Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 104

A Village Night (Part 2)

Yan Xi stared in horror as the enormous cockroach fluttered its wings mid-air before landing leisurely on the wall.

She was quite shaken, but her immediate priority was the unbearable itching on her legs. She had just returned to the room and grabbed the Florida Water¹, pouring it into her palm and rubbing it rather roughly all over her legs. Still trembling with lingering fear, she took out the bug spray and sprayed it frantically around the bedroom.

            

Thankfully, the bed was shielded by a mosquito net, which should keep the mosquitoes out.

Just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard a bizarre flap, flap, flap near her ear—the sound of some creature happily beating its wings.

Yan Xi turned around, only to have a dark, prickly flying insect lunge straight at her face. Startled, she threw a punch on pure reflex. The insect was swatted away, but the tactile sensation was incredibly… disgusting.

            

She immediately wanted to go wash her hands.

“Auntie… Ah, what is that?” Anzhi had just walked into the room when she was frightened by the airborne bug. “A moth?”

“Taotao, come here.” Yan Xi beckoned her over nervously. The two of them stared at the insect, which had landed on the wall and tucked away its wings, its two long antennae waving brazenly.

            

Anzhi tilted her head, recognizing it faintly. “Oh, a cockroach.”

“It’s so much bigger than the ones up in the north…” Yan Xi said, feeling a chill run down her spine.

Anzhi wasn’t too afraid. “I’ll just shoo it away.” She was just about to look for an object to use when the cockroach, seemingly sensing danger, fluttered its wings and flew out.

            

Yan Xi finally let out the breath she’d been holding. She went to the bathroom to wash her hands. The red bug bites on her legs started itching again, causing her to frown.

The village night was very quiet, save for the occasional croak of a frog, crow of a rooster, or bark of a dog.

But Yan Xi was woken up by the heat. Outside the mosquito net—which looked a dusty yellow under the dim nightlight—the desk fan they had borrowed from the neighbors hummed, yet the breeze it blew was lukewarm.

            

Sweat-dampened strands of hair clung to Yan Xi’s neck, making her thoroughly uncomfortable. The room was terribly stuffy, even though the floor had been mopped right before bed and they were sleeping on a summer sleeping mat.

Yan Xi looked over at Anzhi. She was sleeping beside her, a short distance away. Anzhi had a higher tolerance for the heat, and her body temperature naturally ran lower. Right now, she was sleeping soundly, wearing only a tank top and shorts, her slender, snow-white limbs bare.

With her cool, sweat-free skin, she looked just like a chilled piece of milk candy.

            

Yan Xi suppressed the urge to pull her into a hug to cool off. They had to visit the nunnery tomorrow, and she didn’t want to disturb her sleep. She quietly got up, left the room, and stepped outside.

There had been a cool night breeze earlier, but now the air was entirely still. Frightened by the mosquitoes from before, Yan Xi didn’t dare linger outside and had no choice but to go back to the bathroom for another shower. Just as she was drying off, she caught a glimpse of a dark cockroach the size of a thumb resting in the corner of the wall, its antennae twitching.

Yan Xi’s brow twitched. She pretended she hadn’t seen a thing.

            

Maybe it would be gone by morning.

She hardly slept all night and was roasted awake bright and early by the blazing sun.

Indeed, the sunlight poured in through the window, blanketing the floor around her bed. Even the mosquito net was dotted with golden patches of light.

            

The sheer heat and brightness baked her awake.

Yan Xi massaged her temples in agony. She had no choice but to get up, wash her face, and brush her teeth.

Anzhi had already gone out and bought soy milk, youtiao, steamed buns, and mineral water.

            

Yan Xi had zero appetite. She only drank a few mouthfuls of water, though Anzhi managed to coax her into reluctantly eating half a steamed bun.

Anzhi had originally told her to rest at home, but Yan Xi insisted on accompanying her. There were no taxis in the countryside, but the classmate of the nephew of their Relative Aunt had a private car. Anzhi asked him to give them a ride and paid for the gas.

Yan Xi had a headache. Wearing her sunglasses, she wasn’t much in the mood to talk after getting in the car. However, the driver was a young man, and seeing how pretty they were, he kept trying to strike up a chat and crack a few jokes.

            

Once they reached their destination, the mountain air proved fresh and cool, surrounded by lush green foliage. Yan Xi finally started to feel a bit more comfortable.

The mountain path was rugged, lacking a proper trail. There were stone steps occasionally, but just as often, there were none, and the incline was steep. Yan Xi felt exhausted after walking only a short distance, a thin layer of sweat dampening her collar. She glanced over at Anzhi. Even though Anzhi was usually the one who disliked exercising, right now, with the gentle breeze brushing through her hair and the sunlight tracing a golden halo around her pale face, she looked vibrant and full of energy.

She even took the initiative to reach out and hold Yan Xi’s hand, pulling her along for a stretch.

            

The young girl’s hand was cool and soft. Yan Xi’s agitated heart calmed down significantly.

When they arrived at the nunnery, it wasn’t a grand temple by any means. In fact, Yan Xi thought it was highly debatable whether the person receiving them was truly a person outside the mundane world². The brick walls were gray and mottled. Hearing that Anzhi wanted to go inside to pay her respects, the receptionist slowly replied in heavily accented Mandarin, “Sure, fifty yuan.”

He swept a gaze over them and added, “Fifty yuan an hour.”

            

Unwilling to waste breath on him, they paid the money and walked in. Inside, all four walls were densely packed with ash urns bearing written names. Another room held more of the same.

The moment they stepped in, their vision was filled with the tightly packed urns. Regardless of who came first or later, they all shared the same room, having stood there in silence for an unknowable amount of time. Perhaps they were waiting for someone to visit them, or perhaps this desire to “visit” was merely a comforting assumption made by the living.

Consciousness and the soul had long since faded away; these were nothing but the remaining vestiges of their fleshly vessels.

            

But the living would still feel sorrow.

When they finally found her grandfather’s ash urn, Anzhi—who hadn’t shed a single tear back in the Ancestral Hall—immediately began wiping her eyes.

Yan Xi stood behind her, her sunglasses pushed up onto her head. She didn’t try to console her, just quietly waited for her to release her emotions.

            

“Grandfather, once I start working… you won’t have to stay here anymore…”

“I’m doing very well. Someone takes good care of me… Auntie does.”

Yan Xi stepped a little further away, giving Anzhi space to say a few words to her grandfather.

            

When they came back out, the two of them walked in silence.

It was approaching noon. The sky felt like an overturned furnace—stiflingly hot, without a single breath of wind.

The further Yan Xi walked, the more arduous it became. She could feel her ankles starting to itch again; she’d likely been bitten by bugs once more. She had specifically worn pants and applied bug spray, but it seemed it hadn’t done much good.

            

“Just endure it, distract yourself,” she repeated. As long as she could endure this level of itching, she’d be fine.

Anzhi finished making a phone call and reached out to hold her hand. “Auntie, are you feeling unwell?”

“Just a little thirsty,” Yan Xi said. Her face was flushed from the sun, the tip of her nose beaded with sweat.

            

Anzhi handed her the water, and Yan Xi took a sip.

“The car will be here soon. Just hang in there a little longer,” Anzhi said.

“This weather is way too hot…”

            

Once they got into the car, feeling the cool air conditioning, Yan Xi leaned weakly against Anzhi’s shoulder. She could hear the young man chattering away again, “Haha, don’t worry. A typhoon is rolling in, so it’s going to rain this afternoon.”

“The power won’t go out… Well… I guess it might, haha. It’s no big deal, just buy a few candles and you’ll be fine.”

Upon returning to the house, Yan Xi felt slightly better. She ate an apple and drank a small vial of Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid³.

            

Anzhi told her to rest at home and ran out to buy some things.

Yan Xi took a sip of water and let out a soft sigh. She felt like she was getting old, needing Anzhi to take care of her instead.

She went to take a shower and changed into a nightgown. Beneath the cotton hem, her long legs sported several new red bites. Yan Xi realized that the Florida Water was only good for temporary itch relief and warding off a few mosquitoes; it didn’t do much overall.

            

Unable to hold out any longer, she climbed into bed, closed her eyes, and immediately fell asleep.

After sleeping for a while, she heard the pitter-patter of rain.

It’s finally raining, Yan Xi thought groggily. A few minutes later, she struggled to sit up, wanting to make sure Anzhi had made it back.

            

“Auntie…” Anzhi seemed to have already sat on the bed and slipped inside the mosquito net.

“Mn… You’re back.” Yan Xi’s voice was heavy with sleep. She could feel Anzhi touching her leg, followed by a cool, slightly medicinal-smelling ointment being dabbed onto the red bites.

Yan Xi forced her eyes open and saw Anzhi earnestly applying the medicine for her.

            

A warmth filled Yan Xi’s heart as she asked, “Did you get caught in the rain?”

“I’m okay,” Anzhi replied softly. “These mosquitoes are so vicious…”

Yan Xi was just about to ask if she had gotten bitten too, but she was too exhausted. Her eyelids fluttered shut once more.

            

Half-asleep, she could feel Anzhi’s soft, delicate hand gently pressing against her leg. She murmured, “There’s one more,” seeming to hesitate for a moment before lifting the hem of her nightgown.

Yan Xi seemed to fall into a dream. When she was very little, she had gotten sick once. Her grandparents weren’t home, so Auntie Xin had fed her medicine. Left alone in bed, she was alternating between sweating and shivering, feeling absolutely miserable.

“Mom…” she remembered her tiny self crying out. The bed had felt impossibly large, the blankets terribly empty. She had desperately wanted a hug, but there was no one there to give her one.

            

Outside, all she could hear was the wind, fierce raindrops battering against the windowpanes. Her legs were no longer itching. A gentle hand touched her back, stroking her slowly. The deep warmth of being cherished enveloped her entirely as a sweet, fragrant breath fell across her face.

Like a gardenia hidden in the dark, still dewy with rain, pressing a soft kiss to her face.

Yan Xi’s breathing remained long and even; she quickly fell into a deep sleep.

            

She didn’t know how long she slept. When she woke up, the pitter-patter of the rain and the gusts of wind were still going strong.

Warm yellow light filtered through the mosquito net, and the desk fan in the spartan room rotated at a leisurely pace.

Yan Xi sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her long hair clung alluringly to her nightgown, tracing the curves of her breasts and waist.

            

She sat there in a daze. She touched her cheek, her fingertips then slowly brushing across the center of her lips.

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The author has something to say:

I’ve been suffering from terrible insomnia lately, feeling quite tired.

            

These next few chapters are where feelings will be revealed.

There won’t be any explicit smut in the main text; getting your chapters locked is a huge hassle. Times have changed, as everyone knows.

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