Chapter 60: Chapter Fifty-Seven: Learning Idioms

In the corridor laid with exquisite carpets, Lu Si recalled the recent agreement, and a ripple involuntarily rose in her heart.

Looking back on her eighteen years of experience, she had never been as happy and free as today, as if dreaming, yet real yet illogical.

"Su!" she thought, savoring that man's name in her heart, Lu Si's face showed a smile from the bottom of her heart, she walked toward her room full of anticipation; at this moment, she could hardly wait for his arrival tomorrow night.

Night had deepened, the corridor was very quiet.

Lu Si came to her room's door, but found it half-open; she thought her mother was inside, quickly composed her smile, and pushed the door open to enter.

Upon entering the room, she discovered that the person inside was not her mother, but her fiancé Ka Er, whom she least wanted to see.

At that moment, Ka Er sat on the sofa, holding two paintings in his hands, his face showing no joy.

Lu Si instantly recognized those as the two paintings Su Qing had given her; a flash of panic crossed her eyes, but she forced composure and asked, "How did you come here?"

"Lu Si, who painted these two paintings?" Ka Er did not answer; instead, he stood up, lifted the painting scrolls in his hand, and asked in a questioning tone.

"It... it was a painter; this morning I went out for fresh air and happened to meet him, paying five dollars to have him paint for me." Lu Si's heart jumped, her mind raced, and she finally came up with an explanation.

"Oh, I see." Ka Er's face finally showed a smile, and he gallantly praised: "Lu Si, even as a painting, you are the most beautiful."

After saying that, he changed the subject: "Going out late at night is not something my fiancée should do; from now on, don't go out after dark. If you want to go out to clear your mind, you can ask me to accompany you."

Lu Si did not respond; instead, she walked expressionlessly to the dressing table and sat down, looking at herself in the mirror as if she were a bird trapped in a cage, forever unable to experience the joy of freedom.

Watching this scene, Ka Er sensed Lu Si's cold attitude toward him, frowned, turned and left; when he returned to the room again, he had an extra box in his hand.

"Lu Si!" Ka Er laughed as he came to the dressing table, opened the box in Lu Si's doubtful gaze, and saw inside a huge blue diamond pendant.

"It is called the Heart of the Ocean, weighing fifty-six carats, the most valuable jewelry in the world; it originally belonged to the royalty, but now it belongs to you."

Saying this, Ka Er came behind Lu Si and gently helped her put it on.

He hoped Lu Si would understand that she was very important in his heart.

Ka Er is a businessman, so his flattery is likewise measured in money; he thought this priceless diamond would make Lu Si happy, but contrary to his expectations, he understands neither women nor love, and even less Lu Si.

This way of solving problems with money is what Lu Si dislikes the most.

Looking at the person beside her who was about to spend the rest of his life with her, Lu Si fell into confusion once again.

…………

The next day, before dawn, Su Qing woke up from the luxurious big bed.

Simply putting on casual clothes, he picked up his painting board and brush, left the door, and walked toward the bow of the ship.

Who would have thought that as soon as he arrived at the bow, he saw Lu Si, and Lu Si likewise saw him.

"Su, you've come."

"Hmm, how did you get up so early?"

"Nothing much, just couldn't sleep, came out for a walk."

"You women need to get enough sleep, otherwise your skin will turn sallow and your hair dark, and you'll get dark circles."

"Is that really true?"

"Of course."

"……"

The two thus began to talk freely.

Lu Si spoke while looking at the man painting before her, her face full of freedom and joy.

She came here, actually just to find Su Qing.

Last night Ka Er's words left her bewildered; she wanted to find someone without reservations to confide in.

Coincidentally, Su Qing is a very good listener.

Although he resides in the upper class, he constantly goes to the lower levels, speaking and acting without pretension, free and easy—exactly what she wants.

Some people spend a lifetime together yet still do not understand each other, while some people, upon a chance meeting, become kindred spirits.

The two clearly belong to the latter; no, to be precise, Lu Si belongs to the latter, while Su Qing embodies both the former and the latter.

Su Qing fully understood Lu Si's situation, continually enlightening her, telling her that a person's life is but a short hundred years and should not be controlled by others.

Lu Si felt deeply moved, but upon recalling the fact that her family was in debt, she felt embarrassed; she does not love Ka Er, yet she must become engaged to him.

Such behavior of relying on a wealthy patron makes it hard for her to speak up.

Seeing Lu Si's embarrassed state, Su Qing changed the topic, saying: "Are you still going to the lower levels tonight?"

"Tonight there is a banquet, and moreover Ka Er..." Lu Si shook her head, her eyes full of disappointment.

At that moment, a woman's voice came from nearby.

Lu Si hastily composed herself and turned her head to look; Su Qing put down his paintbrush and also looked toward the voice.

Then they saw a middle-aged woman in a luxurious coat walk over.

At a glance, Su Qing recognized the woman as Lu Si's mother.

He couldn't recall her name, only remembering that this noble lady was selfish and self-interested, looked down on the lower-class people; although she doted on her daughter Lu Si deeply, for profit and money she would not hesitate to marry Lu Si off to a man she does not love.

"Mother." Lu Si said expressionlessly.

"How are you here?" the woman approached, asking Lu Si while scrutinizing Su Qing with her gaze, and asked: "Who is he?"

"I am a businessman and painter." Su Qing didn't give Lu Si a chance to speak, giving a brief self-introduction.

Upon hearing he was a merchant, the woman's coldness lessened a bit, but her noble arrogance made her unwilling to have much contact with Su Qing.

She merely said: "I'm looking for Lu Si on business; I won't disturb you further."

Having said that, she took Lu Si's hand and turned to leave.

Su Qing shook his head inwardly; this is what nobility is like—even if the family is deep in debt, reduced to using their daughter to cling to a wealthy patron, they still maintain that ridiculous status.

"Tch, stubborn as a dead duck."

Silently muttering a complaint, Su Qing gathered his thoughts and began to paint the sunrise morning light.

Time passed within the painting, and soon it was evening.

The upper-class banquet started on time.

Although Su Qing didn't want to attend, considering he would later go to New York and couldn't avoid contacting these upper-class socialites, he still steeled himself and dressed up to participate.

Although his yellow skin made him unwelcome at the banquet, being able to attend the party, no one would bother him without cause.

Su Qing passed the boring banquet very smoothly.

Interestingly, even without Jack's participation, Su Qing still became acquainted with Madam Molly.

Madam Molly was very friendly to people; even though Su Qing was a yellow-skinned Easterner, she was still very enthusiastic.

It's laughable that, despite being a philanthropist, actress, and sociologist, Madam Molly still couldn't gain the approval of the upper-class nobility.

Because in their eyes, she was merely a nouveau riche.

Of course, Su Qing was also lumped into the ranks of the nouveau riche by them.

Perhaps it was sympathy for each other's plight; the two got along swimmingly, and Madam Molly even invited Su Qing to visit her home after arriving in New York, where she would introduce her son to him.

Su Qing genuinely wanted to befriend this respectable lady, so he readily agreed.

After the banquet ended, Su Qing boredly walked onto the deck, calculating the time in his mind.

The Titanic collided with an iceberg during its voyage before midnight on April 14.

Now it is the night of the 12th, less than two days away from that moment.

While Su Qing was thinking, a hurried footsteps sound rang out; he instinctively looked toward it and discovered that the source of the sound was Lu Si!

At that moment, Lu Si ran toward the bow, her eyes filled with tears and determination.

"Good grief, is she going to jump into the sea again!?"

His heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly followed after her.

When he arrived at the bow, he happened to see Lu Si climbing onto the railing.

"Damn, she's really doing it."

Su Qing flashed onto the railing, grabbed Lu Si's arm in one motion, and said speechlessly: "Are you sick? Coming here every night to jump into the sea!"

"Yes, I'm sick, so don't bother me; just let me die." Lu Si struggled wildly, trying to shake off Su Qing's hand, but her strength was too small, and she couldn't break free for a long time.

Seeing Lu Si struggling in his grasp, Su Qing tried to use words to rekindle her hope of living, but this time Lu Si seemed to have made up her mind to jump into the sea, and nothing could get through to her.

After talking for a while to no avail, Su Qing also became irritated, and without thinking, he slapped her.

"Pa!"

The loud slap echoed across the bow.

Lu Si's body trembled, as if instantly frozen by a paralysis spell, and she fell still.

Only after striking did Su Qing realize what he had done.

But having already slapped, what else could he do? Of course he continued slapping.

Thus, another slap came.

"Pa!"

While slapping, he said: "Can you listen seriously now? Tell me, what exactly happened to you?"

Lu Si trembled and said nothing.

"Hey, you really are just being stubborn and refusing to speak, huh!"

Su Qing, seeing her, showed no mercy and delivered a few more slaps.

After slapping her seven or eight times, Lu Si finally spoke in a trembling, soft voice: "Don't, don't, don't..."

After speaking for a while, she still hadn't said the whole thing.

Su Qing stopped his motion, lowered his head to look, and saw Lu Si's eyes like water, charming and full of feeling.

"Alright!"

Su Qing knew the next step was to intensify, so he directly overbearingly lowered his head and kissed her.

At first, Lu Si symbolically struggled twice, then gave up resistance, wrapped her arms around Su Qing's neck, and took the initiative.

After a French wet kiss, Lu Si's whole body went limp.

Su Qing directly picked her up and walked toward his room.

After returning to the room, he began chatting all night with Lu Si; first they gazed into each other's eyes, lips and teeth dependent, lips as guns, tongue as swords, the advantage of speech; then seeing the horizontal as forests, the vertical as peaks, the great lotus already had sharp points, early with dragonflies perched on top, moistening each other, forgetting themselves; then followed by day three links, day after day, the sun high at three poles…………