Peach Blossom Pavilion Read Online Free PDF Page B

from the blinding harsh light, Fang Rong slapped off my hand.
    "Oh, Mama!" I was stunned; I couldn't believe I'd just called her Mama! Was I so desperate to have a mother's comfort?
    I suddenly realized that instead of comforting me like my mother, she might hit me. Again I swung up my hand to shield my face.
    But to my utter surprise, Fang Rong squeezed a big grin and cooed, "Ah, my dear daughter, how you've suffered!" She laid her damp, fleshy palm on my forehead. "Thank heaven you don't have a fever." Then, "Are you hungry?"
    I nodded my head like a pounding jackhammer.
    "Now do you want to go back to the pavilion and have something to eat?"
    Again I nodded until I felt my head almost dislodge from my neck.
    As I was struggling to get up, Mama's eyes widened, her finger pointing to the bed. "Oh heaven, what happened?" Then she twisted her fat neck to face me. "Xiang Xiang, what did you do to yourself?"
    It was then that I remembered the blood. "I'm bleeding." I paused, then uttered weakly, "But I didn't do anything."
    Mama snatched up my hand to examine my wrists. Not able to find any cuts, she reached to touch the stains on the bed, then spun me around and yanked down my pants.
    "Mama!" My cheeks burned with humiliation. My hands tried to pull my pants back up only to be slapped off by Fang Rong's bear-like paws.
    Then, to my utter shock, she burst out laughing while her husband looked down modestly at his nails.
    Mama spun me back to face her. "Don't you realize that your great-aunt has just come to visit?"
    Neither of my parents had ever mentioned a great aunt. "But I don't have one," I said, pulling up my pants.

    "Hasn't your mother ever told you about your great-aunt?"
    I shook my head. "Where is she now?"
    The two exchanged meaningful glances. Then Fang Rong laughed so hard that her fleshy face looked like a fat, melting candle.
    Mama stopped to catch her breath, then, "Hmmm ... your mother must have felt too embarrassed to tell you. But why should she? Since she'd already been fucked by your father to have you."
    "What is fuck?" I imitated her tone.
    "Xiang Xiang," Wu Qiang stared into my eyes, "fuck means when a man puts his-"
    Mama cut him off sharply. "Wu Qiang, stop being overeager. You can leave that to me."
    Some silence, then Fang Rong spoke again. "Xiang Xiang, you're not a little girl anymore." She winked. "You've just turned into a woman.
    I had no idea what she was talking about.
    Mama went on, "Xiang Xiang, since your so-called mother was too lazy and too proper to explain about affairs of the wind and the moon," she tapped her chest, "you're lucky to have a real mama to enlighten you."
    Although I still didn't understand what she meant, I felt too exhausted to ask, let alone to defend my mother's "laziness."
    Seeing that I was on the verge of collapse, Mama said, her tone turning very tender, "My dear daughter, you must be starving, so why don't we all go to eat?"
    My feet were so weak and wobbly that Fang Rong and Wu Qiang had to half carry me back to the pavilion.
    Fang Rong asked her maid Little Red to bathe me. While I was being washed, neither of us mentioned anything about the dark room. Eyes closed, I enjoyed the sensation of the hot water sloshing against my bare flesh. I tilted my head to let the steam, like a spring breeze, massage my face. Little Red's sponge rubbed and swished on my neck, back, and shoulders, synchronizing with my contented sighs.
    When she finished, Little Red poured out the red-tinted water, then took out a thick, folded cloth.
    When she tried to position it between my legs, I yanked away her hands. "Little Red, I'm not going to wear this ridiculous thing!"

    She chuckled. "Xiang Xiang, then would you rather let everybody in the pavilion know that that thing of yours has come?"
    "Why are you people all talking in riddles today? What is that thing of mine, do you mean my great-aunt? But I don't have one!"
    Little Red giggled more.
    "What's so funny?"
    "Xiang Xiang, every