Zhou Yining looked around in surprise. The winter night was quiet. There was little traffic and few residents out for a walk. She looked for a long time but couldn’t find anyone, so she couldn’t help but ask, “How did you know?”

Ji Dongyang leaned against the stairwell entrance, his tall figure hidden in the darkness. His gaze was directed into the distance. He said faintly, “I saw you.”

The next second, the call ended.

Zhou Yining stared blankly at her phone, then turned to walk away. Shen Yanjun grabbed her again. Zhou Yining looked back at him. “I’m going home.”

Shen Yanjun stared at her phone. “Ji Dongyang’s call?”

Zhou Yining didn’t hide it, nodding. “Yes.”

Shen Yanjun looked at her for a long time. He closed his eyes briefly. After a moment, he finally let go of her hand. Zhou Yining suddenly turned to face him, saying seriously, “We aren’t right for each other. You also don’t understand me as much as you think you do. If we actually got together, I’d be trapped in that cycle forever, and I’d eventually go crazy.”

Shen Yanjun frowned. Zhou Yining continued, “Find someone else. Anyone would be better for you than me.”

She turned and took two steps, then looked back. “Just don’t go for Zhou JiaHui. That would be a waste of you.”

Call her cruel or petty, she didn’t like Shen Yanjun, but Zhou JiaHui truly wasn’t good enough for him.

Shen Yanjun leaned against his car, lit a cigarette, and turned his head toward the stairwell entrance. The motion-sensor lights turned on with Zhou Yining’s light footsteps. Two figures were projected onto the opposite wall, one tall, one petite. The girl he loved was tightly hugging the other man.

Half an hour ago, he was leaning against his car, smoking. A black SUV passed by and slowly rolled down its window. The man inside looked at him.

Neither spoke. They stared at each other in silence for three seconds.

Shen Yanjun couldn’t hold back. He walked up to the car. “What are you doing here?”

The man inside, hands resting on the steering wheel, turned his head to look at him. He said flatly, “What do you think?”

…

Zhou Yining hooked her arms around Ji Dongyang’s neck, smiling radiantly. “Why did you come?”

Ji Dongyang pulled her hands down, held them in his, and led her toward the elevator doors.

Zhou Yining happily followed him, not even looking at the path, focused only on the man wearing a baseball cap and a black mask. She said deliberately, “Didn’t you say you weren’t coming?”

She reached out to pull down his mask, but he caught her hand and gave her a warning look.

The young girl behaved, walking into the elevator with him.

The elevator stopped on the eighth floor. Zhou Yining tried to pull down his mask again. He didn’t stop her this time. She stuffed the mask into his down jacket pocket. She turned around, presenting her backpack to him. “The key is inside.”

Ji Dongyang sighed, pulling open the zipper. He felt several thick stacks of cash, lipstick, a perfume bottle, and two feminine pads.

A bit annoyed, he pulled the bag off her back and shoved it into her arms. “Find it yourself.”

Zhou Yining said, “Oh,” and reached in. She immediately found the key, shook it proudly, and turned to open the door.

The moment they entered, she snatched off his baseball cap, tossed her bag on the floor, wrapped her arms around his neck, and went to kiss him. Ji Dongyang pressed on her shoulders, stopping her action. He held the back of her collar. “Why are you back so late? It’s a thirty-minute drive from the restaurant, and you took an hour and a half.”

Excluding the twenty minutes she spent downstairs, she took an extra thirty minutes.

Zhou Yining pouted. “I drank too much wine tonight and didn’t eat much. I passed a ramen shop on the way and went down to eat a bowl of noodles.”

Ji Dongyang was speechless and walked toward the living room.

Zhou Yining kicked off her heels, picked up her backpack, and followed him.

Ji Dongyang looked at the luxurious wine cabinet on one side of the living room, then glanced back at the girl who smelled of alcohol. She had taken off her coat, wearing only a bright red knit shirt. Her waist was slender, her chest was round and curved, and her collarbones were fair and delicate.

She loved wearing red, white, and black.

Zhou Yining walked up to him and hugged him again, resting her head against his chest. She asked softly, “Why did you suddenly come over?”

Ji Dongyang looked down at the girl in his arms. He couldn’t say why he suddenly came. He glanced at the car keys Lu Xiao gave him the other day, sitting on the table, and suddenly felt an impulse. He hadn’t done anything impulsive like this in years.

She asked again, “You saw Shen Yanjun?”

Ji Dongyang: “Mm.”

She lifted her head from his chest, smiling widely at him. “Then you were jealous?” His tone was so deep just now. He probably saw Shen Yanjun try to kiss her.

“No,” he said plainly.

She lifted her head from his embrace, unconvinced. “Really not?”

He pulled her hands down. She wrapped them around him again. After repeating this two or three times, Ji Dongyang stared at her helplessly, his eyes dark and deep. He suppressed his voice. “Stop messing around.”

Zhou Yining refused to give up. She just wanted him to say one pleasing word. “Then say it. Were you jealous or not?”

Ji Dongyang smiled faintly. “No. I just did what I wanted to do.”

Zhou Yining blinked conspiratorially at him. “What did you do?”

She pressed further. “Tell me quickly. I want to know.”

He still didn’t say anything. He was getting hot. He pulled her hands off, took off his down jacket, and threw it on the sofa. He then sat down on it himself.

Zhou Yining knew this man was tight-lipped and wouldn’t say anything, no matter how much she pressed. She didn’t intend to push it all the way. She huffed. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Ji Dongyang looked at her, pursed his lips, and leaned back on the sofa.

Zhou Yining washed away the smell of alcohol and put on a relatively modest nightgown, only slightly low-cut at the neckline, mainly because she was afraid he would force her to change. Exuding a fresh, light scent, she sat back down next to him. She found he was flipping through her photo album. The album was brought back from England, showing her from the ages of 17 to 23.

There weren’t many photos. Alice had put it together and given it to her.

He was looking at a picture of her at 18. In it, she had short hair, wore earrings, and was dressed in punk style. Flipping further, there were also times she wore skirts.

Zhou Yining put her hand on the album, pointing at herself in the skirt in the picture. “Was I pretty with short hair?”

Ji Dongyang was silent for a few seconds. He said, “Like a boy.”

Pretty, wild, rebellious boy.

Zhou Yining: “…”

How was that like a boy? Fine, her chest hadn’t developed that well back then, and she was a little skinny.

Ji Dongyang smiled, raised his hand, and ruffled her hair. “Long hair is prettier.”

Zhou Yining grinned, flipped over, and straddled his lap. She cupped his face and kissed his lips. Ji Dongyang slightly frowned, but ultimately didn’t push her away. They stared into each other’s eyes. Zhou Yining felt that he looked like Lu Yanzhou from the show right now.

The next second, she obediently closed her eyes.

The moment after that, he ground his lips against hers, then slowly licked her lips, his hand resting on her waist, gently stroking.

Zhou Yining realized that Ji Dongyang really liked stroking her waist. Every time they kissed, his hand would slowly move on her waist. There were guys with chest fetishes, leg fetishes, feet fetishes… Ji Dongyang might be a slender waist fetishist.

Just as she thought this, his hand tightened on her waist, gripping half of it.

Fortunately, he knew how to control his strength and didn’t hurt her. Instead, she felt a tingling sensation, a strange numbness that went from her lower back to her toes.

He buried his face in her neck, his breath moving downward. Her neckline dropped lower and lower. Her soft breasts were almost touching his chin. The next second, he stopped and kissed her delicate collarbone.

Zhou Yining was so aroused that her body felt soft all over. She lay on top of him, breathing shallowly.

For a long time, he just stayed there.

Ji Dongyang opened his eyes, which were deeply shadowed. He stared at the black cat-shaped tattoo located below her left breast. He gently pressed his lips against it, giving it a soft peck. “Is this tattoo for Máopill?”

Zhou Yining curled her toes, whispering, “Mm…”

“When you were sixteen?”

“Seventeen…”

She got it the year she went abroad.

He gave a low “Mm.” At Zhou JiaHui’s birthday party that year, when she fell, she was completely exposed. He had seen the tattoo when he pulled her up.

Zhou Yining suddenly wanted to see his face. She lowered her head. The next second, he flipped her over and pinned her to the sofa. Before she could see clearly, her eyes were covered, and he kissed her lips again.

Gradually, kissing was no longer enough for either of them. Zhou Yining clearly felt the man on top of her losing control. Her skirt was hiked halfway up. She distinctly felt something pressing against her thigh.

Suddenly, he violently pushed her away and quickly stood up, walking toward the bathroom.

Zhou Yining was stunned, looking down at her half-undressed state.

…That’s it?

He’s not doing it?

Didn’t he rush over late at night for this?

Zhou Yining blushed and pulled her skirt back down. To be honest, she wanted to continue badly.

She followed him, standing outside the bathroom door, listening to the sound of running water.

After waiting for a while, Ji Dongyang opened the door. His expression had mostly returned to normal. Zhou Yining looked up, hugging his waist. “Why?”

Ji Dongyang looked at her, sounding helpless. “Let’s wait until after the filming is done.”

She didn’t understand. “Why?”

Ji Dongyang exhaled deeply. “It will affect the filming. Don’t forget we still have two scenes left. When the relationship between a man and a woman becomes intimately close to a certain extent, it’s very easy for others to tell.”

Also, he didn’t have protection.

Zhou Yining: “…”

She hadn’t thought about that.

Ji Dongyang was about to leave, but Zhou Yining held him back. “We’ve slept together before. Don’t go back.”

That night, the two slept in the same bed. Zhou Yining was not at all well-behaved.

Ji Dongyang held her down. “If you move again, I’m going home.”

Zhou Yining stopped moving. “You only know how to threaten me.”

Ji Dongyang didn’t speak. That was the only thing that worked on her.

…

The next day, Ji Dongyang left very early. When he left, Zhou Yining was still asleep. Her sleeping face was peaceful, her skin flawless. Only the small mole on her face made her look very obedient.

He lightly kissed her forehead, then got up and left.

Returning to the hotel, he ran into A Ming, who was coming to wake him up.

A Ming was surprised. “Dong-ge, why were you out so early?”

Ji Dongyang took out his key card and swiped it, and the door opened. A Ming stared at him, masked and capped… He didn’t look like he went out early, but more like he just got back?

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