Dubian Che glanced at the slit bathrobe before him, and the pale expanse of thighs made him swallow.
"Can you first tell me where I went wrong?" he said.
Jiutiao Meijie scoffed coldly, as if to say she had seen through his tricks and had had enough of his incurable behavior.
"First, tell me your opinion about Kiyono Lin," she commanded.
"A solitary soul wanders in a desolate wilderness; I think she’s remarkable and I’d like to be her friend."
"And? Anything else?"
"That’s all," he replied.
"You don’t like her? Never thought about being with her?"
"I wouldn’t dare to think about it."
Jiutiao Meijie smiled then, stretching out her smooth, fair feet to lift Dubian Che’s chin.
"Good, don’t think about it. Just because I like you doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate you forever."
Dubian Che cradled her uncallused soles, his hand following the curve of her slender legs upward.
At the same time, he stood up, sat on the sofa, and pulled Jiutiao Meijie into his arms.
"So, you’re saying that bet with her, you were deceiving her?"
"No," Jiutiao Meijie caught his wandering hand, "If you had invited her to dance at the bonfire party, I truly wouldn’t have punished you. This was mainly a test of your sincerity."
Jiutiao Meijie raised her left hand.
On the ring finger, the ring made of Jiutiao Vine and a red gem still adorned it.
"I know you have a bad impression of me, but we definitely are going to marry. If possible, I’d like us to love each other more."
"How could I have a bad impression of you, Meijie? I just love the way you are!"
"Humph," Jiutiao Meijie snorted coldly, "You pass. If you hadn’t objected, I’d have thrown you into the fireplace right now."
"Go take a bath," Jiutiao Meijie patted his back.
"Let’s bathe together later."
"Are you coming or not?"
"Right away!" Dubian Che jumped up.
"Remember to trim your nails too."
In the soft large bed, Jiutiao Meijie stretched her slender arms out from the sheets, lazily leaning against Dubian Che.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes brimming with moisture, and her body exuded the most primal allure of femininity.
Dubian Che smoothed her disheveled bangs.
"Meijie, I have a question for you,"
"Hmm?" Jiutiao Meijie’s voice was half thirsty, half hoarse.
"What exactly is your relationship with Kiyono Lin? I know you dislike her, but why did you pin her down on the bed today? I thought you hated physical contact with others."
"The Jiutiao Family and the Kiyono Family have a good relationship; we played together often as children," responded Dubian Che to an imaginary scene of both in children’s clothes, building blocks, and reading picture books together.
"After that, the relationship cooled off when she started to see through lies."
"Did she start disliking you?" Dubian Che guessed.
"You could say that, but I also began to dislike her. Even after she began to detect lies, we were still very good friends, even best friends, sharing everything. I never lied to her, and we even talked silly things about growing up and marrying the same person."
At this, Jiutiao Meijie glanced at Dubian Che with a smirk.
Dubian Che raised his left hand, signaling he harbored no such foolish fantasies.
"By the third grade, my father died, and I started to study with my mother. That’s when Kiyono Lin would often point out my lies, threatening to not be my friend anymore, making me increasingly dislike her, feeling she was utterly hypocritical."
"Yeah," Jiutiao Meijie lazily confirmed, "but that was then."
"That was then? Has it changed now?"
"Let’s talk about that next time," Jiutiao Meijie yawned, "Get me a glass of water, I’m going to sleep."
Dubian Che, curious to hear it all in one go, but rejected by Jiutiao Meijie, could only wait until next time.
He got out of bed, poured a glass of water, which Jiutiao Meijie drank half of, and he finished the rest in one gulp.
He carelessly placed the glass aside on the bedside table.