Although Jiang Mu had heard about many wild stories during her time studying abroad, she remained inherently conservative. Being in broad daylight made her particularly nervous, though, with the curtains drawn, the room took on a day-for-night ambiance.
After Jin Chao hung up the phone and tossed it behind him, he lowered his head to hover over her, noting her guilty expression. With a smile, he assured her, “Xiao Wen won’t overthink it.”
He caught her chin, lifting it gently, his lips barely grazing hers like an electric current flowing straight to her heart. She asked, “Why?”
Her voice sent shivers through Jin Chao’s ears. His eyes sparkled with uninhibited desire, though his words were measured: “In Xiao Wen’s eyes, I’m a proper gentleman.”
Jiang Mu turned her head away, eyes flickering. “You’re hardly proper. In your early twenties, you were already frequenting clubs with hostesses. Tell me honestly, how many women have you been with?”
Jin Chao pushed her against the dressing table, tugging at her dress. Jiang Mu let out a soft cry as he lifted her leg, his voice rich and magnetic: “Countless.”
Jiang Mu immediately began struggling, protesting, “I knew someone as skilled as you must be experienced!”
Before she could jump down from the dressing table, Jin Chao easily pinned her back, his heated breath pressing down once more: “Countless women wanted my bed, but I’ve only ever let one little devil named Jin Mumu up here.”
As he spoke, the “proper gentleman’s” hands never stopped. Jiang Mu barely registered when her clothes disappeared, her mind burning into chaos, dizzy from his kisses. She only heard the sound of a zipper, feeling her bones might break.
Later, finding the dressing table too low, Jin Chao lifted and turned her around. Seeing her flushed reflection in the mirror nearly made Jiang Mu lose control, almost making Jin Chao surrender.
Finally, he pressed her against the windowsill, their passion endless like a storm, drowning her in his gaze as the curtains swayed continuously.
Being inexperienced, Jiang Mu was like a falling leaf at the slightest intensity. As soon as they finished, she curled up among the clothes with closed eyes, her body covered in red marks, completely drained of energy.
When Jin Chao returned from the bathroom and saw her state, he couldn’t bear to move her. He gently pulled away all the clothes and covered her with a blanket.
Jiang Mu wasn’t asleep, just too weak to move or open her eyes. She could hear Jin Chao tidying up nearby, though her mind remained hazy.
Soon the movement stopped. Jiang Mu opened her eyes to see him leaning against the windowsill, holding her keychain. The leather had oxidized from extensive use, making the characters “朝思暮想” (Morning thoughts, evening dreams) barely visible. Jin Chao kept staring at it.
Jiang Mu blinked and closed her eyes again. After Jin Chao had packed everything into the suitcase, he finally pulled her from under the blanket into his arms. Without waking her, he began dressing her.
It was his first time putting on a woman’s undergarments, and he studied the clasps briefly. Though once he successfully fastened them, he couldn’t resist undoing them again to play for a while. Jiang Mu became extremely sensitive to his touch and dared not pretend to sleep anymore, fearing she wouldn’t be able to get out of bed that day if she continued playing dead.
They kept at it until after noon. Xiao Wen had already joined them for lunch at the coffee shop. When he received Jin Chao’s call, thinking they must have accumulated many items after packing for so long, he specifically asked Tu Tao to come along, worried one person couldn’t handle everything.
However, when Tu Tao and Xiao Wen reached the upper floor, they found only two suitcases by the door – light enough for Xiao Wen to carry both themselves. There had been no need to bring Tu Tao at all.
Jin Chao asked in surprise, “Why did you both come?”
Xiao Wen explained, “I thought you’d have more things since you spent so long packing.”
Though Xiao Wen meant nothing by it, Jiang Mu understood the implication. She lowered her head with a blush and stepped behind Jin Chao. Jin Chao responded casually, “Mm, we were quite thorough with the packing.”
He then took Jiang Mu’s hand and drew her to his side. Jiang Mu glanced at his composed expression, wondering how he could tell such obvious lies without the slightest hint of embarrassment.
After delivering everything to Jin Chao’s place, Xiao Wen left. Jin Chao had work to handle that afternoon, while Jiang Mu needed to continue struggling with her driving test stage two.
When she returned that evening, Jin Chao had already unpacked her belongings and organized everything properly. He asked if she’d eaten.
Jiang Mu honestly told him she’d eaten out. Seeing her dejected expression, he asked if her practice hadn’t gone well.
After hesitating for a while, Jiang Mu finally asked before bed, “Don’t you think parallel parking is really difficult?”
Jin Chao couldn’t immediately respond. In his view, as long as you had eyes, it wasn’t difficult at all. He could handle reverse parking skillfully even before getting his license. He’d gotten his license early when the Tong Gang testing center wasn’t strict, and since everyone knew each other, it was just a matter of paying the fee and going through the motions.
Seeing his silence, Jiang Mu huffed, “The instructor said today that I must be an undercover agent sent by the neighboring driving school to torment him.”
“…”
Jin Chao burst out laughing. This was why Jiang Mu had been hesitant to speak – asking about parallel parking in front of a former racer made her feel like a complete amateur.
She turned away grumbling and pressed against the edge of the bed, feeling the whole world didn’t understand her. Jin Chao turned off the lights and pulled her back into his embrace, his large hand caressing her waist under her nightwear, telling her, “It’s okay if you’re not good at driving yet, you’ll improve with practice.”
“…” Jiang Mu suspected his mind wasn’t on driving school at all.
On Sunday, Jiang Mu got up early specifically to make breakfast for Jin Chao, only to find he’d risen even earlier. He had a habit of morning exercise, displaying frightening self-discipline.
Actually, Jiang Mu had noticed over these past two days that although Jin Chao’s build wasn’t as muscular as before, with less defined muscles, when undressed his proportions were still alluring. She now understood that no one could maintain peak physical condition forever – he had to spend more time maintaining his health and stamina.
Jiang Mu still needed to spend the day at the driving school. Before leaving, she poked her head in to ask, “Will you be home all day?”
Jin Chao told her, “Need to visit the school later.”
Jiang Mu asked, “Shall we buy groceries and cook dinner together tonight?”
Jin Chao turned back, slightly breathless as he looked at her: “Won’t you be tired after practicing all day? Let me take you out somewhere nice.”
“No need, let’s save money.” After speaking, she flitted past the doorway, hearing Jin Chao call after her, “Hope you successfully transfer to the neighboring driving school today.”
“…”
Though Jiang Mu had been in good spirits when she first left, her mood evaporated once she got on the subway. Thinking about facing that bald instructor again filled her with pressure. She strongly suspected he’d been involved in underground activities before becoming an instructor – his whole demeanor suggested someone ready to stake their life on any disagreement.
When registering, Xu Zhijie had specifically asked for a good instructor for Jiang Mu. They’d all said this instructor was excellent, with most of his students passing on their first attempt.
Because he was so formidable, everyone called him Guangtou Qiang (Baldy Strong). Just having him sit beside her made Jiang Mu feel like he might attack at any moment, even when he was just breathing heavily.
The driving school was packed with students practicing on weekends, and with limited morning hours, Jiang Mu only got two attempts. At lunch, she ate in the cafeteria with other students from her batch, discussing how many attempts they’d needed for the written test. Some had taken three attempts, others up to five, while Jiang Mu had scored 100 points on her first try, being the first to breeze out of the exam room, drawing many envious glances.
But that was just theoretical knowledge – she could handle writing and memorizing well enough. Once she got behind the wheel, especially under the combined pressure of watching students and the instructor, she became flustered. Even before her turn came, her palms were already sweating from nervousness.
Initially, Guangtou Qiang sat in the passenger seat telling her which reference points to watch and how to turn the wheel. Later he just stood outside the car shouting instructions. His shouting made Jiang Mu more nervous, her mind going blank as the system kept indicating failure.
She timidly poked her head out to ask, “Am I crooked?”
Guangtou Qiang’s nostrils flared in frustration: “You’re not crooked, the lines on the ground are crooked.”
The row of students sitting on the long bench burst out laughing. Jiang Mu glanced over dejectedly and spotted a familiar figure at the edge of the crowd, also smiling. Her cheeks flushed red – she had no idea Jin Chao would come, much less witness such an embarrassing moment.
Guangtou Qiang shouted at her: “Practice on your own.”
As he stepped aside, Jiang Mu noticed through the rearview mirror that Jin Chao had somehow made his way to Guangtou Qiang’s side and struck up a conversation, even sharing cigarettes. The two stood there discussing her driving skills, making Jiang Mu wish she could crawl under the chassis. She attempted reverse parking two more times – the first attempt stalled midway, and the second was even worse, with the car’s rear end jutting into the adjacent space, completely confusing the woman practicing there.
She looked desperately toward Jin Chao, wishing she could channel his skills, only to see him and Guangtou Qiang standing together watching her with amused expressions. Jiang Mu felt deeply discouraged – she’d never struggled so much learning anything before.
Later, when Guangtou Qiang went to get tea, Jin Chao followed him. When Jiang Mu went to find him, she saw him slip something to Guangtou Qiang, who initially refused but then tucked it into his pocket.
Walking back, Guangtou Qiang told Jiang Mu: “Wait before you leave, I’ll give you some private practice.”
Jiang Mu nodded obediently: “Thank you, instructor.”
She then ran to Jin Chao and asked, “What did you give my instructor?”
Jin Chao replied casually, “Nothing much.”
“I saw you! Did you bribe him?”
Jin Chao glanced at her with a smile: “How can you call it a bribe? It’s compensation for taking on such a student.”
“…I’m only bad at parallel parking, everything else is fine.”
Jin Chao lowered his head, laughing: “Mm, you’re fine – out of everyone I watched, you were the most impressive.”
“…” Jiang Mu puffed up angrily and stepped away from him, but Jin Chao seemed to sense it and immediately pulled her back.
Jiang Mu looked up to ask him: “So what did you give him?”
Jin Chao answered casually: “Two packs of cigarettes.”
Jiang Mu couldn’t help asking: “Were you smoking just now? How come I rarely see you smoke these days?”
“Couldn’t smoke during hospitalization, and afterward had no reason to continue.”
She suddenly recalled that since reuniting with him after returning to China, she indeed hadn’t seen him smoke. Even at home, there were no cigarettes – if not for smoothing things over with her instructor, he probably wouldn’t have smoked at all.
Jiang Mu’s anger instantly dissolved. She held his arm, smiling brightly as she asked, “Is there any hope for me?”
Jin Chao indulgently watched her: “With your enlightening teacher here, how could you not learn to drive well?”
Later, Jin Chao sat with Jiang Mu at the edge of the practice area, teaching her how to observe turning radiuses and timing, analyzing the key mistakes of each student. Under Jin Chao’s guidance, concepts gradually formed in Jiang Mu’s mind. As the sun set and fewer people remained, Guangtou Qiang called her to try again.
This time, Guangtou Qiang skipped the theoretical points and taught her a few simple but effective secret techniques. He didn’t tease her anymore either. Jiang Mu suspected Jin Chao had given him more than just two packs of cigarettes – this was the effect of two gold bars.
Before leaving, she completed two parallel parks. Excitedly turning her head, she beamed at Jin Chao, who stood at the edge of the practice area in the sunset glow, arms crossed, giving her a thumbs up.