The Early Spring - Chapter 35

Chapter 35 - Stripped of Armor and Utterly Defeated

This was not within Luan Nian’s calculations.

When he had turned Shang Zhitao down, his intention was to have nothing more to do with her. Yet the moment his fingertips brushed against her burning, soft earlobe, he suddenly wanted to do something to her—something urgent, possessing a destructive force, a desire to trample right over her.

Just yesterday, Shang Zhitao had been thinking that she would never get involved with Luan Nian again, but today, upon hearing him invite her home, she stood there frozen, staring at him without uttering a word.

Luan Nian’s fingers stroked across her earlobe. "Suddenly, I feel your proposal isn't a bad idea," he said.

"What?"

"The proposal to be regular sex partners," Luan Nian reminded her. He started the ignition and spoke no more. The car drove a bit fast—so fast that Shang Zhitao felt they didn't even need foreplay; the eerie silence filling the car during that ride alone was enough to stir her desires.

She couldn't articulate what was wrong with her; her surging desires frightened even herself. She pressed her lips tightly together, the words stop the car lingering right on the tip of her tongue, yet she could not force them out no matter what. Rather than getting out of the car, she wanted nothing more than to stay by Luan Nian's side. The person who fell in love first would be stripped of all armor and suffer a total defeat—she finally understood the truth of that saying.

Later on, she had no idea how it happened, but Luan Nian swept over her once again—right there in his garage, inside his car. Shang Zhitao wondered afterward: how on earth had they gotten so impatient that they couldn't even wait to get out of the vehicle?

Luan Nian’s tongue wrapped around her earlobe, then pushed deeply inside. A faint, lingering fragrance drifted from Shang Zhitao’s hair, and her small, hurried breaths sounded just like her usual, humble self. Deliberately exerting pressure, Luan Nian forced a soft, breathless cry past her throat, murmuring lowly right beside her ear: That sounds nice. Her voice was completely beyond control now—light, delicate, and occasionally slipping out with a sound that could turn a listener's bones to jelly.

From the car to the bedroom, and then to the bathroom, Luan Nian grew fiercer the longer it went on, leaving Shang Zhitao a complete, disoriented wreck. She didn't even have the bandwidth to ponder whether this was right or wrong; all she knew was that for the entire week, closing her eyes meant seeing Luan Nian. Once a young girl opened the floodgates of desire, there was no shutting them back. Other men simply wouldn't do; she felt as though she hadn't gotten her fill of him, as if she needed to devour him alive before she could even consider moving on to anyone else.

As the water cascaded over her shoulders, washing away the slick sheen of sweat and his scent as well, Shang Zhitao thought it was finally over, but it was far from it. The shower's temperature was stifling, pushing her to the brink of suffocation. No sooner was his scent washed away than it was stamped onto her anew; he simply refused to let her go.

At her most vulnerable, she craved his kiss. Cupping his face with both hands, she pressed a dense, lingering kiss to his lips.

This time it was truly thorough, every single pore radiating pleasure. It took who knew how long for their breathing to steady, and she subconsciously reached out to pull up the blanket, only to accidentally brush against Luan Nian's hand. Even after having shared intimacy, brushing against his hand caused her to jerk away in a swift retreat, as if holding hands were somehow more unforgivable than sleeping together.

Luan Nian handed her the blanket, and the two of them retreated to opposite ends of the bed, just like the last time.

I must be out of my mind, Shang Zhitao thought.

Are you out of your fucking mind, Luan Nian? Luan Nian thought.

Neither of them spoke, neither knowing what to say. One of them had decided just yesterday to stop doing this kind of thing, while the other had rejected the idea of regular sex partners just days before. Both had completely strayed from their original intentions.

"I feel like Sunday isn't a very good time," Shang Zhitao spoke up after a long silence.

"Hmm?"

"We have to work on Monday, and the marks on my body are still quite obvious." She hadn't been able to care about such things during their intimacy, but once it was over, she realized Luan Nian loved leaving marks on her. "The marks haven't faded by the next day. If it's Friday night, there's still time for them to fade... or next time, could you... not leave me any hickeys?" What she was actually still mulling over was that Sunday messed up her schedule too much—she had her English lessons on Sundays! Coming over to his place straight from the company on Friday evening and leaving him the next day meant not disrupting her weekend plans at all.

Hearing Shang Zhitao earnestly discussing future scheduling logistics with him, Luan Nian found the scene somewhat comical. He had been in two or three relationships in his past, but he had never had a regular sex partner. He never would have imagined that in an arrangement like this, Shang Zhitao would actually be the one taking the lead. Were girls today really this open-minded?

He said nothing, put on his clothes, and walked out of the bedroom. Downstairs, he poured himself a small glass of iced club soda and gulped it down in one go, instantly clearing his head. He thoroughly disliked the feeling of being led by someone else, even in matters as trivial as this. He poured a glass for Shang Zhitao as well, and she took a refreshing gulp.

"Are you awake now?"

"Awake."

"Then you should head back. Don't you have work tomorrow?" He issued a polite eviction notice. This made things awkward. Shang Zhitao had no idea her words had rubbed Luan Nian the wrong way; he was itching to spar with her a little, and as for what they were sparring over, it was probably just seeing who could be more carefree about this whole arrangement.

"Oh, right." Shang Zhitao stood up to get dressed, only to hear Luan Nian making a phone call: "Master Liu, could you help drop someone off..." Shang Zhitao leaped over to snatch his phone away. Luan Nian locked her against his chest with one arm, held the phone high up out of reach, tilted his head back, and spoke into the device: "Yeah, she's at my place."

"..." He hung up the phone and released Shang Zhitao. "What's wrong?"

"Company policy forbids internal employees from dating." Shang Zhitao was a bit anxious, mostly because she wouldn't be able to face Master Liu.

"We're fuckbuddies, not dating."

"..." Luan Nian dropped that line right on her.

"That still doesn't make it okay... Tell Master Liu not to come." She hurriedly searched for her own phone, planning to make a swift escape, but Luan Nian was quick-handed and snatched it away. "Beg me."

Damn it.

"I'm begging you." Shang Zhitao put her hands together in a pleading gesture, asking him to spare her and let her keep a shred of dignity.

Having achieved his goal, Luan Nian called Master Liu back: "Master Liu, no need to come. She left on her own. Go get some rest." He kept a firm grip on Shang Zhitao's phone, refusing to hand it back.

Shang Zhitao reached her hand out toward him. "I really have to go now." Acting completely unbothered, like someone dealing with a hearing-impaired patient, Luan Nian shoved her phone under his pillow and closed his eyes to sleep.

"Then should I leave or not?"

"Sleep in the guest room."

"Oh."

Shang Zhitao crawled onto the bed, fished her phone out from under Luan Nian's pillow, turned toward the door, and then stopped after taking two steps: "So... how am I supposed to get to work tomorrow...?" She was genuinely pondering this logistical nightmare.

Luan Nian ignored her, keeping his eyes tightly shut without a word, though his stomach betrayed him—he was hungry. After playing basketball all afternoon and working out with Shang Zhitao for so long, he hadn't eaten a thing! So he opened his eyes, pulled on a T-shirt, and saw Shang Zhitao still standing there like a total goofball.

"Are you hungry?"

"..." Shang Zhitao wanted to say no, but she was so hungry she had zero backbone left, so she nodded.

"Then go make dinner."

"I only know how to boil noodles." Shang Zhitao’s meager noodle-boiling skills were something she had picked up back in her college dorm.

"Fine, make do with that."

As they stepped into the elevator, Shang Zhitao suddenly asked Luan Nian, "Why don't you have a housekeeper at your place?"

"Not used to it."

"What?"

"Not used to having strangers around."

Well, you certainly didn't look like you weren't used to it when you were having sex with a stranger, Shang Zhitao muttered inwardly. Upon reaching the ground floor, Luan Nian predictably played the role of the ultimate hands-off boss, pouring himself a small glass of red wine, perching on a barstool, and tilting his chin toward Shang Zhitao. "Go ahead."

Go ahead it is, then.

Shang Zhitao rummaged through the refrigerator, unearthing tomatoes, eggs, a few green vegetables, and some noodles. She set about washing the vegetables and turning on the stove with a remarkably professional air. Pouring a little oil into the pan, she promptly transformed into a complete amateur. When she used an electric hot pot back at school, she had never dealt with an open flame; the moment she tossed in the chopped scallions, the oil splattered everywhere, and the pan actually caught fire, scaring her into jumping back half a step.

Luan Nian nearly spat out his wine, hurrying over to shut off the stove. Frowning, he looked at Shang Zhitao. "You know how to boil noodles?"

"Ah..."

"Is there anything you can do?" Luan Nian vowed never to believe a single word Shang Zhitao said about her capabilities ever again: she claimed she could drive, and she ended up denting his car; she claimed she could boil noodles, and she nearly burned his house down. Pushing Shang Zhitao aside, he expertly cooked a bowl of vegetable noodles with practiced efficiency.

Last time it had been steak with pasta, and this time it was vegetable noodles—Luan Nian actually knew how to cook. Taken aback, Shang Zhitao stood to the side watching him busy himself, feeling slightly at a loss.

"I'm surprised you know how to cook."

"I'm picky about food."

Luan Nian had been a picky eater since childhood. Back in kindergarten, he disliked the food served there so much that he preferred going hungry. Later, after moving to the United States with his parents, he didn't care for Western cuisine during his school years, and takeout wasn't appetizing either, so he occasionally cooked for himself. Even though what he cooked tasted terrible, at least it was home-cooked and edible. Gradually, he picked up a few skills.

Shang Zhitao was certainly not picky; she loved eating everything, including this bowl of noodles doled out by Luan Nian. Stuffing a mouthful of noodles into her cheeks, a sudden thought struck her: If Kitty finds out that her precious boss sleeps with me and even cooks noodles for me, will she skin me alive, rip out my tendons, and grind my bones? She already doesn't like me to begin with.

She let her imagination run wild while eating her noodles, spinning an entire dramatic TV series in her head. After the two of them quietly finished their noodles, Shang Zhitao asked him with a somewhat troubled expression, "Do you have a spare toothbrush here?"

"Yeah." Luan Nian led her upstairs and pulled a spare toothbrush and tube of toothpaste out of the bathroom drawer for her.

"What about a towel? A bath towel? Pajamas? A contact lens case...?" Shang Zhitao suddenly remembered a laundry list of items. "If I'm going to come over and sleep here every Friday night from now on, I'm going to need all of these."

"Did we decide we're meeting every Friday night?" Luan Nian asked her.

...Shang Zhitao was stumped by his snappy retort, and before she could think of a comeback, she heard him add, "Can't you bring your own?"

"Am I supposed to lug them on my back every time? Or is there somewhere here you can let me stash them?"

Luan Nian caught her drift: what Shang Zhitao was really asking was, Is it appropriate for me to leave my things here? Would your other girlfriends mind? He didn't answer her, too lazy to talk nonsense with her, and simply picked up a toothbrush to brush his teeth.

Shang Zhitao stood there for a moment, pondering, before asking another question: "Do other female colleagues from the company come here?"

Luan Nian spat out a mouthful of toothpaste foam and asked coldly, "What? Want to go make sisterhood pacts?" He neither confirmed nor denied it.

"I wouldn't go that far, I wouldn't go that far."

Shang Zhitao was clear-headed about this much—she simply had no desire to be anyone's third wheel. So she cut straight to the chase: "You aren't seeing anyone right now, are you? If you have a girlfriend, us doing this wouldn't be very good, you know!"

Luan Nian was genuinely annoyed. Was Shang Zhitao's brain wired wrong? If he had a girlfriend, would he fucking bring another woman home? Tossing his toothbrush into the rinsing cup, he turned on his heel, walked into the master bedroom, and slammed the door shut, locking all her ridiculous questions on the outside.

Shang Zhitao pouted, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and headed to the guest room. Luan Nian genuinely had good taste; the bedding he chose was exceptionally comfortable. She hadn't looked closely last time, but lying down on it today and experiencing it properly, she could tell the difference between Luan Nian's bed and her own. Feeling rather tired, she turned off the light and fell into a deep sleep in Luan Nian's guest room.

Opening her eyes early the next morning, she discovered that the door to Luan Nian's bedroom was already open, but he was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't until she finished brushing her teeth that she saw him coming upstairs drenched in sweat—he worked out every single morning.

Shang Zhitao checked the time: so this guy woke up at six? Good grief. Luan Nian stripped off his workout shirt, walked into the bathroom bare-chested with his muscular physique on full display, and upon catching Shang Zhitao lingeringly gazing at his abdominal muscles, he grabbed her by the collar, hauled her right out, shut the door, and stepped into the shower.