Extra 76: Grilled Meat Platter

[Sideboard]

This winter has been unusually warm—mid-November and it’s still over ten degrees, yet the radiators are running right on schedule, burning hotter than ever, making the whole apartment stifling. After her shower, Tang Chu finds herself sweating again, so she changes into a summer puff-sleeve nightdress with a little bear on it, but still feels overheated. While Gao Shen is in the shower, she sneaks to the fridge. There’s just a scrap left of the last batch of homemade ice cream from last month.

What clings to the sides of the container is frozen solid. She digs and scrapes, practically wanting to stick her face in and lick it clean.

She’s just had two licks when the bathroom door opens—Gao Shen emerges, freshly showered.

She hurriedly wipes away the ice cream smudged on her face and gives him a fawning smile. “The heat’s so strong in here! Winter’s coming, so if I don’t finish this ice cream it’ll go bad soon, hehe… Are you hot? You want some too?”

Gao Shen is toweling his hair, his gaze shadowed beneath the towel. “You’re dressing like this to tempt me again.”

Dressing like what? She’s perfectly decent—her nightdress covers past her knees! And who is it parading around with just a towel slung at the waist and nothing on top? Who’s tempting whom here!

Her eyes dart over his bare chest and waist before she clutches the ice cream tub for coolness.

He steps in front of her, but instead of taking the spoon or the tub, he slips his hands under her arms and lifts her onto the sideboard.

The sideboard stands over a meter high, so sitting atop it, her feet dangle, and she’s eye-level with him. “What are you doing?”

“Alright then.”

Alright then? What on earth does that mean? Mmm…

He takes the ice cream tub and sets it aside on the oven.

Hey, that’s where the food goes—how can he just… The north-facing kitchen has no curtains, what if the neighbors see from the building opposite!… It’s going to fall off the oven!… The ice cream tub is so cold! And so hot here… Aren’t all the drawers in the sideboard filled with food, why is there—!… Mm…

She clings to his neck, her mind too full to think of anything else.

Innocent Sideboard closes its eyes and covers its ears. A long while later, she hears him pat the top, praising, “Not bad, just the right height, very efficient.”

(*/╲*)

[Shao Lin Master]

That night, they each sit on opposite sides of the room with their laptops, the big bed between them. Suddenly, Tang Chu waves. “Hey, come here.”

Gao Shen is replying to emails, eyes fixed on the screen. “What?”

“Come on, I want to show you something fun!”

He’s deep in thought and answers absentmindedly, “Wait a bit, I have something to finish.”

She waits a minute, but he’s still typing furiously, not even glancing up. Puffing out her cheeks, she raises her hand and makes a grabbing motion, shouting, “Hah! Shadow Grasp!”

Gao Shen finally looks over, then suddenly stands and does a little run over to her, chest out, head high.

She grins, wrapping her arms around his neck, pleased at his cooperation. “Hehe, caught you.”

But he takes her hands and presses them to his chest, one on each side.

She’s grabbed his chest…

She tries to pull away, cheeks burning, but he holds her hands in place. “What are you doing?”

He rubs her wrist, his thumb circling her pulse. “Isn’t ‘Shadow Grasp’ just a playful way to say the ‘Dragon Claw Technique’?”

Tang Chu’s face flushes scarlet just as she tries to escape, but before she can, he falls back onto the bed, pulling her right on top of him.

She lies belly-down on his chest, blushing. “What now?”

“If you grab me, shouldn’t you immediately follow up with a ‘Maha Takedown’? Don’t you know how to play monk? Looks like I’ll have to teach you about Shaolin skills.”

Hey, I was the one who knocked you down—why are you the one on top…

His hand traces from her wrist up, sliding into her puffed sleeve. “This is called ‘Sleeve Conceals the Cosmos’…”

The back clasp suddenly comes undone, her clothing slipping from her shoulders in unison. “This is called ‘Sweeping Strike’…”

His weight presses her down… “Thousand-Pound Drop…”

Her most sensitive spot is suddenly pinched, making her gasp before she bites her lip to stifle the sound. “Pearl Snatch…”

His shirt is somehow already gone, revealing taut muscle. “Arhat’s Golden Body…”

She protests in a whisper, “That doesn’t count, Arhat’s Golden Body is supposed to reflect attacks…”

He presses her hand to his waist, the heat of his skin making her flinch. “Can it reflect?”

His belt comes undone, tossed aside. “Weituo Presents the Rod…”

He guides her hand, tempting her to trace the ridges down his abdomen, and then… wraps her fingers around him. His voice finally wavers, “Dragon Subduing… Technique.”

He looks at her, dark eyes brimming with bottomless allure. “Want to try the Immovable King today?”

“What’s the Immovable King?”

“It’s…” His eyes darken, “I don’t move. You do.”

Tang Chu covers her face. “No!”

“Then I’ll do it as usual.”

It may be winter, but the room is filled with spring’s heat, as warm as fire. Sweat beads on her spine, and she can’t hold on, forced to dig her fingers in to keep from slipping.

“In a moment… I’ll have to use two skills back-to-back…” he pants, “I might not have time to explain…”

She mumbles, “Which two…”

“Ling Mountain Rainfall… and…” Suddenly, he bites her ear, and that suppressed tremor spills into her ear. Only when it’s over does he add softly, “…Great Lion’s Roar.”

Tang Chu buries her face in his neck, knowing she’ll never see Shaolin skills the same way again.

Several minutes later:

“Oh right, I forgot to demonstrate a very important technique.”

“Which one?”

“The Cycle of Rebirth.”

…

[Cherries]

For once, Tang Chu washes a dish of cherries herself and brings them to the room. She finds Gao Shen frowning at his triple-monitor setup, visibly tired and slouched, half-reclined on his office chair, legs spread, hands resting on either side of the keyboard.

She approaches and asks, “Stuck on something? You haven’t moved for ages. Want to take a break?”

“Alright.” He minimizes all the charts and documents, reaching out. “Come here, let me hold you.”

His chair is a wide leather executive seat, deep enough that when he sits upright against the back, there’s a lot of space in front. Suddenly, she recalls the first time he visited her dorm, and her heart stirs. She nestles between his knees. “Move back a little, let me sit here.”

Hehe, she finally gets to sit in his lap like she always imagined…

The chair is big, but it’s still a squeeze for two. He has to spread his legs wide to let her settle. She perches on the edge, feeling a bit unstable, so she shuffles back until she finds a comfortable spot. “Okay, you can hug me now.”

Gao Shen says nothing, but wraps his arms around her waist from behind.

She picks up two cherries still joined at the stem and snuggles in, sweet and a little bashful. “Back when I was still single, I once walked into my dorm and found my roommate and her boyfriend sitting like this watching a movie. I was so envious… Hehe… Let’s watch a movie together too.”

“Oh?” he says absently. “What did they do when you came in?”

“I felt awkward and left right away. They didn’t seem to care, just stayed cuddled together. Hmph, deliberately showing off…” She plucks the stem, holds one cherry in her mouth, and turns to feed him the other.

He doesn’t open his mouth, but suddenly lowers his head, taking the cherry from between her lips.

Tang Chu nearly chokes on her own saliva; her teeth slacken and he snatches it away. But instead of eating it, he bites it open, removes the pit with his tongue, and then brings the fruit back to her, mouth to mouth.

A kiss full of fruit flesh, juice, and sweetness.

Her heart races; she draws a deep breath, suddenly feeling her ribs loosen—his right hand has somehow snaked around to her back and unhooked her bra.

The left, resting at her waist, immediately moves up to cup and caress.

She’s wearing a short T-shirt and skirt today—very convenient for his hands.

The right, having finished its task, slips down along her waistline, sliding under her skirt from the side.

Just as she thinks he’s about to do something shameless, he pauses, withdraws his hand, and leans forward to grab a box of tissues from the desk.

“Hmm?” Her protest is half playful, half questioning.

“Wash your hands before meals, hygiene comes first,” he says, drawing a wet wipe and carefully cleaning his hands. “Always care for the health of your wife.”

Then… his hand returns to where it was headed, this time with no restraint.

She shudders involuntarily, trying to dodge his touch, but as she leans back, she feels something stirring behind her—something hard and alive pressing up where she sits.

A wolf before her, a tiger behind, beset from both sides, with nowhere to escape.

His hands, one above and one below, tease her mercilessly, playing at the sensitive peaks. For someone who claims to be bad at games, his hands are far too dexterous…

Just as she’s about to lose control, he suddenly stops, plucking the biggest cherry from the plate. He tugs at the fresh green stem, as if testing its strength.

She’s so startled she can barely speak. “No! It’ll—it’ll break…”

“What are you thinking?” He nips her ear from behind, laughing low. “That’s my private territory. No trespassing—not even by a fruit.”

He bites the cherry into four, lining the pieces along her collarbone, tasting each one slowly.

He lifts her by the waist, then lowers her gently.

Her skirt, with its flared hem, spreads out like a brilliant blossom, hiding the storm underneath. All she can see is its flutter as she rises and falls, petals trembling in the wild wind.

That day… her roommate was also wearing a long, ankle-length skirt, pooled across the armrests of the chair. Tang Chu had privately admired how beautiful it looked.

Now, she finally understands why her roommate acted so nonchalant when caught, yet spent the next half month blushing every time they met, and why her boyfriend never returned to the dorm.

She was too young then…

[1314]

The day before Valentine’s is a Friday. Gao Shen has to work overtime until after ten, and Tang Chu waits especially for him, then goes to meet him.

“It’s so cold and late—why come out? Wouldn’t it be better to stay in your dorm? We could meet tomorrow all the same,” he says, worried for her.

“Today’s a special day!” she insists.

“Isn’t it tomorrow?” He smiles. “I worked late tonight so I could spend all of tomorrow with you.”

“Tomorrow is 2/14—‘love for a lifetime’—but today is 2/13—‘love for a whole life.’ It’s important too,” she says, eyes shining. “So at midnight tonight, it’s the intersection of ‘a lifetime’ and ‘forever.’ We have to be together for that.”

At eleven-thirty, after showering, they lie side by side on the bed.

He turns, draping his arm over her. “Shouldn’t we do something meaningful at the intersection of a lifetime and forever?”

Tang Chu, blushing, pushes him away. “There’s still half an hour—wait a bit…”

But instead of retreating, he presses closer. “Are you worried I can’t last that long?”

Whether he can last half an hour is debatable, but… three minutes later, she surrenders.

Tang Chu covers her face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to… I just couldn’t help it…”

“You’re too sensitive…” He peels her hand away, smirking as he kisses her lips. “I’ll forgive your early escape, but you’ll have to keep pace with me now, alright?”

She loops her arms around his neck. “I’m a little tired… Do you need me to do anything?”

“No, just keep going.”

He says all she needs to do is receive, yet only a few minutes later, she’s entwined around his waist again, making little animal noises, rubbing against him restlessly.

His smile deepens. “Feeling it again?”

She bites her lip, cheeks flushed, and looks at him.

“In that case, I won’t hold back—let’s go together…” he murmurs against her neck, his movements growing firmer as she grows even more tender and receptive beneath him.

He reins himself in deliberately, to awaken her, to please her, to wait for her to catch up and run beside him.

This time… she lasts about fifteen minutes.

Again, Tang Chu covers her face. “Ignore me! Just—just do what you want!”

“Women really don’t have any refractory period—such a short break…” His breath is ragged, burning her neck and ear. “Want to test your limits?”

“What limits… mm!”

After being twice awakened, her body is boneless, every pore screaming in welcome. The sensation is indescribable—like climbing, like running, always feeling she’s at her limit, only to break through and soar higher each time.

She’s slippery as a fish, waves of heat drenching him, making it hard for him to control his strength or aim; more than once he slips out, but her eager, trembling moans seem to encourage him—faster, harder.

Finally, in one wild, uncontrolled thrust, he veers off course and plunges into… that secret, mysterious path he’s longed for, gazed at so many times from the threshold, cherished and guarded but never ventured.

He only enters a little before natural resistance halts him. He doesn’t dare force it, so he lifts himself up.

But her face shows no pain, her eyes slowly opening, misted with a silent promise and invitation.

This time, he doesn’t retreat, but gently asks, “Is it alright?”

“I already had the vaccine, so… it should be okay…” she replies.

The clock on the wall moves forward—23:59, a new day about to begin.

The second hand ticks on, trembling and cautious, moving forward bit by bit, just like his gentle, careful motion, as if afraid to cause her pain.

At last, he reaches the end, a seamless, intimate union. All his strength spent, he collapses atop her, holding her tight, breathless. His end, her end, the end of time and the world; he wishes to stay here forever.

The clock gives a soft click. Midnight: the intersection of a lifetime and forever.

“Does it hurt?”

“A little, but… it’s okay.” She nods, then shakes her head, then laughs. “Actually… you can move a little.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just…” For once, he blushes, “just staying like this, I already feel like I’m about to lose control. If I move, I’m afraid I’ll…”

“You’re too sensitive…” she teases, turning his words back on him, wriggling her hips lightly.

“Don’t move!” He grabs her, but once that fragile balance is broken, it’s like a dam bursting, a tsunami, a spark in a gasoline tank, a neutron in a nuclear reactor—after that, the chain reaction is out of his hands.

“Does it hurt?” Even at the height of passion, he never forgets to ask after her.

She bites her lip, eyes squeezed shut, shaking her head.

It does hurt—very much. Stretched to the limit, torn open, every movement is a rasp on the wound. Like the little mermaid whose tail became legs, every step on knives, but for love she endures in silence.

…

The consequence of bravado is that on Valentine’s Day, all their planned romantic activities are canceled. Tang Chu spends the whole day in bed.