Chapter 51: A (1/2)
Killer Nights
Chapter 51: A-Tao’s Rage
By the time A-Jiao and Jiang Zhengkai left the art studio wrapped in each other’s embrace, it was already completely dark outside. They rejoiced in the fact that A-Jiao did not have to teach any students that night, which meant nothing would get in the way of their quality time together. The two of them slowly walked back to A-Jiao’s old house. A-Jiao pressed her body snugly against Jiang Zhengkai’s, while his arm tightly held her shoulder. It was as if both of them were afraid that the other would pull back and leave.
“A-Jiao, why did you have to go to Tibet?” Jiang Zhengkai quietly asked her as they were walking down the road.
“Could you call me Ziyuan?” A-Jiao raised her head from his chest and looked longingly at him. “I like it better when you call me Ziyuan.”
“Okay,” Jiang Zhengkai nodded. He knew A-Jiao wanted to use this new persona to help him forget the old one, and he was more than willing to oblige her. “Ziyuan, why did you have to go to Tibet?”
“Because I was stupid, I guess!” A-Jiao said in a witty reply. “Back then, I thought you didn’t want me, that you thought I was unclean. That’s why I went into hiding.”
“Then why did you come back? Why didn’t you hide forever?” As he spoke, he pulled A-Jiao back into his embrace and held her tightly. “Was it because you missed me? You couldn’t let me go?”
“You? Dream on!” A-Jiao replied with pouted mouth while still in his embrace. “I had to come back for my check up. I was afraid Old Lady w.a.n.g would be concerned for me.”
“Hehe!” Looking at A-Jiao’s expression, Jiang Zhengkai couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This really was a stubborn girl! “When’s your next check-up then?” he asked as he stared into her eyes. In his opinion, A-Jiao’s jet-black eyes were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was as if they sparkled with the brightness of a million stars.
“Umm… tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?” She placed her head back on Jiang Zhengkai’s chest. She very much enjoyed leaning into his embrace.
“Yeah!” Jiang Zhengkai answered crisply. “We’ll show Old Lady w.a.n.g that we’re not afraid of her!”
“Alright! You promised!” A-Jiao sweetly answered as she raise her head, revealing a face full of joy.
“You still haven’t answered my question. If you don’t answer me here, I’ll have to send you to an interrogation room.” Jiang Zhengkai gently squeezed A-Jiao’s nose as he continued to press her about going to Tibet. What he really wanted to know was whether she had had any other reasons for going to Tibet. He knew that based on her current mood, she was willing to tell him just about anything.
“No reason, really,” A-Jiao shook her head, before placing it back onto his chest. “At that time, I thought you would never like me. I was a little too sentimental, so I decided to find a place far away where I could hide and recover.” At this point, A-Jiao paused and once again raised her head. “Brother Jiang, did you know that when I was in s.h.i.+gatse, I stayed at a temple for twenty-one days? Everyday, I meditated, prayed to Buddha, ate a vegetarian diet, and listened to the sutras.”
“Hehe, you really are something! You could understand what those lamas were chanting?” Jiang Zhengkai smiled as he looked upon the woman in his arms. He knew that even if a person didn’t understand the holy texts being chanted, simply being in that kind of an environment was enough to purify her soul.
“Nope!” Sure enough, A-Jiao shook her head. Then she smiled and said, “It’s not like I was looking to be ordained as a Buddhist nun. Plus, my heart still desired you, so I had no way of achieving enlightenment, hehe!” She cutely bat her eyelashes as she looked at Jiang Zhengkai’s face. “Brother Jiang… I want to… I want to…”
“You want to what?” Jiang Zhengkai thought she was especially cute when she had that embarra.s.sed look on her face. To him, the old A-Jiao was like a girl whose skin was thicker than the walls of the Forbidden City.
“I want to call you honey…” A-Jiao blurted out, but she avoided eye contact with Jiang Zhengkai and placed her head right back onto his chest again.