Chapter 89: The Eastern Woman in a Cheongsam at the Opium Den
Entering the smoke house, Dong Li saw people lying on bamboo daybeds and simple bamboo beds smoking opium with a pipe. Only then did he realize that this was an opium den. Among those who were inhaling clouds of smoke, there were also several low-ranking military officers and soldiers in uniform, next to whom local young women were reclining to prepare their pipes for them.
Dong Li Mao was stunned and said to Elizabeth Terry: "Miss Terry, this is a smoking house, not an inn. Let's leave."
Tai Li, however, grasped Dong's arm and leaned against him, saying: "What's wrong with the smoke house? We're not here to smoke opium. I'll find a good place for us to take a nice bath and then sleep soundly. Don't worry, trust me."
"But... here..." Dong Li Mao knew that getting involved with drugs was more troublesome than getting involved with women, one of his classmates had died from drug use.
Under Telly's lead, Dong Li Mao was walking with extremely unwilling steps, his legs were a bit sore. When facing the Japanese devils and the wolf pack, he had never been so timid, but now he looked like he saw a monster he had never seen before, walked into a terrifying environment that nurtured monsters, trembling with fear.
Tai Li seemed to feel Dong Li Mao's body trembling and asked: "What's wrong? Are you scared?"
Dong Li Mao couldn't say he was afraid in front of a woman, especially this foreign girl. He couldn't lose face for Chinese men, so he puffed out his chest and said: "Who's afraid? I've never been afraid of anyone my whole life! It's just an opium den, I've dared to venture into the lair of little devils before, why would I care about a small opium den?"
As they spoke, the two followed the lean man into the backyard, which was completely different from the front hall. The courtyard was laid out quite elegantly, with flowers and trees, and several bird cages hung from the branches, where a few painted birds chirped incessantly. Under the eaves of the tile-roofed house opposite the yard, two silver parrot stands were hung, each with a Burmese red-beaked parrot perched on it.
"Someone's coming! Someone's coming!" The two parrots saw Dong Limao and Taili walking through the courtyard, as if reporting news, speaking in Chinese that was even better than Taili's.
A woman seemed to be called out by two parrots from a bungalow, with a light makeup on her face, wearing a cheongsam with green and pink peach blossoms, and high-heeled embroidered shoes. She walked as if she was treading on thin ice, careful not to slip and fall. With a smile, she walked to the edge of the eaves, stood sideways with her hands clasped together, bowed slightly and said: "Welcome, two distinguished guests!"
The lean man who led the way whispered a few words in the woman's ear, and the woman in cheongsam nodded repeatedly, then smiled and said:
"Please come this way, honorable guests!"
Tai Li picked up the camera in front of her chest and took a photo of the woman.
Two people followed the woman, and Teri occasionally took a photo. They crossed a side gate with a white marble threshold, inside which was another courtyard, smaller but with a clear water pool in the center, where many koi fish were raised, swimming slowly and leisurely in the pool. Under the eaves of the house, several banana trees were planted, with a string of green bananas hanging from them.
The woman led Dong Li Mao and Tai Li into a traditional Chinese-style bungalow, the interior of which was dominated by an intricately carved redwood bed, covered with white mosquito netting, at the foot of which stood a large oval wooden bathtub, filling the entire room with the scent of sandalwood.
From the woman's spoken Chinese, Dong Limao knew she was from Sichuan.
"Please wait for a moment, two esteemed guests." The woman smiled and said, bowing her head as she exited the room.
"How's that? Dong Lianchang, doesn't it give you a feeling of coming home?" Taili asked, turning around in the middle of the room, taking off the camera from her chest and hanging it on the railing by the big bed.
Dong Li Mao couldn't help but laugh and cry, this didn't look like his own home at all. He clearly remembered that his own home was a high-rise elevator apartment on the 18th floor. The large wooden bed and bathtub in this room were exactly the same as the fake props he had seen in movies and TV shows.
"Hehe... my home doesn't have such a good-looking big bed." Dong Li Mao walked to the bedside, stroking the carved dragon and phoenix on the bed frame with his hand, then stretched out his palm towards the mattress, feeling it was somewhat hard. He thought: when things get going later, maybe the person lying underneath won't be very comfortable, but compared to the military camp's field beds, it's much more comfortable."
At this time, two men with bare feet came in carrying two large wooden buckets of water, one hot and one cold. Without saying a word, they poured all the water from the buckets into the large oval-shaped wooden bathtub at the foot of the bed. Then, the woman wearing a cheongsam brought in two bamboo baskets. One basket contained American-made soap for bathing and neatly stacked towels, as well as a small glass bottle with an unknown contents. The other basket held some food, including dried beef and glutinous rice cakes that locals liked to eat, as well as several types of fruit that were abundant in Burma.
After the two men carrying water buckets went out, the woman closed the doors and windows tightly. The house darkened, she lit candles around the large bathtub, and the house instantly became romantic under the candlelight. The water in the bathtub was steaming hot.
The woman opened the lid of the small glass bottle and poured a few drops of thick liquid into the bathtub, immediately releasing a refreshing fragrance like musk that filled the entire room.
Dong Li Mao and Tai Li took a deep breath, suddenly feeling refreshed and comfortable all over.
"Two noble guests, please take a bath and change your clothes." The woman in the cheongsam smiled as she said this, beginning to unbutton her own cheongsam.
"This is......" Dong Li Mao was somewhat bewildered, wondering if it was Taili and himself taking a bath or this woman and himself taking a bath.
"Just do what she says." Terri smiled and began to unbutton her shirt one by one.
Dong Li Maogazed at Taili, for a moment not knowing whether he should or shouldn't take off his clothes. He had done that in front of a woman before, it was with Li Yuanyuan, but taking off his clothes in front of two women made him feel a bit embarrassed.
Tai Li quickly unbuttoned her shirt, and inside she wasn't wearing anything, not even the most basic woman's bra. The pair of firm breasts were openly displayed in front of Dong Limao, so white they were dazzling under the candlelight. The two small points on top were slightly different from those of Li Yuanyuan he had seen before, mainly due to the difference in color - Tai Li's were pink and tender, while Li Yuanyuan's were a light brownish-pink. This part of a woman's body was extremely tempting for a man, making Dong Limao look at her with unbridled passion.
The woman in the cheongsam, although her face looked a bit dark, had a relatively fair skin when she took off her clothes. Although it couldn't be compared to Terry's, her skin was smoother and more delicate than Terry's, with full breasts and a slender waist, a standard oriental female body. Compared to this oriental woman's body, Terry's buttocks seemed a bit exaggeratedly large.
"Is the gentleman shy?" The oriental woman walked up with a smile, her body no longer having any covering. Her feet were the kind that Dong Limao had heard of but never seen before - small feet, with toes that seemed to be deformed and couldn't be counted clearly. Looking at such feet made Dong Limao feel uncomfortable in his heart. He realized that foot binding in feudal society caused enormous physical harm to women, and he began to sympathize with this woman.
The woman stood very generously in front of Dong Li Mao and stretched out her hand to help him unbutton.
Tai Li Mao smiled and stepped into the large wooden bathtub alone, slowly sitting down inside, only revealing a golden-haired head, and let out a comfortable cooing sound.
