Rotten Brat

"D-dance?" "Yes!" "You're serious?" "Of course!" Gong Xue's face flushed. "Couldn't you ask for something else? Dancing is so embarrassing." "You dance on stage without any problem, but here it's embarrassing?" "It's exactly because it's here that it's embarrassing!" "You said you wanted to thank me. I just want to see you dance... Ah, forget it, then. I guess your gratitude doesn't have much sincerity in it." Chen Qi sighed and began his emotional blackmail. "Th-then, how about I sing for you instead?" "No sincerity!" "I'll cook you something good?" "No sincerity!" "..." Gong Xue bit her lip, making one last struggle. "There's no music for dancing. Dancing without music doesn't look good, and there's no rhythm. I can't dance it." "Liar. How do you practice, then?" Chen Qi was unassailable, wearing a look of "if you don't dance today, you've wronged me." Gong Xue gave him a resentful glare, then had no choice but to take out a single-deck cassette recorder she'd bought herself, push in a tape, and press play. Sure enough, the song floated out: "Clear the stream, long the stream, on both banks of the stream, oh what fine scenery..." It was the Tea-Picking Dance. Chen Qi sprawled on the sofa, watching her with great interest. Across a small tea table, Gong Xue stood on the floor, her face so red it looked ready to drip blood. Dancing on stage was a cultural performance. But in a closed, private little room like this, with just the two of them, her dancing for him—what would that even look like? Her skin felt hot, her heart racing, as if she'd become a wanton woman actively seducing him. It was more shameful than kissing and hugging... Then she met Chen Qi's expectant gaze, and suddenly steeled herself. He liked it—so she'd dance! Gong Xue turned the volume down. When the tape reached the second playthrough, she stood in the middle of the room, struck a pose, saw that the floor was clean, and simply kicked off her slippers to dance barefoot, whirling gracefully with the music. "Brother, up and down the fields you plant rice so diligently; sister, east and west hills you're busy picking tea..." She was still wearing a blouse and a long skirt today. No makeup, her figure slender and supple, the quite generous curves of her chest standing out with her movements. At first she didn't dare look, her head lowered, but as she danced she met his eyes, her own shining, a gentle smile on her lips—though her cheeks remained flushed. In that instant Chen Qi felt a kinship with all the kings of ages past—no wonder they said that from then on the monarch no longer held morning court! If only there were a few backup dancers and someone singing kunqu, it would be even better! "Two hands pick tea must separate, pluck once and then again..." As the melody wound down, Gong Xue's movements went from expansive to restrained, preparing to finish the dance. But when she looked at him again, she was startled by the fiery look in his eyes, and before the music even ended she was swept up in his arms. The next thing she knew, she was pressed down onto the bed. "Xiao Chen~" She gave up struggling. That dance seemed to have stirred some strange pheromone, leaving her body burning long ago, even waiting for his move, only murmuring. Her accumulated experience from days past made her cooperate without thinking. "Ah~" Head tilted back, her slender neck arched, she gradually lost herself, heedless of her upper garments being stripped away, only a sliver of clarity left in her mind holding on to her reason. "Here... not here..." Just before she lost control completely, clear footsteps suddenly came from the corridor outside—pat-pat, passing the door, then slowly fading. Gong Xue's reason instantly returned, and she began to struggle. "Xiao Chen... no, we can't here!" "Really, we can't... if anyone heard, I'd never be able to face people..." "..." Chen Qi slowly raised himself up, looked at that small face panting for breath, reached out and pulled her up, and smiled. "True. The soundproofing is terrible. I don't want anyone eavesdropping." "Mm, we really can't here. There are people coming and going outside!" Gong Xue nodded hard, then studied his expression and asked carefully, "You're not angry, are you?" "What kind of thing is that to say? As if I were some sex fiend. It's just a bit uncomfortable." Chen Qi sighed and glanced down. "Uncomfortable?" Gong Xue followed his gaze down to the bulge in his trousers, and her face flushed again. ... Fifty-three minutes later. Chen Qi came out of the room, glanced at the bright sun outside, and nodded to himself. Indeed, it wasn't suitable to carry on in broad daylight; a light touch was enough. These days, when a young couple wanted a little intimacy, there was a whole required procedure: nail a quilt to the wall, wedge pillows into the gap between the headboard and the wall so the bed wouldn't creak, and heat two basins of hot water—one to wash feet, one to wash backsides... And for the thrifty sort, a condom could be washed and used again. "The tongzilou really is a bit lacking. It always feels like renting a hotel room and waking up the next day as the lead in a homemade porno—that sneaky feeling!" "Forget it. Time to go see my house!" Chen Qi got on his bicycle and headed over to Lechunfang to check on that long-dragging courtyard project. Fine summer weather: willows swayed by the lake, the waters of Shichahai rippled, many citizens strolled along the shore, and Lechunfang remained a quiet, out-of-the-way little alley. There were six courtyards in all. The residents of the other five were intensely curious about the mysterious No. 6 courtyard. It had been sold last year, and then the work began—over half a year of it and still unfinished. There was a young man who rode over to look at it from time to time. When people asked at the neighborhood office, the office was rather mysterious about it too. After all, it was a private house sale and shouldn't be done loudly; the neighborhood office had gotten five thousand yuan, and was afraid of trouble. "Clang!" Chen Qi opened the big padlock and went into the courtyard. Even though the construction crew had taken the winter off, they'd been building for five months, and the place was already standing there, looking quite decent. It was divided into front and back courtyards. The front courtyard still had some work left, the ground a mess; the back courtyard was nearly done, only lacking interior painting and furniture. By autumn it should all be finished. "Trees, my trees!" Chen Qi made a round, his heart set on planting trees in the courtyard: a pomegranate, a jujube, a persimmon, a pear, a crabapple, a lilac—each vying in beauty. Wonderful! When he came out, a neighbor who'd been lying in wait hurried over. "Comrade! Comrade, you there!" "Auntie, something I can help with?" "I'm from No. 5. I've watched you busy with this for over half a year and never got to talk to you. Who built this house of yours?" Chen Qi rarely showed his face, so the auntie didn't recognize him, nor did she think a big courtyard like this belonged to the young man in front of her. "The government built it!" "Which work unit?" "That's classified, I'm afraid. Can't say. You're experienced—you'll surely understand." "Oh, oh, understood, understood!" The auntie did understand. Fanning herself with a big palm-leaf fan, she went back and immediately started spreading the word: "I got it out of him—it's the Confidential Bureau, a newly established office in Shichahai." "Goodness, what are they doing here, then?" "Carrying out secret missions, of course! Think about it, what kind of place is this? Shichahai is prime feng shui ground. They're probably researching qigong—once they send out the energy, they'll pick up signals from aliens..." ... The tongzilou. Gong Xue finished tidying the room, sniffed carefully, and found that a strange smell still seemed to linger. She silently cursed that rotten brat. She dug out a bottle of perfume Chen Qi had given her, sprayed it a few times, then sat down on the sofa, as if only now calming down. She picked up a fruit candy and unwrapped it, looking at her own two hands. As she unwrapped it, she unconsciously measured something with them, and a look of fright and lingering fear came over her face: "How could it be so, so... Aiya!!"