Chapter Four Teaching
The door to room 3306 at the Jiapu Hotel was heavier than Cheng Yin had imagined.
"Come in." His voice came from deep within the suite, tinged with a hint of languor.
Cheng Yin gently closed the door.
The suite was more than twice the size of her rented apartment, and the floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of the bustling nightscape of the Cotai Strip.
Li Yaodong stood by the bar, pouring amber liquid into two crystal glasses. He wasn't wearing a suit today; his dark gray silk shirt was casually unbuttoned at the top two buttons, revealing his collarbone.
"Sit down." He gestured to the sofa and handed her a glass of wine.
Cheng Yin took the wine glass but didn't drink it; she simply placed it on the coffee table in front of her. She clasped her hands together on her knees, her back ramrod straight, like a primary school student waiting for a teacher's question.
Li Yaodong sat down opposite her, looked her over with interest, and mumbled something in his speech.
Cheng Yin shook her head: "I don't understand."
Li Yaodong smiled and switched back to Mandarin: "I know." He took a sip of his drink. "I just wanted to see your reaction."
Cheng Yin did not respond. Her aunt once said that she was like a block of wood, never fighting back when hit or scolded, and never even crying out loud.
Li Yaodong put down his wine glass and suddenly asked, "Why did you agree so readily?"
"Because it's worth it." Cheng Yin repeated yesterday's calculation, "870,000 is equivalent to 614 hours of my work."
"No." Li Yaodong leaned forward. "I'm asking, why do you think your body can be calculated like this?"
Cheng Yin's eyelashes trembled slightly.
No one had ever asked this question. She was fourteen when her cousin first entered her bed, just after her first period.
When her aunt found out, she only said, "Don't let this lead to a death," while her cousin smiled and stuffed two bills into her hand: "Much cheaper than a hairdresser."
"Because I know I'm not worth 870,000." Cheng Yin looked directly into Li Yaodong's eyes, "So how you want to play, and to what extent you'll consider it worthwhile, is entirely up to you."
Li Yaodong's expression subtly changed, and he said something in Cantonese. He put down his wine glass, stood up, and sat down next to her. The sofa sank in, and the faint scent of ambergris emanating from him enveloped Cheng Yin, who did not flinch.
"I'll teach you," Li Yaodong's lips almost touched her ear, "say after me: 'Good morning.'"
Cheng Yin mechanically repeated, "Morning?"
"It means 'Good morning.'" Li Yaodong's fingertips gently traced her earlobe. "Next: 'Hello, beautiful lady.'"
"Hello, beautiful lady?"
"It means 'You're beautiful.'" He put his hand on her shoulder. "Continue: 'May I put my arm around you?'"
Cheng Yin repeated the longer sentence, pausing between each "t," and felt Li Yaodong's arms encircle her waist. His body temperature was exceptionally clear through the thin fabric of her clothes.
"Do you know what this means?" he asked.
Cheng Yin shook her head.
"It was 'May I hug you?'" Li Yaodong chuckled, "but you already agreed."
Cheng Yin did not move.
Li Yaodong seemed quite pleased with her compliance. He continued to teach her more colloquial phrases, each one more ambiguous than the last, and his arms tightened around her.
Cheng Yin repeated it like a good student, even though the strangely pronounced words were broken up in her mouth.
"I love you," Li Yaodong whispered in her ear, his warm breath brushing against her neck.
Cheng Yin repeated, "'I like you.'"
"It means 'I like you,'" his lips almost touching her skin, "but more intimate than the English."
As darkness fell outside the window, the Haojiang River began to display its most dazzling night view.
Li Yaodong did not turn on the lights, letting the neon lights cast ever-changing colors on them through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Cheng Yin's voice was a little hoarse, but Li Yaodong continued his Cantonese teaching.
"'Stay with me tonight,'" he said.
Cheng Yin repeated, "'Stay with me tonight.'"
Li Yaodong suddenly released her, got up, and walked to the window. Cheng Yin stared blankly at his back, not understanding why the class had suddenly been interrupted.
"Come here," Li Yaodong said without turning his head.
Cheng Yin walked to his side. From the 33rd floor, the entire Haojiang River was laid out before them, its lights cascading like a galaxy.
"Haojiang is so beautiful," said Lai Yiu-tung.
Looking at the night view, Cheng Yin repeated, "'Haojiang is so beautiful.'"
But the expected pain didn't come; he simply stroked her cheek gently: "Open your eyes."
Cheng Yin opened her eyes and saw Li Yaodong's face so close to hers. His eyes shone with an unusual color under the neon lights, like a luminous creature from the deep sea.
"That's enough for today," he said. "Come back at the same time tomorrow."
Cheng Yin was stunned: "That's it?"
"That's it." Li Yaodong walked towards the door, indicating the conversation was over. "Your Cantonese is too poor; you need more practice."
Cheng Yin mechanically walked towards the door. As she passed Li Yaodong, he said something again. Seeing that she didn't react, he smiled and said, "It means, 'See you tomorrow, beautiful.'"
The corridors of Earl's General Hospital were quieter than during the day.
When Cheng Yin pushed open the ward door, Xu Shen was leaning against the headboard playing on his phone. As soon as he saw her come in, he locked the screen and threw it aside.
"Did he touch you?" Xu Chen's voice was like sandpaper rubbing.
Cheng Yin placed her bag on the chair: "No."
"Bullshit! Would that kind of scum let go of meat that's already in his mouth?"
Cheng Yin simply unbuttoned two buttons, revealing more skin. "Want to be checked?" she asked, her tone as casual as if she were asking, "Want some water?"
Xu Chen turned his face away: "Put your clothes on!"
Cheng Yin buttoned up her clothes and sat down on the edge of the bed to peel an apple for him. The fruit knife traced continuous arcs on the peel, circling down without ever breaking. Her aunt said that peeling apples was the only thing she was really good at.
"So what were you doing in the room?" Xu Chen broke the silence. "Just chatting?"
"He taught me Cantonese." Cheng Yin cut the apple into small pieces.
Xu Chen's expression was as if he had heard the most absurd joke in the world: "What?"
"'Good morning,' 'Hello, beautiful lady,' 'I like you,'" Cheng Yin repeated in a stiff voice, "I have to go again tomorrow."
Xu Chen slammed his fist on the bedside table, causing the IV stand to shake violently: "Are you fucking kidding me? That loan shark freak spent 870,000 yuan just to teach you Cantonese?"
Cheng Yin picked up a piece of apple and handed it to him: "He said my Cantonese is terrible."
Xu Chen knocked the fork out of her hand, and apple slices rolled to the ground: "Cheng Yin! Do you know what you're doing? That guy is obviously playing you!"
Cheng Yin bent down, picked up the apple, and threw it into the trash can: "I know."
"Xu Chen." Cheng Yin interrupted him for the first time, "Do you still remember my cousin?"
Xu Chen was stunned. Cheng Yin almost never mentioned her family, let alone her cousin whom she had only met once at a high school parent-teacher conference.
"That one...the one with glasses?" he vaguely recalled.
Cheng Yin nodded, then picked up another piece of apple: "I was fourteen when he first raped me."
The fork fell from Xu Chen's hand, making a crisp sound on the metal bedside table.
The air in the ward seemed to freeze, and even the ticking of the monitor sounded distant.
"What...?" Xu Chen's voice seemed to come from a very far place.
Cheng Yin continued slicing the apple, her movements meticulous: "My aunt knows. She said just don't cause any deaths." She paused, "Two hundred each time."
Xu Chen's face turned deathly pale. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, as if someone was choking him.
Cheng Yin handed him the last piece of apple, and this time he didn't knock it over.
"So you see," Cheng Yin said calmly, "Li Yaodong at least taught me Cantonese."
Xu Chen suddenly grabbed her shoulders, his grip so tight it felt like he was about to crush her bones: "Why didn't you say so sooner?!"
Looking into his red eyes, Cheng Yin asked softly, "What good would it do to tell you?"
Xu Chen seemed struck by the question. His arm fell limply to his side, and he slumped against the headboard like a deflated balloon.
Cheng Yin shoved the apple into his hand, then got up and went to the bathroom to wet a towel.
The woman in the mirror was pale, with dark circles under her eyes. Cheng Yin mechanically wiped her face, hearing Xu Chen on the phone outside, his voice low but his tone excited.
When she came out, Xu Chen had already hung up the phone and tossed it aside.
"Wipe your face." Cheng Yin handed him a hot towel.
Xu Chen didn't answer, but stared intently at her: "You're not allowed to go tomorrow."
"I have to go." Cheng Yin placed the towel in his hand. "Eight hundred and seventy thousand is no small sum."
"I said I'd pay you back!" Xu Chen growled. "Use another way!"
Cheng Yin looked at him and suddenly asked, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you suddenly so concerned?" Cheng Yin's voice was soft. "For ten years, you've been spending my money, watching me get laughed at, and even making me buy birth control pills for your girlfriend." She paused. "Why not now?"
Xu Chen looked as if he had been stabbed in the chest. He grabbed a pillow and slammed it against the wall, then kicked the bedside table hard, causing the monitor to emit a piercing alarm.
The nurse rushed in to check on the situation, but was startled and retreated after Xu Chen shouted "Get out!" After the ward returned to silence, Xu Chen sat on the edge of the bed, panting heavily, his hands covering his head.
Cheng Yin stood to the side, like a robot waiting for the next instruction.
"Because..." Xu Chen's voice was muffled in his palm, "because it's different..."
Cheng Yin waited for him to continue, but Xu Chen seemed unable to find the right words.
She walked over and gently patted his back, as if soothing a raging animal.
"Go to sleep," she said. "You need to rest."
Xu Chen grabbed her wrist, but with much less force than before: "Promise me you won't go tomorrow."
Cheng Yin didn't answer, but simply took her hand and adjusted his pillow.
Xu Chen's eyes were bloodshot, looking like two burning embers in the dim light.
She reached out and turned off the overhead light, leaving only a sliver of light coming from the bathroom.
"good evening."
Xu Chen grabbed her sleeve in the darkness: "Stay."
Cheng Yin sat down on the accompanying chair. Xu Chen's hand slowly loosened, and his breathing gradually became steady.
The ticking of the monitor became the only sound in the room.
Outside the window, the lights of Haojiang are still dazzling, like a never-ending carnival.
Cheng Yin opened her phone; the numbers in the notes app were still glaringly obvious.
She gently opened her browser, searched for "basic conversation in vernacular Chinese," and began to study tomorrow's lesson on her own.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
