Offense - Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Time seemed to stretch. An inexplicable sense of awkwardness and panic washed over her. Lian Wan pressed her lips together, raised her eyes, and met the woman's smiling gaze.
The woman had a pair of shimmering peach-blossom eyes that seemed to hold a rippling light when she looked at people, as if they were hooked. But her lips were very thin, and even painted red and offered up, they exuded a distinct coldness. She would be a rose even if she grew in a pile of weeds. Anyone who saw her for the first time would understand that her gentle charm held sharp thorns, yet they would still dive in headfirst, only to be crushed to pieces by her myriad charms.
Now, just as when they first met, Lian Wan fell into her gaze once more, feeling both danger and the sensation of drowning.
It was strange. Despite having come here many times, the woman's face was still stunning to her. Lian Wan felt that every time she saw her, she was like a stranger all over again, and she couldn't explain why.
So she came every day, again and again, without knowing what she was looking for.
Outside, the cicadas chirped incessantly.
Lian Wan snapped back to reality, clutching the bottle of mineral water as if it were a lifeline. She lowered her head and thought:
Maybe she shouldn't have come to buy this water.
She had been possessed these past few days.
Then, after a long silence, Zhou Yanqian finally heard Lian Wan speak.
She said a little more this time, her tone still soft.
She said, "It's wrong. This isn't a payment code."
The air of nonchalance that Zhou Yanqian had been carefully cultivating since Lian Wan walked in almost shattered. "What?"
Lian Wan looked up, gazing at her quietly. "You gave me the wrong one."
As she spoke, she showed Zhou Yanqian the screen of her phone.
What did she mean? Zhou Yanqian was so exasperated she almost laughed. The turmoil in her heart transformed into a faint smile on her lips, her tone a mix of teasing and chiding. "I want this one. Add me and transfer the money."
Lian Wan stood rooted to the spot like a pole, not saying a word.
Not knowing what the girl was being so awkward about this time, Zhou Yanqian realized her own emotions had flared up. She reminded herself to be careful not to scare her away, then softened her tone and said again in her slow, leisurely drawl, "If you don't add me now, in a few days, I won't add you even if you beg me. And if this holds up your work later, don't blame me."
She quickly saw a flash of doubt in the pretty eyes of the little airhead before her, but she still didn't make a sound, just stood there silently, lost in thought.
Zhou Yanqian stared at her, her mind uncontrollably starting to wander.
…So beautiful. Tall and slender with cool-toned, fair skin, long eyebrows and deep-set eyes, a high-bridged nose and fine lips. The fingers holding the mineral water were well-defined, and because she was so thin, faint blue veins stood out on the back of her hand. It looked like you could hold her down with just one hand.
Who was she trying to charm to death? She was charming her to death.
Screaming internally, for the sake of such beauty, Zhou Yanqian immediately forgave Lian Wan's awkwardness and reticence.
"Don't be scared." She rested her chin on her hand, her voice softening as she looked up with a smiling, reassuring gaze. "It's a good thing."
She even reached out, as if to pat Lian Wan's shoulder, but was dodged.
Zhou Yanqian glanced at her dodged hand, the corner of her mouth curling up. She smiled again, a smile that sent Lian Wan's heart into a flutter.
In any case, the two of them finally added each other as friends.
As Lian Wan left, clutching the damp bottle of mineral water, she heard the bell on the glass door jingle behind her.
A single chime, like an ice cube tumbling into her palm, like something about to shatter the summer's heat and silence.
After leaving the woman's store, she turned into the building's corridor, and the temperature dropped at once. The stairs were cool concrete, the walls mottled with layers of small ads. Lian Wan went up to the third floor and took out her key to open the door.
The room was so empty you could see everything at a glance. It was a small one-room apartment with sparse furniture, not even many chairs. A light green refrigerator stood by the table, and opposite it was a bed covered with a bamboo mat. A lightbulb hung from the wall. There was a small balcony where some green onions and cilantro grew in a foam box.
The wooden door closed behind her. Lian Wan entered the room, the concrete floor bringing more coolness. Her home didn't have air conditioning, but it never got too hot all year round.
She had worked up a light sweat on her back on the way over, but Lian Wan didn't rush to turn on the ceiling fan. Instead, she first opened the refrigerator and put the bottle of mineral water inside.
The nearly empty refrigerator contained nothing but a few green vegetables, some cans of beer, and rows of neatly arranged mineral water bottles. There must have been seven or eight of them, all the same brand and the same size.
The corners of Lian Wan's mouth curled up unconsciously.
Her clothes were already dirty from unloading cargo that morning. After she finished, she had rinsed off quickly with a hose attached to the wall. Now that they were dry, they were left with streaks of dust and the white salt stains of dried sweat.
Lian Wan took off her clothes, took a quick, cool shower, and put on a T-shirt and shorts that served as pajamas. She lay down on the bed, pillowing her head with one arm.
The ceiling fan spun slowly overhead. The bamboo mat gave off a reassuring, fresh scent, and she drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
That afternoon, Lian Wan once again dreamed of those white arms.
The scene of their first meeting replayed in her dream. She had backed the truck up to the front of the Convenience Store and unloaded the two glass doors from it.
The woman came over to greet her, her long black hair pinned up. Two thin straps hung on her shoulders, her posture graceful.
The clanging of construction work sounded behind them. To speak to her, Lian Wan had to lean in close.
The background was a vast white fog. Everyone else who had been there that day was gone. Only the two of them remained.
The white arms, so close, dazzled Lian Wan. The woman was talking while reaching out to brush off her clothes. The Lian Wan of that day had trembled; subconsciously she didn't want to admit defeat, but her feet still took a slight step back.
Two arms, smooth as milk, stretched out before her, along with pale shoulders and a neck, exposed with both modesty and abandon.
Those thin red lips were moving, uttering words that were steamy and tantalizing: "Take a break first, come sit over here. Look at you, all sweaty…"
Lian Wan tensed, her back ramrod straight.
The woman, just like that day, ignored her avoidance and pressed her soft body extremely close. She invited everyone present to have some iced watermelon. She pulled open the newly installed freezer, her arm and body stretching into a captivating, trembling curve.
Her young life's perception 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 with perfect clarity.
The watermelon was cold to the touch, but the woman's arm was warm. It was covered in a thin layer of sweat. When Lian Wan accidentally brushed against it, it felt incredibly smooth, and the spot of contact burned as if it were on fire.
Flustered, she stood farther away, but the woman relentlessly closed the distance again. Lian Wan felt she might be doing it on purpose, but then again, maybe not. The woman smelled wonderful. It wasn't Oil of Olay, nor was it shampoo. Lian Wan couldn't identify the scent; she only felt the fragrance that rushed into her nose go straight to her head, making her feel even more dazed.
Suddenly, the woman's footing gave way, and she stumbled into her arms. Lian Wan quickly reached out to steady her, and her soft body fell into her embrace in an instant.
Their body heat mingled, the woman's temperature hotter than her own. Watermelon juice landed by her lips. It was sweet. Lian Wan tasted it.
The woman grabbed her hand, guiding it to explore something deeper.
…Heat, sticky heat, spreading from the air into her lungs. Lian Wan woke up in a sweltering heat, drenched in sweat. The room was already dark. The fan had stopped at some point. The bamboo mat was soaked where she had been sleeping. Outside, it was pitch black, without a single point of light.
…Looks like the power was out.
Lian Wan raised an arm to cover her eyes. After a while, she rolled out of bed. To be safe, she grabbed a flashlight to check the fuse box, then walked to the balcony and looked out at the surrounding darkness.
She held onto the railing. The disorienting darkness of the summer night made her feel a bit dazed, as if she hadn't fully woken from the dream, her feet feeling soft and ungrounded.
An itch on her back—a few beads of sweat rolling down. The heat seemed to bring the dream back to life before her eyes. Lian Wan's mouth was dry, and she impatiently twisted the slightly rusted faucet to wash her face.
The water gurgled. She scrubbed hard, her face, neck, and collarbones starting to ache, but she still couldn't forget that soft, warm fragrance.
The faucet was still running, but she quickly twisted it shut. Lian Wan buried her head in her hands and took a deep breath.
She composed herself, turned, and walked back into the room. She opened the powerless refrigerator and grabbed a can of beer.
Her fingertips had originally brushed past the row of water bottles, but she had veered away, still feeling restless.
Once the earth was plunged into darkness, the night sky seemed brighter. Lian Wan leaned against the balcony railing, sipping the now-lukewarm beer intermittently, and looked up to find that the stars were especially numerous tonight.
In the darkness, the lush treetops and flowers below were invisible, but she could smell their faint, fresh fragrance.
In the distance, there was a faint white glow, likely an emergency light from someone's home, with a few vague figures visible. The night was quiet. As time passed silently, the sweat on her body dried. Lian Wan felt her muscles slowly relax, as if she'd taken a hot bath. She couldn't quite say what she was thinking, only feeling grateful that her agitated heart was finally, gradually calming down.
She didn't know how much time had passed when the window of the apartment diagonally below her suddenly lit up, casting a hazy, flickering glow that seemed to be the dim yellow light of a candle.
Immediately after, there was the creak of a door being closed, the sound of a water heater trying to ignite, and then, very quickly, the patter of running water.
Clearly, someone was taking a shower.
Lian Wan paid it no mind. Her brain was still in recovery from the feverish heat. She just took a slow sip of beer, quietly feeling the faint bitterness that rose on the back of her tongue after the refreshing taste.
Gradually, a rising steam, saturated with a fragrance, drifted up.
This fragrance wasn't Oil of Olay, not shampoo. This fragrance was familiar, as if she had just encountered it.
Lian Wan suddenly remembered. The second floor of the Convenience Store where that woman lived was diagonally below her. The protruding iron-railed balcony was like a small peninsula, one that had accommodated her spying these past few days.
It was that woman, showering.
The moment this thought popped into her head, Lian Wan couldn't help but hold her breath, instinctively putting up a futile resistance.
But the fragrance kept drifting, aggressively occupying the air around her, swirling, weaving into a viscous mist. Lian Wan felt she had once again crashed headfirst into it. Like a panicked beast running into an iron cage, she was dizzy from the impact, unable to escape no matter how hard she tried.
Unaware of what day or time it was, the tender white arms from her dream reappeared before her eyes. The fragrance emanated from the hollow of that neck, as if radiating from a place overgrown with plants, carrying with it the unique resilience and vitality of flora. It grew a hand and yanked her in.
On Lian Wan's back and forehead, a feverish sweat broke out again, as if those thoughts were flowing out of her body.
The empty beer can was suddenly crushed in her hand. With a crunch, it was flattened and tossed aside, making a hollow echo in the powerless night.
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