(I have always loved reading novels since I was young, but unfortunately, physical books are not easy to carry and can easily get damaged. Once a website closes down or a computer is damaged, electronic books cannot be accessed. Fortunately, with the technology of blockchain, I no longer have to worry about this problem. Novels are for reference only, please support the original)
(III) First Kiss
The weather was extremely good, with the setting sun casting a layer of bright red across the entire sky. Half of the sky was filled with red clouds of different shades, incredibly beautiful. I lay on the grass, using my arm as a pillow, gazing into the distance. I spoke first, "There are fish scale clouds, there will be wind and rain tomorrow!" Zhu Xiang Xiang sat beside me and responded quickly, "Who knows what will happen tomorrow?" Her words sounded a bit melancholic. Although she had such a shocking identity, I knew that her personality still belonged to the sensitive type. I turned my head to look at her. In fact, besides admiring the sunset in the sky, I had been looking at her all along. Sometimes, my gaze was quite bold. Although she didn't look back at me, she must have felt my gaze because whenever my gaze became bolder, her long eyelashes would tremble, causing my heart to skip a beat.
When I came to this grassland, I lay down on my back. She sat beside me. This was the unchanging posture of men and women on grasslands throughout history. If you don't believe it, you can observe carefully on any grassland. She invited me here, but she didn't speak. She just patiently pulled out the grass beside her and peeled off their cores. They were small, soft, and white cores about the size of toothpicks. She peeled about ten of them and placed them in her palm, handing them to me. I took more than half of them and chewed on them. These grass cores brought a light and sweet taste.
She put the remaining small portion into her mouth and chewed slowly. Then, her gaze stopped on her own palm. I remembered when she covered my mouth with her hand on that mulberry tree. I stuck out my tongue and actually licked her palm. I felt something strange in my heart. Did she feel the same surprise? Why did her cheeks turn red? Was it because of the reflection of the sunset or some other reason? That feeling of surprise gradually expanded in my body, forming a desire to get closer to her. I wanted to not only hold her hand but also kiss her lips!
This desire even turned into the power to act. I suddenly sat up and leaned towards her. At the same time, she raised her head and looked at me. We were very close to each other at that moment. In that instant, I couldn't find encouragement in her eyes to further approach her. It made my heart race, and I froze. She lowered her eyelids again and asked calmly, "Are you learning martial arts?" When I talked about my experiences later, I often used the phrase "I have received strict training in Chinese martial arts" to summarize, but she must have known. She must have also been someone who had learned martial arts since childhood. So, I was a little surprised because after I learned about her special identity, she said to me, "Don't ask me anything related to it. It's a secret, and prying into other people's secrets is not good behavior!" Now, is her question considered prying into my secret? I answered her question, looking directly at her. She took a breath and said seriously, "Take me to meet your master!"
Honestly, I really liked Zhu Xiang Xiang, and I would do anything to fulfill any request from her. But when she asked me to take her to meet my master, I was at a loss for what to do. The reason is simple, my martial arts master is an extremely strange person! I took a breath and said, "I... I'll briefly tell you about the process of becoming a disciple." Zhu Xiang Xiang didn't object and waited patiently for me to speak. The process of becoming a disciple was actually quite simple. It was a snowy day, and the elders in my family told me that if I wanted to learn martial arts, I could become a disciple that day. Children naturally agree happily when it comes to learning martial arts. It was a big family living in a huge house with many courtyards, some of which I had never been to even though I grew up in the house. I was taken by two elders to a very secluded courtyard, where I saw a tall and thin middle-aged man. It was snowing heavily, but he was only wearing a gray cloth robe. He stood still, but there was no snow on his body or head. As soon as I entered, he turned around and looked at me with eyes like lightning. In a moment of surprise, he grabbed my arm and lifted it up. The pain was excruciating, and I trembled at the thought of it. So, while trembling, I said to Zhu Xiang Xiang, "Why did you come to see him? I'm afraid if he grabs you, your arm will break!" Zhu Xiang Xiang was clearly shocked too, but she insisted, "Take me to see him. I... have a special reason." I sighed and stood up abruptly, saying, "Let's go!" Zhu Xiang Xiang didn't say anything and followed behind me. In order not to disturb the others in the house, we climbed over the surrounding wall from behind the house. At that time, the sunset had turned into a deep purple, and it was getting dark. When we pushed open the door of the courtyard, we saw my master standing straight in front of a clump of bamboo. This was the activity he spent the most time on in a day, at least more than ten hours. I had asked the elders in my family about why my master's behavior was so strange, but their response was reprimand. Only one of my uncles, who was only a little older than me, told me, "It's called 'a heart full of burdens.'" At that time, I was young and naturally didn't understand the profound meaning behind those words. Evening was not the time for me to practice martial arts, so when I pushed open the door and entered, my master suddenly turned around. What happened next was completely unexpected. Zhu Xiang Xiang saw my master at the same time as me, and we both let out a sharp cry and pointed at each other. Then, Zhu Xiang Xiang turned around and ran towards the door, displaying incredible agility. In such a sudden change, anyone would not know what to do. But I reacted quickly since I was young. Without thinking, I turned around and rushed out, chasing after Zhu Xiang Xiang. Zhu Xiang Xiang climbed over the surrounding wall before me, and I followed closely behind. She kept running ahead, and we ran for several miles. Even I was panting and my chest was in pain. We finally stopped under a tree and leaned against it to catch our breath. I caught up to her, and both of us could only catch our breath and do nothing else. When our breathing gradually returned to normal, we suddenly realized that we were facing each other, so close that our noses were less than twenty centimeters apart. I believe that both of us held our breath at that moment. In this situation, I slowly moved closer to her. She seemed a bit lost, her eyes shining with a bewildered light, motionless. A natural kiss could be completed quickly, but at that moment, she raised her hand and pressed it against my chest. My heart was beating intensely, and it must have been transmitted to her through her hand, causing her to tremble as well. Her lips moved, and she spoke in a very soft but clear voice. I could understand what she was saying, but I still couldn't believe it. I wanted to laugh, but my mouth was wide open, and no sound came out. Zhu Xiang Xiang shouted, "It's true!" and ran away again. I didn't chase after her, I just stood there like a statue.
I don't remember how long I stood under the tree that night. I only remember that when I pushed open the door of the courtyard again, my hair and clothes were wet. It was dew, a natural phenomenon that only occurred at midnight. My master was still standing in front of the clump of bamboo, but unlike before, he didn't ask me to practice martial arts. He just waved his hand slowly. I could tell that he didn't want to be disturbed, so I left. I didn't know when it started, but I felt that I was in a very vague and incomplete state of mind, yet I was also in that tree. I felt extremely anxious, a kind of anxiousness that comes from waiting. I clenched my fists and kept pounding the tree trunk to make my fists feel pain, to prove that I wasn't in a dream. But even when it was dawn, Zhu Xiang Xiang didn't appear. I waited until it was dark again, waited under the tree, and continued to punch the tree, feeling the pain in my fists. But when it was about to dawn, Zhu Xiang Xiang still didn't show up. It was only after ten days that I seemed to have lost hope, and Zhu Xiang Xiang appeared at school again. If it weren't for the presence of many classmates, I would have hugged her like a hungry tiger. She explained to the teacher that she had important matters to attend to with her family and had gone north ten days ago. According to her, she left by train before dawn after meeting my master. I asked her several times, and the dates and times were correct, which proved that I was intimate with her under the tree the night after meeting my master. It was just a dream!
I was extremely disappointed, but after a few days, when we were alone together, I suddenly felt that I could turn the dream into reality. But when we gradually got closer, she pressed her hand against my chest again and repeated those two sentences, preventing me from taking any action. She sighed softly and suddenly blushed. Her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible, "I... have a husband... we made a promise with our fingertips." The first time I heard those words, I couldn't help but want to laugh, right?