Back at the dining table, Guo Baiyu sat and slowly drank his tea, waiting for Zhao Renshu and Ping'an to return.
Zhao Renshu, meanwhile, walked into the kitchen and returned with five small pots of wine.
"Because today is a happy day, but also a sad one," Zhao Renshu announced with a smile. "Let us drink and let bygones be bygones, eh?" He poured three bowls of wine and handed them to the other two. "With this, I apologize for being a jackass. Let us be friends. After drinking this, I will accept your suggestion." He raised his bowl of wine to Guo Baiyu. "Guo ge, if you accept my apology... please drink it."
Guo Baiyu couldn't refuse. He held up the wine and drank it.
"Let's play a drinking game!" Zhao Renshu said excitedly.
"I don't know any drinking game," Ping'an admitted.
"I am a mountain boy; I don't know any drinking games," Zhao Renshu shrugged. "What about you, Young Master Scholar Guo?"
"Stop calling me Young Master Scholar," Guo Baiyu sighed, a hint of exasperation in his voice.
Zhao Renshu laughed. "Fine. How about you, Baiyu?"
Guo Baiyu hesitated for a moment. "Well... there is one. Scholars used to gather once a year to recite poetry, and we'd guess who wrote the poem. Those who guessed wrong had to drink."
"Have you ever gotten drunk?" Ping'an asked, intrigued.
"No," Guo Baiyu replied calmly.
"Ha... ha... ha... ha... well... brother, today is your lucky day," Zhao Renshu laughed. "I don't know poetry, but let's play a question game. Same rules as your poetry competition, but you can only tell the truth, otherwise one of us will take turns daring you to do something. If you choose truth and cannot answer the question, then you drink. Or, if we dare you to do something and you cannot do it, then you drink too."
"It sounds interesting, but don't drink too much because it is not good for your health," Guo Baiyu cautioned.
"Let's finish eating and clean the deer first," Ping'an suggested, always the practical one.
The three friends finished their dinner and cleaned the deer. They sat at the table and rested.
Zhao Renshu poured more wine into his bowl and Guo Baiyu's bowl.
"Because I am the host, I want to start," Zhao Renshu declared, looking at Ping'an. "Have you ever kissed anyone?"
"I thought you had already forgotten about it," Ping'an retorted, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.
"Not a chance. I have a good memory," Zhao Renshu grinned. "Answer the question."
"Alright, what is the question?" Ping'an asked, steeling herself.
"Have you ever kissed a man before? If so, then who?" Zhao Renshu pressed.
Ping'an hesitated, then replied softly, "Yes." Her cheeks turned a deeper red. "He." Her eyes flickered towards Guo Baiyu.
Zhao Renshu couldn't believe it. "When?" he quickly asked.
"The rules are one question at a time," Guo Baiyu interjected, his expression remaining perfectly calm despite Ping'an's answer. "It's my turn." He looked at Ping'an.
"Ask," Ping'an prompted.
"Have you fallen in love with anyone before? If so, who is it?" Guo Baiyu asked directly.
Ping'an replied, "Yes." She looked down at the wine, then rolled her eyes right and left, looking down on the table. Then she picked up her bowl and drank the wine in one gulp.
Zhao Renshu angrily glared at Guo Baiyu.
"Ask," Guo Baiyu said to Zhao Renshu, a hint of challenge in his voice.
"How long is 'down there'?" Zhao Renshu asked, looking at Guo Baiyu and winking. "Answer the question, if not, then take off your robe." He thought to himself, I won the game and the bet.
Guo Baiyu took a long drink from his bowl of wine.
At first, it was just a truth or dare game. One pot of wine after another. Soon, the two men were completely drunk. They hugged each other, sang, laughed, and cried. One minute they yelled, the next they comforted each other. These two were like toddlers losing their temper. Zhao Renshu was the first to take the next step. As he approached the pond, he began to take off his clothes. Guo Baiyu also followed him to the pond.
"I am very hot. Do you feel hot?" Zhao Renshu slurred. "Let's swim... Let's go swim!"
Ping'an, sitting at the dining table, watched them take off their clothes. Once completely naked, they jumped into the pond like children, splashing water everywhere. Ping'an walked slowly to the pond. She took off her socks and shoes. She rolled her pants up to her knees and sat down, dipping her feet into the cool water.
The sound of splashing water was like guzheng music playing in her ears. She had never felt so happy. Although she watched two naked men playing in the pond with a mixture of bewilderment and amusement, she felt surprisingly comfortable, even though others might have considered this a shameless act.
Two weeks ago, they were complete strangers. She never thought that she would travel here. She had always thought her fate was bound to the Inn. She was born there, and she would die there. So far, her life had been marked by grief.
First, her mother, who died shortly after giving birth to her. Second, her father, who never loved her and always claimed she was the child of the devil. Third, her grandmother, the only one who had loved her since she could remember. She looked down at the water and saw her reflection. When her tears hit the water, ripples spread across its surface.
Guo Baiyu noticed Ping'an's tears. He walked towards her, then gently pulled her into the pond.
Guo Baiyu pulled her closer to him. "Wash my back for me?" He turned his back to Ping'an.
Ping'an moved his long black hair over his left shoulder and began to scrub his back. Then, from the water on her right, Zhao Renshu emerged, wrapping his hands around her waist and placing his head on her right shoulder.
"Wash my back too," Zhao Renshu chimed in playfully.
Ping'an smiled. "Okay. Go stand next to him quickly."
Ping'an moved Zhao Renshu's dark brown hair over his right shoulder. They were now facing each other. The two men turned their heads and smiled, while Ping'an smiled behind them.
After washing the backs of the two men for ten minutes, Ping'an announced, "It's all done." She retracted her hand.
Guo Baiyu and Zhao Renshu turned and stared at her. They wrapped their arms around her waist and hugged her tightly in their arms. They rested their heads on each of her shoulders. They gave her a gentle kiss on each of her cheeks. They didn't know how long they hugged her until Ping'an gently pulled away from their embrace.
Ping'an knew that both of them were drunk, so she didn't think too much of it, and gently pulled herself away from their arms.
"You two, it's time to get dressed," Ping'an instructed softly. "Stay here for too long and you'll catch a cold." She walked to the edge of the pond and pulled herself out, leaving the two men splashing in the pond.
The two men couldn't believe what they had just done, but no matter what, it felt right. They stared at Ping'an until she disappeared into her bedroom.
The two men came out of the pond and walked to their room. They changed their clothes.
"I am going to call it a night," Guo Baiyu announced, his voice a little thick. "I am not thinking straight."
"I am going to drink some more," Zhao Renshu declared, walking out of his bedroom with a pot of wine.
The night was still young, and the three strange friends sat quietly under the moonlit sky. They sat in different places in this secluded Peach Blossom Valley, but in their hearts, they were all thinking about the same thing.
Ping'an, however, found herself restless. The events of the day – the laughter, the confessions, the bewildering warmth of their touch in the pond – swirled within her. She walked to the small opening in her bamboo shed that served as a window, pushing aside the simple curtain. A cool, soft breeze drifted in, carrying the faint, sweet scent of peach blossoms and the fresh, clean air of the mountain.
Outside, the full moon hung like a luminous pearl in the vast, velvet sky, casting long, silver shadows across the pond and the silent landscape. Ping'an stared at it, a complex mix of emotions stirring within her. Grief for her grandmother still ached, a tender wound, but tonight, it was mingled with a surprising, unfamiliar warmth. This valley, these two strange, complicated men... they had given her a sense of belonging she had never truly known.
She thought of Zhao Renshu's wild freedom, his boisterous laughter, his teasing affection. Then her mind drifted to Guo Baiyu's quiet strength, his unwavering gaze, the gentle concern in his eyes. She touched her lips, remembering the unexpected, chaste kisses on her cheeks, and a blush stole across her face, despite the cool night air. What was this feeling? A tangle of confusion and a nascent, terrifying hope.
The wind rustled the leaves, like a soft sigh through the valley. It carried away the last vestiges of the day's chaos, leaving behind only the quiet hum of her own heart. She was here, in this beautiful, hidden place, no longer bound by old shadows. For the first time in her life, Ping'an felt truly, terrifyingly free, gazing at a moon that seemed to whisper promises of an unknown, yet hopeful, future. She knew, deep down, that her life had irrevocably changed. And as she watched the moon, she wondered if the two men, sleeping in their own separate corners of this tranquil haven, were also, in their own ways, pondering the strange, new path they had all stumbled onto together.