Chapter 137: Part 9
After all the ceremonies concluded, they returned to the gardens, where a brilliant orange dusk had already fallen. Several of the Xie family's dark-skinned servants, from Southeast Asia, carried aperitifs and entered the seaside gardens, where everyone enjoyed a cup. They then wandered among cycads, climbing roses, and glassworts before enjoying dinner at a large horseshoe-shaped table under a parasol in the seaside green space.
As soon as Chu Wang returned to his new home, Sui Xi took him upstairs to change into a new dress and hairstyle.
It was an extremely complicated hairstyle. When she finally finished combing her hair, changed into a taffeta dress and went downstairs, the servants had already entered the garden with large silver platters carrying desserts or after-dinner drinks.
She casually grabbed an opera cake and a glass of green wine. After taking two bites of the cake, the glass was snatched away from her. Looking up, Xie Zeyi said sincerely, "Drink less."
He raised the wine glass above his head, and Chu Wang tried to grab it several times but failed.
She looked up at him, trying to ask the question that had puzzled her all afternoon.
Chu Wang had never been so eager to have a chance to talk to Xie Zeyi alone. Unfortunately, all day long, any occasion where the two of them appeared together would inevitably attract everyone's attention and be an occasion not suitable for discussion.
This meeting was so coincidental that she suddenly didn't know where to start.
Xie Zeyi stared at her very intently for a while, drank the wine in the glass, and while she was staring at him distractedly, he held her head and leaned in to kiss her.
A strong fishy bitter taste, along with the taste of cream on her lips, completely conquered her taste buds in an instant.
She was completely shocked by the extreme stimulation of taste, vision and touch.
Xie Zeyi's lips left hers and licked away the remaining sweet taste on his lips. "So this is how you drink Holy Trinity."
Then he took her hand and walked into the grass where countless kerosene lamps were lit.
As soon as they saw her walk in in that evening gown, all the ladies looked at her in amazement.
Amidst the exclamations, I somehow found myself standing in the center of the field with him.
The first dance must be performed by the bride and groom, otherwise it wouldn't be considered an opening. Jazz music played as the couple entered the room, and under the bright lights, everyone dispersed a little to make room for them.
Under the gaze of the crowd, she felt his hand grip her waist. Feeling the warmth of his body, Xie Zeyi paused, looking towards her armpit...
The sleeves of this sleeveless gown were incredibly large, with a deep V-shaped cut extending almost to her waistline from her armpits. She hadn't noticed it in the shadows earlier, but as she stepped onto the dance floor, she could see closer, almost completely visible along one side of her body, the whitest, softest skin, untouched by the sun for years. With a slight lift of her hand, she could almost feel the subtle undulations of her feminine, plump figure...
Sensing his brief pause, the hand on her waist moved slightly upwards, folding the wide sleeve with both hands. Chu Wang was about to look up to see his expression when, almost immediately, in this position, he supported her underarms and waist, lifting her up on her toes.
In her momentary panic of weightlessness, he spun her around in a circle across the grass. Everyone gasped in amazement, and cheers erupted. Xie Zeyi, however, refused to accept the gesture. He placed her on the ground, then, as if dancing with her hand, passed it to Suixi, who was standing by, and whispered, "Please take her back to her room to rest."
Suixi was even more surprised than Chu Wang when she heard this, but thinking that it would be even worse to make him look disrespectful in front of everyone, she immediately agreed.
Xie Zeyi whispered, "Wait a moment."
She nodded, "Yeah."
The two of them were still looking at each other at the edge of the lawn. Suixi pulled her hand and said, "It's okay. Master Xie will definitely be able to handle the guests well."
The jazz music in that area had just started, and even she felt that it had dampened everyone's interest.
As she turned around and followed Suixi upstairs, she heard Xie Zeyi calmly apologize to the others: "She's a little dizzy from drinking... What kind of wine? Wormwood."
It wasn't until she reached the hallway and the sea breeze whistled in from the window, penetrating the side of her body into her entire skirt, that she came to her senses. This person is really...
She felt helpless about his behavior, but she kept a smile on her face while thinking this in her heart.
As they walked through the corridor, they ran into Mrs. Ge and the fierce old woman from the day. When she saw her, Mrs. Ge asked with a normal expression, "Why don't you dance for a while before coming up?"
Sui Xi smiled and said, "Mr. Xie probably thinks her clothes are too revealing and inappropriate."
"Isn't that appropriate?" Mrs. Ge looked up and thought for a moment, then laughed out loud. "I'll see if he thinks it's appropriate in a moment."
As soon as she finished speaking, the door that had been locked since noon was opened by the old lady who held the key, and she walked straight into the room as if no one was around.
As they entered the house, Mrs. Ge whispered to her, "This is the famous Quanfu man from Guangdong."
"A completely blessed person?"
"She is already eighty-one years old this year."
"What a blessing..." It's not easy to live to this age in this era.
"My parents and husband are still alive, and I have two children. Now four generations live together, and I am surrounded by my children and grandchildren."
"What a blessing!" Chu Wang didn't know what to say, so he could only repeat his sigh with a stronger tone.
Mrs. Ge stared at her and asked, "What are your plans?"
She was immediately choked and turned away to look around the room.
Suixi chuckled.
No one knew what the old lady Quanfu was doing behind the screen. All they could hear was the sound of running water and the astringent aroma of unripe grapefruit wafting through the room.
After a while, old man Quanfu came out from behind and said, "Okay, please come and take a bath."
Mrs. Ge nodded at her and motioned her to come over.
She walked behind the screen and saw a huge antique wooden barrel behind the red gauze curtain. Green leaves were floating on the overflowing water. Warm steam rose from the barrel, bringing with it bursts of grapefruit fragrance.
I heard the old lady say, "Take it off."
Her mind was bewildered. Although she had heard Mrs. Ge talk about this custom in general terms early in the morning, she still felt... inexplicably ashamed when she was asked to take off all her clothes and take a bath in front of a strange old lady she had never met before.
Maybe people who are lucky have strange tempers. Within three seconds, the old lady shouted, "Take it off!"
She was frightened, afraid of breaking some taboo and causing everyone to be unhappy, so she put her hands behind her back to unbutton her back, took off her long skirt and placed it on the footstool beside her. When she was unbuttoning her bra, the old lady picked up her dress with disgust and threw it away, which was immediately taken away by Sui Xi.
While the old lady had her back turned, she stepped into the warm water with both feet, letting the water with pomelo leaves floating on it cover her whole body, leaving only her nose and eyes exposed.
Old Lady Quanfu turned around and sneered, "You skinny little girls, I've seen at least eight thousand of you in my life. You want everything but you don't have it, so why are you so ashamed?"
Chu Wang couldn't help but feel a little more respect for her and obediently let her wash his body.
She meticulously washed her hair for nearly half an hour. Then it was her neck, shoulders, back, and arms. By the time she reached the front of her head, she was still managing to calm down, but then she felt the old woman's hands move. Another sneer rang out from above her head, "Hmph, you're still a bit chubby."
Chu Wang: "..."
The old lady washed her waist and buttocks, and then groped her hands downwards. Chu Wang blushed and immediately curled up to block her hands away. "I... I can wash it myself."
She had already turned around in the water with her back to the old lady and was moving. The old lady was still nagging at her behind her: "You have to be careful, don't be careless."
Chu Wang had never imagined that one day he would be embarrassed by an eighty-year-old woman. He felt helpless at the moment and just hoped she would shut up.
As soon as she turned around, the old lady immediately grabbed her legs and leaned them against the edge of the barrel, rubbing them clean like a foot massage.
After drying herself, she put on a bathrobe and sat in front of the mirror, her whole body emitting a faint fragrance.
The seaward window was open, revealing a bright moon. A pair of red candles sat on the table. When lit, they lay neatly before them three bowls of glutinous rice balls, a plate of papaya, a bowl of barbecued pork, and a boiled chicken. On a red cloth lay an exquisite wooden comb, a brush, a bundle of needlework, a red hairband, a pair of scissors, and a ruler.
Her hair had dried, and the old woman took up the comb and brush and began to comb it patiently. Suixi had left without a trace, and Mrs. Ge was leaning against the doorway, watching from afar.
The old lady didn't stop until she thought her hair was about to fall out. She took the hair tie and gently pulled up a small bunch of her hair, tied it into a knot and let it hang loose at the back of her head.
After doing all this, she leaned over the window and bowed three times sincerely to the moon and the sea. When she stood up, all the items on the table were taken away.
Suixi came in from outside, picked up all the things needed for the upper class, followed the old lady out, and closed the door.
Mrs. Ge walked towards her with a stack of things in her hands.
First came a set of extremely soft and close-fitting clothing, a small ball of pure white fabric made of a blend of silk and taffeta, with several pieces of black clothing, also of a more close-fitting texture, sandwiched inside.
"Give me the bathrobe after you change." Mrs. Ge said.
She nodded and turned to untie her bathrobe. Mrs. Ge put the remaining things in her hands on the table and freed her hands to close the window for her.
She slowly sorted out the clothes, feeling a little shocked.
The black clothing consisted of extremely thin silk underwear. The underwear was made of very little fabric, with a thin silk cord extending from the mermaid line, tied into a bow at the outside of the hips to secure it. The bra had a front-button design, with a small silver pendant hanging from the cord and hanging on the chest. Extending outwards, it formed two thin flaps like black butterfly wings, ending abruptly at the rise and fall of the chest. A thin silk cord was passed around the shoulders and tied into a bow. The outer garment was a contourless white nightgown, as soft and transparent as a silk blouse, barely covering her hips. Further down, a pair of translucent black stockings, three or four centimeters above her ankles and slightly a finger's width too wide, were worn. Aside from the stockings, all the clothes were small and tight, perhaps deliberately made to her measurements. They fit her perfectly, as if grown close to her skin.
All in all, it's a very elegant set of...sexy lingerie.
When she looked up, she could see a full-length mirror, but she couldn't lift her head because she couldn't look at herself directly at the moment.
Mrs. Ge was silent for a long time, then asked, "Do you know what to do?"
Chu Wang said calmly: "I know."
Mrs. Ge immediately raised her eyebrows and asked from the bottom of her heart, "How did you know that? Who told you?"
Chu Wang: "..."
Mrs. Ge stared at her for a long time, suppressing the anger in her eyes. After enduring for a long time, she said, "I don't care whether you can do it or not... No, just read the book yourself later."
Chu Wang: "...Okay."
Mrs. Ge took a book out of a wooden box and placed it on the table, holding down a corner with the box. As she turned to leave, she added, "Old Mrs. Quanfu just praised you for your nice breasts."
Chu Wang: "...Grandma Quanfu even cares about this?"
Mrs. Ge lowered her head and thought for a while, until she realized that she could not pass on any more experience, then she pushed the door open and left, locking it from the outside.
Chu Wang finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the furnishings of his mysterious new home.
The spacious house is filled with purple-red rosewood furniture, with no traces of splicing and no carvings. The style is a model of Chinese coldness.
Like the furniture, whether it was a new house or intentional, the house was completely bare. The bathroom contained only a screen, a bathtub, a toilet, and a washbasin; the rest of the house contained only a bed, a few tables, a full-length mirror, and a tall, wide wardrobe.
She pulled open all the drawers and inspected them, and was not surprised to find that they were all empty, with not even a speck of dust to be found.
On the bed was a thin quilt that looked like an air-conditioning quilt, sprinkled with a platter of dried fruits, which looked so repulsive that no one dared to touch it.
Chu Wang walked back to the window facing the moon and pushed it open across the table. With a sigh, he sat down on the edge of the table in the damp, cold sea breeze.
Everything that happened today was like a roller coaster ride. After climbing over this hill, she plummeted back down, her heart pounding, her breath nearly stopping with her heartbeat. Finally, she slid down a gentle slope, then slowly, yet unnoticed, climbed to the highest point... And now, sitting in the front row, she had to look directly at the nearly 90-degree drop below the cliff.
It was like a dream, yet all too real, like driving under the influence, thrilling and dizzying. Xie Zeyi was right, she felt a little dizzy.
She wanted to chat with him, to talk about the real her, her era, but she didn't find the opportunity. Rather than blaming them for being the protagonists today and the large audience, which prevented her from delivering her real lines, it was better to say that the audience provided her with cover, preventing her from immediately forcing herself to confront Xie Zeyi, who knew her so well.
It's just a pity that this person clearly understood everything at the beginning, but pretended to be stupid and naive until now, letting her believe it and continue to play around.
If she really wanted to talk about it, where would she start? Should she say that she was born nearly seventy years later, knew this era well, and had never been in love?
Just thinking about it made her heart pound with shock.
He buried his hands in his own, lost in thought for a long time. Music continued to play in the distance outside, and the occasional laughter of men and women drifted over the waves.
Until she heard footsteps coming from the end of the corridor, seemingly indistinct, each step echoing in time with her heartbeat.
She looked up from her palm.
At this angle, she immediately saw her appearance in the dressing mirror.
The moonlight streamed in, making her white dress appear even more eerie. Her skin, against the backdrop of the dress, took on a warm, delicate white, radiant as snow. A sea breeze blew in, stirring the not-too-tight dress into sultry waves, flowing along her body and into the room, giving her figure a contoured shape, as if threatening to burst forth from within the dress. Her two smooth, slender legs, with nowhere to escape, abruptly stopped just above her ankles. Further down, the color of her skin shone through the thin stockings, creating a most unbearable, almost elusive beauty. Even Chu Wang felt a little moved by the sight, almost unable to resist bending down and touching the soles of her feet through her stockings.
The long black hair was combed soft and shiny by the old lady Quanfu. Two red ropes were entangled with several strands of hair, which were blown to the front by the wind, and a few clumps stuck to her cheeks.
"It looks like a packaged gift..." Chu Wang sighed.
Just as she was thinking about it, the candlelight at the door flickered, scaring her.
The candlelight flickered slightly, seeming brighter, and made her body look a little red.
There was a rustling sound of keys, and the next moment, the door opened.
Xie Zeyi pushed open the door, wearing only a thin, moon-white shirt. He hadn't walked in yet, but from a distance, his gaze rested quietly on her for a long time.
Chu Wangyi looked at him, as if he was on a roller coaster at the top, or driving a car at 300 miles per hour while drunk. His head was dizzy and his heart was beating so fast that it almost stopped. He stared blankly with a pair of eyes that were distracted because of helplessness. He couldn't look away and couldn't open his mouth to speak.
Xie Zeyi smiled and said, "Aren't you cold wearing so little?"
She stared at him, shook her head, and nodded.
He pondered for a while and asked, "Would you like some wine?"
Before she could answer, he turned and left, disappearing somewhere unknown.
There was a sound of footsteps going down, and after a while, heavier footsteps returned.
Xie Zeyi walked in, two bottles of wine in each hand, and locked the door with his elbow. He turned, walked over without looking away, pulled out a chair and sat down directly in front of her. He moved the bottles, looked up, and asked, "Do you know her?"
She lowered her head and called out the names one by one with great skill, "Whiskey, Armagnac, Grappa, Brandy."
Xie Zeyi looked up at her, listened quietly, and smiled slowly, "Yeah, I recognize them all."
Now that things have come to this, nothing needs to be said.
Who wouldn't want to let go of themselves? Having started, let's go big and play a game of complete and utter honesty.
So he just went for it and asked tentatively, "How about...playing a game?"
"What?"
She said, "Each person asks a question. If you don't dare to tell the truth, pick a bottle and take a big sip."
Xie Zeyi crossed his hands and hung them between his knees, smiling unchanged, and said slowly, "Okay."
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