TBWE Chapter 2

Strange

 

This was the first time Chu Li had slept in the same bed as Huo Xiu.

 

The pillows and blankets carried a faint scent of cedar, the fragrance commonly used in his bedroom.

 

Her back pressed against a chest with higher body temperature, an arm wrapped around her waist, and their breathing was very close, enveloping her so tightly she could barely breathe.

 

Chu Li felt a bit hot and wasn’t quite used to it.

 

“I can’t sleep like this.”

 

“Alright.” Huo Xiu slowly loosened his hold, a moist kiss falling on her ear. “Good night, Li Li.”

 

“Good night.” Chu Li kissed the corner of his lips. “You’ve been working hard lately.”

 

Huo Xiu didn’t speak or move. She didn’t pay it much mind, scooted to the side, away from the heat source, and fell asleep peacefully.

 

Chu Li dreamed of falling into the sea again.

 

She fell face-up into the waters, her vision changing from gray dark clouds to an oppressive deep blue.

 

A mass of red spread before her, thick as blood.

 

She wanted to close her eyes, wanted to float to the surface, wanted to urge herself to wake up.

 

But in this dream, she could only stare straight at that mass of blood red.

 

…..

 

The next day, Huo Xiu hired a housekeeper to come to their home.

 

She was responsible for making lunch and dinner as well as simple cleaning, arriving at ten in the morning and leaving before five in the afternoon, with weekends off.

 

After the housekeeper arrived, Chu Li’s symptoms didn’t improve.

 

That gaze still existed.

 

Always appearing without warning when she was alone.

 

Behind curtains, on the ceiling, in the gap behind doors, under the sofa, beneath the desk…

 

Persistent, regardless of day or night, constantly… watching her.

 

The most heart-stopping incident was when she woke from an afternoon nap. The moment she opened her eyes, she felt someone standing by the bed looking at her.

 

She could even imagine the owner of that gaze bending over, getting infinitely close to her face, almost nose to nose, staring at her.

 

In that instant, Chu Li suddenly swung forward.

 

Her arm swept through the air and hit the mattress heavily.

 

There was nothing there, and the gaze disappeared too, as if it had been an illusion.

 

“Miss Chu?” The hired housekeeper’s surname was Chen. Hearing the commotion, she brought over a glass of warm water. “You’re sweating a lot. Did you have another nightmare?”

 

After a few days together, Aunt Chen had basically understood her employer’s situation.

 

Chu Li drank half the glass of water, but her face and lips were still pale. “Aunt Chen… when you came in, did you see anything?”

 

“No.” Aunt Chen took back the glass and hesitated before tentatively speaking. “Miss Chu, have you encountered… that kind of thing?”

 

Chu Li was stunned.

 

Aunt Chen lowered her voice. “My hometown is in the countryside. There’s a pond that always drowns people in summer – very eerie. Several years ago, a child from the village fell into the water, and afterward he would often cry at night, always saying someone was following him. We took him to the hospital and the doctor said it was a mental problem, but the medicine didn’t work. With no other option, we called for a shaman. The shaman said his soul was lost in the pond and something unclean from the water had attached itself to him.”

 

“Then what?” she asked unconsciously.

 

“Then, the shaman performed a ritual to send that thing away and gave him something for protection, saying as long as he wore it, he’d be fine. Miraculously, after all that fuss, the child immediately perked up. Before the shaman left, she told the villagers to watch their children and not let them get near the pond.”

 

“She said that pond has high yin energy, and the ghosts inside were restless spirits that would lure children to play with them. Once a child agreed to play, they couldn’t get rid of them.”

 

The story was somewhat strange and mysterious, and Chu Li became curious, “Why is it that once you agree, you can’t get rid of them?” 

 

“These are all old customs passed down in the countryside. The village elders say, ‘Don’t answer ghost talk,’ meaning even if you encounter a ghost, never speak to it or agree to anything. Speaking up in agreement creates a karmic bond, and where there’s cause, there will be effect.”

 

Chu Li had never believed in ghosts and spirits, but she maintained a respectful distance.

 

Thinking carefully, she had never encountered ghosts, let alone spoken to them. However, her family was quite superstitious about such things – for instance, they often emphasized that she couldn’t tell anyone her specific birth time and made her wear a red string with copper coins twenty-four hours a day.

 

Wait, copper coins…

 

Chu Li touched her left wrist, and her heart suddenly turned half cold.

 

A slight breeze passed, and she shrank back sharply, then realized it was Aunt Chen’s hand.

 

Aunt Chen helped wipe away her cold sweat, her tone self-reproachful. “I’m sorry, Miss Chu. Did I say something wrong and frighten you? Your complexion… doesn’t look very good.”

 

Chu Li’s head was buzzing as she mechanically touched her left wrist.

 

It was gone.

 

Why had she only just noticed?

 

In a daze, Chu Li seemed to return to the summer after her high school graduation. She was standing outside the family home with her suitcase, while her parents stood inside the doorway. The house lights weren’t on, the background was dark, and her parents’ faces weren’t very clear.

 

They kept repeating their instructions.

 

“Sweetheart, you must wear the copper coins properly and not lose them, understand?”

 

“Don’t lose them, understand?”

 

“Understand…”

 

****

 

“Mr. Huo, I really didn’t mean to. I just saw Miss Chu like that and remembered what happened back home. I didn’t expect it would frighten her…”

 

“I’ve transferred your wages. Starting tomorrow, you don’t need to come anymore.”

 

The door closed.

 

Footsteps slowly came up from downstairs. The bed dipped, and arms gently encircled the curled-up Chu Li.

 

“Li Li, it’s okay now.” Fingers brushed away her sweat-dampened hair, fingertips caressing her cheeks. “Those are all stories to fool children – they’re fake. Don’t be afraid.”

 

Chu Li maintained her grip on her right wrist, her voice like sleep talk, “The copper coins…”

 

“What?”

 

Her eyeballs trembled as she began pulling at her hair. “The copper coins are gone… My parents said I can’t lose them. They’ll definitely blame me. What should I do… They’ll definitely blame me.”

 

Huo Xiu held her tighter, encircling her in his embrace and restraining her movements, patiently comforting her. “They won’t. How could uncle and aunt blame you? It probably fell into the sea. I’ll contact a salvage team later and have someone look for them.”

 

“What if it fell into the sea and can’t be found?”

 

“We’ll find them. Trust me.” Huo Xiu kissed her forehead.

 

Perhaps his tone was too reliable. Chu Li gradually calmed down and hugged Huo Xiu, resting her head against his chest.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

He slowly stroked her long hair, letting the strands wind around his fingers. “I’m the one who should apologize. Tomorrow I’ll find another quiet housekeeper who doesn’t talk much to keep you company.”

 

****

 

The new housekeeper’s surname was Wang – quiet, steady, and not talkative.

 

Whenever Chu Li was alone, that ever-present gaze still existed. She tried to convince herself not to mind it and considered whether she should visit Dr. Chen again.

 

Two days later, Huo Xiu had a day off.

 

He also brought back Chu Li’s lost copper coins. The salvage team said they were caught on coral reefs in shallow water and didn’t take much time to find.

 

The original red string was worn out, so Huo Xiu replaced it with a new one, threading it through the square hole in the copper coin and tying it to Chu Li’s wrist.

 

The copper coins, having been soaked in seawater, were ice cold. When they touched her skin, she couldn’t help but shiver.

 

Chu Li used her fingertips to feel every groove, confirming it was her copper coin, and her mood visibly improved.

 

On Saturday, Huo Xiu accompanied her to a nearby shopping mall.

 

Chu Li held her milk tea, her left hand hooked around Huo Xiu’s fingers, following along slowly.

 

That evening, her good friend Xin Tong called.

 

Xin Tong was her junior high desk mate and high school classmate, and they attended the same university where she studied photography. Since getting to know her in junior high, she had always loved taking photos, often wearing a small camera around her neck and constantly taking pictures of Chu Li.

 

After hearing about Chu Li’s accidental blindness, Xin Tong called every day to keep her company and cheer her up.

 

“Li Bao, the summer exchange is ending. I have a flight Monday and will come see you Tuesday. I brought lots of local specialties.”

 

Chu Li immediately thought of those strange and exotic insect specimens. “Are you bringing me bug specimens again?”

 

Xin Tong was still enthusiastic. “You don’t know – I’ve photographed so many beautiful insects recently. Have you ever seen a mantis that looks like tree branches? And pink cecropia moths, blue stick insects… Oh right, I discovered Africa has delicious food too…”

 

The topic quickly jumped from specimens to food, then to meeting at a nearby mall for dinner after her return, then to visiting a temple together to pray.

 

They chattered for a long time.

 

After hanging up, the room was quiet.

 

“Huo Xiu?”

 

“Mm.” A gentle, low voice was right beside her.

 

The phone call had lasted nearly two hours, and he had actually been sitting nearby the whole time, quietly waiting for her to finish.

 

“It’s eleven o’clock. Time to sleep.” Huo Xiu took away her phone and embraced her as they lay down face to face.

 

Chu Li felt around and touched his well-defined chest through his pajamas, then moved up to his neck, his prominent Adam’s apple, and his jawline. She kissed him once in the darkness, this time slightly off target, landing on his lips.

 

“Good night,” she said.

 

He remained unmoved, his palm carelessly stroking Chu Li’s back. Her intuition told her that Huo Xiu was a bit unhappy.

 

Chu Li had always been direct with him. “Are you unhappy?”

 

Huo Xiu’s hand moved up to cup half her face, his thumb gently pressing on her soft lips. He sighed softly. “No, I’m just very worried about you. Li Li, you can invite Xin Tong to come here. Wait until your vision recovers before going out with her.”

 

Like most close female friends, Xin Tong didn’t particularly like Huo Xiu and rarely appeared when he was around.

 

Asking Xin Tong to come here – she wouldn’t be happy to come.

 

“Don’t worry. We’ll just stay nearby and come back after going out for a bit. Always staying cooped up in the house will drive me crazy.”

 

Huo Xiu was silent for a moment, then sighed. “Alright.”

 

He wrapped his arms around Chu Li’s waist, pulling her into his embrace until there was no space between them, then lowered his head to kiss her.

 

His moist tongue traced her soft lips, invaded past her teeth, exploring bit by bit, from shallow to deep.

 

Long fingers gripped the back of her neck, the webbing between thumb and forefinger pressed against Chu Li’s jaw, while his other hand circled her waist, making it impossible for her to dodge or push away.

 

This kiss lasted so long that Chu Li couldn’t catch her breath. In her daze, she felt like prey that had stumbled into a trap.

 

This version of Huo Xiu was somewhat strange.

 

When he was with her, he was always gentle and tolerant, very respectful of her wishes.

 

Not like now, as if he wanted to swallow her alive.

 

Chu Li was kissed until her fingers went weak. She finally managed to turn her head away and had just taken two breaths – before she could voice her refusal, the burning breath entangled with her again.

 

Taking advantage, insatiably greedy.

 

She forgot when this kiss ended. She was as exhausted as if she had run a marathon, her eyelids stuck tightly together.

 

A warm body pressed against her back. Half asleep and half awake, Chu Li heard Huo Xiu sigh softly.

 

“Li Li, without me accompanying you, going out is very dangerous. I would really worry about you.”

 

“Why don’t you… understand?”