Golden Scale [EN]: Chapter 26

The Kindling in the Snow (1)

“Di, di, di,” “Clack.” A bleary-eyed Hou Longtao slapped the alarm clock silent and sat up in bed. “Ah, Chen Qian, you owe me one again.” He ate a quick, haphazard breakfast. “Mom, I’m off.” He grabbed a coat and headed out the door. “Why so early today…” His mother’s voice trailed after him.

“Brother Hou, didn’t sleep well last night?” Chen Xi noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “No, it’s nothing.” Hou Longtao shook his head. “Is it because you had to pick me up that you got up early?” “No, no, I’ve been pretty busy lately, got a meeting in a bit. Even if I didn’t pick you up, I wouldn’t get much more sleep. Enough about me, how’s your foot? Still hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt if I don’t put weight on it.” The girl smiled, feeling that this man genuinely cared about her. Actually, Chen Xi never went to arcades. Yesterday, Shi Long had secretly taken her notes, and after a classmate told her, she chased him to the arcade. It made her feel like her meeting with Hou Longtao was destined.

Just as they reached the intersection of Yuehe Road, she asked him to stop the car. “What’s wrong? We’re not there yet.” “I… I can walk the rest of the way myself. Our school… it’s hard to park in front of the school.” The girl stammered. Hou Longtao knew her real thoughts but didn’t expose them. He went around and helped her out of the car. “Did you bring your bike key?” Hou Longtao asked. “I did.” “Give it to me, I’ll go park your bicycle. It’s safer to keep it at school.” “Can you? What time is your meeting? Will you make it?” Chen Xi took out the key but hesitated to hand it over. “Meeting? What meeting?” The man feigned ignorance. “Didn’t you get up early because you had a meeting?” “Oh, oh, oh, right, right, I have a meeting,” he glanced at his watch, “It’s still early, I’ll make it.” He reached out and took the key. “Go to school, I’ll give you the key back when I pick you up at one this afternoon.”

Even after the Benz was out of sight, Chen Xi still hadn’t moved, completely unaware that two girls had quietly approached her. “He clearly didn’t have a meeting, he just got up early for me, he…” “Xi, what are you muttering to yourself?” “Ah!” An ill-intentioned voice rang in her ear, startling her.

“Jeez, you two scared me to death, walking around without a sound, like ghosts.” Chen Xi playfully hit one of the girls, both of whom were her classmates. “It’s not that we’re walking silently, you’re just lovesick.” “What nonsense are you talking about?” “Nonsense? Who was that handsome guy in the Benz just now?” One of the girls deliberately made her tone flirtatious.

“He… he… he’s just a regular friend…” “A regular friend? Then why are you blushing? You’re clearly guilty. If he’s not your boyfriend, can you introduce him to me?” “You already have a boyfriend, why would I introduce you?” “See, you don’t want to. Hahaha, our otherworldly ice princess has been moved by mortal desires.” The two girls started teasing Chen Xi.

The Kindling in the Snow (2)

“If you keep talking nonsense, I’ll rip your mouths off. He really isn’t my boyfriend.” Although it was the truth, because her heart wasn’t as still as water, Chen Xi didn’t sound confident at all. “Rip our mouths off? Come on, come on, we’ll have plenty to talk about at lunch.” The two girls didn’t know that Chen Xi had injured her ankle, and assuming she would chase after them, they ran off without looking back.

Watching the two turn a corner and run into the school, she was helpless. “You guys…” Chen Xi shifted her right foot, “Ah! Ugh.” A pain shot through her ankle, and she could only pout and limp slowly towards the gate…

“Damn it, I’m really asking for trouble.” Hou Longtao rode a beat-up old bicycle, battling the biting cold wind. He was wearing too little, shivering, desperately shrinking his neck and constantly sniffling. “I really should have stuffed the bike in the trunk, even if it got scratched, repainting it would only cost ten or eight thousand [Chinese Yuan, roughly $1,400 USD], it’s better than freezing to death.” And there was even worse luck to come. When Hou Longtao went back to get the car, because it was too cold, he took a cab for the less than four-kilometer trip. He chatted with the driver for a few words, explaining why he was so frozen. When they arrived at Linfang, just as he was looking down to take out change from his pocket, he heard the driver say, “Buddy, you drive a Benz, right?” “Yeah.” “They’re giving you a ticket.”

“Huh?” Hou Longtao looked up and saw a motorcycle cop writing something in front of his car. “Crap.” He threw down ten yuan and ran out of the car. “Officer, officer, don’t write it, I’ll move it right away.” Actually, with his wealth, a parking ticket was nothing, but the habits he’d formed when he wasn’t rich hadn’t changed, and most importantly, there were the points [on his driver’s license]. Since coming back, because he wasn’t familiar with the roads, he’d already lost six points.

The cop took off her helmet, shook her hair, and turned out to be a woman. “Who are you calling officer?” “Oh, oh, oh, sorry, sorry, ma’am, ma’am.” Hou Longtao quickly apologized, suddenly realizing that the female cop was a beauty, with big eyes, a high nose, and lips that were neither too thick nor too thin, only her complexion was a bit dark, probably from being out on duty so often.

“This car is yours?” “Yes, yes.” “Don’t you know you can’t park here?” “I don’t, I really don’t.” “Look for yourself, are there white squares on the ground?” “No.” “Then you can’t park here, how did you learn the traffic laws?” The female cop lectured him, not stopping writing the ticket.

“Ma’am, please don’t write it, okay? I know I was wrong, I won’t do it again.” Hou Longtao pleaded with a smile. “You illegally parked, how can I not fine you?” “Can’t you just give me a warning? Cops are all kind-hearted, especially you.” “What do you mean by that?” The female cop suddenly frowned.

“Uh, I… I don’t mean anything else, it’s just that women are soft-hearted, and female cops are rare, especially one as beautiful as you, I’m lucky to run into you, give me a warning, and waive the fine.” Hou Longtao didn’t know what he’d said wrong.

“What about beautiful women? Who says beautiful women can’t be tough? I think you’re saying beautiful women shouldn’t be cops? I hate guys like you who judge people by their gender and looks.”

The Kindling in the Snow (3)

He’d really patted the horse’s butt and kicked the hoof [a Chinese idiom meaning to backfire]. “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant.” That’s exactly what he meant, but how could he admit it? The female cop ignored him, added a zero to the original fifty-yuan fine, tore it off, and stuck it under the windshield wiper.

This time Hou Longtao couldn’t take it anymore. He’d acted like a grandson [acted subserviently] for so long, but it only got him a ten-fold fine. “You’re going too far, let me see your badge, I’m going to complain about you.” “Complain about what?” “You’re fining me randomly based on your personal preferences.” “I’m not fining you randomly, the regulations clearly state that the maximum fine for illegal parking is five hundred yuan, if you want to sue me, go ahead.” The female cop wrote her badge number on the ticket.

“Bitch, you think you’ve got me, I really don’t give a damn about this little bit of money, if it wasn’t for those points, I wouldn’t have bothered arguing with you, what are you showing off for.” Hou Longtao grabbed the ticket, got in the car, and sped away…

In the afternoon, after dropping Chen Xi off at home, he arrived at Xue Nuo’s school. It wasn’t yet time for school to let out. Hou Longtao parked the car on the side of the road. Four punks were smoking and chatting across the street, one of whom, leaning against the wall, was Zhang Yue. Just as he was about to call Long, he saw him turn out of the intersection and walk towards the group of kids. Hou Longtao turned the car around, parked across the street, and rolled down the right window so he could hear what the kids were saying.

“Are we going to come for nothing again today?” One person said. “No way, I’m going to drag that girl to the park to chat today, I’m going to make her say yes.” Looking in the rearview mirror, Hou Longtao saw that the person who answered was Zhang Yue. “But you can’t do anything outside.” “Fuck, long-term investment, what’s the point of just banging her right away? Today I’m just planning to feel her tits and ass, and finger her slit, once I get my hands on her, I can do whatever I want.” A burst of unrestrained lewd laughter came into the car. Hou Longtao lit a cigarette. “Hmph, go home and finger your mom’s slit.” He got out of the car, looking at the group of punks. Zhang Yue and the others also noticed Hou Longtao and immediately recognized him. “Hey, what the fuck are you looking at?” “Dare to stare, tired of living.” They looked like they were about to come over and fight him.

Just then, Long walked up to the four punks. “Are any of you named Zhang Yue?” “I am, what’s it to you?” The kids were in a “combat” state, and when they heard the unfriendly tone of the newcomer, and saw that he was alone, they immediately surrounded him. “What the hell do you want?”

“Hey, I’m just asking.” Long spread his hands, holding them out to his sides, then pointed at Zhang Yue with both index fingers. Before the punks could figure out what was going on, five taxis stopped on the side of the road, and three people rushed out of each one. Two of them grabbed Zhang Yue’s arms and pushed him against the wall, while another stepped on his feet, preventing him from moving. The other three punks had also been pinned to the ground. Long spread his hands towards Zhang Yue and shrugged. “I don’t know them.” He turned his head and nodded at Hou Longtao, then turned and left.

Zhang Yue watched as a person wearing gloves approached him with an iron bar, and shouted fearfully at Long’s back,

The Kindling in the Snow (4)

“I… my uncle is a cop, he’s a section chief in the Chaoyang branch.” “Bang,” “Crack,” “Ah!” With a heart-wrenching scream, Zhang Yue’s left leg was broken, but he didn’t fall. Again, “Crack,” followed by a scream, his right leg was also broken. The two people holding Zhang Yue let go, and he collapsed to the ground, immediately followed by pressure on his two wrists. The thug raised his right foot high and stomped desperately on Zhang Yue’s right hand, grinding it hard a few times. When he moved it away, three fingers were already a bloody mess, probably shattered. This time Zhang Yue’s scream, though brief, was very shrill, he had already fainted. After doing the same thing to his left hand, the thug said fiercely to another subdued punk: “Tell him, if he dares to leave the hospital within three months, watch out for his dick.” The group got into the taxis, and the five cars were ordered to drive to different places.

Everything was over in just three minutes. Among the stunned passersby, some busybodies finally called the police. “Aren’t you going to take him to the hospital?” Hou Longtao leaned against the car door, speaking to the bewildered punks. “Want him to end up disabled?” The kids then picked up Zhang Yue, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for the hospital…

When Xue Nuo came out of school, she saw two police cars parked at the gate, and several policemen were questioning the security guard. She asked curiously, “Brother Tao, what happened?” “Someone was fighting here just now, it has nothing to do with us, let’s go.” Hou Longtao glanced at the bloodstains on the ground and stepped on the gas with a smile.

As soon as they entered the suite, Xue Nuo took off her coat, lay flat on the bed, sniffed it for a while, then turned over, propping herself up on her elbows, watching her lover hang his coat in the closet. “The sheets are newly changed, right?” Hou Longtao lay down beside her, propping his head up with one arm. “Probably, what’s wrong?”

The girl lay flat again and sniffed the sheets. “There’s none of your scent on them.” “Hehe, I slept at home last night, and the hotel changes them every day.” The man scratched her nose with his finger. “If you want to smell my scent, smell the real thing, why bother with the sheets?” Xue Nuo leaned over and “sniffed, sniffed” at her lover’s neck. “Does it smell good? What does it smell like?” “Mm, a little bit of cigarette smell, and your own fragrance, it smells good, I love smelling it the most.”

Hou Longtao couldn’t stand two things the most, one was a woman’s pitiful expression, and the other was his beloved girl’s unintentional display of true feelings. He immediately pinned the beautiful girl under him, sealing her mouth, sticking his tongue in, and stirring her tender tongue intensely, licking every corner of her mouth. Hou Longtao knelt and straddled the girl’s waist, took off his suit jacket, and tugged at his tie. Xue Nuo sat up, pulled her legs out from between her lover’s hips, and hugged his neck. “Brother Tao, wait for me, I have something to show you.” After speaking, she ignored the man’s reaction, jumped out of bed, and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her.

The man took off all his clothes and leaned against the headboard. “What’s she up to, acting so mysterious.” Xue Nuo only stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes before coming out, wearing a pure black silk suspender nightgown, with transparent tulle and lace at the chest, vaguely revealing two delicate nipples hidden inside. The girl was clearly not used to wearing such sexy clothes, she forgot to take off her white cotton socks, looking a bit mismatched. “Hehehe, Nuo Nuo, come here, I want to hug you.” Hou Longtao smiled, straightened up, and waved his hand, she was really cute, actually wearing this kind of nightgown that didn’t suit her age or personality to please him.

Xue Nuo didn’t do as he said, stopping at the end of the bed, turning sideways, tilting her head, looking at her lover with a sidelong glance, and slowly licking her lips with her tongue. The corners of Hou Longtao’s mouth turned up to the maximum, he almost laughed out loud, and leaned back against the headboard again, he wanted to see what tricks this beauty had up her sleeve.

The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest, slowly sliding the two suspenders from her shoulders to her armpits, closing her eyes, tilting her head back, and as her arms opened, the silk nightgown silently slid down her soft body curves to the ground. She only had a pair of black panties left on, a piece of fabric covering her private area, and two thin strings extending from her hip bones to her back. Like doing a horse stance, Xue Nuo bent her knees and spread her legs, resting her hands on her thighs, leaning her upper body forward slightly, and clamping her arms back, so that her breasts were more prominent, and her tender nipples were already engorged. Slowly turning around, a thin strip of fabric was embedded in her butt crack, and her two butt cheeks were completely exposed. Pouting her butt and facing away from the admiring man, her jade hands also moved from her thighs to her round, upturned butt peaks, stroking them while slowly sitting on the bed, leaning her body back, and kicking her feet on the edge of the bed, her fair head landing right on her lover’s thigh.

The Kindling in the Snow (5)

The girl turned her head, and the man’s erect penis was right in front of her. She held it and stuck out her wet, fragrant tongue, gently licking it. She couldn’t remember how many times she had kissed her lover’s penis, but before, she had always done it after being asked, today was the first time she had taken the initiative to serve him, and her already shy cheeks were even more beautiful.

A wave of wet heat came from his penis, and Hou Longtao finally recovered from his daze, pulled the beautiful girl into his arms, “Nuo Nuo, where did you learn this? Did you buy these panties and nightgown?”

Xue Nuo didn’t answer, raised her head and kissed her lover deeply for a long time, then said shyly: “Do you like me like this?” Her right hand never stopped stroking that big dick. “Not really.” The man’s answer was unexpected, and the girl immediately propped herself up, anxiously saying: “But… but Sister Ruyun and them, you would… you would like it, how could…” “Did Director Xu and the others teach you?” Hou Longtao laughed again.

“Yes, they bought me these clothes too, Sister Ruyun and Sister Yueling said their boyfriends like women to be mature and sexy, and also a little bit slutty. I asked them exactly what to do, but they could only hint at it. So I borrowed a… a pornographic disc from a friend, the women in it were like this, I… I thought this would be slutty enough, really, Brother Tao… I… you must not hate me…”

Seeing the girl getting so anxious that she was about to cry, Hou Longtao quickly hugged her again, kissing her forehead, “Silly girl, how could I hate you, aren’t you doing this for me, right?” “Yeah.” “I just like you being pure and innocent, I just like how every time I take off your clothes, you get shy and scared and burrow into my arms.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Xue Nuo pouted, “I’m really shy.” “I know, so pure cotton teenage underwear suits your age and personality the most.” Hou Longtao kissed her while kneading her butt cheeks. “Baby, your butt is so soft, how can I never get enough of touching it?”

“Get out of here.” Xue Nuo finally smiled again, “Ah!” Suddenly she felt the man pull the strip of fabric out of her butt crack, and a finger gently inserted into her hole from behind, “Ah… Brother Tao… um…” The girl shook her butt slightly, closed her eyes, and accepted the man’s tongue into her mouth.

Hou Longtao raised the beautiful girl’s left thigh with his right hand, and rubbed her pubic bone with his left hand. “Ah… um…” Xue Nuo’s butt shook even more violently, “Um… Brother Tao…” She wanted to reach for her lover’s penis, but her arms were grabbed. The man pushed her arms up, holding them over her head, and the two mounds of tender flesh in front of her chest were stretched into a very beautiful shape. Xue Nuo felt her nipples being sucked into her lover’s mouth, and a wet, greasy tongue was drawing circles on her sensitive areola, the sweet current making her weak all over. She really wanted to be one with her lover right now, but she was too embarrassed to ask, “Brother Tao…”

The Kindling in the Snow (6)

Hou Longtao was very familiar with this beauty’s body, released her arms, supported her butt with both hands, separated her two round butt cheeks, and hooked a finger on her panties, removing the protection from her wet hole. Slowly lowering the girl down, his thick penis disappeared into her body little by little.

“Ah… ah… um… so hot… so big…” Xue Nuo held onto the man’s shoulders, her labia majora, labia minora, the front of her vagina, and the back of her vagina were gently stretched open one by one, she could truly feel the satisfaction of her body and mind being invaded and possessed by her lover…

“Brother Tao, what time is it?” Xue Nuo snuggled lazily in her lover’s arms. The man picked up the watch on the bedside table and glanced at it, “Almost six o’clock.” “Ah?” The girl quickly got up, rushed into the bathroom, and started putting on her clothes, “I’m going to be late, I can’t be late on the first day.” Hou Longtao followed her in, “What first day? Do you have something urgent?”

“I found a part-time job at McDonald’s in Fuchengmen, today is my first day, I start work at six.” The girl was hurriedly pulling up her pants. “Why are you going to work?” “You know, my family’s money was all swindled away, and now it’s so hard to find a job, my mom hasn’t found one yet, although she says it’s okay, I can’t stand it anymore, I should share the responsibility at home. Brother Tao, can you take me there?”

Hou Longtao walked over, picked up the disheveled beauty and carried her back to the bedroom, holding her on his lap. “Don’t go.” “Brother Tao, stop it, I’m really going to be late.” Xue Nuo struggled gently. “Shh…” The man kissed her face, “You have to go to school, you have to take care of me, you have to be my wife, where do you have time to work?”

“But… but…” “No buts,” Hou Longtao took out a magnetic card from the drawer of the bedside table, “Take this to your mother, there’s two hundred thousand in it.” “I can’t…” “Shh… listen to me,” kissing the beauty’s fragrant lips, “You are my beloved girl, it is my responsibility to take care of you and your mother, I will never let you suffer, I will protect you forever and ever.”

“Brother Tao…” Xue Nuo hugged her lover’s neck tightly, tears welling up in her eyes, “But… but my mother won’t accept it.” “Tell her, this is the money from the last time I got the license [brokerage fee], a fair deal.” Hou Longtao stroked the girl’s soft hair, every word he had just said came from the bottom of his heart…

After dropping Xue Nuo off downstairs at her house, “How has your mother been feeling these days?” “She’s fine during the day, but I know she’s faking it, she doesn’t want me to worry, she must be suffering inside.” The girl was worried. “I know how to make her happy.” “Really?” “Find her another boyfriend.”

The Kindling in the Snow (7)

“Would that work?” “Don’t worry, I’ll help her keep an eye out, trust me, it’ll definitely work.” Hou Longtao seemed confident. “Then I’ll leave it all to you.” Xue Nuo had long since stopped doubting this man’s words. “Do you want to go up and see my mother?” “It’s better not to, let’s wait a while, I’m afraid she’ll be embarrassed to see me so soon, you know, those photos.” The girl thought about it and agreed, so she didn’t insist.

A few hours later, at the police station in the area where Xue Nuo’s school was located, a policeman was reporting to the chief, “According to the clues provided by witnesses, we have found one of the taxis used by the criminals to escape. After questioning, we confirmed that the driver was not one of them. According to him, those people didn’t say a word in the car, and they got out less than five kilometers away and changed to another taxi, he didn’t remember the car number, so the final destination of the criminals is unknown.”

The chief nodded, “Even if he remembered it, it might not be useful, it seems that the criminals were premeditated, they are likely to change cars multiple times. What about the beaten side?” “The victim’s name is Zhang Yue, a hooligan who often causes trouble in our jurisdiction, and the three people who were with him at the time of the incident are also punks from this area. In my opinion, they probably know who did it, but they don’t dare to say, or they want to solve it themselves.”

“Hmph, then the nature of this case is hooligans beating hooligans. It’s best if those kinds of people kill each other off, it’s best if they don’t want us to get involved.” “By the way, Chief Liu, when I went to the hospital to take a statement, there was already a section chief from the Chaoyang branch there, he’s the victim’s uncle, I think it’s possible that he’s not letting the victim talk, he’s probably going to…”

“Tch, it’s clear that he’s looking down on our police station’s ability to handle cases, good, the branch is so great, if he has the ability to avenge his nephew, let him go. Let’s lock this case up as a closed case.” The chief signed his name on the case file. (The golden scales are not things in the pool) [A Chinese proverb meaning someone with great potential is being held back by their current environment.]