Zhao Qian, standing across the street, was stunned. Although the lighting was dim and shadowy, she could still clearly see what Lin Qingye’s hands were doing!

This bastard!

Right now!!

Was he slapping Xu Zhinan’s butt?!!!

Whatever sympathy Zhao Qian had for him instantly turned to ashes.

Although she and Xu Zhinan were the same age, Xu Zhinan was so obedient and gentle. He had been gone for two and a half years, and Xu Zhinan had waited patiently without complaint for two and a half years. Zhao Qian truly felt sorry for her and often treated her like her own little sister.

And now she saw this dog of a man doing such a thing to her Zhinan in the middle of the street!

Even though she couldn’t see his face clearly, Zhao Qian could already imagine what his expression must be like.

Punchable!

Zhao Qian began rolling up her sleeves, cursed, and was about to storm across the street with fierce determination when her husband grabbed her: “Where are you going?”

She pointed her finger: “That bastard!”

Her husband looked in the direction she was pointing. The young woman was tightly hugging the man’s waist, and he was also embracing her—a perfect, loving embrace with no issues.

“How is he a bastard?”

“He…”

He dared to slap her Zhinan’s butt!

Zhao Qian didn’t finish her sentence, the words stuck in her throat. She stamped her foot angrily, “He’s just a bastard!”

Zhao Qian had always been a bit wild, and her husband was used to it, not knowing what she was finding fault with this time.

“Don’t they look quite loving? Your roommate seems to like him.”

Zhao Qian snorted, commenting with disappointment: “So naive! She was deceived by this man six years ago, and now, after meeting again for just a few days, she’s completely fallen into his hands again—no backbone at all!”

Her husband laughed: “Well, when it comes to matters of the heart, who can say?”

Lin Qingye let Xu Zhinan hug him. He could see Zhao Qian pointing at them from across the street. He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but judging by her posture, she seemed quite angry.

Lin Qingye couldn’t be bothered to care. He stroked Xu Zhinan’s hair and said: “Shall we go home?”

This time she heard his words, released her arms, and straightened up to look at him.

The little drunk had rosy cheeks.

Lin Qingye sighed: “How much did you drink?”

“Not much, just two glasses.” As she spoke, she held up two fingers next to her face, like making a “peace” sign.

Lin Qingye was amused: “Can you still walk?”

She nodded, and because she was drunk, her nods were exaggerated, making her sway back and forth.

Lin Qingye extended his hand for her to hold as they walked back.

They walked very slowly. After just a few steps, Xu Zhinan turned her head and asked, “Didn’t you drive here?”

“No, it’s not far. I was tired from writing songs and wanted to take a walk, and it’s also good for you to clear the alcohol from your system.” Lin Qingye said, “Are you tired? If you’re tired, I’ll carry you.”

“I’m not tired.”

Despite saying this, she was wearing a bridesmaid dress with a long back and high heels. After just a few steps, she had already stepped on her dress twice and nearly fallen.

Lin Qingye clicked his tongue and pulled her to a stop.

The dress made it difficult to carry her on his back, so he could only carry her in his arms.

Lin Qingye bent down, just about to pick her up princess-style, when Xu Zhinan hurriedly took a few small steps backward, not letting him carry her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m heavy.”

“With your little bit of weight.” Lin Qingye’s tone was disdainful.

“I gained two pounds a few days ago.”

“It’s fine, I can carry you.”

“You’ll get tired.”

“I won’t.”

She backed away again. Lin Qingye tried to carry her but couldn’t reach her, so he simply crouched down in front of her, looking up at her with narrowed eyes: “I’ve noticed you underestimate me.”

“…” Xu Zhinan didn’t seem to understand what he meant, blinking her eyes, “I’m afraid you’ll get tired.”

The young woman was quite adorable when drunk. Her face had filled out a bit recently. Though not quite at the baby-faced chubby stage of her college days, she wasn’t as thin anymore. Her speech and reactions were a beat slower, and those clear, pure eyes were completely transparent, without any defenses.

Lin Qingye suddenly felt mischievous.

He beckoned with his finger.

Xu Zhinan bent down toward him.

He beckoned again.

Xu Zhinan moved even closer.

When they were extremely close, he blew a breath on her ear and said with a wicked smile: “I never got tired carrying you when we were doing it before, why are you worried about me getting tired now?”

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Xu Zhinan looked at him blankly, seemingly processing the information in his words.

Once she processed it, her face, neck, and ears instantly turned red. Lin Qingye laughed wickedly, eventually finding it so cute and amusing that he threw his head back in hearty laughter.

Xu Zhinan felt like her entire body was on fire from his laughter. She pouted slightly, as if she had suffered a great humiliation, but still held back from scolding him. In the end, she just let out a gentle sigh.

Lin Qingye even detected a hint of indulgent affection in that sigh.

Xu Zhinan stroked his face and said with dignified forbearance: “As long as you can keep laughing so happily like this, you can say whatever you want.”

So Lin Qingye laughed again, very obligingly.

But after laughing, he suddenly felt a tightness in his nose. He turned his head away and wiped his face.

“I’ll be happy if you let me carry you,” he said.

Xu Zhinan hesitated for a while before reluctantly agreeing: “…Alright then.”

Lin Qingye picked her up and bounced her once: “Why are you so tense? Relax a bit. You’re like holding a board right now.”

Xu Zhinan unconsciously tensed all her muscles, gave a small alcoholic hiccup, and explained in a soft voice: “I’m afraid I’m too heavy for you.”

“You’re heavier when you’re tense like this.”

Hearing him say this, she gradually forced herself to relax, putting her arms around his neck and resting her head sideways on his shoulder.

Because of his earlier shameless innuendo, Xu Zhinan didn’t dare ask again if he was tired. She silently endured a great deal of anxiety, obediently remaining still in his arms, not even speaking to avoid adding the slightest burden to him.

They walked to the entrance of the residential complex, where the security guard was standing.

Lin Qingye: “Zhinan.”

“Huh? Are you tired? I’ll get down and walk myself.” She immediately said.

Lin Qingye couldn’t help but laugh: “No, help me get my mask out. It’s in my pocket. There’s someone ahead.”

Xu Zhinan struggled to reach for it, then put it on him, pressing it down on the bridge of his nose.

The security guard knew Xu Zhinan; she always greeted him. But he didn’t know Lin Qingye, as the two of them rarely came in and out together, and he hadn’t encountered them during his shifts.

Seeing this scene suddenly gave him a start.

The guards sometimes discussed among themselves that this young woman was the most well-behaved, and they had never seen any men walking her home. But now here was one.

And he was carrying her in his arms.

The security guard looked at Lin Qingye’s face.

Well, the young man was quite handsome.

The guard squinted his eyes.

Handsome young men are the best at deceiving young women!

The guard extended his hand to stop them: “Wait a minute, do you two know each other?”

Lin Qingye looked up at him.

The only reason someone would ask such a question when he was already carrying her was that he suspected Lin Qingye was a scumbag trying to trick a young woman into bed.

Just as the contempt and disdain were about to emerge in Lin Qingye’s eyes, Xu Zhinan, with her arms around his neck, tilted her head and smiled sweetly at the guard: “We know each other, we know each other. He’s my boyfriend.”

Lin Qingye: “…”

Just from Xu Zhinan’s current reaction, he could tell she was drunk.

Even the guard could see she was drunk, and suspiciously asked again: “Really?”

Lin Qingye, whose temper wasn’t the best, impatiently grunted an affirmative and strode in.

After arriving home and opening the door, Lin Qingye placed her directly on the bed and removed her high heels, tossing them to the floor.

Her feet were beautiful, with slender, fair toes, each one small and rounded. The blue veins on the top of her feet were slightly visible. Lin Qingye looked for a moment before straightening up.

He went to the bathroom to run water, tested the temperature, then came back out: “Zhinan, come in and take a bath.”

“Coming.” She responded obediently, sitting up and swaying her head as she looked for her slippers on the floor.

Lin Qingye: “They’re on your right.”

She put on her slippers and entered the bathroom. Lin Qingye had already placed her change of clothes on the washbasin, and had even put an anti-slip mat on the floor, before going back out and closing the door.

Soon, the sound of water could be heard, and as the sound fell on his heart, it stirred his thoughts.

Lin Qingye left the bedroom, lit a cigarette, and picked up his pen to add a few strokes to the content he hadn’t finished earlier.

The “Whispers” album was complete, and the cover photo had been retaken.

No longer with the blue hairstyle, but now with black, short hair, a close-up shot, without any fancy photo processing—a very simple, clean photograph without even any retouching, with the scar under his eye still clearly visible.

It was a completely different style from before.

Lin Qingye finished writing and had just put down his pen when Xu Zhinan also finished her bath and the bathroom door opened.

He extinguished his cigarette and went into the room.

Xu Zhinan had already wrapped herself in the blanket. Lin Qingye pulled her out: “Your hair is still wet. Dry it before sleeping.”

“It’s only a little damp.”

Lin Qingye didn’t waste words with a drunk. He directly took out the hair dryer, set it to the strongest setting, and blasted her hair. Since it was only slightly wet from the bath, it dried quickly.

Only then did he say: “Sleep now.”

Xu Zhinan slid under the blanket, then asked him: “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“Soon.”

She reached out from under the blanket, hooking his neck and pulling him down. Lin Qingye complied and lay on top of her.

“You should go to sleep soon. You’re busy so late every day, your body won’t be able to take it.”

With her eyes half-closed, she said words she didn’t realize were ambiguous, “I want to sleep with you now.”

Lin Qingye’s temple twitched: “I haven’t showered yet, Zhinan.”

She sniffed at his collar: “You smell good. Hurry and get under the blanket.”

Lin Qingye had no choice. Fortunately, he hadn’t sweated much today, so he indulged the drunk girl and got into bed without showering.

Xu Zhinan rolled into his arms, wrapped in the blanket.

She was already very sleepy, but drinking too much alcohol made it seem like a layer of consciousness was floating above, like a noisy little person constantly bothering her and not letting her sleep.

So Xu Zhinan gradually became restless again.

Her hands were pinching and squeezing all over his body.

“What are you doing?” Lin Qingye asked softly.

“You carried me for so long earlier, you must be tired. I’ll give you a massage.”

“…”

Lin Qingye didn’t argue with her, and he was indeed tired, so he closed his eyes and let her massage him.

However, as she continued, her hands became less proper, sliding down to his lower abdomen.

She felt it and said: “It’s hard.”

“Mm.”

“Abs?”

Lin Qingye chuckled: “You guess.”

She then felt her stomach: “I don’t have any. Why do you still have abs now?”

“They’re not as defined as before.”

After all, he had been inside for two and a half years. But Lin Qingye had low body fat, making it easy for his muscle definition to show.

She played around, touching here and there, her nails scraping across his muscle lines, causing a ticklish sensation.

Lin Qingye asked with amusement: “You like them that much?”

She didn’t answer him, probably half-asleep, though her hand was still moving unconsciously.

Lin Qingye thought to himself that he should continue working out.

The waistband of his sleep pants was very loose. Suddenly, one of her fingers slid along the waistband and inside. Lin Qingye quickly caught her wrist, held it down, and spoke in a husky voice: “Zhinan, do you know what you’re doing?”

Xu Zhinan did not know.

Hearing his voice, she opened her eyes in a daze, looking at him with a bewildered expression.

Lin Qingye looked into her eyes, his jawline growing increasingly tense, and his eyes darkening.

Xu Zhinan didn’t understand, moved her hand, and was pressed down even more firmly. He tightly encircled her wrist, furrowed his brow, and his tone became somewhat impatient: “Don’t move around.”

So fierce.

Xu Zhinan’s eyes showed timidity, her hand withdrew, and she looked wronged: “It hurts.”

Lin Qingye immediately let go, examined her wrist, and saw it had turned red.

He put her hand back on her side: “Alright, be good and go to sleep.”

Finally, she closed her eyes and slept properly.

Lin Qingye lay there for a while, still unable to sleep. Xu Zhinan was right beside him, her breath so close, causing his small flame to continue burning.

In the end, he had no choice but to grab his cigarette pack and go outside to smoke and cool off.

The cool night breeze gently caressed him as he leaned against the windowsill. The tip of his cigarette glowed crimson. The indoor ambiance was dispersed by the wind, but it couldn’t dispel the image in Lin Qingye’s mind of Xu Zhinan’s earlier “It hurts.”

Timid and wronged, like she was pouting, with moisture in her eyes, as if she would cry the next second if he squeezed any harder.

Lin Qingye recalled that she had the same expression during their first time together.

Just thinking about it could cause trouble.

Lin Qingye’s face darkened as he took another drag of his cigarette.

Back then, he had been a jerk. He had directly taken her to his place without considering what would happen to her afterward. He had gotten drunk himself, and they had sex.

Their relationship had been initiated by him, without asking Xu Zhinan if she was willing, before pulling her into his life.

But now he couldn’t be like that anymore.

He hadn’t accomplished anything yet, wasn’t sure what kind of life he could give Xu Zhinan, and didn’t want to irresponsibly take that step.

Early the next morning, when she woke up, Xu Zhinan had a splitting headache, even though she had only drunk two glasses of alcohol.

No one was beside her. She went to the bathroom to rinse her mouth, then went out and saw Lin Qingye in the kitchen.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt, just a loose pair of sleep pants around his waist. The tattoo on his back was completely exposed, seeming to glow in the morning light.

It gave Xu Zhinan the feeling that her former self had always been carried by the mature Lin Qingye.

The black-haired version of herself.

She was lost in thought, looking at the tattoo, but Lin Qingye seemed to have eyes on his back, not even turning around: “Why are you standing at the door without making a sound?”

Xu Zhinan came back to her senses: “…If I didn’t make a sound, how did you know I was here?”

She walked forward, “What are you doing?”

“Making a hangover soup.”

“You know how to do this?”

“I looked it up. It’s quite simple, so I’m giving it a try.” He poured the hangover soup into a bowl. It was still very hot and couldn’t be drunk yet. He turned his head to look at her, “Does your head hurt?”

“Yes, a bit dizzy.”

“Go ahead and keep drinking that much next time.” He mockingly remarked.

“…” Xu Zhinan pursed her lips, obediently promising, “I won’t drink anymore.”

When the hangover soup had cooled down a bit, Xu Zhinan drank it all. It had a sweet and sour taste, very refreshing: “What time did you get up?”

“About half an hour ago.”

“So early. I didn’t hear anything.”

“Of course you wouldn’t hear when you’ve drunk too much.”

“…”

Why was he in such a bad mood early in the morning?

Xu Zhinan hooked her finger with his: “I already said I won’t drink anymore.”

In the morning, they left separately. Xu Zhinan went downstairs first and ran into the security guard at the door.

“Young lady, was that your boyfriend yesterday?”

“Huh?”

A flash of memory from the previous night went through Xu Zhinan’s mind. She seemed to have wrapped her arms around Lin Qingye’s neck and boasted: “We know each other, we know each other. He’s my boyfriend.”

“…”

Xu Zhinan felt a bit embarrassed, pinched her ear: “Um, yes.”

The sober Xu Zhinan also acknowledged it, which reassured the guard. He smiled: “The young man is tall and handsome. You two make a good pair.”

Xu Zhinan smiled and thanked him.

At the tattoo shop.

She arrived early today. Xu Zhinan cleaned up a bit, ventilated the room, and watered the plants.

Before long, a scheduled customer arrived, on the phone and cursing as she walked in, gesturing to communicate with Xu Zhinan.

Xu Zhinan put on her mask, had her lie down on the work bed, and was about to start tattooing when the customer finally hung up.

As soon as she hung up, she said: “Oh my goodness, my friend’s husband is driving me crazy.”

Xu Zhinan followed along: “What happened?”

“When they got married before, they were like glue, sweet every day. Now look, they haven’t even been married a year, and they’re already not in harmony.”

“How are they not in harmony?”

“What else? They’re not in harmony in bed. Her husband has lost interest in her.”

“…”

“My friend is so silly, asking me what’s going on. What else could it be? The man is cheating, having affairs outside, so naturally, he can’t perform at home.”

Xu Zhinan recalled another fragment from the previous night.

It flashed through her mind—she seemed to have been touching around his lower abdomen, and then Lin Qingye grabbed her wrist with an impatient “Don’t move around.” Later, he seemed to have even left the bed.

Xu Zhinan frowned slightly and said: “It’s not necessarily cheating.”

“If it’s not cheating, then is he not capable?” The customer changed her perspective, “Her husband is only just 30, he can’t be all looks and no substance, right?”

“…”

The customer picked up her phone and sent a voice message to her friend: “Why don’t you buy him some health supplements today, like sea cucumber, okra, wolfberry, etc.?”

Putting down the phone, she clicked her tongue several times: “What a situation, only 30 and already like this. Isn’t that a tragedy?”

Xu Zhinan: “…”