s accomplishments over the years alone were enough for them to call him uncle with genuine sincerity.
Although Xiao Zexing was a son of a rich family, he did not have the arrogance and extravagance of a typical rich man.
He didn’t touch any of those fancy things.
Xiao Zexing slowly and methodically prepared his fishing rod. Unlike the others, he put the bait on the hook himself; he cast it into the sea before smiling at Hao Yun, “What? In your eyes, am I just a machine that can only work and socialise?”
“That's not true," Hao Yun grinned. “I just thought that it was rare that Second Uncle is free, so I wanted to invite you to relax a bit.”
Here, he deliberately lowered his voice, “Second Uncle has been abroad for so long and has not yet found a girlfriend; it must be because you still like girls from our country, right? I don’t know what’s Second Uncle’s type, but Jingong Xiuyuan has some new types that are different from the usual. We could go and have a taste of the wine in their collarbones and navel——”
“Hao Yun,” Xiao Zexing put down his fishing rod, his smile tight. “Such things are not to my taste.”
Hao Yun froze and hesitated, “Then, dp you like men——”
Xiao Zexing took off his gloves and tossed them aside; he said in measured tones, “If you have time to be concerned about my private life, why don't you help your father more?”
A staff brought water over; he carefully washed his hands, picked up a towel and wiped them clean. He put the towel back neatly, stood up and walked to the other side.
Hao Yun looked in the direction he was walking, and finally found that a person was lying under that parasol; only a pair of slender, white legs were exposed, as tender as tofu.
It so happened that Deng Jue was standing on the afterdeck, smoking a cigarette. His suspicion aroused, Hao Yun asked him in a low voice, “Did Second Uncle bring a female companion here today?”
The cigarette ash fell and burned his hand.
Deng Jue flicked it and took a step back, “No.”
“Then who's that girl over there?”
Deng Jue’s squinted, and smiled, “Tang You.”
Tang You? Xiao Weijing's fiancée?
Hao Yun was taken aback.
He pulled himself together and took a closer look. Xiao Zexing was sitting on the chair next to her, while Tang You sat up from the sun lounger, holding a book.
The distance between the two could fit a cow.
That weird and wonderful thought only stayed in his mind for a moment before it quickly disappeared.
Hao Yun gave a heartfelt sigh.
Xiao Zexing was really living up to his role as an elder, even taking it upon himself to comfort Xiao Weijing's fiancée.
As expected of Second Uncle.
Xiao Zexing, who was being sincerely admired by Hao Yun, smiled and asked Tang You, “Don't like fishing?”
Tang You couldn't tell what "Xiao Weijing" was thinking at the moment.
But there was also no need to think too much about it, she just needed to put on a show.
So, she covered her face with her hands and said delicately, “Because I will get sunburnt. I hate UV rays the most.”
With this sentence, she further intensified her delicate act.
Xiao Zexing glanced at her tender skin.
Under the white shirt, the red finger marks had not yet faded, and were especially eye-catching.
He laughed, “That's true.”
Such a bland response was not what Tang You wanted.
Tang You clenched her fists. Recalling what she read from the book yesterday, she began again, “Mr Xiao has been accompanying me like this recently, won't Wen Ling be angry?”
Xiao Zexing lifted his glass and took a sip, “Of course not.”
Supporting herself on her elbows, Tang You sat up straight. She turned her face aside and the small fan in her hand shook, “Actually, Wen Ling and I have always been friends, but she doesn't seem to like me very much.”
She was also a little thirsty. She saw a glass of wine on the table and was just about to reach for it when Xiao Zexing signalled for the waiter to come over and take it away.
Tang You suppressed her anger and continued her white lotus performance, “I don't mean to interfere with your relationship with Wen Ling, nor am I bad-mouthing her; it's just that, well, you know, after all, our relationship is a bit special, so maybe Wen Ling is a bit unhappy, too. I don't have any problems with her, but I've heard some bad things about her before——”
“Youyou,” interrupted Xiao Zexing. The dimples on his cheeks deepened, his tone slightly low and deep, “You're the real fiancée, so why do you have to act like you're in the wrong?”
Tang You was stunned.
The waiter came over again, carrying a tray; he walked to the side and bowed slightly. Xiao Zexing took the glass of milk from the tray, took the small fan from her hand, and handed the milk to her.
“You have done nothing wrong, and have even less need to say such things,” said Xiao Zexing unhurriedly. “Children should drink less wine; this is what you should drink.”
Tang You felt offended.
Was “Xiao Weijing” trying to call her a brat that was still wet behind her ears?!
While she was still stupefied, Xiao Zexing put down his half-drunk glass and stood up to leave. He turned around to look at his fishing rod.
Hao Yun was still smoking. He was puzzled when he saw Xiao Zexing walk over, “Second Uncle, why don't you go take a break? You can just let others watch your rod for you.”
Everyone else was doing the same thing, waiting for a fish to take the bait before they would symbolically reel it in; if they were lucky enough to snag a big marlin, they didn't even need to that, and had only to wait for the professional seamen to haul it up.
Xiao Zexing smiled and put on his gloves, “Compared to the end result, the process of waiting for the fish to take the bait is much more interesting.”
—-
Yesterday, Wen Ling had a sudden attack of appendicitis and couldn't even sit up from the pain.
She was an orphan with no one to rely on. The young staff in her gym was frightened out of her wits, and in such an emergency, she could only call Xiao Weijing for help.
Xiao Weijing was already about to arrive at the airport when he heard the news. He immediately asked the chauffeur to turn back, picked up Wen Ling and brought her to the hospital.
Even if it was just a minor operation, Xiao Weijing had used his connections to call upon the director of abdominal surgery.
When Wen Ling was sent in, her face was white with pain, “I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have bothered you. It's all because Xiaoyue was worried about me and took my phone and called you.”
“Stop talking nonsense,” Xiao Weijing's nerves were tense. “Save some strength for the operation.”
Wen Ling smiled palely, she called Xiao Weijing's name feebly, “Hey, Lao Xiao, I won't die, right?”
“What nonsense!” Xiao Weijing’s face darkened as he reprimanded her. “Okay, okay, don’t talk about such things.”
She was sent in, and the operation was done quickly; after all, it was not a major complication.
Naturally, Xiao Weijing had arranged for a top-tier ward for Wen Ling and hired a senior nurse. Only after all the arrangements were properly made did he drag his tired body back to his apartment.
He fell asleep the minute his head hit the pillow. By the time he woke up, it was already noon the next day. Xiao Weijing finally remembered his fiancée Tang You, who he had neglected. But before he could think of how to deal with her, he received updates from Hao Yun.
Hao Yun: [ Your fiancée doesn't seem to be angry. ]
Hao Yun: [ Seriously, I feel that Tang You is quite magnanimous. ]
Hao Yun: [ Want to think reconsider? ]
Xiao Weijing replied: [ Wait and see. ]
Xiao Weijing rubbed his brows.
He didn't like Tang You. A large part of the reason was that Tang You’s attitude towards Wen Ling was extremely bad.
With Wen Ling’s forthright disposition, of course she wouldn’t say such things; it was the young staff in Wen Ling's gym who told Xiao Weijing that she once saw them arguing, and Wen Ling had cried.
Being able to make a carefree person like Wen Ling cry, was enough proof of Tang You’s venomous tongue.
In addition, Tang Youzu was always pretending to be obedient in front of the elders to earn their favour, and also acted gentle and dainty in front of him…
Other than beauty, there was nothing good about her.
It was even the kind of pitiful and delicate beauty that he hated.
In Xiao Weijing's mind, beauty should be sunny and generous.
Tang You was beautiful, but her beauty had no soul.
Xiao Weijing knew that he was at fault this time, so he went back to face the music.
As soon as he arrived home, he was called over by Elder Xiao and locked up in the study, where he was severely beaten with a bamboo board several times.
Elder Xiao believed in the adage, “spare the rod and spoil the child”; all the children in the family were disciplined with a two-finger wide, one-metre long bamboo board—and he even had to take off his jacket before meting out the beatings.
After a dozen hard strokes, Elder Xiao scolded him bloody; gasping for breath, he pointed to the door tremblingly, “Scram! When Youyou comes back, kneel down before her and apologise!”
The old man was getting on in age. Afraid that he might get sick from anger, the nursing aide next to him immediately handed over medicine and water for the old man to take slowly.
Xiao Weijing was bruised all over from the beating; he had just left the room and not yet caught his breath when Zhao Manlan smacked him on the shoulder, crying, “This kid, what’s the matter with you? Huh?!”
Xiao Weijing sucked in a breath, his face grim, “Mom, you hit my wound.”
Zhao Manlan immediately backed away a couple of steps. She cried broken-heartedly as she looked, “Weijing, go back and rest first. I’ll call and talk to Youyou.”
Xiao Weijing was worn out, and couldn’t be bothered to deal with Tang You, “Okay.”
He himself felt that there was no need to say anything.
The family doctor followed him every inch of the way with his case and went to his room to apply the medication.
Everyone knew that Elder Xiao would beat people up when angered, and he had already prepared the appropriate ointments and medications beforehand.
Zhao Manlan wiped off the tears that were about to fall; she let out a long sigh and waited to calm down before calling Tang You to apologise.
The call was quickly connected, and Tang You sounded very relaxed, “Auntie, what's wrong?”
What a good child, even when Xiao Weijing did such a scoundrel thing, she was still so pure and tolerant.
Zhao Manlan really felt that her son was not good enough for her.
Zhao Manlan was rather embarrassed, “I'm sorry, Youyou, I didn't expect that Weijing would leave you there alone… The old man has already taught him a lesson, Youyou, don't be sad…”
On the other side of the phone, Tang You was overwhelmed by the explosion of information in her words.
Auntie this means——
Xiao Weijing didn't get on the yacht?
Then, who was this “Xiao Weijing” who came into her room last night?
For so many days, the guy who had shown no disgust for her performance from the beginning… was not Xiao Weijing?
Tang You squeezed the phone and subconsciously looked in Xiao Zexing's direction.
He was standing on the afterdeck and had just successfully caught a tuna.
The tuna was still on the deck, only its tail was still moving; next to him, Deng Jue and Hao Yun were singing praises as the seamen tried to put the tuna into the prepared fish creel.
Xiao Zexing’s head was lowered; he was putting new bait onto the hook.
————
The author has something to say: a small extra.
Pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, Xiao Zexing said thickly, “Sorry, I drank too much, and thought I was dreaming.”
——He had had such dreams, many times.
About Tang You.
Things that were more extreme than what he had just done in reality, he had done them all, one by one.
