11 Chapter 10 – Poached sPearls” with Conch 1 (2/2)
Gripping her phone, she quietly waited. But as she waited and waited, she started feeling unsettled, with all sorts of speculations over what Toupai's reaction would be after he received the message.
What if DaRen didn't like being disturbed?
What if DaRen had already deleted her in WeChat?
What if DaRen found her annoying?
What if DaRen…
Gu Sheng had always prided herself on not letting anything faze her, except when faced with her most beloved idol, she honestly could not stay calm and collected. After waiting for a while, she decided she could not just let herself keep staring at her phone. But when she put her phone on the table, she still could not help pricking up her ears to listen…
And then suddenly, a WeChat message came back.
Gu Sheng opened it up. It was Toupai, it was Toupai!... Thank goodness, thank goodness.
Only one second long?
In one second, you can say, what? Three words? Two words?
Puzzled, she tapped the message to open it and placed the phone next to her ear. She heard Qiang Qing Ci's voice very groggily give an ”mm”… It was really just a single ”mm” and that was it. Have you ever heard anyone send a voice message with just this one word? Can this word really be spoken so clearly and pleasantly, yet at the same time, have such a dazed feel in it that causes your heart to flood with tenderness?
Her mind was suddenly assaulted with an image: slightly hidden behind the curtains of a canopy, a charming young man, his clothes half undone, was lying on his side on a couch bed …
Gu Sheng felt a little like she could not handle the thought anymore.
Affected by Toupai's message, even her voice was lowered when she spoke. ”DaRen, you were sleeping just now?”
After a short while, Qiang Qing Ci sent another message. Still only one second.
What would he say this time? She had absolutely no idea.
She moved the phone to her ear and heard Qiang Qing Ci say … another ”mm.” This time, Toupai DaRen seemed slightly more alert, and his voice was warm and gentle.
Listening to him, Gu Sheng's heart felt as if it was drifting.
As a true, experienced voice lover, she felt as if she was definitely, immediately … not going to be able to take it anymore.
”Um… DaRen, you're awake now?”
”Mm.”
Gu Sheng: ”S, I … can talk to you about the thing I wanted to discuss?”
”Mm.” Qiang Qing Ci could not hold back a little chuckle.
...
Four successive mm-s.
Together, they created a set of living portraits of ”beauty.”
The first was a young nobleman, not quite fully roused and still in a dreamlike state, his eyes glazed over and his voice husky.
The second was a young prince, his hand holding a broth to dispel the effects of alcohol, his eyes turned up in a slight smile, his voice warm and smooth.
The third, a striking general, his sleeves partially rolled back, his eyes alluring and sparkling, his voice doting.
The fourth was … the most provocative. A handsome, young king awakened in his chambers, his arms lightly embracing a maiden, his voice sensual …
...
As her mind finished filling in the last of these details, her brain completely stopped working and all her blood seemed to rush upwards.
”Ah, um … DaRen, I forgot what I wanted to say … You go ahead and keep sleeping …”
[1] 金主 ”jin zhu.” Literally means gold or golden master. (I'm choosing to use golden master purely because it sounds cuter.) This term most accurately is describing a financier, someone who has much money and can control money, but in slang, it is often referring to a ”sugar daddy” or ”sugar mama,” i.e. someone who has exclusive access to you. In this teasing context Zou Diao'er is calling Sheng Sheng the golden master of Toupai, saying she has exclusive access that no one else has to him, in other words, his girlfriend.
[2] 此地无银三百两 ”ci di wu yin san bai liang.” Literally meaning, ”this land does not have 300 taels [an archaic Chinese monetary unit] of silver.” An idiom describing a guilty person who is pretending to be innocent. As he tries to cover up his secret by declaring there is nothing, he slips and gives himself away.