I grew somewhat anxious, but Deng Ying lowered his head and smiled gently.
He rolled up his sleeves and carefully lifted my uninjured arm.
“Can you use this one?”
“Huh?”
“Can you use force with this arm?”
“Yes.”
“Then wrap it around my neck.”
Well, Deng Ying had carried me before, but being lifted from the bathtub like this was a first. I actually… became timid.
Seeing my hesitation to use force, Deng Ying lowered his head and whispered in my ear: “Wan-wan, you can hold tight around my neck. It’s fine even if you squeeze – if you don’t use force, I might drop you when carrying you.”
I truly became timid.
So timid my face flushed and my thoughts scattered.
He was about to lift me out, but why was he so calm, even considering the practical matter of “force application”?
“Wan-wan…”
“I-I-I… how can I squeeze you?”
“Around the neck.”
“Oh…”
As he spoke, one hand supported my back while the other hooked under my knees. With a slight lift of his waist, he carried me out of the tub. Then he gently placed me on the couch, temporarily covering me with his robe before standing straight and saying: “Sit still, I’ll get water for you.”
I clutched his robe and tentatively asked, “When are you going back?”
While scooping water, Deng Ying replied: “I’m not going back today.”
“I’m fine, I can manage.”
Deng Ying put down the water bucket and turned around, gently patting my head and smiling at me: “Wan-wan.”
I nervously responded with an “Ah?”
He said without mercy: “Your face is red.”
I truly was timid.
But it was worth it.
Deng Ying placed a small blanket by the edge of the tub, letting me rest my injured hand on it. Then he helped tie up my hair into a perfectly standard bun.
As he helped me bathe, I didn’t say a word the entire time.
Fortunately, he too remained silent – silently lifting me and laying me on the blanket-covered bed.
Silently bringing dry towels to help dry my body.
I lay face-up, the naturally evaporating water vapor taking away the temperature from my skin’s surface. The warmth from Deng Ying’s hands was warmer than my body temperature. He parted my knees, his other hand supporting my tailbone to help lift my back. As the towel gently wiped private areas, my whole body trembled.
“Deng Ying…”
His name escaped my lips.
“What is it?”
I coughed once, and suddenly a light mist appeared before my eyes.
“I feel a bit…”
He didn’t speak but put down the towel in his hand.
I’m certain it was a stormy evening.
The windows rattled loudly, the sound of rain drowning out all human voices. Deng Ying remained silent, but he took control of me.
He supported himself on the couch, half-kneeling on the bed, kissing my eyes to calm me.
Then he kissed my lips, revealing both our clumsy kissing techniques.
But it didn’t matter.
Beside him, I experienced for the first time the pleasure of surrendering myself – a feeling I’d never had before.
I freely relaxed my body, letting it give me the most honest feedback on Deng Ying’s movements.
It began to tremble slightly, sweat, flush red, then it released honest waters, finally gathered tenderly by someone’s tongue.
I looked down, but could only see Deng Ying’s slightly raised shoulders between my knees.
He hadn’t removed his clothes, while I was completely bare.
I don’t know what this meant to Deng Ying, but for me, it was undoubtedly a self-liberation.
His technique was still awkward, but my subconscious desperately grasped at bodily sensations, helping him easily send me to cloud nine.
I no longer needed to consider the order of “respect” and “love” – I just needed to love him and let him love me.
So I gradually released the restraint on my throat, beginning to say some “nonsensical” things. He silently listened at the foot of the bed, holding my legs to keep me from moving.
How could I not move?
For the first time, Deng Ying, you suffered.
This continued for a long while.
Until the second year of Jinghe, when Deng Ying saved some money and bought a piece of jade from Yang Lun.
Interestingly, he hid it and wouldn’t let me see him carving it.
Half a month later, I found his “masterpiece” behind his bookshelf, along with some private savings.
I placed his “masterpiece” and the money in front of him and then questioned him.
Deng Ying honestly lowered his head to listen to me, then went to the cabinet to bring out the rest of his private savings, obediently handing them over to me.
I saw the labels he had written on the money.
“Buy a swing for Wan-wan”
“Buy rouge for Wan-wan”
“Buy… for Wan-wan”
The silver tag with the “masterpiece” read – Not well made, will make a new one for Wan-wan next month.
I picked up the “masterpiece” and looked at it carefully – the design was based on a sketch I had drawn after waking from a spring dream.
I asked Deng Ying, “Do you know what this is?”
Deng Ying said he didn’t know.
I rested my chin on my hand and smiled.
The sunset outside the window that day was truly shy.