Shang Zhitao had never seen Luan Nian so angry. She curled up in the passenger seat, not daring to speak. But Luan Nian kept talking incessantly, making her feel both guilty and embarrassed, so she stubbornly argued back: “Weren’t you the one who said we should keep our distance?”

“Keep our distance? Of course, that means being friends in bed, colleagues at work, and strangers outside the company.”

“Aren’t I doing well? I don’t bother you when I encounter problems, so why are you blaming me…”

Shang Zhitao spoke these words without much conviction, her voice humming, but each sentence was quite irritating. Luan Nian was already angry, and hearing her speak this way, he suddenly felt that worrying about someone like Shang Zhitao was unnecessary.

“Now you can talk back, but why couldn’t you speak clearly when asking for the electricity fee before getting beaten up?”

“You’re just a bully at home!”

Luan Nian’s two sentences left Shang Zhitao powerless again. She pressed her lips together and automatically shut down. Both were angry, and neither questioned how the phrase “bully at home” had come out of Luan Nian’s mouth. One thought the other was nothing, while the other thought the former had a terrible mouth.

Luan Nian vented his anger through driving, stepping hard on the accelerator, making Shang Zhitao’s heart rise and fall. Seeing Luan Nian’s car moving faster and faster, she finally timidly grabbed his sleeve. When she saw his sharp gaze turn toward her, she smiled at him.

“Don’t f*cking smile at me!”

Luan Nian hadn’t realized how many swear words he’d used today. If beating Shang Zhitao could relieve his anger, he would stop the car now and beat her to death.

Shang Zhitao uttered an “oh,” withdrew her hand, and looked out the window.

Luan Nian could see her swollen left cheek with just a turn of his head, which made his anger surge. Why was Shang Zhitao so weak and brainless?

Sitting there like a bullied puppy!

“Does it still hurt?”

Luan Nian glanced at her left cheek again, wondering how hard she had been hit. It had been three days, yet the bruise hadn’t faded, nor had the swelling gone down.

“It doesn’t hurt.” Shang Zhitao dared not say it hurt. With him so angry, if she said it hurt, he might turn the car around and set fire to the shop. But she was also surprised that Luan Nian was so angry about this incident. She had thought their relationship hadn’t reached this level in his heart.

Perhaps, Shang Zhitao found an excuse, perhaps it was like in the movies—she was his woman because he had slept with her. He might not want or love his woman, but others bullying her was unacceptable!

Was it like that? Shang Zhitao secretly glanced at Luan Nian’s expression, which was truly terrible. She bit her lip and remained silent to Luan Nian’s home.

He opened the door, threw his coat aside, sat on the sofa, and patted the seat: “Come here.” He intended to lecture her again and tell her about the dangers of society, advising her not to act impulsively next time but to use her not-so-functional brain first. If she couldn’t solve a problem, wasn’t he there for her?

Shang Zhitao followed his words and sat closer to him, directly on his lap. This disrupted Luan Nian’s rhythm. He leaned back against the sofa, but still spoke harshly to Shang Zhitao: “Get lost!”

Shang Zhitao wouldn’t leave. Having slept with Luan Nian for over a year, she knew this man’s temper. No matter how angry he was, yielding would work. If one day neither softness nor hardness worked, it meant he wanted to kill you.

“I won’t leave.” Shang Zhitao held his face and looked, discovering his left ear was injured, something she hadn’t seen in the car: “What happened to your ear?”

“Don’t know.”

“Did you get in a fight?”

“None of your damn business.”

Luan Nian tried to push Shang Zhitao off, but she tightly hugged his neck: “I won’t. My face hurts, my mouth hurts too, don’t push me away.”

“Give me your phone.”

“What?”

“Give it to me.”

Luan Nian took Shang Zhitao’s phone, saw it had a password, and threw it back to her: “Enter the password.”

Shang Zhitao unlocked the phone and handed it to him, watching him flip to the contacts and find his number: “See, you do have my number.”

…

“You’ve lost your memory, right? You forgot you had my number, right?”

“You act so familiar in bed, but pretend not to know me once you put clothes on, right?”

“You…”

Shang Zhitao covered his mouth. Luan Nian was talking too much today—he never talked this much during company meetings. Though Shang Zhitao was being scolded, her heart felt very sweet. Why were Luan Nian’s lips so attractive? Her mind wandered as her teeth bit his thin lips, and her hand slipped under his shirt, a cold hand against his burning skin.

Luan Nian looked at her with half-closed eyes. The bruise on her face made his anger reach the top of his head, his eyes widening as if to devour her. Then let him devour her. Luan Nian wasn’t falling for her act and tried to throw her off the sofa, but Shang Zhitao clung to him like a koala, silently determined.

“Don’t mess around.” Luan Nian’s “don’t mess around” was killing Shang Zhitao, making her try even harder, but Luan Nian pulled her away: “I’m not interested in your ugly face.”

No matter how she tried to coax him, she couldn’t improve his mood. This was too difficult.

Shang Zhitao felt a bit discouraged, like a deflated ball, her eyes filling with tears: “Hmph!” A coquettish hmph as she sat up on the sofa, also sulking. This sound made the high wall built by Luan Nian’s bad temper crumble. He fell onto the sofa with her, accidentally hitting Shang Zhitao’s lip corner. She cried out in pain, but Luan Nian coldly said, “Serves you right.”

“Now you know it hurts. What were you doing before?”

His words were very harsh, but his actions were gentle. His lips pressed against her wound and bruise. Just as she was about to reach the peak, he suddenly stopped: “What’s my phone number?”

Shang Zhitao was left in limbo, almost crying with urgency, but Luan Nian still asked her: “What’s my phone number?”

Shang Zhitao shook her head: “I don’t remember.”

Luan Nian forced her to recite his number. By the third time, she had memorized it, and he finally pulled her out of the pit and sent her to the clouds.

Floating in the clouds, close to the light, brought her much joy. It also seemed to give her a bit more boldness. She wouldn’t let Luan Nian withdraw, determined to reward her warrior.

Luan Nian’s arm hurt, and he sat up. Shang Zhitao glanced over and only then noticed that his left arm was quite swollen. Looking more carefully, she saw scrapes on the back of his hand. Shang Zhitao felt she was truly blind—how had she not seen this before? She had even been fooling around with him.

“Should we go to the hospital?”

“No need, it’s not broken.”

“What if it is?”

Luan Nian glared at her without speaking, got up to get alcohol for her, and enjoyed Shang Zhitao’s massage service. Shang Zhitao helped rub his arm, and as she did, she felt sympathy. Her lips pressed against it, one kiss after another, expressing her gratitude.

“Luan Nian.”

“Hmm?”

“Can I stay at your place for a few days? I’m homeless now.” Shang Zhitao finally swallowed her pride and asked him. She had originally thought that even if she had to sleep on the streets, she wouldn’t let Luan Nian know about this. But today, things had inexplicably blown up, so she might as well ask to stay at his place for a few days.

“How many days?” Luan Nian looked down at her, seemingly very reluctant.

Shang Zhitao held up three fingers, then thought about it and raised the other two: “Five days?”

Luan Nian still leaned on the sofa, looking half-dead, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Shang Zhitao slowly moved to his side, pulled down her collar to reveal her smooth, round shoulders, and batted her eyelashes at him: “I won’t stay for free. My services are excellent.”

“Get lost.”

Luan Nian glared at her and asked: “What’s my phone number?”

“Memorize it and you can stay. Don’t memorize it and get out now.”

At that moment, her mind was full of desire, and she had recited it perfunctorily, forgetting it instantly. Now, when he suddenly asked, Shang Zhitao’s mind went blank. She hurriedly took out her phone, looked at Luan Nian’s number, and recited it again.

Luan Nian couldn’t be bothered with her anymore and went upstairs. Shang Zhitao followed behind him, being a bit presumptuous: “Would this work? Can I borrow your car tomorrow to move my things over? I have nowhere to put them. Once I find a place, I’ll take them away.”

“You dare touch my car!” Shang Zhitao still had lingering fear from the time she had hit his car: “I’ll drive you.”

“After work tomorrow then?”

“Yes.”

Upstairs, Shang Zhitao consciously walked toward the guest room. They had to work tomorrow, so they couldn’t fool around tonight. But Luan Nian grabbed her collar, forcing her to follow him to the master bedroom. He took off his clothes and lay face down on the bed: “Give me a massage.”

…

Massage—she started properly, but Luan Nian’s back also seemed to scream “exquisite,” making Shang Zhitao distracted. Her hands and feet began to misbehave, gradually stripping away Luan Nian’s cold exterior, offering her burning self to him.

Luan Nian’s arm hurt, Shang Zhitao’s mouth hurt, but her mind was working well now. She laughed and said to him: “Don’t move! I’ll do it!”

Luan Nian let her have her way, allowing her to be wild and unrestrained. His gaze fixed on her body as if he wanted to devour her whole.

Shang Zhitao discovered she couldn’t be alone with Luan Nian. Whenever she was alone with him, her mind couldn’t focus on anything else; she just wanted to fool around with him like this. When she was aroused, she bent down to seek his lips, asking with a trembling voice: “Do you like it?”

“I like it.” This time, Luan Nian didn’t harden his words. Like was like, and there was no shame in liking.

Shang Zhitao’s brows furrowed slightly. Her final moan fell into Luan Nian’s mouth as he changed from passive to active, sending her on another journey like a sudden storm.

Shang Zhitao felt utterly refreshed. The bad mood brought on by housing issues over the past few days had dissipated. She just wanted to stay by Luan Nian’s side for a while. She didn’t want to go to the guest room, just closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. She thought Luan Nian would drive her away, but he didn’t move, falling asleep even faster than her.

The next day at work, she heard Lumi on the phone: “What? Shut down? How did it get shut down? Grandma hasn’t even gone to beat them up yet!”

“Someone reported fire safety issues? There was a fight yesterday? Someone was taken to the police station?” Lumi giggled: “These bastards must have walked the wrong path and met a ghost! Hahaha!”

Shang Zhitao listened from the side, finally understanding what Luan Nian had been doing yesterday afternoon and why he had injuries. Her eyes reddened a bit. She looked up at the “ghost” that the fraudulent agency had encountered, feeling full of gratitude.

“So you were busy with my affairs all yesterday afternoon?” Shang Zhitao messaged him.

“Busy ensuring the survival of our company’s employees.” Luan Nian frowned as he replied.

Shang Zhitao covered her mouth and secretly smiled.

In the evening, when they went back to get her things, as they reached the building, Shang Zhitao suddenly stopped him: “I can go up by myself.”

Luan Nian’s face was full of question marks.

“You don’t know my roommates, and they don’t know you. I’m afraid it would be awkward.”

?

“I’ll be right down! Won’t keep you waiting too long.”

Shang Zhitao finished speaking and ran off. She didn’t want Luan Nian to go to her home, though she couldn’t explain why. She just felt that that room was a small world for her and her roommates.

Sun Yuanzhu helped her carry her things down, placing them at the entrance of the hallway, and said softly to her: “I’ll try to find a place these few days. Don’t be too anxious. We can find a suitable place.”

Shang Zhitao nodded: “I know! I’m not anxious! We’ll look together on the weekend.”

Sun Yuanzhu smiled, a truly gentle smile, then looked down again: “Where’s your friend?”

Luan Nian stood in the shadows, not moving.