Against the Current - Chapter 172

Chapter 172 - Night Visit (Part 2)

Lin Jinlou glanced lazily at Xianglan and said, "Just put it on the side table."

Xianglan placed the tea on the table, and Lin Jinlou stretched out a long arm, seized her small hand, and pulled her to the edge of the bed, saying, "Sit here." Xianglan sat down and couldn't help asking, "In the dead of night, why have you come here?"

Lin Jinlou stroked her fingers and said offhandedly, "The master was feeling stifled at home and came out for a stroll, and as I happened to pass by your gate, I thought I'd drop in to have a look." He then flashed a teasing smile and asked, "Are you happy or not?"

Xianglan was not happy at all. She inwardly muttered complaints to herself: coming barging into her home in the middle of the night just because he was bored and restless, disturbing people's sweet dreams, and still putting on the airs of a benefactor—Lin Jinlou was truly a tyrant in the flesh. Furthermore, to go burrowing into her room in the middle of the night right under her parents' noses, it was clearly he who had no sense of shame, yet Xianglan found it exceptionally embarrassing.

She lowered her face and kept silent, prompting Lin Jinlou to press further, "I asked you a question, are you happy or not?"

Xianglan had no choice but to reply, "My home has thatched eaves and a humble shelter, I'm afraid I might treat the First Master poorly." In the end, she still didn't say whether she was happy or not.

Lin Jinlou didn't mind it in the least and chuckled, "Well now, you've learned to be sensible after being home for barely two days. Your home is a bit small, awfully cramped; you ought to move to another place later on."

Xianglan lowered her head and curled her lip.

Half-reclining against the head of the bed, Lin Jinlou looked around the room and remarked, "The furnishings in your room are quite elegant. Did you write that pair of couplets?"

Xianglan let out a soft "en."

Lin Jinlou commented, "The first line is not bad, but the second line is a bit too mournful."

Xianglan thought to herself: You only have a taste for licentious and gaudy ditties like 'holding soft jade and warm fragrance in one's embrace, spring arrives in the world and flowers play with colors, dewdrops cause peonies to open,' how could you possibly know how to appreciate anything refined and elegant? She didn't reply and tried to pull her hand back, but Lin Jinlou held it tightly, so she had no choice but to let him be.

After uttering those two remarks, Lin Jinlou didn't know what else to say. Seeing Xianglan with her bare, unadorned face, lowering her brows in a submissive manner, possessing the charming allure of graceful moth-eyebrows and distant mountain peaks, he felt a slight itch in his heart. Reaching out, he gave Xianglan's cheek a pinch and found it soft and smooth, whereupon he grabbed her arm, pulled her entire person right up close to him, and kissed her. Xianglan was taken aback and hurriedly struggled. Lin Jinlou chuckled playfully, "Hey, hey, hey, it's just a couple of kisses, what are you dodging for?"

Terrified that he might grow fully aroused, Xianglan anxiously pleaded, "This is my home, I beg the First Master to show some mercy."

Lin Jinlou laughed playfully, "A couple of kisses, I'll show mercy after a couple of kisses."

Fearing lest the maids in the adjacent room might overhear, Xianglan had no option but to let Lin Jinlou steal a few kisses. Suddenly feeling a hard prodding against her lower body, she realized he had been stirred with desire. She hurriedly pushed him away, her face already flushed red. Retreating behind the side table, she pushed the teacup toward Lin Jinlou and said, "Please have your tea, First Master." Then, dropping the parting remark, "I'll go fetch some refreshments for the First Master," she hurriedly lifted the bead curtain and scurried out.

Lin Jinlou let out a long breath, thinking to himself that this little lass was truly prickly. He got up from the bed, paced a circle around the room, walked over to the writing desk, inspected the Four Treasures of the Study one by one, and then flipped through the books on the bookshelf.

Xianglan dawdled for quite a while before carrying in a tray holding two dishes of pastries and a pot of hot tea.

Lin Jinlou said, "No need to fuss, I just had a meal back home before coming over, just add some fresh hot tea." As he spoke, he caught sight of an ancient zither standing in the corner of her room, plucked its strings a couple of times, and asked, "You know how to play the zither? Why didn't you tell the master?"

Xianglan hastily answered, "How could I possibly know how to play this? It's an old item my father acquired, and since no one bought it for a while, it was temporarily placed in my room."

Lin Jinlou shook his head in a tone of regret, "Tsk, tsk, your fingers are slender and long, learning this would suit you perfectly. Don't sell the zither to anyone else; later on I'll take it back and hire a tutor to teach you how to play."

Xianglan gave a cold laugh and retorted, "Our family relies entirely on my father selling antiques to make a living. If I take it back with me, what will my family depend on to eat?"

Lin Jinlou snorted, "Look at that miserly look of yours. Consider the zither bought by me—it'll be fine once I give your father the silver later on, won't it?"

Xianglan ignored him entirely, simply setting the tray down on the kang table, arranging the items one by one, and stepping over to refill the tea.

Lin Jinlou felt curious about every single thing in Xianglan's room, even opening the cover of the incense burner to take a look inside, and then rummaging through the cosmetics and hair oil displayed in front of her dressing table. Turning his head, he noticed Xianglan sitting quietly on the Xiangfei bamboo couch, staring blankly at the tips of her shoes. He walked over and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Feeling uneasy, Xianglan shifted her body slightly and murmured in a low voice, "Nothing."

Sitting down beside Xianglan, Lin Jinlou asked, "What have you been doing at home these past two days?"

"...Just keeping my parents company and chatting with them."

"Oh, and what did you chat about?"

Xianglan answered, "Just everyday domestic talk, who keeps special track of that." She then added, "It's already dragged on to this hour, the First Master should turn in early." With that, she walked over to the bed, smoothed out the mattress anew, took her own quilt and handed it to Lin Jinlou to use as a coverlet, retrieved a sweet-scented osmanthus sachet, lit it, and placed it inside the lotus tripod burner, making sure the lid was properly secured. Pushing the teacup forward, she asked, "Does the First Master want some hot water to wash up?"

Lin Jinlou replied, "I already washed up at home." Seeing a piece of osmanthus cake on the plate that clearly looked freshly steamed, he picked up a piece to eat, used Xianglan's tooth powder to clean his teeth, and took the tea to rinse his mouth.

Xianglan waited on him as he undressed. Sitting on the bed, Lin Jinlou watched as Xianglan opened the wardrobe to fetch a fresh quilt, and couldn't help asking in surprise, "Wasn't the mattress on the bed just laid out?"

Xianglan replied, "The First Master can sleep here; I've made up a bed on the couch to sleep on."

"Who told you to sleep on the couch? Come over here."

"The bed is narrow, I'll sleep just fine on the couch..."

"I told you to come over, are you not going to obey orders?"

Xianglan had no choice but to walk over. Lin Jinlou made her blow out the candle, unhooked the bed curtains from their silver hooks, and pulled her onto the bed to lie down beside him. Seeing that Xianglan was still wearing her patched tunic, he reached out to strip off her clothes.

Startled, Xianglan hurriedly pressed her hands over Lin Jinlou's to stop him, pleading, "First Master, it's cold at night, I'll sleep with my clothes on." She then whispered a plea, "This is my home, it won't do to call for water..." By the time she finished speaking, her face was already burning red.

Lin Jinlou didn't say a word, continuing to peel off her garments. Despite her flustered struggling, Xianglan was no match for Lin Jinlou's strength; within a few quick motions, she was stripped down until only her bodice remained. Lin Jinlou pulled her into his embrace and lazily murmured, "Time for sleep."

Too frightened to move so much as an inch, Xianglan lay stiffly. After a long moment, she heard the steady, deep breathing of Lin Jinlou behind her. She stared up at the canopy of the bed for a good long while. Although it had already been some time since she re-entered the Lin household, whenever she was alone with him she felt as though needles were pricking her back, ill at ease in every fiber of her being. Staring blankly for a long while, she finally closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, while the sky was still shrouded in a dim, misty dawn, Chunling and the other maids were already up, bustling to prepare the washing utilities. Meanwhile, down in the kitchen, meticulous preparations were getting underway at the stove. Xianglan had not slept soundly throughout the entire night; at the slightest sound from outside she would wake up. Seeing that Lin Jinlou was still fast asleep, she quietly and stealthily got up, felt around to put on her clothes, lifted the quilt, and climbed down from the bed.

She went to the neighboring room to wash her face, comb her hair, and change into a fresh outfit. By the time Lin Jinlou woke up and called for attendants inside the room, Chunling and the others hurriedly entered carrying bronze basins and towels. Once those chores were finished, breakfast was also ready. Lin Jinlou said to Xianglan, "Have them serve the meal in the main hall so I can eat with your parents."

Hearing this, Chunling hurried out to arrange and set the table. Back in the inner rooms, upon hearing that Lin Jinlou wanted to dine with them, Chen Wanquan was so terrified that he didn't dare breathe heavily. Trembling all over, he couldn't even sit steadily and said to Xue shi, "How about... how about we tell the First Master that I caught a chill last night, so we'll just skip this meal altogether?"

Xue shi was feeling anxious and uneasy, and upon hearing this, she flared up in anger, "How can you, a father, fail to save face for your daughter? How can you try to brush this off by faking an illness!"

Chen Wanquan had no alternative. The couple frantically rummaged through their chests and wardrobes, pulled out their most decent garments to change into, and stood waiting anxiously in the hall.

Before long, Lin Jinlou arrived with Xianglan following close behind him. The hall was utterly silent. Lin Jinlou took his seat first, and seeing that Chen Wanquan and his wife were still standing off to the side, he smiled at Xianglan and said, "Why haven't you told your parents to sit down yet?" As he spoke, he reached out to pull Xianglan's hand.

Xianglan stiffened and quietly pulled her hand back again. A trace of displeasure crossed Lin Jinlou's face. Chen Wanquan squeezed out a smile, waved his hands repeatedly, and stammered, "No, no, this humble person wouldn't dare. The First Master, please sit and eat; I and Lan'er's mother will eat over here at this small table."

Lin Jinlou didn't press the matter further. He nodded, smiled, and said, "I was rather presumptuous and intrusive dropping in last night."

Chen Wanquan, who had already seated himself at the small table, immediately sprang back up at those words. Bowing with a scraping motion and nodding repeatedly, he fawned, "Not at all, not at all, how could anyone call it intrusive? That the First Master is able to come is this humble person's greatest fortune—it brings boundless luster to our humble dwelling, haha, boundless luster."

Watching Chen Wanquan's fawning appearance, Xianglan felt an unbearable ache in her heart. Lin Jinlou swept a glance across her face and, seeing the faint trace of sorrow lingering between her brows, felt a renewed surge of displeasure. Frowning, he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

For a time, the room remained dead silent; even the clinking of bowls and chopsticks was rarely heard. The Chen couple couldn't manage to swallow a thing, merely going through the motions to keep up appearances. At long last, Lin Jinlou finished his meal and went outside, whereupon the Chen couple finally exhaled a breath of relief and collapsed limply all over.

Now, as for Lin Jinlou, he hadn't enjoyed this meal either. Walking back to Xianglan's room with a half-gloomy expression, the moment Chunling and the others caught sight of Lin Jinlou's complexion, they held their breath like cicadas in winter. Chunling merely hurried forward to deposit a bowl of tea before fleeing out of sight in a flash.

Lin Jinlou gulped down half a bowl of tea, slammed the tea bowl down onto the desk with a loud clatter, and, planting one hand on his hip, puffed out his breath in suppressed rage. He had traveled all the way over to see her in the middle of the night last night—any other girl would have been moved to tears and gone to burn giant sticks of incense for her ancestors. Only her, blessed with a fine face yet knowing nothing but how to disgust people, acting as if his visit was some kind of torture session for her. Last night she hadn't uttered a single word of warmth or inquiry; talking to him was like she was terrified out of her wits, and this morning at breakfast she still put on a mourning face for him.

Lin Jinlou cursed bitterly, "An ungrateful wolf, a damn ungrateful wolf!" Enraged, he swept his arm across the desk, sending all the volumes of books displayed there crashing down onto the floor.

Xianglan, having just finished comforting her parents, was about to screw up her courage and step into the room when she heard a chaotic flurry of crashing sounds from inside. She instinctively shrank her neck, walked on tiptoe to the window to peer inside for a moment, and ultimately didn't dare enter.

Sweeping his gaze across the room, Lin Jinlou suddenly noticed a folding fan pressed beneath those scattered books. Pulling it out and unfolding it, he saw a painting of an expanse of azure water and a distant mountain rendered upon the fan face, executed with an exceptionally superb artistic conception. At the bottom of the fan, the inscription bore the three characters "Song Yifei," accompanied by an oblong seal impression.