Chapter 22: A Girl Like This

In the end, I didn't touch Pan Xiaoqin. It wasn't because I didn't like her, but mainly because my conscience wouldn't allow it. She was only a seventeen-year-old girl, and no matter how powerful my "claws" were, they were no match for the influence of thousands of years of traditional culture.

The night was as dark as ink, and I could feel her pitch-black eyes. In such a deep night, a girl as pure as water.

The mountain wind was like water, brushing past my head, and I sobered up. I pushed her away and sat on the long stone to smoke. My mouth was full of her fragrance.

After finishing the cigarette, I turned on the flashlight. I said to Pan Xiaoqin, "Let's go back!"

She stood still. Under the light of my flashlight, she dodged her body.

"Let's go back," I said, taking two steps. She didn't follow, still standing in the same place, her eyes looking at the distant, deep night sky.

There were no stars in the sky. Such a night was naturally prone to terror and excitement, and Xiaoqin's statue-like silhouette hit my weak heart like heavy hammers.

"Let's go!" I turned back and pulled her.

Pan Xiaoqin let out a soft moan. I heard her mournful crying pierce the night sky.

"I don't want you to take responsibility!" Pan Xiaoqin said: "You people from the big city look down on me." The voice sounded like a heavy hammer hitting an iron plate, ringing out.

I smiled bitterly and said, "That's not what I mean. It's really that you're still too young. I can't ruin your youth."

"Bullshit!" Pan Xiaoqin said angrily: "In our mountains, it's very common for men and women to be together. You don't even have that much courage; I'm so disappointed."

Such earth-shattering words left me breathless! These original ecological love stories were already antiques in the city. In today's world of flowing desires, there was only the relationship between money and the flesh. Talking about love seemed to have become a luxury!

I hugged her small body again, perfunctorily saying, "Let's go back! I'll be in your village for a while longer, let's take it slow, okay?"

She pouted and said, "I know you don't like me, you only like Sister Hongyan!"

"Sister Hongyan is already married!" Xiaoqin added, as if afraid I hadn't understood. She raised her head and blew a breath on my face.

"I know," I said: "It's not what you think." I loosened my arms.

"So what?" Xiaoqin's naivety and ignorance were exposed: "Brother Hao Qiang has a problem with his body! Sister Hongyan told me that."

I didn't understand what she meant. Hao Qiang was strong and sturdy; could he have some hidden secret?

"So you held Sister Hongyan, and Sister Hongyan let you hold her. You two are really a match made in heaven!" Pan Xiaoqin poked my forehead and said: "Brother Chen, you're the type who has the heart but no guts, hehe."

I scratched the back of my head classically and said: "There are many things that are actually more beautiful in dreams. Once you really possess them, perhaps you lose the original flavor."

"Brother Chen," Xiaoqin called me, her voice as crisp as an oriole: "I know, you think I'm young, it's not that you don't like me. There's no way, who told my mother not to give birth to me a few years earlier." She sighed: "You won't wait for me either. The world outside is so wonderful, but me, I can only stay in Suxi for the rest of my life. I might not even be able to leave Gude Village. As long as you remember that in this place, a little girl once loved you, I'll be satisfied."

"Let's go back, your Sister Hongyan must still be waiting for us."

I followed her down the mountain. She turned back and said to me: "I told Sister Hongyan that I like you!"

I had eaten countless meals at Hongyan's house. Every time we ate, she would always sit on the side with a faint smile. Although we hadn't communicated specifically, ever since I came to Suxi Township, Hongyan's door had always been open to me. According to her, it was to make it convenient for me to make phone calls, and I had a small key to her room. Many times I pushed open her door and saw her leaning against the head of the bed, looking out the window with hazy eyes, greeting me faintly. One day I discovered a small, exquisite ashtray placed next to the telephone.

But I had never been moved. Because I had known about Hao Qiang long ago, and I knew that Hao Qiang had given up many opportunities to leave Suxi for her sake. I had always been indifferent to the hostility Hao Qiang showed me, even though I knew I was no match for him in a fight. But the economic mind I had already demonstrated was already a household name in the small place of Suxi Township.

More importantly, there was Wu Qian. Although she was already married, her snow-white, shy form had always been a nightmare I couldn't shake off.

I thought I should do something, for myself and for the thousands of villagers in Suxi Township. I couldn't let them down in their purity. I knew that in Suxi, I was already their pride. My every move was being watched, and many of my ideas were completely understood by them. Therefore, on many nights, when I pushed open my small window, I would always see some shy, slender figures wandering outside my window. ===== CHAPTER 23 =====