Chapter 7 The Joke Unravels
I froze on the bed. You...
Chi Jinming looked completely serious.
I was speechless for a long time.
After a while disappointment flashed in his eyes.
He released me and switched back to his usual reckless tone.
It was all a lie. No one called you.
You are not cooperating at all. This is boring.
He stood up and left in his half-wrinkled clothes.
I picked up my phone. It was clean and untouched.
I steadied myself and booked a new room.
Days passed without any account update.
Instead I received a flood of messages from Chi Jinming.
"Come out. I will take you to do something exciting."
"Still not awake? Drank again last night? Why couldn't I find you?"
"Are you avoiding me? No one is at your place."
"Just one kiss. Is that worth it? How many times have you kissed my uncle?"
"Or are you still mad I joked too hard that day?"
"I am sorry. Don't ignore me. Do you want me to beg?"
"...Please. I am begging you. Stop being so unreasonable."
The last two messages had no time gap. I could almost picture Chi Jinming scratching his ear.
I pursed my lips. No I am not angry. I moved out.
"Where?"
Chi Jinming asked immediately.
I sent him the location. About half an hour later someone knocked.
I stood motionless at the door.
Chi Jinming snapped his fingers in front of me.
"Are you stupid or did my riding jacket make you dizzy?"
I snapped out of it and asked doubtfully.
"Are you taking me to race bikes?"
"Yes. Let's go!"
Chi Jinming gave me no chance to refuse.
He put on the helmet he had worn and pulled it over my head.
His breath filled the space between us.
Because of the back seat I sat pressed against his back with only thin fabric between us.
I tried to keep some distance and held the hem of his shirt with my fingertips.
Chi Jinming glanced back at me his eyes strange.
"Let's go."
The motorcycle roared loudly and suddenly shot forward.
I was startled and immediately grabbed his waist.
His waist was slim.
The wind rushed into my ears mixed with Chi Jinming's wild laugh.
Chi Jinming took me to a mountain top.
I sat on the bike legs soft and waited for my heartbeat to calm.
I glared at him. You...
"Intentionally."
Chi Jinming raised both hands in surrender.
"I am innocent. The bike speed is fast."
"And today's excitement is only the beginning."
Chi Jinming had arranged a tandem parachute jump.
He had a license and could take passengers.
I watched him carefully check the safety equipment for me and his eyes sparkled.
I didn't ask for my opinion and brought me here for extreme sports. You and my uncle both decide things based on your own wishes.
Chi Jinming checked everything carefully his face smiling and eyes laughing.
"I and my uncle are different."
"In the past three years you have been acting very obedient becoming more and more like a rich young lady looking quiet and well-behaved. But I know you yearn for wild freedom. No one brought you to break the chains so you stayed in place."
"I and my uncle are not the same. He is the one who only follows his own wishes."
I lowered my eyes and did not deny what Chi Jinming said.
My life since childhood had made me live like a nun in a strict rule.
Whatever the outside world asked me to be I became that.
But my inner desires and my reality were in conflict.
I could not play with people who knew how to have fun and did not like being with boring people.
I loved freedom more than a steady person but was more restrained than someone who loved fun.
Like the lettuce trapped between two buns.
No flavor and not straightforward.
Chi Jinming held my waist. One second before jumping his bright smile appeared in my mind.
"Shout it out."
The huge feeling of weightlessness made my heart tighten.
I endured the discomfort of the strong wind blowing my face almost out of shape.
Suddenly Chi Jinming's shout rang in my ears.
"Zhu Qingyao shout it out."
"Shout it out."
At that moment I seemed to hear the vitality of a seed sprouting.
I closed my eyes my mouth wide open.
The scream echoed in the air.
Irregular but unrestrained free and upward.