After that, Wang Tu came back early. He entered Red Apricot's room before she closed her door. He laughed openly at the mung beans beside her bed. "Why do you still keep those beans there?" he asked. "Aren't you afraid you'll became old while counting them?" Red Apricot wasn't annoyed. She let him laugh. She still counted the beans after he left, before she found a better way. She was extremely reluctant to do it, but she had to.
Wang Tu seemed to have become addicted. He had never before encountered a woman who refused him, so he was captivated by Red Apricot who refused him publicly. He knew about ethics and morality, but none of it mattered because he was too addicted. He could bear curses and criticism, and even be killed by Wang He, but he just couldn't let go of Red Apricot, a young woman with a pair of feline eyes, a tender and beautiful woman like an apricot blossom, a woman with a special voice, a woman who looked down upon him and a woman who was pushed to the market before she was mature. He wanted her. It was selfish to want her, but he preferred to see it in a positive light; that what he did was good for Red Apricot, to relieve her loneliness and give her nourishment. On that basis, he never intended to want her covertly, but walked into her room naturally, sat in her room with the door open and never lowered his voice when he spoke.
He told her, "You saw it once when you sewed my underpants, then asked me to try them on."
Another time he said, "Don't you see the difference between Wang He's and mine?"
Sometimes he ventured, "Don't you want first-hand knowledge of what you've only seen but don't yet know well?"
He gradually stopped being serious and became lewder and cheekier.
Red Apricot always stood near him with a full sneer at herself or Wang Tu. It was clear that she had not yet been persuaded.
Who knows how things might have turned out if Wang Tu had forced himself on Red Apricot? But he did not. He seemed very patient and enjoyed arguing with her pointlessly.
Some nights later, he was disturbed by several people. First, Aunt Pear Flower would tell him that Mrs. Xianggui or White Peony was looking for him. If he stayed, then Wu Xianggui would pretend to pass by or want to talk with Red Apricot instead of directly calling him back. White Peony never showed up, but he could feel her jealous eyes burning on his back.
He didn't care about that. It was his house and no one could stop him from doing what he wanted. Moreover, he hadn't even had any success in doing anything they didn't want him to do so far.
He actually felt he had made some progress. By virtue of a man's intuition, he felt that Red Apricot was being persuaded little by little. She had stopped counting mung beans for good, not just temporarily. When she realized for the second time that she was doing something stupid, the mung beans laughed at her and said that she can't be ascetic and still care about her morality. Red Apricot finally became irritated. She poured the beans outside and fed them to the chickens.
Seeing no mung beans in Red Apricot's room, Wang Tu closed the door with certainty, then said, "Forget the fucking mung beans. Lord Wang Tu is better than any mung bean." He thought it was time, and he wouldn't need to pointlessly argue with her again. Red Apricot cursed him as a shameless beast in so low a voice that he thought she was encouraging him, like a very timid voice saying "Come on". Based on his rich experience, he successfully made an accurate ejaculation in one stroke. Red Apricot was surprised at his successful and accurate ejaculation, and was not moved to make any sounds.
"It was good, wasn't it?" he asked her wildly.
He didn't receive an answer. He thought she seemed so stupid.
He continued, "It was better than Wang He's, right?"
He didn't need any answer. He just congratulated himself.
A moment later, he asked, "I did better than Wang He, didn't I?"
He then answered himself, "Yes, of course. I'm an experienced general, but he's just a newcomer."
Despite her silence or because of it, he continued to speak from time to time: "You even ignored me and didn't want me after seeing my penis. I've showed you that it's fine, haven't I? Now you know it's fine?"
"You're so foolish. It's certainly better than counting mung beans."
"My pretty, you will not be abandoned by me."
In those days, White Peony spent a lot of time looking in the mirror. She loved looking in the mirror for no special reason before Wang Tu came back at night. The image in the mirror was obscure due to limited light from the oil lamp, which nevertheless did not dampen her addiction to gazing in it. In other words, she was addicted to her image in the mirror. She was beautiful in everyone's eyes, and the parts of her body that men loved were gorgeous. She liked trying to look at herself in the mirror with men's eyes. She tried to become excited and set her heart beating like a man's while looking at herself in the mirror, the blood vessels in her neck and arms plumping up like earthworms. She was gaining such experience from Wang Tu that she could only endure the lonely hours while she waited for him to come back. In those days, Wang Tu always went to Red Apricot's room. He no longer had sex with White Peony whether he came back early or late. She knew she had become a third-mouthful dessert. When she was a first-mouthful dessert, Wang Tu always came back in the daytime and went to bed early before it was completely dark. But now she was no longer a first-mouthful dessert. It had been a long time since Wang Tu tasted the first then second mouthful of dessert, savouring the aftertaste on his tongue. Now she was a third-mouthful dessert, and he had grown tired of the taste.
White Peony knew that Red Apricot would become a third-mouthful dessert in a short time, and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't say to Wang Tu, "You'll grow tired of tasting the third mouthful of the dessert, so just stop." Wang Tu would eventually become tired of every kind of dessert, and this could not be stopped by a warning, but neither did it mean that he could quit his beloved dessert casually.
She thought about how life would be if she married Wang Chong. She believed that she could delight any man, and even more so Wang Chong who would follow her blindly until she grew old.
Wang Chong finally became a soldier in the Liberation Army.
At dusk, a troop arrived at Flower River Village and camped there after driving away the people of the Village Office. Unexpectedly, Wang Chong was a member of the troop.
He appeared just as White Peony was thinking of him. He showed up in the mirror in his uniform, and White Peony had to transfer her sight to the image of Wang Chong behind her, which was so dark that she thought for a moment that it was an illusion. She turned around and looked at him carefully after he grinned at her in the mirror.
It really was Wang Chong! White Peony seemed a little surprised.
Wang Chong said, "You look more beautiful."
White Peony blushed because she was moved by his timely presence, not because of his praise. It seemed he had not disappeared during these past years, but waited somewhere patiently for her to think of him one day. However, he did not seem to behave as she had imagined. He didn't show any excitement about their reunion, and even looked a little absent-minded. He had not come back because of her.
Disappointed, White Peony gazed at Wang Chong carefully and said, "You look handsome in this uniform."
Wang Chong was proud of himself, not only for his appearance but also his position. He was a PLA man who revolted against the landlords after being exploited by landlords in the past. He said, "Marry me after I kill Wang Tu." This was what he had come back to do. White Peony now stood with Landlord Wang Tu, while Wang Chong stood with the revolution. Wang Chong thought that White Peony would cross over and stand with him after he shot Wang Tu dead, the man who stood in opposition to him.
White Peony pretended to be frightened.
Regardless of White Peony, Wang Chong went ahead and searched the room for Wang Tu directly. He guessed that he may have been hiding in a corner or under the quilt on the bed to eavesdrop on what they said. He looked around carefully as though he were looking for a bug. Failing to find him in the room, he went out and continued to look for him. White Peony was aware that something serious might happen, so she followed him. To her surprise, she saw Wang Chong meet Wang Tu at the door of Red Apricot's room. Wang Chong aimed his gun at Wang Tu. His clothes were draped over his shoulders and Red Apricot was also partially dressed with disheveled hair. Wang Tu stood in front of Red Apricot, seeming to believe that Wang Chong was aiming at her. Wang Chong thought this was funny. He chuckled with his eyes closed, then said, "Stand away from Red Apricot. You're my target." Saying so, he raised the gun, but White Peony stood in front of the barrel before he pulled the trigger. Both Wang Tu and White Peony were unaware of the power of a gun. They showed both their ignorance and courage. Wang Chong thought that it was necessary to tell them that he was holding a gun, not a stove poker, and that they would die if he pulled the trigger.
White Peony said, "You'd better leave now. There are five guns in the room."
Wang Chong said, "Look at them. They must have had sex just now. Just look at them."
White Peony didn't say anything.
Wang Chong said, "Will you still stand by such a man?"
White Peony said, "Leave now or you won't have a chance." This was a genuine warning rather than a threat, as Zhu Daxiu and his servants had taken up places behind him. Without turning around, Wang Chong knew that he had several guns aimed at him now, just by virtue of the sensitivity of a soldier to guns. He said, "If they refuse to put their guns down, I'll shoot him." Wang Tu thought he should give an order. He said to his servants behind Wang Chong, "Let him go," but he didn't stand in front of White Peony to face Wang Chong's gun bravely like a hero.
As he left, Wang Chong said, "You fucking landlord! Just wait for our attack on you local tyrants and the division of your farmland. You'll finally be finished off sooner or later."
After that, Wang Tu was fine. He still went to Red Apricot's room early as usual and closed the door as soon as he entered the room in the evening. Regardless of being tired, he wanted to be satisfied first.
One evening, Red Apricot held a pair of scissors when Wang Tu entered, but she threw them away when he went for her. She had made a decision before he arrived, then quickly changed her mind. Wang Tu laughed. He was amused by her. They then began their passion in a very pleasant atmosphere.
This time, Wang Tu was more careful and considerate. He wanted to satisfy both Red Apricot and himself. He believed that she could get extraordinary pleasure from him. Although Red Apricot didn't make any sounds, her body showed her satisfaction. She was very positive. She had brandished a pair of scissors when he entered, but she was positive from the beginning. She gnawed his tongue, dug her fingernails into his flesh and lifted him with her slim waist. She bit his shoulder, practically useless nipples and navel in order to suppress her moans. She bit the organ which could bring her such pleasure. Afraid of the pain, Wang Tu had to repeatedly remind her to be careful of her teeth, but then encouraged her to continue biting after she stopped, and taught her to hide her teeth and use her tongue.
After that, she was indifferent to Wang Tu. She closed her door before it was dark so that he could not enter. Wang Tu didn't go to her as before because he knew women like he knew himself. He knew they were easily satisfied. Once they were well-content, they would quiet down and become lazy. This was why he didn't think Red Apricot wanted to break it off with him, but only wanted to have a short rest.
Before Wang Tu could be welcomed by Red Apricot again, the liberation of Flower River came.
