Chapter 48
Chapter 48
Spring Wave (1)
Mister Cui did not answer.
His deep, mysterious eyes seemed to be veiled with a faint layer of mist; it clearly contained the vast starry skies, but at this moment, they seemed to only contain a small, tiny person.
Zheng Wan couldn’t really see clearly; she leaned over unknowingly, and “thoughtfully” took a handkerchief from her waist to wipe his sweat——her hand reached out halfway, but was stopped by Cui Wang.
“Mister Cui?”
Zheng Wan looked at him in puzzlement.
“What do you want?”
Cui Wang squeezed her slender wrist and seemed as though he had become a block of frosty snow.
Zheng Wan pointed to his forehead.
“Mister Cui, you, you are sweating.”
Her shackled right wrist twisted this way and that, before finally making it out of his iron grip. She rubbed her wrist, and in a half complaining and half coquettish manner, said, “Mister Cui, you’re too strong. Here, look, it’s red.”
Zheng Wan held out her wrist to him.
The white wide sleeves slipped down, revealing a pair of slender wrists that were fair as snow; the red bloodstone made her skin seem even fairer. As such, the thin red marks on her wrist became even more obvious.
Cui Wang averted his eyes; his throat bobbed.
“Sorry.”
“Just one ‘sorry’ and you’re done?” Zheng Wan pestered relentlessly and put her wrist in front of his eyes. “Rub it for me.”
As she did this, her body was even closer than before.
A gust of wind from nowhere lifted the long hair behind her head; a strand fell upon his chest, by his cheeks, and it felt like the passing of a soft feather, a light touch that immediately disappeared.
Cui Wang could smell the unique scent that only a woman had; in the lingering fragrance, her lips opened and closed like a plump pomegranate on a summer branch.
“In the past, whenever I got hurt, Father would rub my wounds for me. Since Mister Cui is unwilling to, I will go ask Father.”
Having said that, Zheng Wan made to get up, but before she could get off the platform couch, her wrist was grabbed from behind. She turned to see Cui Wang holding on to her; his eyelashes were slightly lowered, gathering all the emotions that had leaked out.
“Mister Cui…?”
Zheng Wan tilted her head.
Cui Wang did not say a word, but Zheng Wan realised that he had lowered his head and was seriously rubbing her wrist. The room was dead silent; only the rustling sound of clothes rubbing together could be heard.
In the beginning, his force was either too light or too heavy. Even though Zheng Wan did not reveal any reaction, Cui Wang seemed to know how she felt. In no time, his force became very comfortable.
There was a little bit of pain, but after the pain, her muscles and bones became relaxed and soothed.
“It’s done.”
After a long while, he let go of her wrist.
Zheng Wan shook out her hand as if nothing had happened; not only the red marks, but any bit of discomfort had all disappeared.
“How did you do it? Every time after Father rubs it for me, he will apply ointment that can help activate tendons and bones, but even then, it would still take a few days for it to heal.” Actually, they were never anywhere as serious as they looked; it was just that her skin was naturally delicate, and even the slightest bump would leave marks.
Cui Wang glanced at her and placed her palm over her belly without saying a word. “Continue.”
He was channeling vital energy to her dantian1 again.
Zheng Wan squinted up at him and saw that his eyes were motionless like a mountain—he had turned back into a shell again. She gave a long sigh of boredom.
“Mister Cui, with your nature, I’m afraid you won’t be able to find a young lady who’d like you in the future.”
Cui Wang lifted his lids to look at her, then closed them again.
After that, it was as if he was practising closed-mouth meditation; his two lips were pressed into a straight line and closed extremely tightly. It was still the usual icy face, but Zheng Wan could feel his displeasure.
There was no response to the teasing, and Zheng Wan soon felt bored.
Bathed in the warm and comfortable air, the body that had lost a lot of blood could not resist, and soon, she had shut her eyes and fell asleep again.
She had no idea how long she slept; when she opened her eyes, she was enveloped by a warm golden light which made her entire body feel nice and warm. Zheng Wan turned her head, shielded her eyes with her hand and looked at the hourglass on the cupboard. It was already close to and put her hand over her forehead to look at the dripping funnel on the cupboard, it was already close to late afternoon, no wonder…
Cui Wang had probably left, right?
She propped herself up on her elbows and was about to get up when she noticed a warm breath coming from the edge of the platform couch near her right ear.
Only then did Zheng Wan realize that Cui Wang was leaning against her armrest, sleeping deeply.
Footnotes:
1 dantian: 丹田loosely translated as “elixir field”, “sea of qi”, or simply “energy centre”. Dantian are the “qi focus flow centres”, and are important focal points for meditative and exercise techniques such as qigong, martial arts, and in traditional Chinese medicine.