Chapter 138: Stranger Intimacy
The room was so quiet it was almost frightening. He Yunzhi felt as though she could hear her own heartbeat pounding inside her chest.
Thump, thump, thump—like she had a fever.
But she had no mind to worry about her heartbeat. All her attention had been completely drawn to the man in front of her.
It was the first time she had ever examined a man from such a close distance—so close that she instinctively held her breath.
She remembered that when she had looked at him during the day, his features had seemed so gentle.
So why did he suddenly seem so much more imposing now?
Her gaze traveled down from his long eyelashes to his straight, handsome nose, then to his thin lips...
His lips quickly drew near and landed on her cheek. The soft sensation made her heart skip.
He asked in a low voice, “How does it feel?”
She hesitated for a moment. “Not bad.”
“Then shall we continue?”
Her face flushed a little deeper. “Mm...”
Her heartbeat seemed to follow his every movement, all the way down to her collarbone. Her body couldn’t help but draw back. “Here...”
“Is that not allowed?”
He looked up at her, his eyes filled with a gentleness that left no room for refusal. She instinctively shook her head. “No...”
His testing touches were filled with endless tenderness, making it impossible for her to refuse.
By the time they were completely joined, her eyes had begun to mist with tears—tears of discomfort and unfamiliarity.
“I’ve never... I haven’t done this before. I...”
She didn’t know what she was trying to say. Was she saying she had never been in a relationship, or asking whether he seemed so gentle because he had a lot of experience?
But he seemed to understand her anyway. Bending close to her ear, he murmured, “Me neither.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “Then why do you...”
He seemed so practiced at it.
The corners of Gu Jingchen’s lips immediately lifted. “Is that a compliment?”
He looked like a child who had just received praise, the happiness in his eyes obvious and unabashed. “I’ll make sure I perform well.”
She cried out at once, “That’s not what I meant!”
But it was already too late. His gentleness vanished. With overwhelming force, he led her running along the seaside, letting the waves sweep her along as they raced without restraint, giving themselves entirely to the moment.
By the time she was completely exhausted, he was still full of energy.
“Take a break, then continue?”
She collapsed weakly, like a fish washed ashore by the waves. “Isn’t that enough?”
But he merely whispered into her ear, “Tomorrow’s the weekend. We can sleep in...”
The next day, they really did sleep until noon. She didn’t even know when she had finally fallen asleep.
Yet her body felt refreshed and wasn’t particularly uncomfortable.
Had he helped clean her up?
She couldn’t help blushing at the thought. They had suddenly become so intimate—so intimate that she was at a complete loss.
She had assumed they would take things slowly: holding hands, then embracing, then exchanging feather-light kisses...
She hadn’t expected them to suddenly hit the fast-forward button and go straight into high gear.
She wanted to get out of bed, but the summer quilt clinging to her skin reminded her that she couldn’t simply rise like this.
“Awake?”
His lazy voice sounded from behind her, and her body instantly went rigid.
“Heh...”
The hand resting around her waist quickly noticed her stiffness, and he let out a soft laugh. “I’ll go out first?”
She nodded. “Mm...”
The glaring sunlight made the room far too bright—so bright that she couldn’t face the situation at all.
She curled up under the quilt, listening as the person beside her got out of bed and then went upstairs to the third floor.
She threw back the quilt and sprang up. After washing up, she got dressed and ran.
Yes, she had run away in a thoroughly spineless fashion.
By the time Gu Jingchen had finished washing up and came downstairs, the room was empty. She was long gone.
A broad smile crept into his eyes. Why was she acting like a little kid?
He picked up his phone and called He Huanhuan. “What are you planning to do today?”
He Huanhuan and Qi Meili were sitting in the living room, seriously browsing job apps.
“I don’t know. I was thinking of finding something to do.”
She felt that she had been far too idle lately. Every day consisted of nothing but eating, drinking, using the bathroom, and sleeping.
Was she turning into a little pig?
She used to have plenty of work she could take on!
“Give Wenzhi a call. She should be able to offer you some advice.”
He Huanhuan’s eyes lit up at once. “That’s right! Sister Yunzhi is a professor! She must be able to help us look for suitable jobs!”
After hanging up, she immediately called He Yunzhi.
At that moment, He Yunzhi was sitting in her car, unsure where to go.
She had almost no friends. In her daily life, the people she interacted with were either colleagues or the children of her parents’ friends.
She had made some new friends of her own initiative when she was in school.
But her parents had acted like detectives, frantically investigating the circumstances of those other families before ordering her to cut ties with her friends.
Her mother was a staunch believer in the idea that a mother should move three times for the sake of her child’s education, and as a result, she had kept an extremely tight rein on her daughter’s friendships.
Now, even when she wanted to find a friend to talk to, there was no one.
That was when He Huanhuan’s call came in. Once connected, the voice on the other end was bright and crisp.
“Sister Yunzhi, are you busy today?”
She shook her head. “No.”
He Huanhuan immediately invited her over. “Then come over to my place! Meili and I are looking for jobs, but we don’t know what kind of work would suit us. Can you help us take a look?”
“Okay.”
She thought she had finally found someone she could confide in.
She drove to the apartment complex where the two girls lived and hurried up to the fifth floor.
The moment she sat down, she asked them shyly, “I have a few questions. Can I ask you?”
The two girls nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! Go ahead, Sister!”
She looked at them with innocent eyes. “Jingchen and I slept together last night, but something feels a little strange... I feel as though we’re moving too quickly. But we’re married...”
She laid out her confusion very frankly, as naturally as if she were discussing an academic question with other teachers in the office.
He Huanhuan’s eyes widened. Then widened even more.
Wait—was this something she was supposed to hear?
Someone, please switch her back to the children’s channel!
Qi Meili, on the other hand, propped up her chin and listened with sparkling eyes. This was juicy! She wanted every detail.
Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “Big Brother was so gentle. Was he gentle in that way too?”
She asked the question bluntly, and He Yunzhi answered even more bluntly. “He was gentle at first, but later on, he became quite forceful.”
“My God! What a catch!”
Meili was practically grinning from ear to ear. “Then what’s there to be confused about? Sister, this is a top-tier specimen! You have to enjoy him properly—every day, every meal! He’s practically a tonic!”
He Yunzhi flushed with embarrassment. “But we’ve only just met, and we’ve only just gotten married...”
Meili slapped her thigh. “You’ve got a marriage certificate, so it’s legal! How else are you supposed to build feelings? You have to work them out this way! The more you work at it, the better it gets—the more fragrant and delicious!”
He Huanhuan looked utterly bewildered.
Children’s channel! Switch her back!
Yet she couldn’t help thinking that Meili had kissed Liang Zheng, while Sister Yunzhi had slept with Big Brother...
Technically, she and Han Mo had known each other the longest, but their progress was the slowest...
Why was that?
Oh. She had been stuck on the children’s channel this whole time...
Should she switch channels?
Did Han Mo want to switch channels?