She pouted. He looked her over, and she felt a little embarrassed by his gaze. He was direct, saying, "I knew you'd look good in a suit during the interview."
Shi Nan stiffened, a little scared: Are all people outside of school like this—openly bullying newcomers and openly praising them? She really wasn't used to it.
After saying goodbye hastily, Shi Nan fled the moment the elevator hit the ground.
Cheng Bin wasn't a greenhorn fresh out of school; he wasn't in a hurry to catch his prey. After that, he didn't appear in front of Shi Nan again for a while.
The two male colleagues in the office were very polite to her and never asked her to do anything; but the women still made things difficult for her. They dumped all the chores that were their own to Shi Nan; when Shi Nan asked for sick leave, they refused, using the excuse that the manager was not there and everyone was too busy; during the one-hour lunch break, Shi Nan spent forty minutes eating before returning and was questioned; when a faxed receipt was clearly placed on the table, they claimed it was missing.
When Shi Nan returned to school for his thesis defense, his roommates discussed their internships, and everyone seemed happy. As his internship neared its end, Shi Nan began to hesitate, wondering if he should look for another job.
With everything at the school completed, Shi Nan's internship came to an end. Cheng Bin told her to rest for two weeks, after which he would inform her of her specific formal work arrangements. She told Cheng Bin about her unpleasant experience in the office, and Cheng Bin seemed unsurprised, patting her on the shoulder, "I'll arrange for you to join the new department."
His words did not dissuade Shi from looking for another company, but he remained undecided. He thought to himself, "Let me just enjoy my two-week vacation first."
Ye Feng helped her move her things from her dorm room back home, and she treated him to dinner. Ye Feng told her that he had finally decided to go to France.
“That’s good,” Shi Nan encouraged him, “as long as you like it.”
Ye Feng put down his chopsticks. "Are you afraid I'll stay in Beijing and bother you?"
Shi Nan sighed, "You still saw through my little scheme."
After dinner, Ye Feng offered to take her home, but Shi Nan said it wasn't necessary and she wanted to walk back herself. On the East Third Ring Road, the traffic was heavy and noisy. Her phone rang for a long time before she heard it; it was Lan Di. Hearing the sounds of traffic around her, he asked her why she was on the road. She remained silent, her mind a jumble of emotions—her experiences since starting her internship and her conflicted feelings for him—and choked out, "Why aren't you back yet?"
There was no reply from Lan Di's side.
During her internship, she took the subway every day. She hadn't walked that far in a long time, and by the time she got home, she only had the energy to wash up and go to sleep. That night, she dreamt of Lan Di, and she asked him, "What am I to you?"
He smiled but did not answer.
The next day, I woke up naturally, checked the time, and it was 12:30. I then went to take a shower.
While washing his clothes, he vaguely heard his phone ringing, but ignored it and continued washing. After a while, the home phone also started ringing, and Shi Nan reluctantly went out to answer it.
"Shi Nan." It was actually Lan Di.
"Yeah, I just got up and am taking a shower. You were the one who called me on my phone, weren't you?"
“It’s me.” Lan Di said calmly. “Shi Nan, I’m downstairs.”
cloud
Shi Nan quickly finished her shower, grabbed a piece of clothing, and went downstairs. At that moment, she had no time to care about her appearance.
Lan Di leaned against the wall with one leg, dressed in blue and white clothes. Her thin hair was gilded with a sandy gold by the sunlight, and her eyes were buried under her bangs. The moment she heard Shi Nan come out, he threw his bag on the ground and stretched out his arms to her.
She stood there stunned for a moment, as if trying to confirm that it really was him. Then she suddenly ran over and jumped into his arms, which caught her steadily. She hugged his head, tears streaming down her face. He held her tightly, without saying a word.
After a while, Shi Nan saw his neighbor Aunt Zhang walking towards them from a distance. She got off him, wiped away her tears, and asked, "Are you only staying for one day this time?"
"Three days." Lan Di took out a handkerchief and wiped her tears. "I have to go back because of the exam on Tuesday."
Three days isn't a long time, but it's better than one day, Shi Nan nodded somewhat dejectedly. Looking him face to face, she finally noticed his bloodshot eyes and exhausted expression. "You didn't sleep well last night, did you? Your eyes are so red."
"I didn't sleep," he said casually, accompanied by a yawn. "I went straight to the airport after hanging up the phone and waited all night."
Her eyes welled up with tears again. If she had known that her complaint last night would make him wait for the earliest flight all night, she would never have said such a thing to torment him.
"Wait for me, I'll go upstairs and change my clothes. We're not going anywhere else, we'll go to your place first, you can get a good night's sleep."
He grabbed her arm, "Shi Nan...we only have three days..."
"Yes, I know." Even though she was deaf, she heard it.
What I mean is...would you like to stay with me for the next three days?
Shi went upstairs to get some basic toiletries and a change of underwear, left a note for his parents, and lied, saying that he had decided to go to Huairou with his friends on short notice.
The two went to the supermarket to buy food and drinks first. Lan Di picked out things with his left hand, while his right hand held her left hand tightly the whole time, squeezing it every now and then, making her feel painful.
She thought he had something to say, so she looked up at him, but his face remained calm and expressionless. She didn't say anything either, and pinched him back. They strained, their hands becoming red and purple from each other's pinching.
They expressed their deep longing for each other in this way.
In the taxi, he naturally wrapped his arms around her again, intending to pinch her ribs to make her hurt, but he couldn't grab any flesh at all.
He frowned, but in the end he just held her tighter.
He opened the door somewhat awkwardly.
It's been over a year, and no one should have come during that time. As soon as Shi Nan entered, he could still seem to smell the lingering scent of that rainy night.
He calmly put the bag on the ground, turned on the air conditioner, found the refrigerator plug, plugged it in, and then put the groceries he bought from the supermarket into the refrigerator one by one, and put their respective toiletries into the bathroom.
After he finished everything, he stood by the bed, his back to her, motionless.
She called out to him, "Landy?"
It still doesn't move.
She stepped forward, about to see what was going on, when he suddenly turned around, grabbed her, and kissed her deeply, leaving her no room to breathe.
Tears welled up in her eyes again; more than a year of longing had transformed into the tearing and devouring of her lips and tongue.
After a long while, he finally let go of her, looking at her face, which was covered in tears and his own marks.
She pushed him onto the bed. "Go to sleep now."
He obediently took off his clothes, and took hers off as well.
The two, dressed in their underwear, slept side by side. Soon, his breathing became calm and steady. Shi Nan, being held from behind, wanted to turn her head to look at him, but fearing that any movement would wake him, she closed her eyes as well.
Shi Nan opened her eyes groggily, blinking: the sheets weren't hers, and the sky outside the window was a starry night. It took her ten seconds to process what had happened: Lan Di suddenly appeared downstairs, then they went to the supermarket, then they went to his house, and then... then she suddenly realized that a pair of eyes had been watching her.
Landi propped himself up on his right elbow, looking down at her from above, and laughed, "Awake? You can sleep better than someone who hasn't slept all night."
Shi Nan didn't argue; she knew she was a sleepyhead. The air conditioning was a bit chilly, and she wanted to warm herself with his body heat, so she turned around, buried her head in his chest, and climbed onto his arms, only to find her chest touching his firm, bulging abdomen. He suddenly took a deep breath.
Her scent, her touch, her fragrance… These past fifteen months, they've haunted him night after night, tormenting him after his first time with something so incomplete. His lower body often became intensely hard, to the point that he had to use his hand…
Now she was right in front of him, her increasingly alluring curves wrapped in the lingerie he had personally chosen, pressed against his abdomen.
Whether she was intentionally seducing him or not, he couldn't wait to have her.
He flipped her over, pinning her beneath him, his voice possessing a captivating, almost numbing power, "Shi Nan... I missed you so much..." he murmured with his last shred of reason, kissing her neck, "I don't have any condoms here..."
Shi Nan was floating, his brain lacking oxygen. He heard his words but didn't try to understand their meaning, only letting out some intermittent groans.
Encouraged, he disregarded everything else and began to indulge himself.
The kiss turned into biting, as he vented his longing. He pinned her arms down, attacking her neck before moving downwards. He stopped at her cleavage, leaving marks with his teeth, biting hard at her nipples through her bra. She trembled, arching her back, her waist twisting involuntarily, unaware that this only aroused him more. The usually serene Lan Di suddenly became wild, almost tearing away the barrier, his right hand cupping her bouncing breast, sucking. His left hand grasped her middle finger, guiding it inside her wet panties. Shi Nan was startled, stopping shyly, opening her eyes to look at him. He stopped too, his gaze locked on hers. Both knew that the real action was about to begin. Although the shadow of her first painful experience still lingered, Shi Nan didn't back down in front of Lan Di; she trusted him completely.
She nodded gently to him.
He began gently to remove her underwear, then her panties, then his own, until they were naked together once more.
As his hard member touched her tender flesh, she heard Lan Di gasp sharply. He raised his face to hers, eyes to eyes, nose to nose. He began to enter, very slowly, as if prepared to spend the entire night with her.
This time, he felt no resistance, only a tightness. He struggled to control himself, his eyes never leaving hers. They didn't speak, their gazes met, and when she frowned, he would pause, then continue, then pause again, until his entire being was enveloped in her warmth. They finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Shi Nan suddenly laughed. Lan Di asked in a hoarse voice, "Is this laughter a reward for me?"
"Well, congratulations on reaching the finish line..." Before Shi Nan could finish speaking, he cried out in surprise from the sudden pleasure—he began to convulse.
No one taught her; her legs automatically and instinctively climbed up to his lower back, wrapping tightly around him. Their bodies were pressed so close together that with every movement he made, he could feel the incredibly soft and elastic flesh beneath his chest pressing against him.
She was so tight, so warm.
He was still a virgin and couldn't withstand such sensory stimulation; he surrendered.
She felt his spasm, a surge of heat reaching her core. She paused for a moment, but then understood what it was.
They didn't separate immediately, remaining in that position. He breathed heavily on her, and she ran her hands through his hair, kissing his forehead.
In her daze, she heard him say, "Shi Nan, you little vixen."
The sheets were dirty, so he got up and got new ones, which she immediately prepared to change.
They stood under the showerhead, water flowing over Shi Nan's body, carrying away his bodily fluids. Lan Di lathered her up and rinsed her clean with the showerhead.
Such intimate actions.
“Shi Nan…” He hugged her from behind, his hands supporting her breasts.
"Hmm?" She felt his lower back harden again.
He stroked her bud without answering.
"...What exactly do you want to say?" Shi Nan groaned, sounding a little impatient.
"...I need to go out and buy condoms."
Shi Nan frowned as he watched Lan Di roll the condom all the way up like a pro.
"Why are you suddenly unhappy? Are you afraid of it?" Landi pointed to the cover.
"...This isn't your first time using it, is it? You seem so skilled..."
Lan Di chuckled, "This isn't difficult, it's like putting on gloves."
Shi Nan muttered, "Who knows if you've been seeing someone else in the past year or so..."
Lan Di was furious at her words.
At his age, it would be a lie to say he didn't want to. In Japan, countless girls would throw themselves at him; if he wanted to hide it, she wouldn't know if he didn't tell. But the image of her beneath him, his bodily fluids flowing over her breasts, was deeply etched in his mind. He simply couldn't imagine doing it with other girls, neither physically nor psychologically. She held such a significant place in his heart, so unique; he couldn't betray her, nor did he want to. Even the strongest desires were suppressed because of his beloved.
Now, she doubts him because of an action that can be performed without any practice. How can she not see his true feelings?
He was annoyed, took off the cover, and stood up. "I'm hungry, I'll get something to eat. What do you want?"
Seeing that he was angry, Shi Nan realized she had been overthinking things, so she just stared at him without saying a word.
He received no response, and glanced back at her before leaving the room. She was sitting on his bed, wearing his old T-shirt, the thin fabric barely concealing her ample bosom, looking at him pitifully.