The earlier awkwardness had long since vanished with Jiang Shiyan’s outburst. Jiang Shiyan looked so aggrieved he was nearly in tears. Tang Yang suppressed her smile and slowly inched closer to him.
Tang Yang wanted to pat his head but couldn’t reach him. Jiang Shiyan, upset, refused to lower his head. Tang Yang sat up, wrapped in the blanket, and gently patted his head with her small hand. She said sweetly, “It’s okay, it’s my first time too.”
Jiang Shiyan’s eyes darkened slightly, but he still didn’t move.
“There’s no need to rush,” she said, smoothing down his ruffled hair, comforting him gently and softly. “We can take it slow.”
Jiang Shiyan tilted his head back and downed his beer in one gulp.
Tang Yang knelt up and embraced him, inexperienced yet proactive, mimicking his earlier actions to taste the beer in his mouth.
Tang Yang understood the concept of seconds and knew that many virgin men were like this.
She kissed him, almost soothingly, and amid their entanglement, she blushed but took charge… on top.
Jiang Shiyan’s emotions had dissipated the moment she initiated the kiss. When he realized what Tang Yang intended to do, not only did he not show relief, but he acted out his “I’m willing to try a second time but I’m very upset and can’t handle any more setbacks” dejection even more vividly.
As Tang Yang carefully accommodated him, Jiang Shiyan let out a faint sigh.
A flicker of dark light flashed in his eyes, quickly hidden away.
Tang Yang had never done anything so bold in her life. She had worked herself up into a flustered state, but for Jiang Shiyan, even if she was on the verge of exploding from embarrassment, she was willing. The crucial problem was: “Jiang Shiyan, how… how am I supposed to move?”
Tang Yang truly didn’t know, and she was genuinely embarrassed: “Like this?”
“Or this?” Her voice grew softer and more tender, light as a cat’s paw, enticing.
The feeling of her skin was as smooth and warm as jade. Jiang Shiyan could no longer keep up the act, nor could he endure it any longer. He flipped her over, pinning her beneath him.
For many things, once a man gets past the first hurdle, the rest comes naturally. Especially for someone like Jiang Shiyan, who had always been favored by fate.
There was beer in Jiang Shiyan’s mouth, and beer in Tang Yang’s. The taste of beer wasn’t strong; the sound of their lips and skin intertwining was like the rustle of wind over a plain, with a babbling stream flowing nearby.
The brewer of this beer must have been exceptionally skilled.
His fingers were fair and slender, his burning palms gliding over large expanses of smooth, pale skin. His thoughts were clear, his movements unhurried. Soaking rice, steaming it, letting it cool, breaking it apart. Jiang Shiyan held Tang Yang’s ankles, bending them outwards. The fine yeast fell onto the flowing heat.
Behind them must have been a forest, with small animals drawn by the scent, wanting to investigate. They approached that thread of danger, and then timidly retreated.
The brewer smiled imperceptibly, his voice low and alluring as he coaxed. His hands kneaded carefully among the yeast, testing the depth and warmth. Later, when he thrust, it was as if he had become a different person, his strength accompanying his gasps, deep and heavy and urgent.
Once, twice.
Each time longer than the last, each time more intense.
By the very end, Tang Yang’s eyes were red.
She had long since lost all sense of direction, whimpering and rising and falling as she called out “Jiang Shiyan.” Her calls became pleas, then sobs. Jiang Shiyan’s eyes were as deep as the dark sea before dawn. As he kissed her, cherishing her, his thrusts became even more powerful.
Tang Yang felt as if she were riding a surfboard, suddenly cresting a wave, with sky and clouds flashing before her eyes.
Then, she lost her support, her entire being drifting and floating like duckweed falling into the sea.
Jiang Shiyan closed his eyes and gripped her shoulders tightly. After the intense blankness, the wave-rider returned, singing a distant and lingering melody.
At four in the morning, a faint whiteness appeared on the horizon.
The hotel building was shrouded in dimness, with a single bright square standing out among the rest.
Tang Yang surfaced from her submersion, breathing softly and weakly like a fish.
Jiang Shiyan leaned against the headboard, holding her. One hand caressed her smooth, delicate shoulder, while the other held a cigarette. The ember glowed and dimmed, creating a haze. He half-closed his eyes, lazy and satisfied.
“Are you alright?” Jiang Shiyan turned his head to kiss Tang Yang’s temple.
Such a question was equivalent to asking someone in a hospital with an IV drip if they were sick.
Tang Yang didn’t want to answer and just smiled.
This man’s earlier outburst had been genuine, but that “if you make me try a second time like this, I won’t go on living” act was fake!
What was even more infuriating was, how had she softened her heart at that time. How had she fallen for it?
Tang Yang curled up under the blanket, pinching her waist intermittently. It was truly enough; she would never take the initiative a second time in this life, absolutely not!
Jiang Shiyan hadn’t finished his cigarette before Tang Yang felt uncomfortable.
Tang Yang brushed away Jiang Shiyan’s encircling arm, put on a bathrobe, and walked towards the bathroom.
The cigarette butt was stubbed out on the bedside table.
“Yangyang, are you going to take a shower?” Jiang Shiyan got up as well. “Let me help you?” Seeing her limping uncomfortably.
Tang Yang was annoyed at his earlier lack of restraint and threw a little tantrum: “I don’t want you to!”
Jiang Shiyan followed step by step, pleading, “Then I’ll shower with you. If you can’t stand steadily, I can support you…”
Tang Yang turned her head, frowning her delicate eyebrows as she glared at him.
Seeing her “don’t you dare say another word” expression, Jiang Shiyan raised both hands in surrender: “Alright, alright…”
His footsteps obediently stopped where they were.
Satisfied, Tang Yang turned back and slowly shuffled into the bathroom.
The bathroom and shower were combined, with no partition. The ceiling-mounted heater was warm and bright as if it could dispel fatigue.
Tang Yang turned on the showerhead and rinsed her feet, then placed the showerhead on the knee-high rack. As she waited for the water temperature to stabilize, she reached to untie her bathrobe.
Suddenly, there were two knocks on the door.
“What is it?” Tang Yang asked from inside.
“You forgot to bring the soothing ointment in. It’ll feel better if you apply some after washing,” Jiang Shiyan’s concerned voice came through the door.
Tang Yang had already half-removed her clothes and certainly couldn’t go out.
“The door isn’t locked. Just reach your hand in and put the ointment on the sink counter,” Tang Yang instructed.
“Okay.” Jiang Shiyan pushed the door open a crack, very gentlemanly, and reached a hand in from outside. Then, he placed the ointment on the sink counter.
Tang Yang said very softly, “Thank you.”
“Mm,” Jiang Shiyan responded once more, then used that crack to push the door open, enter, and close the door behind him. The lock clicked shut, all in one smooth motion.
“!”
Tang Yang’s eyes widened suddenly.
Jiang Shiyan gazed at her half-covered, slightly pink skin marked with deep and shallow traces. His eyes were dark as he slowly raised both hands.
“I’m not planning to help you or shower with you. I’ll do as you say,” Jiang Shiyan said in a trustworthy tone, smiling harmlessly. “You shower, I’ll watch. We won’t interfere with each other.”
Seeing Tang Yang frozen in place, her chest heaving.
He even offered guidance: “Don’t just stand there, you’ll catch a cold,” Jiang Shiyan’s lips curved into an increasingly deep smile. “You should raise your left hand now, take off the left side of the bathrobe, then raise your right hand, and take off the entire—”
“Ah—!!!” Tang Yang’s little face turned bright red. She let out a low scream and aimed the showerhead at Jiang Shiyan. “You pervert!!!”
“You said it yourself.” As the strong water pressure instantly soaked Jiang Shiyan, he began to untie his bathrobe, walking towards her steadily through the spray, laughing, his eyes never blinking…
At ten o’clock the next morning, both were still sleeping groggily.
Tang Yang stirred in Jiang Shiyan’s arms, mumbling that she wanted water.
Drinking cold water in the early morning was bad for the stomach.
“Wait a few minutes.” Jiang Shiyan gently kissed the corner of her lips, then got up to find the kettle. Five minutes of boiling would make it too hot, so Jiang Shiyan found two cups and poured the water back and forth between them to cool it down.
“Ding dong, ding dong,” the doorbell rang twice.
“Coming, coming.” Jiang Shiyan yawned and put down the cups. He put on his pajamas while walking to the door.
“Who is it?”
As soon as Jiang Shiyan opened the door, he saw a delivery man holding an exquisite bouquet of roses.
Ninety-nine blue roses, with delicate dewdrops about to fall from the tender petals.
“What’s this?” Jiang Shiyan frowned.
He hadn’t ordered flowers for Tang Yang, and Tang Yang didn’t like blue roses; she preferred pink ones.
“Is Miss Tang Yang staying here?” the delivery man asked.
Jiang Shiyan: “Mm.”
The delivery man cleared his throat and recited: “From the moment I met you, it was in full bloom. May you be joyful. Sincerely, Xiao Qin.”
Jiang Shiyan: “Can it be returned?”
“No, it can’t.”
“Alright.” Jiang Shiyan signed for it, thanked him, brought the flowers inside, and first brought the water to Tang Yang to drink.
The water temperature was just right. Tang Yang gulped it down, holding the cup. After finishing, she sighed and pushed the cup back to Jiang Shiyan, noticing that his expression wasn’t quite right.
“If you didn’t want to pour water for me, I could have done it myself,” she reached for his hand. “Why are you unhappy so early in the morning? Hm?”
Jiang Shiyan silently put down the water cup, turned around, picked up the flowers, and walked to Tang Yang’s bedside.
Tang Yang’s expression was complex: “You…”
“From the moment I met you, it was… whatever, I won’t recite the rest. Sincerely, Xiao Qin,” The little girl on the bed tilted her head to look at him, and Jiang Shiyan also tilted his head to look at her. “You’ve only been here for a week, and someone’s already sending you flowers. Xiao Qin,” Jiang Shiyan repeated, then snorted, “And it’s a female classmate. How do you think I feel?”
“Um, about that…”
Tang Yang bit her lip corner and raised her hand like a primary school student: “Can I request to make a free statement?”
“Go ahead.” Teacher Jiang looked slightly weary.
Tang Yang’s voice was small: “Xiao Qin is a strategic analyst at the head office. He teaches our class every Wednesday, the second class on Thursday, and the third class on Friday.”
Jiang Shiyan made an “mm” sound.
“It’s quite coincidental with him,” Tang Yang continued to explain. “Last time, I told you about when Qin Yue and I went to a bar and someone tried to chat us up, it was him and his friend. Later, on the flight from City A to City B, I felt someone was looking at me, and it was him. He came over to say hello. Then on Thursday, we met in the cafeteria, chatted briefly, and he said he wanted to ask me out to watch a movie on the weekend. I refused,” Tang Yang said weakly, “I didn’t know he would send flowers.”
“Anything else?” Jiang Shiyan’s face was expressionless.
Tang Yang went over what she had said, stealing glances at Jiang Shiyan, and tentatively added: “Xiao Qin is the ‘Qin’ meaning ‘diligent’, not the ‘Qin’ of ‘qin sound’. He skipped many grades, graduated with a doctorate at 22, and is 23 this year, just a young boy.”
Jiang Shiyan: “Is that all?”
Tang Yang hadn’t done anything wrong, but seeing Jiang Shiyan’s expression, she inexplicably felt guilty: “That’s all.”
Tang Yang thought Jiang Shiyan would be angry, would flare up, and even throw things. She was prepared to hug him and comfort him.
But Jiang Shiyan just said “Oh,” and didn’t continue. He calmly took out his phone and asked: “What do you want to eat for lunch—”
“You’re in a good mood? You’re not holding it against me? You’re not going to argue with me?” Tang Yang suspected the Jiang Shiyan in front of her was an imposter.
“Why would I argue with you? What would I hold against you? Him liking you only proves that you’re excellent and that I have good taste. Other than that, it means nothing. Besides,” Jiang Shiyan asked rhetorically, “Do I seem like such a petty person?”
Tang Yang wanted to raise both hands and feet to say yes.
But she was in the wrong, so she could only obediently snuggle into his arms, hugging him softly: “Not at all, not even a bit.”
Really! Her Yan-dog had a heart as big as the ocean!!
Jiang Shiyan had come to City B for a business trip. On Saturday and Sunday, he rushed through his schedule, meeting with people from Thompson and attending meetings non-stop.
When he was out, Tang Yang stayed in the hotel doing her things. When Jiang Shiyan was at the hotel, Tang Yang obediently kept him company, occasionally chatting about work-related matters, kissing and hugging, and then…
Tang Yang relied on Jiang Shiyan, and Jiang Shiyan was only slightly excessive, acting so normally as if he truly didn’t mind Xiao Qin’s roses.
Until Monday afternoon after class, when Tang Yang’s model had a bug that she couldn’t fix, so she refused to leave.
Jiang Shiyan appeared at the classroom door against the flow of people, dressed in a black suit with his hands in his pockets.
On the screen, the program seemed to be running correctly. Tang Yang knew Jiang Shiyan wasn’t leaving until next Monday, and in her dazed state, she didn’t think much of it. She mouthed to him: “Wait for me to pack up.”
Jiang Shiyan nodded almost imperceptibly.
More than half of the people were still in the classroom, talking as they gradually left.
Most people recognized Jiang Shiyan. Seeing him standing at the door, they went up to him one after another: “Mr. Jiang, why are you here? Do you want to come in and sit for a while?”
Jiang Shiyan politely replied: “No need, I’m here to pick up my girlfriend after class.”
Another person: “Mr. Jiang, it’s a pleasure to meet you. The atmosphere changes as soon as you walk in. What brings you here?”
Jiang Shiyan smiled: “I’m here to pick up my girlfriend after class.”
Yet another person: “Mr. Jiang, why are you here at this time?”
Jiang Shiyan patiently answered for the third time: “I’m here to pick up my girlfriend after class.”
“…”
The Chairman of the Board of Yixiu Media, the diamond bachelor’s girlfriend is in our class, that is… who?
Everyone had asked about “picking up his girlfriend,” but no one dared to ask “Who is she?” The older classmates who usually rushed to the cafeteria after class seemed to all have a business today, making phone calls to their assistants in the corridor.
Tang Yang had her back to Jiang Shiyan as she packed her bag, her face slowly turning red.
She knew this man wouldn’t let the roses go so easily! She knew his “magnanimity” was all nonsense!
She knew everything about Jiang Shiyan, like a worm in his belly! Tang Yang could see his smug smile in the reflection of the chair and knew! He was waiting for her to come out!! Waiting for her to walk up to him! Waiting for her to introduce him to a bunch of uncles and aunties with a “Hey, this is my boyfriend Jiang Shiyan” even though she didn’t want to and found it very troublesome.
How could Jiang Shiyan be so mean!!!
Tang Yang was crying noodle tears in her heart, her movements slow and clumsy.
Meanwhile, Jiang Shiyan was very happy to be the center of attention. He was delighted at the thought of waiting another half hour, but his face showed a hint of impatience as if he had been waiting for a long time.
He raised his left wrist from his pocket, checked his watch, lowered his hand, then lazily called out in a moderately low voice: “Tang Yang, can you hurry up?”