A Thousand Charms, Yet No Good Match

The first time Pei Luming saw Yan Qing was in a corner of a folk-music bar. She left her classmates behind and went over to ask for Yan Qing's contact information. Yan Qing glanced at her and calmly asked three questions: "Are you an adult? Have you finished your homework? Don't you have class?"

Pei Luming rolled her eyes. "I'm a sophomore in college."

Yan Qing drew out an "Ohhh," then politely turned her down. Still too young.

The second time they met was at Pei Luming's home. Yan Qing had come to visit with a gift, in her capacity as a potential supplier her mother's company had recently found, though they hadn't signed a contract yet.

When her mother got up and left, Pei Luming quietly leaned closer, waved her phone, and winked. "Add me on WeChat. Take me out to have fun, and I'll help you win my mom over."

Yan Qing agreed.

For a long time afterward, Yan Qing took Pei Luming along wherever she went.

They went bar-hopping, drinking, hiking, and bungee jumping. Even when Yan Qing was on vacation and planning to lie around at home, she'd readily agree when Pei Luming wanted to go out.

Yan Qing would lie with her in a tent on a summer night and look at the stars, and she'd also gently take the drink from her hand, smiling lazily as she said, "No."

The mature woman's charm and allure shone through in Yan Qing, and Pei Luming inevitably fell for her.

One night, tipsy from drinking, Pei Luming worked up the courage to loop her arms around Yan Qing's neck. Using the alcohol as an excuse to act coy, she confessed her feelings. Yan Qing gazed at her warmly with those eyes that always seemed to look at everyone with affection.

"Did you like girls before you met me?"

"Yes."

Then that's good.

Yan Qing cupped her face and held her shoulder in place with one hand, kissing her without restraint. The next moment, their tongues entwined.

That year, twenty-seven-year-old Yan Qing dazzled twenty-year-old Pei Luming.

Later, when Yan Qing's partnership with Pei Luming's mother came to an end, she was set to leave the city. The night before she left, Yan Qing bought two tickets to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and took Pei Luming to see it.

Sitting in the dark theater, Pei Luming watched the actors onstage deliver their lines with devastating intensity: "Did I tempt you? Did I ever speak kindly to you? Did I not clearly tell you that I did not love you, and could not love you?"

Pei Luming gave a self-mocking smile. "So this is what you wanted to tell me."

You don't love me.

Is that right, Yan Qing?

Reading notes:

1. Bad woman & rich heiress, older woman x college girl, seven-year age gap between consenting adults.

2. Rekindled romance and getting back together. The older woman has a romantic history, and the younger woman will also have other relationships after they separate. If you want a perfect romance, this isn't for you.

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