Chapter 76 It's not like we haven't slept together before...
"...This is my room, of course I'm not leaving!"
Ping Yu was almost fooled. She pried the other person's hand off and stared at the boy: "I feel that someone else should leave."
Seeing her dissatisfaction, Nezha casually picked a piece of pastry and stuffed it into Pingyu's mouth.
"eat."
The boy smiled and said, "Then tell me."
If Nezha doesn't want to leave, no one can do anything to him.
Pingyu deliberately amplified the sound of grinding his teeth, swallowing his anger.
The Heavenly Silk Robe covered Pingyu like a blanket, warm and cozy; sitting on the futon on the autumn night wasn't cold. She wrapped the robe around herself and chatted with Nezha.
Which aspect would you like to hear about?
"All," Nezha succinctly stated: "You, and the other world you speak of."
Pingyu nodded and said, "Let's start with time then."
Nezha suddenly felt himself covered by a thin veil, and the floral scent emanating from Pingyu filled his nostrils. Startled, Pingyu quickly shared some of his Universe Ring with him. Although Nezha was a ghost, Pingyu felt it was strange that only he was covered by a "blanket." The warm veil was spread over Nezha, who quietly curled up, sniffing the lingering scent like a dog.
She cleared her throat and said earnestly, "Beyond the Gate of Hell is my boudoir. There, lies a world thousands of years in the future."
"Thousands of years later?"
Nezha was somewhat surprised.
In this vast world, he had assumed Ping Yu came from another small world, but he never expected that the other's homeland was in such a distant future. Ping Yu rarely saw a look of surprise on Nezha's face, and felt that he had won a round.
She continued, "Yes, it's very different there than it is now."
"Our country's territory has been basically recovered. There are no small states, no feudal lords, and no nobles. The land beneath our feet will later be called 'Hua Kingdom,' a country where the people are the masters."
"What does it mean that the people are in charge?" Nezha didn't understand: "Right now, it's still mortals in power. Just because Di Xin called himself the Son of Heaven doesn't mean he was really a god."
A look of pride rose on the girl's face. She raised her chin slightly and declared proudly, "Xinhua has no slaves!"
"No one will be arbitrarily insulted or beaten, and no one will worry about being killed as a sacrifice at any time. People are people, and people are just people. No one is more noble than anyone else."
Nezha thought, no wonder Pingyu disliked being served. Even when she was sick, she wouldn't allow her parents to offer human sacrifices to pray for her recovery. If Pingyu came from that kind of world, then her subtle temperament, different from others, could indeed be explained.
But... is this really the future?
For Nezha now, what Pingyu described was more like another world.
After all, even the Heavenly Court cannot achieve equality among all gods.
"Wouldn't there be many inconveniences without slaves and human sacrifices?" he asked. "Would the lives of the wealthy be unable to be sustained? Would sacrifices have been abolished? Or would the so-called equality mean that everyone has to drive their own carriages and cook their own meals; there would be no large mansions; nor small thatched huts; and everyone would have the same amount of silver. In the future, there would be no gods."
“Hmm…no, that’s not it?” Ping Yu was uncertain. “The gap between rich and poor can never be eliminated, and it will only widen with the primitive accumulation of capital. Actually, just like now, the rich and powerful will have people specifically responsible for their food and lodging. But we don’t call them ‘slaves,’ they are usually called ‘nannies.’ Being a ‘nanny’ is a profession; they don’t have to be slaves. They have an employment relationship with their masters. The masters have no right to beat or scold them, much less control their life or death. It will be like you and me, an equal relationship. If they don’t want to work anymore, they can leave at any time.”
"We don't need to rush because... well, our mode of transportation is mechanical. I don't know how to describe it! Anyway, I'll draw it for you."
She stood up as she spoke, and Pingyu took a teapot from the table. The water was like ink; once you dipped your finger in, you could draw on the ground. Nezha watched as Pingyu's hand moved, drawing a strange-looking object:
A rectangle with two small circles on each side.
"What's this?"
Nezha didn't understand. He pointed to the front and asked, "Isn't there any livestock pulling it?"
“No more livestock,” Ping Yu said. “This is called a car, and I use it for most of my travels. It consists of a large iron box and four circles, and people can sit inside. It’s not powered by animals, but by burning diesel or gasoline. However, some people also hire drivers, whom we call ‘drivers’.”
"Thatched houses are almost non-existent now. At least among the people I know, everyone, whether rich or poor, can live in sturdy buildings. Even if they don't, the government will pay for them to be built."
"Apart from heretical practices, the state does not oppose faith. Sacrifices, ancestor worship, and burning incense and worship still exist. Offerings include snacks, animals, and fruits. People who use human sacrifices will be executed according to law; the right to life belongs to oneself. However, Taoist practices are classified as 'feudal superstition,' so fortune telling is rare. I've heard of powerful Taoist priests, but I've never met one."
As Pingyu described it, a bizarre and fantastical world slowly unfolded before Nezha. He couldn't imagine streets devoid of animals, people traveling in expensive meteorites; he couldn't imagine the imperial court repairing houses so that even homeless commoners could have a place to live; and he found it even more unbelievable that the art of magic had declined and degenerated into a charlatan's den...
No wonder Pingyu was so ignorant about ghosts and gods; in her world, these things were on the fringes.
Nezha recalled Pingyu's room behind the door. In that small space, the most prominent features were two:
1. There is a grown-up version of Pingyu lying in bed.
2. The room was filled with books.
Having gained a preliminary understanding of the future a thousand years from now, he asked, "And what about you?"
"Me?" Ping Yu pointed to himself: "Me what?"
"Paper is more valuable than gold, yet you have a room full of paper books," Nezha said. "What were you like in that world?"
"I..." The girl's attitude became subtle when she spoke of herself. After all, the way she arrived was quite comical, and what she said would sound like a joke. After taking a moment to gather her thoughts, she said, "I'm just... a very ordinary person."
Nezha finished her sentence: "And then you came here."
“Yes.” Now that Nezha had seen everything behind the door, Pingyu had no more worries.
She confessed everything as requested: "Back then, to prepare for the exams, I only slept for one hour for seven consecutive days. I thought I was exhausted, but it turns out I wasn't..."
Pingyu still doesn't understand why she was brought here. All she knows is that she's not dead and that there's a possibility of going back.
"Sigh..." Ping Yu sighed. She was truly driven crazy by the Chinese education system. The moment she learned she could go back, all she could think about was whether she could make it to the college entrance exam!
No, I feel like I don't need to take the college entrance exam.
Pingyu felt hopeful about getting into a bachelor's program.
She and Nezha tacitly avoided delving into the topic, so as not to disrupt the current emotional balance between them.
He arrived in this ruthless, cannibalistic era from a civilized, orderly society. A thousand years have passed, and Nezha believes the world will be transformed. Just as Nuwa, before creating humans, never imagined that the mud on the ground could become her children.
Nezha simply wanted to know how Pingyu, from a highly developed civilization, could see everything here if he traveled back in time.
Or, how do you view him?
Before Nezha could even ask, Pingyu steered the conversation in that direction himself.
The girl shook her head, shaking off the jumbled thoughts in her mind.
"Stop talking about me," she said to Nezha. "Let's talk about you, Nezha."
"Why?" he asked, surprised. "I have nothing to do with your era, do I?"
The girl smiled, her eyes crinkling like a happy little fish: "I've known about you for a long time."
"I've known you since I was a child, before they spoke ill of you, before I came here."
Nezha stared at her smiling face, momentarily lost in thought. People from the future can only learn about the past of their ancestors from history books. He realized that his unique identity, his destiny, might also be written about by future generations. Nezha was now a dead man, yet he felt his heart, which should have been still, begin to beat again.
The boy was nervous, worried that others' portrayals would lead to misunderstandings and a tarnished image of him by those he liked. Nezha, unaware that his voice was strained, betraying deep unease and anxiety, asked, "Then what kind of person do you know me to be?"
Ping Yu raised her eyebrows, drawing out her words. She held up a finger and shook it, answering Nezha's expectant gaze: "Nezha, the vanguard officer of Xiqi, the little hero who is the foremost among all the sages!"
That's great, it's a good reputation!
Nezha was overjoyed for a moment, but his heart was in suspense again.
What if Pingyu is only with him because of other people's praise? Then the relationship will be full of deception and fantasy.
"This is so fake..."
Putting aside all distracting thoughts, Nezha tried his best to calmly evaluate the passage: "Leaving aside the saints of past generations, I can't even become a saint in Chentang Pass."
Nezha felt that he wasn't that good at all.
"Why would you think that?" Pingyu keenly sensed that something was wrong with the boy's emotions, so she moved closer to him. "You sacrificed yourself to save them. You are the hero of Chentang Pass."
"But there's still no mourning hall."
Ping Yu's warm gaze fell upon him, and the frozen bitterness in Nezha's heart began to melt away instantly. He slowly, gently, expressed his sorrow:
"I committed suicide to save Chentang Pass, and I believe I have done right by heaven and earth, and by my parents. Before I died, I severed ties with Li Jing and Yin Shi; I can understand their heartlessness. But the people of Guan are the same… When I was alive, they praised me, wishing they could adorn me with flower crowns day and night, and build me a living temple and cast a golden statue. But I…"
Pingyu understood the meaning behind Nezha's painting when he first killed Wang Shanzai.
Pingyu was the only one with the courage to prepare a seven-day memorial service for Nezha. People only measure importance by the value of things; personal feelings are the least reliable. He was so eager to prove himself that he downplayed his own importance and emphasized his advantages.
If it is used continuously, it can remain Pingyu's property.
It will not be forgotten, it will not be discarded.
"And you, Pingyu."
He looked at Ping Yu, his pupils turning into wounds, and said in a low voice, "You're worse than all of them, you're the worst."
Ping Yu, who was inexplicably scolded: ?
"Hello!"
She clenched her fist and waved it: "Who's occupying someone else's room? This is slander!"
“That’s clearly it.” The boy’s tone was full of resentment: “You only dislike me because I’m different from what you read in history books. They like the little hero Nezha, and you like the saint. You only like my image and my title, and once those are gone, you want to abandon me.”
"stop!"
Pingyu felt something was off as she listened, and she gestured for Nezha to stop: "Why are you talking like an abandoned animal? I didn't raise you, and I didn't abandon you."
“Didn’t you keep me next door?” he said. “You’ve been to the yard, so I’ll live there. I’ll stay with you every night, and sometimes we’ll even sleep together.”
Hearing the boy admit to "sleeping together," Ping Yu's anxiety finally subsided.
She felt it necessary to clarify things for herself, so she let out a heavy breath and said, "First of all, when I first met you, you were already different from the little hero Nezha in the history books. You would knock me unconscious and threaten me. I know you're a little rascal, not a little hero!"
Nezha: I feel like some things don't need to be remembered for too long.
His resentment was interrupted, and he pursed his lips guiltily, forming a cat-like shape.
His pupils flickered, and Ping Yu was almost amused by his amusement.
Since the topic had come up, Pingyu was about to seize the opportunity to escalate the situation: "And when you say you like someone, I get angry too. Do you like me, or do you just like being with me?"
"Is there any difference?" Nezha asked, bewildered. "You only like being together if you like someone."
"I like something, and I also like being with it," the girl said. "But liking something and liking a person are completely different."
She knew Nezha's personality; he would take anything he thought of back to his room and put it away. He was like a greedy and stingy dragon, not allowing anyone to take even a single thing from him.
“You’ve only ever been friends with me. I’m your only choice, so when you think about what you like, I’m the first person you think of. But you won’t always have only me as a friend. What if you meet many more people when you grow up? When you’re surrounded by many, many people who would firmly choose you, many people like me, my specialness will disappear.” Pingyu changed from holding up one index finger to spreading all ten fingers. She showed her palms, loosely enveloping one of Nezha’s hands. Nezha looked down at her, listening to her continue: “At that time, will you still choose me? I know you’ll definitely say ‘yes.’”
"Why not?" Nezha reached out and grabbed Pingyu's wrist. He held him firmly, their fingers intertwined as if to tie them into a knot. Nezha retorted defiantly, "How do you know I won't choose you?"
“Because whether you say yes or no, it’s your present self who’s answering.” She slowly broke free from Nezha’s grasp: “Your future self won’t answer your present self, you can’t answer for your future self. Besides, you don’t even know what liking is. The liking you talk about is all based on other people’s descriptions. We can only take on one role as a friend, and we can’t go back on it. You can’t be so irresponsible to try to change our current situation without understanding anything.”
"Then do you know what 'like' means?" Nezha gripped her tighter, the ghost's chill making Pingyu's hands stiffen. The boy stared at her intently: "You, now, cannot answer for your future self."
In other words, Nezha does not accept her current refusal.
Pingyu was somewhat speechless. She had never been in a relationship and truly did not understand what liking someone meant.
She had never felt a thrill in either of her lives. People cannot imagine what they do not know, so she could not answer Nezha.
On a topic where both of them are blind, they can only explore it together.
But she didn't have time to worry about the future; Nezha was already quite a handful. Pingyu had a gut feeling that if she didn't give him a definite answer tonight, she wouldn't have a peaceful day for a long time to come. So she frantically searched her meager knowledge base of love. After a long pause, she stammered a reply to Nezha: "I only have a vague understanding, but we have a saying about 'liking' where I'm from."
What do you mean?
“It’s just that…” Pingyu gave up trying to pull her hand away. She said, “True love is learning to let go.”
She felt awkward for a moment, then realized that her hand, which had been held by Nezha, had been freed.
The boy shrugged and said earnestly, "I've learned it."
"It's not about letting go like this!?" Speechless with exasperation, Nezha's action possessed a childlike innocence. Pingyu almost laughed, and the atmosphere lightened considerably. She explained, "It means that objects don't have thoughts or actions, but people do. If you truly like someone, you have to accept that she might leave, might go far away. When you can respect her wishes and bless her choices even if it's heartbreaking, that feeling in your heart is true liking."
“No,” he frowned. “That sounds like giving up.”
“So you don’t actually like it,” Ping Yu said, as if he had found a breakthrough. “You only let go if you like it, because letting go requires absolute self-confidence, believing that you can pick it up again no matter what happens. People who are afraid to let go are afraid that they will stop liking it once they let go. That’s not liking, that’s possession. That’s how things are treated, but people deserve better and more freedom.”
"If I could let you go, would you like me?" Nezha countered. "These are all things of the future; you can't give me the answer."
He learned quickly, which allowed him to use Pingyu's theory to refute her own claims. Pingyu thought for a moment, then held up her little finger to him: "Let's pinky swear."
"What about a promise?" Although he didn't understand, Nezha still hooked his finger up: "What kind of promise do you want to make with me?"
"good."
Nezha answered quickly: "I agree."
He swiftly approached Pingyu, who suspected something was amiss. She looked Nezha up and down uncertainly.
Nezha remained calm and composed, showing no sign of guilt.
He had always known that Pingyu wouldn't agree to be with him now. From the moment Pingyu concealed the truth about what happened behind the door, Nezha had a precise understanding of his importance in Pingyu's heart. What he wanted was Pingyu's promise, a long-term promise. Under this contract, Nezha believed he could clear all obstacles and ensure that Pingyu would only have him by his side.
Why must we learn to let go? Only cowards let go of the treasure they have in their hands, but he is not one.
Nezha felt there was no need to listen to Pingyu's so-called "theory of liking." What was the point of figuring out the difference between liking people and liking objects? In the end, it was all about possession, mutual possession.
He already considered himself to be Pingyu's, so Pingyu would only ever be his.
The best is the best; neither of them should have any extra options.
His scheme was completely completed at this moment by Pingyu, who thought he had appeased the child.
Nezha didn't give her a chance to back out and pressed his thumb on it.
The contract is completed upon affixing the seal and stamp.
"That's great, you're well."
His words carried a hidden meaning, and Pingyu felt a chill run down his spine.
"We have a hundred years; we don't need to let go of each other."
After saying that, he ended the pinky promise.
While Pingyu was staring blankly at her fingertips, Nezha naturally crawled onto her bed.
"Alright, it's getting late."
She saw the other person yawn, then lifted the covers and patted the bed: "Time to sleep."
The movements were so fluid and graceful that Ping Yu almost thought he had entered the wrong room.
"This is my bed."
"yes."
One dared to ask, and the other dared to answer.
Ping Yu gritted his teeth, forcing a smile: "Then let me ask you, what are you planning to do now?"
"Let's sleep," Nezha said innocently. "We slept together back in Cihang Dock. You're much older, and I'm just a kid. Besides, we've slept together before, so what's the big deal?"
Now you're using being a child as an excuse?
Everyone has their own boomerang.
Author's note: I feel this falls into the category of younger man/older woman relationship!
For Nezha, neither the possessiveness of a child nor his affection for Pingyu mattered.
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