Wei Zhi emerged from the men’s changing room, furtively glancing around. She dreaded encountering the kind cleaning lady who had allowed her entry earlier. Recalling the woman’s nonchalant gaze now made Wei Zhi want to cover her face and wail—”I’m sorry, auntie, for betraying your trust!”
She felt like a thief who had just pilfered a hundred sachets of shampoo from the gym’s shower room. Finally reaching a bustling area, Wei Zhi sighed in relief. She found a ventilation duct to sit by, letting the cool winter breeze disperse the heat from her face.
About ten minutes later, Shan Chong emerged. He had changed into clean clothes, once again the picture of an immaculate idol. No one knew just how devilishly wicked he truly was.
Wei Zhi’s legs trembled at the sight of him, both physically and emotionally. She pressed her heels into the ground as he approached. Before she could speak, he reached out to touch a strand of her hair, frowning as he felt its dampness. “You’re sitting in the draft with wet hair?”
Wei Zhi glanced at him. “Was I supposed to dry my hair in the men’s changing room before coming out?”
“…” Shan Chong replied, “The women’s changing room is right across from the men’s. You could have just walked a few steps over.”
Oh. Right.
“I forgot,” she declared brazenly, nearly putting her hands on her hips to add, “So what if I forgot!”
Shan Chong was in that peculiar state of a predator who, having caught his prey, was content to keep it penned and watch it flail about. He good-naturedly glanced at her, making a small noise before taking off his jacket and draping it over her head.
Enveloped in his warmth and scent, the once-fluttering bird suddenly calmed. Her delicate hands pulled at his jacket, covering her head.
After a moment of silence, she whimpered, “I’m never coming to the gym with you again, you liar.”
“How did I lie?”
“You just did,” she pouted. “What happened to the perks you promised?”
“Didn’t I deliver?” He patted her head through the jacket. “Wasn’t I just serving you earlier?”
She wished he hadn’t mentioned it.
Her feathers ruffled at the reminder.
With a yelp, she swatted his hand away as if burned, quickly shuffling three steps away from him.
From beneath the jacket, her dark eyes glared at him fiercely. “Don’t mention that again! Shut up!”
Since knowing him, she had rarely dared to tell him to shut up. Amused, the man seemed to enjoy riling her up. He stopped walking and beckoned to her from a distance.
Wei Zhi stood her ground, eyeing him warily, silently wondering what he was up to now.
He held out his hand, palm up, gesturing for her to come over.
Wei Zhi refused to budge, keeping her distance and watching him.
Seeing her rigid non-compliance, Shan Chong didn’t rush. He chuckled softly and said, “Guess what I have in my pocket right now?”
Wei Zhi: “?”
She glanced at his pocket, noticing a small bulge. He had indeed put something there…
Oh.
Wei Zhi: “…”
Scowling, she could barely walk straight. She took tiny steps, reluctantly standing beside him, allowing him to take her hand… Held in his warm, dry grasp, she felt dejected by her cowardice. She let out a small “eep” from her throat.
Unfortunately, the man seemed deaf to her distress. He squeezed her soft paw gently, his thumb lazily rubbing her wrist. “Weren’t you hungry? What do you want for lunch?”
Wei Zhi glanced at his pocket, took three deep breaths, and gritted out six words: “Back to the hotel. Order takeout.”
Shan Chong responded with an “Oh” and agreed.
Back at the hotel, Wei Zhi finally began to regain her senses.
She could now clearly see the smugness radiating from the man’s face.
So she sat down and stared intently at his pocket, knowing he was waiting for her to speak up. Stubbornly, she hugged her knees in the corner without a word. When he asked about food, she just nodded or shook her head, only reminding him “No ginger, please” in the notes.
After this prolonged emotional recovery, she gradually calmed down.
Her dress today was quite long, so there wasn’t much to worry about. Now that they were alone in the room, and he had already… done that, what was there to fear?
So she wasn’t in a hurry anymore.
She stopped fixating on his pocket, no longer desperate to retrieve her belongings.
While waiting for the takeout, she curled up on the sofa to play with her phone.
She could sense the man sitting nearby, looking at his phone, his gaze occasionally drifting from the screen to her profile…
It seemed he was waiting for her next move.
Wei Zhi noticed this and inwardly scoffed. She thought, “Just keep waiting, wait until the end of time,” then very stubbornly refused to look up at him.
As it happened, her editor was looking for her on social media, so she focused intently on discussing her work.
[Editor: Next week in Chongli?]
[Little Chirp: So soon?]
[Editor: It’s before the New Year when everyone’s on holiday. I heard that besides the competition venue, the officials have invited some big shots in winter sports to give you all some insight—national athletes, Winter Olympics participants, and such. They’re probably accommodating those people’s schedules… you know, big shots are always busy.]
Seeing “big shots in winter sports,” Wei Zhi glanced up at the man lounging nearby, playing with his phone. She thought, here’s one big shot in winter sports…
Idle and useless.
[Little Chirp: Hah, who isn’t a big shot!]
[Editor: …Why are you suddenly showing self-esteem now? What are you trying to do? Those people can appear on TV without a care. If you’ve got the guts, take off your mask when you’re on TV.]
[Editor: Then, if anyone in your family knows how to use a search engine, your New Year’s Eve dinner table will be quite lively this year.]
[Little Chirp: …]
Wei Zhi looked up, cleared her throat, and noticed the man glance at her. She smiled at him.
Then she stretched out her short legs, barely reaching his thigh, and tapped him with her toes. “Going back to Chongli next week?”
She had expected Shan Chong to say something like “So early?” or “Isn’t it troublesome to go back and forth?” But to her surprise, the man just scrolled on his phone a couple of times, looked down at her foot wedged between his thigh and the sofa, and didn’t move it away.
He simply nodded slowly and said, “Alright.”
Wei Zhi pondered for a moment: “Why are you so agreeable?”
Shan Chong shifted his position, trapping her foot under his thigh. She quickly withdrew it, alert.
Only then did he look up and say lazily, “It’s what you want. How could I say no?”
Wei Zhi thought for a bit: “Is Dai Tuo also in Chongli?”
Shan Chong: “Didn’t he go back to Changbai Mountain?”
He checked his phone, frowned, and said with disdain: “Oh, he’s in Chongli.”
Wei Zhi now thought she had a good grasp of the situation.
[Little Chirp: What big shots have they invited?]
[Little Chirp: I might know some of them.]
[Editor: How would I know? Since when do you know such high-end figures? It seems the hard facts in your new comic aren’t made up after all?]
[Little Chirp: Tsk tsk.]
[Editor: Tsk tsk my foot. Remember to be polite, okay? Be completely obliging to the big shots, got it?]
Seeing this message, Wei Zhi immediately looked up at the man nearby.
[Little Chirp: Being completely obliging to any human will only make them take advantage of you.]
[Editor: Your rebellious spirit is strong today. Did you fight with your boyfriend?]
Wei Zhi thought for a moment and decided this didn’t count as a fight.
This was a battle of wills. Whoever gave in first would lose, with no reward for winning – a war of pride.
Soon after, the takeout arrived – some Cantonese dim sum including shrimp dumplings, siu mai, char siu bao, and boat congee. He had ordered quite a lot, all to her taste.
As he opened the containers and arranged them on the table, he looked up, about to ask how long the girl planned to keep her distance. To his surprise, she put down her phone with a blank expression and moved closer to him.
She approached with an imposing aura.
Shan Chong was momentarily stunned.
Holding the takeout container lid, he was about to say “If you want to fight, at least wait until after we eat,” when he saw the girl come over. With a cold face, she lifted his elbow and ducked into his embrace.
Shan Chong: “?”
Before he could react, he glimpsed her casually lifting her skirt hem. In a flutter of fabric, she settled firmly in his lap.
The girl raised her hand, hugged his neck, kissed his cheek, and suddenly smiled at the stiff man, saying: “Feed me.”
She sat on his lap like this.
The man almost couldn’t process the situation, still bent over opening takeout boxes. He gripped the lid so hard he nearly crushed the entire container.
The aroma of food wafted up, but his attention was completely elsewhere.
Shan Chong recalled that afternoon at the ski resort in Chongli when the bear-like coach woke him to say two newbies were waiting outside. Sitting in the ski school lounge, he spotted Wei Zhi among the two girls immediately…
How had he chosen? He’d picked her because she looked soft and plump – good for falling.
Now karma had come for him. He was experiencing firsthand what that “plumpness” meant.
His judgment of people was indeed accurate.
She was soft and plump all over.
“I can feed you,” the man said, looking down at the girl sitting steadily in his lap, “but you need to get up first.”
Wei Zhi smiled slightly at him: “I can’t get up. I’ll just sit here.”
Shan Chong closed his eyes briefly, patiently bouncing his leg: “Get up.”
Wei Zhi hugged him tighter, resting her chin on the crook of his neck. Not looking at his face, she wasn’t afraid at all and even dared to provoke him: “Then you can just let me starve.”
Of course, he couldn’t let her starve.
The girl was pressed against him.
So she could only move her head.
She turned, her soft lips brushing his jawline, seemingly accidentally: “Are we eating? I’m hungry.”
He frowned, holding her waist to keep her from falling while trying not to hold too tightly. His tone wasn’t very pleasant: “Fine, let’s eat. Move again and I’ll throw you out.”
Wei Zhi wasn’t scared at all.
The corners of her lips nearly reached her ears.
Maintaining this position, she didn’t move her hands at all. Nestled in the man’s arms, she took bites of everything from all the boxes, seeming to deliberately torment him by putting down the siu mai to ask for shrimp dumplings, then wanting more siu mai after the dumplings.
Each time he leaned forward to get food, she pressed even closer to him.
After she’d had her fun, she curled up in his arms and drank half a bowl of congee…
Finally, she was full.
Contentedly, she let out a tiny burp.
The man paused in bringing food to her lips and looked down at her: “Full?”
“Full.”
“If you’re full, get down,” Shan Chong said, having only served her without eating himself, “I’m still hungry.”
“Oh, hungry where?”
“…” The man’s eye twitched visibly. “Wei Zhi.”
Using her full name carried a hint of warning.
Wei Zhi looked up at the man’s tense jawline, thinking “Tsk tsk, look how angry he is.” So she raised her head to kiss his chin and asked, “Well, have you admitted you were wrong?”
“…”
He glanced at her and reluctantly grunted an “Mm.”
Only then did she slowly climb off, sliding next to him. Just as she settled, the person beside her suddenly stood up, startling her. She looked up and asked, “What are you doing, standing up so suddenly?”
Shan Chong glanced at her and walked into the bathroom.
Wei Zhi timed him.
He came out after twenty-five minutes.
The girl sitting on the sofa, hugging her legs, smiled with squinted eyes: “Did you rinse well?”
He said nothing, simply picked her up despite her small shrieks, and carried her into the bathroom. Opening the door, the strong masculine scent nearly made her bite her tongue.
The man expressionlessly set her on the sink counter in front of the mirror.
Wei Zhi tried to jump down.
He quickly caught her and put her back.
They struggled for a moment, both out of breath. Once she was seated steadily on the counter, he turned to leave. Wei Zhi watched him close the door and scrambled up.
For five long minutes, she had been flushed from the unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar strong scent of the man. She watched helplessly as the door closed, then turned and rushed into the toilet stall.
The toilet was clean, the trash can was empty.
“Shan Chong!” Wei Zhi banged on the door. “Where did you hide your things?”
“Take your time looking,” the man outside said lazily. “If you can’t find it, just use your nose. I’ll let you out after I finish eating.”
“… How long will you eat – wait, what kind of talk is this?! What do you mean to use my nose?! Are you even human?!”
“Mm,” he said carelessly, “If you say I’m not, then I’m not.”
“… Jerk!”
“Curse all you want,” the man said lightly with a chuckle, leaning against the bathroom door with folded arms. “I’m going to eat now. Take care.”
“Shan Chong?!”
“Hm?”
“You’re so childish!”
“Oh,” the man said blandly, “Not bad. Thanks to your good teaching.”