In the old days, marriage was often a casual affair, and a man could take many wives, just like buying vegetables at the market: if they caught his eye, that was enough, as long as they were "rich."
In the Book of Rites, Confucius said: "Being plainly rich, act the part of the rich."
Some people therefore believed that if a man was rich but didn't take a concubine or two for his own amusement, he was rich in name but acting poor. The Way of kings was rooted in human nature, so why bother with those who affected purity and frugality?
In modern terms, it meant that if you had money and power but didn't find yourself a few more women, you were a loser, putting on airs.
"Concubines" weren't quite the same as "wives" today. Women's status was different now. Liu Chang'an would get scolded by Zhou Dongdong just for eating dog meat. If he still said anything like "Being plainly rich, act the part of the rich," he'd probably have to learn how to wipe spit off his own face. There wouldn't even be time to wipe it away.
If An Nuan heard him, she'd probably leap onto his back and make a fuss again.
When Liu Chang'an returned to the classroom, he found Bai Hui standing in the corridor. For once, Qian Ning and Lu Yuan weren't with her; she was talking with An Nuan instead. The tallest girl in the class wore black calfskin shoes with wedge heels, enough to make most of the boys feel inferior.
An Nuan would look lovely in high heels, too. White ones, preferably, with white ankle socks and square toes—not those pointy, thin heels. There had to be a striking sheen between the skirt and the ankle socks. Liu Chang'an remembered Zhu Juntang's outfit the other night.
"I can't believe you have such a pretty cousin, An Nuan said she'd never heard you mention her." Bai Hui looked Liu Chang'an up and down as if seeing him anew. "I heard some of the female teachers talking. Your cousin's watch is called Vancleef or something? That model costs eight hundred thousand."
Bai Hui had the sort of face that was cute with a little extra flesh on her cheeks. She still wore an exaggeratedly incredulous expression, her mouth and eyes round, her chest bouncing as she spoke. She reminded Liu Chang'an of the word "gossipmonger."
He would never use a word like that to describe a beautiful young girl, so he smiled. "Hello, Gossip Seven."
"Gossip Seven?" Bai Hui asked, baffled.
An Nuan understood Liu Chang'an better. She couldn't help letting out a snort of laughter. Bai Hui glanced at An Nuan, then at Liu Chang'an. She sensed it wasn't a compliment, but she was left in the dark like a fool. Her face fell. She glared at Liu Chang'an and went back into the classroom.
An Nuan watched Bai Hui slip inside, then turned her head and chided him under her breath. "She was just curious. Why call her a little gossip?"
"When two people get together, you're one of them."
"You've managed to offend both your former deskmate and your current one. Just wait until we talk about you behind your back! Hmph!"
"Come here. I've got something good to show you." Liu Chang'an beckoned.
"What?"
An Nuan glanced left and right, then looked back into the classroom and saw Bai Hui peering this way. She raised both hands in a stretch and sauntered over to Liu Chang'an, imitating his usual unhurried gait.
Liu Chang'an sat on the billiards table in front of the classroom. A black canvas backpack had been tossed on it, though he didn't know whose it was. A manga magazine poked out of its pocket, its cover depicting a Japanese-style anime girl. Apart from the eyes that took up half her face, the girl's legs were as upright as tender, dewy bamboo shoots peeled of their brown skin, and her waist was as slender as a willow branch leaning over a riverbank to draw water. Her figure looked just like An Nuan's.
"We may be able to face the laws of humanity bravely, but we absolutely cannot resist the laws of nature." Liu Chang'an looked at An Nuan and spoke earnestly. He rarely tried to persuade anyone, but when he did, he usually cited classics in all seriousness. Classics were classics for a reason: they often contained profound and correct truths.
Girls could be reasoned with, couldn't they?
An Nuan frowned, then paused. "Jules Verne, 1870, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It was another great work after Journey to the Center of the Earth. From the center of the earth to the bottom of the sea, Verne's works gradually expanded the scope of science fiction from Earth to the wider universe."
"Are you reciting a book report? The point is what I said. What are the laws of humanity you and Bai Hui face together?" Liu Chang'an continued to reason with her.
An Nuan was starting to sense something was off, especially since he'd specifically mentioned Bai Hui. What was special about Bai Hui? The first thing that came to mind was that she was a well-developed high school girl. That wasn't something An Nuan had in common with her. An Nuan nodded with an "oh," quite happy to humor him. "Liu Chang'an, you're picking on me again."
"No." Liu Chang'an denied it. "I'm only reasoning with you. You and Bai Hui are both girls, and the law of humanity today is that people pay a great deal of attention to the development of girls' secondary sexual characteristics. The irresistible law of nature is that males believe females with more developed secondary sexual characteristics are better suited to pursue as mates. Therefore, females have no choice but to deal with this law of nature."
An Nuan's eyes had grown as round as the anime girl's on the magazine cover.
"Last time, your qi and blood stagnated because—"
"I was wearing foam padding!" An Nuan snapped.
"That works?" Liu Chang'an seemed surprised that such a simple measure could rival the method he'd spent all morning tinkering with.
An Nuan angrily reached out to shove Liu Chang'an off the billiards table. Huang Shan came over from a short distance away and pointed at them emphatically. An Nuan didn't keep provoking him. Huang Shan liked to report things she and Liu Chang'an did to her mother, and that was understandable. Her mother was a great beauty; any man would want to earn favor by bringing her good news.
"I don't think foam padding is the best solution. The weather's getting hot. It wouldn't be pretty if you got prickly heat." Liu Chang'an thought for a moment, then handed An Nuan a few pages he'd torn from his notebook.
An Nuan watched Huang Shan disappear around the corner, ready to shove Liu Chang'an off the table. She took the pages without thinking and flipped them open. Her cheeks turned scarlet at once.
"I'm going to bite you to death later!" An Nuan bit her lip. The blush on her face burst into bloom as brightly as the flowers of the season. Liu Chang'an had drawn a naked figure without carefully detailing its face, but how had he managed to copy her body so exactly?
"Practice with these. It'll definitely work." Liu Chang'an looked forward to the results. "I spent all morning drawing them."
"But what if I don't know how?" The shy pinkness on An Nuan's cheeks still looked lovely, but a flirtatious smile had appeared in the corners of her eyes. "How about you teach me?"
"Let me think..."
"Think about your head! Liu Chang'an, I'll knock you flying!"
After school, Liu Chang'an left faster than anyone else. An Nuan had been pestering him all afternoon, and he knew that if he went to the gym to watch her practice, she'd keep spiking volleyballs at him.
By the time he reached the bridge, the gentle breeze was caressing his face, and his pace finally slowed. He looked into the distance. The great statue of the leader still stood like a guardian, gazing solemnly toward the mountain road, the nearby city, and the land beneath his feet.
Seeing Qin Yanan today had inevitably reminded him of Ye Sijin. Somehow, Liu Chang'an couldn't separate the two of them in his mind.
Standing there, Liu Chang'an felt his memories and emotions begin to churn again.
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