Chapter 5

Wen Ci’s mind went blank for a moment, and in the end, she could only manage to say, “Anything is fine, thank you.”

Zhou Wu picked a rice ball, had the cashier scoop some oden, and took two packs of snacks.

When they were paying, Zhou Wu glanced through the transparent glass of the convenience store at his car.

Wen Ci kept her head down, unaware.

Wen Ci was someone who blushed easily. Usually, by the time they kissed, her ears would already be bright red. Zhou Wu had always thought it was just her physical trait. Every time they were intimate, even though her body would flush with heat, she remained calm and composed. She would cooperate with everything he said, keep her eyes shut, bite her lips, and only at the end would she make a sound.

Now, it seemed, that wasn’t the full explanation.

After taking the items from the cashier, Zhou Wu stopped smiling and turned toward the car.

The car door opened, and Wen Ci immediately straightened up, her face returning to calm.

“Is this okay?” Zhou Wu asked her.

“Yes, thank you,” Wen Ci replied.

To ease the awkwardness, Wen Ci tried to eat along the way.

But she had such a good eating habit that, after nibbling along the way, she still hadn’t finished half of the rice ball by the time she saw the hotel building.

“It’s fine, take your time,” Zhou Wu said, resting his elbow on the car window. “You can eat it when we get to the room; I’m not in a hurry.”

“…” Wen Ci’s cheeks were puffed out as she looked out the window. “Okay.”

Zhou Wu almost smiled again.

That night, when they kissed, Zhou Wu didn’t rush to close his eyes.

He kept his gaze on Wen Ci’s face. Her eyes were tightly shut, her breathing heavy, but she tilted her head in sync with his kiss.

Zhou Wu leaned down.

Thinking of Qin Yun’s words, “like being choked,” Zhou Wu paused, not pressing further.

Her small legs were trembling, and Zhou Wu glanced up. Sure enough, Wen Ci had one arm over her eyes, her lips tightly pressed together, not making a sound. In the soft glow of the bedside light, her face had turned pink.

Every time, Wen Ci rarely looked at him, and Zhou Wu never forced it. He respected the preferences of his bed partner. But for some reason, tonight, he was curious about the face under her arm.

A sharp ringtone sounded, and Wen Ci stiffened.

“Sorry,” the arm, as if hearing Zhou Wu’s thoughts, obediently withdrew. Wen Ci looked at him, her eyes red, moisture in them, clearly the result of their previous activities. She politely asked, “Can I take this call?”

Zhou Wu took her phone from the bedside table and handed it to her. He glanced at the screen, which showed “Mom” calling.

As soon as Wen Ci answered, she heard her mother’s anxious voice, “Where are you?”

Her mother’s voice was loud and somewhat urgent, clear enough for anyone nearby to hear. “I just checked the living room monitor. There’s no one at home, and you’re not replying to my messages. Are you trying to make me anxious? Where are you now? Why haven’t you come home by this time?”

Wen Ci paused for half a second before answering, “I’m at Yiqing’s house.”

Her mother sighed in relief, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought you weren’t home, so I didn’t say anything.”

“You child, no matter what, you should let your dad and me know if you’re staying out overnight.”

“Okay, I know.”

“Yiqing must be busy with work lately, right? I heard from her mom that she’s teaching second-year high school students this semester. You should try not to bother her too much. She…”

“I know, Mom,” Wen Ci interrupted, “Yiqing is calling me. I’ll go see what’s going on. I’ll hang up now, Mom.”

After ending the call, Wen Ci immediately sent a message to her pinned WeChat friend, asking them to cover for her with her parents.

Once everything was taken care of, Wen Ci sighed in relief. When she turned around, she saw Zhou Wu sitting leisurely in his spot. He had good habits and liked to exercise. His shoulders and back were smooth and well-defined, and his arm had faintly visible veins from the state he was in, with a thin layer of sweat on his muscles.

From their earlier activities, the look he gave her now was deep and intense.

This was the first time Wen Ci truly looked at Zhou Wu at this moment.

In just one glance, she felt like all the places she had just touched were burning hot, like they were on fire.

“Are you done?” Zhou Wu asked.

Wen Ci immediately looked away, “Hmm, sorry, I didn’t expect…”

She stopped mid-sentence.

The phrase “didn’t expect my family to check the surveillance” was hard to say. For someone as free-spirited as Zhou Wu, a grown adult in their twenties still needing to report their whereabouts to their parents daily might be hard for him to understand.

She didn’t finish her sentence, and Zhou Wu didn’t ask. His broad, warm hand effortlessly pulled her back.

“Then I’ll continue.”

—-

At two o’clock, after Zhou Wu finished showering, Wen Ci was getting ready to change clothes and leave.

“Going to Dou Yiqing’s house?” Zhou Wu asked while drying his hair.

By now, Yiqing must have already gone to sleep, and Wen Ci had no intention of disturbing her.

“No,” Wen Ci hesitated, “You remember her?”

“Wasn’t she your deskmate in high school?” Zhou Wu remembered the content of her earlier phone call and said, “Will your family ask about you if you go home this late?”

Wen Ci replied, “I’ll go sit at the convenience store for a while, and when it gets light, I can go back.”

“Wen Ci,” Zhou Wu suddenly called her. He leaned against the wall and asked with a smile, “You don’t like this hotel? Or aren’t you used to having someone sleep next to you?”

Wen Ci immediately responded, “No.”

“Is it my problem?” Zhou Wu said lazily, “I don’t have any bad sleeping habits.”

“It’s not that.” Wen Ci realized and lifted her phone to explain, “It’s almost the end of the term, and the school just notified me that the work report is due tomorrow. I haven’t finished yet, so I’ll have to stay up tonight. I won’t disturb your sleep here.”

Zhou Wu said, “I don’t mind the environment when I sleep.”

Wen Ci had only changed half of her clothes, and her long skirt was still not on. Her straight, white legs were exposed to the air.

Zhou Wu glanced over but quickly turned away.

This time, he controlled himself, and the marks on her skin should fade more easily.

Zhou Wu picked up her laptop bag and moved the desk lamp, adjusting the brightness to its maximum: “Stay here and work.”

Wen Ci hesitated for a moment, and her private desires took over: “Okay, thanks.”

Zhou Wu turned toward the bathroom, and the room fell silent again. While waiting for her computer to start up, Wen Ci couldn’t help but glance out the window.

One of the reasons this suite was so expensive was because it had a floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the entire night view of Jiangcheng.

Wen Ci had never sat at such a large desk before. She rested her chin on her hand and looked at the corner of the building in the distance.

That was the hotel where she and Zhou Wu had first agreed to meet. After doing a lot of research, she had chosen it. Although it was also a famous chain hotel, the floors were more than twice as low as Jinjiang, so the city lights couldn’t be seen, nor could the traffic on the riverbank bridges.

Wen Ci stared out the window for a while before returning her focus to her work report.

After thinking for a moment, she reached out to dim the desk lamp by half.

At that moment, Zhou Wu suddenly walked over.

He glanced at the desk lamp, then handed her a t-shirt he had grabbed from the closet: “Wear this to sleep, it’s more comfortable.”

Wen Ci stared at him without moving.

Zhou Wu laughed: “It’s washed and clean.”

“…I didn’t mean that,” Wen Ci took it, dryly saying, “Thanks.”

Zhou Wu lazily responded with a hum, raised his hand, and turned the desk lamp back to its maximum brightness, making the room bright again.

“You’re the last teacher in your grade who doesn’t wear glasses,” he said, “You should protect your eyes well.”

Wen Ci was taken aback and blurted out, “How do you know?”

Zhou Wu replied, “There’s a photo in the post you forwarded.”

Among the group of teachers, Wen Ci was the only one without glasses. Her eyes were slightly squinted, and she smiled in a very formal, practiced way, standing out and looking beautiful.

By the time Wen Ci came back to herself, Zhou Wu had already moved to the other side and was lying on the bed.

Wen Ci changed into Zhou Wu’s t-shirt. It was loose, and she didn’t know the brand, but it was very soft and just long enough to cover her hips.

She opened her Moments and clicked on that task post for the first time. There was indeed a photo with the caption “All faculty and staff of Jiangcheng Primary School celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jiangcheng Middle School.”

Wen Ci found herself in the photo and couldn’t help but rub her face.

Her collar was a little crooked, and her hair was messy. She hadn’t expected this photo to be seen by Zhou Wu.

Underneath the post, Zhou Wu had liked it.

She put her phone down and returned to work.

After typing a few keys, she bit her lip and opened WeChat.

She canceled the block on Zhou Wu.

—-

The next day, when Wen Ci returned home and had just parked her bike, her phone suddenly rang loudly.

“Wen Ci! You’re really bold!!!” Dou Yiqing screamed on the other end of the phone, “You! You’re even staying overnight at that man’s place right now!!! Aaaah!!!”

Dou Yiqing was Wen Ci’s close friend. They met in middle school, were always in the same class, and even went to the same university. Now, Wen Ci taught at Jiangcheng Primary School, while Dou Yiqing taught at Jiangcheng Middle School, their alma mater.

Perhaps because both of their parents were teachers, they had a lot in common and were very close.

Only Dou Yiqing knew that Wen Ci had a casual fling, as Wen Ci occasionally came home late and needed her to cover for her.

But Wen Ci hadn’t told her that her fling was Zhou Wu, their high school classmate.

“Just this once,” Wen Ci laughed, and the exhaustion from staying up late seemed to dissipate with Dou Yiqing’s shout, “Lower your voice!”

“It doesn’t matter, I live alone now, no one will hear.”

Raised under the heavy pressure of both parents being teachers, some explode in silence, while others fade away in silence.

Dou Yiqing was the former. She had officially fallen out with her family last year after being forced into blind dates, and she had since moved out to live alone.

But now she thought her best friend was crazier: “You must tell me today! Who is that man!!!”

“It’s definitely someone you know. There’s no way you’d sleep with a stranger,” Dou Yiqing began her nth analysis. “The person you know is the person I know. Maybe even a classmate of ours. When were we classmates? College or high school—”

“No,” Wen Ci quickly interrupted, “He, he’s someone you don’t know. Not anyone we know.”

Dou Yiqing was sure: “High school.”

“……”

“Stop guessing, Yiqing, I really don’t want to say,” Wen Ci admitted defeat.

Dou Yiqing let out a heavy sigh on the other end. If she didn’t know Wen Ci so well, it would have been easier. Someone like Wen Ci, if she didn’t like someone, there’s no way she’d sleep with them.

But if she liked him, why couldn’t they be together properly?

There was only one answer: He was a scumbag, just wanted to sleep with her and not take responsibility.

Dou Yiqing was shocked when she saw Wen Ci’s message this morning. She had planned to force Wen Ci to reveal that dog man’s name today no matter what, but when she heard Wen Ci begging for mercy, she softened again.

“Fine.” After a brief silence, Dou Yiqing temporarily compromised and then screamed, “But you have to swear! You absolutely will not get pregnant by accident!!!”

“How could that happen! Every time—” Wen Ci paused, raising her hand to the sky, “I swear.”