Chapter 5
澳洲：何木
Melody awoke in a dome of darkness. It must be about two or three o’clock in the morning, and it was very quiet, except for some baby birds peeping weakly down in a big tree outside the building, as if they were still trapped in the cold winter.
Many hours of sleep had refreshed her, so her mind grew active again.
Since the other day she ran into Peter, things had been playing out naturally, like water flowing to a lower level of ground. Evidently, Peter had grown a bit, within a year, not necessarily much more mature as a man, but easier going in her presence, more expressive in words and more confident in bed.
The boy was indeed in the right direction of adulthood transformation.
Compared to Peter’s little den, her living space was a luxury. Soon after she arrived in Sydney, accompanied by her parents, they decided they should purchase or invest in an apartment for her, for four years was not a short time, a stable ‘home’ in a new, unfamiliar city was justified. And her parents could also have the convenience to stay with her should they afford the time away from their business.
Three years had now passed; during the first two when her grandma was still alive, every year she went back to Beijing three times, not counting the last time for her funeral.
Now that her grandma was in heaven, watching over her wherever she was, there was no need to rush to that empty Si-he-yuan.
The king-sized bed in the master room was very comfortable. The soft quilt, filled with goose down & feather, was intimate with her skin, or it was her ‘skin’, a second layer of skin.
Peter, and her other boyfriends, had never liked sleeping naked with her, stating that it was not ‘clean’. She certainly knew what they meant by being ‘not clean’. But, to her, the lightweight coverlet, soft and warm to the touch, was helping her body breathe, making her feel alive even in sleep, and safe as a baby in a mother’s womb.
So she had always tried to convince them that the benefit of sleeping naked would outweigh the ‘untidiness’. And if they were stubborn enough to still have their underclothes on, she would steal them off afterwards. Then, in a few nights, they would get used to it and start to enjoy the ‘benefit’.
But don’t get her wrong, she would of course wear pads during those troubling days of women.
Poor Peter, the other night in his narrow bed, demanded by her, had to be fully exposed throughout the night. The stimulation by her skin made him do it many times, till the early morning and rather, exhausted.
But it is okay, he is still young, overly sensitive. It is his prime for it and he does need a lot of practice.
And she knew she was his first.
Thinking of this, Melody smiled. In her breast, a warm flow seemed to trickle out of the nipple, to feed the green boy who had nicely shaped lips. In her experience, there was only one other first-timer, at her high school. But that was nothing to be proud of, silly as it had been, under a tree, both of them super-nervous, and lost within seconds.
Peter’s first time had been clumsy, but she was not. Oh, my god… as soon as she sat on him, his face kind of turned purple, like he was dying or what, and finished. He was then so embarrassed, as if he had committed some sort of crime.
That was what Peter had attracted her the most, a guy, totally innocent, with no guise, who must attach so much importance to a man’s virility. Perhaps he was worried that he had a problem, which would affect his future performance in bed. Perhaps for her next life she should live as a man, so she would have a chance to fully understand his troubles.
But she liked him. He was more reliable, and more clever than most. And he studied very well, and had often helped her with her assignments. Although art was not his major, he had the kind of talent to quickly learn and apply to issues.
However she still thought of him as a boy. Not only because he was younger than her, but he was pretty much a novice about love and about people in general.
He must have thought it had been his decision not to continue their previous relationship, but the fact was she had already begun dating Cooper, a Beijing guy who had come here to do his Media Master study.
Should she have wanted to continue with him, how could he have resisted it? But anyway, Peter wouldn’t know about this. So long as he was okay, not feeling hurt, and kept his innocence, she should have no guilt or regret.
And although from time to time she needed company of men, she never liked dating more than one at a time. It would be an unhealthy distraction, if she did so, compromising her feelings. Sometimes she wondered if she was a ‘maniser’, as what Cooper had once teased her back when she teased him a ‘womanizer’. She believed Cooper was a womanizer, who was inclined to try every different individual for every little difference. Was she also having such a tendency?
Suddenly she was not so sure of herself. Each person is unique, with certain things better than others. Does she not want to see and feel what those things are, out of her curiosity as an artist?
For instance, Jason, the boyfriend of that plainly dressed and always smiling Lotus, owned a nice build of body muscles. Last time at a beach party, he was ceaselessly showing off his bulging chest and six belly packs, putting Cooper’s flatness and fleshiness in shame. But the muscle guy was very much a self-centred egoist, whilst Cooper, as tall as 182cm, had the kind of man’s quiet dominance and control, even if he was not quite ‘handsome’ by social conventions.
So, what is her conclusion?
If only there were just one man left on earth, she would then have no choice. But would she really ‘love’ the last man remaining on earth?
Oh, my god, suddenly she felt she was as bad as Cooper, whom she had hated so much, ‘loved’ so much, and at this very moment, still had a desire for.
She sighed.
She got up and went to fetch a glass of water. The carpet, with its lined textile kneading her sole, gave her a different kind of comfort. The central ducted air-conditioner was noiseless, lending her the perfect temperature. And, as she moved, the footlight turned on, articulating the delicacy of her ankles.
Sydney’s tap water can be drunk directly, and she didn’t understand why Peter had to boil it, as if this were back in China.
In the living room, she spread out on her recliner that resembled the rattan chair at the Si-he-yuan.
The silence seemed to speak to her. The familiar little dots of lights on low buildings outside the glass walls were remote, bringing no intimacy.
After a while she turned on the lights and at once the spacious room was put on a milky air, so gentle and sentimental. Then the music was turned on, it was Roxette’s ‘It must have been love’:
“Lay a whisper
On my pillow
Leave the winter
On the ground
I wake up lonely
There's air of silence
In the bedroom
And all around
Touch me now
I close my eyes
And dream away..”
It was an old song. She heard it first at a party. Cooper played the piano, and a girl sang the song. It was so beautiful, and she had an instant impulse to know and get Cooper, her Beijing country-fellow.
The song had since accompanied many of her lonely nights. Her tears would come, from where her grandma’s face would emerge to comfort her, soothing her back into a little child.
She went to her wine cabinet, and grabbed the 1982 Penfolds Grange, and poured half of it into the tumbler.
She shook the tumbler, and the blood-red liquid was swirling, swirling, and she kept shaking it, and the liquid, as if anticipating an escape for freedom, surging to life, until she realized the time had passed in her minutes of daze.
The first sip was strong and the most beautiful, for the taste bud was fresh and most tender, like Peter to her, or her body to Peter.
She lit a cigarette. It was blinking like stars, the smoke retreating like jellyfish. The wine was okay, but she was never an expert on wines. She drank it for the sake of intoxication. In her cabinet, there was even a couple of Beijing Er-guo-tou she had sought out from a Chinese grocery.
The cigarette burned her fingers. She snubbed it out and, putting down the wine glass, she began to measure her breasts with her hands. Of size B, she wanted it to go to C, but not more than that, otherwise it might lose its stance and fall flat like a puddle. But she didn’t particularly favour any sorts of implants.
She was then inspecting the two moles on her body. One close to her pubic mould, the other between her breasts. Cooper once made a nasty comment, that the former stood for pure lust, the latter for pure love. What a taste he was having... But without a doubt he was very experienced with women. He also made another strange reference, that her shape was like a torch. She didn’t quite get it, weren’t all the females having the similar shape? But Cooper was just smirking, refusing to give her an answer.
Maybe she needed to explore women as well. Of course not as a lesbian, not like that, just for the kind of physical exploration as a painter who had to scrutinize a model before creating a piece of artwork.
Then she felt a wave of sadness arising to attack her. She poured herself another full glass, and absorbed the large amount to dilute the negative emotions.
Cooper had snatched another girl, a freshman who had just arrived from Xiamen last term. Melody couldn’t say she was heart-broken at his leaving her, but for weeks afterwards she had absolutely no appetite for anything.
No man seemed reliable; even Peter, who would just change as he grew more mature, with his interest ultimately diversified. But she doesn’t blame them. Everyone in the world is pretty much confused by love, like, lust, desire, want, need, win, lose, pride, jealousy, security… how could anyone attach himself to her forever? What kind of man doesn't like a more beautiful, younger, better-shaped, better-sized female animal?
Her waist had lately built up flesh. Maybe it was because she had drunk too much, since Cooper left her, and also had less love-making that, according to research, could help burn a lot of fat around the waist.
Ah, she was so lonely.
There was an attempt to WeChat Peter, maybe asking him over? But no, no, that would be against her basic rule of not taking any of her boyfriends to her place. There were reasons for this. The first was that the luxury of her living conditions might make them feel humble, and inferior, who would then keep a distance from her, not behaving their natural self.
But the most important reason was that it would give them unnecessary imagination that they would one day move over to live with her, like most couples such as Jaspon and Lotus who would live together at least to save rent, if not for other benefits. But she wanted to retain her privacy and freedom and didn’t wish another person to know everything about her. Living together for a while was okay, but it should be at other places such as a hotel, or motel, or for the best, going for a holiday in other countries.
In another minute, she was checking herself in the mirror. Her eyebrows were not quite regular and a little loose, which she had to enhance a bit by paint. The lips had a trifle too much flesh and her nose, thin, as Peter had said, made her look a little sharp, cold and unfriendly, not like the one Lotus had in her round, harmonious face.
She used to do heavy makeup, and she knew Peter didn’t like it. For some reason, the foreigners, her ex white-man boyfriend, preferred the makeup. She couldn’t quite understand why most Chinese men didn’t seem to appreciate it. She had of course sensed Peter’s reluctance to kiss her lips, that was why she had decided to adapt to him this time.
Then she grew dizzy and climbed to bed again. In no time she was welcomed by the daylight filtering from the draperies.
At once she sent Peter a message, “Awake?”
And his reply was instant, “Of course, 10:10 already, but I didn’t want to wake you up, see..how much I care for you, Melody...”
She sent a ‘Kiss’ to him, as a reward to his newly learnt sweet words that made her very happy. “Peter, I feel extremely excellent today, what to do? Any plans for us?”
“Well, anywhere is Okay for me. You decide, you always have more fun ideas. But can we go somewhere? I still have days before taking my holiday jobs.”
“Then to Hunter Valley for two nights? See, the grapes are ripening... ”
“Cool, let’s it, and shall we invite another couple to make a four?”
“Ehmm...Jason and Lotus?, but to be honest, I don’t like Jason much, Lotus is okay, a nice girl to be with...”
‘Who else then?”
“Well,” Melody paused, her mind scanning a long list of names, “Well well, perhaps just Jason and Lotus, save the trouble, and besides Jason had good knowledge of wine which could be an advantage for the trip.”
“No problem,” Peter replied happily, “I will now start searching Airbnb for you to decide.”
Peter was an expert for this type of activity, and would present the options from which Melody would just pick the best, or usually the most expensive package. If she felt the budget was too high for the share of others, she would find ways to compensate for the group, either by covering the cost of meals or drinks, or simply taking up a percentage of the total cost. This was why her friends always liked to go out with her.
Though she didn’t have to worry about the trip arrangement, she was fussy in dressing herself for such an occasion. She had a cascading-rack for all her shoes, long and high wardrobes for her clothes, and a cabinet for adornment accessories. The time for picking a perfect set was a key factor to her lengthy preparation. An extra time allowance for her must be granted by any one who wishes to enjoy her company.
She went through the assortment of her items, fastidiously choosing three sets of clothing for the excursion. Among the dozen of her shoes, the most eye-catching item was the Manolo Blahnik's yellow satin 'Hangisi' pumps. But unfortunately, while it looked brilliant on its own, the colour didn’t seem to match well with the tone of her skin. Therefore, since she got it, she had only worn it two or three times.
Hours later, Melody, wearing a pair of sunglasses which made her look cool and dainty like a cat, was seen in her Mercedes, sliding graciously towards the other three, who had been waiting for her for god-knows-how long. However, gladdened by the upcoming adventure, none of them had shown what Peter had on his face the other day.
“What tune are you humming, Melody?” asked Jason, soon after settling onto the backseat with Lotus, “Sounding rather familiar to me.”
“Ah, really?” Melody replied in a sarcastic tone, “Are you sure? This is a new song, composed just by my private English tutor. The title is ‘Hurry Up’, coming to my lips whenever I am in a capital mood going out.”
“Superb,” said Jason, not in any way embarrassed, in sportswear as if he were heading for his everyday gym, “We are all in a capital mood, aren’t we, Lotus and Peter?”
Lotus answered only with a mocking smile. Peter’s reply was passionate, “Yes, why not, such a capital day and capital people!”
Melody’s goggles turned to him, “What are Capital People? Peter, you mean the greatest Beijing people?”
“I mean Beijing Ape Man,” Peter chuckled, looking very smart in his blue jacket.
Melody freed up one hand to pat the back of his head, said the words between teeth, “Mind your ears.”
Peter caught her hand and pushed it back toward the wheel, “Mind your driving, Melody, you put four lives at risk.”
“Don’t worry, we are all in safe hands, of an extremely, extremely experienced driver,” she flattered herself, resuming her humming.
In short jeans today, Melody had all her legs and larger parts of her thighs exposed.
“What a beautiful tune, your tutor must be Extremely talented,” said Peter, stressing Melody’s favourite word. “Melody, maybe we should go to Karaoke…and I know you are an Extremely, Extremely good singer.”
Melody took off her sunglasses, “Me, extremely good? You better say; I am extremely, extremely sexy.”
“Protest, protest,” shouted Jason, who couldn’t shut his mouth long, “The sexiest girl today is actually my Lotus,” then, he turned to grab the arm of Lotus, who had been sitting quietly against the window watching the passing Australia’s peopleless scenery, and started to vigorously kiss her in spite of her struggles.
“Peter,” Melody remarked, “you should go to gym and build up your muscle like Jason, see how even our beautiful Lotus couldn’t resist but fell in love with a muscled man.”
Lotus, who had finally gotten away from the grip of Jason, said pantingly, “I declare, I do Not love Jason, I hate him,” and then added, with an extraordinary emphasis, “Extremely, Extremely hate him.”
Melody was laughing, “Don’t worry, Jason, women always say opposite things...but, except me. So I declare, I do Not hate Peter, I love him, extremely, extremely love him.”
So happy were the four young souls in the luxurious car that a couple of black crows were flying close to see what was happening.
After a while, Peter continued the old topic, “Seriously, about singing, I have two high school classmates who are extremely good at it. One currently in the UK, another in the US, both of them taking music as their profession.”
“UK and US?” Jason said excitedly. “You know what is happening in the two countries? The UK is voting on Brexit, and the US is president-voting for populist Trump.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Melody, “What is Brexit, and Trump? A kind of musical instrument?”
“No, No, melody, you artists don’t like politics. Breixt is a term for the UK deciding to leave the European Union, and Trump was a very different presidential candidate, with very radical ideas.”
“I read about it,” said Peter, “but I don’t think Brexit and Trump would ever succeed. What do you think?”
“Well, who knows, but unexpected things do happen,” said Jason, hunching over toward a better talking partner for the type of topic, “If Trump wins the election China will be in more trouble because he is sounding so much anti-China. There may well be a war over the South China sea.”
“Stop exaggerating, Jason,” Lotus intervened unexpectedly, “You should go find a job like Peter, and not glue yourself to YouTube all day long.”
“Well, I told you, this is important,” said Jaspon defyingly, “you may not be interested in it, but it affects all of us all the same.”
“Yes,” agreed Peter. “There has been a lot of hostility towards China’s rise, but what can we do? We are just students, finding a job after graduation, with very little power to change anything, no matter how much you want to get involved.”
“I don’t agree with you, Peter,” said Jason in a very serious tone, “if everyone thinks like you, the Chinese as a race, as a country, will then become weak and defenseless against those aggressive invaders, which was what had exactly happened one or two hundreds years ago to China. Don’t you know the saying that, the fate of a country lies on each individual.”
“Jason, are you a Wu-mao?” interposed Melody light-heartedly, “I scarcely watch those types of tubes, but I know the term is referring to the nationalist, who may blindly follow the lines of the government.”
“Yes, I am,” Jason answered bluntly, “and I have no regret for this. You know what, Melody, the Chinese as a nation, long looked down upon by westerners, is now rising rapidly, breaking the power balance just like an earthquake. The trend is obvious, whether you see it or not, that China will become the most powerful country in the world. Do you think the westerners will be happy to see this? Especially when we has a few unresolved territorial issues like Taiwan, Diao-yu-dao island with Japan, and now the South China Sea with which they could try their best to make trouble. Seriously, do you think the war is far away from us? Therefore we must be, in Chinese saying, Jv-an-si-wei, well prepared for future danger while still in peace.”
“Again,” said Peter, “the question is, what can We do?”
“Yes, Jason, what can we do?” Lotus was echoing, whose interest was obviously more in Jason the person than the topic itself, “Just watching YouTube everyday, and trolling day and night, and bragging about it to every person around you?”
Jason, as if stung by a wasp, at once turned to catch his familiar target, “See, this is what I can do, haha...”
Lotus, her face wincing, her powerless fists battling a hard chest, cried out, “Liu-mang, you are an assh0le...”
‘Well, well, you little-couple stop fighting please,” Melody said, “We better discuss what to do for the next two days.”
“We would follow you, Melody,” said Peter, happy for a change of topic. “You have been there more often than us.”
“Okay then, all those usual activities like hot-air ballooning, wine tasting, horse riding etc., will be out of the question. I have done those too many times.”
Jason protested, “No, no, wine tasting is the must-have thing to do whenever you come to the winery. It is almost a ritual, it doesn't matter how many times you have done it.”
“Okay then, just the wine tasting, but do not linger there too long, otherwise we would all get drunk too early too soon, and ruin our two days of fun, Jason, you promise?”
“Okay, Melody, I will try not to appreciate the variety as much as I want to, but you shall be lucky that you got a wine expert like me to accompany you.”
Lotus jeered at him, “Nobody needs a wine expert, you are an expert drunkard by yourself,” and then as she detected Jason was going to grab her again, she changed her tone, “Okay, okay, Jason, stop, I say, I am very proud of you, of a guy who knows so much about wine, but who has never made a single drop of it in his life.”
“Lotus,” Jason chuckled, “I am extremely impressed with your raw spirit today. Is it because you got your classmate Peter here, your admired study-champion Xue-ba, who has aroused you so much? Hahaha...”
Lotus took the challenge, “Yes it is, so what, even Melody doesn't mind it, do you Melody?”
“Of course not, my Peter is for every girl to share, hahaha.”
“Protest, protest,” said Peter, finding his own sense of humor, “I am not for trade. And I am not what? D-u ...” He immediately realised it was a blunder, which was a word referring to a male-prosititue. But it was too late, the last two letters c-k were spelled out by Jason and Melody in unison.
Only Lotus seemed to care a little for his face, by not laughing as hilariously as the other two. And, as Peter turned to look at her, her face was beautifully blushed, as a result of her vigorous friction with Jason by both words and kisses.
The time passed quickly amidst their lively conversations. Around 3:00 pm in the afternoon, the car entered a narrow avenue when Melody declared, “Look, see how beautiful it is,” and Peter knew at once their destination was just meters away.
“Is that the one?” Jason asked. “This is fantastic, romantic, it sort of reminds me of Wuthering Heights.”
Peter, who had carefully read the mentioned novel, said against the analogy, “How, absolutely not, this is much much better, such a sunny and hopeful place, rather than the gloomy sad castles,” But Jason’s attention was at the moment bent on the little white bridge over a lake, “Oh, that is like Chinese Suzhou Garden.”
This time it was Lotus who had to rebuff him, “Jason, please stop making odd comparisons.”
The two-storey house was built on the plateau of an immense meadow, surrounded by well-managed lawns, groves of trees and lakes, and not far away, miles upon miles of vineyard rolling down the slope towards the foot of faraway hills.
As soon as she got out of the car, Melody walked briskly alone up the winding pathway towards the stand-alone building, “Peter and Jason, you two carry all the things up to the house, Lotus, come, please leave it to them...”
--To be continued --
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