The touch of her little fingertip suddenly pulled her back to reality. It must be Li Feiyan's fingertip pressing against her hand, which was braced against the ground. She didn't look down, instinctively pulling her hand away. But the fingertip touched her again, and she pulled back slightly. As always, she was uncomfortable with physical contact.
The fingertip seemed relentless, beginning to gently tap on her fingertip. Qi Yi'an turned her head in confusion to look at the restless hand on the ground, then looked up at the woman beside her.
The woman turned to look at her, a suggestive smile playing on her lips. Her eyes were full of allure.
Li Feiyan seemed a little drunk.
Those gentle, affectionate eyes drew closer and closer into Qi Yi'an's pupils.
Author's Note:
It's been a while since my last update, and I've even forgotten a bit of the plot, haha. The plot of this story will be a little bizarre, but it should make sense by the end.
My roommate contracted COVID-19 but wasn't strictly isolated or treated. The control measures abroad put people in a very dangerous situation. I hope I don't end up like Qi Yi'an and get infected.
Chapter 22 Follow me.
Li Feiyan leaned in and kissed him, the scent of strong liquor and cigarette smoke penetrating deep within. Qi Yi'an's lips and tongue were momentarily filled with a slight bitterness and spiciness, and he stared wide-eyed in surprise at the woman before him. Too close, he couldn't focus.
She simply closed her eyes, silently welcoming the woman's intrusion. After all, it had been a while since she'd done it.
Li Feiyan kissed her passionately for a few moments, then casually released her, as if nothing had happened. She downed the wine in her glass in one gulp, then got up to open a new bottle. Drinking such strong liquor without adding anything else, Qi Yi'an, though not easily drunk, had a burning pain in her throat.
"Dr. Li, you have a good capacity for alcohol! I think I'll be drunk soon if you keep drinking like this..." She deliberately slurred her words, squinted her eyes, and added a strange smile. Pretending to be drunk was something Qi Yi'an was quite good at.
Li Feiyan smiled, picked up the wine, and poured her another big gulp. "If you're drunk, you're drunk. I'll stay with you."
Qi Yi'an feigned drunken staggering, reaching out to pull Li Feiyan's collar until their noses were touching. Her hot breath brushed against her lips, making Li Feiyan's red lips appear even more alluring in the firelight. Qi Yi'an gently licked them with her tongue, tasting a faint sweetness. She felt a surge of heat rise from her lower abdomen, urging her on. She bit down on Li Feiyan's lower lip, nibbling and sucking.
Li Feiyan was not surprised that the seemingly reserved girl from a few years ago would take the initiative to do this. With a hint of astonishment, she smiled, reached out to stroke the hair on the back of Qi Yi'an's head, and hugged her to deepen the kiss.
The desert night was freezing. Qi Yi'an was led to the back seat of the SUV by those smiling eyes, and under the guise of alcohol, he undressed the woman. She had done this many times over the years; adult desires should be naked and simple, no need for affectation, and unrelated to love.
xxxxxxxxxxx This text is in other corners of the world xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When Li Feiyan woke up in the bumpy off-road vehicle, it was already the next morning. She was lying naked in the back seat, covered by Qi Yi'an's heavy work coat. She propped herself up with one hand and looked out the window at the faint morning light and the swaying horizon.
Qi Yi'an was driving when he noticed she was awake. He reached out and groped around on the seat for a while, then calmly glanced at the rearview mirror to estimate her location before handing her a piece of dark fabric.
Li Feiyan casually rested one arm on her head, then reached out with her other hand to collect her underwear, placing it carelessly on the back seat. Turning her head, she saw Qi Yi'an hand her a bottle of water. She tilted her head back, took a sip, and said with a mischievous, suggestive smile, "You're quite considerate, aren't you~"
"Of course I'll serve you well." Qi Yi'an smiled, his eyes still calmly looking ahead.
"Then why don't you come with me from now on? Such a well-behaved kid, I like him." Li Feiyan sat up, her coat slipping off her body to reveal her toned and curvaceous figure. She reached forward from the back seat and wrapped her arms around Qi Yi'an's neck, leaning out from the side to nibble on his ear and kiss it twice. "Let Dr. Li take good care of you, okay?"
------
After driving back to the city to finish the mission, Qi Yi'an decided to take a long vacation and return to China, as he hadn't been back for a long time.
After leaving Beijing that year, she and Qin Ruoshui didn't end up together. Qin Ruoshui said he wasn't the type to settle down and live a peaceful life, he couldn't give her any promises, and he didn't care about her. To that woman, she was just like everything else—dispensable. Qi Yi'an pursed her lips self-deprecatingly. Anyway, she wouldn't be willing to change her future choices for that woman. So what if her first sexual experience was with her? So what if she felt love for someone for the first time? Anyway, what mattered most to both of them was themselves and their freedom. Anyway, they were never truly together.
"Everyone says that first love has a huge impact on a person, especially if your first love is a jerk!" Zou Yibei analyzed while eating barbecue skewers. "Qi Yi'an, you were corrupted and degraded by that woman back then, which is why you can't be serious about anyone now."
"Why take it so seriously? There are so many people coming and going, and no one will stay here forever." Qi Yi'an was quite spicy from the skewers, and after taking a sip of beer, it got even spicier.
"Our A-Qian has always been here!" Zou Yibei said confidently.
"What exactly is your relationship with her now? Didn't you say a while ago that she had a boy she liked?"
"You don't understand, we A-sexuals don't care about those things." Zou Yibei was both righteous and confident, and began to explain her black hole love theory.
"By the way, why are you eating spicy food now? Didn't you never touch spicy food before?" Qi Yi'an said, adding some more chili sauce to her plate.
"Sigh, a few years ago, Qian said one day that you don't have to avoid spicy food altogether just because you haven't tried it much. Try more, and you might like it and be pleasantly surprised. And now I'm hooked!"
"Oh! It's been so many years! How many years is it...?" "It's 2025! Are you living in some other world? You seem a bit confused."
Qi Yi'an stuck out his tongue and smiled sheepishly, "I feel like time has flown by so fast since 2020! Before I knew it, I'd be almost thirty."
…
After leaving in the winter of 2020, Qi Yi'an never returned to Beijing. Due to the recurring outbreaks of the pandemic and the strict lockdown in the capital, she was unable to move freely. She entrusted Zou Yibei to pack and send her last belongings back. Since she had already gone abroad by then, these belongings were not unpacked or organized and were simply piled up in her room. After she left, the room naturally became a storage room, which was quite harmonious.
While tidying up at home, Qi Yi'an stumbled upon her old, unused cell phone. It was an outdated model from many years ago, incompatible with even the latest instant messaging software. She realized it was a phone Qin Ruoshui had lent her when they were in L City. She plugged it in, lit a cigarette, and patiently waited for it to boot up.
I did see her completely during those five years. Later, when Qi Yi'an was in R country, Qin Ruoshui happened to be in T capital of R country as well. At that time, I heard from Tang Yu that she seemed to have gotten married.
Later, Qi Yi'an moved to City O and settled down for a while. He met her at a seaside in the countryside. The dock there was covered with weeds and yellow earth against a backdrop of blue sky and white clouds, somewhat resembling the scenery along the Mediterranean coast. Qi Yi'an caught a glimpse of her driving by through the car window.
Later, they contacted each other again. Qin Ruoshui's relatives were running a hotel resort business in City X at the time, and they arranged to meet in City X. However, when the plane landed, it was hit by a rainstorm and mudslide, so the meeting could not be held. Qin Ruoshui stayed for a short while but had to give up and fly back.
Qi Yi'an remembered looking around anxiously, trying to guess which one was her from the crowd, wondering if she had forgotten what she looked like after so long. After a long wait, she realized that she wasn't there. But adults shouldn't be discouraged, since she wasn't being cared about anyway.
The phone finally turned on. The password must be... Qin Ruoshui's birthday? It unlocked. I opened the message history...
Okay, I wish you happiness.
There's no need to force yourself for the sake of others.
Goodbye!
Oh.
There's no need to force yourself for someone else. So you married someone else.
I won't wish you happiness. You'd better not be happy since you're not by my side.
The cell phone in his pocket suddenly rang. Qi Yi'an put down his old cell phone and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Dr. Li?"
"Yes, I've been in the country recently."
"Okay, see you the day after tomorrow."
Author's Note:
Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
Chapter 23: It Comes with Its Own Golden House.
I never expected that my return to Beijing would be to see Li Feiyan. Luckily, it wasn't winter, but autumn, which is Qi Yi'an's favorite season.
“Sleep at my place tonight, you can sleep in my bed, that way I’ll have a legitimate reason to sleep with Qian again, haha,” Zou Yibei nudged her. Although he wasn’t seeing Li Feiyan until the day after tomorrow, Zou Yibei happened to be returning to Beijing today, so Qi Yi’an came along. The high-speed rail is getting faster and faster; it’s doubled in five years, and it only takes two hours to get from the south to Beijing. She leaned against the high-speed rail window, watching the familiar city night view get closer and closer.
"Don't use me as a shield, I don't want to be a third wheel."
"Hey, Qi Yi'an, are you jealous? But I can't let you go to a hotel room when you come to Beijing, otherwise my other houses..." "Get lost," Qi Yi'an laughed and hit her, "Don't look at me like this, I still have a place to stay in Beijing."
"Really? How come I didn't know that?"
"Probably..." Actually, she wasn't entirely sure herself.
In such a big city, even though he knew she might not be among the tens of millions of people, Qi Yi'an still harbored a vague hope. It had been so long since he'd seen her.
Upon arrival, Zou Yibei pulled Qi Yi'an into the car. Wu Qianyue was there to pick them up. "I knew you'd come to pick me up! My wife is the best to me!"
"Don't call me that, who's your wife?" Wu Qianyue patted her head and fastened her seatbelt. "Let's go home, I still have some code to work on."
Okay~
Qi Yi'an leaned against the back window of the car, listening listlessly to the two of them showing affection.
"Oh, by the way, Qian, shall we take this guy to X neighborhood?"
"Huh? You're not staying at our house?"
Zou Yibei was stunned. She said, "Our family. Our family." Hahaha, this is too sweet... Thinking about it, she looked at Wu Qianyue and laughed to herself, her mouth stretching to her ears. Qi Yi'an looked at her speechlessly.
"Hey, I'm asking you two questions."
"Ah," "Oh,"...
-----
Qi Yi'an got out of the car and arrived at an apartment building. She checked the lights upstairs; they were all dark, and a sense of disappointment washed over her. After taking the elevator up, she hesitated for a moment in front of the door, her heart pounding. There was no light inside. Was she not there, or was she already asleep? ...Most likely, she wasn't…
Finally, she reached out and pressed the fingerprint lock. The screen displayed a password prompt. The password… she wondered if she'd changed it over the years. Or perhaps she no longer lived here and had sold the house… Never mind, she could only try.
Enter 200330
It was the day they first met.
Qi Yi'an watched the cursor load nervously, and finally heard a "beep!" as the cursor turned green. He breathed a sigh of relief.
She opened the door; the room was quiet and dark. She went inside, found the light switch, and turned on the light.
The room's furnishings were similar to those five years ago, simple yet elegant. There were few decorations and items, suggesting she rarely stayed there. Qi Yi'an casually touched the furniture; it wasn't dusty, indicating it had been cleaned before.
She looked around the lifeless room like an uninvited guest, feeling as if she'd broken in, her small expectation dwindling. The refrigerator was empty, containing only some water and milk, and a few bottles of wine, the age of which was unknown. Entering the bedroom, the bed was neat and clean, completely bare. Qi Yi'an bent down and touched the blankets; they were Qin Ruoshui's favorite high-density cotton.
She went out onto the balcony, looked at the city lights twinkling in the distance, and lit a cigarette.
This is one of Qin Ruoshui's apartments, where they lived together when they were in Beijing. Qi Yi'an chose this one because it was smaller and cozier than her other apartments, and the location had a more lived-in feel. She also had the key to several other properties Qin Ruoshui owned around the world, such as in Country E, Country R, the J Islands… or other places she had seen sporadically over the years, though she couldn't remember them all.
Qi Yi'an once said he wanted to keep a mistress in a golden house, and Qin Ruoshui jokingly teased him, saying she already had her own golden house. However, in recent years, she has wandered around various places, never settling down, and her relationship with Qin Ruoshui has always been ambiguous. Both of them crave freedom yet have never completely severed their entanglement, sometimes making him both love and hate that woman.
Feeling sleepy, Qi Yi'an stubbed out the remaining half of her cigarette. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the small aloe vera plant she had given to Qin Ruoshui in the corner of the balcony; it had dried up from a 3D plant to a 2D one. "Wow, it's still alive! You're really tenacious," she thought to herself, a mixture of surprise and resentment. She had given her the succulent because she knew Qin Ruoshui would be too lazy to water it, and sure enough...
Where could she be?
Lying on the soft yet empty bed, Qi Yi'an buried herself in the pillow, inhaling the woman's scent. Only a faint trace, just a tiny bit; she wasn't sure if it was real or just her imagination. Looking back, she found her memories of the past few years somewhat hazy. Was it because time had passed too quickly? She vaguely knew what had happened, but the details were indistinct. Her memories of Li Feiyan, however, were crystal clear… Thinking about it, she unconsciously fell asleep. Sleeping peacefully in her scent.
-----
"There's a rather private gathering tomorrow night, just a few friends. Could you come with me?" the man pleaded on the phone.
Qin Ruoshui leaned lazily against the sofa playing games and simply refused, "I'm not going."
"Another business meeting, huh? You know I'm too lazy to go to those kinds of events."
"I'll go in and talk to someone privately. You can just socialize outside; it's mostly friends getting together..."
"Okay, that's enough. Just let me play the game, that's all."
"Qin Ye will also be there."
She frowned and ignored him for a long while. Qin Ruoshui was used to a leisurely life and hated these kinds of situations filled with exchanges of interests, but as his legal partner…