Offense - Chapter 6
Chapter 6
"What are you laughing at?"
The light at the crossroads turned red. Lian Wan hit the brakes and pulled over to the side.
She was too embarrassed to respond to Zhou Yanqian's words, pretending to look out the window nonchalantly.
But the woman wouldn't let her off the hook. She leaned closer and pinched Lian Wan's ear. "Are you blushing…? Your ears are so soft, you believe anything I say, don't you?"
"…" Lian Wan's pure and innocent look as she pressed her lips together without speaking sent Zhou Yanqian's heart soaring. But seeing that she was about to turn her head, Zhou Yanqian immediately applied a bit of pressure with her hand, preventing her from turning. Her tone rose along with the corners of her mouth. "That question I asked yesterday, did you think about it seriously when you got home?"
Lian Wan had to think hard to remember what Zhou Yanqian was talking about. She glanced at her, a little embarrassed, her expression just like a student who'd forgotten to do their homework. "No…"
Before Zhou Yanqian could say anything, she explained honestly, "I went to sleep as soon as I got back… I just got back from my break today when I ran into you."
"So that's a no," Zhou Yanqian said. "People who aren't well-behaved when they're drunk can't see me."
With that, she withdrew her hand, crossed her arms, and sat back in her seat, saying softly, "Just drop me off up ahead. We can talk about the late-night snack some other time."
"Don't…" Lian Wan instinctively looked at her with pleading eyes. Her voice softened, her tone a bit helpless, but still gentle. "I haven't eaten anything all day."
It seemed the tight embrace in the hallway had been just another feverish, illusory dream. The recovered Zhou Yanqian had reverted to her usual haughtily nonchalant demeanor, like a cat licking its paws with deliberate slowness. Hearing Lian Wan's words, she merely twitched an eyebrow. "So stupid. Not eating for a whole day, are you trying to starve yourself to death?"
Lian Wan was surprised by the familiarity with which she replied, "I don't want to. So you should eat with me-" She lowered her voice. "Okay?"
Zhou Yanqian pretended to inspect her nails, asking languidly, "With who?"
Repeating it again required more courage than anything she had said before. Lian Wan quietly took a deep breath before saying softly, "With me."
Hmph. Zhou Yanqian squinted and smiled, a smile that made Lian Wan's heart itch, almost unable to contain her blush. Only then did she lean over again to pinch her earlobe, whispering as if sharing a secret, "Alright, I forgive you."
They drove back to the neighborhood, got out of the truck, and walked toward the area with the late-night food stalls, which was inaccessible by vehicle.
In the small alley, a lightbulb hung high and bright. A cast-iron pot was boiling, simmering a gravy of wood ear mushrooms, button mushrooms, daylilies, and sliced meat. The rich aroma wafted out, mingling with the boiling steam, making one's back break out in a sweat.
All around, sitting or standing, were old neighbors who lived nearby.
There were quite a few people out for a late-night snack at this hour. Lian Wan finally found an empty table in a corner. When she turned around, however, she saw Zhou Yanqian standing in the crowd, curiously peering into the iron pot. The stall owner, standing by the pot, was proudly explaining something to her.
As they spoke, the iron ladle rose and fell, and he served her a bowl.
Zhou Yanqian took it carefully, smiling at the stall owner. Lian Wan could tell her smile was genuine; she could distinguish it. For some reason, she stopped in her tracks, standing silently by the wall not far away, just watching. Under the dim yellow lightbulb, amidst the swirling steam, the woman's young, beautiful face stood out among the surrounding crowd of elderly people in singlets and robes, looking just like the beginning of some arthouse film. Lian Wan rarely watched movies, but at this moment, she felt the same sense of unreality that a movie scene could bring.
When Zhou Yanqian returned with the bowl of noodles drenched in gravy, she found Lian Wan in this dazed state.
"What's wrong? Couldn't find a seat?"
"No." Lian Wan's gaze was a bit vacant as she looked at her. She took the bowl from her hands and turned. "Over here."
"I didn't know what you liked, so I just got noodles for both of us," Zhou Yanqian said.
Lian Wan didn't reply. She took chopsticks and a spoon from the holder for her, handing them over gently.
The moment she fell silent, Zhou Yanqian immediately sensed that something was off with her mood. She blinked, a little baffled. "What is it? You don't like noodles?"
"No," Lian Wan said. "I like them."
"Then hurry up and eat." Not knowing what she was being difficult about now, Zhou Yanqian took the chopsticks, picked at the bowl in front of her, and pushed the other one over. "Didn't you say you haven't eaten all day? Eat."
At her command, Lian Wan ate her noodles in silence. Perhaps she really was hungry, as she finished the noodles in just a few bites, then lifted the bowl and slurped down the soup.
When she put down her chopsticks, still wanting more, she realized Zhou Yanqian had been watching her the whole time. Lian Wan opened her mouth, then closed it again, pulling out a napkin and pretending to wipe her mouth intently.
"Are you full?" Zhou Yanqian asked with a smile.
"Yeah."
"You can have mine if you're not."
"Huh? N-No, that's okay."
"Just kidding." Zhou Yanqian's eyes curved as she said softly, "I'm hungry too."
Lian Wan said nothing.
Neither of them spoke. Zhou Yanqian held her chopsticks in one hand and a spoon in the other, eating her noodles in small bites. The lines around her eyes and brows softened, revealing a relaxed expression. Lian Wan held her breath and watched her secretly, feeling the sense of unreality she had just experienced gradually fade away. The light and shadows, the lingering aroma and the silence, made this person truly real.
Strangely, she couldn't help but want to say something. "Zhou…"
Zhou Yanqian looked at her, a chopstick between her lips. Knowing her intention, she tilted her head slightly and said softly, "You can just use my name."
"Um… Yanqian…" Seeing Zhou Yanqian look over, Lian Wan immediately added, "…Sister!"
An amused smile she couldn't hold back appeared on the woman's lips. "That doesn't sound good. Say it again."
"…" Lian Wan pressed her lips together, nervously clutching the napkin in her hand. "Sister… Yan."
Zhou Yanqian made a questioning "Hm?" sound through her nose. "What is it?"
Lian Wan frowned slightly, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn't get it out. After a long moment, she mumbled from her throat, "It's nothing."
She then heard the woman across from her chuckle softly. She wanted to ask what she was laughing at, but when the words reached her lips, she no longer felt like saying anything.
After Zhou Yanqian finished her noodles, she noticed the person across from her was still watching her. She couldn't help but laugh.
"Have you been waiting long? I eat too slowly."
The woman across from her curved her lips into a smile. On this sweltering summer night, a bowl of noodle soup was finished. Lian Wan's sharp eyes noticed a bead of sweat trickling down her fair ear, sliding down her neck like a mountain stream flowing between rocks, exuding a secret allure. Lian Wan watched her silently. Zhou Yanqian wasn't wearing any makeup tonight, yet at this moment, she appeared incredibly vibrant and beautiful.
The gaze from across the table was direct. Zhou Yanqian smiled again. "I'll go pay."
The hot steam and the rich aroma gradually faded. Once they were outside, the alley behind them was still noisy, but the late-night street was deserted. The dark blue box truck waited quietly where they had left it.
As they walked, Zhou Yanqian naturally linked her arm with Lian Wan's. The sweat that had beaded up while eating the noodles was gradually dissipating, leaving a slight chill. Lian Wan tilted her head, looked at the woman beside her walking with her eyes lowered, and asked softly, "Are you cold?"
"Yeah." Zhou Yanqian nodded, seemingly not in the mood to talk much.
Lian Wan also fell silent, walking with her toward the truck. For a time, only the sound of their footsteps could be heard.
Regrettably, the walk didn't last long. The drive back was also far too short. When Lian Wan parked the truck in the lot, she noticed that Zhou Yanqian, who had been silent the whole way, sat up straight and looked around with great curiosity.
The twinkling stars were hidden by the lush canopy of trees. Standing downstairs, Zhou Yanqian stopped walking. Lian Wan looked at her, puzzled, but was gently pulled into an embrace.
The woman's breath by her ear was light, and her words were just as light. "Let's hug again, to commemorate this unique night."
A unique night.
Lian Wan belatedly thought: It really is.
She raised a hand and placed it on the woman's waist, stroking it a few times without a trace of lust, as if to soothe her.
"Don't be afraid," she said.
The woman's arms tightened.
Lian Wan held her waist. The taut curve of the woman's waist was warm to the touch. Exploring further, she found the shallow dip of her lower back. Lian Wan's fingers twitched, touching the folds of the fabric.
She knew that deeper, more winding lines were hidden beneath that cloth.
Lian Wan's fingers had touched those lines before. On a night during her last year of high school when the power went out, in the quiet after the crowd's noise had died down, where the flickering candlelight could not reach. A small, cold hand had grabbed Lian Wan's and guided it to that slender waist, to the slightly rising hillocks, as unripe as small fruits not yet filled with water at the turn of spring and summer.
Someone had once asked her, "A-Wan… what do you think being in love feels like?"
"Probably like what you'd see if you took a trip to the bathroom right now."
"Is that what it's like?"
It was the lines that Gu Yan, having shed her timidity, had made her touch. They were too young, unable to taste the flavor. Lian Wan's heart had been unmoved at the time. She only remembered the girl's stubbornness in the dark, her reflection in the candlelight flickering fragilely on the wall.
"Do you like it?" Gu Yan's voice was as faint as the buzz of a mosquito.
Lian Wan calmly pulled her hand back. "What?"
"This."
"No," Lian Wan said. "It doesn't seem very interesting."
"Oh."
When the classroom lights came back on, Gu Yan had returned to her usual meek and submissive self.
"A-Wan," she asked again, "where are you going in the future?"
Lian Wan propped up her face, slowly twirling her pen. "I don't know."
Even in the most ordinary high school in Pingchuan Town, young people often fantasized about the future. Even if their destination was an assembly line, a factory, or a kitchen stove, the fledglings still tried to take flight.
Lian Wan's eyes were open as she smiled self-deprecatingly.
Thinking back on those days now, they felt more like a dream than the woman in her arms.
Lian Wan held the person in her arms tightly. She looked into the distance, somewhat dazed, and saw the crescent moon in the sky, which resembled Gu Yan's protruding belly at dusk.
The women of Pingchuan Town are crops.
Gu Yan's body, flowering and pollinated, bore fruit when it was ripe, arriving as naturally as the setting sun sinking below the evening horizon, as if all her unripe past was for the sake of this true maturity.
Lian Wan recognized this, but she also knew with equal clarity: that was something she was destined never to have.
But now, in Zhou Yanqian's embrace, the fertile ground that was the woman herself was now opening an unknown embrace to Lian Wan.
"Sister Yan…" Lian Wan was silent, holding her, feeling that the woman had no intention of letting go either.
Warm breath puffed, bit by bit, against Zhou Yanqian's ear.
"Why did you come to a place like this?"
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