Nuptial Chamber Next Door Chapter 5.2

It was late at night. The lake was placid, the fish had sunk below the waters and the leaves of the weeping willow above the lake were gently blowing in the wind

Since it was so lat, there was no one in the campus.

I dragged my tired body back to the apartment. I wanted to pour myself a cup of hot milk, then snuggle under the quilt and go to sleep immediately.

But I couldn't find my key. I tried to retrace my steps and realised that I had forgotten to take my key in the morning. I was so upset!

The office had long been closed, and most of the other rooms had turned off their lights

Standing outside the locked room , I suddenly felt a little homesick. I remembered my father's harsh scolding, my mother's nagging , and I wanted to lie in my cute princess bed at home and cry

I rubbed my frozen hands together and could not help but think of seeking help next door.

" Ye ZhengChen", the room that had those three words engraved at te door was lit. In this desolate night, his room looked exceptionally warm.

I gently pressed the doorbell, heard the sound of footsteps, and then the

door was opened.

A burst of warm air hit me , followed with the fragrance of Tiequanyin tea

He was a  little surprised when he saw me ," Is there something wrong?"

Ofcourse, there's something wrong! Why would I knock at your door in the middle of the night, I have no designs on you!

"Brother..", I discreetly glanced in his room to see if he had a woman with him, " I locked myself out."

He realised what had happened and immediately moved away from the door, "Come in."

His room was still very neat. The quilt was neatly laid on the bed, the laptop was at the corner of his desk and in the middle of his desk, there was a stack of papers written in j.a.panese. I glanced at the papers and discerned that it was mostly about bacteria.

" Have a seat!" He put away the files and poured me a hot cup of tea. "The tea is still warm"

"Thank you!"

I took the tea and cupped my palms around it , trying to warm myself up. I tried to find a topic.

" Were you studying these files?"

" Yes"

Looking at him, I decided to go straight to the point.

" I want to climb to my balcony from yours"

Ye Zhengchen and my balcony were joined. Only a two metre long wooden barrier separated the two. I thought I could jump over the barrier.

That was the only way I could get home

" You think you can jump over the barrier?"

" Sure! Shouldnt be a problem!"

I put down the cup and went to the balcony, but when I looked at the barrier, I was baffled.

I didn't remember the barrier being so high!

I took my courage in my hands, rolled up my sleeves and attempted to jump over it several times. But I failed. I hung suspended in the air, my ody covered in cold sweat.

As I looked back at Ye Zengchen to help me move the stool, I saw him covering his mouth with his hand, doubling up with laughter.

I was 囧

Embarrased, I grasped his hair, " You find this very funny?"

" Its notfunny!" he shook his head with laughter in his voice, " Do you want me to help you?"

" Will you be okay ? It's very high!"

" Sure! Shouldnt be a problem!" he used the same tone I had used to repeat my words back to me

I stood back, waiting for the play. Humph! It was so high, I didn't believe he would be able to vault across

Ye Zengchen took a step back, ran for a half a step and then jumped. He used his hands to pull himself over the barrier, stepped on the handrails and then leveraging the rails, turned his body around and dropped neatly  on to my balcony

I was stunned and rooted to the spot

Did he know martial arts? He seemed to be the legendary martial arts master!

I had not yet recovered from my stunned state when he came back in his room through the door. " Your door is open now."

" You, you…" I pointed to the part.i.tion in the balcony, " you were able to vault over this?"

Suddenly , a thought came to my mind. Which is, what idiot had designed this balcony ? Any man could jump over to my house in three seconds!

In case I was asleep, they could indulge in any kind of misconduct. This was dangerous!

If a s.e.x maniac is not fearful enougj, a s.e.x maniac who knew martial arts was absolutely frightening!

I hadn't tried to conceal my thoughts, Ye Zengchen was able to read them easily. He knew what I was thinking

" Dont worry, unless there is something urgent, I will always use the main entrance."

"Uh.." my face was instantly reddened, knowing full well that it was too late to cover up

" I mean.. you really have great skills. Did you learn karate, taekwondo or what?'

His mouth split into a grin, " No I only learnt how to catch people.."

" Catch people ??"

" How to easily subdue the other side, so she cants resist, cant even move away..", the suggestive tone of his voice gradually faded away

I mulled over his words. If he suddenly appeared in my room at night, grabbed my hands, forced me to bed, if I couldn't resist, couldn't even move away…

" Uh…" I covered my face, bowed and said, " Its very late. I wont bother you anymore. Please rest."

Flushed, I ran out of his room.

How did the cold night turn so warm!

The first year I was in j.a.pan, the weather in Osaka was unusual. Red autumnal leaves covered everything even until late November.

I heard that the j.a.panese don't really look at the autum foliage - I thought it was a great loss for them

I asked Qin Xue, she was busy studying. I knew no other girl, so I was alone enjoying the view of the autumn foliage.

The lonely river flowed silently under the bridge. I stood on the bride, watching the strange city, the strange scenery, surrounded by people talking a strange language.

I couldn't help thinking of home, and of my parents

I was lonely, I missed them and in the past few days, all the hards.h.i.+ps that I had faced came to the surface. I had been heartless with them, and that thought made me cry.

"Kacha", the sound of a camera pulled me out from my reverie. I looked towards the sound and saw Ye Zengchen standing on the other side of te bridge.

" Why are you here ?"

" To look at the scenery, enjoy the beauty." He smiled. His eyes locked with my tearful eyes and his smile faded, " Why are you sad/"

" Its ok", I wiped the tears

" I just came here, was feeling a bit homesick.."

He pondered over my words for a little while, then reached out and grabbed my hand very naturally.

" I'll take you to see the stone inscriptions of our prime minister. After that, you will feel better."

I blushed slightly, but his warm and powerful demeanour made me want to lean on him for support.

I did not hesitate to give him the opportunity. He took my hand and we went directly to the bridge

I followed him through a bamboo forest, through the mountain and somehow I felt really good, as if I had come home

…… …

When we were tired, we found a small lawn where we sat down to have lunch

A maple leaf fell on my head, and he leaned over to brush it off

Later, I put the maple leaf in a book, part of my new collection…

That night, he also introduced me to sus.h.i.+. The sus.h.i.+ place was kind of a self catering place. Guests could have as many plates as they wanted, and would pay on checkout depending on how many dishes they had.

The first time I tried it out of curiosity, I did not like it and threw it back to Ye Zengchen. He didn't complain and helped me avoid the nauseating sas.h.i.+mi, raw shrimp…

He probably ate too much and was unable to digest. He had a stomach ache for a week after we came back. Out of guilt, I gave him some light food everyday, some soup to drink and soothe his poor stomach

Later, he got into a habit of eating at my place

He appreciated my cooking and from time to time would restock my fridge. I was happy to have his company as we ate

Over time, I gradually found that while Ye Zengchen was a playboy, he was a good man at heart

Miumiu : So how do you find Ye Zengchen so far ? As some of you have said, he is not very likeable right now. And surely a bundle of contradictions! A man who cheats on his girlfriend on the one end, yet cares about alleviating her pain. A man who is so empathetic that even a mouse gains his sympathy, yet hard hearted enough to ruthlessly confess his two timing to his girlfriend. Perhaps he is a man beleaguered by too much female attention, ” just don’t call me husband’, he says.  Perhaps he is not all that he seems? Or more ? After all, where did that pole vaulting skill come from ? I hope you are intrigued enough to read on.