This, this, this was too thrilling.
Brother was so at ease, this wasn’t his first time. The young girls thought with disappointment and unease.
Outside was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone looked at each other in silent disbelief, as if witnessing a textbook example of a top-tier playboy seducing a woman in real-time, and they desperately wanted to soul-swap with Ye Meng.
“Call me unprincipled, but Tai Yangyang, find a way to install a camera at brother’s home. I feel like I can’t miss this livestream,” one of the girls said with heartfelt distress.
Tai Mingxiao was utterly confounded: “Do you women only care about good looks??”
…
Just as he finished speaking, “Click—!”
While everyone was holding their breath, the screen suddenly went black. Disaster—they’d been discovered. Sure enough, the next second, Tai Yangyang heard the sound of the storage room doorknob slowly turning. Her mind instantly flashed with a herd of mutilated alpacas, and with lightning reflexes, she threw her phone under the sofa. Though they had just been watching with righteous indignation and even wanted to rush in to teach Li Jinyu a lesson, peeping still left them somewhat in the wrong.
So the group immediately scattered—those pretending to sleep kept sleeping, those pretending to play games kept playing, and those pretending to eat barbecue kept eating. Only Gou Kai remained motionless, smoking on the sofa.
The barbecue was finished, with only a few bare skewers left on the table. Then Tai Mingxiao watched in shock as his sister, in her panic, casually picked up a chicken wing she had just thrown in the trash. Tai Mingxiao was about to yell “Are you an idiot?!” when the door lock clicked open behind him. He immediately grabbed a nearby coat, threw it over his face, and lay down motionless.
Footsteps approached. Tai Mingxiao felt something heavy land on his stomach. He didn’t dare lift the coat, but fearfully felt with his hand—it was the camera, still warm.
Tai Yangyang gnawed on the chicken wing she had pulled from the trash can, feeling as if she were standing at the edge of an abyss, blankly looking up at the man before her—indeed, it had been intense. Brother still had his sister’s lipstick on his mouth, and possibly on his neck too. Had their sister been biting his neck? Wait, had she missed something? She shamelessly wanted to watch the part she’d missed.
Li Jinyu was expressionless. His shirt still hung loosely outside his western trousers, though the buttons on his chest were now fastidiously done up. With one hand in his pocket, he extended the other toward Tai Yangyang: “Give me the phone.”
Without a word, Tai Yangyang retrieved it from under the sofa and obediently handed it over.
Li Jinyu deleted everything in two or three steps and tossed it back to her, putting his other hand back in his pocket as he asked: “What about the backup?”
Tai Yangyang answered honestly: “I haven’t had time to back it up.”
Li Jinyu made a sound of acknowledgment and turned to leave. However, as he passed by Gou Kai, he heard Gou Kai ask in a cold tone: “Li Jinyu, aren’t you going to explain yourself?”
Everyone looked over, probably surprised that the usually taciturn Gou Kai would ask so directly. Tai Yangyang’s palms suddenly began to sweat. She was afraid her brother would fight with Gou Kai, and instinctively glanced at the storage room door left slightly ajar. Wouldn’t sister come out to help brother?
Li Jinyu looked down at Gou Kai, showing no sign of embarrassment at being caught or spied upon, calmly asking in return: “Explain what? Are you her husband?”
Tai Yangyang even thought to herself: if brother and sister had done it in there just now, he probably wouldn’t be embarrassed when he came out either. He was always calm and composed, cold and detached, neither sad nor happy. Like a clay figure, impossible to read emotionally. Tai Yangyang was truly curious—would brother get jealous? Would he get angry? Would he hit someone? Would he go crazy thinking about someone?
Li Jinyu gradually wiped the lipstick from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, as if he had just been in a fight, casually wiping blood from his mouth. Looking down at his hand covered with lipstick stains, he said: “There’s nothing to explain. I just couldn’t resist kissing her. I forced myself on her. Sister loves her husband very much and has no intention of having an affair with me.”
Gou Kai: “…”
Tai Mingxiao’s mouth was as wide as an egg, blurting out: “You like Ye Meng?”
“It’s okay, just average,” he said this way, and after wiping his mouth clean, he used his hand to wipe off the lipstick on his neck. It did seem just average. Then he put his hands back in his pockets, truly looking like someone who liked nothing, yet still reminded them with perfect gentlemanly manners: “I’m just like this—if someone’s beautiful, I look twice. If you want to gossip or curse, curse me, but don’t curse sister. Otherwise, I’ll see you at Jiu Men Ridge.”
What kind of hall-of-fame scumbag was this!
…
The two drove back to the city. White poplar trees stood at regular intervals along both sides of the road, like guardians of the city, standing tall in the morning breeze day after day. The suburban streets at five in the morning were empty and exceptionally quiet, without the daytime hustle and bustle. The streetlights mixed with the fish-belly white dawn, emitting a warm temperature.
Theirs was the only car on the road, until gradually merging into the city’s main artery, becoming part of the bustling traffic.
By then it was only five-thirty. Ye Meng glanced at the man in the passenger seat who hadn’t spoken the whole time, and abruptly asked: “Did you not know there was a camera in that room? Li Chen just told you about it.”
Li Jinyu hadn’t slept all night and was a bit tired, leaning back in the passenger seat with his eyes closed to rest. Hearing her speak, he didn’t even lift his eyelids, but his tone was strangely provocative: “If sister knew, why did you let me kiss you? Was it deliberate?”
“Don’t twist my words,” it was just that tonight’s racing had been too exciting, and she had completely forgotten about it. Ye Meng helplessly turned the steering wheel, driving the car forward. “To be honest, I might be getting old. In those few seconds before you walked over, I vaguely remembered something like this, but once you embraced me, my mind went completely blank.”
Li Jinyu opened his eyes, feigning surprise as he looked at her: “Do I have that much seductive power?”
“Don’t be smug after getting your way,” Ye Meng glared at him. “Was it deliberate? You knew Yangyang was going to confess. You heard what Li Chen said.”
Li Jinyu smiled, reaching out to turn down the radio volume, appearing distracted but utterly sincere: “It wasn’t. When you said you wanted to race, my mind couldn’t focus on anything else. I truly didn’t hear what Li Chen told me. I knew Yangyang wanted to confess—”
“Mm, Yangyang.” Ye Meng shot him a sidelong glance without changing her expression.
“Tai Yangyang,” Li Jinyu coughed, saying solemnly, “I knew she wanted to confess because Tai Mingxiao was acting too strangely today, so I guessed.”
…
As the car slowly drove into Fenghui Garden, Ye Meng found a parking spot and stopped. After some thought, she still suggested: “Why don’t we go public? I’m really afraid they’ll misunderstand you.”
Li Jinyu had just woken up from a nap, his mind working slowly. Leaning back in the passenger seat with his eyes closed to clear his head, his voice low and hoarse with the fatigue of staying up all night: “As long as they don’t misunderstand you, it’s fine. I don’t care.”
Ye Meng thought for a moment with a grave expression, still reaching for her phone on the armrest box: “No, I want to call Tai Mingxiao, otherwise what if they think you’re the other man?”
But her phone was snatched away and tossed onto the back seat. Li Jinyu unfastened his seatbelt, turning toward her, his head tilted, leaning against the driver’s seat. His expression carried the languor of someone just woken up as he beckoned to her.
Ye Meng also leaned to the side, the two facing each other. Li Jinyu hadn’t slept all night and was probably truly tired; his eyes closed again as he said lazily: “Isn’t it exciting for me to be sister’s third wheel?”
By now daylight was bright. The pomegranate tree in Li Jinyu’s yard seemed to have sprouted clusters of fresh green buds, and the roses in the corner were stretching their tender yellow forms, absorbing the morning dew. Perhaps because the air conditioning was on, a thin layer of mist had formed on the car windows, but it didn’t obscure the clear, bright outside world with its distinct mountains and waters.
Ye Meng was shocked and blurted out: “Baby, are you a pervert?”
“Yes,” he said indifferently, “and there’s even more perverted stuff.”
“…It would be more exciting for me to be your third wheel, want to try?” Ye Meng rolled her eyes at him.
Li Jinyu couldn’t help laughing, “I don’t plan to go public, and I don’t want them to misunderstand that you’re having an affair. Today was completely accidental. If I hadn’t been so annoyed with you at the time, I would have heard Li Chen speaking, and if I had known there was a camera in there, I wouldn’t have gone in with you at all. They’ll just gossip for a couple of days. If I stop seeing you, Tai Mingxiao and Gou Kai will think it was just a momentary impulse. So from now on, if sister misses me, you might have to endure it.”
“Okay.” Ye Meng was convinced.
Li Jinyu hooked her neck and pulled her close, sucking on her lips for a while: “Besides your mother’s case, I also have fifteen percent of grandfather’s shares. My mother won’t just let this go. The family is in chaos right now, and I don’t want to drag you into it. When this is over, I’ll give you whatever you want.”
Ye Meng was forced to endure his kiss, saying intermittently and indistinctly: “I understand your thoughts, you just want to protect me.”
…
Li Jinyu wasn’t clear on what difference using the mouth or hands made for men; he had just inadvertently heard Tai Mingxiao mention that if a woman was willing to use her mouth for you, it meant she truly loved you.
When Ye Meng wouldn’t agree before, he would sometimes deliberately tease her. Now that Ye Meng had agreed, he felt a sense of unreality and started playing hard to get.
As soon as they entered the door, they headed straight for the bathroom with clear intent.
After just a couple of kisses, Ye Meng directly went to squat down. Li Jinyu restrained himself rather primly and stopped her, his voice, mixed with desire, extremely low, yet saying: “Let’s just forget it.”
Ye Meng paid no attention, squatting on the ground. Just as she was about to unbuckle his belt, she saw a bald head popping out of the bathtub between Li Jinyu’s trouser legs. She was so frightened she almost screamed but remained composed enough to poke Li Jinyu’s thigh, gesturing for him to look behind.
Li Jinyu, supporting himself against the door panel, instinctively looked back, his voice instantly turned cold, as clean as clear water: “What are you doing here??”
Zhou Yu’s recent experiences have been rather difficult to describe. Liang Yun’an wanted to use him to connect with “Master Yinzhen,” developing Zhou Yu into a hidden asset. These past few days, Zhou Yu had been dragged around by Liang Yun’an to scout various locations where “Master Yinzhen” might appear.
As a result, he was so exhausted that while washing clothes in the bathroom, he fell asleep in the bathtub. Li Jinyu’s bathroom was very large, with the bathtub designed with steps, so no one had noticed someone lying there.
Zhou Yu hadn’t seen anything. He woke up in a daze, scratching his head as he walked out: “Big boss, Sister Ye Meng, good morning.”
The two leaned against the nearby sink, making way for him. Ye Meng watched his retreating figure and asked: “Why does he call you big boss? You’re not making him work for you, are you?”
Being interrupted twice in one day, Li Jinyu was harboring unnamed anger, his whole body uncomfortable, wanting to take it out and shake it thoroughly. He looked down as he fastened his belt, glancing at her and saying: “What else would I do? Why would I let him eat and live here for free?”
After the sound of the bedroom door closing came from outside, Ye Meng hung herself on Li Jinyu again, pinching his face and shaking it: “Why don’t we go back to the bedroom?”
“Mm.”
“Do you still want to?”
“Yes.” He lowered his head and said sullenly.
…
Li Jinyu’s bedroom was still bright and simple, with a dark bed and a solitary television placed at the head of the bed, plus a suitcase ready to be picked up and carried away at any moment. He truly didn’t look like he planned to stay here long.
Ye Meng’s curvaceous body was as soft as a willow swaying in the spring breeze, pressed between the man’s solid body and the door panel. She eagerly hooked her arms around his neck to kiss him. Li Jinyu supported himself against the door with one hand, while the other arm encircled her waist as he lowered his head to kiss her intimately.
Ye Meng was about to squat down.
Li Jinyu pressed her hands above her head with one hand, while the other sought the zipper of her skirt. He suddenly began to kiss her roughly, twining his tongue with hers, showing some displeasure. Ye Meng seemed to have a premonition, feeling that at that moment he had something to say, and instinctively opened her eyes.
The curtains weren’t drawn, and the large floor-to-ceiling windows let in the full spring scenery like Promethean light, falling on Li Jinyu’s back. All sins and punishments seemed forgivable in that instant.
“Sister,” Li Jinyu stopped, resting his head on her shoulder, eyes looking at the floor. He paused, then self-mockingly said: “I love you.”
Like a confession. After speaking, he lifted his head.
Whether it was because he spoke too restrainedly or evasively, or because of that self-confidence, it wasn’t the deep affection one might imagine but rather carried a hint of unconventionality and youthful boldness that shook her spirit.
Ye Meng didn’t know how to describe his expression at that moment. Even now, Li Jinyu’s eyes still faintly concealed a vibrant youthful energy. Those deep black eyes showed no fear, no timidity, or anything else, but rather a recklessness that made one feel he existed independently of all things between heaven and earth, a god who could manipulate time. It was the unfinished spirit of youth under the bright sun and sky.
“If my mother uses you to make me do something, I really would do anything,” he paused again, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he looked away as if about to cry, “including murder and arson.”
Who would still care about the spring scenery filling the city?