She remembered when Jin Yiken beat up his younger brother—Long Qi sat in the living room drinking soup with complete detachment. The wailing cries came through wave after wave. Jin Yiken would come in to sit for a while when he got tired of hitting, take a sip of tea, then go back out to continue the beating, until his brother finally shouted: “Sister Long, I was wrong! Waaah! Bro, stop hitting me! Waaah!”

Jin Yiken shouted from the balcony asking her: “Feeling better yet?”

She stared at the TV and nodded.

Then she heard him say to his brother: “Well I’m not over it yet!”

And continued the beating.

So Jin Yiken, when he got angry, was someone who could really be ruthless.

That week was also crazy—their relationship happened to be in the fresh honeymoon phase. Basically whenever the mood struck they’d do it, and after each time he would very conscientiously fry her an egg. She’d sit by the windowsill eating it, wearing his oversized T-shirt.

The most thrilling time was by the swimming pool in the backyard. After they finished that time, Jin Yiken thought for a moment and said to her: “Be my girlfriend.”

She laid her lower legs across his stomach and said: “Can’t do that—then it’d become free.”

He said nothing.

The next day, at his mother’s request, he went to the flower and plant market to buy potted plants, taking her along. The whole way he held her hand. She wore no makeup, wore flip-flops, had all her hair tied up—her complexion and features were fair and defined, everything about her fresh and clean. Several shop owners at the flower market praised her beauty right in front of him.

They said: “Your taste in finding a girlfriend is really excellent.”

So they gave him discount after discount, stacking them up.

He bought her many flowers and plants she liked—some weren’t cheap, some needed specific places to be planted. She said: “The place I live doesn’t have a yard, can’t plant them, don’t want them.”

He said: “My place is your place. Whenever you want to see them, come over and look.”

Then when she was hungry he’d take her to eat, when she was bored he’d take her to play, when she wanted to spend money he’d accompany her shopping. All day long he protected her and held her hand. That day when they returned, he asked her: “I’ve been pretty good to you, right?”

“Pretty good.”

“How does being with me feel?”

“Comfortable.”

“So how about being boyfriend and girlfriend?”

Her ears were plugged with earphones, and she answered him carelessly: “Don’t you think you’d be at a loss?”

“What do you mean?”

She removed one earphone: “Would you marry me in the future? No. So under the premise of not getting married, why do people date?”

…

She held up two fingers: “One, for physiological needs; two, for emotional comfort.”

“Bai Aiting can give you emotional comfort, and I can give you physiological needs anytime. Why bother spending a whole day coaxing me and doting on me—isn’t that exhausting?”

“Besides, is dating even interesting? Fighting every three days, breaking up every five days. No matter how passionately in love you are, you still can’t get married. Our current state is the best—clean and decisive, cutting things off when needed. Even if you and Bai Aiting get disgustingly lovey-dovey, I won’t be jealous. But if you date me, you’re done for. Dare to glance at someone else and I’ll gouge out your eyeballs. By then you’ll be exhausted physically and mentally, your reputation at school will be ruined, your parents will think you’re a disaster, your emotional comfort won’t talk to you anymore, and I definitely won’t give you physiological satisfaction either. What’s the point?”

“How do you know it’ll develop in that direction?” he asked.

“Anyone who gets involved with me will develop in that direction. Look at Zhuo Qing—he just simply likes me, that’s all. Isn’t his reputation at school strange?”

He thought about it and found it made sense, saying: “Alright then.”

Then the two did it in the car.

That night, summer rain poured outside the car. Perhaps it was the mood brought by the downpour, or perhaps it was something Jin Yiken had genuinely cultivated in her over the whole day—she was very much in the mood. In the cramped space, she actively pressed her forehead against his. The atmosphere inside the car formally changed from the moment their lips touched. That was their second kiss. Jin Yiken gripped her waist tightly to prevent her from dodging. Her body leaned back as she used her hands to brace against the front seat back. Jin Yiken was like a child tasting something fresh for the first time—he couldn’t stop. Her lips were nearly rubbed raw by his sucking.

Later their heads shifted apart. Her palm slapped against the car window with a smack as she silently embraced his neck tightly. Outside the window was covered with rain streaks, inside a layer of moisture. Their intertwined figures were blurred into hazy indistinctness by the fog.

…

The beer reacted in her stomach, and suddenly a wave of nausea surged up. Long Qi braced herself against the sink and covered her mouth. The whole villa’s noise and music filled her ears again—a group of girls sat by the pool edge playing in the water, a bunch of boys trampled the courtyard plants into complete chaos. Her voice came through her fingers: “Don’t talk to me… go away… urgh…”

“Oh, Sister Long.”

“No… wait a moment.”

“Hm?”

After she felt a bit better, she asked him: “Have you seen your brother?”

“In the attic upstairs.”

She was about to go when Jin Shaogao continued: “But he brought a girl up there. Locked the door.”