Peach Blossom Pavilion by Mingmei Yip Read Free Book Online Page A

and the luxuriant dark area between her white thighs which looked like the rich ink my painting teacher Mr. Wu dabbed on the rice paper.
    My scrutiny didn't seem to bother Pearl at all. She said, "You'd better get used to it, Xiang Xiang. Because, trust me, you'll be seeing a lot of them very soon. But mind you," she sneered, "those bodies you're going to see and learn to please are very different from ours. They belong to the chou nanren's!"
    Stinking males.
    A beat passed before we burst into uncontrollable laughter. In that fleeting moment, I thought I liked her very, very much.
    Pearl looked particularly attractive tonight. The red silk dress embroidered with a golden phoenix clung to her body as tightly as if the bird were painted on her skin. Her jacket's high collar wrapped around her neck like petals enveloping a bud-her coveted goose-egg-shaped face. Her long hair was pinned loosely into a bun at the nape of her neck and scented with osmanthus flower oil. She'd decorated her three-thousand-threads-of-trouble with fresh plum blossoms and a gold filigreed butterfly. Her lips, painted crimson and slightly opened in a pout, looked as if they were dying for the sweet dew of some exotic elixir. Two jade earrings-like two green eyes-twinkled enigmatically.
    "Sister Pearl, you're gorgeous!" I sniffed the perfume wafting from her.
    She pinched my cheek affectionately. "Thank you, Xiang Xiang." Then her eyes looked sad. "Beauty is all we have," she sighed, "that is, besides charm."
    A long pause before her mood changed again; now she scrutinized me playfully. "Xiang Xiang, you're a very pretty little slut yourself, too. Now get dressed."

    She picked a silk top and pants from her closet and handed them to me. After I put them on, Pearl said, "All right, now let me help you put on makeup."
    When we were finally ready to go out, we stared at our images in the mirror. To my surprise, I looked completely different-at least five years older. The green top and pants with pink plum blossoms, though a little loose, looked very nice on me-as if spring had blossomed all the way from my torso to my limbs. Accentuated by the pink eye shadow and black eyeliner, my eyes gave off a lustrous sparkle that I hadn't noticed before. The cinnamon pomade on my hair seemed to turn the three-thousand-threads-of-trouble into a mysterious black mirror.
    "Beautiful, aren't we?" Pearl purred.
    I felt both too shy and too excited to respond.
    She grabbed a fur coat and a woolen shawl from her sofa. "Now let's go and exercise our charm!" she exclaimed, then draped the shawl over my shoulders and pulled me out of the room.
    Just then Fang Rong scurried toward us in the corridor. Her huge breasts undulated like tidal waves under her embroidered red jacket. "Hurry up, Pearl, Mr. Chan is still in a meeting, but the car is already waiting downstairs. Your de and I will follow you in another car." Like a fortune teller sizing up a new client, Mama scrutinized me for long moments, muttering, "Ah, so beautiful; proves my old, fussy eyes are still as sharp as a cleaver! "
    Outside Peach Blossom, a big, shiny, black car was waiting. Having spotted us, the uniformed and capped chauffeur came to our side and opened the door.
    When I was trying to crawl in, Pearl snatched me out. "Xiang Xiang, stop! That's extremely vulgar. Watch me." She lowered herself onto the seat, then slowly swung in her legs. An expanse of thigh flashed through the slit of her dress.
    "But Sister Pearl," I said in a heated whisper so it wouldn't be heard by the chauffeur, "I can see your entire thigh, even your underwear! "
    After I'd gotten in, Pearl sat staring into the rearview mirror while smoothing her hair. She was still looking at her reflection when she said, "That's the point, silly."

    The car started to move. I was so elated to be out that for the entire trip I spoke not a word, shifting my eyes to take in all the passing scenery.
    After many turns, the car finally pulled to a stop in