Sharing Dreams with My Bestie’s Cousin Chapter 1 - 1 Dreamland
Chapter 1: Dreamland
Wen Zhi dreamed a quite erotic dream.
The dream's leading man remained her best friend's cousin.
On the next morning, Wen Zhi murmured softly to her best friend, “Your cousin has a red mole on his chest.”
Her best friend cautioned her, “My cousin resembles a flower atop a lofty cliff, fully committed to his work and free from any love affairs. No prospects exist for you both!”
Wen Zhi trusted her words.
But during one dream-filled night, the cousin indicated a spot on his body and asked Wen Zhi, “There’s another mole here, do you want to see it?”
——
Heavy flannel drapes sealed out all light, while sporadic sobs echoed through the gloom.
Wen Zhi lay trapped, the man's warm breaths grazing her ear; fear seized her, compelling her to break free.
The man detected her panic and tenderly ran his palm along her cheek.
Gazing into the blackness, Wen Zhi discerned merely a fuzzy shape. She struggled for a sharper view, yet distinctly noted only the red mole upon the man's chest.
The hour struck midnight.
Her body fatigued, Wen Zhi rose cautiously. As she groped toward the bed's edge, her fingers brushed the man's hand, causing her to freeze rigid.
The man stirred to wakefulness.
He clutched her wrist and questioned in a grave tone, “Who are you?”
On this occasion, Wen Zhi glimpsed his features.
“I am…” Dread widened her eyes; she faltered in her words, then abruptly gathered resolve, snapping her head upward to clash foreheads with his.
Agony overwhelmed her.
Wen Zhi snapped awake from the dream.
Upright she sat, cradling her brow, her dainty face etched with distress.
Buzz buzz buzz-
Her bedside phone hummed with vibration.
Wen Zhi paused briefly before grasping it to answer. Meng Fan's voice emerged, inquiring, “Where are you?”
Confusion clouded Wen Zhi's expression.
Where? What did that signify?
Met with extended quiet, Meng Fan pressed, “Did you just wake up?”
“…”
Memory dawned on Wen Zhi at last.
She and Meng Fan had set a meetup at Jiuqu Villa for today the prior evening, yet she slumbered on!
From the phone, Meng Fan giggled, “Knew you'd sleep late. Fortunately, I foresaw it and postponed my start. Departing soon though, so hustle over.”
Relief washed over Wen Zhi; she affirmed, “Got it.”
She lowered the phone and probed her forehead.
Unlike the intense ache upon dream-waking, no feeling lingered now.
She eyed the Buddha Beads on her wrist, resolving to wield them more prudently for dreams henceforth. Lest she relive last night's torment from that lecher who plagued her till dawn.
As she readied for departure, Wen Zhi slipped off the Buddha Beads into their case, swapped into clean attire, and exited her home.
The cab today snagged in minor gridlock from the viaduct shutdown.
At Jiuqu Villa's arrival, the manager guided Wen Zhi to Meng Fan’s personal hot spring pool. Traversing the vintage rockery and Spotted Bamboo Forest, he paused at the entrance, motioning ahead, “Enter directly.”
Wen Zhi acknowledged with a nod and proceeded inward.
Approaching the hot spring pool intensified the audible chatter.
Meng Fan vented fiercely at someone, “Song Yuxing, are you crazy? Didn’t you consider your uncle’s age, how much he weighs, how many wives he’s had, and what a character he is? Calling him a toad lusting after a swan’s flesh is already putting it mildly.”
Song Yuxing clarified, “Don’t listen to what others say about those rumors; I think Wen Zhi marrying my uncle is the most suitable match, and besides, older men tend to be more caring.”
Meng Fan abruptly queried, “Your uncle is forty-seven this year, right?”
Crouched poolside, Song Yuxing replied, “He hasn’t had his forty-seventh birthday yet. Once Wen Zhi marries my uncle, we can have the birthday party and the wedding reception together and invite all of Bai City’s high society to attend. Won’t Wen Zhi be glamorous then?”
Meng Fan sneered mockingly, “It does sound somewhat reasonable.”
Song Yuxing's lips curved in a grin, “Could you bring it up to Wen Zhi? I know you two are close.”
Meng Fan eyed Song Yuxing, “How about this then, two happy occasions at once, introduce me to your grandfather, and I’ll be your grandmother? That would be adding kin to kin.”
Song Yuxing’s beautiful eyes bulged wide as she rose, “Meng Fan, you’re shameless! My grandfather is eighty-nine! What are you after him for?”
“After his old age, after his lack of bathing!”
Leaning poolside with radiant shoulders exposed, Meng Fan chortled, “At that time, I’ll have my wedding with your grandfather coincide with his ninetieth birthday celebration and invite all of Bai City’s high society to make me glamorous too.”
From behind the screen, Wen Zhi almost burst into laughter.
Childhood friends, she and Meng Fan shared a bond where Meng Fan always spoke bluntly, refusing losses in words or gains. Her sharp tongue left recipients sulking for days.
Now, Song Yuxing, enraged by Meng Fan, paled with fury, “I was trying to secure a spot for Wen Zhi, and my uncle isn't awful—he's loaded. Why the biting sarcasm?”
Meng Fan plucked a grape from the platter, savored it with a tsk-tsk, “See you fiercely shielding him, Song Yuxing. In olden days, you'd wed your own uncle.”
Song Yuxing jabbed a finger toward Meng Fan in the pool, teeth clenched, “You, you’re just too much.”
Meng Fan aped her tone derisively, “You you you’re just too much hehehe.”
“…”
Song Yuxing spun and stormed off.
Yet mere steps later, she wheeled back.
Overcome with ire, she snapped at Meng Fan, “Only you shield Wen Zhi now—who in the Wen Family bothers with her? You're wrecking a prime match today; later if she weds beneath that, you'll top her grudge list—ah—!!”
As Song Yuxing concluded, Meng Fan snatched watermelon from the platter and hurled it, “Repeat that and see! Shall I stitch your nasty mouth closed!”
The watermelon rind splattered Song Yuxing inescapably.
Fuming beyond words, she stammered futilely before stalking away.
Wen Zhi evaded clashing with Song Yuxing, slipping behind the screen's far side until Song Yuxing departed, then parted the bead curtain.
Meng Fan glanced up at arriving Wen Zhi, grinning, “Caught the whole show, huh?”
Wen Zhi nodded.
Entering, she straightened her black-rimmed glasses and wondered, “Why was Song Yuxing here?”
“She spotted me arriving and barged in to stir trouble, so I shut her down to sour her mood.”
Chatting, Meng Fan beckoned Wen Zhi nearer, “Come on, ditch the glasses—it's only us.”
Staff offered the tube top and shorts; Wen Zhi shed her concealing glasses, revealing her beauty, changed within, and emerged.
Meng Fan eyed her playfully, “Those milky legs—if I were male, you wouldn't exit this pool till nightfall.”
Wen Zhi, used to Meng Fan's teasing, shot back evenly, “Pity you're female.”
Meng Fan snickered roguishly, “Too late to dash to Thailand?”
Slipping into the hot spring beside Meng Fan, Wen Zhi noted, “Your laugh sounds so naughty.”
Unfazed by poise around Wen Zhi, Meng Fan propped her chin on Wen Zhi’s shoulder, “Song Yuxing's barbs didn't rile you, did they?”
Wen Zhi denied with a headshake, “Nope, no way I'd wed her uncle.”
Meng Fan pressed on, “Exactly! For marriage, aim for someone like my cousin!”