The slap she delivered was incredibly difficult to execute. It was as if she had been lying beneath him, but in that split second, she arched her body upward, reached out, and slapped him down hard—like swatting away something filthy. If the surroundings hadn’t been so dark, compromising her accuracy, the slap would have landed almost entirely on his jeans. He might have actually died on the spot today.
Although there was no royal throne for her to inherit, Bei Jiao still hadn’t done anything that warranted instant castration. He braced one hand beside her, and Jiang Ran glanced sideways, noticing the prominent veins on his hand. She naturally knew that a man’s most sensitive area was quite fragile. Looking up, she indeed saw Bei Jiao’s stunned expression darken like the bottom of a pot—probably because it genuinely hurt.
Jiang Ran knew her own strength. Normally, when she slapped him, it didn’t matter because his face was thick-skinned enough to take it. But just now, she had clearly initiated contact by wrapping her arms around his neck, and then suddenly did this—human hearts are made of flesh, so he had every reason to be angry now. She couldn’t help feeling a little guilty.
Her head buzzed, and she moved her lips, wanting to apologize, but thought it would be too absurd to say “I’m sorry” to his sensitive area at this moment. So she reached out and touched Bei Jiao’s tense jawline gently, saying softly, “I really didn’t do it on purpose.”
Unfortunately, he wasn’t buying it at all. Rarely, he turned his head slightly to shake off her hand, leaving her hand awkwardly suspended in mid-air. Jiang Ran blinked, suddenly remembering that the person in front of her was just a half-grown brat. It was just that he had changed so much in the past two years, seemingly completing the transformation from a boy to a man overnight, so much so that she had momentarily overlooked the fact that before they separated, he was still the kind of puppy who would nuzzle her hand with his forehead to show affection.
Right now, he looked down at her with slightly lowered eyelids, his face showing a mix of suppressed and restrained emotions, looking quite wronged overall. It was reminiscent of his former self. This expression momentarily confused Jiang Ran’s mind, or maybe the situation at this moment was just too special. In any case, she carelessly forgot once again that this dog was adept at manipulating people’s hearts… She even forgot the fact that her disheveled shirt had long been unbuttoned by him, and now her undershirt was also unbuttoned, loosely hanging on her shoulders.
Actually, all over her fair and delicate skin were marks he had left without holding back. She completely ignored them, raised her hand to tap his nose, somewhat pitying him, but not much, so she chose to retaliate instead: “Forget it, believe it or not, you deserved that slap. What did you think you were doing dragging me in and throwing me on the bed? What do you take me for?”
He hadn’t even taken precautions!
Bei Jiao’s eyes flickered slightly. To be fair, his comprehension ability always kicked in when it was needed. So he lifted his face—allowing Jiang Ran’s hand, which had tapped his nose, to fall onto his lips—and then opened his mouth with an “Ah wu,” biting down and nibbling on it. Finally, he couldn’t help himself and extended his tongue, seemingly savoring her fingertip like a delicacy.
Jiang Ran felt a tingling sensation on her fingertip, which made her breathing unstable. A warm current spread from her fingers to her limbs and finally gathered in her abdomen… However, this was purely physiological.
She stiffened her face and snatched her hand back, using this action to tell him that this wasn’t a joke—
At first, she had just wanted to find an excuse to justify herself. Now, in a flash of insight, she immediately escalated the issue: men only believe they can act on impulse with women they don’t care about or even look down on!
Just realizing this was enough to make her blood reverse course and cool down in an instant. The slight flush on her face a moment ago now turned somewhat pale: “Are you expecting me to take the pill afterward?”
Yes, taking the pill once wouldn’t kill anyone.
But this was a matter of attitude.
Even if she admitted to being biased and having issues, Jiang Ran couldn’t tolerate even a speck of sand in her eyes. For her, those post-coital pills were an intolerable humiliation.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, and the guilt she had felt moments ago vanished completely. At this moment, she almost wanted to kick him again—immediately flipping over to sit up, her face darkening. She turned around to fasten her clothes, but just as she reached for the clasp, she was tackled down again.
He buried his face in her neck, feeling her desperately pushing him away. He sighed deeply, thinking that she was truly adept at brainwashing herself, so that whenever they were together, she rarely stayed on the losing side for more than ten minutes…
“That was my hand.”
He said hoarsely and helplessly, “Don’t you think—”
Stupid, foolish, or naive? Any of these adjectives he might have used would probably earn him a beating, so he decided not to say anything more. He left it as a blank, an artistic choice, letting her savor it herself.
“Fingers and that thing are so far apart in size,” he felt quite offended, “Didn’t you look when you lowered your head just now? Didn’t you see clearly? Even a glance would have shown the huge difference in their sizes!”
Jiang Ran blinked, apparently stopping her struggle, as if she had frozen completely—
After a while, she regained her senses, and blood rushed back, reddening her ears: “It was so dark, how could I see clearly!”
“…” Bei Jiao didn’t believe her, “If you didn’t see clearly, why did you scream so loudly?”
She really hadn’t seen clearly; the room’s lighting was dim, but just a quick glance downward was enough to make her scream, wasn’t it? Seeing pictures online or elsewhere was one thing, but seeing it in person was another entirely!
“So what if it was my hand!” Jiang Ran said, “If you weren’t planning to do anything, how would I ever get the chance to see it! You took off your pants—”
Before she could finish her sentence, he covered her mouth. He wasn’t kidding earlier; the apartment building’s soundproofing wasn’t as good as the villa area’s.
Bei Jiao had never sighed so much in his entire life.
With his palm’s edge, the woman in his arms glared at him with wide eyes, looking at him like a major fraud, as if to say, “Your excuse is so lame!”
It wasn’t like over the years, aside from skiing, where Bei Jiao couldn’t outdo her because of the huge skill gap, she always managed to dominate him in everything else—
Besides, she was pretty clueless about this kind of thing. Although he wasn’t experienced either, guys tended to discuss such trivial matters more frequently when they were together, unlike girls. Over time, through constant exposure, he could definitely use that bit of theoretical knowledge to deceive her.
How could she detect any flaw?
Thinking of this, he found her flustered appearance cute and felt a bit proud of himself for accurately guessing her pattern, smugly attributing all of this to “soul connection”…
His pitch-black pupils flickered. He moved the hand pressing against her mouth and instead used his pale lips to nuzzle her soft cheek. The light kisses made her feel ticklish, so she turned her head away to avoid him.
She was still angry.
Until he spoke.
“I wasn’t planning to do anything serious.”
She was momentarily stunned, her eyes flickering, and turned her previously averted face back to look at him.
“Look at you, if I had really done anything right now, you’d probably send me back to Chongli for another three years.”
Good reminder, it hadn’t even been three years yet!
Jiang Ran’s eyes flashed with icy light, as if she wanted to renew the subscription right now!
He still had one arm propped beside her head, looking down at her with lowered eyelids, watching her prepare to say something malicious that he definitely wouldn’t want to hear…
“I said I wasn’t planning to go all the way tonight,” he cut her off first, “Believe me or not?”
His hair had dried a bit from their earlier tussle, just a little messy since he hadn’t combed it after his shower.
This made him seem even more handsome. His gaze, looking down at her, was calm with a hint of seriousness, seemingly not lying.
However, Jiang Ran remembered that both Qiu Nian and Lin Shuang had once said with disdain that anyone who believed a man’s words in bed was a fool—not even trusting a single punctuation mark.
They were in bed right now.
She refused to be a fool.
Jiang Ran: “I don’t believe you.”
Bei Jiao: “…”
Jiang Ran: “If you weren’t planning to do anything, why did you take off your pants!”
As soon as she spoke, she saw Bei Jiao smile at her.
His smile was like a spring breeze, making her skin crawl with goosebumps.
…
Half an hour later.
The snow outside had probably stopped, and a round moon emerged from behind the clouds. A pale yellow halo of moonlight poured through the frosted glass window, making the streetlights outside suddenly seem insignificant.
On the ground, along with Jiang Ran’s sweater jacket falling off, her phone also landed there. At this moment, the phone screen lit up—it was Qiu Nian, who had woken up after a nap, looking for someone groggily. He asked if she was at the convenience store and said he had brought her a cola.
Jiang Ran loved drinking alcohol but also took care of her health. After drinking, she would go to the convenience store while slightly tipsy to find something warm to eat to soothe her stomach. That’s why, despite her chaotic lifestyle—skipping breakfast and loving alcohol—her stomach had never had any problems during her annual checkups over the years.
She never expected that this health tip would twice become an excuse for her to cover up her escapades—
The first time she fooled her teammates.
The second time she fooled her best friend.
Right now, she had no time to think about much else. She couldn’t even summon the strength in her trembling hands to reach for her phone on the floor and reply to her drunken friend’s incessant messages.
The blankets were piled on top of her.
She had always been fair-skinned, comparable to the fresh snow newly fallen outside the window at this moment. Because she always remembered to use body lotion, over time, aside from the sweet fragrance that seemed to seep into her bones, the rest was skin so smooth and flawless it was hard to find any imperfections…
Like congealed milk.
At this moment, just like the snow outside being whipped up by the north wind, this whiteness trembled slightly, soon losing its form, like snow covered in moonlight, dyed into another color.
It was a pinkish hue, spreading out, glistening with sweat.
She kicked his shoulder with her foot.
From beneath the covers, he raised his head effortlessly, like a beast lying in wait in the darkness. Only his eyes gleamed intensely as they fixed on her, while his pale, thin male lips glistened with moisture.
He asked, “Hmm?”
She couldn’t utter a single word.
Another half hour passed, and the wall clock finally completed a full circle.
Jiang Ran stared at the ceiling lampshade with wide eyes, noticing some stains, though not very clearly because her vision was already blurred by physiological tears.
Her entire body was limp with no strength left. Her nose was red, and though she didn’t feel like crying, she still sniffled a little. As he got up, her legs slid from his shoulders down to his back.
Sliding down along the indentation of his lower back.
He didn’t mind, letting her step on him. He leaned forward, wanting to kiss her lips, but she slightly frowned, made a “Mm” sound, and turned her face away. He chuckled softly, not mocking her like he had the last time in the alley. Instead, he kissed her cheek.
“This proves nothing,” she was still stubbornly arguing. “You’re just making excuses. You don’t need to take off your pants to do that!”
She was still fighting her case.
Bei Jiao raised his eyebrows and said, “Oh.”
Then he reached out and, before Jiang Ran could react at all, flipped her over.
Caught off guard, her face buried into the pillow, she inhaled sharply, taking in his scent all at once, almost choking her to the point of fainting—her chest heaved violently, her heart contracting fiercely because of it.
She lifted her head to ask him, “What are you doing now?”
The broad shoulders cast a shadow over her. At this moment, he gradually climbed upward until his arms were once again propped on either side of her head, his entire body covering hers, enveloping her with his form.
“You were curious, right?” His tone was very calm. “I’ll give you the answer.”
Besides the rule that “a man’s words in bed are unreliable,” Jiang Ran now learned another new rule: in bed, the more casual their tone, the more outrageous their next move would be.
She felt something was off and started to become alert. She wanted to get up entirely, but as soon as she moved her bottom slightly, a large hand pressed down on her tailbone, pinning her back onto the bed.
Soon, she began to regret why she always had to fight for superiority in everything. Sometimes, this personality trait could really get her killed.
…
After that, Jiang Ran completely lost track of time.
If an hour ago she still had the mood to notice how slowly the wall clock was moving, then from then until the sky outside turned faintly bright, she didn’t realize how quickly time had passed.
The pillows and blankets on the bed had been kicked onto the floor by her.
She was so exhausted that she couldn’t even keep her eyes open, listening to the sounds of birds chirping outside the window in the early morning. At this point, her waist, limp and boneless, was lifted by a strong arm, as if lifting a pile of something, pulling her up from the soaked bedsheet—
He effortlessly scooped her up into his arms and placed her on the nearby sofa. She wanted to protest, but she moved her lips and couldn’t make any sound; her throat had long gone hoarse.
She curled up on the sofa, expressionless as she watched the man, who was only wearing loose jeans, moving around the room—
And even among girls, he was considered fair-skinned. In the past, he had worked odd jobs outdoors for years without getting tanned, but in recent years, his lifestyle had become more relaxed. All his spare time was either in the study room or near the refrigerator, so he hardly got sun exposure. Now, he was practically glowing with whiteness.
However, this didn’t detract from his aggressive masculinity, which was almost explosive.
He had no excess fat on his body, his muscles were smooth and well-defined, his arms and legs long, and the bulging muscles in his arms could easily lift her normal-sized adult female body around.
At that moment, he casually grabbed the dirty bedsheet, shook it out, and laid down a fresh new one.
Dust mites hidden in the dust made Jiang Ran sneeze delicately, and the sudden sound caused the man making the bed to pause momentarily. He lifted his head and looked at her: “Cold?”
A single word, yet it carried a hint of laziness after a satisfying meal and drink.
Jiang Ran couldn’t help but blush at the base of her ears.
He merely looked at her from across the bed, saying nothing and doing nothing, yet Jiang Ran felt a tingling sensation run down her spine, and the scraped skin on her inner thigh started burning again—this was PTSD, wasn’t it!
She stared blankly at him; this guy was practically perverted!
Yet Beijiao, seemingly long accustomed to her being so irritable and unreasonable, remained unaffected. He simply sped up his actions of making the bed, changed the duvet cover, and after finishing the bed, quickly came over to pick her up and place her back on the bed.
She sank back into the soft mattress, and the familiar sensation made her instinctively kick her legs—
Before her feet could push off his chest and send him flying, her ankle was caught firmly in a warm, dry hand. He pressed her foot against his solid chest: “Sleep a bit? Or take a shower first?”
She was sweaty and sticky, which was unbearable for her, someone who wouldn’t even get into bed without showering and changing clothes.
Yet at this moment, she was so exhausted she couldn’t lift even a finger. It was strange how he still had the strength to carry her around and talk so much after finishing the bed.
She pulled the blanket over herself and said seriously: “I want to sleep on a bed without you.”
Never before had she defined a bed so specifically.
His strange phrasing made Beijiao fall silent for a moment, then he scoffed.
Jiang Ran was annoyed by his laughter and pulled the blanket over her head.
Still listening to him say something like “I said I wouldn’t do anything, believe me” outside, she rolled her eyes in her mind but was too tired to even muster the energy to scold him.
…
Jiang Ran wrapped herself tightly in the blanket, drowsy and unable to think much.
Half-asleep, she heard the water heater in the bathroom turn on and then off again. One of her arms was pulled out from under the blanket, and starting from her fingertips, a warm towel wiped over her skin, removing the sticky discomfort from the dried sweat, as if every pore were breathing again.
She let out a content sigh.
“Dress.”
She said with her eyes closed.
“In a minute.”
Without hesitation, his deep voice sounded by her ear.
For some reason, she was easily moved by strange moments… For example, from the moment he entered until a minute ago, every second she wanted to kick him in the face, but at this very moment, she really didn’t want to.
Jiang Ran really liked him leaning close to her ear, speaking in a calm tone, casual and relaxed.
She allowed him to go in and out of the bathroom several times until she was completely cleaned, feeling as fresh as if she had taken a real shower. She rolled back into her warm bed—
Before pulling the blanket over herself, she remembered to grab his wrist and squeeze it slightly. He bent down, leaning close to her, thinking she had something to say.
But she didn’t.
Instead, she tugged his wrist slightly, raised her body, and quickly kissed him on the lips.
It wasn’t anything else, just a simple kiss.
The quiet room suddenly fell into a deathly silence, so quiet that even the sound of breathing was clearly audible. Jiang Ran could feel him standing beside her bed, as if lost in thought for a long time without moving away.
If it were any other time, if anyone stared at her with such a hot gaze while she was in bed, she might have already called the police. But this time, she was really too exhausted to argue with him. She turned over and said, “Done staring?”
She seemed to hear him say “Not yet,” then he reached out and pulled her out from under the blanket, kissed her ear, and then turned to leave.
After a while, half-asleep, she heard the sound of water from the bathroom. In her sleepy state, she thought: How could he still have the energy to stand and take a shower? Isn’t he tired?
Beijiao wasn’t tired at all. In fact, while showering, he suddenly remembered something very important.
He turned off the water, came out of the bathroom with his body still wet, pulled back the blanket, and once again dug her out from the bed where she was sleeping soundly… As she clicked her tongue in annoyance, he found a newly bought T-shirt, which had only been washed once and not yet worn, and put it on her. It fit just right, covering her thighs.
Then he found some underwear for her from the floor and helped her put it on.
After dressing, she wanted to crawl back under the blanket but was stopped at the waist: “Talk?”
The first conversation after the event was important and might determine the direction of their relationship. This was what he had remembered while showering.
Leaning against his firm chest, Jiang Ran barely opened her eyes, turned over, and gave him a bite on the chest before casually pushing him away: “I want to sleep.”
Talk about it? Not a chance.
He had never really known how to deal with her, especially now, during their brief interaction, her loose T-shirt had ridden up, revealing a part of her waist.
It was covered with marks he had left. He had been a bit too rough, and now the bruises were spreading, looking quite shocking.
Beijiao paused for a moment in silence, then tugged her shirt down, even gently smoothing the hem as if soothing an obedient little child.
He thought about how she would scold him when she saw the mirror tomorrow—the urge to shake her awake and take advantage of her drowsy state to get himself back in her good graces was overwhelming.
But looking at her sleeping face, he finally softened and couldn’t bring himself to do it.
He lifted the blanket and lay down beside her, his hot chest pressing against her back. Jiang Ran mumbled something and moved her butt to escape the heat source.
Beijiao wouldn’t let her.
With a long arm, he pulled her back into his embrace, even forcefully turning the woman who had her back to him to face him.
Jiang Ran was so tired from being moved around that she was extremely annoyed: “Go away.”
He smiled, kissed her hand that was trying to scratch him, then bent down and kissed her forehead before contentedly holding her and falling asleep.
Outside the window, the snow had stopped, but the sun hadn’t come out. It was a gloomy overcast day, as if the sky was always on the verge of dawn but never quite reached it.
…
Not sure how long had passed.
Beijiao was woken by a phone call. Zhao Keyan asked him to come home in a while to help check the angle of a certain board’s mount.
He struggled to yawn, agreed, said to wait three minutes since he was already home.
There was a pause on the other end: “Seriously? You’re not even awake yet? What time is it?”
For someone who usually came in early and left late, this was hardly common.
His surprise also made Beijiao a bit more alert. By reflex, he pulled back the blanket and looked, finding himself alone in bed. Yet the traces of someone sleeping on the other side told him that yesterday hadn’t been his imagination—at least before dawn today, he had definitely fallen asleep holding a live person.
Now that person had vanished without a trace.
He checked his phone and found no new messages, not even a polite “I went home first.”
Beijiao silently put down the phone.
He tried to restrain himself but failed.
He directly called Jiang Ran. Fortunately, she wasn’t completely heartless. After two rings, she answered. As soon as she said “Hello,” she heard him ask on the other end: “Where’s the money?”
She didn’t understand at first, what money?
Beijiao said coldly: “You slept with me and left? Don’t you usually leave a check on the bedside table? If not a check, at least a stack of cash.”
His grievance-laden tone almost choked her. Hearing his aggressive tone, as if ready to argue, she was initially confused about why he was angry. Soon she realized, it was probably because last night before sleeping, he had grabbed her and wanted to talk.
What to talk about was obvious.
Jiang Ran bit her lower lip, feeling a typical regret of a free-spirited person who suddenly finds themselves pursued for responsibility the next day. She looked up and saw Qiu Nian sitting not far away, watching TV expressionlessly, and said: “Okay.”
Qiu Nian turned to look at her strangely, not knowing who was on the phone. On the other side, whatever was said, she only replied with two brief words.
But on Jiang Ran’s side, while Beijiao was momentarily stunned by her two-word response, she cleanly and decisively hung up the phone.
She opened her WeChat app, scrolled down for ages without finding Beijiao, and only then remembered they hadn’t spoken in a long time.
She searched his name, dug him out from the depths, and with a grand gesture, transferred him 888 yuan.
This earned her a screen full of question marks.
And three consecutive frantic calls.
Finally, with no other choice, Jiang Ran silenced her phone and smiled at Qiu Nian, who was looking increasingly suspicious: “Real estate agents are so annoying, I already said I don’t want to buy a house.”
Qiu Nian slowly switched channels.
Beijiao, unable to get through by phone, started texting her.
[Beijiao: The most regretful thing I’ve ever done in my life was last night when I actually managed to stop myself from doing anything to you.]
Facing the three missed calls and a screen full of question marks followed by this line, Jiang Ran could feel every word dripping with blood, probably typed out with gritted teeth.
But she wouldn’t be easily intimidated by him—
Because right now she was comfortably sitting on her villa sofa, the door locked, and unless he came with a bulldozer, he could do absolutely nothing to her.
[Is that my Ran Ran: You call that doing nothing?]
Besides, she had only managed to sleep for two or three hours before waking up. At six in the morning, the breakfast vendors hadn’t even come out yet… Otherwise, they would have been scared out of their wits by a strange woman walking on the street early in the morning.
She had walked all the way back home from her apartment, braving the early morning cold, and with every step, she was lamenting the difficulties of being an adult in modern times.
Now she was lying on the sofa, too afraid to move her legs, because every movement pulled the pain in her thigh. When she took a shower, she saw how bad it was—it was actually broken skin. How hard had he been on her?
He had nearly killed her.
And he said he hadn’t done anything!
What a face!
Jiang Ran felt angry just thinking about it.
Throwing her phone aside and not wanting to listen to his nonsense anymore, Jiang Ran leaned back on the sofa, aching in her waist and back, curling up there. After a while, Qiu Nian turned around and said in a tone of “we’re having cabbage for dinner tonight”: “I asked the mutt what you two were arguing about just now, and the mutt said you slept with him and then abandoned him.”
Jiang Ran: “…”
Sometimes, Jiang Ran really felt that her friends’ observational skills were terrifying.
Qiu Nian: “When did this happen? Last night? I thought something was off when I woke up in the middle of the night and didn’t see you, and this morning there was no cola either.”
Jiang Ran didn’t say anything. She lifted the hem of her loungewear to show Qiu Nian her waist. The shocking hickey and finger marks made Qiu Nian fall silent for a long time before she clicked her tongue.
She opened her WeChat app and, right in front of Jiang Ran, delivered a second emotional blow to Beijiao—
“Your skills are really bad. You should give up already. And you still have the nerve to complain.”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage