Regarding her memories of that night.

No matter when Yunque thought back on it, she always felt it had been the most extraordinary and longest night between them.

Like a swaying boat tossed in a tide of love — every single minute spent immersed in it carried a trembling anticipation and excitement carved straight into the marrow of her bones.

Lu Rangchen had never been so deeply close to her before.

It was as if he possessed an inexhaustible strength for her, and with every breath in, every breath out, tender words flowed like a babbling stream.

Later still, as her consciousness grew scattered and hazy, Lu Rangchen instinctively reached for the packaging box on the nightstand — and it was Yunque who stopped him.

Her slender, snow-white arms locked around his shoulders; she didn’t want him to leave, not even for a moment.

Sweat and breath mingled together, and Lu Rangchen pressed his forehead against hers. He heard her shake her head and whisper — saying no.

Lu Rangchen suddenly felt that she had gone mad, and that he had gone mad too.

His heart racing, he laughed with a raw, flustered edge, and with her lips still caught against his, he murmured, “What if something happens? Will you give me a child?”

Perhaps it was the intoxicating richness of the night.

In that instant, Yunque lost all reason and said, “I want to.”

I want you.

And I want a child that is ours.

If that truly came to be, it seemed as though she would have no regrets left in this life.

But those last words hadn’t yet passed her lips before Lu Rangchen was drawn out by her into the most uncontrollable, besotted side of himself he had ever known — and again, with renewed feeling, he sealed her lips with his.

So the remainder of that night came to an end at three in the morning.

The sky still lay beneath a thin veil of mist, a meager glimmer of starlight and moonlight suspended high above, faintly bleeding through a thin, vast pallor of white.

Having been thoroughly worn out, Yunque was ultimately carried by Lu Rangchen back to the bedroom, where she nestled in his arms and fell into a deep, sound sleep.

By the time she woke again, day had fully broken.

The clock hands pointed to nearly nine. Yunque was roused by a phone call from Old Liu, who said, “Little Zhu, how come you’re not in class yet? Did you take the day off?”

“……”

Still blinking away the fog of sleep, Yunque only then registered how late she had slept in.

Fortunately, she had no classes in the morning, and Old Liu was merely worried about why she hadn’t come in — wondering whether she was sick.

Hearing this, Yunque’s cheeks flushed for a brief moment. She glanced at the certain someone still sprawled in a deep sleep on the small bed beside her, and ultimately decided against telling the truth about what they’d gotten up to last night. She said she’d simply overslept and would head in to work right away.

Old Liu was quite warm about it, saying, “There’s no rush — you don’t have any morning classes anyway.”

Hearing that, Yunque relaxed slightly, stole another glance at Lu Rangchen, and greedily said, “All right, then.”

The call ended, and her drowsiness was gone along with it.

Now, in the full light of day, she could see plainly just how wild the two of them had been last night.

The sofa, the floor — everything was a chaotic mess, and the few scraps of fabric she’d been wearing last night had been torn beyond repair.

Seeing it, Yunque’s face grew a little flustered.

Then she thought — this was all someone else’s fault — and she talked herself out of cleaning it up.

She simply grabbed a change of clothes and went to shower.

Steam coiled through the cramped space, and all across her body lingered the traces of last night’s frenzy. Even the subtle aching would surface to torment her now and then.

Yunque couldn’t help but let her thoughts wander in a rather indecent direction.

Is this what a man who has held back for too long is like? Or is it because this was the first time they’d been together since they started over?

But then she thought about how Lu Rangchen had gone eight years without touching a woman — waiting only for her — and something warm and indescribable rose in her heart, flooding her with a sweetness she couldn’t put into words.

And then the things the two of them had said last night drifted back through her ears once more.

Lu Rangchen had bitten her earlobe, commanding her over and over — telling her she was not allowed to leave him again.

How could she ever leave?

Yunque finished her shower and stood in front of the mirror, wrapped in a bath towel.

She looked at herself — her complexion unusually rosy, tinged with a shy bashfulness she rarely wore — and thought to herself: in this life, it would be impossible for her to ever leave Lu Rangchen again.

But understanding something in her own heart didn’t mean Lu Rangchen would know it.

Perhaps owing to last night’s exertions, compounded by days of running on no rest, Lu Rangchen slept exceptionally long.

So long that by the time he woke, Yunque had already returned to school.

The small home was almost too quiet. The rooms carried the same faint, pleasant fragrance that lingered on her — addictive.

The furnishings were just as neat and tidy as she was — naturally, except for the living room, which was left in an indecent state of disorder.

The mess on the floor was all of his doing, and beneath the sunlight, it looked more than a little scandalous.

Lu Rangchen’s brow arched. The last traces of grogginess in his eyes scattered at once, and the corner of his mouth curled up in a rakishly amused grin, a low chuckle rumbling from his throat.

He thought — this woman really knows how to get a rise out of him.

Good thing he was going to shower soon, otherwise he truly wouldn’t have known what to do with himself.

But he hadn’t expected the woman to be long gone from home.

On the dining table, however, she had left a note and a warmed breakfast.

On the note was a line written in her neat, delicate hand: “I’ve gone to work. Eat your breakfast.”

He had to admit — the way she’d done it, it really did carry a certain air of waking up, patting herself down, and booting him right out the door.

Lu Rangchen tugged at the corner of his mouth, his mood not at all bad.

He tidied the living room back to its proper order before going to shower, then emerged and unhurriedly ate his breakfast.

Frankly, what Yunque had made wasn’t particularly good.

The toast was fried rock-hard, the eggs were broken and scattered, and the milk was just ordinary carton milk.

Strange, then, that Lu Rangchen ate every bite with relish — even though he hadn’t been in the habit of eating breakfast in years.

During the meal, he took a call.

It was from the club — the team was headed abroad for a tennis league tournament, and he was expected to go. They’d be departing by early evening.

It was only then that Lu Rangchen remembered this matter.

His tone was rather lazy as he said to his manager over the phone, “Do I have to go? Is there really no getting out of it?”

His manager was speechless, saying, “Boss, have you forgotten? The coach from Huihuang Club wants to meet with you abroad. Wasn’t it you who wanted to poach the old man with a higher salary?”

“……”

Lu Rangchen scratched the tip of his nose, recalling that yes, he did in fact have that on his agenda.

His manager, apparently thinking of something, switched to a gossipy tone. “What’s the matter — can’t bear to leave your lady boss?”

That title — “lady boss” — rather pleased Lu Rangchen. He gave a low, amused snort and said, “You’re quite perceptive.”

Perceptive enough to know he couldn’t bear to leave Yunque.

They’d barely had a proper night together, and now the two of them were going to be apart for a stretch — and not a short one. Just thinking about it made Lu Rangchen feel restless and annoyed.

His manager knew what he was thinking, and hastily flattered him, saying, “That’s easy enough to solve — why not just have your lady come along for the trip abroad? She can treat it as a holiday.”

Lu Rangchen laughed, however. “She’s a teacher. It’s not as if she has as much free time as you do.”

“……Fair enough.”

His manager had no counter for that, and simply asked whether he was going or not.

Lu Rangchen thought it over, and ultimately decided to go.

After all, he very much wanted to bring that foreign coach on board, and now that he and Yunque had reconciled, he needed to start thinking further ahead.

He thought back to Yunque’s heartfelt “I want to” from last night, and figured — if one day Yunque really did carry a little Lu, he’d need to start preparing diaper money in advance anyway.

Having a concrete goal, it seemed, firmed up one’s resolve.

Before hanging up, Lu Rangchen had his manager book him a ticket as well.

He then sent Yunque a message to report his itinerary.

But unfortunately, when he called, Yunque was in the middle of teaching — and the instant her phone lit up, she hung up on him without a second thought.

“……”

Lu Rangchen stared at the disconnected screen and let out a derisive snort of exasperated laughter.

Well played, Yunque.

She’d gotten what she wanted, brushed herself off, and bolted.

That day, Yunque hadn’t had classes in the morning.

But it happened that during the fourth period, another teacher swapped schedules with her, so she had to go in early — and that was how she ended up hanging up on the call from Lu Rangchen.

Hung up she had.

And yet her thoughts couldn’t help but drift far away.

She wondered what Lu Rangchen was doing right now. Whether he had eaten breakfast. What he’d been calling about.

So the moment the lunch bell rang, she dismissed class on the spot.

By the time she got back to the office, everyone was already heading out to eat. The physics teacher who sat across from her — someone she was on fairly good terms with — mentioned in passing: “Yunque, I put your food delivery on your desk — there are quite a few items.”

Yunque glanced down and saw that it was true.

She blinked, slightly surprised, and asked, “Who ordered for me?”

The physics teacher shook her head. “Not sure — when they went to pick up deliveries, they just brought yours back along with the rest.”

Since that’s what she said, Yunque didn’t ask further, and simply lowered her gaze to unpack it.

The food included a braised beef rice combo she loved, a dessert, and a fruit platter. As for the other parcel, it was medicine sent from a pharmacy.

When she saw the label on the package — a common oral contraceptive — Yunque’s heart gave a sudden lurch.

The physics teacher leaned over at that very moment, asking, “What’s the medicine? Are you sick?”

“……”

The tips of Yunque’s ears instantly burned scarlet.

She shook her head and said no, then in a blink had tucked that small box out of sight.

Only after the other teacher had gone off with the rest of the group did Yunque quietly take it back out, eyes dropping to examine it for two beats.

The feeling that came over her was a thoroughly guilty one.

Just as she was wavering over whether to open it, her phone rang again.

No need to think about who it was.

Yunque answered, pursed her lips, and opened with, “How can you just send things like this to my school — what if someone sees?”

Her tone carried a note of complaint, but the moment it reached Lu Rangchen, all he heard was her wheedling.

The man gave an idle, roguish laugh, his voice carrying an inexplicably wicked edge, saying, “And if they do? It’s not as if you don’t have a boyfriend.”

“……”

Yunque truly had no words for him.

Yet in the next breath, she found herself thinking that this man was actually quite considerate in his own way.

Her gaze dropped to the medicine for two seconds. Lu Rangchen spoke again, saying, “Do you know how to take it?”

“……Can’t I just read the instructions?”

“Good that you know,” he said, pausing. Then Lu Rangchen said, with due gravity, “Next time, this isn’t allowed. Taking pills is too hard on your body.”

Yunque’s cheeks were warm, and she deliberately let her voice come out soft and teasing: “Not allowed to do what?”

“Not allowed to go without protection, of course.”

Lu Rangchen declared this with absolute righteousness, then suddenly felt it was rather amusing, and let out an amused snort. He said, “Yunque, I’m starting to think you’re the real scoundrel between us.”

Yunque’s lips twitched, yet a honeyed warmth rose in her eyes.

Then, haltingly, she said, “You really are… strange…”

Lu Rangchen sounded distinctly entertained as he made a sound of interest. “Strange how?”

……Strange in what way, indeed.

Strange in this particular department, of course.

Other men would all rather not bother — yet he was the one reminding her.

But how could Yunque possibly say all that to Lu Rangchen’s face? She simply lifted her water glass and took a sip.

Little did she know that this man was utterly incorrigible.

With no regard whatsoever for whether she could take it, he dropped something in that rich, lazy drawl of his, as casually as breathing: “Don’t worry. Your man can protect you just fine.”

“……”

“And make you fly.”

The words landed.

Yunque choked on her mouthful of water and nearly sprayed it everywhere.

She coughed sharply twice, face burning with a mix of shame and indignation: “—Lu Rangchen!!!”