The person on his back gradually quieted down, their breathing becoming lighter with no more sounds. It seemed as if the day’s fatigue was amplified by the alcohol, completely overwhelming them.
An unknown amount of time passed until they were almost at the entrance of their home.
Sang Yan heard Wen Yifan mumble, “Sang Yan…”
Hearing this, Sang Yan turned his head to look at her. Noticing her tightly closed eyes, his gaze lingered for a moment. Then, he turned back to look ahead, chuckling softly, “Sleep-talking, huh.”
In the next moment, the arms around his neck seemed to unconsciously tighten their grip.
…
For the rest of the journey, Wen Yifan remained in a daze.
She couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality, flashes of memories passing through her mind as she felt herself drifting in endless darkness. Her remaining consciousness allowed her to vaguely feel the man’s warm and broad shoulders as if they could dispel the winter chill.
When Wen Yifan next became aware, Sang Yan was waking her up. She sat on the sofa, staring at the man in front of her, her mind too muddled to understand what he wanted. She only felt that he was like a bully, disrupting her sleep.
Extremely irritated, she stared at him steadily, her morning grumpiness involuntarily surfacing.
“Sang Yan.”
Sang Yan was holding a bowl, about to continue speaking.
Wen Yifan spoke again, “Don’t disturb my sleep.”
“…”
Sang Yan looked at her, and after a few seconds, he put the bowl on the table and smiled, “You dare to lose your temper at me?”
Wen Yifan ignored him, shifting her body to the side and lying down as if wanting to continue sleeping. But the next moment, Sang Yan pulled her back up, fixing her in her original position.
Sang Yan raised an eyebrow, his tone somewhat mischievous, “No sleeping allowed.”
“Why can’t I sleep,” Wen Yifan felt he was being unreasonable and threatened, “If you don’t let go, I’m going to curse at you.”
“Fine.” Sang Yan pulled her into his arms, finding this novel, “Go ahead and curse.”
“You… you… Sang, Sang,” Wen Yifan’s momentum faltered as she began to stutter, struggling for half a day before finally squeezing out a phrase, “You… you dog of the Sang family.”
“…” Sang Yan lowered his eyelashes, his gaze fixed on her, laughing despite being cursed at, “What kind of phrase is that?”
Wen Yifan didn’t respond.
Sang Yan: “Is that all?”
“That’s all, I want to sleep now.” Wen Yifan hugged him, the alcohol’s effects seeming to have fully kicked in, her appearance uncomfortable. Her eyes still carried irritation as she said very seriously, “Don’t bother me anymore, I don’t want to curse at you.”
“Drink this before you sleep,” Sang Yan lifted her head, his other hand picking up the bowl from the table and bringing it directly to her lips, “Otherwise, you’ll have a headache when you wake up tomorrow.”
Disturbed by this movement, Wen Yifan opened her eyes again but showed no intention of drinking.
After waiting for a moment, Sang Yan simply said, “If you don’t finish it, you’re not allowed to sleep.”
They remained at an impasse for a while.
Wen Yifan tilted her head, as if thinking of something, and said slowly, “You’re like Sang Yan.”
“…”
“He’s also this fierce.”
Sang Yan said expressionlessly, “Are you going to drink or not?”
This time Wen Yifan didn’t resist anymore, obediently drinking the hangover soup from his hand in small sips. As she drank, she occasionally looked up, secretly glancing at Sang Yan.
“Do you know how much I drank tonight?” Sang Yan watched her drink, his tone stiff, “I thought it would be fine even if I drank too much since a certain someone could take care of me. But what happened?”
Wen Yifan followed up with a question, “What happened?”
Sang Yan pinched her face, “This person even lost her temper at me.”
“Oh.” Wen Yifan consoled, “Then don’t pay attention to her.”
“…”
Sang Yan didn’t know how this girl’s alcohol tolerance could be so poor, becoming like this after just a few drinks. He felt that no matter what he said, it was useless; she hadn’t heard a word.
Wen Yifan drank about half the bowl and then stopped.
Sang Yan: “Finish it all.”
“No,” Wen Yifan shook her head, “You drink the rest, didn’t you drink a lot tonight?”
“…” Sang Yan glanced at her, “You’re in this state and still remember that?”
Wen Yifan didn’t respond, instead raising the bowl to his lips, “You drink.”
“There’s more in the pot, I’ll drink water,” Sang Yan said, “You finish the rest of this.”
“Then you have to,” Wen Yifan, afraid he wouldn’t drink, “drink in front of me.”
“You’re going to watch?” Sang Yan laughed, “Aren’t you sleepy?”
“Oh.” Reminded by him, Wen Yifan remembered this point, “Sang Yan, I’m so sleepy.”
“Mm, drink this and then go to sleep.”
Wen Yifan sniffled, muttering softly, “But I smell bad.”
Sang Yan patiently said, “Then take a shower in a bit.”
“I don’t want to move,” Wen Yifan looked up, asking nicely, “So can you help me take a shower?”
“…”
Seeing him immediately look over, Wen Yifan realized that she might be troubling him too much. Feeling this wasn’t fair to him and afraid of being rejected, she added, “When you don’t want to move, I can help you shower too.”
“…” Sang Yan’s brow twitched slightly as he took a deep breath, “No.”
All night, whatever request she made, Sang Yan had been refusing, and Wen Yifan was getting a bit unhappy.
“Why are you being so stingy?”
“I’m stingy?” Sang Yan laughed in exasperation, “Fine, I’ll wait to see how you regret this when you’re sober tomorrow.”
“Then I won’t shower,” Wen Yifan continued to threaten him, “I’m going to sleep with you tonight, I’m going to make you smell bad.”
“…” Sang Yan fed her the last mouthful of hangover soup, enunciating each word, “Go back to your room and sleep now, I’m not sleeping with you. Don’t think about making me smell bad.”
Wen Yifan felt he wasn’t keeping his word, “You said earlier that it was okay for me to hug you while sleeping.”
“Wen Shuangjiang,” Sang Yan was at his wit’s end, completely unable to communicate with her, and unable to get angry at her, “Can you please give me a break? How am I supposed to sleep while hugging you?”
Wen Yifan: “Why not?”
Sang Yan stared at her: “What do you think?”
Wen Yifan shook her head: “I don’t know.”
Sang Yan’s eyes darkened a bit as he pressed her against himself and asked again.
“You say why not?”
“…”
Wen Yifan didn’t speak, looking as if she didn’t understand. After a long while, she lowered her eyes, suddenly seeming to sense something, her expression a bit dazed: “Oh, this won’t work.”
Sang Yan let go of her.
“You’re drunk,” Wen Yifan said seriously, “I’m afraid you won’t acknowledge this when you wake up.”
“…”
Sang Yan stared at her, and after a long time, he decided to give up. He stopped wasting words with this senseless drunk and directly carried her towards the master bedroom.
Wen Yifan still had a lot to say, talking to herself for a long time.
Sang Yan listened quietly.
After managing to remove her makeup, Sang Yan looked at her drowsy state and found it amusing.
“You trust me, huh.”
She was clearly in no state to shower.
Sang Yan didn’t think she smelled bad anywhere, so he just took off her outer coat, leaving her in her undershirt. He didn’t wake Wen Yifan again, settled her into bed, and then left the master bedroom.
–
The next morning.
Wen Yifan suddenly woke up for some reason, opening her sleepy eyes to immediately meet Sang Yan’s face. Her breath caught as all the events of last night flooded back into her mind in an instant.
Everything up to the end.
Wen Yifan’s last memory was of Sang Yan carrying her to the bathroom and removing her makeup for her.
After that, she completely lost consciousness.
So.
Why! Is she? In Sang Yan’s bed! Now!!!
Wen Yifan remembered her crazy flirting with Sang Yan last night and stiffly looked down at her clothes, which were still the same as yesterday’s. She let out a small sigh of relief, then looked at Sang Yan again.
Seriously considering the possibilities.
It seemed the only explanation was that she had sleepwalked again.
Sang Yan’s phone was right next to him.
Wen Yifan picked it up, turned it on, and immediately saw that his lock screen was a photo of them together on the Ferris wheel. She blinked, staring at it for a good while before looking at the time.
It was just past seven o’clock.
Not having showered last night, Wen Yifan felt uncomfortable all over.
She got up quietly, just about to go back and take a shower before continuing to sleep, when the man behind her suddenly moved. Wen Yifan’s arm was grabbed by him, pulled forcefully in his direction, and then pressed against him in an embrace.
Wen Yifan was caught off guard, feeling that this scene was somewhat familiar.
She carefully looked back.
She saw Sang Yan with his eyes still closed, his breathing rhythm regular and peaceful, obviously still in a deep sleep.
Wen Yifan stared at his face, struggling for a good while. After a long time, she gave up struggling, turned over, buried her face in his chest, and as drowsiness overcame her again, she closed her eyes once more.
Forget it.
It wouldn’t be too late to shower later.
She liked being held by him.
It was bound to happen sooner or later anyway.
They were officially together, so she wasn’t taking advantage.
Soon, Wen Yifan fell back into sleep.
She didn’t notice.
From an angle, she couldn’t see.
Sang Yan slowly opened his eyes, staring at her head, the corner of his lips curling up slightly.
…
This sleep was thorough, and deeper than the previous few times. In a hazy state, Wen Yifan felt that Sang Yan seemed to be getting up to prepare for work. She struggled to open her eyes and mumbled unclearly, “Be careful on your way to work.”
“Mm.” Sang Yan had just changed clothes and pulled her up along the way, “Get up and drink some porridge before going back to sleep.”
“…”
Wen Yifan was still terribly sleepy, and being yanked up by him caused her morning grumpiness to explode again. She stared at him steadily, not arguing with him. After three seconds, she burrowed back into the blanket.
“Hurry up,” if she didn’t get up now, she’d probably sleep all day without eating anything. Sang Yan didn’t soften, “Drink the porridge and then go back to sleep.”
Wen Yifan said perfunctorily, “I’ll drink it later.”
Sang Yan: “No.”
“…”
Wen Yifan directly played dead.
“What’s wrong with you?” Sang Yan laughed, “You’ve got quite a temper, huh?”
Wen Yifan explained, “I’m not losing my temper.”
Sang Yan: “Then get up.”
“Sang Yan,” Wen Yifan poked her head out from under the blanket, trying to speak calmly with him, though her tone still sounded stiff, “I want to sleep, I don’t want to get up right now.”
Sang Yan raised his eyebrows slightly and directly picked her up along with the blanket.
Wen Yifan was caught off guard and met his gaze.
Before she could speak again, Sang Yan lowered his head to look at her and said leisurely, “What? Afraid I’ll talk about last night’s events?”
“…” Wen Yifan’s morning grumpiness instantly dissipated by half.
Wen Yifan’s scalp tingled as she remembered this matter after becoming fully awake. She tried to maintain her composure, “People say all sorts of bizarre things when drunk. It’s normal, you don’t need to take it to heart.”
Sang Yan made an “oh” sound and said to himself, “Top worker on Decadence Street?”
“…”
“Redeeming yourself?”
“…”
“Asking me to help you take a shower?”
“…”
“Afraid I won’t acknowledge it?”
Wen Yifan couldn’t bear to listen anymore, embarrassed to the extreme. She calmly covered his mouth and reminded him, “Weren’t we going to have porridge? If we don’t eat soon, it’ll get cold.”
Sang Yan stopped talking.
“You didn’t help me shower anyway, right?” Wen Yifan looked at him, “So, you protected yourself quite well.”
“…”
After Sang Yan left for work, Wen Yifan cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks and went back to her room to take a shower. As she took off her clothes, she belatedly remembered Chen Junwen’s words, truly confirming that she had heard clearly.
That was exactly how Chen Junwen had repeated it.
Wen Yifan felt a bit uneasy.
She wasn’t sure if what Sang Yan had said had anything to do with her.
But she hoped it didn’t.
She hoped it was just a casual joke Sang Yan made to his friends while drunk. She hoped that over all these years, Sang Yan had been doing well. That he never stopped moving forward for anything, and that his life had no entanglements.
And that he wouldn’t be affected by her in any way.
–
The brief rest day ended in the blink of an eye.
For the next period, because of Mu Chengyun’s words, Wen Yifan would unconsciously scan her surroundings whenever she left the office. She asked the security guard, and it seemed that apart from that one time, no one else had come looking for her.
After confirming that nothing unusual or inappropriate had happened, Wen Yifan finally felt at ease.
With several light rains, spring had imperceptibly arrived. The temperature in Nanwu City gradually rose, shedding the cold of winter, and the bare trees along the way slowly turned green.
Wen Yifan had just returned to the office from the editing room and was about to turn on her computer when Su Tian from next door came over to gossip again.
“Hey, I heard that the little puppy seems to have submitted his resignation.”
Hearing this, Wen Yifan looked over.
Su Tian continued, “I heard from Da Zhuang that he doesn’t plan to stay in this industry. He was never really interested in being a journalist and always wanted to be an actor. And now a film company wants to sign him, so he quit.”
Wen Yifan made an “ah” sound, “That’s good, being able to do what he likes.”
“It’s great, being an actor must pay well, right?” Su Tian rested her chin on her hand, “Do you think he’ll become famous later? Should we ask for his autograph now? It might be worth money in the future.”
Wen Yifan smiled, “We could.”
Just then, her phone rang.
Wen Yifan looked away and picked up her phone to check.
It was a message from Sang Yan.
Sang Yan: [When do you get off work?]
Wen Yifan replied: [Soon.]
Noticing her actions, Su Tian couldn’t help but say, “When can I meet this king among your ducks?”
Wen Yifan smiled, “Next time.”
“Alright then.” Su Tian sighed, a bit envious, “How is it that you, as a journalist, can have such a sweet romance? I feel like I should change boyfriends, waiting for the next unsuspecting poor soul to be stood up by me every day.”
Wen Yifan paused, “Is it that serious?”
Su Tian: “Yes, it is.”
When she looked down again, Sang Yan had sent two voice messages.
“Then come over for some overtime later?”
“I’ve been drinking, can’t drive.”
Wen Yifan blinked and replied with an “Okay.”
On the other side.
Noticing Sang Yan’s actions, Su Hao’an was particularly speechless, “Why do you need to make up all these excuses? Just say ‘I’m at a gathering with friends, do you want to come over?’ Wouldn’t that do?”
Sang Yan looked up, lightly tapping his glass, “Haven’t I been drinking?”
“Who the hell doesn’t know what you’re thinking!” Su Hao’an really couldn’t stand it anymore, “All day long, you just brag about your girlfriend. Ever since Fatty got married and you brought Wen Yifan over, do you have anything else to talk about?”
Sang Yan didn’t say anything, taking another sip of his drink.
Su Hao’an pointed at the red string on his wrist and continued, “And this bracelet of yours…”
“Right,” Sang Yan interrupted him, leaning back against the sofa, saying lazily, “It’s a couple’s item, my girl gave it to me.”
“…”
“Can’t help it, the girl just likes wearing this thing with me,” Sang Yan tilted his chin up, speaking in a drawling tone that was particularly annoying, “I can’t disappoint her, can I?”
Su Hao’an gave up and stopped paying attention to him.
When it was about time, noticing some activity on WeChat, Sang Yan got up. He picked up his coat from the side, a casual smile on his face, “I’m leaving. Sorry, someone’s coming to pick me up.”
Su Hao’an threw a tissue at him, “Get out! Don’t come back!”
…
After leaving the office, Wen Yifan headed directly towards Decadence Street. When she arrived at the entrance of “Overtime,” she sent Sang Yan a message and didn’t wait outside, walking straight in.
Wen Yifan went to the bar to wait.
The bartender, He Mingbo, already recognized her and even poured her a glass of water when he saw her.
“Do you want to go upstairs to find Yan-ge directly?”
Wen Yifan thanked him with a smile. She thought for a moment and felt that this might be a good idea, so Sang Yan wouldn’t have to come down especially. She turned her head towards the stairs, “Then I’ll go up directly…”
Before she could finish speaking, her wrist was suddenly grabbed from the side.
Wen Yifan fell silent, clearly feeling that the person behind her had an unfamiliar presence. She instinctively shook off the hand and turned her head abruptly. The next moment, she met Che Xingde’s drunken face.
Her breath caught.
Che Xingde, completely unaffected, grabbed her arm again, his face not sober, “Hey, it is Shuangjiang. I knew I didn’t recognize you wrong…”
The difference in strength between men and women was stark, and Wen Yifan wanted to break free but couldn’t overcome his strength at all. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, no longer wasting energy. She stared at him, her tone devoid of any warmth, “Do you need something?”
“What do you mean, do I need something? I’m just here to catch up, how come you pretended not to see your uncle last time?” Che Xingde clicked his tongue, “You’re such an ungrateful girl, not even acknowledging your uncle after so long—”
In the next instant.
Che Xingde’s arm was forcefully pulled away by the suddenly appearing Sang Yan.
That clingy, powerless feeling dissipated with it.
Wen Yifan felt herself being pulled into Sang Yan’s embrace, her entire being once again enveloped by his presence. As her mind relaxed, she realized that her body was trembling uncontrollably.
She had never imagined she would encounter Che Xingde here.
Suppressing the disgust in her heart, she tried to calm herself down.
Wen Yifan looked up.
And then, she met Sang Yan’s slightly fierce gaze.
She moved her lips but couldn’t speak.
Sang Yan’s lips were set in a straight line, his fingertips lightly stroking her wrist, “Are you okay?”
Wen Yifan gave a soft “mm” in response.
Seeing this, Sang Yan slightly relaxed. He turned his head to look Che Xingde up and down, the emotions on his face spilling out, completely uncontainable at this moment, his tone as if mixed with ice.
“Who are you?”