Coconut.
‘Do I have a choice?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked. ‘I’m trapped here with you. What else can I choose?’
‘You’ll make me happy if you willingly choose to stay here with me,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Qiao Tan Yuan thought Gu Jiao Wu’s eyes looked sincere under the stars. Although she didn’t have a choice, she didn’t want to give anything to let him gloat.
‘Don’t be too happy,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I’m stuck here for seven days. Don’t think I want to be with you for seven days. I don’t want to be with you even for one day.’
Qiao Tan Yuan thought if she and Gu Jiao Wu were in the city, he would walk away out of anger. But on the island he only held her, and smiled at her.
‘If you had said no, you’ll still be here with me for seven days,’ Gu Jiao Wu whispered in Qiao Tan Yuan’s ear.
Qiao Tan Yuan was fed up with Gu Jiao Wu not caring about her opinions.
‘Whether seven days or seven months, I won’t change my mind,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
Qiao Tan Yuan stood, and walked to the bedroom. Gu Jiao Wu happily followed her to the bedroom.
At dawn, Qiao Tan Yuan woke up and couldn’t see Gu Jiao Wu on the bed next to her. Last night she tried kicking him off the bed but failed. He surprised her by only holding her and sleeping.
Qiao Tan Yuan walked to the wardrobe, and looked for cooler clothes in the suitcase. She had packed warm clothes for Denmark so she chose a shirt and pants then she rolled the sleeves and hem up. Her stomach rumbled again, because she didn’t eat enough last night. When she entered the dining room, there was a bowl of congee waiting for her. She knew he made the congee, but she was too hungry and ate the whole bowl.
After breakfast Qiao Tan Yuan took a walk along the beach to look for Gu Jiao Wu. She couldn’t find him for a long time, and was worried if he could kidnap Xiao Bao then he wouldn’t hesitate to leave her on the island by herself. She was relieved when she spotted Gu Jiao Wu swimming in the ocean. She knew he could swim, it was how good he swam like a fish that amazed her. He got out of the water in only swimming trunks, and she blushed.
‘You’re awake,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
‘Um,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘You… know how to swim.’
‘What do you think?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
Qiao Tan Yuan realised she stated the obvious. It was Gu Jiao Wu’s glistening chest under the bright sunlight that dazzled her. She looked at the ocean to avoid his eyes.
‘Do you want to swim?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
‘I don’t have swimmers,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said.
‘In the bathroom cupboard are swimmers and snorkelling gear,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘If you want I can take you snorkelling.’
‘Where can we snorkel?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
Gu Jiao Wu pointed to a rocky area nearby.
‘Over there is a deep rock pool,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘I can take you there to see tropical fish.’
‘Rock pool?’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. She wanted to say yes, but she didn’t want to make Gu Jiao Wu happy. ‘I’m not interested.’
Gu Jiao Wu was disappointed Qiao Tan Yuan was being uncooperative.
‘Why are you looking at me?’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I didn’t say I wanted to be here.’
Gu Jiao Wu held Qiao Tan Yuan’s waist, and spun her back against a coconut tree.
‘You… want do you want?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘What do you think?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
Qiao Tan Yuan turned her head to side to avoid Gu Jiao Wu’s lips.
‘If you’re hungry, go find something to eat,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘Keep your hands to yourself. Who am I to you?’
Gu Jiao Wu held Qiao Tan Yuan’s hot face.
‘You’re my woman,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Qiao Tan Yuan put her hands on Gu Jiao Wu’s wet chest.
‘Stay away from me,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I don’t want you to get my clothes wet.’
‘If your clothes are wet then you don’t need to wear them,’ Gu Jiao Wu said.
Gu Jiao Wu endured only holding Qiao Tan Yuan to sleep last night. He had woken up early in the morning, saw her beautiful face on his chest and wanted to wake her up to have a pleasurable morning in bed together. If she wasn’t tired, he wouldn’t have let her sleep, and he wouldn’t have went swimming to cool off.
Gu Jiao Wu kissed Qiao Tan Yuan’s soft lips, his hand dived into her pants and her body tensed.
‘Not here,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘We’re outside in the open.’
‘Why not?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked. ‘The fresh air is good for us.’
What fresh air? Qiao Tan Yuan held onto Gu Jiao Wu’s shoulders, and he made her gasp for air for a long time.
In the afternoon, Gu Jiao Wu carried Qiao Tan Yuan to the living room, and he went to cook in the kitchen.
Qiao Tan Yuan sat on the sofa, and thought about how to escape. If she stayed on the island for as long as Gu Jiao Wu wanted, she was worried she would be deliriously happy, forget about starting a new life and cave to be with him. She knew him well enough to know he would keep a backup phone to call someone in an emergency. It was a matter of finding where he hid the phone. She thought about the concealed small office connected to the bedroom, and believed it was a good place to hide a phone.
Gu Jiao Wu set the table, and searched around the house to call Qiao Tan Yuan to eat. He found her snooping around the office, and knew what she wanted to find.
Qiao Tan Yuan closed another drawer, and felt someone staring at her back. She turned around, and was nervous Gu Jiao Wu caught her.
‘You… why are you here?’ Qiao Tan Yuan asked.
‘To call you to eat,’ Gu Jiao Wu said. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Nothing,’ Qiao Tan Yuan said. ‘I was looking for something to kill time.’
‘Opening drawers to kill time?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
Qiao Tan Yuan’s face turned red from being caught. She walked to the kitchen, but Gu Jiao Wu held her arm at the door.
‘Are you looking for a phone?’ Gu Jiao Wu asked.
End of Chapter Ninety-Three