Suddenly he got up and stepped decisively toward her, grabbed her chin in one hand, and kissed her. Juli’s surprised expression was at first like a tightly-shut bud. But under Mengliu’s quick attack on the lips, the bud suddenly blossomed. In plain terms, Juli did not resist. Instead, she plunged quickly into this act of rash wild kissing. Mengliu half expected that his rude behaviour would incite a slap on the face, or perhaps worse, so he was a bit taken aback by Juli’s response. He paused, pulled her into his arms more carefully, and began to kiss her more meticulously and fervently. He felt her firm body warming quickly against him, becoming as hot and floury as a baked potato.
All at once he knew how to strip the skin off the potato and consume the soft flesh inside it. He resorted to an indefinite kissing, while planning how to achieve his goal. He carefully followed Juli’s body movements, but the fingertips of his mind could not find the exact location of the tender button amidst the complex tissues of her brain. He became completely disoriented.
Mengliu thought the hot potato in his hands smelled just right, that it was expanding to readiness, but as soon as he attempted anything further, it turned to a hedgehog in his grasp, offering sharp resistance to his moves and re-establishing certain boundaries. He redoubled his patience and, very gently, plucked the spines out one by one, hoping she would let her guard down, but also taking care not to get pricked. Women all over the world like to play this game, he thought to himself.
He had undertaken a huge, indefinite, but not disappointing project. This was like a major operation, and it required a long-term approach and much preparation. He took a careful but tough approach, covering her mouth with his, slowly making his way down to her breasts. He took his time, making her feel that her whole self was in those breasts, and that she could entrust them to his warm palm. He had never been a pig who would swallow a woman whole, he prided himself on being a master of good taste. He wanted to show her how much he appreciated her body, as if his whole world was contained there.
Finally Juli succumbed. She lay down on the bed before him, and Mengliu breathed a sigh of relief. But when he saw her lying there stiffly, it made him think of a patient on an operating table. With his free hand, he brushed aside the hair on her forehead and asked why she seemed so nervous. Juli looked at him like a patient addressing a doctor, with trusting, begging eyes that seemed about to say something. But her mouth only opened like that of a fish out of water, and issued no sound.
Considerately and cautiously, Mengliu began kissing her again. He saw her liquid chocolate eyes, blazing with the reflection from the light, gazing at him from her flushed face, and was moved by such genuine beauty. He unfastened her gown and as he slipped it off, she rolled over and he saw a large butterfly tattooed on her back, its forewings extended out over her shoulder blades and its rear wings over her hips, wrapping around her buttocks. Her waist was delicately thin. She lay there quietly with her back to him. The butterfly seemed poised to fly away at any time. Without stopping to study the tattoo, he stroked her curvaceous body with his skilled surgeon’s hands, inspecting every crease and crevice. A hidden torrent welled up, violently pushing and shoving through his fingertips, pounding his nerves. He was like an arrow on a bow, ready for release, within seconds he had removed his own clothing. But just as he leapt toward Juli, an alarm sounded in the room.
‘What’s that?’ Mengliu stopped and asked.
‘It’s a warning for us.’ Juli brought her legs up toward her chest, and turned to lie on her side. She looked at Mengliu with a provocative smile.
‘I don’t understand…’
‘You still don’t get it. Swan Valley prohibits sexual intercourse.’
‘You’re very funny.’ Mengliu’s body quivered with merriment, and he bent to kiss her.
The alarm sounded again, this time issuing a more severe warning.
‘I’m not joking. It’s true. Every room is equipped with a special sensor. This is a code yellow warning. If intercourse begins, it will move to code red. Ten minutes later, you’ll be picked up.’ Juli looked up at him, her expression charming. ‘You aren’t afraid of having your head hung on the wall, are you?’
‘You mean…everyone is being monitored?’ He was shocked, but kept his face calm.
‘Monitored? You have a crude way of putting it. It’s concern for our well-being. A way of taking responsibility for the individual.’ Juli looked at him, her expression that of a patient begging a doctor to tell her the results of a procedure. ‘Am I worth that sort of risk?’
Completely carried away, Mengliu now sought to cool his still thumping heart. He tried closing in on Juli, but the alarm sounded again. He had to believe what she was saying.
‘All sexual intercourse is illegal, even between husband and wife.’ Juli lowered her arms across her breasts, smiling at him as if she were the beneficiary of this policy.
‘Hang on…Swanese people, you mean they’ve all jumped out of cracks in the stones?’
‘No, we use artificial insemination. A clean, painless little procedure.’
‘Artificial insemination…’ He could not keep from laughing. ‘That’s crazy! Why even bother?’
‘Mr Yuan, you’re not taking this seriously. Swan Valley advocates a scientific approach. We use genetic research to produce quality in the population. Each person’s body has its optimal period for conception, and before artificial insemination is performed, the physiology of both parties has to be subjected to a lot of calculations…’
‘Oh?’ Mengliu felt like he had seen a ghost. ‘Precise calculations? Scientific operations? But what about human feelings?’
‘We pay more attention to the higher spiritual life. For unlawful sexual intercourse, a man may wear a gold shackle and go into servitude, or even have his head cut off. We don’t punish the women…but you know punishment of the soul is also a torment. If a woman commits the blasphemous act of intercourse, her soul is corrupted forever…’
The feverish flush had faded from Juli’s face, and her complexion was returning gradually to its calm, golden tone. Even the lights in the house were becoming more rational again.
Mengliu remembered the way Juli had made the chopping gesture by the wall that day, and he shuddered. A chilly wind invaded the space between his legs, and he grew limp there. He needed a dignified way to retreat, but he looked at her with strange eyes and said, ‘To use your body to fight the system is tantamount to throwing eggs against stones. A variety of historical facts have proven this. You probably don’t know how many young people, a whole generation, have foolishly paid an exorbitant price because of this belief…many were killed, but the worst was the punishment that came later. You can never escape the hand of judgement. Even less should I, a mere stranger.’
Mengliu, unable to control his emotions, now appeared neurotic. Either he had nothing to say, or once he started talking, he was like a pebble rolling downhill, unable to stop. ‘I have an acquaintance, he tried to hide and survived on roots and tubers for many years in the mountains. It finally caught up with him… there has never been a party more vengeful, or more thorough and ruthless. Some people were expelled from their homes, leaving their loved ones, living in exile…in fact, all rulers’ temperaments are the same. The only difference between them is their height, weight, and hair colour.’
‘You should treat the ruling institutions like chastity. “Don’t touch” is a good rule of thumb.’ Juli picked up her gown and covered her chest, then resumed her position beneath the embroidered picture. Her lower body was still exposed, her legs long and slender. ‘When people make decisions, they need to have the support of a belief system. You’re right, defying the law with your body is like a moth playing with fire.’