The room card left a white mark on Xue Jing's palm. Ha Yue stared at his trembling right hand and suddenly grasped the scar.

Why put up with it? It's something we're already familiar with; it can't be any worse than their first time.

Ha Yue had a strong grip, like a pair of pliers cracking a walnut. Hearing Xue Jing gasp, she pursed her lips apologetically and loosened her grip.

She tried to rub the tooth mark with her fingertip, her voice like she was flattering a wounded waterbird, "I didn't know you bit so hard. Did it hurt a lot?"

The person in his arms was still as cunning as ever, dispelling his regrets and concerns with just one sentence.

The access card was affixed to the door lock, eliciting a series of crisp sighs.

Without further hesitation, Xue Jing carried her into the house and pressed her against the cold door. As his kiss landed, his voice became indistinct and ambiguous.

But as Ha Yue got closer, she grabbed his collar and looked up, and she understood what he was saying. He said, "Of course it hurts. It's been hurting ever since that day."

The wooden door and walls of the entryway were very hard, so the kissing tango swirled into the living room, which was covered with a thick blanket.

As Xue Jing backed away, he tripped over a suitcase on the ground. As soon as he sat down on the edge of the bed, he began to use his right hand to clean the clothes on the bed.

He tried on so many clothes before going out, and they were all so messy. He threw one or two pieces on the ground, including the leather jacket he was wearing.

Ha Yue bent down, placed her fingers on his pulse point, and began to descend without hindrance.

My palm was burned, my pupils dilated slightly, and I naturally took in the view of the room from the corner of my eye.

Ha Yue smiled faintly, her lips curving upwards, giving her a playful, childlike air. The misty haze on her face, combined with the sound of the belt buckle, made her even more captivating. "Were you at the hotel for a beauty pageant before you left?"

Xue Jing's skin behind his ears turned a glaring red, and the whites of his eyes began to burn pink from her words. He said fiercely, "Stop talking nonsense."

He pulled down her wrist and took control.

The tender game suddenly turned into a race, and whoever was more ruthless and decisive would win.

There was no need to force it; everything was already set in stone and had to be done. Xue Jing only came to his senses when he was hovering above her, realizing that he lacked proper safety measures.

The penthouse suite is vacant year-round, and the bedside table, which should be filled with necessities, is instead filled with disposable tea bags.

Calling the front desk again would be a mood killer, so Ha Yue grabbed her down vest hanging by the bedside, pulled out a string of coins from her pocket, tore one open, and handed it to him.

Xue Jing lost; he was utterly defeated in this game.

Before leaving home, he was like a young girl experiencing her first love, applying makeup in front of the mirror. But his ex-girlfriend was like a great omnipotent god, having already foreseen what would happen that night. She was fully prepared, both mentally and physically, and even had the tools.

So, in his shame and indignation, he asked that tasteless question, searching everywhere he went, "How many have you had in the years since we separated?"

She had barely finished speaking when Xue Jing covered her mouth and told her to shut up. He was completely unprepared; he knew he couldn't bear the answer, no matter what it was. If she said any number greater than zero, he would bleed from all seven orifices on the spot.

Fortunately, Ha Yue was very obedient this time. She kept quiet when he wanted to, and her lips were extremely relaxed when she shut her mouth. With a "squeak" kiss on his palm, she removed that hurtful armor and did not bite his hand to give him a desperate blow.

For three whole hours, the tide rose and fell inside the house until the fishermen who were gathering seafood collapsed on the beach, too exhausted to continue.

At 11 p.m., Ha Yue was still full of energy. She rested her head on Xue Jing's arm and was still examining his scar.

The breathing behind her gradually grew longer. It was time for Ha Yue to go home. Before getting up, she turned her head, looked up and counted Xue Jing's eyelashes, and asked softly, "You're not short of money, why don't you get scar removal surgery?"

The scars are ugly and don't match him.

These marks, left by others, are brands, marks of shame, on the body. Even celebrities who cultivate a romantic image will remove tattoos they got for their ex-girlfriends.

Xue Jing works with his hands, has an outstanding appearance, and is not content to stay behind the scenes; he also needs to give public interviews.

Ha Yue speculated that every time he typed on the keyboard, his eyes would look down and see this ugly mark, and when he made a public appearance, he would need to use special effects to cover it up.

If you still hate them, that's understandable; if you still love them, that's foolish. Letting go of others will always make you feel better.

Xue Jing couldn't be that stupid. He studied literature and was also very knowledgeable in philosophy, so his thinking would only be more detached from worldly affairs.

"Idiot" kept his eyes closed. He looked really tired, his eyelashes casting two butterfly-shaped shadows under his eye sockets, and his lips were pressed down low.

Ha Yue's insight on the tricycle that day wasn't entirely accurate.

Her first boyfriend was a bit older than usual. He hadn't gained weight, lost hair, or become ugly, but his face was more likely to be cold and somber than before. Only at such close range could she discern the several very cold and pale lines under his eyes when he was sleeping on his side.

In his youth, he was dashing and spirited, and he often smiled at her, a smile as warm as a spring mountain. So she didn't realize that when he was expressionless, his handsome features were devoid of any brightness.

Those blinding lights were like slaves fleeing while he closed his eyes, and he was the sinister and suspicious tyrant on the Iron Throne.

Even his fluctuating moods tonight were somewhat unsettling.

Hearing Ha Yue speak, Xue Jing frowned. He was still sleepy, especially with her lying next to him, so comfortable that he didn't want to open his eyes or answer. He simply lost his temper, covered both of their heads with the blanket, and mumbled, "Why should I tell you everything? You can guess for yourself."

At midnight, someone wrapped themselves tightly in their clothes and walked briskly down the deserted, cold street.

However, some people push open the door of the smoky internet cafe just to urinate in the green belt without any sense of public morality.

Lou Zhiyun felt bitter and resentful after being rejected by Ha Yue when they asked her to go to the movies that afternoon.

Although he had to maintain a manly facade in front of outsiders, spouting fallacies about women being like clothes, when it came to actually pursuing Ha Yue, he was completely baffled by the psychology of girls and had no clue whatsoever.

The suggestion to add him on WeChat was clearly made by Ha Yue, but he has applied many times in the past few days and Ha Yue has not approved it.

What kind of new tactic is this, playing hard to get?

Lou Zhiyun felt trapped in a free-form love problem, mainly because Ha Yue gave him too few hints, leaving him with no direction for solving it.

He tossed and turned for several days, feeling anxious and stressed, and all his gums were so swollen that he couldn't eat anything.

Finally, he posted about the matter in a dating and matchmaking group he frequented in Jiangcheng late at night when he was suffering from insomnia, and that's how he got a solution.

Manually ignoring all the statements that told him he had no chance, Lou Zhiyun selected a suggestion from a group member who shared his views.

He sent Ha Yue another message to verify Hera's identity, saying that there had been a mistake with the change when he bought something last time.

Sure enough, Ha Yue immediately accepted his friend request. Her first words, without any apologetic pleasantries, were to ask him how much money he had given her in wrong change.

Using the excuse of giving the wrong change, Lou Zhiyun talked to her about his achievements at work and his plans for life.

However, Ha Yue's reaction was still very unpredictable. He wrote dozens of long posts, but the other party only replied with emojis.

So in the afternoon, he couldn't stand her coy attitude any longer and broke the ice. He told Ha Yue that he wanted to watch a movie with her that afternoon and that he wanted to officially pursue her.

This time, Ha Yue responded very quickly.

She said she wasn't planning on dating at the moment, but thanked him for his kindness.

Lou Zhiyun was heartbroken, so he skipped work that afternoon and went to an internet cafe in the county town to kill time.

A dozen beers, two packs of Hongtashan cigarettes, and twenty-eight games played in a row until midnight.

He imagined every virtual enemy who got headshot as a woman's face. Not just Ha Yue, but all the women who had ever rejected him in his life, plus the female group members who mocked him and called him a sexist.

It's hard to believe that not only do the self-righteous women in big cities dislike him, but the simple and virtuous working women in small towns also despise him.

Why? Why is the world treating him so unfairly?

What makes Lou Zhiyun inferior to others?

The double catharsis of more than ten hours made him feel a little better.

Just as he walked out of the internet cafe, reeking of cigarette smoke and with bleary eyes, having paid his bill, regained his confidence, and was about to put his feelings for Ha Yue behind him.

After watering the trees, he pulled up his pants at the street corner, and as he turned his head, he saw the woman who had no interest in romance walking out of a shop across the street.

Ha Yue was dressed casually as usual today, but she didn't tie her hair up. Her hair was loose and fell over her shoulders. It was just the right length, but it had a unique softness and tenderness. Especially at night, her long black hair was fluttering in the wind and looked like a man's summoning banner under the moonlight.

Lou Zhiyun was so engrossed in watching that he subconsciously followed Ha Yue's footsteps and walked a few meters forward.

He thought that at this time, the outdoor temperature was close to zero degrees Celsius, and Ha Yue must be very cold walking on the street. Moreover, the street lighting in Suicheng was very poor. She was a girl walking alone on the deserted streets late at night, and she would definitely need someone to protect her.

He rode his motorcycle down the mountain at noon, and now he can use his own means of transportation to take her home.

Perhaps, she might start to look at him in a new light because of this.

So Lou Zhiyun immediately suppressed the urge to shout at her, turned around and took out his motorcycle key from his pocket, and started his motorcycle shakily.

But just as he straddled the motorcycle seat, before he even started driving under the influence, his cloudy eyes suddenly shifted warily toward the gate above where Ha Yue had just appeared.

Upon closer inspection, his exhilarated mood plummeted as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Ha Yue just came out of the lobby of a chain hotel.

She wasn't driving a tricycle, so she definitely wasn't there to deliver goods.

Moreover, Ha Yue is not an actress, so he doesn't believe she spent the first half of the night in her room discussing the script with someone.