The weather forecast predicted heavy rain that night. Many luxury cars were parked in the nightclub’s parking lot, with servers holding wide black umbrellas escorting guests from the private elevator to the top-floor rooms. The corridor echoed with the howling sounds of dance music. Chen Yi stood with his arms crossed, chatting with companions in the stairwell, glimpsing servers silently sliding along the wall with trays into private rooms. His gaze swept past intentionally and unintentionally, his expression pausing slightly, his jovial tone turning somewhat bitter—he could roughly guess the situation in the private rooms, the strange smell after they cleared out, those scattered colored straws on the floor, and the makeshift tools fashioned from those straws.

The nightclub had a large security team, with strict hierarchy and clear division of labor. The storage room had plenty of knives and equipment. Chen Yi suspected there might be guns, ammunition, and explosives. That runner who went to Yunnan probably had some connection to the previous shooting case. Chen Yi vaguely heard they were taking inventory—of what, he didn’t particularly inquire. He didn’t want to get involved in the dark side, but he had ambitions. Zhai Fengmao had many legitimate businesses—it was good to seek shelter under a big tree. Just the seemingly insignificant market of sanitized tableware in Teng City was monopolized by several cleaning companies under Zhai Fengmao, with annual profits in the millions. Not to mention other food, real estate, raw material processing, waste recycling, and trading companies. If he could squeeze into this circle, he’d be set for life.

After finishing a cigarette, Chen Yi deliberately went to the downstairs bathroom, running into a young man wearing a baseball cap, his collar jacket pressed against his ears. Their eyes flashed past each other, neither speaking, each taking a step aside. Coming out of the bathroom again, Chen Yi stood by the road looking at the dark sky, planning to take a taxi to pick up Miao Jing after evening study. He happened to glimpse that baseball cap youth again, getting into the driver’s seat of a taxi by the road, driving past him.

Chen Yi’s brows furrowed slightly. Without hesitation, he got into another taxi. Halfway there, the downpour started. The school gate was packed with parents picking up students, colorful lights wavering in the puddles on the ground. After waiting half an hour, Miao Jing still hadn’t come out. Chen Yi had the taxi drive slowly along the route looking for her. Whether it was because he was distracted and missed her, or because of the thick curtain of rain, they searched their building, where the home was still dark with no lights on.

It was already eleven o’clock, and Miao Jing’s phone wasn’t answering. Chen Yi went out again with an umbrella to search along the road. There were few pedestrians, the plastic tables and chairs of the late-night food stalls had been washed into disarray in the mud by the rain, and the recently stopped rain started drizzling again. Halfway along, he indeed saw a slender figure under the dim street lights through the misty rain, slowly walking with an umbrella, pants soaked through and rolled up to the knees, revealing clean, fair calves wading through puddles.

“Miao Jing.”

“Why did you come?”

His face was especially gloomy today, his tone very unhappy: “Why are you coming back so late? Why aren’t you answering your phone?”

“The homeroom teacher confiscated phones today, I forgot to turn mine back on after shutting it off.” She explained while walking, the slightly cold rain curtain flowing down the umbrella edge and handle, soaking her sleeves and back. “The rain was too heavy, so I waited in the classroom for a while, then got a ride with a classmate, but then the rain stopped, so I got off halfway, who knew it would start raining again.”

“The rain was too heavy.” Miao Jing wiped the water droplets from her forehead. “Why did you come?”

“With such heavy rain, you couldn’t actively call me?” Chen Yi’s tone was sharp as he took off his leather jacket and handed it to her. “Put this on.”

Miao Jing glanced at him lightly, silently put on his jacket, and followed behind him toward home.

The downpour came too suddenly, rushing then slowing, the drainage ditches couldn’t handle the water, all clogging up the road. In low-lying areas, it even flooded onto the sidewalk with deep puddles. Miao Jing held the umbrella while carrying her textbooks, having to carefully feel out the ground beneath her feet. Occasionally when thunder struck, she would shrink her shoulders to hide.

Chen Yi looked back, his profile stern, watching her walk cautiously. He stepped back half a step, the two umbrellas side by side blocking the rain. He grabbed her soaked canvas bag and hung it on his shoulder, grabbed her ice-cold hand, and led her, his tone cold: “Walk faster.”

Miao Jing blinked, her lips curling slightly, revealing a faint smile, walking home alongside him.

“You seem… not in a good mood.”

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow: “When have I ever been in a good mood with you?”

“Oh.” She lowered her head. “Alright.”

“Curse me less, I’ll be happier, and nicer to you too.”

In such a stormy and hazy noisy night, all the surrounding scenery seemed unreal like an illusion. The two were like small boats in surging waves. Her heart was as soft as a pastry, soaked with rain ready to dissolve, her voice gentle as she obediently apologized: “I’m sorry…”

Sometimes she indeed had no right to curse him like that and would feel troubled and uncomfortable thinking about it afterward.

Water drops fell on his brow, his features relaxing handsomely. He gripped the slippery, wet hand in his more tightly: “You refused to live in the dorm, evening study ends so late, don’t you know the world isn’t safe?”

“I know… there are lots of people eating late-night snacks on the street, many shops are still open…”

“You don’t know shit.”

Go look at the nightclub, see how many varieties of scum there are.

Chen Yi had long legs and walked quickly, dragging Miao Jing’s hand straight ahead. Her calves were soaking in water, following Chen Yi without knowing the path beneath her feet. Suddenly she stumbled, letting out a light “ouch” as half her body fell toward the water, but Chen Yi’s quick hands fished her out of the standing water.

“Stand steady!”

“My shoe.” Miao Jing brushed the rain from her forehead, wiping the fine water drops from her eyelashes, standing on tiptoe in her white socks, caught between laughing and crying. “Something tripped me.”

Whether it was a tree branch or something else, her canvas shoe had slipped off her foot.

The umbrella had floated away, and half her body had fallen into the water. She searched in the puddle with her hands and feet but couldn’t find that shoe. Chen Yi also groped around blindly, getting soaked, finally becoming impatient: “Such heavy rain, forget it, let’s go.”

“But how will I get back?” She held Chen Yi’s arm, standing on one leg like a golden rooster, unwilling to give up as she felt around in the dark one more time, finally kicking off her other shoe, standing in short socks, like a ballet dancer tiptoeing to avoid puddles as she walked.

His eyes fixed on that pair of rain-soaked feet, their lines graceful, small enough to be held in one hand, gentle and soft.

“Get on my back, I’ll carry you.”

“No need, I’m all wet.” She wrung out her clothes, squeezing out a packet of water.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Chen Yi put the umbrella in her hand, pulled at his pant legs, frowned in thought, then directly wrapped an arm around her waist, lifted her body, and sat Miao Jing’s bottom directly in the crook of his arm, his single arm wrapping around the back of her knees. Her upper body was straight, half a head taller than him, her entire body pressed against his chest and shoulder.

Under the black umbrella, Chen Yi’s eyes were dark, yet hiding a spark: “This saves energy, hold onto my neck and hold the umbrella properly.”

The distance between their bodies was cold clothing, but in the friction of movement, one could feel his body’s taut strength and sense her body’s soft fragility. Their breathing, heartbeats, and body temperatures were all mixed by the rain, dissolving into a blur of cold. The rain outside the umbrella alternated between fierce and gentle, pouring down from all angles, impossible to defend against, unpredictable. Miao Jing, afraid Chen Yi was too tired, tried her best to minimize her form, silently holding his neck, tilting the black umbrella to block the rain, seeing water flow down the umbrella handle, and reaching out her sleeve to wipe the droplets. Unexpectedly, a strong wind gusted, the umbrella falling to the ground with the cold wind, rolling several times, floating behind them.

The two drenched people looked back at the umbrella blowing further away, their expressions awkward.

“Forget it, we’re almost home.”

Chen Yi quickened his pace, his arm gripping tightly, muscles and bones hard and firm, actually uncomfortable against Miao Jing, not as good as getting down to walk herself, but neither said these words.

Miao Jing took off his jacket, and moved closer to him, holding the jacket over their heads. His leather jacket was too precious, she couldn’t bear to let it get soaked, so she took off her school uniform too, leaving only two thin layers of clothing that had already become like another skin. She reached out to wipe the water drops from his forehead, her face close to his temples, smelling that clear and mellow masculine scent amid the damp rain, actually feeling her chest grow faintly hot.

Carrying her while walking, Chen Yi didn’t complain of fatigue. Miao Jing’s two hands holding up the jacket were already trembling slightly. He stopped, standing under a broken billboard at the entrance of the residential complex to catch his breath, turning his head to look at Miao Jing. Just a slight turn of angle and his gaze fell on her face—a snow-white and moist face, features as vivid as a midnight water lily, pupils full of crystalline sparkling water, lips also glistening red.

Their gazes met too suddenly, both slightly stunned, seemingly captured by the face so close at hand. Whether bewitched or through the tacit understanding of flowing gazes, he freed one hand to wipe the rain from her cheeks and nose, touching those ruddy cold lips. His movement stopped thumb imperceptibly caressing them, enchantingly raising his handsome face, effortlessly pressing against her lips.

The taste of fresh water vapor.

Their lips touched like a dragonfly skimming water, but the electric current was intense, making hearts and bodies tremble and shake, the world spinning as if falling through clouds. Testing further contact, at first the mind was still blank because it was too soft, but then sensing this touch and scene, his heart suddenly thumped heavily, like boiling water needing urgent cooling. He gently held her slightly cool lips, slowly sucking, holding, and sucking the upper lip, then gently releasing, holding the lower lip, and slightly caressing, repeating this.

The time should have been very short, yet in memory, it was especially long, slow enough that every instant was like slow motion. Miao Jing’s eyelashes gently brushed his cheek. Chen Yi suddenly came to his senses, stiffly releasing the lips that had become increasingly bright and full from his sucking, with a sticky parting sound between the four lips on a rainy night.

Both their faces were red and hot.

“I’ve been drinking.”

After a long while, he blurted out this explanation.

“Mm.”

Miao Jing lowered her eyes, letting out a response from her throat.

She struggled down from Chen Yi’s body. The two returned to their warm, dark home, turning on the lights. The two completely soaked people, clothes saturated with water, for some reason, felt unbearably uncomfortable clinging to their bodies. Chen Yi directly stood by the sofa removing his clothes, kicking off his shoes and socks, and taking off his T-shirt and pants. Turning back, he saw Miao Jing standing at the balcony door, standing on tiptoe to get a bath towel from the clothes rack. She had also removed her outer T-shirt and pants, wearing only a cream-colored camisole and underwear underneath. Whether due to the rain or the fabric already being loose, the camisole length just barely covered the tops of her thighs. From Chen Yi’s angle, it was already an enchantingly graceful, nearly transparent figure, all lines and curves fully visible, beautiful enough to inspire fantasies.

His nose suddenly stung, his body directly responding, wanting to walk over, wanting to embrace her, wanting to reach out and explore.

Miao Jing went to shower first, then returned to her room wrapped in a towel, leaving the bathroom for Chen Yi. When he came out much later, also wearing only boxer briefs, he heard movement from the kitchen. Looking over, Miao Jing hadn’t gone to her room but was at the stove making ginger tea for them both.

Chen Yi narrowed his eyes, wrapping the towel around his waist. He didn’t know her sleepwear was so light—it was a black T-shirt she had previously bought for him, but because the size was too small to wear, Miao Jing had taken it to use as a nightgown. Her delicate small frame in the loose clothing made her look as soft as a dandelion.

The two sat around the table, neither speaking much. The house was quiet, the ginger tea scalding hot. Her hair was still half-dry, resting on her shoulders as she sipped the ginger tea. Yet there was a vaguely unfathomable atmosphere. Chen Yi drank his ginger tea in one gulp, looking at her lips again, suddenly wanting to taste the ginger tea flavor in her mouth.

“Can’t finish it?”

She shook her head.

“I’ll drink it for you.”

He drank it all in one gulp.

Saying goodnight before bed, they closed their respective doors, but both tossed and turned unable to sleep. At midnight the windows rattled loudly, whether from fierce wind or sudden rain unknown, with distant rolling thunder. Chen Yi heard a faint knock at the door, thinking it was an illusion, hesitantly opened the door to see in the dim doorway someone standing barefoot, holding a pillow, with black hair like a waterfall, black clothes, face, and thighs as pure as moonlight, that pair of clear eyes staring at him darkly and deeply.

Chen Yi’s throat bobbed, his expression suddenly changing.