Chapter 320: Could This Be The Legendary Teasing?
“…” Jiang Duoyao was hurt once again. After a long while, she said softly, “I know.”
They didn’t converse anymore. Yan Molun didn’t dare to drive too quickly either. After three hours, they finally arrived at a town with a little more houses. “Is this the town near your school?”
“Mm. There’s still some way to go. It might not be convenient for an SUV to drive up,” Jiang Duoyao stuttered.
“Let’s try first.” Yan Molun asked, “Which way?”
Jiang Duoyao pointed at the rocky mountain road ahead. Yan Molun stepped on the accelerator and drove for another 20 minutes before stopping by the side of the road when the road ahead was too narrow for the car to pass through. “I guess we can only walk back for the remainder.”
Jiang Duoyao had long expected that. “It doesn’t seem that far away. We should be able to get there in 20 minutes.”
“I didn’t realize the place was so remote.” Yan Molun swept her a glance.
Jiang Duoyao lowered her head and thought he was regretting taking her back. Luckily, he didn’t say anything else, only opening the trunk and stuffing some things into his backpack. He switched on his flashlight and the dark road ahead became much brighter all of a sudden.
After locking the car up, he passed the bag to Jiang Duoyao.
“Don’t tell me you want me to carry it?” Jiang Duoyao stared at him wide-eyed. She was an injured person and might even have problems walking right now.
“You carry the bag. I’ll carry you,” Yan Molun said. The oppressive strength in his gaze didn’t allow her to reject him.
Jiang Duoyao was stunned. He suddenly threw the bag into her hands. It was very heavy. “There’s no need for this—I can walk on my own. It’s pretty far away.”
“Miss Jiang, your wounds will definitely tear open after walking on 20 minutes of mountain roads.” Yan Molun bent over in front of her and he sounded a little annoyed.
Xiling also persuaded her. “Just get on; don’t joke around with your body. Otherwise, you might really have to go back to town again tomorrow.”
Jiang Duoyao could only brace herself and climb onto his back. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been piggy-backed by a man before, but that was when they were filming drama serials. Now, it was real and his back was way broader than all the men who had piggy-backed her before.
She remembered being piggy-backed by a popular young idol. He was pretty handsome but his shoulders were narrow and skinny, making her feel a little afraid. On the other hand, Yan Molun’s shoulders gave off a sturdy and stable feeling. She held onto his shoulders and leaned on him. His body emitted a very strong heat, making her feel hot all over as well. Her face also heated up. Luckily it was dark, making it less obvious.
“Er… am I very heavy?” she asked embarrassedly in a soft voice. The bag she was carrying should be around 10 to 15kg. Although she was less than 50kg, it would still amount to a pretty significant weight.
“No.” Yan Molun opened up his stride, walking very easily and lightly.
Jiang Duoyao was embarrassed and kept asking if he was tired from time to time.
…
When they were almost at the village, they could see flickering lights ahead. Soon after, someone shouted, “Teacher Jiang is back, Teacher Jiang is back.”
Not long later, 20 to 30 villagers all came running over successively with torches in their hands. The students all ran over worriedly, surrounding Yan Molun as they asked her this and that, “Teacher Jiang, are you alright? Uncle Ah Si didn’t see you in town and we were all very worried.”
“I’m fine; I just had a fall.” Jiang Duoyao squeezed out a smile. Seeing the worried looks on these children’s faces suddenly made her feel that it was all worth rushing back even though it was so late at night.
“Teacher Jiang, if you didn’t come back tonight, we all wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.” Gramu’s Mother asked anxiously, “Have you eaten? I’ll cook some noodles for you.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ve eaten,” Jiang Duoyao said to the villagers. “I’ve caused everyone to worry. It’s very late—let’s all go back to sleep. Classes will go on as usual tomorrow.”
“Teacher Jiang, you’re injured. It’s okay to rest for a day,” Alongso, the principal, said with concern.
“It’s nothing. I can just teach while seated. Let’s all go back and hurry to sleep,” Jiang Duoyao waved her hands.
The villagers only left one by one after that. Alongso walked them back to the school. “Teacher Jiang, this is…”
“He’s my friend,” Jiang Duoyao said with a smile. “His car is parked at the foot of the mountain. Please tell the villagers to watch out when they’re going down the mountain. Oh, right, does the school still have some lodgings available?”
“Yes.” Alongso nodded and said slightly awkwardly: “It’s the place opposite where you’re staying. It’s very old and there’s no heated brick bed, so it might get cold at night. I will try my best to get more blankets for him.”
“It’s okay, I’m not afraid of the cold,” Yan Molun said with a cold face.
He already mentally prepared himself on the walk over there. However, when he saw that the so-called school was just two old run-down houses, he was still stunned.
He wasn’t surprised about the poverty here but more so surprised that such a pampered woman was able to continue staying there.
When they walked into her room, the dim light flickered inside. It was obvious that they were running low on electricity. He suddenly looked even more curious. “This is where you’re staying?”
“Yes.” Jiang Duoyao got off his back and swept her hair behind her ears. “It’s been hard on you today. There are limited water resources here, so just make do with it for a while.”
“… It’s okay.” Yan Molun told Alongso, “Take me to the place where I’ll be staying.”
“Follow me.” Alongso quickly led him outside.
The door was shut tightly and Xiling quickly took off her clothes and crawled under the covers. Walking up the mountains late at night simply made her freeze.
Jiang Duoyao heated up the heat packs and threw them at her. “Help me pass this to him. It’s too cold.”
Xiling grumbled for a while and left with the heat packs after putting on her coat. She came back to the room after four to five minutes with some snacks in her hands and threw them at her. “He gave these to us.”
Jiang Duoyao took a look. It was spicy dried fish. It felt great to be able to eat a packet of this on such a cold day.
The two finished the snacks and Xiling glanced at her after eating her fill. “What did it feel like to be carried by him?”
“What do you mean what did it feel like?” Jiang Duoyao turned her back to her. “It was just because I’m injured.”
Xiling chuckled. “His stamina is really good. He didn’t even pant once carrying you and such a large bag while walking on the snowy mountain roads for so long. I really take my hat off to him. I could barely catch up.”
Jiang Duoyao sighed inside. But of course, he used to be a mercenary.
———————————-
The next morning, Yan Molun was still sound asleep in his sleeping bag when a sudden clear and beautiful voice sang outside:
…
The sun always shines after the storm,
Please believe that there’ll be a rainbow,
Accept the wind and rain,
I will always be there by your side,
In life, whether it’s bittersweet, merry or sorrow,
I will always be willing to share your woes.
…
He climbed up and opened the wooden door.
It was gloomy all day yesterday. Today, the sun peeked out of the clouds again, casting a golden glimmer on the children on the field. All the children, thin and frail, were singing merrily and seriously while moving their heads left and right.
Sitting in front of the children, was Jiang Duoyao wearing a black down jacket. She had a red, checkered scarf around her neck and her messy hair had yet to be washed but she plaited it to make it look much neater than yesterday. She clapped her hands to the tempo while singing with the students. A ray of sunlight shone on her face from between the clouds, making her dried little face look bright and dazzling.
Yan Molun leaned against the door frame, stunned. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and lit it slowly. The smoke escaped from his sexy, thin lips slowly, masking his eyes.
“Mr. Yan, good morning. Did we disturb you?” Alongso walked over apologetically.
Yan Molun shook his head. He passed him a stick and Alongso shook his head. “No thank you, I don’t smoke.”
Yan Molun took the stick back and his gaze landed once again on that black silhouette on the field.
Alongso looked over, following his gaze, and said, “Teacher Jiang has two classes today in the morning and another two in the afternoon.”
“So many?” Yan Molun was shocked.
Alongso said with a smile, “She’s teaching the children Mathematics, Geography, Art and Music. She said that even though she can’t compare to knowledgeable people, at least she knows more than these children. There were teachers who came before but they would only teach for a few days before leaving because they couldn’t stand this place and these teachers were men. When Teacher Jiang came, I could see the hopelessness in her eyes. I thought she would leave in a few days but I didn’t expect her to actually stay on and even suggest adding two more classes for the children. To be honest, I was very shocked. I heard she was a celebrity and seemed to be pretty popular outside. Even a normal person wouldn’t be able to stand such an environment, much less a pampered celebrity.”
Yan Molun took two deep drags of his cigarette and he squinted even more as the smoke escaped through his lips.
“Oh, right. You haven’t had breakfast yet, right? I’ve left some paus (1. Steamed buns with fillings) specifically for you.” Alongso took out two paus the size of a fist, wrapped in paper, from his pocket. “I’m sorry, we’re too poor here so this is the only presentable breakfast we have.”
“Thank you.” Yan Molun accepted it and took a bite. There were no fillings at all. They should be called mantous (1. Steamed bun without fillings) rather than paus. However, they weren’t as soft and fluffy as mantous. They were hard.
He could finally understand why Jiang Duoyao and her friend went down the mountains to buy rice yesterday.
…
After finishing two classes with the children, Jiang Duoyao walked over with a limp towards Yan Molun, who was sitting on the broken table tennis table. “Did you sleep well last night?”
“It was alright.” Yan Molun watched her. His voice was deep and low like the darkness of the night. “Don’t you think it’d be much easier being my woman compared to coming to a place like this?”
Jiang Duoyao was stunned and felt a little awkward. She didn’t think he would bring this up. “How do you know it would be easier being your woman? You haven’t even been your own woman before.”
“How would you know if you haven’t tried?” Yan Molun looked her up and down. “However, I will have to reconsider after seeing you like this now.”
Jiang Duoyao glared at him angrily. “You don’t even have to consider. I won’t accept. I’m living fine here and I find the things I do here meaningful.”
“Meaningful?” The corners of Yan Molun’s mouth curled into a smile. He suddenly asked, “Why would you teach them ‘Sunshine After the Storm’?”
Jiang Duoyao sighed. “Is there a need to explain? Of course it’s so the children will have a glimmer of hope in their hearts. They will definitely feel terrible living in such an environment day and night. We should teach them something positive while they’re young. Besides, I’ve already decided. After I leave this place, I will fork out money to send these children to a good school to receive a proper education.”
Yan Molun turned his face to look at her once again. The eyes of the woman beside him glimmered as she said, “I earned tens of million easily from shooting dramas in the past but I only need to take out a few hundred or a few thousand from my tens of millions to change the lives of these children. Of course, the power of a single person is minute, so I want to use the power of my fans and the influence of the public to change the lives of others once I return to the entertainment industry.”
Yan Molun broke into an apparent smile. “Are you sure you can go back? It might even be faster to do so if you sleep with me.”
Jiang Duoyao’s face flushed red. She didn’t think he would mention this again. She said angrily with her hands on her hips: “I’m telling you something very serious; why do you keep talking about that? Besides, didn’t you just say you would have to reconsider after seeing me like this now? You even said I was uglier yesterday.”
Yan Molun revealed an expression as though he had thought things through carefully and said, “Perhaps it’s because you’re the only one here who looks slightly decent and I guess there aren’t other choices. Sometimes, a man’s brain will be overpowered by hormones because of his needs.”
Which meant his entire brain was filled with hormones now?
Jiang Duoyao’s face flushed even redder from anger. “You… you’re disgusting. Don’t tell me you’ll just look for a random woman whenever you have needs? So did you look for women a lot of times on this trip to Tibet? Don’t tell me you have AIDS. Let me tell you—this is called sleeping around.”
How filthy. Too filthy. Even though she read in books that men’s needs in this regard were very strong, there still wasn’t a need to act like this.
Yan Molun wasn’t angry. He placed his hand behind him and leaned back, revealing a segment of his bronze skin. His legs were abnormally long too. He smiled slightly, his smile exuding evilness. “That’s not the case. For some reason, I have needs whenever I see you.”
Jiang Duoyao: “…”
Could this be the legendary “teasing”?