As darkness fell, Liu Boyang lit the bonfire at the entrance, and the aroma of grilled meat began to spread through the air.

Chen Xi was arranging tableware on the folding table when she saw two beams of headlights turn into view in the darkness, stopping in front of the VR arcade.

Qin Lie and Yang Guan got out of the car and walked toward the bonfire.

Chen Xi watched them approach, forgetting to withdraw her gaze.

Until she noticed Qin Lie’s heavy stare, silently locked with hers.

She suddenly lowered her eyelids and continued arranging the bowls and chopsticks.

Han Susu came out carrying a case of beer. When she saw Yang Guan, her steps suddenly halted.

In the scorching summer night, ambiguity churned in the air.

Those caught in it were all more or less pretending to be deaf and blind.

Only two innocent children, amid everyone’s drunken laughter and chatter, began singing a melodious song.

“Waiting a thousand years, waiting once more.”

“Waiting a thousand years, I have no regrets…”

Gradually, the noise at the drinking table stopped, and everyone looked toward the two little girls standing in front of the tea-colored glass door.

Chen Xi also turned to look.

Ruirui held up the White Snake shadow puppet, and Guoguo held up Xu Xian’s shadow puppet, gesturing in a proper manner.

The light from inside the shop shone through the glass door onto the shadow puppets, creating two hazy, antique shadows.

“The water of West Lake, my tears, I’m willing to transform with you into a ball of flame, ah ah ah…”

Ruirui’s voice was clear and childish, with a slight off-key quality, singing songs she didn’t understand.

Suddenly, Yang Shan laughed softly, and everyone at the table couldn’t help but laugh too.

Chen Xi: “The little one has watched a lot of Legend of the White Snake.”

Yang Shan said casually with a smile, “I had nothing to watch lately, so I revisited some childhood memories. I didn’t expect her to become so fascinated by it.”

When the drinking reached its peak, Qin Zhan somehow produced a string of firecrackers, took them apart, and lit them one by one with his cigarette.

He threw one out – pop! – Ruirui and Guoguo covered their ears and jumped around.

After being scared, they pestered Qin Zhan to keep lighting more.

Chen Xi went to the bathroom. After finishing, she came out and looked at her flushed cheeks from drinking in the mirror.

She cupped some water and splashed it on her face. The cool water droplets flowed down her cheeks to her neck.

The burning sensation on her face subsided slightly, but then she thought of Qin Lie’s gaze from before.

Cold, naked.

Chen Xi didn’t know how he managed to hide both ice and fire in that seemingly calm gaze.

She cupped more cool water and splashed it on her face again.

Just as she came out of the bathroom, she was grabbed by the wrist by a pair of strong hands, and her whole body crashed into a solid chest.

Before she could react, her lips were kissed.

That breath was extremely familiar, carrying a strong smell of alcohol, instantly making her tingle from scalp to tailbone.

Chen Xi was held by the back of her head by Qin Lie, passively kissing him intensely.

She pushed him, making intermittent sounds in her throat, “There are people.”

Qin Lie released Chen Xi, grabbed her wrist, and without a word dragged her to the room at the end of the partition wall.

He didn’t turn on the lights, directly pressing Chen Xi against the wall and continuing the previous kiss.

Moonlight shone through a small window onto a small bed below it.

Chen Xi occasionally slept here when she worked late overtime.

Chen Xi gradually came to her senses in the dizziness, feeling Qin Lie’s hands on her body.

Wherever he touched, fire followed.

She inexplicably wanted to resist.

So suppressing her body’s desire, she suddenly pushed him away.

Qin Lie said nothing and pressed forward again.

The two silently entangled and struggled in the darkness.

Suddenly, crisp footsteps came from the doorway – thin high heels clicking on the tile floor.

In the silent darkness, they made extremely penetrating sounds.

There was another set of footsteps, somewhat staggering.

The moment she heard the door, Chen Xi suddenly pushed Qin Lie, and they hid in the storage partition nearby.

Immediately after, Chen Xi heard the heavy sound of the door closing.

Han Susu’s voice, nearly breaking down, rang out in the darkness, “Yang Guan, you’re not a fucking man.”

Chen Xi and Qin Lie both held their breath, not daring to breathe.

Her face still flushed, she looked at Qin Lie with an indescribable expression.

Qin Lie’s expression in the darkness was also speechless.

How did they have such a fate, running into these two feuding lovers’ entanglement again?

Han Susu’s chest rose and fell as she breathed heavily.

But Yang Guan’s breathing seemed to be absorbed by the darkness, quiet as a dead person.

He leaned against the door, saying nothing, eyelids drooping, as if avoiding Han Susu’s burning gaze.

Han Susu looked at his eyes, and gradually, a bone-deep chill crept up in her heart.

She had never seen such a look in his eyes before – empty, lifeless.

Han Susu suddenly clenched her fist and viciously punched his chest.

A dull thud, and Yang Guan remained silent.

Then came the second hit, the third…

Han Susu hammered Yang Guan’s solid chest with both fists.

Each blow was her desperate cry.

Yang Guan leaned carelessly against the door, letting her pound him.

His expression looked calm as water, the red veins in his eyes hidden by darkness.

No one saw the string in his heart that was about to snap.

Suddenly, Han Susu threw herself into Yang Guan’s arms, tears streaming down.

Her face buried in Yang Guan’s chest, she asked in a muffled voice, “Yang Guan, will you never fall in love for the rest of your life?”

After a long while, Yang Guan finally gave a faint hum.

His chest was cool, his clothes unknowingly soaked through a large area.

He suddenly raised his hand, wanting to touch her gently trembling back.

His hand raised halfway but stopped, then slowly lowered again.

Han Susu: “Why?”

Time passed minute by minute. After waiting a long time, Yang Guan still didn’t answer.

Han Susu raised her head and asked directly, “You think you don’t deserve it, right?”

What answered her was still silence.

Han Susu: “Let me ask you, if it wasn’t me but someone else pursuing you, would you agree?”

Yang Guan was silent for a while, then finally spoke, “What would it take for you to stop?”

Han Susu asked incredulously, “You still think I’m just fooling around, don’t you?”

Yang Guan didn’t speak, which was a tacit agreement.

Han Susu suddenly laughed – short, cold laughs.

“Fine, I’m just fooling around. Are you satisfied now?”

In the darkness, Yang Guan’s well-defined hands moved.

It was unclear whether he wanted to push her away or hold her tightly in his arms.

To possess everything about her like a demon.

His slightly raised hand slowly lowered again.

Han Susu laughed softly again, “You ask me what it would take to stop?”

Yang Guan gave a faint hum.

Han Susu: “Sleep with me once, and I’ll stop bothering you.”

Tears rolled down quietly as she said softly, “Now.”

Yang Guan froze, silent for a long time, his well-defined hands gradually showing bulging veins.

In the cramped storage partition, Chen Xi and Qin Lie were almost embracing each other to barely squeeze in.

She looked at Qin Lie with sudden realization, sensing trouble.

Qin Lie’s eyelids also twitched violently.

Suddenly, a dull sound came from the darkness.

Han Susu was suddenly pulled into Yang Guan’s arms, crashing heavily against his chest.

The next second, he lowered his head to kiss her eyes, nose, cheeks…

He cupped her face, his hands almost trembling, his soul falling into the abyss of sin.

But he was powerless, letting himself collapse and sink at the same time.

He almost frantically found her lips and bit them madly.

Han Susu whimpered and recklessly met him.

In the darkness, the sound of lips and tongues entangling intensely was amplified infinitely.

Chen Xi lowered her head, avoiding Qin Lie’s gaze, wishing she could dig a tunnel to escape.

Gradually, the sounds became increasingly embarrassing.

Suddenly, Chen Xi heard her bed creak as it bore sudden weight.

Chen Xi grabbed Qin Lie’s arm. Her palms were sweating as she pulled him, wanting to go outside.

But as soon as she lifted her foot, she awkwardly put it down.

Going out at this moment would make Han Susu strangle her.

And she probably wouldn’t be able to face Big Brother Yang Guan for the rest of her life.

Qin Lie probably thought the same thing, frozen in place without moving.

The small room had no air conditioning and was already stuffy.

The two squeezed into the narrow partition, listening to the rustling sounds of clothes in the darkness.

Then came the increasingly uncontrollable panting of two people.

Chen Xi broke out in sweat. Her hand still gripped Qin Lie’s arm, and she felt a layer of sweat on his arm too.

Han Susu suddenly cried out sharply. The bed was rocked by two people, making unbearable creaking sounds.

Chen Xi was going crazy and quickly raised her hands to cover Qin Lie’s ears.

Qin Lie looked down at Chen Xi’s embarrassed face and also raised his hands to cover her ears.

In the stuffy little dark room, one side was heaven, the other hell.

Han Susu’s cries were both painful and pleasurable. No matter how tightly Qin Lie covered, they still penetrated Chen Xi’s ears.

Chen Xi simply didn’t want to live anymore.

Suddenly, a gentle kiss fell on her sweaty forehead, like a feather brushing past.

She looked up at Qin Lie, and the two gazed at each other amid the unbearable sounds.

Unknowingly, they silently kissed.

The movements were so gentle, breathing so careful, like two children secretly licking candy.

Chen Xi found a way to distract herself, kissing Qin Lie selflessly.

They had never kissed so tenderly and longingly before, like a deeply affectionate couple.

Chen Xi’s heart unknowingly melted into a puddle, and she was about to melt into a puddle too.

After an unknown amount of time, the purgatory finally ended.

Only calm remained in the darkness, along with the heavy breathing of two people on the bed next door.

Han Susu’s hoarse voice rang out, “Yang Guan, we’re even now.”