Ah, young love . . . "nuff said ?
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Chapter 98
An Yan"s Side Story – The Honey Peach is in my Hands (Part 2)
They made out for a long time. He embraced her and they kissed until her lips were swollen, but were still reluctant to let go. It turned out to be so intoxicating to have his girl in his arms. Moreover, Gu Fangfang was sitting in his lap. He made her feel something both familiar and strange, mysterious and exciting; a year"s wait had indeed been worthwhile.
Time pa.s.sed, and it was late at night. To linger at the ground floor of a girl"s apartment at 11 p.m. and refuse to let go of her did not seem to be a wise choice. An Yan released her and stood up, unwilling to say that it was time for him to leave. Gu Fangfang also looked down and examined her toes.
"I . . ." he started to say.
She looked up at him.
". . . will walk you upstairs?"
Her heart was thumping furiously, but her face was calmly indifferent. "Oh, okay."
After graduation, Gu Fangfang had rented a one-room apartment. Compared to her bright and beautiful outward appearance, her apartment seemed incredibly sloppy. However, when An Yan the otaku walked in, he felt it was highly suitable, very homely, very warm. In a last ditch attempt* to clean up, Gu Fangfang picked up a few things here and there. She looked up only to see An Yan"s dark, black eyes were lost in thought.
*T/N 临时抱佛脚 (lin shi bao fo jiao) – lit. to clasp Buddha"s feet when danger approaches/ at the last minute; fig. to profess devotion or ask for a deity"s help only when in trouble; to do something hastily at the last minute. This is one of my favourite Chinese idioms!
"What"s up?" Gu Fangfang asked.
"It"s nothing," he replied. "I"m just thinking, in future, we will have to hire an hourly-rated cleaning specialist to see to our house."
Never in her wildest dreams did Gu Fangfang antic.i.p.ate that he would say such a thing. She hadn"t even thought that far ahead! Her face grew hot and she said, in a low voice, "Who wants to live with you . . ."
An Yan had simply said what he was thinking, and had not intended to tease her. He would truly be an idiot if he could not pick up on the bashful rebuke in her voice. His heart was beating fiercely in his chest and he uttered a soft "oh".
Gu Fangfang wanted to hit him again! What did "oh" mean?
She went to get him a bottle of water, which he uncapped and drank. Then, she moved a small wooden stool so she could sit opposite him. In such a narrow s.p.a.ce, it felt as if there was electricity humming all around them. At this time, An Yan noticed that, apart from a few cosplay costumes Gu Fangfang had carelessly piled up on the study table nearby, there was also a stack of job application forms, resumes, and company briefs.
He asked with concern, "Has your job hunt been smooth?"
"It"s okay." When he asked this question, Gu Fangfang exuded weariness with the ups and downs of life. "It"s just . . . really tiring."
Being the top student, when An Yan graduated, he immediately achieved his aspiration as he was specially recruited into the Ministry of Public Security"s Information Technology Centre. However, from the news on the television as well as from what he had heard, he knew that current graduates faced intense compet.i.tion and many challenges when hunting for jobs. He could almost imagine Gu Fangfang holding her resume amidst a sea of people, making a move akin to a lightning raid on a prospective employer, waiting nervously for a call for a written test or an interview.
He lowered his eyes slightly and said, "Sorry, I wasn"t able to accompany you as your boyfriend."
Speaking of this matter, Gu Fangfang actually did experience some disappointment. She remembered those job fairs, where the girls who had boyfriends would walk around as a couple; no matter how challenging or how crowded it became, their boyfriends were by their sides to take care of them. Even the hardest time would not seem hard. Who asked her to set her sights so high, to encounter by chance a man who was employed as a police officer and make him her boyfriend? Although, this year, having a boyfriend was the same as not having one . . .
She shook her head, not wanting to think about those depressing moments. Changing the topic, she asked, "Where are you staying tonight?"
An Yan gazed at her silently for a while, then uttered the most shameless words he had said in his entire life. "I . . . don"t have a place to stay, yet."
Gu Fangfang exclaimed, "Ah?" She had really switched to an excellent topic.
An Yan looked down at his watch, coughed lightly, and continued to be shameless. "It"s already midnight, can you put me up for tonight? I"m good as long as I have somewhere to lie down. I"m so tired; I haven"t slept well the entire week."
The night was already deep, and the light outside the window was only a faint glimmer. Only a table lamp was on inside the room. Gu Fangfang lay on one side of the bed, wrapped in a blanket. An Yan lay on the outer side, another blanket covering his body.
Gu Fangfang said, "Good night."
An Yan responded, "Good night."
Both of them shut their eyes and remained silent for a while.
Gu Fangfang secretly opened her eyes and was immediately startled into stillness. An Yan was definitely not asleep; he had turned his head to stare at her. The funny thing was, when he lay down and looked at her, he seemed like a different person. His face became somewhat indistinct, but, in contrast, his gaze was deeper and the expression within his eyes was difficult to decipher.
"Why aren"t you asleep yet?" The words had hardly left her mouth when it was blocked. An Yan had taken advantage of the situation and leaned over to kiss her.
The night was too bewitching, and the atmosphere inside the room was too hot. Gu Fangfang had no idea when he snuck into her blanket. A young man"s slim figure was like the softest and gentlest painting in the depth of the night. He covered her body with his and lowered his head to kiss her as if he was drunk on her kisses. At some point of time, he had loosened her pajamas and his hands were now holding those two honey peaches, with the long, slender, pale fingers of the computer boy. Gu Fangfang"s brain was buzzing, and An Yan"s breathing became more urgent. These two people who were experiencing their first taste of love felt the bitterness yet also the sweetness of desire. They also felt a sudden surge in their bodies and minds at that moment, which was impatiently looking for a way out.
In a daze, she heard An Yan whisper, "Fangfang, you don"t have to be anxious about me. I am a police officer and I have very little free time. I also spend very little time with you. But, I . . . I am very single-minded. In all these years, I have only felt this way about you. If you will be mine, I will never again look at another girl."
Gu Fangfang felt a bittersweet sensation well up in her heart. She hugged him tightly and said, softly, "Me, too, An Yan. From the day I first met you, I"ve never looked at another guy."
A fierce, thrilling emotion engulfed both of them at the same time. An Yan exhaled slowly, and asked, with a little trepidation and a little trembling, "Fangfang, can I?"
Before this day, Gu Fangfang had never thought that she would give herself to this "boyfriend" whom she had only seen a few times. However, he moved her greatly, and she also felt a sense of tender emotion which she found hard to describe. Her mind was blank, so she answered him by shutting her eyes and clasping her hands around his neck.
However, just as they had progressed to the final stage, the two newbie lovers discovered a crucial issue – no condoms. He did not have any with him, and she of course had none in her apartment. His handsome face turned red, but he still managed to straighten up very calmly to say, "I"ll go and buy some." "Hm." She used the blanket to cover her body as she sat up, not wanting to separate from him even for a second.
Thus, the two of them walked downstairs together and found a convenience store. Together, with red faces, they bought some without any problem.
They held hands as the midnight wind blew, and headed back together to her apartment. An Yan suddenly laughed and said, "I feel as if I"m going to die from happiness." Gu Fangfang held his arm tightly and said, "Me, too."
Naturally, the subsequent process did not entirely go off smoothly.
It was the same old problem. Whenever any long-time bachelor otaku finally achieves what he has desired, it"s inevitable that he is unable to maintain control. As a result, the first time is over very quickly.
In the steamy nest of blankets, An Yan held Gu Fangfang"s soft body with a red face and great embarra.s.sment. In a hoa.r.s.e voice, he said, "Just now I was in a bit of a rush, it doesn"t count . . . let"s do it again."
Although Gu Fangfang was sore and fl.u.s.tered, when she saw how awkward he was, she smiled again and stretched out her hands to cup his face. She longed for the flow of time to stop right at this moment, so he could always hold her and be with her.
Early the next morning, in distant Yunnan, Bo Jinyan received a text message from An Yan. Because he had lost his sight, his cell phone was now equipped with an automatic reading function.
As the morning mist enveloped the room, Bo Jinyan leaned on the bed and listened to his cell phone"s mechanical female voice read out: Boss, what kind of experience is it to become a man?
Bo Jinyan frowned and said to Jian Yao, "Is An Yan"s brain damaged? Don"t tell me that he"s sending me p.o.r.nographic advertis.e.m.e.nts?"
Jian Yao was unable to hold back her laughter. After some thought, she understood what was going on. "Could it be that he and Gu Fangfang . . ."
Bo Jinyan totally understood. He expelled a light breath, picked up his cell phone and replied with an audio message. "I regret to say, I think the level and depth we have experienced is different." Jian Yao slapped him on the shoulder.
An Yan responded very quickly. "F*ck!"
At the other end of the line in distant Beijing, with a flushed face and a slight smile, An Yan put down his cell phone to look at the girl sprawled in sleep over his chest, soft and boneless. He bent his head to kiss and caress her hair. After last night, they had fallen asleep in each other"s arms. She said she would not be lonely again, and that she was unafraid of the future. She said she would work hard while on her own in Beijing, just like her boyfriend, the criminal investigator, for the sake of their future. Thinking of this, An Yan felt a strange force welling up within his heart. He knew that he would never again in his lifetime feel so elated, impatiently waiting to embrace the life that he and this girl would have together.
Translator: shl
Editor/ Proofreader: Anks