In a daze, I felt a man pressing heavily on me, leaving me breathless.
Struggling, I only felt weaker.
"Are you awake?" he asked, his gaze meeting mine as he leaned in for a kiss.
A mix of pain and pleasure made me realize this was not a dream...
I squirmed uneasily, subconsciously suspecting that I might have been assaulted!
"Let go of me!" I yelled in protest. This seemed to entice him greatly.
His invading kisses swept over me. I clutched at his back, my anxious body attempting to escape, yet couldn't help but respond to him.
A wave of pain hit me...
At this moment, I was fully awake. The fragmented memories in my mind flooded back like a tidal wave.
I remembered. This was not a dream...
Before I had passed out, after half a year of application, I was finally sent by the school to study in Yunnan. On my way there, I stopped at a place named Si Shui Town. Coincidentally, it was their annual "Ji Bo Festival" that day, and I heard there was a dance.
I was always intrigued by the customs of Yunnan, and hearing news of the festival, I eagerly asked for its location and rushed there.
The dance was held on a flat ground in front of a slope, crowded with people from the bottom to the top. Young men and women, smartly dressed, partook in the event singing, playing the sheng
a traditional Chinese instrument
, and dancing.
The men were the ones playing the shengs, the women, while dancing, had silver ornaments on their bodies, producing a rhythmic jingle that matched the music of the shengs.
Excited, I made it to the center of the venue and started taking pictures all around me.
After a short while, a pleasing and abrupt flute sound came from not far away.
Upon hearing the flute sound, the scene quieted down instantly. Everyone turned their heads to see a handsome man slowly approaching, he had a slender figure, wearing a black ethnic fur hat and black cloak, and was playing a flute.
Although he was handsome, he had a limp as he walked, clearly he was a cripple. What a pity...
Just as I was feeling sorry for his lame leg, he had already approached me, put down his flute, and knelt down on one knee, saying, "I am Ma Long of the Ma Village."
Since their local dialect sounded like the accent from Chongqing, I understood easily.
At the end of his sentence, he gently waved his left hand in the air, tracing a half-arc, and sprinkled some crystal powder. A few seconds later, a couple of colorful butterflies flew in front of me. Were these their magical performances? They're really amazing!
However, I'm more interested in the powder he sprinkled, which somehow attracted these butterflies with poor sense of smell. Why did he suddenly kneel down in front of me? Did he want to get to know me?
"These are Spotted Moth, Grass Ghosts! ..." As I was puzzled, the crowd around exclaimed, quickly retreating a few meters away, as if seeing a ghost.
They seemed to be afraid of these butterflies, which I found quite strange. Then, I looked down at Ma Long who was still extending his left hand towards me, asked, "Hello, I'm Mimi. Um... could you tell me why they're so scared of the butterflies you attracted? And what is a Grass... Grass Ghost?"
Faced with my curiosity, he furrowed his eyebrows in surprise for a moment, and his deep eyes seemed to be pondering something. After a while, he said lightly, "Perhaps they just don't like butterflies."
"Oh, I see." I found it strange, butterflies were so beautiful, why wouldn't they like them?
I looked up at these colorful butterflies flying around, and my suppressed mood felt a lot better.
"Can you help me stand?" Just as I was lost in watching the butterflies, a deliberately lowered male voice came from Ma Long in front of me.
On hearing this, I looked over to him and saw him struggling to stand up with his right leg. Without giving it a second thought, I reached out to help him up by grabbing his left hand. But then...
As soon as I lifted his left hand and helped him to stand, there was a gasp of surprise around us, followed by whispers of discussion.
"She actually accepted him!"
"How scary! Doesn't she know he is a cultivator of grass demons?"
"You guys know nothing! He is the son of the Ma tribe's chieftain. His family is wealthy and powerful, besides being in the profession of raising grass demons. In the past few years when he attended the 'Jibo' festival, he just came for the fun and never made passes at any girls!"
Listening to the surrounding discussions, I suddenly felt that holding the left hand of this lame man seemed improper. So, I tried to pull back my hand, yet found that he grabbed it tightly.
He slightly lifted his thin lips, a successful smirk appeared as he took off his hat from his head and placed it on mine.
I was puzzled and was about to take it off when the crowd suddenly erupted. Meanwhile, some girls behind me started singing, "Brother gives a hat, and the sister responds with a flower—how deep their feelings are..." Someone intentionally pushed me towards him. Caught off guard, I stumbled and fell into his arms.
Before I could apologize, he lost his balance, and we both fell to the ground. I clearly heard his heart beating intensely. Instantly, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and I tried to get up hurriedly.
But he wrapped his arms tighter around me, and looked at me ambiguously, snatched the hat off my head, and pulled a Miao tribe silver hairpin from my bun before letting me go.
My hair dispersed like a cascade over him. He looked at me, his expression stunned which instantly transformed into a complex look I couldn't decipher. I froze for a moment before awkwardly climbing off him. He was then helped up by a shorter man dressed similarly to him.
While helping him up, the shorter man laughed and teased, "Brother Long, didn't you say the 'Jibo' festival was just a place to potentially meet and greet and nothing could really happen? Why did something happen today?"
The lame man glared at him, ignored him, and turned to ask if I was alright.
I got up before him, feeling a bit embarrassed, and quickly said that I was fine. Then I politely curtsied and started to leave.
However, as I turned, he grabbed my arm. Feeling my face heat up even more, I asked, "What is it?"
Rather than answering me, he looked at the shorter man, "Golden Monkey, fetch a silver bowl."
The shorter man paused, "Brother Long, you serious?"
"Do you think I'm joking?" Ma Long unsatisfactorily shoved him.
The short guy swallowed his fear, "But you and Sanshan Stronghold..."
Ma Long shot him another glaring look before he could finish, causing him to run off and within a little while, he returned with a large silver bowl.
Ma Long uncovered his cloak and took out a water bag made of leather from his waist. He took out the stopper and a red wine liquid poured out. Instantly, the aroma of wine filled the air. Even though I didn't know much about wine, I could tell it was good.
After filling a bowl, he held it up and gulp down half of it, then handed it to me, his gaze intimidating. It was as though he wouldn't let me go unless I drank the remaining half.
"I... I don't drink." I never touched alcohol my whole life, would I pass out if I were to drink this?
Upon my hesitation, the crowds started to jeer, shouting “Drink, Drink, Drink…”
Was this a welcoming tradition where I can only leave after drinking the wine? I wanted to leave as soon as possible, so with no other choice, I took the bowl he handed me and attempted a sip and, huh, the taste wasn't bad!
Gulp, gulp and gulp. Within a few segments, I had drunk all of the wine!
I suddenly felt a burning sensation flowing down my esophagus. Soon, my head began to feel heavy, "So... dizzy... what kind of wine is this, it's strong?"
Before I could finish my words, the silver bowl slipped from my hands and fell to the ground. My body weakened and started to lean forward.
At this moment, a strong arm wrapped around my waist. Amid my dizziness, a deep and captivating male voice came from above, "This is my proposal wine. Now that you've accepted my token of love and had my proposal wine, you, from now on, are my, Ma Long's wife!"
Proposal wine? Wife? What's a wife?!
Before I could understand the meaning of his words, I felt my world spin and then, lost consciousness.
