She saw Ge Fan again two hours later. During that time, Yu Jiuqi sat in the Wendu Water Resort lobby waiting, pretending to chat casually with people coming and going, while from time to time staring at the entrance like a hawk. Ge Fan’s bag was still upstairs. She knew he’d have to come back sooner or later.

She also frequently checked her phone. Damn it, there wasn’t a single bit of movement. Those two people who had made her anxious all evening with just a few messages had both disappeared. Neither of them had replied to her anymore.

Little Fu always came midway, went upstairs to sit in the game room for a bit, then soon took Wen Wen out for a late-night snack. Xiao Jiu only saw them off, using the excuse of helping Auntie Hong probe whether Sister Xiao Man had any interest in being her daughter-in-law to stay behind. But she quickly forgot about this because almost immediately after, Ge Fan returned wrapped in a cloud of gloom.

Xiao Jiu ignored where that gloom came from, walked over and grabbed Ge Fan’s arm, pulled him to the first floor employee break room, closed the door, turned around and asked directly: “Where did you guys go? What did he tell you?”

Ge Fan didn’t make a sound. He took off his down jacket and with some force casually flung it onto a chair. It bounced up. He sat on the table, hands supporting the table edge, looked up at her, unusually serious.

He looked at Xiao Jiu for a while before asking: “Why did you lie to me before, Xiao Jiu?”

“What did I lie to you about?”

“You said you weren’t close to him, didn’t know him, didn’t have his WeChat.”

Yu Jiuqi blinked, leaned against the wall opposite him, lowered her head vaguely and said: “That guy’s sick in the head, and has had a grudge with our family. Don’t listen to his nonsense.”

“Then why are you nervous?” Ge Fan stared at her.

Yu Jiuqi looked up again. Her tightly clenched palms were slightly sweating. Steeling her heart, half-true and half-false words came out: “That kind of bastard, barely left for a few days and inexplicably ran back, even talking nonsense to you about me—shouldn’t I be nervous? Can I stay calm? Just now I was so angry I wanted to call Brother Dali and the others to corner him and beat him up.”

Seeing Ge Fan roll his eyes as if starting to believe her, Yu Jiuqi quickly pressed on while the iron was hot: “What did he tell you?”

“I already told you.”

“Just that? How did he tell you?”

Ge Fan squinted at Xiao Jiu, examining her carefully: “As soon as I got in the car, I casually mentioned you. He said you’ve changed quite a bit from before. I asked what he meant. He said you two used to be very close, said when he switched to a smartphone back in the day, you were among the first batch he added on WeChat.”

Yu Jiuqi saw him suddenly stop, and naturally asked: “And then?”

Ge Fan frowned: “I was about to keep asking when Old Wang suddenly called.”

“You guys went to find Old Wang?” Xiao Jiu’s mind flashed to Little Fu’s uncle, the owner of Lesheng Huang upstairs.

Ge Fan answered absent-mindedly: “He had arranged to have tea with Old Wang and someone else, someone from the municipal government. Old Wang needed to bring two bottles of Maotai to entertain them. I have his house key, so he asked me to make a trip. Sun Xi came to pick me up. After I finished the errand, I left first.”

“Are they still having tea?”

“Don’t know.”

She had wanted to ask where they were having tea, but thinking that if he had arranged to meet that friend from the government, Xiao Jiu had an idea. She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then turned to leave: “I’m going home.”

Ge Fan called urgently: “I’ll take you.”

“No need.”

“It’s dark outside.”

“I’ll take a taxi.”

Yu Jiuqi was about to open the door and leave when Ge Fan suddenly jumped down from the table and shouted: “Wait!”

Then he took two big steps over, blocking the doorway, keeping Xiao Jiu inside, and asked: “Did you two really elope together?”

Yu Jiuqi was caught off guard and stunned. Although mentally prepared, she couldn’t help but tense up.

Ge Fan was indignant, saying hatefully: “Damn it, when he said that to me, making that kind of joke—if there hadn’t been so many people around, I would’ve beaten him!” After saying this, he lowered his head. Seeing Xiao Jiu not speaking, he inexplicably deflated: “…Did that really happen, Xiao Jiu?”

Yu Jiuqi didn’t answer, forcefully tugging his sweater: “Move.”

“What really…”

“Does it concern you?” Yu Jiuqi suddenly interrupted him coldly, raising her head. Her brows were smooth, but her eyes seemed covered with a layer of frost-like indifference, her tone sarcastic. “And you almost beat him? Why didn’t you beat him?”

In all these years of spending almost every day together, Ge Fan confirmed three times over—he had never seen Yu Jiuqi with such a sharp and harsh expression. Like a harmless rabbit wagging its tail, instantly switching to a tiger’s skin. He had even forgotten the question he should continue asking, hastily avoiding the anger in her eyes, and moved aside.

Yu Jiuqi opened the door. Before leaving, she turned back, her tone instantly much softer: “Don’t tell my parents about today’s matter. Things at home have been chaotic enough lately.”

Then she deliberately looked at him, negotiating with a slight smile: “Okay, brother?”

Ge Fan suddenly had a bold guess—perhaps the tiger’s skin was her true nature, while the obedient and sensible exterior she instantly switched back to was just the disguise she needed to survive.

The standalone Yuantai Teahouse was on the northernmost side of Shicheng, directly facing a small section of the Songhua River tributary on the riverbank, with the North Mountain Park famous for its ski base behind it. The location was spacious with excellent feng shui. Although not as popular with ordinary people as barbecue places, bathhouses, or mahjong parlors, with low foot traffic and never fully occupied parking spaces at the entrance, the few cars there all had mysterious origins.

Between a flashy Cullinan and a low-key Hongqi sedan without even a license plate, Yu Jiuqi stood in a corner on the side of the teahouse. At a glance, she saw in the middle that SUV that had been abruptly parked at the intersection downstairs from her home last night, making her so ashamed and angry she had spoken without thinking before barely escaping.

He was indeed here.

She glanced at the teahouse entrance where greeters were warmly receiving two newly arrived guests. Xiao Jiu didn’t approach, but directly called Sun Xi.

The phone only rang twice before being cut off.

Suddenly, a flash of light passed overhead. Yu Jiuqi looked up and saw the middle window on the second floor of the teahouse suddenly open a small crack, letting out some scattered white light. The window was empty, and the hanging curtain seemed to sway slightly.

Then a WeChat message came on her phone. The person who had been toying with her all evening finally appeared.

He wasn’t at all surprised she would find him, only saying: [Come into the lobby and wait.]

Yu Jiuqi struggled to suppress the urge to curse: [You come out.]

[I can’t leave right now.]

[Won’t take up too much of your time.]

After a while, Sun Xi said: [You come in and get a private room, I’ll come find you in a bit.]

Again like this!

Yu Jiuqi was very familiar with this sneaky rendezvous method. In those past times when they couldn’t openly appear together, they had countless times secretly met using this ridiculous spy-like method. She admitted she had once experienced secret sweetness from it, heart-fluttering stolen pleasure, but at this moment she only felt irritated and frustrated.

The people at the entrance inexplicably increased by several. Xiao Jiu searched through all her pockets, regretting not bringing a mask. She ran across to the opposite street, went to the supermarket and bought an oversized mask, and only after putting it on did she walk in.

That second-floor window flashed again. Suddenly, the curtain was pulled tight.

Yu Jiuqi chose a secluded small private room, casually sent the room name to Sun Xi, went in first, ordered the minimum purchase kungfu tea set, left it there, and just casually cracked open a complimentary pistachio, fiercely chewed it to pieces, swallowed it, huffed out a breath, calmed down somewhat.

Then suddenly regretted losing her temper earlier. Not at Sun Xi—he deserved it—but at Ge Fan.

She could have faced that question much more composedly. With her many years of successful experience living in concealment, she could lie without blushing or her heart racing with logically tight lies and easily fool Ge Fan without difficulty.

But what happened?

Xiao Jiu chewed nuts one by one as if venting anger. The regular movement of teeth and bones activated her brain, as if playing a movie, recalling the few times in her life she had hysterically lost her temper. Most of them were caused by him.

Even Wen Wen hadn’t beaten him in the matter of easily making Xiao Jiu, who prided herself on emotional stability, break down.

Really impressive.

When the door was pushed open, she had just finished the last pistachio in the small dish.

He came in wrapped in a faint alcoholic smell, breathing heavily, sat down on the brown floor heated by underfloor heating, next to her. He didn’t speak either, naturally picked up the water kettle that hadn’t heated up yet, poured a large cup of water, and drank it in one gulp, as if extremely thirsty.

He casually pushed the cup aside, his eyes swept over the tea table, then turned toward her, suddenly asking: “Want another serving of pistachios?”

Yu Jiuqi sat a bit higher than him, looking down at him. She saw his hair was messier than yesterday, fine soft strands spread on his head. His complexion was paler than usual. His alcohol tolerance was very good, but his alcohol metabolism function was average. After drinking, his face would turn pale, but this wasn’t the palest moment, indicating he hadn’t drunk much. But those pitch-black eyes were blurred into a mess, making it hard to distinguish how drunk he was.

Seeing Xiao Jiu not speaking, only looking at him, he asked again: “Do you want more?”

Yu Jiuqi was in a trance for a moment, eyes widening: “Want what?”

He sat at an angle, shoulder leaning against the fabric sofa beside Xiao Jiu, as if deliberately mimicking her: “Hmm?”

Yu Jiuqi glanced to the side: “You mean pistachios?”

He still looked at her with that kind of gaze: “What did you think I meant?”

Xiao Jiu inexplicably became more irritated, turned her head. The anger she had worked hard to extinguish just now was like residual ash seeing sparks again, bit by bit starting to stir restlessly.

“Angry?” He took another heavy breath, his tone more natural, seeming somewhat normal. He proactively revealed her purpose for seeking him out, without concealing or covering up: “I didn’t tell him much. He doesn’t necessarily believe it all. You explain it to him properly.”

Yu Jiuqi couldn’t stand his understated attitude, asking coldly: “How do I explain?”

“Do I need to teach you?” He glanced at her, saying with self-mockery, “Like before, just say I’m a bastard, scum, hooligan. What other words were there? Oh right, born bad. Then say I’ve always been obsessed with you, had a crush on you, following you around like a dog.”

Yu Jiuqi moved farther away, straightened her spine, looking at him with slight surprise.

After saying those words, he showed no ripples, leaning against the sofa, head slightly lowered. The tea room had several warm yellow scattered lights on. His side profile happened to fall into the half-bright, half-dark shadows. Casual, hateful.

Although to some degree what he said was true, Yu Jiuqi still wanted to curse. Wanted to curse that he was sick, deserved it. Wanted to curse that instead of belittling himself like this, why not be straightforward and just curse me for being hypocritical and selfish.

But she bit her teeth, held it in, wanting to communicate as rationally as possible: “You don’t need to say those things. I know you’ve been very troubled this period. I’ve also been doing my best to find ways to calm things down. Coming back once, you shouldn’t want the situation to get worse either, right? Right? We can discuss things. Why target me?”

He suddenly keenly caught the key word: “How am I targeting you?”

Xiao Jiu hated his act of playing dumb: “Why did you tell Ge Fan about that?”

He stared at her asking: “What thing?”

Xiao Jiu subconsciously looked at the ring on his right index finger: “The 2014 thing.”

Sun Xi tilted his head slightly to look at her. The drunkenness in his eyes dispersed repeatedly, was silent for a while, then gathered like dark clouds again. As if forcing himself, he squinted and answered:

“If I didn’t say it, would you have come?”

Yu Jiuqi was inexplicably stunned, a brief moment of panic. She steadied herself before answering him word by word:

“If you wanted to find me, I wouldn’t not see you. When we separated, I said we could also be friends, could also meet, could communicate normally about things.”

“Yes, yes we can meet.” Sun Xi turned his head away, no longer looking at her, understating it: “Meeting just to drive me away.”

“The key is what are you staying in Shicheng for?” Finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. Xiao Jiu raised her volume: “You can only cause trouble.”

“I cause trouble?”

Yu Jiuqi stared at him, saying angrily: “Isn’t that so? You shouldn’t have come back. Last time if you hadn’t come back, my mom wouldn’t have sued your uncle. Once you left, she would have let it go. And today, Sun Xi, do you think I’m living easily? I finally managed to…”

Xiao Jiu suddenly paused, blinked, changed direction, swallowed those long-winded useless words, simply directly stating her real purpose for finding him:

“My family finally had a harmonious meal today. Everything is getting better, returning to normal. I just want to maintain this status quo. I’m also very satisfied with this status quo. I don’t want any more incidents. If you’re really on long vacation with nowhere to go and must stay in Shicheng, that’s fine. Please don’t…”

“Don’t ruin your life, right?” Sun Xi calmly interrupted her, as if knowing she would say this. He smiled, as if finding it absurd, refuting step by step.

“How funny, Yu Jiuqi. Did I ruin your life? You’re satisfied with this status quo, are you serious?”

Xiao Jiu held her breath, glaring at him angrily.

Sun Xi knew she was really angry, but still pressed aggressively, with reason and evidence: “If you’re so satisfied, would someone hit your head until it swelled? Would you crouch by the roadside crying? Would you carefully lie to everyone in your family all day long?”

Xiao Jiu clenched her fists. In her brain, only a thread of rationality remained taut.

He looked over arrogantly and recklessly, finally saying as if courting death: “Would you have made that phone call to me?”

Xiao Jiu almost gritted her teeth: “I told you that phone call…”

Sun Xi sneered, disdainfully unwilling to listen.

That thread suddenly snapped. Yu Jiuqi shot up to her feet, immediately wanting to leave. She was afraid if she stayed with him any longer she would hit him. When she said earlier she wanted to hit him, even hoped Ge Fan would hit him, she wasn’t joking or speaking in anger.

And in those past days when their tearing at each other was even more brutal, it wasn’t like she hadn’t hit him before.

But the space was narrow, and they were close together. Sun Xi’s bent long legs blocked her way. Xiao Jiu no longer wanted to say another word to him. She lifted her foot and kicked him once, meaning move aside.

Sun Xi looked up in surprise, glaring at her, meaning you kicked me? He didn’t move.

Xiao Jiu kicked again forcefully.

Seeing he still wouldn’t move, she simply grabbed a nearby cushion and quickly swung it at him, wanting to slip away when he defensively pulled back his legs.

The metal zipper on the cushion harshly scraped Sun Xi’s nose bridge. He endured the pain, frowning, but his legs didn’t move at all. Suddenly he looked up, his eyes clearly harboring displeasure. Obviously he was also provoked.

Seeing his expression change, Xiao Jiu knew from previous experience that this fight was unavoidable. She gripped the cushion tightly. Just as she was about to strike again, Sun Xi shot up, snatching the cushion away.

Xiao Jiu was pulled by him. Unsteady, she fell sitting on the sofa. Seeing him coming toward her, she stretched her legs to kick him.

Sun Xi took two solid kicks, approached with a stern face, carelessly pressed down her legs first, then pressed her down on the sofa, using hands and feet, using a strange posture to pin her beneath him.

She tried to struggle, but still couldn’t move. The more she moved, the tighter it got. Breath mixed with threads of alcohol fell heavily on top of her head. Yu Jiuqi forcefully twisted her head, burying her face in the side of the fabric sofa.

One leg firmly pressing her legs, the other leg tight against her side. One hand reached under the sofa gripping her waist, the other hand pressing her shoulder. His head hung down, hanging above her neck. His breath was scorching and burning, forcibly steaming out fine beads of sweat.

The entire tea room instantly quieted down. There was no noise outside the window either, making the two staggered and disordered breaths, one light and one heavy, increasingly clear, grand, making the heart chaotic and agitated.

After a while, Yu Jiuqi couldn’t stand it and gently twisted her body.

The hand pressing her shoulder suddenly applied some pressure. His body remained rigid, taut like a bow. His breathing came closer and heavier. The hand gripping her waist also tightened.

After all, they had solidly been tangled together in love. Even separated for so long, once their bodies got close, from subtle reactions they could capture residual stirrings.

Yu Jiuqi suddenly turned over, using maximum strength wanting to escape, but was forcibly pressed back. Then suddenly raised her head, meeting those eyes that had been reddened by alcohol or something else.

Xiao Jiu had intuition, could be said to know exactly what would happen next, but didn’t stop it in time. She just let Sun Xi caress her face and suddenly lower his head to kiss her.

The heavy grinding force of his lips and teeth, the coolness of the ring on his finger pressing against her cheek, along with his breath, his weight, mixed together diluting her rationality.

Until he became presumptuous, not satisfied with just a taste, pressing to pry open, probing in, then wantonly seeking, Yu Jiuqi suddenly became clear-headed, understanding what was happening at this moment, forcing herself to detach and face it.

Xiao Jiu silently warned herself, warned herself she couldn’t come here for nothing today. She came to solve problems, came to draw clear boundaries. She wanted to maintain the status quo. She was afraid of walking that past road again, and didn’t have the courage to suffer that hardship again.

Three years ago she had practically peeled off a layer of skin to come back. If she did it again, she didn’t have confidence she could withstand it.

And what he had endured nine years ago—Xiao Jiu suddenly closed her eyes, couldn’t bear to let him be that wretched again either.

But the emotion right now that was on the verge of emerging yet teetering on collapse, the sticky and excessive entanglement—she couldn’t ignore it, nor could she allow it to be ignored. They were both adults. Might as well be straightforward. If such a willful and satisfying ritual was needed to fill the regret and be willing to sever ties, then let nature take its course.

So Yu Jiuqi suddenly bit down hard on Sun Xi’s tongue. When he retreated in pain, her two hands pushed his body away. She lowered her head, not looking at him.

Then she lightly caught her breath, using a voice only the two of them could hear, asked quietly:

“Sun Xi, did you come back this time because of me?”

He didn’t speak, his breathing still disordered and heavy, even mixed with some irritation.

She didn’t pursue an answer either, asking in succession:

“Are you single now?”

“These three years, have you been in a relationship?”

Yu Jiuqi suddenly raised her head. Her slender neck had long been stained with a light red. Her V-neck sweater had been pulled by him, exposing a section of prominent collarbone, pale and bright.

Sun Xi’s eyes didn’t know where to rest. Everywhere seemed to hide bait, everywhere was a trap, everywhere was dangerous. Finally he could only struggle to stare at her face, seeing her slowly take a breath, then seemingly smile lightly, asking him one final question.

Like issuing a light and floating invitation, also like throwing out a cold and icy condition.

She said: “Do you want to get a room with me?”