Chapter Twenty-Six: Offensive Love
She sat dreamily in the doorway of the hut, completely oblivious to time and the circumstances in which she was in. She wandered so badly that he glanced up at her quickly, seeing the serene, expectant expression on her face. In his opinion, it was an expression of anticipation.
And so, a faint tongue of fire suddenly licked his hips, right at the base of his back, and his spirit groaned for it. He was afraid of any further contact between people, and he was scared to death. What he wanted most was for her to leave quickly and let him have his own private space to himself. He was afraid of her strength, the strength of a woman, and the tenacity of her modern woman. And most of all, he was afraid of her master's cool head and arrogance. Because at the end of the day, he's just a hired hand. He annoyed her to stay here.
Huang Siyao suddenly came to her senses and felt uneasy. She stood up, realizing that the afternoon had passed, and that it was almost dusk. But she couldn't just walk like that. She walked over to the man. He stood up to listen to what she had to say, his haggard face stiff and numb, but his eyes were on her.
"It's so nice here, it's so laid-back," she said, "I've never been here before." β
"Really?"
"I think I'll have to come here from time to time."
"That's good!"
"Did you lock the door when you weren't there?"
"Lock, hostess."
"Do you think I can have a key too? That way I'll be able to come and sit from time to time! Do you have extra keys? β
"I can't say it, I guess it's nothing."
He unconsciously spoke in the local language. Huang Siyao hesitated and didn't know what to say. He's working against her, isn't this cabin his?
"Can we have another key?" She asked, her tone supple but revealing a woman's determination not to give up until she achieved her goal.
"One more!" He glanced at her, anger and disdain in his eyes.
"Yes! Another handful. She blushed as she spoke.
"I can't wait for Boss Zhang to know where it is." He gagged her with this.
"Yes!" "He might have another handsome," she said. Or we can use your one for another handful. It won't take more than a day, I think. Can you lend me your key? β
"I can't guarantee that, hostess! As far as I know, there is no one in this realm who has a key. β
These words made Huang Siyao suddenly angry.
"Alright then!" She said, "I'll do it." β
"Then it's up to you, hostess."
Their eyes met. His gaze was cold and vicious, full of disgust and contempt, and he also showed an attitude of indifference to the consequences. And there was anger and rebuke in her eyes.
But her heart sank. She could see that he hated her if she didn't follow him. She also saw the depression in his heart.
"Goodbye!"
"See you later, hostess!" He gave a military salute and immediately turned away. This woman aroused a strong anger in his heart that had been sleeping for a long time, and it was the anger of a wayward woman. But he can't do anything, he can't do anything! He knows it!
Huang Siyao is also angry with this wayward man, and he is still a hired hand! She got angry all the way and walked all the way home.
~~~~~
Under the big tree on the hillside, she saw Bo Tai, and she was also looking for Huang Siyao.
"I was wondering when you'll be back, Mrs. Zhang." The woman said cheerfully.
"Am I late?" Huang Siyao asked.
"Oh! Young Master Zhang is waiting for refreshments. β
"Then why aren't you ready?"
"Oh, I don't think I can do that. I'm afraid Young Master Zhang doesn't like this, Mrs. Zhang. β
"I don't see why not." Huang Siyao said.
She entered the house and went to Zhang Haifei's study, where she saw the old teapot in the tea tray, which had been filled with boiling water.
"I'm coming back late, Haifei!" Saying that, she put down the flowers in her hand and picked up the tea canister, "I'm sorry! Why don't you ask Hirota to make you tea? β
"I didn't expect her to do this," he said with a slight sarcasm, "and I don't want her to handle the refreshments." β
"Oh, the teapot isn't that sacred." Huang Siyao said.
He glanced at her in bewilderment.
"What have you been doing all afternoon?" He asked.
"For a walk, I sat in a shed for a while."
As she spoke, she took off her scarf, but did not take off her hat, and sat down to make tea. She put a cover on the teapot and got up to find a glass cup to put in her wildflowers. The poor flower hung her head listlessly.
"They'll get better!" As she spoke, she put the glass of flowers in front of him and let him smell the flowers.
"It's beautiful." He said.
She poured him tea and asked, "Is there another key to that wooden house not far from the mountain spring?" Oh, it's where the chickens are raised. β
"Perhaps, why are you asking this?"
"I happened to find that place today, something I've never seen before. I think it's so cute. I can go there and sit there often, right? β
"Is Lee Kwang-suke there?"
"Yes, I only found that place when I heard him hit something with a hammer. He didn't seem to like me breaking in. In fact, when I asked him if he had any extra keys, he was rude. β
"What did he say?"
"I didn't say anything, but that's the attitude! He said he didn't know about the key. β
"Maybe there's another handful, in my father's former study."
"Oh, okay!" She said.
"Lee Kwang-suk actually dared to be rude!"
"Oh, nothing! I just don't think he wants me to go to his turf casually. β
"I think so."
"But I don't understand why he doesn't want to, it's not his home, it's not his private residence. I don't know why I can't if I want to sit there. β
"That's it!" Zhang Haifei said, "He takes himself too seriously, that person." β
"Do you think so?"
"Oh, absolutely! He thinks he's different. He joined the army as a young man and later served in peacekeeping forces, where his superiors promoted him to lieutenant. Yes, they gave him a military rank. Later, he fell ill and received a pension. But he was discharged from the army until last year. People like this lack skills, so it's hard to find good positions. But he's pretty dutiful, at least that's what I think. But I don't allow him to put on a stand with Lieutenant Lee Kwang Suke. β
"He said that he had a strong accent and seemed to be not highly educated, so why did they still let him be an official?"
"He doesn't usually say it, he only talks about it occasionally. He speaks standard Mandarin. I think he has an idea. β
"Why have you never told me about him before?"
"Oh, I don't have the patience to tell these legends."
Huang Siyao believed his words.
~~~~~
In good weather, Zhang Haifei also had to go around the forest. The wind is strong, but not tiresome, and the sun is like life, warm and brilliant.
"It's really strange," Huang Siyao said, "that when you meet a really good day, people's feelings have completely changed." Usually I feel like the air is half dead. In fact, it is people who destroy the air. β
"Do you think people are doing this?" He asked.
"That's what I thought! The resentment, sorrow, and anger of all people are enough to stifle the anger in the air. I believe so. β
"Maybe it's the air that makes people angry." Zhang Haifei said.
"It's not! It is man who poisons the universe. She insisted.
"Defile your own lair." Zhang Haifei added.
The wheelchair drove forward "suddenly". The fruit trees were blooming and seemed to sing the joy of life, just as in the old days when people could sing with them. March red has bloomed. Huang Siyao picked a few flowers for Zhang Haifei.
Zhang Haifei took the flower and looked at it curiously.
"You quiet unsullied bride," Zhang Haifei said, quoting Keats's Ode to an Ancient Greek Urn, "a poem more appropriate for a flower than for a Greek vase." β
The word "'tarnished'" is terrifying! "Only people defile things." β
"Oh, I don't know, animals do this." He joked.
"Snails are just feeders, bees are collecting honey."
Huang Siyao was angry with Zhang Haifei, and he described everything with metaphors. March Red became the untainted bride again. She hated the words, they always kept her out of life!
The walk with Zhang Haifei was not pleasant. The atmosphere between him and Huang Siyao was quite tense, and both sides pretended not to know, but tension existed.
Suddenly, Huang Siyao relied on her strong female instinct to get rid of him. She wanted to get rid of him, especially from his ideas, his writing, and his fascination with himselfβhis boundless fascination with himself and his writing.