Qing Hang had been drinking. Without that belt, Cheng Wanyue would never have gained the upper hand.

Tonight, they needed to reach ninety-nine percent of the way.

“Don’t use those,” he said, leaning against the headboard, glancing at the small toys on the table.

“Those?” Cheng Wanyue looked surprised, deliberately misinterpreting his meaning. “You want to play?”

Before Qing Hang could explain, she raised her chin proudly, “If you behave well, I might consider it.”

Now that she had him bound, she naturally wanted to try being on top first.

The condom she unwrapped contained lubricant, different from the one at his place. This one had a sweet peach fragrance.

Their skin tones were similar, but because he had been drinking, his skin had a faint pink flush. The places where she had bitten and scratched him were darker, as if she had tormented him.

Meiqiu was hiding in the corner of the sofa, a tiny ball completely obscured by the backpack. They could hear the sound of its paws scratching at the paper bag, making soft rustling sounds that varied in intensity. By comparison, Qing Hang’s suppressed breathing was more noticeable.

Only one lamp by the door was lit, casting a yellow glow in the room. The cream-colored sheer curtains faintly revealed the colorful city lights outside.

Cheng Wanyue moved very slowly, finally putting the condom on himself. She placed one hand on his shoulder and shifted slightly upward, her curvaceous silhouette casting a blurry shadow on the wall.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, gently biting and kissing. His hot breath blew into her ear while his bound hands found their way between her legs. Every caress was a signal urging her to go further.

Cheng Wanyue wasn’t experienced.

But beginners could be bold.

She slowly lowered herself, even more gradually than when she had put the condom on him earlier. The veins on Qing Hang’s arms faintly protruded, and muffled groans of both pain and pleasure escaped his throat.

He rarely made sounds in bed.

His cool voice, now hoarse with passion, sounded erotic. Cheng Wanyue loved hearing it, so when he tried to kiss her, she turned her head away. Frustrated by her inexperienced movements on top, he captured the nipple that brushed past his lips. She tilted her head back with a soft moan, her already tight passage contracting around him with each movement.

After just a few minutes, she was tired.

She was delicate that way, lying limply on top of him, refusing to move another inch.

Like in the bathroom earlier, Qing Hang raised his arms over her head, encircling her in his embrace. He supported her body and began thrusting upward with his abdomen.

Meiqiu wasn’t asleep and occasionally made small noises, as if a third pair of eyes was watching them in the room.

The skin of her inner thighs turned a rippling red from the impact, and the wet sounds grew increasingly loud. At the moment of climax, Cheng Wanyue’s face was covered in tears, and only his kiss prevented her from crying out.

It felt like being rescued after drowning, left with only a thread of survival instinct.

He was like the seaweed that tightly wrapped around her limbs, nearly dragging her into the deep sea. Like a living creature, he seemed determined to invade her body. She was powerless to break free, controlled by him as she floated up and down in the water. As oxygen became increasingly scarce and her remaining consciousness gradually blurred, he pulled her to the surface just before suffocation.

After hiding his fierce wildness, his kisses became extremely gentle again, lingering at the corner of her lips, using the opportunity to slip between her teeth and give her oxygen.

His sweat-dampened palm gently stroked her lower back, seemingly both comforting and begging for forgiveness.

Qing Hang waited until she recovered before placing his hands in front of her. “Help me untie this so we can shower.”

“Help who untie it?” Her eyes glistened with tears, her glare completely lacking intimidation.

“You.”

“And who am I?” she asked.

He leaned close to her ear and said in a low voice, “Princess Rapunzel.”

Only then was Cheng Wanyue satisfied. After undoing the belt, she saw the marks left on his wrists. “You should wear long sleeves to work.”

“I don’t work during the day.”

“Night shift?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“All night?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s tough, but impressive.”

In high school, Qing Hang’s goal was to get into medical school. Back then, Cheng Wanyue would often rest her head on her desk and watch him study. While classmates around them were horsing around, she would whisper to him, “Qing Hang, you’ll become an amazing doctor someday, healing many people.”

Before sleeping, in her drowsy state, she asked him whether she looked better with long hair or short hair.

He said both looked good.

She insisted he choose one.

In Qing Hang’s memory, Cheng Wanyue always had long hair. Like Cheng Yanqing, she hated having her head touched. She would get angry no matter who touched it, and even when running late for class, she would make sure she looked perfect.

During those three years of high school, she had wanted to dye her hair more than once, repeatedly showing him pictures she found online. But because school regulations forbade dyed hair, she could only dream about it.

“Long hair,” Qing Hang tightened his arms around her and placed a light kiss behind her ear. “Wanyue, grow your hair long.”

Cheng Wanyue smiled. “Actually… I like long hair too.”

Her hair grew slowly; it would take another two years to reach the desired length.

The hotel only served breakfast until nine o’clock. Cheng Wanyue had gone to bed late, so she woke up late. When the service staff delivered their cleaned clothes, Qing Hang opened the door to bring them in, but she still didn’t want to get up.

His phone rang, and he answered it first.

Cheng Wanyue heard him call the person “senior sister,” which woke her up a bit more.

What was this senior sister and junior brother business?

They weren’t in school.

They were discussing research topics that Cheng Wanyue couldn’t quite understand. She wanted water, so she stretched one foot out from under the blanket and placed it on his leg. She wiggled her toes, and while still talking on the phone, he got up to fetch the mineral water from the table, unscrewing the cap with one hand.

She wasn’t wearing anything, and when she sat up, the blanket slipped from her shoulders, revealing a large expanse of fair skin.

Qing Hang lost focus for a few seconds and didn’t hear what Li Yu had just said on the other end of the line. “Sorry, could you please repeat that, Senior Sister?”

Cheng Wanyue finished drinking the water and lay back down, hugging the pillow with her back to him.

Qing Hang turned off the air conditioner. “Okay, I’ll make time to visit the school this week.”

Meiqiu had been wandering around the room early on. It was too small and had tried several times without success to jump onto the bed. Just now, it had climbed up to the bed by grabbing onto Qing Hang’s pants and crawled under the blanket from near Cheng Wanyue’s feet. She was ticklish and almost rolled off the bed.

Qing Hang ended the call and reached into the blanket with one hand to pull Meiqiu out.

“What would you like for breakfast?”

She kept her eyes closed and spoke weakly, “Soy milk, fried dough sticks, and soup dumplings.”

“Should I buy them and bring them back, or do we go out to eat?”

“…Buy them back… No, let’s go out to eat.”

Qing Hang brought the clothes to the foot of the bed, but before dressing her, he realized there was no bra. Although he hadn’t been drunk last night, alcohol still caused some memory gaps.

Cheng Wanyue said she had nipple covers in her bag.

After finding them, he wondered how to put them on.

Cheng Wanyue was lying on the edge of the bed playing with Meiqiu when she casually asked, “Qing Hang, did you have many admirers in college?”

Without looking up, he replied, “No one pursued me.”

“My mom says your type is very attractive to older women.”

Qing Hang was still figuring out the nipple covers. “Nobody liked me.”

In his sophomore year, a recently divorced, wealthy woman had wanted to be his sugar mommy. She was sixteen years older than him. He didn’t know her at all and had no idea how she knew him. Rich people also had power, and because of this incident, he had almost been expelled from school.

“What about you?” he asked her. “Did you have many admirers?”

“It was okay.”

“Did you date anyone?”

“Yeah,” Cheng Wanyue yawned. “But it wasn’t interesting.”

Qing Hang’s movements paused briefly before returning to normal. “Why wasn’t it interesting?”

She thought for a moment. “Just… I wasn’t that into it.”