The last time at the door, the kiss had been fierce, with Xu Shi grabbing Yu Lingshan’s wrists and pinning them to the door. This time, she was more restrained, kissing her gently for a few minutes before letting go.
Yu Lingshan leaned against the wall with the TV, and Xu Shi stood before her. Both of their lips were moist from the kiss.
Xu Shi’s face was a little red, even redder than it had been from the alcohol. After pulling her hand back from the nape of Yu Lingshan’s neck, she politely took a step back, swaying unsteadily.
Then, as if savoring the taste, she licked her lips.
Yu Lingshan was about to laugh at her antics.
“Stand properly,” Yu Lingshan said.
Xu Shi immediately stood properly.
Yu Lingshan pursed her lips as well. She asked Xu Shi, “Do you like me?”
Xu Shi opened her mouth to speak, but then, with great effort, sucked the words back in. In the end, she swallowed a mouthful of air and just smiled at Yu Lingshan.
Yu Lingshan: “You don’t?”
Xu Shi shook her head, then smiled again.
Yu Lingshan was exasperated. “What are you smiling at?”
Xu Shi didn’t speak.
Xu Shi was truly obedient. When Yu Lingshan told her to stand properly, she stood properly. If she swayed unsteadily for a moment, she would immediately correct her posture and stand attentively.
Drunk Xu Shi had many little quirks. She would suddenly hiccup, suddenly take a deep breath, or suddenly close her eyes as if about to fall asleep, only to snap them open again.
Yu Lingshan watched her with her arms crossed, taking in all her little movements.
Before long, after Xu Shi opened her eyes again and saw Yu Lingshan, she suddenly took a step toward her.
And then she kissed her again.
It was urgent and fierce, finally becoming intense. She even lifted Yu Lingshan onto the TV cabinet and pushed her legs apart.
The kiss left Yu Lingshan dizzy, and Xu Shi even bit her lower lip.
Yu Lingshan gasped on the spot, and then she heard Xu Shi laugh.
“So painful. It hurts, doesn’t it?” Xu Shi pulled back after laughing and looked down at Yu Lingshan’s mouth.
Yu Lingshan touched it. Seeing no blood on her finger, she was actually a little disappointed.
Xu Shi continued to laugh. “Sorry.”
Yu Lingshan pinched Xu Shi’s chin, tilting it up slightly. She saw Xu Shi’s eyes crinkled in a small, triumphant smile.
Yu Lingshan asked, “When you wake up tomorrow, will you remember that you kissed me today?”
Xu Shi didn’t seem to understand and just kept smiling.
Yu Lingshan asked again, “Have you kissed anyone else like this?”
Xu Shi shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Yu Lingshan cursed, “Damn it.”
Yu Lingshan asked again, “Why did you kiss me?”
Xu Shi: “I don’t know.”
Yu Lingshan released Xu Shi’s chin. Her hand moved down and hooked a strap of Xu Shi’s dress. “Do you know that after kissing, there are other things we can do?”
Xu Shi asked, “What things?”
Yu Lingshan pulled Xu Shi closer, used the tip of her nose to nudge her chin aside, and sucked gently on her neck.
Feeling the sting, Xu Shi flinched and pulled her head back. She pushed Yu Lingshan away, her eyes full of a “What are you doing?” expression.
Yu Lingshan looked into Xu Shi’s eyes. “Do you want to have sex with me?”
Xu Shi frowned. “What?”
Yu Lingshan gave a self-deprecating laugh, as if speaking to herself. “Just kidding. I didn’t want to sleep with you either.”
Yu Lingshan was getting angry, though she didn’t know if it was at Xu Shi or herself. She pushed Xu Shi away and picked up her bag from the floor.
“Put it on.”
Xu Shi obediently put it on.
Yu Lingshan then took the room key from a small pocket of Xu Shi’s backpack and called Tingting. “Come to my room,” she said.
Xu Shi was still standing where Yu Lingshan had told her to. She seemed to sense what Yu Lingshan was doing, so after Yu Lingshan hung up, she asked, “Are you sending me back?”
Yu Lingshan turned to look at Xu Shi. “Is there a problem?”
Xu Shi shook her head. “No.”
Yu Lingshan asked her, “Do you want to stay?”
Xu Shi said, “I want to sleep with you.”
Yu Lingshan: “In your dreams.”
Xu Shi lowered her head.
Tingting was staying in the room next door, so the doorbell rang in less than three minutes. When the door opened, the first thing Tingting saw was Yu Lingshan, who had opened it for her. Then she saw Xu Shi, standing at the end of the entryway.
She was wearing a light blue dress and a backpack, facing the wall like a primary school student being punished by a teacher.
“Take her back,” Yu Lingshan said, handing Xu Shi’s room key to Tingting.
Tingting nodded. “Okay.”
Yu Lingshan instructed, “Make sure she gets there safely.”
Tingting: “I know.”
After handing her over to Tingting, Yu Lingshan paid Xu Shi no more mind. She sat on the sofa, crossed her legs, and adopted an air of indifference to the world.
As Tingting got closer, she understood the situation. The young woman was drunk.
But when Tingting tried to pull her along, she wouldn’t move, muttering, “I can’t move.”
Tingting thought something was wrong with Xu Shi and was about to ask when Yu Lingshan spoke up from across the room.
“You can move.”
The moment she said it, it was as if a switch had been flipped in Xu Shi. Her legs suddenly gave way, and Tingting quickly caught her.
“I’ll take her now, then,” Tingting said, turning back at the door.
Yu Lingshan gave a faint “mm.”
Just as Tingting was about to close the door, Yu Lingshan suddenly spoke. “Wait a second.”
Tingting opened the door a little wider again. “What is it?”
Yu Lingshan asked, “What was your first impression of me?”
Tingting paused for a moment, then tilted her head back to think. She had known Yu Lingshan for four years. Her first impression…
Before Tingting could speak, Yu Lingshan asked directly, “Do you think I’m hard to get along with?”
Tingting smiled. “Teacher Yu, you’re so beautiful, we’re always on pins and needles when we talk to you.”
“Stop being so sarcastic,” Yu Lingshan said, looking at Tingting. “So, have you answered my question?”
Tingting grabbed the doorknob. “Teacher Yu, do you know who the little chicks in the industry voted as the hardest person to get along with last year?”
Yu Lingshan: “Get lost.”
Tingting immediately closed the door. “You got it.”
The next day, Xu Shi was woken up by her own alarm. She opened her eyes to see the time was six o’clock and only then remembered she was on a business trip.
Xiao Yu was still asleep in the other bed. Xu Shi tiptoed to the bathroom and splashed a handful of water on her face.
Her head ached a little. She had blacked out again last night.
By the time she finished washing up and came out, Xiao Yu was awake. Xu Shi changed her clothes first, then took out her phone.
She first opened her WeChat conversation with Yu Lingshan. There were no new unread messages. Then she checked her call history. No calls from Yu Lingshan.
Nothing must have happened, then, she thought. It must have been just as I remember—Yu Lingshan sent me back right after dinner.
“Who was that person who brought you back last night?” Xiao Yu asked from the bathroom doorway while brushing her teeth.
Xu Shi asked, “It wasn’t Yu Lingshan who brought me back?”
Xiao Yu laughed. “You think I wouldn’t recognize Yu Lingshan?” Then she asked, “Huh? Why would you think it was Yu Lingshan who brought you back? Did you go out with Yu Lingshan last night?”
Xu Shi was confused. “Who brought me back yesterday?”
“I don’t know her,” Xiao Yu said with a frown. “No way, you weren’t helping Yu Lingshan entertain clients, were you? That’s not our job.”
Xu Shi hesitated.
Before Xu Shi could explain, Xiao Yu continued to ramble, “From the state you were in, you must have drunk a lot. Why did they make you do that? And you, you should have just refused. It’s not your job.”
“No, it wasn’t for business,” Xu Shi explained. “There was no client dinner.”
Xu Shi thought for a moment and decided it was better not to tell Xiao Yu she’d had dinner alone with Yu Lingshan. It wouldn’t be good if Xiao Yu got the wrong idea and thought they were close.
Xu Shi said, “It had nothing to do with Yu Lingshan. I was drinking on my own, not for work.”
Xiao Yu said, “Oh,” and went back to brushing her teeth, her expression unreadable.
Later, during breakfast, Xiao Yu suddenly exclaimed beside her, “Xu Shi!”
Xu Shi jumped. “What’s wrong?”
Xiao Yu’s eyes darted around before she pointed at Xu Shi’s neck and whispered, “What’s this?”
Xu Shi touched the spot but felt nothing on her hand. “What?”
Xiao Yu excitedly took a mirror out of her bag and showed it to Xu Shi. Xu Shi looked. “What?”
Xiao Yu adjusted the angle. “Here. See it?”
Xu Shi tilted her head up and looked down into the mirror. Seeing a small red dot on her neck, she wondered aloud, “A bug bite?”
Xiao Yu’s smile vanished. “Oh, a bug?” But then she added, “It doesn’t look like one.”
Xu Shi touched it. It didn’t hurt or itch.
Xu Shi: “An allergic reaction?”
She scratched it a couple of times, making the mark redder.
Xiao Yu watched her, chewing on her chopsticks. “Xu Shi, do you have a partner?”
Xu Shi shook her head. “No.”
Xiao Yu: “Okay, then.”
Fortunately, the “bug bite” wasn’t very noticeable unless you deliberately leaned in for a close look, so Xu Shi decided to ignore it.
After breakfast, the two of them went to a meeting. When the meeting ended, Xu Shi’s phone suddenly received a message.
It was a private message from their overall coordinator for the event, informing her that she no longer needed to report to Teacher Yu. Instead, she was to go directly to Mr. Chen Yiheng’s lounge on the first floor and assist him for the day.
The message was simple, just three lines in total, but Xu Shi stared at it for a long time.
Then, in an instant, she felt a surge of panic.
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