My Asian Dragon

Chapter 4

Waking up the next morning, Joy realized that she had made a life changing decision, even without meaning to. While she had talked and offered to help out Yingtai’s family the night before, she had only meant for the time it was necessary for the young woman to recuperate. This morning though, she felt like she might be willing to stay in the village for a long time. Check that, she thought to herself. You’d be willing to go wherever Longwei wants to go for a long time. You haven’t had it this bad for a man in a long time, maybe never.

The thought both scared and thrilled her. After all, she had known the man for less than a month, never mind the fact that he was a dragon. By every reasonable, logical thought process that she could imagine, her feelings for Longwei were foolishly stupid. He was a foreign national, in China of all places. He lived in a village that looked like the total annual income was less than her salary working for the AER. Oh, and he was seen as some sort of messianic figure by his village.

On the other hand, he was kind, he was a very good leader of the village, by what she had seen, and he was definitely the best lover she had ever had. The sensations she had felt in her body, even with his admitted inexperience, were greater than she had ever felt. Even better, he was inexperienced in bed. She knew he wasn’t some sort of player, out just to notch a belt or have a few tales to swap with his buddies down at the club (then again, the village didn’t even have a club).

Stretching on the blanket, she realized that Longwei had gotten up earlier, and cleaned up the small courtyard garden. She was almost cocooned in the light blanket, and she smiled, still smelling the scent of him on the fabric. The sun was just peeking over the temple wall, and she checked underneath the blanket. She was still nude, but a glance to her left showed that Longwei had considerately folded all of her clothing within arm’s reach. Reaching for her shirt, she pulled it over her shoulders before wrapping the rest of the blanket around her hips like a skirt. The temple was usually empty, and she figured nobody would mind even if they did see her.

Making her way quickly though the hallways, Joy darted into her room just as she saw someone turn the corner of the corridor. Sliding the door shut, she made her way over to the small dresser she had, pulled out normal village work attire of trousers and a t-shirt, and got dressed for the day. Her tennis shoes were dirty and scuffed, but they would hold together a while longer.

Pulling her hair back for work, she stopped when she heard a soft knock on her door, eerily reminiscent of the night before and Longwei. She turned, and felt her heart skip a beat when Longwei opened her sliding door. “Good morning,” he said with his normal soft smile. “I’m sorry that I had to leave you on the grass, but there was some work I had to complete before sunup. I didn’t want to lift you, you seemed so comfortable.”

“Thank you,” she replied, coming over and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Tell me, is there any major Chinese custom that says I can’t kiss you?”

“Well, no more than an American one,” Longwei said. “I’d avoid doing it in front of the village’s children, they tend to giggle and tease.”

“Then we’ll just have to avoid the children for a while,” Joy said, kissing Longwei tenderly. “But again, thank you.”

“Would you like some breakfast?” Longwei asked, pulling away slightly. Joy chuckled as she saw the slight bulge in his trousers. While part of her wondered if she could get him into bed with her now, she also knew he had duties to perform.

“Okay. While we eat, I’d like to talk about the upcoming months,” Joy said, following him out. “I was hoping to give Billy a call today.”

“Oh? What for?”

Joy sat down at the table, which already had rice and vegetables on it. “Well, we talked a little about it yesterday, but I want to get some things from my apartment, close up the place, stuff like that. Also, I was thinking maybe I can use some of my money to get some things for the children. I bet they would like some new DVD’s.”

Longwei smiled as he scooped up a mouthful of rice. “Not necessary, but I will not stop you,” he replied. “Would you like me to give you a list of what the children want most?”

“Maybe,” she replied. “Let me talk to Billy first, see when he can come out to pick me up. Then we can make further plans.”

*****

The road was dusty, but Joy was still glad to have a signal on her cell phone. She reminded herself that she would have to bring back her charger, if only so she could charge it in the school or doctor’s office if needed.

The connection rang, and Joy found herself tapping her foot waiting for Billy to pick up. It was kind of funny, how easily some of the old mannerisms came back to her. Finally, just as she was about to hang up and send Billy a text message, she heard him pick up. “Hello?”

“Hey Billy, long time no talk.”

“Joy! How’s live in the country?”

“Pretty good, honestly. Listen, I need to ask you a favor.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Well, some things happened, and I think I’m going to be staying here long term. And I mean real long term. So, I need to clear out my stuff, and get some things out here. Is there any way I could convince you to come pick me up in your van?”

She could hear Billy humming as he thought, or perhaps he was checking his calendar. “Okay. I can meet you in the village in about a week, I’ve got a service I am preaching out there. If you don’t mind taking an extra day getting back, and then about three days in Shanghai to clear your stuff, I can do it for you.”

“That’s great, Billy!” Joy said, jumping excitedly in the dirt. “Listen, my battery is almost dead, so I may not be able to know when you are getting close. So, what day are you thinking you’ll be in town?”

“Let’s say, if everything goes right, a week from tomorrow?”

“Excellent. Thanks, Billy.”

Joy closed her phone, and headed back to the village. If she had a week, she and Longwei would have plenty of time to make a list of things she could pick up in her time in Shanghai. Starting with DVDs for the kids and medicine for Yingtai.