Continuation 23: Zhou Dongdong, Whom No One Likes

When Qin Yanan woke in the morning, she heard steady breathing and smelled a familiar scent. Opening her eyes to find Liu Chang'an lying beside her, she could not help thinking of a poem by Niu Qiao, "Bodhisattva Barbarian."

A jade censer, cool bamboo mat, brocade with paired mandarin ducks; powder melting, fragrant sweat flowing onto the mountain pillow.

Beyond the curtain came the sound of a well pulley; she drew her brows together, startled into a smile.

Willow shade lay light and hazy; her lowered hairpins, shaped like cicadas, slipped from her hair.

One must strive for a lifetime, to fulfill all your joy today.

The poem described a secret tryst, yet it differed somewhat from this moment. Last night, she had merely talked with Liu Chang'an for a long time, listening as he told her little stories from her childhood. Before she knew it, they had fallen asleep fully clothed, and when she awoke, it was already a misty dawn.

Naturally, there had been no "powder melting, fragrant sweat flowing onto the mountain pillow." Presumably, when he had been at An Nuan's house the night before last, the poem would have suited the scene far better.

Qin Yanan felt a little shy. "One must strive for a lifetime, to fulfill all your joy today"—the line was unbearably intimate, yet it made her heart pound and her cheeks flush. It echoed beautifully with, "For her, I would waste away; though my belt grew loose, I would never regret it."

She could "strive for a lifetime, to fulfill all his joy today." It would be wonderful if he could "waste away for her, though his belt grew loose, never regretting it."

The room was pleasantly warm in the morning, so comfortable that Qin Yanan let out a soft sigh. He