Flash Marriage Chapter 12

         These past few days were spent peacefully with Jiang Li, but soon we would be having less peaceful days………which was about to start.

          Because I am normal and going on a honeymoon with an abnormal person, my emotions would be very irritable with a bit of instability especially with a man without elegance whom I could not win over, either in a fight or an argument and also when he did not even have respect women.  However, if I did not go on the 7-days Maldives free honeymoon trip, it could not be justified and so, I could only accept and treat it as a holiday trip. 

          I had never been to the Maldives, heard it is a very beautiful place with blue skies, clear waters, the beach full of beautiful women and handsome men.  When I was about 20 years old, I had dreamt of selling bananas in one of the islands of Maldives and could be considered as a leisure life hidden in the city.  Of course, this dream soon disintegrated into nothing, the substance of no importance.  Later, I had many more dreams but none that could last more than three months.  There is a saying, ambitious people set a long-time goal, non-ambitious people constantly change goal* and the latter half of the sentence referred to me.

         (Ambitious people set a goal and will complete it regardless of time but non-ambitious people often change course midway).  

         However, I still think that a person without an ambition would be happier and more relaxed.  And also, in the world's population of billions, if everyone were to become the country's president, then wouldn't the world be a chaotic place? 

          So, in order for those great people to rise up to their high positions, they could not do without us, the little good-for-nothings playing the silent roles!

          Sorry, sorry, this topic had diverted off course and now we should go back to the issue of my honeymoon.  Although I regarded the honeymoon trip as a free 7-days Maldives tour, obviously Jiang Li did not think so.  He did not even intend to go on the trip.  He just handed me a ticket and told me to go alone. 

          I took the ticket hesitantly and asked.  "What about you?"

          Jiang Li replied.  "There are some things I have to settle in the company.  I have to go back to work."

          This guy finally remembered his company.  But I was still somewhat reluctant and eventually asked.  "Then who is going to sleep with me?"

          He frowned and said.  "Just look for someone."

          This was too much!  Am I so casual?  So I retorted.  "Okay then, I can just start a relationship."

          He obviously did not expect me to say something like this.  He gave me an incredulous look and finally said.  "Up to you, just don't bring back AIDS."

          I scratched my head and hesitated with some trepidation.  Jiang Li became a bit impatient and asked.  "What is the matter, now?"

          Brazenly I said.  "If you are not going, who will pay…….."

          He looked relieved, pulled out a credit card and handed it to me.  "Just swipe this."

          I took the card and my mood instantly lifted.

          At night, when I was asleep, suddenly Jiang Li dropped a pillow over my head and coldly said.  "Guan Xiao Yan, it is best you practice some self-respect over there."

          I turned over and faced him.  "What has it got to do with you?"

          He closed his eyes and his voice tinged with unpleasantness.  "I cannot stand women with loose morals."

          I remembered in elementary school, the teachers often let us practice extracting the main point from a sentence and this was one of the skills that I had mastered in the language lessons.  Now to extract his words from the sentence meant……I….cannot stand……women.  Very good, very strong words…..this sentence could summarize the gloomy inner feelings of Jiang Li.

          Thinking of this, I lifted the corners of my mouth and evilly said.  "My apologies, but I am a woman with loose morals."

          Suddenly he opened his eyes and glared at me sharply.  Immediately I felt my heart go cold.  I quickly suppressed the uneasy feeling in my heart, closed my eyes and ignored him. 

          Damn Jiang Li! ...... One look could make people scared to death.

          At this time, Jiang Li casually said.  "If you dare step out of line, I will naturally have a way to deal with you when you return."

          I closed my eyes and thought in my heart. 

          Even if I do step out of line, you will never know!       

          In the morning, when I woke up, Jiang Li had just returned from his morning exercise.  As I passed the living room, I was surprised to find a large suitcase standing in the middle of the room.  That suitcase was definitely not mine, as my suitcase was still in my bedroom. 

          Then, this belongs to Jiang Li?

          I wondered and asked him.  "Are you planning to run away from home?"  

          With a blank expression, he answered.  "I wanted to do some diving, so we are going to the Maldives together."

          Jiang Li's decision destroyed the chance of losing my virginity.

          But I still had a question which I was not clear.  When did he pack his luggage?  Did he plan this ahead?  Then why did he pretend he was not going?  This devilish man!

                   
          Jiang Li sensed the questions in my heart, said.  "I packed this last night."

          Me:   "Then, how come I didn't know?"

          JL:  "You slept like a dead pig, how would you know?"

          Me:   "….."

          The Maldives is beautiful but the journey to the Maldives was painful.  Fortunately, we were traveling during the off-peak tourist season, so booking for the air-tickets and hotel room was relatively easy.  But the journey of nearly ten hours made me lose my appetite and also we had to transit.  Basically, during the whole journey, I listened to music and slept, so much so that I was in a blur and lost any sense of day or night.  In Jiang Li's words……it was a pity that I was not actually a pig.

          When we reached the Male airport at night, it was already 10 o'clock and we had to go through security screening.  The hotel that we booked was on one of the islands but fortunately not far from Male.  After going through customs clearance, we got on a speed boat and quickly reached our destination.  By the time we reached our hotel, it was already 12 midnight.  The two of us tidied up a bit and went to sleep.  Before going to sleep, Jiang Li did not forget to mock me.  "You have slept the whole day, how can you still sleep now?"

          I ignored him, very sure that he was jealous.......jealous that I could eat and sleep and lived happier than the pigs!

          I had the opinion that Jiang Li was crazy.  Whilst traveling, he still did not give up his morning exercises.  Early in the morning, he ran a lap around the island before coming back for breakfast which made me look upon him with disdain. 

          Breakfast at the hotel was buffet style, very elaborate but more on Western cuisine which was not to my taste.  However the fruits were not bad and after eating fruits, I had a few drinks with pastries and my breakfast was done.

          After breakfast, we came to the pier and with several other people we participated in the island tour.  The tour took us to some nearby islands to have a feel of local lifestyle and customs. 

          The sea around the Maldives is really beautiful.  The sea is calm and gazing out to sea, gives a feeling of openness and serenity.  The island's vegetation, beaches, villas as well as the water chalets coupled with the clear sky-blue seawater is like a picture, quiet and beautiful.

          Holding my camera I kept on taking pictures of the beautiful scenery and did not want to miss anything. 

          Today, I learned that the residents in the Maldives were good businessmen.  There were many local shops selling souvenirs, with a lot of interesting things such as wood-painted boxes and small pendants made from seashells and fish teeth.  The shop owner was very enthusiastic and since I did not feel nice to refuse, so I picked up a few more items……anyway, someone was paying for them.

          After visiting a few islands in the morning, I was already tired.  However, after lunch was an exciting activity, that was……diving.  In Jiang Li's large suitcase, was a set of well-known diving equipment complete with very professional diving camera.  After arming himself with the equipment, he directly dived into the water without any regards as to my life or death. 

          Jiang Li's figure quickly disappeared into the water.  The water here was very clear and anything within 10 meters depth could clearly be seen.  In this sense, Jiang Li had dived in deeper than 10 meters.  Well, he could dive to whatever depths he wished, I was not envious!  It would be better if he would sink into the water, become a meal for the sharks and never come up again.

          Compared to Jiang Li, my whole diving set up was shabby.  Life jacket, snorkeling equipment, plus a shallow-water camera, all were rented from the hotel. 

          Snorkeling was a very simple matter and also very safe but of course, the view was very limited.  After I was fully equipped, I dived into the water and slowly swam to a distance away. 

          The underwater scenery was very beautiful which gave people rapid heartbeats.  This was the clearest seawater I had ever seen and in the water, immersed in such waters, one could even feel that life was pure and tranquil.

          From time to time, there would be a school of fishes that I could not put a name to, swim past with their brilliant colors and beautiful appearance.  Some fishes were courageous, swam directly beside me and completely ignored me.  I reached out my hand to poke their bellies and they would dodge away deftly, really cute little guys.  I played in the water without care and tried to swim further off.

          After swimming for a while, I came upon the corals.  Beautiful corals in a myriad of colors of different shapes and sizes made a stunning sight.  Nature is fantastic. 

          I swam around the corals for a while.  I reckoned it would be low tide soon and left reluctantly. Tomorrow I must come back again as I had not seen enough of the corals.

          When I returned to the hotel, Jiang Li had already returned, sitting in the room and was online.  I guessed that he must have had a boring dive, so had come back earlier.  Thinking of up to here, I felt proud.  Taking out my laptop, I plugged in the camera's memory card and transferred the photos that I had taken to show off to him.

          He glanced at my computer and looked at the photos like he was looking at radish and cabbages in general with an expressionless face.

          I laughed.  "If you are envious, say so.  I'm curious about what you did underwater."

          "I did this."  He said and picked a picture to show me.

          I looked at his computer screen.  Suddenly my eyes lighted up.  "This coral is beautiful like it is glowing in the dark!  And this fish is so beautiful, I have not seen this before!"

          Then he continued.  "This coral can move."

          Me:  ......? ? ? ?

          He pushed my head away to avoid having my saliva drip onto his keyboard and said.  "This is a soft coral that can move."

          Too amazing!  This was the first time I had ever heard that soft corals existed in this world and I really wanted to see!

          He understood what I was thinking and a sentence from him killed off my thoughts.  "With your aptitude, it would be difficult to get a deepwater license."

          I pursued my lips, pull his hand off the mouse he was clicking and controlled the mouse to see if he had taken any other beautiful pictures.

          Five minutes later.

          "Jiang Li, you only took these few photos?"  Looking through, his computer only had a few pictures of the soft corals and the rest were other beautiful corals in various forms.  They were beautiful but……too little, isn't it?

          Jiang Li nodded and admitted.  "There is nothing else to shoot."

          Me:  "You must be joking.  There must be lots of interesting things in the deep waters.  It is not easy to come here and the opportunity is rare."

          He glanced at my computer screen again and said.  "The essence of taking photos is about quality, not quantity.  Snapping a bunch of rubbish is pointless."

          I felt angry..…..you are rubbish!

Chapter end