Before Classes Began

August 31, 2012. Aside from the fact that he would officially start his senior year the next day, everything was perfectly ordinary.

Zhou Zhuang stared at the movie playing on his computer, breathing hard and heavy.

The source file had come from Wang Liyang, his best friend and seatmate, who sent him a torrent link through QQ the day before and said with a conspiratorial grin that this was definitely something Zhou Zhuang had never seen before.

With only a 500K home connection, Zhou Zhuang had spent the whole night grinding through the download with Xunlei before finally getting it. The moment he woke up, he couldn't wait to watch it.

Wang Liyang's family had close ties with the school. When they found out in freshman year that Zhou Zhuang had taken first place in the entire grade, they used their connections to seat Wang Liyang next to him, hoping that close company would make him better. The result was exactly the opposite: Wang Liyang still spent every day reading novels, and his grades stayed firmly in the middle-to-lower range.

Starting in the second term of freshman year, he even brought some erotic novels for Zhou Zhuang to read with him.

Zhou Zhuang refused on the surface for a whole week, then couldn't resist his own curiosity and eventually went down the same path.

For the first two months after he started reading those novels, Zhou Zhuang's grades, unusually enough, dropped all the way to fifth in the grade. Their adviser, Xie Kai, thought he was under too much pressure and spent an entire evening giving Zhou Zhuang a private counseling session.

Zhou Zhuang didn't dare say that Wang Liyang was the bastard who had dragged him into it, but he secretly resolved to quit those filthy books. Less than a month later, though, Wang Liyang's newest stash lured him right back. Luckily, by then he had built up some resistance, so he didn't get distracted much and could still hold first place.

As for Wang Liyang, Zhou Zhuang was endlessly exasperated. He could fall asleep in ten minutes if you dragged him to study, but if you took him out to play, he could bounce from a karaoke bar in the west side of town to an internet cafe in the east and still complain that a day needed twenty-five hours. Zhou Zhuang had even been the one who taught him how to play DOTA.

By the time sophomore year rolled around and Wang Liyang casually said that if he couldn't get into college he'd just go back home, inherit the family fortune, and live off it until death, Zhou Zhuang had given up on the Wang Liyang Rescue Plan and simply treated him as an amusing companion.

What Zhou Zhuang never told Wang Liyang was that the first time he'd seen the tangled, stormy scenes described in a book, he'd already learned how to jack off.

White breasts, pale thighs, intertwined bodies. Those descriptions always made him think of lingerie ads on TV, naked photos scattered across the internet, and the occasional flash of skin from female classmates on a hot summer campus. Before long, the cock between his legs would stand rigid as a spear.

His hand would move on its own, and just as his fingers touched the swollen glans that was almost fully matured, a shiver would run through his body. The itching sensation only got worse, and his hand couldn't stop moving, desperate to drive that restless heat clean out of him. Only after a stream of milky white fluid burst out of him did his mind finally clear.

That was probably what the punks at school were secretly talking about when they whispered about masturbation.

In that post-orgasm clarity, he despised himself for being exactly the same kind of person. But the next day he couldn't resist doing it again. It was almost like the old joke about knowing you should stop and then immediately going back for another round.

He never told anyone about it, except for his childhood sweetheart, She Yujun.

She Yujun's family and Zhou Zhuang's family lived in the same residential compound.

Their parents had originally worked for the same state-owned company, but when the layoff wave hit in the 1990s, the two families were forced onto different life paths.

The She family chose to stay local and do some small business on the side, while Zhou Zhuang's parents threw themselves into the migrant labor wave and went off to chase money elsewhere. That left Zhou Zhuang as a left-behind child.

The two children were close in age, so it was only natural that they became playmates the moment they could babble. When it was time for primary school, they ended up in the same school and the same class.

Their grades were about even, and when they moved on to middle school and then to senior school, they tested into the same places and stayed classmates.

Of course, there was also some behind-the-scenes maneuvering from the adults. At first it was just because the two children got along and could look after each other in one class. Later, once they grew from a pair of golden children into a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman, the adults kept noticing how well they matched and eventually settled on the idea of a childhood betrothal.

She Yujun had been a little beauty since she was young, and now, in the bloom of her youth, she had grown into a slim, graceful woman with willow-shaped brows, phoenix eyes, cherry lips, and a smile in her expression that carried a classical beauty from the inside out. Her Lin Daiyu cosplay at last year's New Year's gala was still, to this day, the ideal image in many people's minds. She had received plenty of love letters, but she already belonged to someone else. Zhou Zhuang tore every single one of them up and threw them in the trash without even reading them.

That classical air wasn't just in her looks. She Yujun had also been raised with extremely traditional values.

Even though Zhou Zhuang confessed in freshman year and, as expected, won her over and made her his girlfriend, their relationship was basically only in name.

So far, the farthest they'd gone was kissing. They hadn't even used tongue.

Whenever he tried to bring up anything more, he would remember her explanation: save the most beautiful moment for the wedding night; if love is meant to last, why cling so tightly to morning and evening? And just like that, his fire would go out.

He still liked and respected that little beauty very much. After dating her, his standards were so high that hardly any of the other girls at school could catch his eye.

With his teenage urges growing stronger and stronger, he could still bear to wait a little longer. When it came to the feelings he had for the woman he had already decided would be his future wife, he was always careful.

Deep down, he didn't think of himself as some lust-crazed beast who couldn't even control his own desires. If he couldn't even master that, what big thing could he ever do?

But now, the scene on the screen of a man and a woman naked and fiercely fucking had almost pushed his desire past the edge of reason.

The man was pressing her naked body from behind, his cock sliding in and out rapidly between the woman's plump buttocks, making her cry out in waves. Zhou Zhuang had never heard such filthy sounds before, yet they stirred the most primal beast inside him. The two bouncing mounds on the woman's chest made him dizzy, and his hand moved along with the rhythm without stopping.

Just as he felt like he was about to reach heaven, a knock came at the door. In the porn, the man was finishing happily in the woman's mouth, while Zhou Zhuang was nearly scared soft.

Since his grandmother, who had cared for him all those years, passed away three years ago, he had lived alone at home. The only person who could possibly be knocking now was his little girlfriend, who often came by to cook for him.

He shut off the porn, set it to hide in a folder, cleaned up the scene, and rushed to open the door. On the way, he accidentally slammed his foot into the bedroom doorframe and nearly bit his own tongue from the pain.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick? Why are you so red?" She Yujun was carrying a pile of groceries and looked at Zhou Zhuang with open confusion.

Today she was wearing a pure white short dress. Most of her long, straight legs were bare, her delicate little feet were in sandals, and the red heart-shaped hair clip on her ponytail made her look especially cute.

"No, it's just hot. I'll cool down in a minute. Come on in." Zhou Zhuang took the groceries from her, biting back the pain and not daring to admit he'd been watching an adult video. AV was definitely far beyond the innocent world she knew.

She Yujun didn't stand on ceremony. She went straight into the kitchen, tied on an apron, and got ready to cook. Zhou Zhuang lived alone, and when her parents weren't busy, they usually ate at her place. Otherwise, she would come here and cook for him.

As the textbook model of a good wife and mother, she had learned to cook when she was ten. On the race to win a man's heart and stomach, she was without question an excellent athlete.

"I'll just make two dishes for lunch, dry-pot three delicacies and scallion lamb. We'll eat the rest tonight." She Yujun pulled out an eggplant and waved it at Zhou Zhuang.

"Mm." He gave a careless reply. The shock had already settled, and now the frustration he'd felt earlier came surging back again. Her slim summer clothes couldn't hide her tempting curves at all. Right now, what he really wanted was to eat her.

"Go play. I'll call you when it's ready." She Yujun, busy chopping vegetables, didn't notice the hungry look in his eyes.

Then, without warning, two arms wrapped around her waist, and a hot, hard thing pressed against her ass. Her whole body stiffened. Fortunately, he didn't move any further, or she might not have been able to hold onto the knife in her hand.

"What's wrong with you? You're really strange today," she said after setting the knife down, her voice small and questioning. Of course she knew what was poking against her back was the symbol of a man's desire. She was a traditional girl, and a blush had already climbed over her face.

"I don't want to eat dinner anymore. I want to eat you first." He normally would never say something like that. His reason was already being drowned out.

"Didn't we agree to wait until we're married?" Her voice carried a faint note of pleading. She really wasn't ready yet.

"Can you help me? The way I told you last time." Zhou Zhuang finally backed down. If she didn't want to, he couldn't bring himself to force her, but the fire he'd been holding back all morning was about to break loose.

"How am I supposed to help? I don't know how," she said. She could clearly feel how worked up he was today. Before, whenever he mentioned marriage, his tone would soften, but today he was being shamelessly pushy.

She had read in some sex-ed books that men would calm down after they came, and thinking of that, she blushed and agreed.

Once his girlfriend gave in, Zhou Zhuang was overjoyed. He had asked her before and been flatly rejected, which had depressed him for days. If she could give in once, there would be a second time. Boundaries were always worn down a little at a time.

He led She Yujun back to the bedroom. It was the first time he'd ever taken his pants off in front of a woman, and he felt a little embarrassed too.

But when She Yujun saw his huge erection, she looked even more flustered. She kept covering her face with both hands and refusing to look. Zhou Zhuang felt like crying. If she was going to use up all her hands on herself, what was he supposed to do? Was he really about to perform masturbation in front of her?

After coaxing her for quite a while, he finally got her to wrap her hand around his thick shaft. If Zhou Zhuang hadn't been holding her hand steady, she probably would have gotten shy and run away again.

"It's so big, and so hot," she whispered in amazement. "Bigger than I expected."

Zhou Zhuang was sweating from his forehead. At the very least, he was an eighteen-year-old adult. If he still acted like a little kid, how was he supposed to keep his dignity in the future?

"Aren't you going to pee all of a sudden?" She fussed with it a couple of times. When he didn't answer, she asked another question that almost made him collapse.

"No, no. Just move your hand up and down." His voice was tight, his forehead already covered in sweat.

She was still doubtful, but she obediently started stroking him up and down.

Her well-cared-for little hand really did feel much better than his rough one. The instant her cool, silky fingers brushed his glans, his whole body jolted.

But she had no experience at all. Even after stroking him for quite a while, it felt good, but nowhere near enough to make him cum.

"Can you help me lick it?" Looking at She Yujun's shy, trembling expression and her slightly parted red lips, Zhou Zhuang thought of the shocking scene he'd just watched and couldn't help asking for something more.

"No. That's gross. How can you make me lick the place where you pee?" Her brows creased. She didn't know enough yet to understand that there were other ways to pleasure a man, and her hand slowed down unconsciously.

Seeing that she was getting annoyed, Zhou Zhuang knew he couldn't push too far, so he switched tactics. "Then can I touch you? If I'm more worked up, I'll come faster." He first set an obviously excessive goal, then offered a simpler one. Most people would almost certainly accept the second. That trick never failed.

Of course she knew what he was asking for. He had coveted her well-developed chest for a long time, and before this he'd hinted at it several times, only to be turned down each time. Good girls were supposed to keep themselves clean. That's what her parents had always taught her, and she'd never doubted it. That was also why the family had mostly turned a blind eye to the fact that the two of them had started dating early.

After hesitating for a long while, she gave a tiny nod. Zhou Zhuang eagerly reached for her collar, only for her to grab his hand.

"Didn't you just nod?" Seeing her head shake like a fan, Zhou Zhuang had a headache. The result of blood rushing to his brain was that his lower body went soft.

"I didn't change my mind. You can only touch me through my clothes," She Yujun said softly.

They had already made a big step today. If he pushed too hard, it might backfire.

Zhou Zhuang didn't say anything else. He put both hands on the two soft mounds he'd been dreaming about for years.

So this was the softness and spring of a woman's breasts?

A fantasy he'd carried for years was finally something he could feel with his own hands, and it made him want to cry from excitement.

Those untouched peaks reshaped themselves under his hands through her shirt and bra, and then he heard a soft cry that sounded half painful, half embarrassed.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked gently. She didn't answer. Instead, she buried her face against his chest so he couldn't see her.

Her face was furnace-hot. The grip of her hand around Zhou Zhuang's cock kept getting tighter, and the occasional little moan she let out sent his desire climbing higher and higher.

Feeling the final wave of tingling pleasure arrive, he squeezed the soft flesh in his hands a little roughly, and in the middle of her uncontrollable moan he shot his load over the back of her hand.

"Th- this is the thing that makes babies?" She Yujun stared at the thick white liquid on her hand, eyes wide like a curious child.

"Mm-hm. If a man gets this into a woman's belly, she'll have a baby." Zhou Zhuang, just after emptying himself, still hadn't quite recovered. He lay weakly on the bed and answered in a tired voice.

She Yujun didn't keep asking. The fishy smell made her feel a little sick, but she was too embarrassed to tell him. With a red face, she went to the bathroom and washed the stuff off her hand.

The sound of chopping vegetables coming from the kitchen pulled Zhou Zhuang back from his dazed state.

Just a moment ago, his brain had been stuffed full of desire, and he'd half-pushed, half-been-pushed into letting his girlfriend help him release. Now that he'd calmed down and thought about it, he had no idea whether he'd scared her just now or whether he'd hurt her at the end.

Zhou Zhuang tiptoed into the kitchen and wrapped She Yujun in his arms again from behind, but this time there was no lust in it at all. All that was left was tenderness.

She jumped in surprise, but thankfully he wasn't pressing anything dirty against her this time, so she relaxed.

"Stop messing around. I have to cook. After all this trouble, if you're not hungry, I am," she complained, but her body made no move to drive him away. When he had no hidden agenda, his warm embrace made her feel very safe.

"Give me a kiss and I'll leave," Zhou Zhuang said softly, his face brushing against the ends of her hair.

She Yujun turned her head and lightly kissed his face. Zhou Zhuang took the chance to catch her lips and kiss her deeply, drawing a string of light punches from her in return.

After dinner, Zhou Zhuang patted his satisfied stomach. No matter how often he ate her cooking, he never got tired of it.

Washing the dishes and cleaning up was his job. Partly because She Yujun didn't like doing it, and partly because he wanted to keep her hands soft and delicate.

After he finished cleaning up, he found his sweetheart sitting on the sofa with a troubled look on her face. He frowned in confusion. She'd been fine a minute ago. Could it be that her period had started?

"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly unhappy?"

"Tell me, Zhou Zhuang, am I a bad girl?" Looking at his baffled face, she added softly, "What we did today... isn't that only something husband and wife should do? Does that mean I'm not pure anymore?"

She really was... painfully innocent and adorable. Zhou Zhuang rubbed the bridge of his nose and explained with a smile, "I only let you help me with that because I treat you like my wife. I wouldn't even bother asking anyone else."

"But I still feel strange," she said, staring down at the floor.

What kind of reaction was that?

Zhou Zhuang had never seen her like this before. He scratched the back of his head and thought for a long time. A girl's mind really was harder to figure out than a geometry problem.

Then he thought of a possibility and asked with an idiot's grin, "Did I hurt your breasts?"

Better not have asked. The moment he said it, She Yujun's face turned into a red apple. She muttered, "I'll go home for a bit," and fled as if running for her life. No matter how many times he called after her, she didn't answer.

The guy who knew theory but lacked practice still hadn't realized the impact her bodily reaction had on her mind.

Zhou Zhuang originally thought She Yujun wouldn't come back, but half an hour later she knocked on his door again. This time she'd changed into a white T-shirt and a skirt that reached her knees. Her shy explanation was that she'd sweated too much.

In the summer afternoon, the whole outside world felt like a natural sauna, and neither of them wanted to go out. They wordlessly chose to curl up in the air-conditioned bedroom instead.

"How about we watch a movie?" She Yujun was still a little shaken from what had happened that morning and was afraid Zhou Zhuang might get wolfish again, so she took the initiative to suggest something to fill the afternoon.

"Sure. What kind do you want to watch?"

"A romance film."

That put Zhou Zhuang in a bind. The kinds of movies boys usually liked were action flicks with plenty of fighting and explosions, or the sort of adult romantic action movie they'd watched earlier. If that counted as romance, then maybe watching one with her wouldn't be impossible... but that thought only belonged in his head. If he actually put that kind of thing in front of her, she'd probably blow up on the spot.

A proper romance movie was definitely out of the question for now. Their lousy internet wouldn't handle a decent stream until the next day anyway. After digging through his stash for a while, he finally found A Chinese Odyssey. It barely counted as a romance film, and it was funny too. She'd probably like it.

"What's it about?" She Yujun glanced at the cast list. She had seen a few comedies starring Stephen Chow before; they were funny, but he didn't look like the sort of actor who'd star in a romance movie.

"I'm not spoiling it. Just watch and relax. It's really good."

During the three-hour film, She Yujun alternated between laughing at the bandits' ridiculous attempt to kill Spring 30th Aunt and staring at Zhou Zhuang in bafflement as he snickered at lines like, "You sent a chill through my body." When made his classic confession to and said, "I once had a genuine love before me, but I didn't cherish it," she was moved. In the end, when she heard, "I guessed the beginning, but I never guessed the ending," her tears came pouring out.

Zhou Zhuang looked at the stack of tissues on the table, already crushed to half its size, and could only sigh. Women really were made of water. She cried way too easily. Still, he patiently coaxed her, since this was the film he'd chosen.

He'd originally watched it as a comedy. He hadn't expected it to hit this hard.

"Zhou Zhuang, do you think Bai Jingjing is really pitiful?": She Yujun asked through tears while nestled in his arms. "Zhi Zunbao went back five hundred years for Bai Jingjing, but then he fell in love with Zi Xia."

"Huh? That's a pretty strange thing to focus on," he said, stroking his chin, not quite following. Shouldn't the thing people notice be how helpless Zhi Zunbao was when he had to wear the golden circlet for Zi Xia?

"I just don't want you to meet someone nice to you later and then stop wanting me," she replied softly, and her tears threatened to spill again.

"How could that happen? I'm going to ride in on a seven-colored auspicious cloud to marry you someday." A lovestruck girl's way of thinking really was different. She always mapped the story onto herself, so Zhou Zhuang hurried to reassure her.

"You're lying. Once Zhi Zunbao had his seven-colored cloud, he forgot about Zi Xia."

"Do I look like a dog to you?" he asked, remembering the final line of the film and turning it into a joke.

When she shook her head, he tickled her armpit and said, "Exactly. Only little dogs lie." Whether from the tickling or from being amused, She Yujun finally burst out laughing through her tears.

Time always moved fast when lovers were clinging to each other. After they finished the beef noodles She Yujun had made and caught up on tomorrow's homework together, it was already ten at night.

Zhou Zhuang sent She Yujun back home.

Technically, "sent her home" just meant walking from one building in the compound to another, which they treated as a little evening stroll.

"Zhou Zhuang, wait a moment."

He had just walked her to the door of her home and was about to head back when he heard her call out behind him. Instinctively, he turned around.

She stood one step above him and kissed him from above, landing right on his lips.

Soft, sweet, carrying a trace of the moist warmth of summer sweat. They had kissed many times before, but every time still set his heart racing, especially tonight when she had taken the initiative to offer him that kiss.

"Why did you suddenly kiss me?" When their lips parted, he asked the question he had been wondering about.

"A reward for you. You didn't pick on me again this afternoon or tonight." She Yujun stuck out her tongue, looking playfully smug.

"Huh? Heh, no, that wasn't enough just now. Come here again." As he spoke, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed his mouth back against hers. She didn't resist at all and let him do as he pleased.

With a crisp click, a streak of light suddenly broke through the pitch-black corridor in the middle of their embrace. The door to She Yujun's home had opened. It was her father, She Guowei. The weathered face of the middle-aged man didn't show much displeasure, but Zhou Zhuang still felt a wave of pressure. After all, he had been caught making out right at the doorway of someone else's house, with the gardener seeing everything. He wanted to find a hole and crawl into it on the spot.

"Thanks for bringing Yujun back, Xiaozhuang. It's late, so I won't keep you. Head back early. You two still have class tomorrow."

She Yujun lowered her head and timidly followed her father inside. Having been shown the door by She Guowei, Zhou Zhuang awkwardly said okay, then went downstairs.

The late-summer, early-autumn night wind finally carried a touch of coolness, and it slowly calmed the restless fear in Zhou Zhuang's chest.

He wasn't worried that She Guowei would try to split them up. The Zhou and She families had tacitly allowed the two of them to date. It was just that they were still students right now, so they couldn't do anything too out of line. No, that wasn't quite right. They just couldn't do it in front of people, like this morning. That filthy atmosphere, her shy face, the pleasure at the very end... The moon nearing Mid-Autumn Festival already shone bright and clear, and Zhou Zhuang believed tomorrow would be even brighter.