Chapter 31 Evening Affair
It was night.
Everything grew still.
The cold air numbed all sensation of temperature.
Scents, sounds, touch.
The dark red velvet curtains wrapped around her body gently and tightly, every glimmer of light faded away with each exchange of breath.
Damp warmth crept along the skin of her shoulder blades; she trembled, reaching back with her slender fingers to grasp lightly.
"Does she touch you like this too?" she asked, breathless.
"Who?"
"Her."
"Who is she?"
The man breathed heavily, hidden completely in the darkness, the faint scent of alcohol heightening the ambiguity into something primally sensual. The bitter hint of tobacco in his throat mingled with a wild excitement.
A soft moan escaped her.
She could no longer form words either.
After a long while, in the stillness, she found her voice again, "I mean, has she convinced you?"
"No one can convince me."
"Why?"
He pivoted her waist with his palm, his kisses trailed down from her eyebrows. "Everything in this world reduces to wanting to do it or not; wanting it or not. What's necessary becomes desirable. Those we cannot refuse are those we truly desire. Some philosophies make it too complicated, but the rules of the world are often simple. Overthinking isn't the best solution to a problem. Always facing it head-on is the only way."
"So, in my dictionary, there’s no such thing as persuasion."
She opened her eyes, unable to see his expression as he spoke.
Probably coolly detached.
His sharpness and decisiveness always divided everything effortlessly in two.
It was hard to imagine that someone so black-and-white could have gray areas.
She simply closed her eyes again, feeling his lingering kisses followed like a shadow.
In the expanding sensory awareness, his ambiguous gaze was like a will-o'-the-wisp in a dream.
Flickering between light and darkness, elusive.
Her unease and restlessness brought by the extreme darkness made her feel like a small boat lost at sea, only by clinging tightly could she avoid falling into the raging waves.
Her arms snaked around his neck, pulling him down to face her in the blackness.
Her breath was sweet as orchid blossoms.
"So I refuse to share you with her either."
The curtain rod above struggled under the weight of their entangled bodies; she felt wrapped even tighter, almost suffocating. A pair of hands suddenly lifted her by the waist, her back hitting the hard glass. The velvet curtains swayed beside them with heavy ripples, scattered light glimmering faintly in the night like stars.
She groaned in pain, "Mmm..."
The man’s movements cooled abruptly. "*Use?*"
The delicate atmosphere woven from passion dissipated abruptly.
The feverish warmth receded; skin that had flushed with pleasure was instantly frozen pale by the rushing cold.
In the shadows, her white, slender limbs seemed trapped in decaying fallen blossoms.
Dark, nearly black decay heavily shrouded her, attempting to devour her.
Arms, thighs.
Pale limbs slipped down, sprawling onto the floor.
The cold air assailed her endlessly; she hugged herself in confusion, looking up at the man who had suddenly pulled away.
"Song Xu?"
She could feel his presence nearby. She struggled to open her eyes and look in that direction.
A vague outline stood there.
Like a silhouette cut out from the night, blurred, featureless.
His gaze looked down from above, a chilling coldness wrapped around her ankles on the floor. Her slightly reddened joints retracted pitifully behind the curtains, her exposed thighs curling up, and further above, her face trembling with fear.
In the depth, a faint, softening glimmer in the man’s eyes held a note of helplessness.
He still approached, bent down, and picked her up from the floor.
His body temperature was perfectly warm against her icy fingertips, but his earlier withdrawal left her apprehensive. Her hand flinched upon touching his chest, then tentatively placed three fingers against him. When he didn’t refuse, she relaxed and pressed her entire palm to him.
Followed by her nestling cheek.
His embrace was very warm.
She involuntarily curled into a ball.
Beside the bed, he set her down and immediately lay on his side, holding her from behind.
He loved this position.
Like two halves of a puzzle, the curve of her back fit perfectly against his chest, forming a complete whole.
He sighed against her ear.
Deep and long.
"Sleep."
She didn’t understand why he didn’t continue what they were doing earlier, but his voice was like magic, poured into her ear by his lips, sealed in her mind, soon clouding her thoughts.
In its final moments, the fading consciousness barely registered that it was already Wednesday.
How did yesterday go?
Couldn’t really remember.
Probably the usual: work, then off work.
Then, she saw Li Yuan,
and then Zhou Lin.
/
Oncology Department, Shenjiang University Hospital.
After Zhou Lin finished his phone call and returned, Li Yuan was just coming out of the department director’s office.
They said goodbye by the door.
No telling what they’d talked about behind closed doors; the usually stern department director was all warm smiles, reluctant to end the conversation.
"Director Fang, please, don’t trouble yourself. I’ll visit again when I have the chance."
"You promise?"
"Absolutely." Li Yuan’s eyes behind his gold-framed glasses were as gentle as the morning sun. "My cousin is here, so we’ll be going now."
Hearing his name, Zhou Lin, who had been leaning against the wall, instinctively straightened up a bit.
He slipped his phone into his pocket and gave a slight nod to the two looking his way.
While waiting for the elevator, Li Yuan praised him, "You’ve finally learned some manners, kid."
Zhou Lin smirked, unimpressed by the faint praise.
"Where to next?"
The elevator arrived. Li Yuan stepped in first and pressed B1.
Turning back, he saw Zhou Lin slouching lazily against the handrail, staring at his toes without a word.
Li Yuan smiled knowingly.
"Got it."
This elevator was for staff use only, so no one got on or off along the way, making for a smooth ride.
Zhou Lin looked at Li Yuan’s standard long-sleeved shirt and trousers. Despite the 104-degree weather outside, he didn’t seem bothered at all, with his cuffs and collar neatly fastened. His slightly thin back gave off a frail impression.
Out of nowhere, Zhou Lin said, "Bro."
"Have you gotten shorter?"
Li Yuan wasn’t very tall, about five-nine.
When they were younger, Zhou Lin had always been used to looking up at him, but in these close quarters, he suddenly realized his gaze was downward.
They say you shrink as you get older, but Li Yuan was only thirty-six.
Li Yuan knew what he was thinking. "If you want to say your brother’s getting old, just say it. Quit beating around the bush."
Zhou Lin shrugged. "You worried about your age?"
"Why wouldn’t I?"
Li Yuan: "Just because I’m a man, who says age doesn’t matter to men? Your big brother’s still single. I don’t need you to remind me—plenty of people have already told me things like, if I don’t pay more attention to my appearance, I might die alone."
That sounded kinda depressing.
Zhou Lin’s dark eyes flickered. "No need to panic. Senior dating is pretty popular these days."
"...Your brother is thirty-six, not sixty-three." Li Yuan was both amused and annoyed by the "senior dating" comment. He wanted to smack him, but his kid brother’s hard-as-rock muscles would probably hurt his hand more, so he let it go.
He circled back.
"But A-Lin, I have to remind you: in a family, either everyone’s single, or the one or two odd ones out always get made examples of." Li Yuan patted his shoulder sympathetically. "You might wanna lay low for a while."
Good advice, but it was already too late.
In a couple of days, Zhou Lin’s father had a gathering, a private one. All his longtime friends were coming, many of whom hadn’t seen each other in ages, and most would bring their families. Not just dinner; after, the adults would play cards to keep the party going. He knew Zhou Lin was a pro at setting up these kinds of events and left it all to him to arrange. So, Zhou Lin would have to show his face in front of everyone.
He knew very well: any gathering was just an excuse. Most likely, Zhou Lin’s mother had her eye on someone’s daughter and was using this to set him up on a blind date.
Li Yuan shook his head, chuckling. "A-Lin, sometimes you’re really smart, and other times you can be a total dumbass."
Zhou Lin hated that word. "When have I ever been dumb?"
"Like just now—"
The elevator reached B1.
The elevator doors opened, and Wen Bairan was standing outside carrying a stack of files.
She looked up and saw Zhou Lin first.
He always stood right in the center, lazy but with such a strikingly handsome face that he was impossible to ignore.
Meeting her gaze, Zhou Lin’s dark eyes lit up, then narrowed. Dozens of scattered sparks gathered into a single flame in an instant, smoldering deep within his pupils.
His shoulders tensed, and the hand gripping the handrail stiffened. He withdrew it somewhat awkwardly and shoved both hands into his pockets.
As if that could rein himself in.
Their eyes met briefly, then quickly looked away.
He stood up straight, casual-like, stepped out, his tall frame nearly brushing against her as he exited by the door.
Wen Bairan had to step aside to let him pass.
She was about to step into the elevator when she noticed Li Yuan.
"Li Yuan?" She paused, stopping in her tracks, and took a step back again.
As she spoke, the hands of the person beside her, tucked in his pockets, clenched tightly.
You could feel the tension radiating off him.
Zhou Lin also turned back, frowning at Li Yuan.
Li Yuan found his kid-like sensitivity amusing. His eyes softened behind his glasses. "Xiao Bai."
The elevator door closed behind him.
They hadn't been in touch since that day they met, and running into him today at the hospital, Wen Bairan couldn't help but worry, "Are you sick? Or..."
Her gaze drifted sideways to Zhou Lin, who was standing there with his chin held high, dark circles under his eyes—probably from pulling all-nighters. He never slept, no matter how much she urged him. But his complexion was still healthy and ruddy.
Well... it didn’t seem like he was the one who was sick.
They had been together for so long that even Wen Bairan herself didn’t notice this automatic concern.
Li Yuan noticed Zhou Lin’s secretly relieved expression and smiled faintly and lowered his gaze as he explained, "Just visiting some old friends. A Lin has been cooped up at home lately, so I brought him out to get some air."
"What about you?" He noticed the stack of product manuals in her arms. "Dropping off some paperwork?"
"Yeah, the hospital recently got a new set of testing equipment, but they didn't quite know how to adjust the parameters. I came to take a look," Wen Bairan replied.
"Shouldn’t that be the technical team’s job?" Li Yuan felt bad for her. "Such a hot day, and you came all by yourself. That's rough."
Wen Bairan felt a warmth in her chest and smiled, the corners of her lips turning up. "It’s fine. It was also a good chance to meet a client along the way."
As soon as she finished speaking, an ill-timed scoff suddenly came from the side.
"Small companies are such a mess. Wearing multiple hats is one thing, but the pay is nothing great. I don't see the point of killing yourself over it."
Zhou Lin’s superiority complex always made it seem like he was talking down to people.
Wen Bairan, used to it, acted as though she hadn’t heard him.
"A Lin!"
But Li Yuan’s face turned unusually stern. His normally smooth voice, usually gentle, now carried a stern edge. "Watch your words. Apologize to Xiao Bai."
Zhou Lin looked at Wen Bairan’s indifferent profile. From the moment she arrived, she had ignored him completely—calling only Li Yuan by name, speaking only to him, and smiling only at him.
What was she treating him like? He was invisible?
With Li Yuan’s warning gaze fixed on him, Zhou Lin clenched his jaw, his cheeks tightening, but he remained silent.
Li Yuan was at his wit's end with this younger brother of his. "Xiao Bai..."
"It’s okay, Brother Li Yuan. I’m used to it." Wen Bairan knew he was about to try to mediate and gently stopped him. "He doesn’t mean it. I know that."
She seemed to have already moved on from it.
But Li Yuan grew serious. "How can that be?"
"If you make a mistake, you admit it, you get punished, and you learn that continuing to treat others with such sharpness won’t make them sense your sincerity—it will only hurt them. Sooner or later, the important people around you will leave because of this."
He was so earnest that Wen Bairan was momentarily confused. "Brother Li Yuan..."
"Xiao Bai, on this point, I have to criticize you too."
Li Yuan adjusted the gold-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose, his scholarly aura coming through. "You’ve spoiled him too much, let him run wild. The fact that he still hasn’t learned how to properly care for someone is partly your responsibility. If you had been tougher on him over the past few years, made him understand that you aren’t necessarily tied to him, he wouldn’t have been so clueless the other day."
Zhou Lin frowned. "Brother, isn’t that going too far?"
"You keep quiet."
Li Yuan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a silent authority that made both of them fall silent.
He's seriously impressive.
With just a few words, he got Zhou Lin and Wen Bairan back in touch.
She instinctively looked at Zhou Lin, who was also looking her way.
Both saw a reflection of their past selves in each other's helpless expressions.
There was a time when they were just like this—like elementary school students waiting in the teacher’s office after a fight, being earnestly admonished by Li Yuan that fate is hard to come by and could slip away any day, so they need to hug and make up right away.
Li Yuan said, "You, A Lin, take Xiao Bai back to her company."
"No need," Wen Bairan quickly pulled out her car keys. "I drove the company car here."
She refused too quickly.
Zhou Lin’s face visibly fell in an instant, only to be lifted again by Li Yuan’s next words.
"Perfect, then. I’ll take A Lin’s car back. He can drive your car to take you home and then come back." As he spoke, Li Yuan took Zhou Lin’s phone and wallet, even taking away his house keys.
This was going too far.
Zhou Lin reached out, trying to get back just one card. "You’re not leaving me a single cent? How do you expect me to get back?"
Li Yuan slapped his hand away. "Then it’s up to Xiao Bai whether she gives you money for the subway."
Wen Bairan: "......"
She was about to refuse, but Li Yuan stepped closer to say goodbye and whispered, "Be a little harsh. Let him experience what it’s like for you to cram into the subway during your daily commute. Young Master Zhou needs to get a taste of real life."
"Alright, I’m leaving. You two behave—no arguing," he told each of them.
Zhou Lin understood his meaning, and his lips curved into a deep line. "Yeah."
The elevator arrived.
Before Wen Bairan could react, he stepped forward, grabbed her hand, and pulled her inside.
As Li Yuan’s faintly smiling eyes disappeared behind the closing doors, the phrase "get a taste of real life" surfaced in Wen Bairan’s mind, and suddenly, she knew exactly where she wanted to go.
……