Throughout her life, Cheng Wanyue had countless friends, but whether she visited others’ homes or they came to hers, she generally wouldn’t stay overnight. Except for Zhou Yu, she didn’t like sleeping in the same bed with anyone.

Even at Qing Hang’s place, which she visited frequently, she always took the bed while Qing Hang made do elsewhere. He knew she didn’t like it, and they had never even slept in the same room before.

This was because Cheng Wanyue was domineering in her sleep habits and clingy.

Regardless of winter or summer, as long as someone was nearby, she would gradually inch toward them in her sleep. Zhou Yu was even-tempered; several times she had been pushed off the bed in the middle of the night, only to groggily climb back up and switch to the inner side to continue sleeping. She wouldn’t forget to pull Cheng Wanyue slightly inward to prevent her from falling off as well.

Just like the first time he slept with Cheng Wanyue, Qing Hang woke up with one arm hanging off the edge of the bed.

Just now, when she had rolled over and climbed on top of him, if he hadn’t held her in time, she would have fallen straight to the floor.

Her left foot was suspended in mid-air, swinging back and forth, her fair toes curling slightly before slowly relaxing again.

“I am a bit hungry,” Cheng Wanyue might delay anything, but never meals. “What time is it?”

Qing Hang found his phone by the pillow, picked it up, and glanced at it. “Six o’clock.”

He needed to be at work at eight, and before that, he had to take her home.

“No rush, I’m already late. The flight information Cheng Yanqing gave me is fake. He loves to do these surprise inspections, and I get caught every time.” Cheng Wanyue’s ear was pressed against his chest, where she could hear his heartbeat. “Qing Hang, what’s the normal heart rate for people?”

The fact that she could start chatting meant she was no longer sleepy.

Last night before bed, Qing Hang had dressed her, not in her own nightclothes but in his T-shirt.

Her soft body was pressed against his, her right foot resting on his leg, occasionally brushing against the top of his foot.

Qing Hang closed his eyes briefly, his right hand steady on her lower back. “Sixty to one hundred beats per minute.”

She was quiet for a while.

A minute, or perhaps longer, then she suddenly looked up at him with concern. “You don’t seem normal.”

Qing Hang said, “If I were lying on top of you, you wouldn’t be normal either.”

“…Oh,” her chin had just touched his collarbone when she lifted her head again. “Am I heavy?”

“Even if it were just a cat sitting on you, there would still be slight breathing difficulties. Cheng Wanyue, stop brushing against me. You’re not wearing anything underneath.”

“So that’s why it feels so breezy. What’s the big deal if I’m not wearing anything? As long as you are.”

“If you continue, I’ll be late for work. Being late is a serious matter of professional integrity.”

“Fine, go make breakfast. I want sour soup noodles,” Cheng Wanyue rolled off him and hugged another pillow. “Give me my phone.”

Her phone was still in the living room. Qing Hang handed her his. “Use mine.”

“There’s nothing on your phone. It’s boring.”

“You can download games.”

Cheng Wanyue tapped the phone screen and, as expected, the screensaver was just the default system image. “I’d need to unlock it first, and I don’t know your password.”

Qing Hang stroked her hair, supporting himself with both hands as he sat up. “You’re so clever, you might know it.”

Cheng Wanyue’s academic performance was average, but no one had ever called her stupid.

After Qing Hang finished his basic morning routine, he went to the kitchen. Cheng Wanyue couldn’t see him, but she could hear the sounds of him boiling water and washing vegetables.

He hadn’t said anything, yet it seemed like he had said everything.

Cheng Wanyue lay on her side thinking for a moment, then entered six digits: 960718.

The phone unlocked.

Apart from the built-in apps, there were only two commonly used social media apps. The photo gallery was full of screenshots of academic papers or meeting records.

She clicked on his contacts, wanting to see what name he had saved her under, but couldn’t find her name anywhere.

He hadn’t saved her phone number at all.

That’s okay, she wouldn’t get angry. Cheng Wanyue picked up the phone she had tossed aside and checked WeChat.

There was no saved nickname there either, but her conversation was pinned to the top.

Cheng Wanyue decided to set a nickname for herself. She initially thought of changing it directly to “Beautiful Cheng,” but suddenly remembered him calling her some princess while she was half-asleep. She hadn’t seen that fairy tale and didn’t know which characters it was, so she searched “long-haired princess” in the browser.

The princess’s name was Rapunzel.

Translated into Chinese, it was Princess Le Pei.

She typed these four characters into the nickname field, but hesitated before clicking “Done.” After thinking for half a minute, she deleted it.

During these twenty minutes, she left more than twenty selfies in Qing Hang’s photo gallery.

When Qing Hang came to call her for breakfast, she was lying on the pillow playing “Fight the Landlord” on WeChat’s mini-program.

“Just a moment, let me finish this game.”

The game had just started, so it would take at least a few minutes.

Qing Hang didn’t say anything. He brought clothes and stood by the bed to dress her. Underwear was simple; he could pick her up and have her stand to put them on. The difficult part was the bra.

She sat cross-legged on the blanket, her attention focused on the game, not being very cooperative. When he asked her to extend her left arm, she extended her right; when he asked her to turn around, she dawdled. He could only pull her into his arms, let her lean against him, and reach around to her back to fasten it.

“The strap is pinching my skin. It’s uncomfortable. Fix it for me.”

“Which side?”

“Hmm… the left side.”

Qing Hang looked at the red marks on her skin and sighed softly.

After a moment, he slipped his hand underneath, cupping the soft flesh and adjusting it slightly. “Better now?”

Cheng Wanyue said, “You got it wrong. The other side.”

He switched hands to adjust the other side. “Comfortable now?”

She nodded. “It’s fine.”

Qing Hang had chosen the only long dress. After he helped Cheng Wanyue put it on, her game had also ended. The hem reached her calves, and the neckline wasn’t too low, perfectly concealing the marks on her body. They were completely hidden.

The zipper was on the side waist. After zipping it up, he placed his palm on the edge of the bed, leaned down to kiss the dimple at the corner of her mouth, and said, “Wash up and eat.”

“Mm,” Cheng Wanyue stretched lazily and went to brush her teeth and wash her face.

Qing Hang poured milk for her. She sat in the chair, looking at her phone. Ten minutes earlier, Cheng Yanqing had sent her an emoji—an orange cat with round, wide eyes staring at her, as if saying: I’m watching you. You’re in trouble.

Cheng Wanyue didn’t reply. She opened Weibo and added an English word after her original username: Rapunzel.

After breakfast, it wasn’t yet seven o’clock. Qing Hang had called for a car in advance. Her clothes and other things had been packed yesterday afternoon, so they didn’t waste time on the way back.

At the entrance of the residential complex, Qing Hang got out first. Cheng Wanyue was afraid of the sun, so he opened an umbrella to shield her.

“You should hurry to work. I can go up by myself.”

“The things are too heavy for you to carry.”

“I can just leave them in the elevator.”

Qing Hang paused. “Cheng Wanyue, are you ashamed to be seen with me?”

“Fine, escort me upstairs then. If Cheng Yanqing beats you up, don’t feel wronged. He’s as unreasonable as I am,” Cheng Wanyue pressed the elevator button. “And don’t blame me if you’re late.”

Qing Hang followed her into the elevator. Both were silent.

Cheng Wanyue was distracted. Although Cheng Yanqing verbally encouraged her to date more and go on more dates, he would start finding fault at the slightest wind in the grass. He always said that anyone not as good as him was unsuitable, and those better than him were few and far between.

For her to date someone, they would first have to pass Cheng Yanqing’s scrutiny, then the even more stringent Cheng Yuzhou, and finally her parents.

If a fight broke out, she would have a serious attitude problem regardless of whom she tried to protect.

Exiting the elevator, she kept her head down, looking for her keys. Upon opening the door, she saw Cheng Yanqing sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed and an expressionless face. He hadn’t even put down his suitcase, changed his clothes, let alone slept.

He probably had been like this since he came back and found she wasn’t home.

Not coming home for the night was a big deal to him.

“Tell me, where have you been messing around? I’ve been abroad for a week, and you’ve been having quite a good time, haven’t you, Cheng Wanyue…” Cheng Yanqing saw the figure behind her, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. “Who’s that man outside?”

His face was still tense, only his fists had clenched.

Cheng Wanyue stood outside the door with a fake smile. “Brother, calm down first. It’s someone you know.”

“That doctor surnamed Zhou?”

“No, no, but… he’s somewhat related to him.”

Cheng Yanqing knew she had a bias toward doctors. “His friend?”

Cheng Wanyue continued with her fake smile. “To be precise, his roommate.”

“It’s me,” Qing Hang stepped forward and spoke calmly. “Cheng Wanyue has been staying at my place these past few days.”

The serious expression on Cheng Yanqing’s face cracked in an instant. He had considered that Cheng Wanyue might have come to Beijing to find Qing Hang, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly.

Yet the atmosphere between them didn’t seem problematic; it looked more like they had argued.

“Cheng Wanyue, you,” Cheng Yanqing’s gaze moved from his sister’s face to Qing Hang’s, his frown deepening. “And Dr. Zhou, the three of you?”

Qing Hang said, “No, just her and me.”

Cheng Yanqing let out a sigh of relief.

As long as it wasn’t three people, it was fine.

Although he had just returned from abroad, he couldn’t accept three people either.

However, in the next second, anger surged to the top of his head. Cheng Yanqing stared coldly at Qing Hang, suddenly stood up, strode to the door, pulled Cheng Wanyue inside, and then went out, closing the door behind him.