Chapter 30

The two of them stood on opposite sides of the long, slender bar counter eating their steaks. After taking just two bites, Luan Nian turned around to blend some watermelon juice. His stomach felt weighed down by a cloying sensation, and he desperately craved something cold. Besides, when he had looked up and caught Shang Zhitao with her eyes cast down, the slight flutter of her long eyelashes had stirred an unbearable itch in his heart.

Must be because I’ve been dry for too long. Unable to find any reasonable explanation, Luan Nian chose to ignore the impulses he had harbored toward Shang Zhitao before. The cup of watermelon juice was mostly filled with crushed ice, which barely managed to quell the fire in his chest. Just then, he heard Shang Zhitao ask him, "Could I have a glass of watermelon juice, too?"

Shang Zhitao was thirsty as well. She felt a slight weakness in her knees, though she couldn't explain why.

Luan Nian set a glass of watermelon juice in front of her and watched as she finished her steak and drank the juice. She seemed to enjoy the food immensely, her eyes curving in a gentle, exceptionally tender smile. Having finished, she thanked him with an obedient posture. "Thank you, Luke. I won't bother you any longer!"

Shang Zhitao put on her coat and walked to the front door. She wanted to turn around and say goodbye to Luan Nian, but she saw him leaning against the wall, his gaze dark and brooding, subtly different from his usual self. Recalling the faint ache that had welled up in her heart when Luan Nian sang on stage earlier that day, the farewell stuck in her throat. She simply stared at him, a timid look in her eyes that was tinged with an ambiguous emotion—one she herself couldn't define, didn't know where it had come from, or where it could be vented.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Luan Nian asked faintly.

Shang Zhitao shook her head.

"Are you open to one-night stands?" Luan Nian asked again. He asked whether she was open to them as if he had them all the time.

Shang Zhitao had never been asked such a question before. In her previously naive worldview, sex was linked to love. But now that Luan Nian was asking, her thoughts were in complete disarray. She shook her head, yet nodded at the same time. Her body instinctively leaned backward, only to be trapped against the door by Luan Nian.

His overwhelming kiss left Shang Zhitao breathless. Part of her wanted to leave, but the moment her palm pressed against his beating heart, she surrendered. Shang Zhitao couldn't tell whether she was yielding to desire or genuine attraction; all she knew was that she wanted to stay right there.

Luan Nian tasted the tip of her tongue, tinged with the crisp sweetness of watermelon and the faint chill of crushed ice. Her clean scent rushed into his nose, so unusually captivating.

Once a young girl's passions were stirred, the surging emotions inside her body would pour out—thoroughly expressed, yet delightfully soft and compliant. Even though Luan Nian was extraordinarily fierce, she found it utterly wonderful.

Luan Nian wanted a purely sexual relationship. He wouldn't have to invest too much emotion or waste energy maintaining it. If they clicked, they’d be together; if not, they’d part ways. He found a convenient excuse for his actions: dating was far too exhausting.

With her palm pressed against the skin of his neck, Shang Zhitao never dared open her eyes. Sweat soaked their clothes. Luan Nian never took off his shirt from start to finish, and right there in front of the door of his home, they completed their first encounter—a bout of fierce, passionate lovemaking.

The scene that day was unforgettable. Sometime after Shang Zhitao had left Luan Nian, on a day when the wind blew fiercely, she sat by the window watching the northern gale tear the tree branches into disarray, and suddenly remembered this night between them. She would probably never possess that kind of passion and recklessness again. Luan Nian had cast a spell on her, entangling her for years, leaving her unable to take that first step away from him.

When it was all over, neither of them spoke. Looking back carefully, it was impossible to trace how it had happened in the first place. The emotion had hit so suddenly, the process so intense, leaving no time for thought. Shang Zhitao finally calmed down and realized she had fallen into an affair with Luan Nian. It was too absurd, too naive. She was not the type to boast about it everywhere, while Luan Nian was the type who could fire her without making a sound. Carefully trying to fathom his thoughts, she guessed that he probably didn't want to waste energy on this.

So after a brief pause, she finally spoke up: "Luke... just now, I mean, that was an accident. We're both adults, and one-night stands are totally normal. Let's not make things awkward between us because of this. Thank you." She even thanked Luan Nian, then turned her back to him to tidy her clothes. Once properly dressed, she stood up. "Um... I'm heading out then." She chalked up what had happened between them to a momentary impulse, so they wouldn't feel awkward when seeing each other in the future. Shang Zhitao didn't know if Luan Nian felt he had gotten the short end of the stick, but she certainly hadn't. In fact, she thought the experience had been fantastic.

Did people usually say goodbye like this after a one-night stand? Or should she leave Luan Nian some money? His service was quite good... Lost in her wild thoughts, she walked out the door. Luan Nian remained silent the entire time.

Yet once she stepped outside, Shang Zhitao felt a twinge of regret. Why hadn't she stayed a little longer? She wouldn't get to sleep with him again. As she neared the gate of Luan Nian's residential compound, the night wind blew so fiercely that it stopped her in her tracks. Gritting her teeth, she turned back toward his home. With her hand poised over the doorbell, before she could even press it, Luan Nian swung open the outer garden door and yanked Shang Zhitao inside.

Still, not a word was spoken. Luan Nian scooped Shang Zhitao up and carried her toward the second-floor bedroom. His clothes brushed against her face, and her lips proactively sought out his. Shang Zhitao's passion took Luan Nian by surprise. He threw her onto the bed, leaned over her body, and asked in a husky voice, "Why did you come back?"

"Thinking that there wouldn't be a next time made me feel it was a pity." It was rare for Shang Zhitao to be so bold; she had poured all the audacity of her lifetime into that single night. She truly loved this physical intimacy with Luan Nian. It felt incredible.

Luan Nian pressed his lips to her neck, his teeth lightly grazing her skin as he murmured softly, "Whenever you want, anytime."

Shang Zhitao felt as if her body had been rebuilt. When she broke up with Xin Zhaozhou, she had mistakenly believed she would never be with anyone else in this lifetime. Back then, she felt her body could only ever accept Xin Zhaozhou. Now, she had an epiphany: when a woman broke free from the shackles of those outdated notions and explored purely by instinct, the liberation of the body was surprisingly effortless.

It was simply magnificent.

They barely spoke that night, melting into each other's bodies again and again in a silent struggle. Shang Zhitao felt as though she had turned into the mud on the ground after an early spring rain, completely unable to hold any shape.

It wasn't until dawn approached that they finally wanted to sleep. With someone suddenly sharing the bed, neither of them was used to it—this was true for Shang Zhitao, and equally so for Luan Nian. Accustomed to his solitude, he wouldn't even hire a live-in housekeeper, and he never slept in the same bed with a woman. Each clutching a corner of the blanket, they stayed on their respective sides. Shang Zhitao suddenly thought: People who have one-night stands usually leave when it's done, right? Only couples stay the night. So she cleared her throat and asked Luan Nian, "Luke, do you have a guest room...?"

"Next door."

"Can I go sleep in the guest room?"

"Yeah."

Shang Zhitao breathed a sigh of relief. Hastily throwing on some clothes, she went to the room next door. Exhausted by the night's fierce battle, she couldn't even keep her eyes open and fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. She really had no sense of wariness.

Luan Nian, however, couldn't sleep. What on earth had happened last night? How had he ended up making a move on Shang Zhitao? He was beginning to doubt himself, right down to the words he had uttered: Whenever you want, anytime.

Fuck. Was he out of his mind? Just because she wanted it, he’d be up for it? Would there ever be another loss of control like last night in this lifetime? Impossible. He felt a flicker of annoyance, too. Who knew Shang Zhitao was actually quite open-minded? One-night stands are totally normal? Great. I'm so relieved you think that way.

After letting his thoughts run wild for a long time, Luan Nian finally drifted off to sleep. It was a remarkably good rest; last night’s indulgence seemed to have installed a sleep switch inside his body, making it exceedingly easy to doze off. He had no idea how long he had slept, but when he opened his eyes, it was already dusk. Luan Nian felt that long-lost sensation of having all his energy channels cleared—refreshed, invigorated, and in high spirits. He hopped out of bed to take a shower, suddenly remembering there was still someone sleeping in the guest room next door. He knocked on the door. "Time to get up."

No one answered.

Pushing the door open, he saw the bed was neat and tidy, without a single trace of anyone having slept there. On the pillow lay a piece of paper with a few words written on it: "Thanks for your hard work last night, Luke." The strokes were flowing and vigorous, showing crisp elegance.

???

Thanks for your hard work last night, Luke? Did Shang Zhitao take him for an escort? Leaving a note and walking off without even saying goodbye?

Luan Nian chuckled in exasperation at Shang Zhitao. This woman was something else! Tossing the note into a drawer, he turned and went downstairs. He was in a pretty good mood. Whistling, he headed into the gym and got on the treadmill. As his heart rate climbed, the dopamine released from the workout brought a rush of excitement, though it fell short of last night. Such an obedient girl like Shang Zhitao had an astonishing passion. Luan Nian recalled her soft moan, the way she had cupped his face to seek out his lips, wanting to give their wild abandon a tender ending.

Tan Mian called him out for drinks. He agreed, changed his clothes, and headed out.

Luan Nian carried an air of physically sated languor, mixed with a hint of high spirits. Tan Mian’s gaze swept over him a few times before breaking into a meaningful smile.

"What?" Luan Nian sat down and looked at him.

Tan Mian pointed at his face. "Your face is practically screaming: 'I had great sex last night.'"

Luan Nian raised an eyebrow without responding, which only piqued Tan Mian's curiosity. "Got a new girlfriend?"

"No."

"A bed partner, then? You're that kind of guy?"

"What kind of guy am I?"

"The kind who has casual one-night stands?"

"None of your damn business."

Luan Nian couldn't be bothered to explain. It was his private life, and he had no desire to dissect it for others to see. Tan Mian, however, refused to drop it. "Can't talk about it? You never used to hide things."

"What, am I supposed to introduce her to you?"

"So you really have a bed partner?" Tan Mian was determined to get an answer. He didn't have much amusement in his daily life, and stumbling upon something this entertaining, he was resolved to get to the bottom of it.

Luan Nian leaned back against his chair looking completely unbothered. Only after a long silence did he toss out a single word: "Accident."

He dismissed that night as an accident, completely ignoring his own premeditated intent. Back in Guangzhou, the very moment his gaze had fallen upon Shang Zhitao, bad intentions had flooded his mind. While trying to suppress himself on one hand, he had been itching to rebel on the other.

"Accidents are great. Men and women in big cities run into accidents every day," Tan Mian said, winking at him.

"You sure stick your nose into everything," Luan Nian retorted.

Reason dictated that he should feel regret over what had happened last night. In fact, he considered himself quite a shallow person. He didn't need a female partner to be exceptionally talented; looking good was enough. He simply liked beautiful women. Dazzling beauty stimulated his mind to generate more creative ideas. Shang Zhitao was just an ordinary girl, not particularly clever, failing to meet every single one of his expectations for a woman.

Yet he felt no regret; he even found it thoroughly enjoyable. The very man who had sworn to himself this morning that he would never cross that line with Shang Zhitao again was now wavering. Luan Nian was a bit surprised. He had never been an indecisive person.

What on earth was wrong with him today?