Glossary
- Gēge - Older brother
Elder Brother for a Husband
2. Dream
When night came again, Xú Wǎn felt herself feeling uneasy. It was only eleven o’clock. Thinking back to previous nights, she had always awakened around one-thirty so she planned on going to sleep after one-thirty tonight.
“This way, I probably wouldn’t dream that dream again.”
After finishing her third movie of the night, Xú Wǎn found herself wanting a glass of water. She looked up and noticed the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost midnight. Xú Wǎn breathed a sigh of relief. She only had to endure for a little for an hour and a half before she could finally go to sleep.
“Luán’er... Luán’er...”
A familiar male voice was gently called out to her. One puff after another, his hot breath breezed over her ears. Then, a pair powerful arms embraced her firmly from behind.
No! No!
Xú Wǎn wanted to shout but found herself unable to make a single sound. The man’s cold fingertips traced her shuddering lips for a moment before he inserted them into her mouth.
Oh no, she was dreaming again...
Unable to see, unable to move, Xú Wǎn, who wanted to cry without tears, could only accept what was happening to her.
“Luán’er, missing gēge (1) now?”
The man’s ice-cold fingers stroked past her gums and teased at her pink tongue until it was practically numb to the touch before he finally pulled out, a line of saliva following its wake.
“Oh...”
Xú Wǎn made a soft, shameful groan. The man’s lips gently pressed against the corner of her mouth and even made a subtle swallowing sound. For twenty years, Xú Wǎn had protected her first kiss. This time, she was clearly unable to bear it.
This dream was really terrible!
Suddenly, she could feel cool air on her chest; the buttons of her pajamas were being undone one by one. Knowing that she never had the habit of wearing underwear at home, Xú Wǎn could only mentally struggle against the action.
The man’s large palm grabbed a hold of one of her breasts while his mouth latched onto her nipple, teeth gentle biting down on the hardening nub.
Ah—Xú Wǎn gave a mental scream. The spring dreams these past few nights were all without foreplay. Each time she was forced into such a position. Alone tonight, forcing her to go through something like this, she could not bare it any longer.
Wait! Something was wrong!
If she was already making out with someone, then whose mouth was playing with her nipples?
The realization sent a chill down her spine. Her waist was currently being held by a pair of iron-like arms but there also seemed to be another set of hands kneading her chest.
Two mouths! Four hands!
“Tsk, tsk, Ā Luán is all wet down here.” Another voice suddenly interrupted Xú Wǎn’s horrifying realization. She didn’t know when her pajama bottoms and lace panties had been pulled down; Xú Wǎn had only realized it when she felt a man’s fingers slipping between her parted thighs.
Even without him vocalizing it, she could feel the dampness down there.
The man’s laughter sounded rather nefarious next to her ears. Xú Wǎn was afraid she would have already burst into tears if it wasn’t for the fact that she couldn’t open her eyes. She was a young, unmarried maiden who had never even seen pornography. How could she dream of something like this?
Two fingers pushed into her. “Don’t... want...” At this point, Xú Wǎn had already exhausted all her strength so while she had originally wanted to shout, what came out instead was a shameless soft and weak whimper.
However, just as she said the two words, the invisible powers that was binding her suddenly disappeared. Around her, the dark space seemed to be getting brighter and brighter and when she finally lifted her heavy eyelids, she immediately caught sight of her favorite crystal lotus lamp.
Gradually, her numb limbs began returning back to normal. The moment she realized she was awake again, Xú Wǎn immediately sat up on her soft. She gave herself a once over, stunned, her heartbeat still racing. Her pink, cherry blossom pajama was completely intact, nothing seemed out of place.
On the nearby coffee table, the fourth film that was playing on her computer had already reached its end. And when she looked up at the clock, it was half past one.
“When did I fall asleep?”
Still dizzy, she pressed a couple fingers to her temple as she made her way to the bathroom. She looked up into the mirror, looking over her current state. Haloed by her long, messy hair, her face was strangely flushed and her lips slightly swollen and red.
But worst, there seemed to be an inexplicable emptiness between her legs; she could still feel the faint, lingering satisfaction of being penetrated by a man’s fingers.
Early the next morning, Xú Wǎn called out sick from work. Afterwards, she took a taxi to West Street in the well-known Táng Lè Village but it took her an entire morning just to find the 46th residences.
They were old-fashioned, six-story dwellings right next to a dump site. The peeling outer wall was spray-painted red with the word “demolish” and right next to it was a row of broken tiles. According to a passerby, the grandmother surnamed Lǐ lived in the residence that had a weeping willow in the front of the courtyard.
While summers in coastal cities didn’t usually get very hot, Xú Wǎn ended up using sever tissue papers wiping her sweat as she knocked on the wooden doors several times. She waited about ten minutes but there didn’t seem to be anyone there so she could only turn around to leave.
“Young miss, you only just came, why are you leaving already?”
Xú Wǎn had just made her way to the weeping willow when she heard the voice. She quickly turned around and saw that the wooden door was open and in the doorway stood the grandmother that she had seen the day before. She was wearing a black cotton skirt and was waving at her with a fan in her hands.
“Grandmother, I have something to ask you!”
The old woman seemed to have long since guessed as to why she was here. “Cone in then.” And without anything more to say, she turned and went back into the house.
“Come in then.” The old woman seemed to have long since guessed as to why she was here.
Xú Wǎn quickly moved to follow. She felt the drop in temperature immediately upon entering the old house and grabbed her arms, rubbing away at the goosebumps. There was definitely a problem with her bracelet and strongly believing that the old woman knew more than she was letting on, Xú Wǎn had hurriedly came early in the morning.
The old house was not well-lit but Xú Wǎn continued to follow the old woman who lead her straight into a room with minimal furnishing; a square table, a couple wooden stools, and a single row of bookshelves.
“Come, sit down and drink some water to cool down.”
“Thank you.”
The old woman then left Xú Wǎn alone and she took that tip to sip her drink as she looked around, her eyes finally landing on the row of bookshelves. In a modern, rapidly-developing society, there were not many people left who still used string-bounded books.
The old woman return and a brush and rice paper before she sat down next to Xú Wǎn. She smiled and picked up the brush, lightly dipping it in dark ink, and wrote something onto the white rice paper.
“This word,” she said. “It’s very familiar. If I’m not guessing wrong, then should I read it? Xú Wǎn had always loved ancient literature and had been practicing since she was a child so she could easily recognize Wèibēi Kǎishū’s works.
The old woman nodded. She placed down the brush and said, “This is the name given to a young maiden by Northern Qí’s Huái Yīn Hóu and his wife, the Yǒng Kāng Princess. That Master Wēng is known as Yàn Luán."
Xú Wǎn was shocked. “Isn’t that the famous Mì Yáng Wēng Zhǔ in history? That Yàn Luán?”
“This way, I probably wouldn’t dream that dream again.”
After finishing her third movie of the night, Xú Wǎn found herself wanting a glass of water. She looked up and noticed the clock on the wall and saw that it was almost midnight. Xú Wǎn breathed a sigh of relief. She only had to endure for a little for an hour and a half before she could finally go to sleep.
“Luán’er... Luán’er...”
A familiar male voice was gently called out to her. One puff after another, his hot breath breezed over her ears. Then, a pair powerful arms embraced her firmly from behind.
No! No!
Xú Wǎn wanted to shout but found herself unable to make a single sound. The man’s cold fingertips traced her shuddering lips for a moment before he inserted them into her mouth.
Oh no, she was dreaming again...
Unable to see, unable to move, Xú Wǎn, who wanted to cry without tears, could only accept what was happening to her.
“Luán’er, missing gēge (1) now?”
The man’s ice-cold fingers stroked past her gums and teased at her pink tongue until it was practically numb to the touch before he finally pulled out, a line of saliva following its wake.
“Oh...”
Xú Wǎn made a soft, shameful groan. The man’s lips gently pressed against the corner of her mouth and even made a subtle swallowing sound. For twenty years, Xú Wǎn had protected her first kiss. This time, she was clearly unable to bear it.
This dream was really terrible!
Suddenly, she could feel cool air on her chest; the buttons of her pajamas were being undone one by one. Knowing that she never had the habit of wearing underwear at home, Xú Wǎn could only mentally struggle against the action.
The man’s large palm grabbed a hold of one of her breasts while his mouth latched onto her nipple, teeth gentle biting down on the hardening nub.
Ah—Xú Wǎn gave a mental scream. The spring dreams these past few nights were all without foreplay. Each time she was forced into such a position. Alone tonight, forcing her to go through something like this, she could not bare it any longer.
Wait! Something was wrong!
If she was already making out with someone, then whose mouth was playing with her nipples?
The realization sent a chill down her spine. Her waist was currently being held by a pair of iron-like arms but there also seemed to be another set of hands kneading her chest.
Two mouths! Four hands!
“Tsk, tsk, Ā Luán is all wet down here.” Another voice suddenly interrupted Xú Wǎn’s horrifying realization. She didn’t know when her pajama bottoms and lace panties had been pulled down; Xú Wǎn had only realized it when she felt a man’s fingers slipping between her parted thighs.
Even without him vocalizing it, she could feel the dampness down there.
The man’s laughter sounded rather nefarious next to her ears. Xú Wǎn was afraid she would have already burst into tears if it wasn’t for the fact that she couldn’t open her eyes. She was a young, unmarried maiden who had never even seen pornography. How could she dream of something like this?
Two fingers pushed into her. “Don’t... want...” At this point, Xú Wǎn had already exhausted all her strength so while she had originally wanted to shout, what came out instead was a shameless soft and weak whimper.
However, just as she said the two words, the invisible powers that was binding her suddenly disappeared. Around her, the dark space seemed to be getting brighter and brighter and when she finally lifted her heavy eyelids, she immediately caught sight of her favorite crystal lotus lamp.
Gradually, her numb limbs began returning back to normal. The moment she realized she was awake again, Xú Wǎn immediately sat up on her soft. She gave herself a once over, stunned, her heartbeat still racing. Her pink, cherry blossom pajama was completely intact, nothing seemed out of place.
On the nearby coffee table, the fourth film that was playing on her computer had already reached its end. And when she looked up at the clock, it was half past one.
“When did I fall asleep?”
Still dizzy, she pressed a couple fingers to her temple as she made her way to the bathroom. She looked up into the mirror, looking over her current state. Haloed by her long, messy hair, her face was strangely flushed and her lips slightly swollen and red.
But worst, there seemed to be an inexplicable emptiness between her legs; she could still feel the faint, lingering satisfaction of being penetrated by a man’s fingers.
Early the next morning, Xú Wǎn called out sick from work. Afterwards, she took a taxi to West Street in the well-known Táng Lè Village but it took her an entire morning just to find the 46th residences.
They were old-fashioned, six-story dwellings right next to a dump site. The peeling outer wall was spray-painted red with the word “demolish” and right next to it was a row of broken tiles. According to a passerby, the grandmother surnamed Lǐ lived in the residence that had a weeping willow in the front of the courtyard.
While summers in coastal cities didn’t usually get very hot, Xú Wǎn ended up using sever tissue papers wiping her sweat as she knocked on the wooden doors several times. She waited about ten minutes but there didn’t seem to be anyone there so she could only turn around to leave.
“Young miss, you only just came, why are you leaving already?”
Xú Wǎn had just made her way to the weeping willow when she heard the voice. She quickly turned around and saw that the wooden door was open and in the doorway stood the grandmother that she had seen the day before. She was wearing a black cotton skirt and was waving at her with a fan in her hands.
“Grandmother, I have something to ask you!”
The old woman seemed to have long since guessed as to why she was here. “Cone in then.” And without anything more to say, she turned and went back into the house.
“Come in then.” The old woman seemed to have long since guessed as to why she was here.
Xú Wǎn quickly moved to follow. She felt the drop in temperature immediately upon entering the old house and grabbed her arms, rubbing away at the goosebumps. There was definitely a problem with her bracelet and strongly believing that the old woman knew more than she was letting on, Xú Wǎn had hurriedly came early in the morning.
The old house was not well-lit but Xú Wǎn continued to follow the old woman who lead her straight into a room with minimal furnishing; a square table, a couple wooden stools, and a single row of bookshelves.
“Come, sit down and drink some water to cool down.”
“Thank you.”
The old woman then left Xú Wǎn alone and she took that tip to sip her drink as she looked around, her eyes finally landing on the row of bookshelves. In a modern, rapidly-developing society, there were not many people left who still used string-bounded books.
The old woman return and a brush and rice paper before she sat down next to Xú Wǎn. She smiled and picked up the brush, lightly dipping it in dark ink, and wrote something onto the white rice paper.
“This word,” she said. “It’s very familiar. If I’m not guessing wrong, then should I read it? Xú Wǎn had always loved ancient literature and had been practicing since she was a child so she could easily recognize Wèibēi Kǎishū’s works.
The old woman nodded. She placed down the brush and said, “This is the name given to a young maiden by Northern Qí’s Huái Yīn Hóu and his wife, the Yǒng Kāng Princess. That Master Wēng is known as Yàn Luán."
Xú Wǎn was shocked. “Isn’t that the famous Mì Yáng Wēng Zhǔ in history? That Yàn Luán?”
Honestly, I had no idea what the last two paragraphs were saying so translations are most likely completely off. If anyone wants to fix them for me, just let me know.
|| Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 ( Crazy Panda ) ||
Will no longer be translating this novel; please check Crazy Panda for further translations. Will link to third chapter once it is translated by them.
Will no longer be translating this novel; please check Crazy Panda for further translations. Will link to third chapter once it is translated by them.