Just as her heart was pounding like a drum, someone sat down beside her — pressed closely against her. She caught, quite clearly, the faint scent of alcohol on him.

“You drank quite a lot, didn’t you?” Yan Qing looked up and asked.

Looking up, she found herself gazing directly into a pair of deep, dark eyes — fathomless as a deep pool — in which swirled not only deep feeling, but also emotions she could not quite name.

“It was all right — Xie Yan helped me deflect quite a bit.” He looked at her with a smile. “Xie Yan is the person who helped me find Wen Yan back then.”

“So it was him.” Yan Qing searched her memory through the crowd she had seen today. “Is he the one with the peach-blossom eyes?”

“The very one.” Shi Ting said: “As a matter of fact, he also did you a favor.”

Yan Qing responded with a questioning look. Before today, she had not known anyone by the name of Xie Yan.

“The materials I used to make your wheelchair — I bought them from him.” To say he bought them was something of an exaggeration; in truth, Director Shi had more or less simply taken them.

“I see.” Yan Qing curved her lips into a smile. “Director Shi does indeed surround himself with extraordinary people.”

“Xie Yan controls the entirety of Shun Cheng’s underground trade. Both the Xing Gang and the Long Yun Society defer to him to some degree. When Wen Yan went missing, he simply went to Xi Menjie and had a word, and Xi Menjie immediately had her released at once — and moreover, those Xing Gang members who had broken the rules received a heavy punishment as well.”

Yan Qing genuinely could not reconcile the image of that seemingly languid and indolent man with control over all of Shun Cheng’s underground trade. Truly, one must never judge a person by appearances.

“I’ll go wash up first — I don’t want to be disliked for smelling of alcohol.” Shi Ting stopped talking about other people and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Wait for me, my dear — I’ll be right back.”

Yan Qing smiled and shot him a look of mild reproach, then gave a soft sound of assent.

The washroom was right next door, with a small connecting door from the main bedroom leading directly to it. The soundproofing was not particularly good, and so Yan Qing, sitting at the head of the bed, could hear the sound of water from the other side. Even though they were now the most intimate of people to each other, she still couldn’t help her heart racing and her face growing warm.

Yan Qing made an effort to calm herself, silently reciting Xu Zhimo’s poem “Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again” in her head. By the time she had gone through it several times, Shi Ting had already finished washing up and returned to the main bedroom.

He had changed out of his wedding attire and was wearing a set of dark-colored cotton pajamas. His hair, though towel-dried, was still slightly damp.

“You can’t sleep like that,” Yan Qing said, taking the towel from his hand and carefully drying his hair for him.

Shi Ting accepted her attentiveness with perfect composure, a satisfied curve at the corner of his mouth.

Once his hair was dry, he said: “Go ahead and change out of your clothes too — they look heavy just to look at.”

Yan Qing had also been wanting to change long since, but the wedding attendant had said it was not permitted — the wedding dress had to be removed by the groom himself, or it would be inauspicious.

But looking at Shi Ting’s expression, she could tell he clearly didn’t know this convention. She was not a superstitious person herself, and so she was about to rise and go change on her own.

“That’s not right.” A slender wrist was suddenly caught by a firm, strong hand. Shi Ting seemed to remember something. “I recall that wedding attendant said the bride’s ceremonial dress must be removed by the groom.”

Yan Qing’s face flushed slightly. “I can manage on my own — the fastenings on this dress are quite complicated, and I’m afraid you won’t be able to manage them.”

“Am I being underestimated?” Shi Ting raised a hand and began examining the dress’s fastenings.

Hearing him say those words, Yan Qing couldn’t help a smile, and she gave him a sidelong look of reproach. “Those two words come quite naturally to you.”

“Many thanks for the compliment, my dear.” Director Shi wore an expression of no small self-satisfaction.

Yan Qing laughed.

But Director Shi’s confidence was soon tested — for the traditional fasteners on the dress were indeed rather intricate, with visible clasps on the outside and hidden ones beneath, and it was quite a puzzle how they had been done up at all.

Just as Yan Qing was about to tease him for it, the fastenings were unfastened one by one. And indeed — nothing could get the better of Director Shi, who was capable of going anywhere and accomplishing anything under the heavens.

Now it was Yan Qing’s turn to find herself with nothing to say.

Shi Ting undid all those intricate fastenings, then looked up and gave her a wink, as if asking: Impressive, aren’t I? Yan Qing couldn’t decide whether to laugh or be exasperated.

“I’ll go turn off the lights.” Shi Ting stood and walked to the side, pulling the light switch. The room went dark, but a faint glow still lingered — the longevity lamp on the cabinet, which would burn until the following morning.

Shi Ting sat down beside her, then leaned over and removed her shoes. He let down the red gauze curtain, and as it settled, it shrouded the wide bed in a warm suffusion of red.

Yan Qing had already been lifted into bed by Shi Ting, now nestled against his broad chest. He half-propped himself up, looking down at her from above.

Yan Qing was also a little flustered. Though this was not the first time she had shared a bed with him, this time was different — and in precisely what way it was different, she knew perfectly well in her heart.

“The thing is…” Yan Qing felt his gaze was too intense, and the atmosphere had grown altogether too loaded, so she parted her lips, intending to ease the tension.

“What is it?” Shi Ting said with a teasing smile.

In truth, Yan Qing hadn’t decided what she was going to say. At his prompt, she was left at a loss for words.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this day?” Shi Ting gave her pink cheek a gentle pinch. Her face was just the slightest bit red — though inside the red canopy, it was hard to say whether it was the warmth or the flush of shyness.

Yan Qing said nothing. She only gazed at him with soft, bright eyes. She knew that in this moment, he was the one meant to take the lead.

“Since the day I confessed to you, I’ve been thinking of it.” He did not shy away from it. “Holding back has been genuinely difficult.”

As he said it, he even seemed a little aggrieved.

Yan Qing smiled. Her clear eyes rested quietly on him. She was not surprised by Shi Ting’s directness — if a man had no such feelings for the woman he loved, that would perhaps be the strange thing. But even harboring such thoughts, he had held himself back and restrained himself, and though he had several opportunities to act first, he had held firm each time. That was the most basic form of respect he had shown her.

“Now Director Shi knows how difficult it is to hold back,” she said. “As the saying goes, there is a blade above the word endure — and likewise, a blade above the word desire.” She raised her hand to tap the tip of his nose.

“And so — I have no intention of holding back any longer.” He suddenly took hold of her wrist, and without warning, his warm lips landed upon hers.

Beneath that ardent kiss, both of their breaths grew gradually hurried. Her face flushed, her breathing unsteady, she gazed at him with eyes half-open and half-closed, filled with boundless allure.

The red gauze curtains hung warm around them, and the spring night was worth a thousand gold.

When Yan Qing stirred awake again, the sky was still dim. The room held a soft light — the longevity lamp.

She squinted at it for a moment. Its glow swayed gently back and forth — truly, it had burned the whole night through.

When she turned her gaze, she looked directly into a pair of dark, fathomless eyes. She was caught off guard for a moment, and heat rose at once to her cheeks. She pulled the covers up to hide half her face.

“Good morning, my dear.” Shi Ting was half-propped on one elbow, smiling warmly at her.

Yan Qing saw that he was bare from the waist up, the perfect lines of his muscles on full display, with the blanket resting only at his waist. She immediately reached out and pulled the covers up to hide him.

Using the beauty of a handsome man to distract her this early in the morning — utterly shameless.

“Good morning, Director Shi,” Yan Qing replied from behind the covers, perfunctory and evasive.

But that perfunctory greeting evidently did not satisfy him. His face suddenly drew close to hers, and even through the covers, she could feel the warmth of his breath at her ear — a tingling, fizzing sensation.

“That’s not what you called me last night…” His voice carried a slightly husky edge, and landing by her ear, it had a genuinely captivating effect.

Yan Qing thought back to the heat of the previous night — at the peak of their passion, he had called her “Qingqing.” At the sound of it, her heart had leapt and she had felt as though her whole body had gone soft, and she had called his name without thinking — just one character: “Ting.”

The intimacy of that name was such that even now, recalling it made her face burn hot — and he had seized on it and refused to let go.

Yan Qing, embarrassed and annoyed, glared at him. “Shi Xingzhi, don’t push your luck.”

She only ever called him by his full name like that when she was vexed with him. Though she looked like a riled little creature, she had no real capacity for attack — it was all bluster and show.

That wretched man leaned in with a low laugh, and suddenly yanked away the covers she had been using to shield herself. In the middle of her startled cry, he caught her lips with his.

Under his relentless insistence, she could only call his name again and again in a faint, breathless plea for mercy — until he was thoroughly satisfied and finally released her.

After all that commotion, the sky had grown somewhat lighter. Yan Qing glared at the culprit beside her and muttered: “Aren’t we supposed to go and serve tea to the elders? Keep this up and I’m going to have a very difficult time of it.”

Shi Ting laughed softly, and ran his fingers lightly twice across her nose, his voice nonetheless tender beyond measure: “I’ll carry you to freshen up.”

Yan Qing’s refusal hadn’t even left her mouth before she was scooped up, covers and all, into his arms. She immediately threw her arms around his neck — and then, afraid the covers would slip, she struggled to hold onto them as well. The sight of her in such a frantic muddle made him burst into laughter.

Left with no other option, Yan Qing bit down on his shoulder until she felt satisfied, then let go. But this sort of playful tussle was hardly something he took to heart — he regarded it as nothing more than the lighthearted teasing of a newly married couple.

With the “enthusiastic assistance” of a certain someone, Yan Qing finally finished freshening up. By the time Jing Zhi came in, she was already dressed, sitting before the mirror having her hair combed.

Today was the first day she officially became a daughter-in-law of the Shi Family. Her instincts told her that this day would not be an easy one.