Lu Huaizheng appeared somewhat tired, with stubble sprouting on his chin that felt rough against her skin. Yu Hao pushed his warm head away. “Since we’ve come to this point, let’s have a serious talk.”
The man had been nuzzling her collar, burying his face in her soft chest with mischievous intent. Hearing her words, he paused and looked up, his dark eyes deepening with desire as he gazed at the rosy-lipped, fair-skinned young woman beneath him, her body carrying the scent of alcohol. He thought to himself, “Lu Huaizheng, you’re taking advantage of her vulnerable state—that’s not honorable.”
He tilted his head slightly, smiled, and climbed off her. He leaned against the headboard, propped up one leg, and took a cigarette from the nightstand. Placing it between his lips, he reached for the lighter in his coat pocket while glancing at her, saying: “Alright.”
Yu Hao also sat up, supporting herself as she moved to the other side of the headboard.
Her mind suddenly became excited. Since their reunion, opportunities like this had been rare—either he was busy, or she was busy, and their meetings were always constrained by various matters. She was eager and ready, while Lu Huaizheng calmly held his unlit cigarette, still searching for his lighter.
“First, let’s agree—no getting angry, no turning away.”
He lit his cigarette, listening with his head tilted, pausing briefly. Without even raising his eyelids, he gave a faint “Mm” of agreement. The lighter clicked shut as he tossed it onto the nightstand.
“Shall we begin then?”
Lu Huaizheng got up to retrieve an ashtray from the windowsill. Returning, he tapped his cigarette while looking back at Yu Hao, his eyes slightly mischievous. With a teasing gaze that swept over her from head to toe, he smiled and said, “I’ll give you a special privilege.”
Yu Hao was puzzled. “What privilege?”
He took a drag from his cigarette, looking out the window as he said, “When you encounter something you don’t want to talk about, or something you think will make me angry, you can choose not to say it. Of course, the condition is, that you have to remove one piece of clothing.” After saying this, he turned back to look at her with a naughty smile. “How about that? The organization is being very lenient with you.”
Yu Hao looked down at her small blouse, which had already been half unbuttoned, revealing half of her black bra teetering on the edge of modesty. “Fine.”
Lu Huaizheng’s gaze fell on that tantalizing black fabric. He rested his cigarette on the edge of the ashtray, absent-mindedly saying, “You go first.”
“When did you find out about Shen Xiyuan?”
“Just before leaving, at the hospital. I happened to run into Shen Xiyuan and his grandmother and overheard them talking.”
Yu Hao calculated the timing. “Was that the day we got our marriage certificate? Right?”
He lowered his head, fidgeting with the lighter. “Mm.”
“Was it you who arranged for Shen Xiyuan’s grandmother to change hospital rooms?”
“Click.” The flame suddenly went out. He turned his head. “You’ve been in contact with Shen Xiyuan?”
“Yes.”
Lu Huaizheng gave a small laugh and put the lighter back on the nightstand. “For responses like this, you could choose to remove clothing instead. I’d be happier.”
“I went with Senior Zhao. We didn’t meet alone—mainly went to see his grandmother. Then Senior Brother mentioned someone had helped his grandmother apply for a private room. I suspected it might be you but thought the timing was too coincidental to pursue the thought further. Let me thank you on behalf of Senior Brother.”
“What right do you have to thank me on his behalf?” Lu Huaizheng cast a sidelong glance. “I was visiting Sun Kai that day and just happened to pass by. I saw the elderly lady had difficulty walking and that going to the bathroom was troublesome for her. It was a small gesture. You don’t need to thank me on his behalf. I find this topic increasingly irritating—can we avoid mentioning the name Shen Xiyuan? Please?”
“Didn’t you agree not to get angry?” Yu Hao muttered.
“Then take the initiative to remove something.”
“Why are you… so… lecherous?”
“A man’s true nature.” He snorted, carelessly lighting another cigarette.
“He never kissed me. Are you satisfied now?”
“What’s with that tone?”
“Isn’t that what you wanted to know—whether he kissed me? Does it bother you that much? Or do you think a girl like that would seem impure in your eyes?”
Lu Huaizheng was taken aback. “If you’re going to put it that way, we really can’t talk.”
Yu Hao turned away, refusing to look at him.
He sighed, sat up cross-legged, and turned her to face him. “From beginning to end, you’ve been the one asking questions. Have I asked you anything? For me, even if you’d dated before and done all the intimate things possible, I would understand. Girls naturally tend to fall headfirst into relationships. What angered me was that you didn’t tell me about this. Men read other men’s intentions best—I knew he had feelings for you, but your casual way of calling him ‘Senior Brother’ made me think I was overthinking things. Then that night at the hospital, hearing his conversation with his grandmother—honestly, any man would be upset. I don’t usually bring my phone on missions because I’d have to apply through the organization, and even if I had it, I couldn’t contact you because every call needs leader approval and documentation. I should have explained this to you earlier—that’s my fault. Why could Chen Rui bring his? Because he wasn’t a meeting participant; he was only responsible for security. He could wait outside while we were in meetings, but I had to stay beside the professor the entire time. Where would I keep my phone? There will be many similar situations in the future, maybe even a year or more without a phone call. Just thinking about you missing me like this back home makes it hard for me to focus on work. Do you understand?”
When he finished, he gently pinched her face.
Yu Hao also crossed her legs, sitting face-to-face with him like they were meditating.
She lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers, secretly glancing at him from under her eyelids before looking down again. “I’ll take off one piece of clothing first.” As she spoke, she began unbuttoning her blouse, gently exposing the soft, full curves beneath. Lu Huaizheng raised an eyebrow but leaned back against the headboard to smoke, deliberately not looking her way.
“Aren’t you going to look?”
“Is this a reward or a way to curry favor?” he asked languidly, exhaling smoke. “If it’s a reward, I’ll look. If it’s to curry favor, I won’t—you must have done something wrong.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
The man turned toward her. In the dim yellow bedroom light, her body’s graceful contours were highlighted, each inch of skin smooth and delicate. He looked for a while, visually stimulated, his throat dry and itchy. Lazily holding his cigarette, he pushed his luck: “Then be more honest—you don’t need that inner piece either.”
Yu Hao obediently complied.
“Come closer.”
Yu Hao dutifully moved nearer, somewhat shy, resting her head on his shoulder. Lu Huaizheng played with her hair, his fingertips occasionally brushing against her softness. The man’s rough, warm fingers lightly grazed her skin, causing her to shiver. “You’re doing that… on purpose.”
With a husky voice by her ear, he grinned openly: “Do you mind?”
Yu Hao had originally wanted to tell him about everything that had happened over the past two months.
But now, as he toyed with her, she completely lost the desire to bring it up. She was hot inside yet cold outside—caught between fire and ice. In this intense inner struggle, the man beside her suddenly released her hair, put out his cigarette with the other hand, and without patience to wait any longer, lowered his head to capture her lips in a kiss. His voice was raspy against her ear: “Shall we try again tonight?”
“Yes.” Her head spinning and heavily intoxicated, she nodded dazedly, her voice barely audible, yet it filled the man with passion.
Lu Huaizheng swiftly stripped himself bare except for his boxer briefs and carried Yu Hao into the bathroom.
Clothes were scattered along the way. He held her in the bathtub, both without a stitch of clothing. Her smooth, delicate, fair skin was whiter and more lustrous than the porcelain of the tub itself.
Yu Hao felt hot and swollen as water gushed down from above, instantly soaking her hair, which clung tightly to her scalp. With mist rising in her eyes, she looked at him pitifully. “The water’s cold.”
This was their first bath together. Lu Huaizheng didn’t know her preferred temperature and had forgotten that he’d set it to his usual bathing temperature. The cold made her shiver. He turned off the water and lifted her out, placing her on the edge of the tub.
After readjusting the temperature, Lu Huaizheng’s original plan for a romantic bath together was ruined.
In the military, he was accustomed to cold showers, and at home, he set the water heater temperature to thirty or forty degrees. Even in winter, he mostly took cold showers. For Yu Hao, thirty to forty degrees felt like a cold shower.
When he adjusted it to Yu Hao’s preferred temperature, Lu Huaizheng looked up and saw the water heater set to seventy-eight degrees, nearly eighty. With a cigarette between his lips, he sat on the edge of the tub and laughed at her: “That’s about the temperature for scalding pig skin. I understand in winter, but you bathe like this in summer too?”
“I’m afraid of cold. I used to be able to take cold showers in summer, but not anymore. Now I need hot water even then.”
Soon, the bathroom was filled with mist. Through the fog, clear water flowed down the woman’s smooth body, every inch of skin flushed. Lu Huaizheng played with her hair, his eyes fixed directly on her, the corners slightly upturned with a trace of nonchalance yet full of meaning—truly mischievous when he wanted to be.
Yu Hao felt her whole body heating up under his gaze and softly pushed him away. “Go out.”
This only fueled the fire. He put out his cigarette. Her soft hand against his chest was like pressing against a solid wall—completely immovable. Through the misty vapor, his well-defined chest with its perfect curves showed not a single unnecessary line. Every part was just right. He bent down, deliberately teasing her: “Where to?”
Yu Hao sat in the bathtub, her eyes filled with anticipation, looking up at him with a strange, eager gaze.
Lu Huaizheng leaned down, his body slightly sinking.
She closed her eyes in time, puckering her red lips, waiting for him to deliver a deep kiss.
He stopped in mid-air, just millimeters away, his heavy, scorching breath falling on her face—a clean, masculine scent. One breath after another, they inhaled each other’s essence into their lungs. This feeling of merged breathing stirred something in him.
Lu Huaizheng’s lips gently brushed against Yu Hao’s without fully kissing her, just grazing back and forth, rubbing against each other’s lips. Yu Hao’s head throbbed, her breathing erratic, her heart racing faster as her hands unconsciously reached for his neck.
…
Yu Hao woke up in the middle of the night. Lu Huaizheng hadn’t slept at all, leaning against the headboard and reading a book with a cigarette between his fingers. His upper body was bare, showing powerful arm muscles with particularly fluid, defined lines. When Yu Hao opened her eyes and saw him, she felt completely secure.
Lying on her side, using her arm as a pillow, she greedily examined him with her eyes.
He noticed the movement and looked over.
Half of Yu Hao’s body was exposed outside the covers. As she moved, the view of her chest became unconcealable—soft and white, with distinct valleys rising and falling. Lu Huaizheng couldn’t resist, putting out his cigarette and slowly moving toward her.
Yu Hao couldn’t escape and surrendered to his advances.
Lu Huaizheng in bed had no concept of morals, etiquette, or shame. He did whatever was stimulating, whatever felt good.
He was completely different from the serious, ascetic man he appeared to be during the day.
After being thoroughly exhausted, Yu Hao wrapped herself in the blanket, lying in bed, covered in sweat, and utterly drained.
Lu Huaizheng was putting on his military shirt, buttoning it from the bottom up, apparently preparing to go somewhere.
He only fastened the shirt to the third button, casually leaving a small area of his solid chest exposed. Yu Hao couldn’t help thinking about their earlier activities and blushed.
Seeing her expression, he smiled as he put on his belt: “I know you’re embarrassed. I’ll go out for a while to give you time to recover.”
Yu Hao was surprised. “Where are you going?”
“To the hospital.” He turned to sit on the bed and put on his military boots, head lowered as he said, “That’s also why I came back temporarily. The meeting isn’t over—Xu Yanshi and Professor Liang are still in Tusland.”
“What?”
Lu Huaizheng sat quietly at the bedside for a moment after putting on his shoes. Without turning around, he hunched over and said, “Professor Jiang was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last month. He endured the pain of attending this meeting but had an attack during it, so we had to fly back urgently.”
Yu Hao quickly sat up. “I’ll go with you.”
“You have work tomorrow. Don’t be silly. I’ll come back in the morning to pick you up and take you to work. We’ll make plans for the rest later. In a few days, I plan to go with Huo Ting to visit your parents.”
As he spoke, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, his eyes filled with tender affection: “Where would you like to hold the wedding? Beijing or back in Quancheng?”
For some reason, hearing the word “wedding” made her heart surge with emotion.
Then he continued: “Or I could have Huo Ting bring your mother’s relatives from Quancheng. If there are too many people, we could hold two ceremonies—a banquet in Quancheng, otherwise, your mother’s relatives might feel we’ve neglected them.”
“Why do you care about what my mother’s relatives think?”
He lowered his head with a chuckle, his eyes brighter than the moon outside, sparkling with starlight. “Why would I care about what they think? I just feel that marrying you is very important to me. I’ve already wronged your parents by having you secretly register our marriage with me, so I can only make it up to them in other ways. Of course, I also have my selfish reasons.”
“What selfish reasons?”
He leaned down to kiss her, his tongue meeting hers in a passionate embrace, their breathing quickening amid their passion.
He held her face in both hands, his eyes unfathomably deep, filled with unprecedented seriousness, his voice hoarse:
“I love you, Yu Hao. That’s my selfish reason. Do I need to make it any clearer?”
Yu Hao’s chest tightened, and the flood of emotions in her mind suddenly surged, powerful and passionate.
She wondered what she had done to deserve such a man.
In the end, they unexpectedly made love again.
Afterward, Yu Hao lay in bed drenched in sweat, completely drained of energy: “You’re like a machine—a rogue in bed, but putting on a façade of restraint and asceticism once you’re dressed.”
Earlier in the bathroom, Lu Huaizheng had pressed her against the bathtub, and seeing her suppressed expression, he teased, “Why hold back? If you want to make noise, just do it.”
“I don’t want to. It feels strange.” Yu Hao turned her head away, not wanting him to see her like this.
But he shamelessly said, “Should I make some noise for you to hear?”
Yu Hao turned back in shock.
Lu Huaizheng lay on top of her, laughing uncontrollably, his expression reminiscent of his youthful days—mischievous and utterly wicked.
Lu Huaizheng did make noise.
He lowered his head to her ear, his voice deep and seductively moaning.
Now, as he finished buttoning the last two buttons of his military shirt, he matter-of-factly lectured her:
“As husband and wife, we’ll face each other’s most authentic selves. Everyone acts properly when dressed but behaves this way when clothes come off—we’re all the same. Who would discuss socialist ideals while doing this, advancing the Chinese dream? Even as a soldier, I wouldn’t do something so mood-killing.”
Yu Hao’s face alternated between red and white as she listened.
Bah! What nonsense!
Lu Huaizheng stepped into the bathtub. The drain plug hadn’t been removed, and it had slowly filled halfway with water. Yu Hao was half-sitting in the water when Lu Huaizheng pulled her onto his lap. He was half-lying down with Yu Hao half-sprawled on top of him. As she sat down, she felt his hard, burningness. Her body stiffened, and her throat trembled involuntarily. Lu Huaizheng kissed her intensely, comforting her, and helping her relax. Yu Hao slowly lowered herself. Kissing him, their tongues intertwining, her heart gradually steadied. Lu Huaizheng lowered his head, stopping at her chest, and looking at her softly for a moment before slowly taking her into his mouth. Yu Hao was extremely sensitive; the moment he did this, her legs weakened, and she slid down against his tense body. Lu Huaizheng sat at the bottom of the tub, supporting her smooth body, suckling her breast while looking up to observe her expression. Yu Hao held his head, her fingers running through his short hair, caressing him rhythmically.
In the overwhelming heat, Lu Huaizheng reached outside for protection before returning. The bathtub water was almost full.
He turned off the water, placing one foot inside. The water sloshed, creating gentle ripples and spilling a little onto the floor.
Seeing Yu Hao slightly turn her head away, Lu Huaizheng pulled her over, pressing her against himself. One hand held the back of her head while the other steadied himself. His voice was completely hoarse, filled with desire: “Look at me.”
Yu Hao slowly turned her head.
His gaze was as gentle as water. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?”
“Okay,” she said, still quietly.
Lu Huaizheng said no more. He kissed her while slowly pushing himself into her underwater, his eyes firmly fixed on her. Yu Hao frowned slightly, and he immediately stopped, supporting himself half-suspended in the air. He smiled, “Does it hurt?”
Yu Hao nodded. “A little. It seems… bigger than last time.”
Lu Huaizheng lowered his head to adjust his position, chuckling, “Last time I didn’t fully enter.”
Yu Hao was shocked. How painful would it be if he went all the way?
Lu Huaizheng stroked her hair and slowly began to push in again. Yu Hao felt a stretching discomfort below that was almost unbearable. Lu Huaizheng pressed her shoulders, slowly thrusting, and exhaled with relief: “Now I’m in.”
The man’s heavy breathing resonated above her head.
The initial discomfort was replaced entirely by tingling pleasure. Yu Hao bit her lip, refusing to make a sound.
Seeing her restrained expression, Lu Huaizheng thrust into her firmly while kissing her. “Why hold back? If you want to make noise, just do it.”
“It feels very strange.” Yu Hao turned her head away, not wanting him to see her like this.
“Should I make some noise for you to hear?”
Bah!
Yu Hao looked at him in shock.
Lu Huaizheng lay on top of her, laughing uncontrollably, his expression reminiscent of his youthful days—utterly mischievous and wicked.
Lu Huaizheng did make noise.
He lowered his head to her ear, his voice deep, seductively moaning.
Finally, he matter-of-factly lectured her:
“As husband and wife, we’ll face each other’s most authentic selves. Everyone acts properly when dressed but behaves this way when clothes come off—we’re all the same. Who would discuss socialist ideals while doing this, advancing the Chinese dream? Even as a soldier, I wouldn’t do something so mood-killing.”