Shi Yin was indeed exhausted.

It’s easy to feel drowsy in a moving car, and she kicked off her high heels, leaning back against the passenger seat with her head resting on the window frame as she drifted into a light sleep.

It wasn’t even 7 PM yet; the sky hadn’t fully darkened, but the streetlights had already come on. The car was silent, no one speaking.

Gu Congli didn’t seem like the type to play car music. She fiddled with her phone for a while but quickly grew bored, yawned, and lazily leaned back again. With the window slightly open, the wind rushed in, blowing her long hair around.

Gu Congli tilted his head slightly, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Without making a sound, he reached over and closed the window, then turned on the car’s air conditioning.

Semi-conscious, Shi Yin leaned against the window frame, her eyelids fluttering slightly as she murmured groggily, “What’s wrong? Isn’t this too warm?”

“Mm,” Gu Congli replied calmly. “I’ve turned on the air conditioning. The outside air isn’t good.”

Shi Yin made a soft noise of acknowledgment and closed her eyes again.

After a while, as the temperature inside the car cooled down, Shi Yin, still with her eyes closed, lightly shrugged her shoulders.

Gu Congli adjusted the air conditioning, raising the temperature slightly.

While waiting at a red light, his phone rang.

It only rang once before he pressed it to silence, glanced at the person beside him, and then picked it up.

The caller ID displayed an unfamiliar phone number—it wasn’t saved in his contacts.

Gu Congli paused for a few seconds before answering. He said nothing.

The woman on the other end spoke first, her voice tinged with caution. “Xiao Gu.”

Gu Congli responded with a simple “Mm.”

The woman continued hesitantly, “Madam hasn’t been doing well lately. Tomorrow’s Saturday, and I need to leave early in the morning. I’m worried about leaving her alone at home in the morning. Do you think you could come over earlier?”

Gu Congli was silent for a moment. “Mm, I’ll come by tomorrow morning.”

The person on the other end seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then cautiously added, “I know you’re filial, but honestly, I feel like Madam’s condition hasn’t been great since she’s been at home. After all, there’s no professional treatment or medical staff here. It might be better to send her back to—”

“Aunt Cao,” Gu Congli interrupted softly, “I’m driving.”

Aunt Cao quickly replied, “Alright, alright, I won’t say more. You focus on driving. Just let me know when you arrive tomorrow morning.”

Gu Congli gave a brief acknowledgment.

Aunt Cao hung up.

The countdown timer for the traffic light had just ended. Gu Congli set his phone down, gripped the steering wheel with one hand, and pressed the accelerator.

The car remained quiet. He glanced to the side, where Shi Yin still hadn’t opened her eyes. She was leaning against the seat, her head tilted, sleeping soundly.

Her strapless cocktail dress revealed her slender, delicate neck and collarbone. Her skin was porcelain-white, gently rising and falling with each breath.

She looked fragile and delicate, peaceful and harmless. Gu Congli reached out, his cool fingertips lightly pressing against the edge of her collarbone. The touch was soft, velvety, and warm.

It felt as though the slightest pressure would shatter her.

…

Ever since that day on the rooftop after their high school graduation, it was as if Gu Congli had been haunted.

Shi Yin began appearing frequently in his dreams.

Sometimes, the scenes were mundane.

He sat in his office while she wore a simple white cotton T-shirt with a flat, silly-looking cat printed on it and a pair of high-waisted denim shorts, her legs long and straight.

In her hands, she carried a full plastic bag filled entirely with peaches.

She placed the peaches on the table, then spread her hands open, revealing deep red marks etched into her palms from carrying the heavy load.

Other times, the dreams were more absurd.

She wore a cheerleader outfit—a strapless top adorned with colorful plastic sequins and a short skirt that was half-raised, its lace edges peeking out.

Her long legs wrapped around his waist, her slender hands gripping his shoulder blades, her fingertips digging into his flesh.

He lowered his gaze, and she opened her eyes.

Her wet, dewy eyes looked up at him, the corners tinged with red. She lifted her head slightly and smiled at him.

Her soft lips pressed against the pulse point on his neck, like a vampire preparing for its final feast.

The next moment, sharp fangs pierced his skin.

Gu Congli tilted his head back, raised his hand, and pressed her head closer to his neck. He listened to the sound of her hurried swallowing as blood slowly drained through his arteries.

He thought the version of himself in the dream must have gone mad.

When she smiled at him, he handed over his life.

This influence wasn’t right.

Details about her that he thought he’d never noticed began to surface in his dreams, piece by piece.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

The occurrence of these situations beyond his control triggered an indescribable sense of irritation.

He felt that this city didn’t quite align with him.

So he left, traveling from South America to Northern Europe. Time passed quickly, and four years slipped by. He tried dating women his age, going on dates, but nothing came of it.

No matter where he went or who he met, everything felt bland and tiresome.

Gu Congli had assumed he’d grown accustomed to this kind of life.

Time flowed by flatly, without ripples or waves.

Until he encountered Shi Yin again.

The girl stood in front of Yaoguang Publishing wearing a simple white T-shirt and denim shorts, waiting for someone. Her slender figure swayed into his line of sight, perfectly overlapping with someone deep in his memories.

It was as if someone had poured a bucket of paint over his dull, gray world. Starting with her, the world began to slowly regain its vibrancy.

Something flashed by too quickly to grasp.

But it was enough to make him outright reject an invitation from a former classmate to co-found a startup. Instead, he became the editor-in-chief of Crimson Moon , directly placing her under his supervision.

On his first day in the role, Gu Congli hesitated.

That instinctive aversion to losing control made every cell in his body scream danger.

But she was like an irresistible trap.

In the end, he went upstairs.

She wore a thin nightgown, looking intimate, standing beside another man. She slammed the door in his face.

At that moment, Gu Congli almost laughed.

This girl—after all these years, she still had guts.

Slamming his door, sending him angry messages on WeChat, even going on blind dates.

The day he saw her on a blind date, a beast roared and thrashed within him. Gu Congli nearly lost control of his emotions.

Everything in his life should have been under his control. Every step he took, every decision he made, should have been preordained.

This loss of emotional control irritated him deeply.

Frustrated, yet unable to resist getting closer.

The closer he got to her, the more out of control he became. The more he resisted, the more he couldn’t help but draw nearer.

After meeting her again, those unfamiliar emotions that he’d barely managed to suppress found fertile ground to grow, multiplying uncontrollably.

Gu Congli decided to stop resisting, to stop struggling. The almost euphoric sensation of his blood boiling brought the only color into his otherwise monotonous twenty-something years.

He wanted color.

If she went on blind dates, he’d keep her so busy she wouldn’t have time to think about other men. He’d make her finish thirty-plus pages of rough drafts in a week.

When Lu Jiaheng threw him a welcome-back party after his return to China, Gu Congli happened to meet Qin Yan.

Qin Yan, a classmate of Shi Yin’s, seemed familiar with her classmates and happily invited him to their reunion. Almost effortlessly, Qin Yan brought him along.

Gu Congli guessed Shi Yin would definitely show up.

And she did. Not only did she come, but she also spent the entire time chatting and laughing with her old classmate, arm in arm.

After male editors and blind dates, now there was an old classmate. She seemed to grow closer to every man around her.

Such audacity.

Gu Congli felt it was necessary to mark his territory and assert his dominance.

Shi Yin belonged to him.

She could only look at him. She should only look at him.

He had made a mistake—he had let her go and hadn’t retrieved her immediately. He deserved some punishment.

Gu Congli found every excuse to visit her house, careful not to appear too eager or too distant.

When he overheard that her blind date wanted to take her out again, he assigned her a mountain of rough drafts and waited at her house all day.

She looked so unguarded when she woke up, her movements soft and natural, exuding an unconscious allure.

Gu Congli was a normal man, and the person in his dreams stood before him now, sleepy-eyed.

He fantasized about the day his dream would become reality.

Like a deviant.

But he couldn’t rush things.

His little girl was different now. She was like a startled hamster. If he moved forward, she would retreat, quietly digging a hole and burying herself deep in the wood shavings, peeking out cautiously with just her eyes showing.

He had to take it slow, inching closer step by step without scaring her away.

…

The drive from the hotel to Shi Yin’s place took about half an hour, including traffic. By the time they arrived, the sky had already darkened.

Pulling up to the building, Gu Congli parked the car, turned off the engine, and turned his head.

Shi Yin was fast asleep, her small frame strapped securely by the seatbelt, her head tilted against the headrest. Her long, thick lashes cast faint shadows on her lower eyelids.

Her irregular sleep schedule and late nights often left faint dark circles under her eyes when she wasn’t wearing makeup.

Now, with her carefully applied makeup, the dark circles were completely concealed. A hint of blush graced her cheekbones, and her breathing was steady and quiet.

Gu Congli lowered his gaze, taking advantage of her slumber to study her intently without restraint.

In the dim light, he could see the fine down on her cheeks and the tip of her nose.

His gaze traveled downward, tracing her brows, eyes, and nose until it landed on her lips.

Her lips were beautifully shaped, her lip color naturally rosy. A small cupid’s bow adorned her upper lip, and her lip lines were clear. When she smiled, the corners of her mouth curled up, revealing a shallow dimple on the left side.

There wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t beautiful.

Every inch of her was stunning, so much so that he wanted to hide her away, lock her in a room, and keep her all to himself.

The surroundings were quiet, save for the occasional passerby walking their dog. In the distance, children’s laughter echoed from the neighborhood garden.

Gu Congli unbuckled his seatbelt, braced one hand on the back of the passenger seat, leaned in close, and lowered his head.

His cool, soft lips gently brushed against the warm corner of her mouth.