Chapter 35

Part Two: The Allure of Business. Chapter 35: Intimacy on the Bus

After tidying up a little, he went downstairs with Xu Si. Zhang Ke had to pass through Shatian on his way home, so he deliberately took the same bus as her. It was just past quitting time, and the bus was packed. Zhang Ke spread his arms and braced them against the window, shielding Xu Si within his arms so no one could take advantage of her. At the next stop, Xinguang Paper Mill, no one seemed to get off, but another crowd squeezed aboard. The bus grew even more crowded. Xu Si bent her arms in front of her chest to keep her breasts from pressing directly against Zhang Ke.

Up front, the conductor called out the stop loudly. "Xinguang Paper Mill! Xinguang Paper Mill! Comrades who boarded at the front, remember to buy your tickets. Anyone caught without a ticket will be fined one hundred yuan."

Hearing her call, Zhang Ke looked out the window. In the distance, the Shugang River flowed quietly beneath the setting sun, its ripples glittering gold.

"What are you looking at?"

"Xinguang Paper Mill."

"Why are you looking at Xinguang Paper Mill? So many people are waiting for it to close, hoping the Shugang River will get a little cleaner."

"You want the paper mill shut down too?"

"Of course. Downstream along the Shugang River is our Shatian. Who enjoys looking at that black water all day?"

"The workers at Xinguang Paper Mill don't think so. Do you know about the major traffic accident in Haizhou on July 18?"

"How could I not? Three dead and four injured. The news said the driver was drunk..."

"He wasn't just drunk. He was speeding too. He entered the city from Beiguan, went all the way to North Street, and crossed Xinhua Road and Dongsheng Road, yet not a single traffic officer stopped that dump truck in time. Do you know where all the traffic patrol officers were hiding that day?"

Xu Si shook her head, not knowing why Zhang Ke was interested in these things.

"That day, over a hundred workers from Xinguang Paper Mill gathered in Bell Tower Square outside the Municipal Government. They were protesting the Chengnan District government's decision to move Xinguang Paper Mill to the Southern Suburb Industrial Park, far from the city, which made commuting inconvenient for the workers. And after the new mill was built, it lacked the working capital to start production. They demanded that the Municipal Government stop the Chengnan District government from closing the old mill here. That day, the city temporarily reassigned most of the West District's traffic patrol officers to Bell Tower Square to maintain order. So that drunk driver drove his dump truck into the city from Beiguan and all the way to North Street without a single traffic officer stopping him in time."

"Oh?" Although Xu Si found it regrettable, she did not know why Zhang Ke had suddenly brought this up.

"The Chengnan District government did a good thing in deciding to move the heavily polluting Xinguang Paper Mill out of the city. But they didn't follow through properly and left so many problems behind. They closed the old mill, but the new one couldn't start production, and they failed to make proper arrangements for the workers, leading to a mass petition. If responsibility for the 718 Major Traffic Accident is investigated, the Chengnan District government bears some responsibility too."

Zhang Ke thought of Zhitong and wondered whether the Chengnan District government would be anxious over this. Even if Xu Xueping did not pursue the matter, the city would take action against some of those involved to give him an accounting.

Zhou Fuming and Tang Xueqian had just taken office. Doing this would both please Xu Xueping and free up positions. It really was a way to kill two birds with one stone.

Zhang Ke smiled and said to Xu Si, "Didn't you promise to help me with something?"

"With what?" Xu Si turned her head to ask.

"Help me collect information on Xinguang Paper Mill."

"What do you want that for?" Xu Si asked, puzzled.

"A social survey." Zhang Ke knew that if he explained all his plans, Xu Si would have trouble understanding them right away, so he made up an excuse. "It's an assignment from school. Help me finish it."

The bus left Xinguang Paper Mill and reached the Agricultural Machinery Factory, where another crowd squeezed aboard. Once he stopped thinking about Xinguang Paper Mill, Zhang Ke's attention returned to Xu Si.

Zhang Ke had to think of something to distract himself. He had not expected things to become so sensuous so suddenly. He was almost holding Xu Si's soft, warm, fragrant body tightly in his arms. Their lower bodies were pressed close, and even through two thin layers of fabric, he could feel her warmth and astonishing springiness. There was no room to move back. Her palms pressed firmly against his chest. In her high heels, Xu Si was almost his height, and their eyes met from less than ten centimeters apart. He could almost see the moisture in her soul-stealing eyes. Their faces were slightly turned past each other, but he could feel her warm breath against his ear, making his heart itch. With a glance down, he could see her deep cleavage, dazzlingly white.

"Xu Si..." Zhang Ke called softly.

Xu Si turned her head, then hastily averted her startled gaze, her cheeks flushing.

Zhang Ke could not control his body's sensations. It was impossible not to become aroused. His erection pressed against Xu Si's soft lower abdomen, sinking in before being pushed back by its resilience. Zhang Ke did not dare move, afraid she would misunderstand. Even simply pressing against her like this was intensely pleasurable. He saw Xu Si's brows draw together before her hand reached to his waist and pinched him hard. "What are you thinking about?"

Zhang Ke grimaced and sucked in a breath, trying hard to push his backside away. "Nothing dirty. I can't control it. Don't you know how captivating you are?"

Xu Si pinched harder, and Zhang Ke hurriedly begged for mercy. But the people behind him were packed too tightly to let him retreat. Xu Si frowned, a flush spreading to the roots of her ears, red as though they might bleed. She was so beautiful that Zhang Ke felt dizzy. Bracing both hands against his stomach, she said, "I didn't realize you had abs." Yet her full, firm breasts pressed against his chest. Zhang Ke said with a wry smile, "You have the attention to spare for that?"

In 1994, the city's roads were hardly accommodating either. The bus jolted along, its passengers packed together. Xu Si's cool little hands braced against his stomach, his chest pressed against her full, firm breasts, and occasionally their lower bodies bumped together. He felt the delicate body in his arms burning hot. Xu Si kept her face turned aside, the roots of her ears red as though they might bleed. Zhang Ke dared not say anything else teasing. Rather than stirring Xu Si's desire, he was worried that his own sensitive sixteen-year-old body would be the first to give out.

At last, they made it to Shatian, and Zhang Ke followed her off the bus. The flush on Xu Si's face had yet to fade. "Why did you get off?" she asked.

"It's too hot. I'm buying a cold drink to cool myself down..."

"Then shall I head home?"

"Go on, go on. Aren't you the one who started this fire? If you don't leave, it won't die down anytime soon."

Xu Si raised her handbag as if to hit him. Zhang Ke laughed and dodged, then pulled her along to buy cold drinks, only to hear someone call from behind them, "Si..."

They turned to see Xu Si's father, Xu Haishan, coming off the platform. "We were calling you on the bus. How come you never heard us?"

"You called me?" Xu Si asked in surprise.

"Yes. We boarded at the Agricultural Machinery Factory. Your eldest uncle saw you with this young fellow and called several times, but you didn't answer. What were you thinking about? The bus was too crowded for us to get to the back."

At the time, Zhang Ke had been so bewitched by Xu Si that he had practically lost his senses, struggling to control himself so he would not embarrass himself on the bus. He had not expected that Xu Si had also failed to hear her eldest uncle calling. He glanced sideways at her and saw her cheeks flush. Tilting her head, she said, "I found Zhang Ke. I was talking to him on the bus and didn't hear you calling. Maybe it was too noisy."

"Young fellow, so you really are the student Si tutors..." Xu Haishan clasped Zhang Ke's hand warmly. "Without the money you lent us, we wouldn't have known what to do about Si's trouble."

"Xu Si promised to keep tutoring me. Her troubles are my troubles. Otherwise, if my grades slip, my parents will really lay into me."

"Heh, Si did well in high school. She was always near the top of her class," Xu Haishan said warmly. "Come sit at our place and have something to eat before you go?"

"Well..."

"Weren't you calling me Xu Si so sweetly just now? Now you think there won't be anything good to eat at my place?" Xu Si tilted her head, her clear black-and-white eyes especially beautiful in the sunset.

"Then let me call home first. My mom's expecting me home for dinner today..." Zhang Ke was reluctant to part with Xu Si so soon too, almost like a lover caught up in a passionate romance. In front of her father, Xu Si quite openly linked her arm through Zhang Ke's and marched him to the public phone at the convenience store on the corner, watching him call home.

As Zhang Ke dialed, Xu Si's rounded arm pressed lightly against his, and his thoughts involuntarily began to wander. Only after his mother had said hello several times did he come back to himself. "Mom, it's Zhang Ke. Teacher Xu has invited me to stay for dinner. I'll be home a little later."

"Which Teacher Xu? We have a guest. Guess who..." Before his mother could finish, someone snatched the phone away. He waited a moment, but the person on the other end said nothing, only tapped softly on the table.

"Zhitong? Is that Zhitong?" Hearing the tapping on the other end grow more exuberant, Zhang Ke said with delighted surprise, "Zhitong, your big brother Ke is coming home right away. Wait for me a little."