Psst! We're moving!
Through the video, Luoluo had already spotted someone standing behind Lin Zhan and was frantically giving her eye signals.
Lin Zhan’s screen was too small, and she was concentrating entirely on Luoluo’s face, watching Luoluo wink and twitch her lips, asking with a questioning tone—
“What are you doing?”
Without waiting for Luoluo to answer, Lin Zhan continued, “Don’t disbelieve me, I really do feel this way. Is he, like, not capable...?”
Luoluo watched in horror as Shen Xi lifted his leg and walked closer.
Lin Zhan was leaning by the window, and the camera could gradually only capture Shen Xi’s long legs.
Luoluo’s voice trembled: “I, I’m hanging up now!”
Good luck, my Zhan, amen.
Lin Zhan frowned, staring at her phone which had suddenly returned to the chat page.
A moment later, Luoluo’s message came through.
[Look behind you.]
Lin Zhan: [You want to tell me a ghost story? I won’t fall for it, okay?]
After replying, she still subconsciously looked back.
Shen Xi stood behind her, arms crossed, his long fingers tapping his elbow.
His eyes seemed to smile, hooking up at the corners, yet also seemed not to smile, revealing a hint of inexplicable chill.
...
...............
..................
Lin Zhan was instantly speechless. Her survival instinct made her glance at the door behind her.
Great, the door was locked by Shen Xi.
................................
Lin Zhan tried to lighten the mood: “...When did you arrive?”
Shen Xi’s voice was slow and leisurely, drawing out the end of his words a little: “Very early.”
Lin Zhan chuckled awkwardly, feeling that this angle made her lack presence, so she stood up and asked: “...How early?”
“Early enough to hear everything, what I should and shouldn’t have,” Shen Xi paused, then added bit by bit, “Everything.”
Lin Zhan stuck out her tongue, pushing against the soft flesh on the right side of her mouth.
...
It has come to this.
...Just jump into the river.
She cleared her throat and asked, “Do you want some tea? I’ll pour you some water...”
She took two steps forward, and her wrist was seized.
His unique scent of sunlight burst forth.
Lin Zhan’s bones and blood swelled, her heels and earlobes simultaneously weakened.
Shen Xi lowered his eyebrows and asked in a low voice, “You think I... have a problem?”
Lin Zhan was at a loss for words: “...”
Shen Xi reached out and tugged at his collar: “Let me review the key points with you, huh?”
She was enveloped by his breath, feeling lightheaded, and waves of heat continuously crashed against her earlobes.
She managed to ask, stammering: “...Review, what?”
He mused for a moment, then spoke word by word, as if he wanted Lin Zhan to find a hole to crawl into.
“Practice... brings true knowledge.”
Lin Zhan recoiled, hitting the corner of the cabinet, but it didn’t hurt.
Only her heart pounded in her chest, and an intense sense of nervousness built up from head to toe.
Her hands trembled, almost stiffly wrapping around Shen Xi’s waist.
“Dim the lights?” he asked her softly, seeking her opinion. “Do you like it too dark?”
“Turn, turn it all off,” she stammered.
The room was pitch black, moonlight like silk, slowly creeping in along the window sill.
Lin Zhan felt nervous, but amidst the nervousness, she also felt that her heart was not entirely filled with anxiety.
Although she still had an instinctive fear of the unknown, she also felt that as long as she was by Shen Xi’s side, there was no need to be afraid.
He would lead her, no matter if the path ahead was riddled with thorns.
If thorns paved the way, he would cut through them; if dangers lurked, he would avert them; if there was endless night and unceasing darkness, he would personally ignite the morning sun.
He led her from an isolated island of one to a bustling shore.
Lin Zhan could no longer feel how her clothes were removed.
She was in a haze, almost instinctively cooperating with Shen Xi’s actions.
His movements were gentle and slow. Finally, he meticulously folded Lin Zhan’s clothes and placed them aside.
She would have to wear them tomorrow, and if he wrinkled them, she would grumble and be dissatisfied for a long time.
Shen Xi maintained the motion of placing the clothes, still asking her: “If you’re scared, you can still call a stop now, this is your last chance.”
Any further, and there would be no stopping.
Lin Zhan’s heart was filled with courage—if it was this person, she wouldn’t be afraid at all. No matter the outcome, she would absolutely not regret it.
She raised her hand, resting it on his shoulder, her voice trembling with restraint.
“Unfair.”
Shen Xi frowned: “...Hmm?”
Lin Zhan retorted, not wanting to concede: “I’m all... and you’re still wearing so much, it’s not fair...”
After saying that, perhaps having finally taken that step, she went all in. She began haphazardly unbuttoning Shen Xi’s shirt.
Shen Xi said in a low voice, “You’re touching the pocket button, it’s useless even if you unbutton it.”
Lin Zhan: “Hmph.”
Shen Xi’s gentle kisses fell on her eyelids, the tip of her nose, her cheeks. At first, they were light touches, but then they slowly warmed up.
Sparks seemed to ignite on their touching skin, initially just clusters, but then the dense sparks connected, igniting a spreading fire.
Shen Xi felt an indescribable burning sensation surge from his spine, uncontrollable, unquenchable.
A hunger deep to his bone marrow spread through his limbs, and the tightly strung chord in his mind, which he thought would never tremble for anyone, instantly snapped.
He cradled the back of her neck, his thumb resting by her ear, trying to gently lift her head.
This action made her instinctively gasp for air, and he took the opportunity to cup her tongue, turning and sucking.
His fingers lightly stroked and caressed the extremely fragile skin behind her ear.
Lin Zhan let out fragmented protests, but they were faint and short, quickly swallowed by his lips and teeth.
She trembled beneath him, subdued.
Lin Zhan felt like she was on a roller coaster. The initial nervousness gradually dissipated, and with the end and beginning of each track, various different experiences burst forth.
A thrill of being suspended at a height, the exhilaration of strong winds hitting her face, and extreme excitement and anticipation.
After sufficient and prolonged foreplay.
Lin Zhan: “Take...”
Only one word came out, and Shen Xi, understanding, continued: “Mm.”
It was very natural, and very reassuring.
Lin Zhan: “You... I... I... you be gentle, I’m a little afraid of pain...”
Shen Xi pursed his lips, placed his fingers on the bedsheet beneath her, rubbed it, and then touched it with his palm.
Finally, he said soothingly in a hoarse voice—
“It’s enough already, it won’t hurt.”
At first, she didn’t know what Shen Xi was saying: “Huh? What’s enough...”
After she realized, her whole face almost exploded with redness. She pushed his shoulder, but she was too soft and weak to push him away.
Her cursing was like an affectionate scolding, laced with a girl’s soft tone and fragmented shyness.
“Are you a hooligan, Shen Xi?!!”
The night was deep, a pool of soft dew hanging on the branches of the young plum.
Only when it could no longer hold, it would sprinkle down in scattered droplets.
The branches and leaves bore that favor, and did not feel overwhelmed by the heavy moonlight, instead laughing softly in the night.
Laughing softly, singing softly, when the wind passed, the leaves rustled and curled up, as if hiding.
The tender whispers and touches of her beloved, like the stirring wind of early spring, tempting and yet resisting, filled with excitement.
________________________________________
Lin Zhan woke up the next day to a gentle touch.
At first, she could only feel someone’s fingertips poking her cheek. She slowly became a little conscious, and then felt those hands, smoothing the hair stuck to her cheek, little by little, behind her ear.
It happened not only on both sides of her face, but also on her forehead.
Just having woken up, Shen Xi’s voice was still thick with hoarseness and laziness. He spoke in a low voice, as if talking to himself: “Why did you sweat so much last night...”
Lin Zhan: ??? Is it my fault???
She wanted to share a loving morning gaze with Shen Xi, and excitedly opened her eyelids, only to see Shen Xi’s back.
...
This person can never cooperate, can he?
Shen Xi was rummaging through something in a small bag on the cabinet.
Lin Zhan was a little flustered.
In broad daylight, surely it wasn’t going to happen again...
Shen Xi found what he was looking for. As he turned, Lin Zhan immediately closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
She felt Shen Xi’s hand reach under the covers.
Her ear tips grew hot.
Then, Shen Xi took her hand.
Hmm?
Shen Xi pulled her hand out from under the covers.
Hmm hmm?
Shen Xi slipped a cold object onto her... middle finger.
Hmm hmm hmm???
Lin Zhan opened her eyes, just in time to catch Shen Xi in the act.
Her throat tingled, as if someone had fed her a mouthful of cake.
Her voice trembled slightly: “What... are you doing?”
Most of the sunlight outside the window was absorbed by the curtains, but the room was still bright.
On her middle finger was a simple, elegantly designed ring with smooth lines.
Shen Xi paused for a moment, then slowly said, “I didn’t know what kind you’d like, so I just bought a random one for now. When you change fingers, we can get another one.”
Lin Zhan opened her mouth, her eyes burning, feeling all sorts of emotions surging towards her eyes.
“...What do you mean?”
She stubbornly wanted an answer.
Shen Xi lowered his gaze, composed himself, extended his hand, and held her palm.
His palm was large and warm.
“I want to marry you.”
For a moment, Lin Zhan felt as if she had evaporated from this Earth.
She thought of nothing, could think of nothing. All her organs were still functioning for her body, yet she couldn’t control this vessel.
She suspected she was dreaming. Only in dreams could such uncontrollable and helpless scenes occur. She couldn’t wake up, and wasn’t the sound of her heart beating being amplified by a loudspeaker? It shouldn’t be heard so clearly.
Shen Xi reached out a finger and wiped away a tear stain from the corner of her eye.
“Alright, why are you crying?”
From where he touched, her cold body gradually warmed up, and Lin Zhan regained her senses inch by inch.
She wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Her words were fragmented, expressing her emotions in other ways.
After a long while, she turned her head away so Shen Xi couldn’t see her, and with a slight lift of her lips, asked, “What did you say? I didn’t hear clearly.”
She thought Shen Xi wouldn’t answer, but unexpectedly, he repeated it patiently.
“I said, I want to marry you.”
“Did you hear clearly?” he said. “I want to marry you.”
Lin Zhan coughed, her blood seeming to flow faster.
After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly let out a soft cry.
Shen Xi: “What’s wrong?”
Lin Zhan sighed hurtfully, regretfully, and with pity: “I forgot to time it!”
Shen Xi: “..............................”
Lin Zhan immediately rolled to the edge of the bed, fumbled for her phone, and opened her chat history with Luoluo.
Luoluo’s messages hadn’t stopped since seven o’clock.
[Are you awake?]
[Are you okay?]
[Are you still alive???]
[Where are you?]
[Hahahahahahahahaha]
[It’s okay, Lin Zhan, you’re okay.]
...
Lin Zhan read them once, then scrolled up to see older messages.
She lowered her eyelids, her amber pupils tightly fixed on the string of numbers.
“The call ended around 10:45, it started after 11, and ended when...”
She recalled that at that time, when the clock struck midnight, she looked at the time tiredly and immediately fell asleep. Later, Shen Xi carried her to take a shower.
So, calculating it...
Over an hour...
Perhaps feeling provoked, Shen Xi’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and his tone deepened.
“How about we do it again, and I’ll time you?”