Chapter 18 –Emotion
Lizz made a face at Zhang Shaoyu and snapped, “You tricked me!” Running into her room, she locked the door from the inside.
Zhang Shaoyu tried to chase after her, but was met with the door slamming shut in his face instead. Luckily, it stopped right before it hit his nose. Zhang Shaoyu backed up and rubbed his nose warily while calling, “Lil piggy! Come on out! Didn’t you want to make a broth for me?”
Lizz answered loudly, “No! I’m angry now!” If you listened to her tone carefully, you’d realize that she wanted to be ‘coaxed’ out of the room.
Zhang Shaoyuwas astute enough to realize what was on the little girl’s mind. He smiled and shook his head. Intentionally ignoring her, he went to the kitchen to cook.
Lizz spent quite some time waiting for Shaoyu to try and coax her out of her room, but to no avail. In the end, she cracked the door open just a bit and peeked outside to see what Zhang Shaoyu was doing.
She was surprised to see Zhang Shaoyu walking in and out of the kitchen while carrying various dishes. Lizz’s nose twitched with the appetizing scent of Zhang Shaoyu’s cooking.
Actually, while he was cooking, Zhang Shaoyu had occasionally looked in the direction of the door, and now that he saw that Lizz peeking out, he pretended not to notice her and shouted, “Lil’ piggy! Come out and eat! If you don’t come out, I will eat all of your favorite sweet and sour pork!” before picking up a piece of meat and chewing it in a deliberately slow motion, making sure the sound could reach Lizz and showing that he enjoyed the food.
Lizz swallowed her saliva as her stomach continued to grumble. She didn’t want to compromise on her pride, but her protesting stomach had other ideas. Finally, with a red face, she got out and sat opposite Shaoyu. “I didn’t come out to admit that I’m a pig. I just want the sweet and sour pork.”
Zhang Shaoyu also didn’t want to force her to the point she felt like she was jumping off a bridge, and so, he handed her a spoon and with a gentle laugh said, “That’s okay! Let’s eat!”
The moment Lizz saw at Shaoyu’s warm smile, she felt her heart race. With her face redder than a tomato, she answered with a small, “Yeah”, and surrendered to her appet.i.te. Soon, the food on the table was swept away in the torrent of madness that was Lizz’s hands.
Zhang Shaoyu remembered the power held by those hands and so, to avoid feeling hungry later, he decided to join in the fray without saying a word.
The two were like a pair of starved demons raiding a village, clearing all five dishes and a huge pot of rice in short time. What was left of the food on the plates looked like a grotesque image of a raided village.
Still not full, Lizz licked the leftover sauce off one of the plates. Zhang Shaoyu, watching her small pink tongue, suddenly had a rather ‘depraved’ idea.How would it feel to get licked like that?(1)
As Lizz finally finished licking the plate,she noticed that Shaoyu had been staring at her the whole time. She immediately blushed as she put the plate down and timidly asked, “Shaoyu, didn’t you tell me that I’m stupid…?”
Zhang Shaoyu was surprised for a moment.Ah, this poor lil’ girl… she didn’t manage to answer any of those joke questions without getting stumped, and since she took it seriously now she’s worried about her own IQ…
Zhang Shaoyu picked up a tissue and wiped the sauce off the corner of Lizz’s lip. Smiling, he said, “How can that be? Lizz is a very brilliant girl.”
Lizz lowered her head and said, “But I didn’t manage to answer any of the questions…”
While clearing the dishes, Zhang Shaoyu said: “Those questions were just for me to mess around with you. It has nothing to do with whether you’re smart or not.”
Lizz sheepishly continued, “But I always cause you trouble…And you have to cook for me everyday… Don’t you find me troublesome?”
Zhang Shaoyu felt really happy that the girl trusted him enough to let him see the vulnerable side of her she wouldn’t show to anyone else, and it made him love her even more. And so, he faced her properly and answered from his heart, “You are a very beautiful girl. I want you to stay with me every single day.How can I feel troubled with you by my side? Even if the whole world was screaming for your death, I will stand in front of you, protect you, keep you safe.”
Lizz looked up at Zhang Shaoyu and saw the earnest look in his eyes. She instantly knew that his words were true and were from the heart. She felt something hot stirring up inside her, as if her heart was running wild, spreading warmth to her whole body.
Lizz spent her childhood on the streets, living in trash and begging for charity. She suffered a cold past lacking in human warmth.
Even though she was later chosen to be a student at a magic academy, her teachers were harsh. Often,she would be denied meals for just not being able to master a certain technique. How could there ever be anyone who cared for her? If there were any, it would just be to ridicule her afterwards.
As Lizz recalled her past, in front of her was the kind and loving Shaoyu. Lizz was moved to tears. Her eyes welled up and her mouth trembled as she struggled to keep herself from crying.
Zhang Shaoyu was surprised by the sudden change of mood, being afraid he had done something wrong to make her unhappy. Ultimately, Lizz’s trust was her most precious possession, and he feared shattering it by doing anything that couldn’t be taken back.
Zhang Shaoyu quickly crouched before Lizz and said, “Lizz, it was all just a stupid joke I made. I really didn’t mean it… You’re beautiful and smart, not an idiot at all…And even if you were stupid, so what? I would still love you…”
In the magical world, the law of the jungle applied. It was survival of the fittest; everyone regarded each other as enemies. Whenever Lizz cried, no one would comfort her no matter how much she wept. And now, this man was doing all he could just to stop that one drop of tear from spilling out. The warmth she had felt before once again gathered around her cold heart, melting the ice and warming it.
Zhang Shaoyu saw Lizz’s expression distort even more, which shocked him even more. Does she really hate me now? Zhang Shaoyu slowly said, “Lizz, I didn’t really mean it… C’mon, don’t cry anymore… If you’re unhappy, I’ll cook for you all the delicious food you want, just don’t leave me… I will do anything for you. I would even give you the stars if you wanted it!”
The more Lizz heard his voice, the more she felt like crying. In the end, she couldn’t hold it back and burst like a dam, hugging Shaoyu and wailing loudly, “Waaahhh…You sc.u.m, making people cry! You’re the worst! The worst! You’re horrible! Wahh…”
Zhang Shaoyu was stunned for a moment by the sudden outburst, but then he gathered himself up, and with a warm smile and a kind heart hugged the pet.i.te Lizz while stroking her head, whispering softly, “You’re right… I’m sc.u.m. Sc.u.ms are stupid indeed, especially these days. But as sc.u.m, to be able to meet lil’ stupid you is a real blessing.” (2)
Lizz laughed while still sniffing a bit and replied, “Nonsense, I’m not a lil’ stupid! You are!”
When Shaoyu saw Lizz laugh, he felt as if a huge boulder had been removed from his heart. He smiled wryly and told her, “Ha! To be blessed to meet you, as sc.u.m and alil’ stupid as you say, it’s such a blessing isn’t it?”
Lizz answered Shaoyu’s question with a giggle, as the last of her tears finally stopped. She smiled and answered clearly, “You silly!”
Zhang Shaoyu used his sleeve to wipe the tears off Lizz’s face quietly, and the two’s eyes met. They stopped moving and just stared at each other, but even with both being silent, there was no awkwardness between them.
There was only a calm and warm feeling in between the two of them. It gave Shaoyu the urge to do something(3), but he didn’t dare do anything. He was afraid that he would make the fairy-like beauty in front of him disappear.
Similarly, Lizz felt her heart beat racing and was unable to calm herself down. Some unknown emotion swirled inside of her. She wanted Shaoyu to hold her, even if it was only for a second longer. She didn’t know what the reason was though, especially when there was another feeling deep inside of her, saying that she couldn’t or there would be no turning back. Don’t you remember why you wanted to get close to him?
Lizz was at a loss as to what she should do, and so she looked down with wrinkled eyebrows and a hesitant expression, unable to choose either option.
In the magical world, anyone who wanted to be a magician must choose what they believe in and completely stand with it, whether it was towards G.o.d, the Devil, or the Demons. Only by holding to that belief would they be able to use that faith to generate the magical ‘nucleus’, or essence, within their body and use magic.
In Lizz’s case, it was the demons. Having been in contact with such demonic magic for a long time, she more or less ‘acquired’ a small part of it. For example, her huge appet.i.te which under normal circ.u.mstances wouldn’t be apparent, unless Lizz was presented with abundant food.
And the demons were originally lascivious(4). Normally,Lizz had no s.e.xual urges, but right now, she was in close contact with Shaoyu. The smell of a man’s body and his breath made the magic ‘excited’, and so her face grew redder and she felt her body grow hotter, and even some parts of her body began to react.(5)
However, Lizz had heard about this phenomenon from her teacher. The reason, the symptoms, and the countermeasure she must take if a certain part of her body started tingling, or she would suffer a great deal.
Lizz knew what to do. She bit her lipso hard it bled to make the pain and sensation spread to her whole body.
Through the pain, Lizz recovered herself.Not even attending to her wounded lips, she pushed Shaoyu away and ran quickly into her room. She locked the door and put her back on it, taking a deep breath.
Zhang Shaoyu was very surprised with the sudden change of events and was somewhat disappointed. But he couldn’t blame Lizz for her behavior.After all, he had only known the girl for a few days, and she’s definitely not such a cheap woman.
Zhang Shaoyu scratched his head and silently cleared the dining table. Finally, he went to watch some TV before going to sleep.
Lizz was lying on her bed, but couldn’t fallasleep as she rolled around, deep in thought.
*Taptap tap*
Suddenly, three small taps on the window could be heard. Lizz immediately sat up and saw a crow at the window, gazing deeply at her.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES :
1. It feels good. Kinda ticklish at first tho… D-don’t look at me like that!!
2. In Indonesian we say: gombal.
3. Just kiss already
4. Er… really? Succubus?
5. Oh.My.Lewd.