Have you ever experienced the feeling of falling from a great height?
In the very first second, every pore on your body seems to burst open; your blood rushes upward, surging toward your heart. When the blood roars and boils, the scorching heat that nearly touches your nerves suddenly vanishes into thin air, dispersing.
It’s the most intimate yet unfamiliar kiss in the world.
In the darkness, she was forcefully pushed down, a large hand pressing against the back of her head, never lifting. Supporting her so she wouldn’t hit her head, the hand’s pressure brushed her hair, causing her some pain. She inhaled sharply through clenched teeth, which seemed to startle him. His hand paused, easing the pressure, even gently stroking her hair—perhaps.
Or maybe it was just an illusion.
Yet, the sensation of his palm kneading her scalp kept her awake, agonizingly aware that there was no escape.
She was tightly pinned between the intruder’s chest and the back of the sofa. The hand that had been resting on her shoulder gripped her painfully. She could feel the heat radiating from his palm, as if something was about to ignite.
Her eyes secreted physiological tears due to suffocation, and she made sounds of protest from lack of oxygen, but his kiss only deepened.
The taste of tobacco passed through his tongue into her throat. She disliked the flavor, and she didn’t know how many cigarettes he had smoked alone in some dark corner before touching her—
He seemed to care little whether she liked it or not.
The kiss was overly domineering and punishing, completely controlling her.
“Final thirty seconds! Twenty-nine! Twenty-eight—”
A voice counting down from somewhere in the room rang out, trembling with excitement. This emotion was transmitted through the darkness, amplifying the senses of those present.
Including the man who was pinning Jiang Ran down. His tongue explored every corner of her mouth, teasing her possibly swollen lips. She let out a pained hiss, and he paused for just a moment…
The next second, he leaned in again, gently licking the corner of her lips like a canine.
“Ten! Nine! Eight—”
The final ten seconds of the countdown. He used his slick tongue to entwine hers, dragging it along.
When they finally parted in the darkness, Jiang Ran always felt there were silver threads—like broken strands of silk—stretching and snapping between them as he pulled away.
“Three! Two! One!”
The lights turned on.
The dark world collapsed into brightness.
Lying on the sofa, Jiang Ran furrowed her brow painfully at the harsh light. She raised her forearm to shield her eyes, turned her head sideways, and desperately tried to open her eyes, searching through the blurry tears for a certain figure among the crowd—
But there was no one in front of her.
A large hand extended from behind her, the long fingers exuding the same faint tobacco scent as before, covering her eyes.
“Don’t rush to open your eyes. Take your time.”
Song Die’s voice came from behind, as always, gentle and slow.
She froze, instinctively grabbing his hand. She felt that he also seemed surprised by the sudden grip. He moved his hand away slightly, meeting her deep brown eyes.
Her eyes were glistening with tears at this moment. Blinking hard, she could still feel the lingering sensation of her lips being tormented and sucked just seconds ago: “…Was it you just now?”
Song Die said, “Hmm?”
Standing very close behind her, his single syllable of confusion left her equally bewildered—
She was sensitive to smells.
But because she had drunk a lot that night, everyone around her smelled of alcohol. So even in the darkness where her senses were heightened and her vision was lost, he hadn’t even touched her, any contact was carefully kept to her clothes or hair.
She remained numb, stunned and caught off guard by that three-minute-long passionate kiss. Her body couldn’t recall any memories, only remembering the tobacco scent on him—
Exactly the same as Song Die’s at this moment.
Yet in her memory, Bei Jiao didn’t smoke.
The thought crossed her mind, and she could feel her heart sinking rapidly. The color of her eyes darkened. She forced a faint smile, released Song Die’s hand, and said, “I’m fine now.”
You don’t have to answer.
Because I’m afraid you’ll say yes, and even more afraid you’ll say no.
…
After cutting the cake, it was almost midnight. Considering the quietness of the residential area, even the slightest noise could seem like a disturbance, so the celebratory atmosphere in the room gradually quieted down.
There was no amplified music, no loud conversations. Everyone present had received a piece of cake and was now scattered around the room in small groups, even sitting on the kitchen counter.
They talked in low voices, occasionally a laugh came from somewhere, the atmosphere was relaxed and comfortable.
Zhao Kesheng was crying in Ah Ju’s arms, falling asleep with a woman’s name on his lips. No one around knew who she was, but they were used to it: Zhao Kesheng was just like this. Every time he dated a girl, he fell in love seriously, always claiming it was true love, though his true loves came a bit too frequently.
He himself didn’t mind, and those around him didn’t know what to say.
At this moment, not far from him, on the same sofa, Jiang Ran was hugging her legs curled up in a corner, absentmindedly poking at a dark cherry on her cake with a plastic fork. The cherry burst in her mouth, sweet—
She thought of a birthday cake two years ago, when a boy picked all the cherries off the whole cake, seriously placing them on one slice amidst everyone’s laughter, and then handing that piece to her.
She glanced at Zhao Kesheng, suddenly feeling like the sofa was a boat, floating with two people troubled by love.
“Waaah, I can’t love anymore.”
The drunk playboy sobbed, and Jiang Ran, with a black line on her forehead, turned her gaze away, thinking that she better not compare herself with this unlucky guy.
At this time, guests gradually started to leave, and when they left, they conscientiously picked up the surrounding trash and threw it into the trash can.
Big Head left with one hand carrying Zhao Kesheng and the other holding a garbage bag, seriously considering for a moment whether to throw both items into the trash can downstairs, “Ran Jie, we’re leaving.”
He said.
Jiang Ran heard his voice and lifted her head to look at him.
Being stared at by those deep brown eyes, Big Head felt a bit uneasy—after all, he knew the whole process of how Jiang Ran and Bei Jiao broke up, and he could be considered the first party involved. If he hadn’t gone on that mountain climbing trip in Songbei, Bei Jiao probably wouldn’t have gone either.
His lips twitched, showing a look of wanting to say something but holding back.
Unexpectedly, the woman only raised her hand wearily, waving it as if she understood everything and looked completely dispirited.
Big Head left with Zhao Kesheng, feeling somewhat dazed.
Jiang Ran stared at the direction of the door for a while. At this moment, she felt someone approaching her. She turned her face slightly, and Song Die sat down beside her.
Her feelings toward Song Die were now complicated.
Instinctively, she hugged her knees tighter, finding it strange that when he sat beside her so openly, her heart remained calm without any discomfort…
But just moments ago, in the darkness of that kiss, her heart was racing so fast it felt like it would burst out of her chest, her limbs weak. The only person who had ever made her feel this way before was that dog.
Could it be that she was essentially a heartless woman, following the principle that “in the dark, everyone is the same”?
She couldn’t figure it out.
At this moment, Song Die reached out and took her hand.
The brief contact made her stomach twist.
Ironically, she hadn’t felt such resistance when someone had pinned her on the sofa just now.
She put down her cake, puzzled, as he pulled her hand over. She watched him take out a green velvet box from his pocket. At first glance, her heart skipped a beat when she saw the small box—
It really felt like the kind of situation where a heartless woman fears a marriage proposal.
But she quickly realized, there’s no such thing as a long box for a diamond ring.
Indeed, Song Die opened the box with one hand, pulling out a green clover-shaped bracelet and putting it on her wrist.
After putting it on and checking it out, the green malachite looked modest and understated, matching her fair wrist very well.
Jiang Ran politely smiled and said, “Thank you,” paused, then added, “I really like it.”
Song Die listened to her polite and reserved response, raising his eyebrows in slight surprise as he looked at her. But the smile on her face seemed flawless, and the light in her eyes indeed didn’t seem to indicate dislike.
So he didn’t think too much about it.
He let go of her wrist, brushed a strand of loose hair from her ear, leaned in close to her cheek near her ear, didn’t kiss her, but spoke to her at an almost kissing distance: “Happy birthday.”
The scent of tobacco enveloped her again. This time, however, it returned to a gentle, non-threatening softness, in stark contrast to the roughness of pinning her into the sofa in the darkness.
Jiang Ran fell into a brief silence.
…
After Song Die left, Jiang Ran and Qiu Nian cleaned up the remaining cake on the table, putting the undamaged ones into the refrigerator to be used as afternoon tea or breakfast.
As Jiang Ran carefully folded one of the cake boxes, Qiu Nian couldn’t help but press her hand down, lazily lifting her eyelids to give her a questioning look.
“What’s going on with you?” Qiu Nian asked. “Three ten thousand yuan bracelet gets you a half-hearted ‘Thank you, I really like it’! You, woman… really! If I were Song Die, I wouldn’t chase after you anymore!”
Jiang Ran smiled.
Qiu Nian lightly patted her hand, “Still laughing!”
“For the love of a gift, it’s not determined by its price,” Jiang Ran pulled her hand away, casually taking off the bracelet on her wrist and putting it into the nearby jewelry box, thinking for a moment before saying, “Don’t like it.”
It was unclear whether she meant she didn’t like the bracelet or the person who gave it.
Qiu Nian stared at her expressionlessly.
Jiang Ran acted as if she didn’t see her icy gaze and continued folding her cake box.
Just when Qiu Nian thought the matter was over, suddenly, the woman beside her stopped her hand movements and slightly turned her head to ask, “Has Bei Jiao started smoking?”
Qiu Nian: “Huh?”
Jiang Ran waved her hand: “Forget it, it’s nothing.”
She sorted out the gifts she received that night. Since she had drunk quite a bit and was a bit tired now, she didn’t bother to open each one—she had already opened several strange items, like a dinosaur that grows when soaked in water, and a science book that teaches both English and Chinese when pressed…
Until she opened a copy of the “Book of Songs,” she was completely speechless and gave up on the gift-opening activity.
She placed the gifts Qiu Nian and others gave her in appropriate places according to their functions.
She was enthusiastically playing with the earrings Qiu Nian gave her when her hand was suddenly grabbed. She turned around in confusion and found her friend staring at her seriously: “Why did you suddenly ask about that dog? Don’t tell me you’re fantasizing he was there?”
Jiang Ran found it hard to deny this.
So Qiu Nian shoved her phone in front of her eyes. Reluctantly, she leaned forward to look and found that on her friend’s social media feed, a certain dog who hadn’t posted anything in years had shared a post—
The post was made half an hour ago, with a location at a commercial district far away from her apartment on the east side of the city. The picture showed a bookstore, with shelves full of various first-grade elementary school exercise books.
The caption read:
【Next time, if the heavens want me to go to hell, I’ll go by myself, instead of being tricked into babysitting someone for a whole night.】
Jiang Ran stared at the phone in silence. The commercial district was in the east of the city, while her home was in the west. Even without traffic, it would take over an hour to drive across.
Even if he finished his three-minute “crime” and immediately took a taxi downstairs, he wouldn’t have arrived at the location marked on the map within half an hour.
Jiang Ran coldly threw the phone back.
Qiu Nian: “What’s wrong with you?”
Jiang Ran: “During those three minutes of darkness, Song Die kissed me, and I was really moved.”
Qiu Nian: “…That’s good news, right?”
Jiang Ran: “After the lights came on, I wasn’t moved anymore, so for a moment I doubted, who was the one that kissed me?”
“…………It’s definitely not the person you’re thinking of,” Qiu Nian was puzzled. “He was babysitting for someone, and I didn’t even see him show up tonight. Come on, even if he could show up, how would he know about such a thrilling activity as turning off the lights for three minutes?”
Jiang Ran narrowed her eyes slightly. He didn’t show up, but there were plenty of his spies in this house.
But Qiu Nian was right.
She was overthinking. He wouldn’t come.
…
Inside the parking lot.
Zhao Kesheng climbed into Big Head’s car, wiped his tears, burped from being drunk, and slowly sat up.
“You’re awake already?” Big Head was confused. “Just a second ago, you were drunk as a skunk.”
“My tears are real, my heartbreak is real,” Zhao Kesheng half-dreaming. “Just pretend I’m drunk, okay?”
While saying that, he looked outside and opened the passenger door.
Big Head was puzzled about why he opened the door until outside the car, a young man with a hoodie, wearing a black mask covering his face, black hair, bent down and entered the car. Under Big Head’s bewildered gaze, he casually flipped his hand, the black mask dropped, revealing a strikingly handsome face.
Big Head: “…”
Big Head: “Brother Dog?!?”
Unfazed by Big Head’s shocked expression, Bei Jiao casually responded, then turned his head to look out the window. The parking lot’s bright lights partially illuminated his face, making his exposed profile appear somewhat pale.
His high nose bridge cast a small shadow on his cheek.
Silently, he watched Song Die’s car drive past them. He rolled down the window, took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, looked at it, and saw there was only one left. He took it out.
He casually crumpled the cigarette pack and with a light toss, accurately threw it into the nearby trash can.
Zhao Kesheng looked at the last cigarette in his hand: “Wow, Brother Bei, this is the last one! How many cigarettes have you secretly smoked tonight while feeding the mosquitoes in the yard? Don’t smoke anymore!”
He paused for a moment and whispered, “Ran Jie doesn’t like the smell of smoke.”
As if he had heard a key word worth attention, Bei Jiao finally turned his head, casually glancing at him. After thinking for a moment, he didn’t light the cigarette.
He casually put the unlit cigarette into his pocket, nodded toward the front, and with a slightly husky voice, said, “Drive.”
His tone sounded calm and emotionless.
Big Head was confused.
“Drive… drive where! How can you be so calm! How did you get here—weren’t you babysitting in the eastern part of the city half an hour ago! Did you fly here?”
Looking at Big Head’s bewildered face, Bei Jiao sighed.
Big Head didn’t know why he sighed.
But soon he understood, it was a sigh for Big Head’s naivety.
Zhao Kesheng snickered and gave him the answer: “My head! Are you stupid! Don’t you know? When editing a social media post on WeChat, you can select a location and save it as a draft. Then, whenever and wherever you post it, it will carry that location.”
Big Head: “…”
These two together had eight hundred minds!
Big Head thought for a moment something was off: “Then what about tonight’s lights-out game—”
Bei Jiao didn’t speak, lazily turned his head to look at Zhao Kesheng.
Zhao Kesheng, innocent and pure through the rearview mirror, exchanged glances with the person holding the steering wheel in front, his face saying: it’s nothing to do with me, guess who?
Big Head: “…”
Big Head: “Brother Bei, Brother Dog…! You’ve changed!”
Big Head: “Ah! I’ve always been pure and good, how did I end up playing with you wolves?”
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