As he spoke those words, Lu Rangchen’s breathing was very heavy.

His voice was very soft — soft as if afraid to disturb a beautiful dream in the depths of the night, yet also nakedly, unabashedly enticing.

Enticing her, in this ordinary, mediocre world, to do the most reckless and most absurd thing.

No one could resist Lu Rangchen like this.

He was in the prime of his youth — free-spirited and uninhibited — and with one low, magnetic voice he could melt a person right down to the bone.

Zhu Yunque had nowhere left to retreat.

Beyond her own control, she closed her eyes. In the instant her chin tilted up, Lu Rangchen cupped the back of her head, and his cool lips descended without warning.

Unlike the clumsy eagerness of the last time, this time he was entirely in command.

As if he had no concern at all that she might run — he pressed against her lips in an unhurried, indolent way, a gentle, shallow brush, a light draw, then withdrew, then came back again.

The soft rain fell on and on.

That faint, distant sound stirred a restlessness that wouldn’t be stilled.

Zhu Yunque was drawn along by his advance-then-retreat without being able to help herself. Without realizing it, she rose on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck — as if only that way could she fill the aching hollow inside her.

That response clearly struck Lu Rangchen hard.

He stiffened for an instant — and in the next second, his long arms wrapped tightly around her waist. As if receiving the signal to press forward, the force of it was strong enough that it seemed he wanted to fold her right into his own body. The kiss deepened, uncontrollably, as if he wanted to crush her and swallow her whole.

The wind of the rainy night did not stop. The candle flames did not go out.

The two of them wound around each other in silence in this dim corner, forsaking everything, tireless — kissing one long, ardent kiss after another.

Until Zhu Yunque felt she had become part of the rain itself.

From body to soul, without exception, she was thoroughly, deeply soaked.

She was having some difficulty keeping up. She caught her breath, pulled at Lu Rangchen’s collar to push back a little — a pair of beautiful eyes misted with warmth, looking up at Lu Rangchen from below.

Almost no light.

Yet she could still somehow tell that Lu Rangchen’s lips, at that moment, were deeply red.

Either from her kissing, or from her biting.

This was something she had never dared imagine before — yet it had been realized so easily.

The taste of each other still lingering between their lips and teeth.

Lu Rangchen steadied his breathing, raised a hand, and tucked her slightly damp hair behind her ear. Then he bowed his head, and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

When he kissed her, she closed her eyes.

Compliant and gentle — a contrast to her usual self that held a kind of startling magnetism — and an unbearably captivating pull.

Lu Rangchen didn’t quite know how he’d gotten this far gone.

Far gone enough to be doing reckless things in a place like this.

But he simply couldn’t control it.

He smiled at the corner of his mouth, pulled her into his arms. His voice, roughened by desire, said, “Alright. Now you’re mine.”

Zhu Yunque said nothing.

She simply rested like that against his chest, breathing in the scent from his body, and quietly, without a sound, curved her lips.

That counted as an answer.

In the distance, people suddenly began making their way over in their direction.

It seemed they were heading down.

Zhu Yunque heard the movement and struggled out of his arms. Lu Rangchen looked down at her with unhurried interest, and said, “What are you afraid of? It’s not like we’re doing anything improper.”

No sooner had those words landed than those two people spotted them.

Two guys.

Not quite acquaintances, but recognizable. One was the new campus heartthrob who had arrived out of nowhere — a well-connected, wealthy young man with a background. The other was the girl known throughout the department for her air and her looks. These two — even if they went to the cafeteria together to get food, people would look twice.

And now here these two were, together.

The two guys’ gazes landed on them without managing to disguise it.

Lu Rangchen simply slid a cool glance over, eyes cool, while his hand stayed very firmly clasped in Zhu Yunque’s.

Only then did the two guys realize what they were witnessing.

With remarkable coordination, they averted their eyes, yanked open the iron door, and hurried out.

The iron door swung back.

A sharp, solid crack.

Zhu Yunque was jolted back to full clarity by the sound. She looked at Lu Rangchen and said, “Where are we going now?”

The moment the words were out, she regretted them.

Because the look Lu Rangchen gave her was not a wholesome one.

He needled her deliberately: “Wherever you say — checking into a hotel is fine, I’ve got my ID.”

Zhu Yunque: “……”

This man really had no limits when he was being bad.

She didn’t want to engage with him — she turned and pushed open the door to leave.

Lu Rangchen was in no rush, the corner of his mouth curving, hands in pockets, long legs following after her in a leisurely amble.

Zhu Yunque’s night vision wasn’t very good, and she walked hesitantly. Two of her steps, and he had already taken one. After a while, Lu Rangchen simply came up beside her and took her hand.

His palm was warm and dry — the particular texture of a man’s touch — grounding and reassuring.

Zhu Yunque’s heart gave a small, involuntary thump. She pressed her lips together and looked at him in the light of her phone’s glow.

He was still the same person from before.

Yet somehow more compelling than before — more effortlessly, magnetically appealing.

Lu Rangchen gave a light huff, his eyes carrying a hint of mock exasperation. “Stubborn as ever — scared but still too proud to take your boyfriend’s hand, are you.”

The word “boyfriend” — it was like a piece of candy suddenly placed in her mouth.

An unexpected sweetness that made Zhu Yunque’s lips turn up before she could stop them.

And then she remembered the mental preparation she’d made earlier.

She was quiet for two seconds. Mirroring Lu Rangchen’s own style, she shot back: “First relationship — I don’t know how.”

“……”

Lu Rangchen’s throat worked.

He was quiet for exactly two seconds, then let out a low, suppressed laugh that reverberated in the empty stairwell. “What do you mean you don’t know how?”

“……”

“Looks to me like you know better than anyone.”

When they came out of the teaching building, the rain outside had lessened considerably.

But the campus power still showed no signs of being restored.

There was no going back to the dorms that night.

Lu Rangchen’s car was parked just outside the school gate, and Zhu Yunque had no real choice — she could only go back with him like a good girl.

Once they were in the car, the doors closed.

The heat came on, and warmth spread through every inch of her.

From somewhere, Lu Rangchen produced a new towel and pressed it down on her hair and scrubbed. You could call it rough, but the pressure was measured — it certainly wasn’t gentle. But then, Lu Rangchen wasn’t gentle.

Zhu Yunque knew that.

But his great strength was that he was always gentle toward her.

With her hair dried, Zhu Yunque’s long strands were left tousled and fluffy from the vigorous rubbing. She blinked her bright, shining eyes and looked at Lu Rangchen — a small, almost imperceptible play of expression across her face, very lively.

She wasn’t pretending anymore.

Her eyes were full of fondness — not hiding it, not even trying to.

Lu Rangchen was amused by the way she was looking at him. “What are you staring at?”

Zhu Yunque said, “I’m looking at you.”

Lu Rangchen made a sound. “What’s so worth looking at about me?”

Zhu Yunque’s expression was very serious. She reached out, lightly tapped the tip of his nose, then shifted her hand downward — landing on his throat, on his Adam’s apple, giving it the lightest possible touch.

Like a dragonfly just skimming the surface of the water.

Yet it lit a fire in Lu Rangchen.

His throat moved.

But Zhu Yunque still wore that same guileless, borderlessly innocent expression, and said, with perfect sincerity: “These two places — they’re both especially good-looking.”

So good-looking she wanted to kiss them.

But before those teasing words could come out, she had already stirred up trouble — Lu Rangchen cupped the back of her head and kissed her directly.

Once the restraint breaks, there’s no going back.

This kiss was scorching from the very first second.

Zhu Yunque skillfully hooked her arms around his neck, her lips meeting his.

In that cramped space, every sound came from just the two of them — soft and languorous, swift and turbulent, breath and kisses.

Slowly, drifting lower — landing on Lu Rangchen’s throat, on his Adam’s apple — Zhu Yunque’s lips pressed lightly, and that spot bloomed red.

Having done her mischief, she still wasn’t satisfied.

She had to tilt her head back, blink those eyes brimming with innocent curiosity, and look at him. “Does it hurt?”

Lu Rangchen realized he truly did indulge her.

She’d already pushed him this far, and he was still able to hold himself in check, still able to hold back from doing anything to her.

He simply held her like that, chin dipped, eyes full of roguish warmth. He said, “It doesn’t hurt. Want to find out for yourself?”

He made as if to lean down toward her neck, with that teasing, half-frightening, half-knee-weakening energy.

But there’s a difference between guys and girls, after all.

Lu Rangchen’s jaw, even freshly shaved, still had enough stubble to leave a scratching sensation.

Zhu Yunque couldn’t help squirming away from it, pushing him off, her voice going soft in a way that was entirely unlike her usual self — pleading: “Lu Rangchen, it tickles — stop messing around.”

Lu Rangchen had never seen her like this.

He raised an eyebrow, his long fingers reaching out to pinch both her cheeks with some mischief. “You’re acting spoiled.”

Zhu Yunque’s lips pressed together faintly, and she gave him a look — eyes carrying a kind of adorable edge.

Lu Rangchen looked at that expression of hers and looked like he wanted to eat her alive. His voice was rough and laughing. “How come you were never like this with me before?”

Zhu Yunque pressed her lips together and said, “Before, you weren’t my boyfriend.”

Lu Rangchen gave a quiet huff. “So being in love with you comes with its own switch, does it?”

Zhu Yunque made a sound of agreement. “I’m quite the handful when it comes to relationships.”

The expression on her face was completely earnest.

It made Lu Rangchen laugh all at once. He narrowed his eyes at her. “Quite the handful how — tell me about it.”

Zhu Yunque looked down and was fiddling with the drawstring on his jacket, and had even tied it into a big, airy, girly bow.

Lu Rangchen looked at the bow, then looked at her — the corner of his mouth had been upturned this whole time without ever dropping.

Just like that, quiet for a few seconds.

Zhu Yunque, with the energy of someone interrogating a suspect, raised her eyes to look at him. “You still haven’t told me — what did you actually go to Deng Zhe’s for today?”

After all that, she was still thinking about this. She was genuinely persistent.

Lu Rangchen couldn’t help laughing.

The expression on Zhu Yunque’s lips moved slightly — as if she wanted to say something unkind but was holding it back.

Lu Rangchen laughed until his shoulders were shaking.

Zhu Yunque finally couldn’t take it anymore and gave him a white-eyed look, then used her fist to give him a solid punch.

In Lu Rangchen’s estimation, the force was roughly equivalent to a scratch. He reached out and grabbed her hand in return, his tone bright with laughter. “Went to corner a pretty girl.”

“……”

“And scared that pretty girl into tears.”

With that, not bothering to observe Zhu Yunque’s reaction, Lu Rangchen took out his phone at his leisure, tapped open WeChat, and played a voice message — and Zhu Yunque heard a familiar voice.

It had a definite crying quality to it.

It was Lin Zhinian’s voice.

Lin Zhinian sounded like she’d been crying quite hard — her words kept breaking up with hiccupping sobs. “Was all this really necessary? I only said a few careless things — I never actually did anything to Zhu Yunque. You’re terrifying, both of you, showing up at her school like this. I’ll apologize, isn’t that enough?”

“That bracelet — I was talking complete nonsense about that. It was at a family gathering — your sister, I saw her once. I saw that both of you had one, and later when I ran into Zhu Yunque, I told her about it.”

“The necklace — that was a misunderstanding. I bought it because I liked the look of it, then found out you’d bought the same one to give to her. I was upset, so I told her you’d given it to me.”

“I just wanted to make her feel jealous, that’s all. But it didn’t actually stop the two of you from getting together, did it?”

“And then — when you decided to go back to Beijing — I heard it from my dad. I was really sad at the time, and I happened to run into her in the bathroom, so I deliberately told her about it and let her think you’d told me yourself.”

“That’s really all of it — there’s genuinely nothing more. I don’t even keep in contact with her. What else could I possibly do?”

“Lu Rangchen, please, I’m begging you — let this go, both you and Deng Zhe. I finally found a boyfriend I really like, and I’m begging you, tell him to stop saying things out there. I know my conduct hasn’t been great in the past, but… I really, genuinely like this boyfriend. Just let this be water under the bridge, can’t you?”

“Lu Rangchen, I’m begging you. I’ll wish you and her a hundred years of happiness — isn’t that enough?”

“……”

The voice message ended there.

For a brief moment, the car was completely still.

Zhu Yunque’s eyes flickered faintly, her expression slightly stiff as she looked at Lu Rangchen — as if she momentarily didn’t know what to say.

But Lu Rangchen simply smiled with an air of total ease, and said, “Satisfying answer?”