#40: Did I Eat Too Many Oysters?

The shot of baijiu Lin Xingzi downed had a strong kick. She felt perfectly sober, but in reality, she had been drunk for a while.

She was hazy, her eyes unfocused, red-rimmed after crying, with a misty film over them, and her nose was tinged pink.

She just stared unblinkingly at Jiang Yan with her misty eyes until he leaned closer, his shadow enveloping her, his clean scent filling her nostrils. Only then did she contentedly close her eyes, enjoying his kiss.

She had wiped off her lipstick before eating, so her lips were their natural color, soft and pink.

Jiang Yan recalled many years ago, the kiss she left on the back of his neck.

Lin Xingzi probably always thought that only heaven and earth knew about her secretly kissing him when he was asleep in high school. Little did she know, Jiang Yan hadn’t been sound asleep that day. With every inch she drew closer, the impoverished but sincere heart of the young boy fluttered more wildly.

The classroom was so quiet that only the whirring of the electric fan could be heard, and a typhoon seemed to break through the wind.

The girl leaned on the windowsill, half her body reaching into the classroom through the window, softly calling his name, Jiang Yan, Jiang Yan...

The scorching summer heat made the girl’s breath seem sweet. Her hair brushed against his neck, a little ticklish. He almost wanted to leap up, yet he greedily wished to prolong the moment.

Was it a dream or reality?

Or perhaps it was just his shameful, hidden fantasy.

“Jiang Yan?” Her voice was very close, right by his ear, gently carried by the summer breeze.

He didn’t move, and she said nothing more. Just when he thought the dream was about to end, a soft, warm touch landed on the back of his neck, fleeting, yet trapping him in this dream.

That day, Jiang Yan, who never skipped class or took leave, skipped evening self-study, claiming he had a fever. He also didn’t turn in his homework.

The homework was actually finished, but it was so crumpled it couldn’t be submitted.

As for “fever,” it was just an excuse.

The physiological reaction caused by that feather-light kiss made the young boy too ashamed to speak, so he could only hide.

And that night with her years later felt even more like a dream. In the morning, she threw down a bank card and slammed the door, leaving without a backward glance, shutting away the words he hadn’t had time to say inside the hotel room.

A one-night stand, but he felt as if he were bewitched. Every night he closed his eyes, all he saw was her. His body ached from its hardness, and he could only smoke, smoking more and more fiercely, developing a smoking habit within that half-month.

If Jiang Yan hadn’t happened to stumble upon her vomiting by the hospital flower bed, perhaps it would have just passed. There was too great a gap between them.

Zhan Yan said they broke up because Lin Xingzi misunderstood that he was cheating. With her stubborn personality, she wouldn’t back down, so she returned to the country in a fit of pique, casually finding someone to spite him.

Jiang Yan didn’t say anything at the time, but he thought: When she’s soft, how would outsiders ever see it?

“It hurts...” Lin Xingzi’s brow furrowed, and the hand softly resting on the man’s neck began to push him away.

Before, the man’s kisses had only teased her lips and chin, making her drowsy, but he suddenly tightened his grip on her waist, his tongue probing between her teeth, forcefully drawing out all her breath. She gasped, her tongue root numb.

A resistance came from his chest. Jiang Yan stopped, propping himself up. Her cheeks were flushed, with a touch of drunken childlike innocence that made his heart itch. He couldn’t resist leaning down to kiss her again. “Do you want to shower?”

She was slow to react, nodding after a while. “Yes, I need to shower and take off my makeup.”

Jiang Yan took off his clothes and carried her to the bathroom. Lin Xingzi couldn’t stand steadily, so she sat on the toilet lid the whole time. Jiang Yan had removed her makeup a few times before and was no longer as clumsy as the first time. He was quick with the shower too.

She had been drinking, her nerves numbed, and she felt drowsy. Sensations came slowly, but Jiang Yan had enough patience.

“Did you eat too many oysters? Over-nourished yourself? Next time, let me eat them.”

“Then you tell Mom.”

Lin Xingzi pouted. “I won’t say anything.”

Her lower back ached. She wanted to turn over but was held down, unable to move.

The man’s lips moved from her chest downward, not stopping. After parting her legs, he lowered his head.