“I’m sorry.” She hurriedly apologized. The next moment, her hand grazed the side of the hot pot and was scalded, making her inhale sharply in pain.
The more anxious she was, the more chaotic she became.
By reflex, she pinched her earlobe. “Teacher Yi, let me wash the dishes.”
Before she could even finish speaking, Yi Wenze had already turned on the faucet and placed her hand under the running water. The water flowed along his fingers onto her hand. Because he was blocking most of the light, all Jia He could see was the stream of water in front of her and her own hand. She unexpectedly felt a rolling heat rising through her body.
It seemed a very long time before he finally turned off the water and pulled her around to face him.
Jia He did not dare move. Her gaze floated from the buttons of his shirt all the way to the two bowls of noodles on the table. The noodles only contained a thumb-sized pack of sesame paste, but the aroma was mouthwateringly fragrant. Just looking was enough to make her starving stomach growl audibly.
“The noodles will taste bad if we don’t eat them soon…” She began, wanting to turn around to grab the noodles.
Leaning back against the marble countertop, with one hand, he drew her into his embrace. Her petite body was nearly engulfed by his hug. She did not dare budge, only feeling her body temperature continuing to rise until she was scorched.
His voice lowered. “Jia He.”
“Mm?” She lifted her head.
“If you’re unwilling, just tell me.”
In just nine words, before she could even form a complete sentence, he had already lowered his head to kiss her.
At first, he alternated between light and heavy, feeling his way inch by inch as he waited for her to get used to it.
After quite some time passed, he at last lightly pried open her lips and deeply kissed down. This was their first time kissing, yet it was unexpectedly seamless and immersed. He was not rushed. They had suitable time, a suitable location, and a long, undisturbed night ahead of them… Until his tongue tip brushed teasingly over the roof of her mouth, Jia He finally gave a faint tremor and let slip a muted whimper, light to the point it was nearly inaudible.
In exchange, he began a thorough pillage and plunder.
At the start, it was unknown who was fleeing and who giving chase, but in the end, it was still nothing more than laying down arms and complete surrender, entirely losing oneself…
It was not until he finally released her that she opened her eyes again. Going from a blank whiteness to the pitch black of his eyes, she simply stared at him in a daze.
He reached out a hand and flicked Jia He’s forehead. “Eat the noodles.”
Then, carrying both bowls of noodles, he first walked out to the dining room and turned on the light.
She, however, still remained standing in her original spot, watching as he exited. Her mind was full of images from just now—his lingering cigarette scent, the nearly suffocating embrace, and also… that completely unfair line he had said.
With her mouth blocked up, even if she had been unwilling, how was she supposed to tell him…?
And so, Jia He decided, she definitely was going to write this line into the screenplay. It could not be wasted.
“Don’t you like it?” Yi Wenze watched her basically picking up and eating the noodles one strand at a time and could not help laughing.
Jia He continued carefully biting another strand she had picked up with her chopsticks. “It’s very delicious.”
It was absolutely not a lie. It truly was delicious.
He smiled as he looked at her without speaking. He watched until she grew embarrassed under his gaze before he asked, “How many strands of noodles are in that bowl, Miss Jia He?”
Jia He gave an “Ah” cry. Hearing him actually chuckle, she finally reacted after a brief delay that she was being made fun of.
The pendant lights in the dining area were brand new and surrounded by red decorative paper.
The ambience truly pushed the mood all the way to an ambiguous climax.
Cradling her bowl, Jia He took a sip of the noodle soup. She had just opened her mouth, wanting to speak, when there were already sounds coming from the entrance hallway. As if she had been caught red-handed doing something bad, she swiftly set her bowl down and was the first to speak before Wu Zhilun could open his mouth. “How come you’re back so late?”
Wu Zhilun gave a startled jump and inexplicably peered at her. “Were you guys waiting for me?”
When he finished asking this question and saw both of their appearances, plus the noodles on the table, he immediately asked another one, “Waiting to eat supper with me?”
Jia He was mortified. She promptly stood up from her seat. “There’s still another box of noodles. If you want some, I can cook them right now.”
Wu Zhilun looked from her to Yi Wenze, then back at her again. “Has this fan gone crazy? Or did she suddenly discover that she’s actually more of my fan instead?”
“Forget about it. Jia He doesn’t like men who look too feminine,” Qiao Qiao remarked as if a spirit suddenly coming into existence, walking out with an empty cup in hand. She went over to the bar and poured herself a glass of water. “I’m hungry now, too. Let’s cook them together.”
How was it that they were all popping up one after the other…?
The skin on Jia He’s scalp prickled uncomfortably as she bolted into the kitchen and cooked two more bowls of noodles that she carried back out to the two of them. Seeing that Yi Wenze had finished eating, she promptly started tidying up the bowls and chopsticks and brought them over to wash, no longer daring to glimpse anyone’s expressions after that. It was not until she had completely waited upon the two who had barged in that she finally returned to her room. There, she rolled and tangled up her blankets into a ball that she hugged while spacing out in a daze.
What was this considered? A moment of uncontrollable passion?
A suitable time and place. They had been a little stirred emotionally and took the chance to alleviate loneliness?
Her heartbeat quickened for a moment, then slowed for a moment. She was growing increasingly annoyed and restless.
In the end, she simply took out her mobile phone to look at her calendar, preparing to call tomorrow to book her flight ticket to go back to Beijing.
“Can’t sleep?” Qiao Qiao came in and shut the door behind herself, an ambiguous smile on her face. “I can’t fall asleep either. Want to chat for a bit?”
Jia He glowered at her. She somehow felt that Qiao Qiao had seen something but was not saying it aloud. However, she also could not directly ask about it and could only give a subdued grunt. “I already slept for a whole day. Of course I can’t fall asleep now.”
Qiao Qiao kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, tugging Jia He’s blankets over. “How come you’re not asking me? You’re not asking me?”
Jia He rolled over so her back was facing Qiao Qiao and did not say anything. Actually, her heart was already pounding rapidly and she wished she could drill under the bed and hide.
“Were you the one who initiated it, or was he the one who took the lead?” Qiao Qiao sidled up next to her.
Jia He nearly tumbled off the bed. “You saw everything?”
“I saw up to the beginning part. Then I was plastered against the door listening for movement. It went on for a really long time… I honestly waited more than ten minutes.”
Jia He was even more embarrassed now.
After lengthy silence, Qiao Qiao finally languidly remarked, “You’re too fierce. That day in the massage room, when I saw him carry you to the bed, I thought you had already ‘conquered’ him. I didn’t expect, I didn’t expect… the progress to actually be so slow.”
With a snap, Jia He turned off the bedside lamp and could only squeeze out two words: “Go to sleep.”
Jia He set her phone alarm very early the next morning and immediately changed into her own clothes after getting up to pack her bag, preparing to leave. It was rare to see her so attentive that Qiao Qiao did not dare say too much. She swiftly slipped into some clothes as well and went out first to fill up the gas tank in the car. Jia He was left on her own in the room. Brooding and dithering for quite a while, her mind kept revolving around how she should bid farewell to Yi Wenze, yet she continually felt she was not sincere enough.
Oh well. She had only come here in the first place because of that accident. Now that she was better, of course she should leave.
And so, continuing to brainwash herself with these thoughts, she at last slung her bag onto her back and stepped out of the room.
Unexpectedly, besides Auntie wiping the floors, the house seemed to not contain a single other person.
Auntie gave a smile and beckoned to her. “You’re up? Do you want breakfast?”
Jia He shook her head. “No need. I’ll go home and eat. Thank you.”
Auntie uttered an “Oh,” bowed her head and wiped a couple times, then seemed to recall something. “You’re going out now? Mr. Yi isn’t in.”
With this one sentence, everything clicked into place.
Finally she did not need to rack her brain for excuses anymore. Hurriedly take advantage of this chance to leave.
When she was slipping on her shoes in the entryway, she felt she was being somewhat impolite. At the very least, she should still properly give thanks and bid them farewell. Musing over this for quite some time with mobile phone in hand, she finally shoved it back into her pocket. She asked Auntie for pen and paper and wrote a single line: I’ve left. Thank you for these last couple days. Next chance I get, I will treat you to a meal.
Once she finished writing this, she again felt it was inappropriate, so she tore off that sheet of paper and wrote a new one:
Something urgent came up in Beijing so I’m leaving first. Let’s meet again next time if we have the chance. I’ll treat you to a meal then. Jia He.
She handed this note to Auntie and crumpled that discarded slip of paper into a little ball that she stuffed into her pocket before heading out the door.
She had stayed here for two days but this was her first time coming out in the daytime. When she walked to the main entrance, she turned back for a final look at the house. There were many potted plants on the balcony of the second floor, a lush green.
“Jia He.” Qiao Qiao had parked the car outside the gates and smilingly called to her.
Jia He swiftly pulled her gaze back in and somewhat nervously climbed into the vehicle.
“Look.” Qiao Qiao held her phone out for Jia He to see. It was the moment she had just snapped a picture a moment ago. “Look at your little expression. You were absolutely reluctant to part.”
Jia He took Qiao Qiao’s phone and inexplicably forwarded the picture to her own mobile before pressing delete on Qiao Qiao’s phone.
The car drove onto the Yangpu Bridge. The sunlight coming in through the front windshield was shining on her and she felt rather hot. “How come Shanghai suddenly turned hot?” She happened to be wearing the outfit from two days ago. But taking a look at the people in the other vehicles, she truly felt as if she had come from Mars or somewhere.
Qiao Qiao did not answer her question and instead asked one back. “Did you tell Yi Wenze? What did he say?”
Jia He rolled the window halfway down. “He wasn’t home.”
A gust of wind suddenly blew in, and her hair became a little tangled in her field of vision. As she casually smoothed it back with her hand, she happened to glimpse what looked to be A Qing’s figure in a car driving the opposite direction. Her heart involuntarily gave a jolt. If A Qing saw her right now, it would be too awkward…
Wanting to duck her head and hide away, she instead fiercely crashed it into the divider in front of her, crying out loudly in pain.
“What’re you doing?” Qiao Qiao gaped incredulously. By that time, their vehicle had already sped up and driven past that other car.
Jia He randomly made up an excuse. “I was trying to get my phone to book the flight.”
As long as it was not during a work day, the flight route between Beijing and Shanghai had the most frequent flights. It did not take long at all for her to use Ctrip[23] to book a ticket on the nine o’clock flight tonight through her phone. Jia He dropped Qiao Qiao off at her company after that and immediately drove back home to pack up her things. There were still some stuff left in her fridge that she all flung straight into the trash can. Every time she went back to Beijing, she often stayed for a long time, so even if she left them there, they would go bad by the time she came back to eat them.
By the time she had packed everything away, it was already half past one in the afternoon. She gnawed on a couple bites of a bread roll and then started lounging about idly on the sofa due to having nothing to do.
As soon as she was unoccupied, yesterday’s happenings would incessantly replay in her head. She gave into her stray thoughts and took out her mobile to fiddle with it. Her mind was full of his words, his expression, and that kiss… After toying with her phone for half an hour, she did not even know what she was trying to accomplish.
In the end, she simply opened up a browser and began randomly browsing news headlines.
Her QQ account logged in automatically. As soon as she went online, she saw Xiao Yu’s profile picture bounce up and down incessantly.
When she opened up the window, Xiao Yu had already typed out a sentence: I’m in a meeting right now so can’t make calls. Go check out Wu Zhilun’s Weibo[24] right away.
Jia He was badly frightened and immediately did as Xiao Yu had instructed by searching for Wu Zhilun’s Weibo. She hastily skimmed it. The number of comments was exceptionally high but she otherwise could not see anything out of the ordinary. She asked: What’s wrong?
Xiao Yu’s reply came swiftly: Look at the last comment and find the one by someone named ‘Purely Here for the Gossip’.
Following her instructions, Jia He brought up that person’s Weibo page.
There was only a single photo, as if it was a newly-registered account purely for posting this. The picture showed Jia He getting out of her own car and talking to Wu Zhilun with her head turned to the side. Their location was very clear: right outside Yi Wenze’s home.
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