24/Accept the loss

The next day was the weekend. When Chen Mian woke up, she was covered with a blanket. After the passionate encounter last night, she seemed to have been carried to take a shower. There was no one next to her. If it weren't for the messy blanket, Chen Mian would have thought that Shen Yu had left last night.

She lay in bed for a while, then subconsciously reached for her phone on the bedside table, only to find it empty. She then realized that she hadn't taken her phone out of her bag at all last night; it was still in the living room.

She pushed open the door, slipping on a pair of white slippers placed by the bed, and heard Chen Yu's voice in the living room. He was sitting on the sofa, wearing headphones and playing a game. He didn't hear Chen Mian's footsteps, but was biting his cheek, seemingly extremely dissatisfied. Finally, he muttered under his breath, "You Huai, can you stop ripping me off?"

He was wearing a set of plain black pajamas, without any embellishment, with a low neckline that revealed his collarbone bearing ambiguous red marks.

You Huai on the other end was still arguing, "What nonsense! It's not that I'm being a jerk, it's just that the signal here is really bad. Who knows which remote corner our teacher brought us to? I'm already being generous by playing games with you with only one bar of signal. Is it a bit too harsh to expect me to perform normally?"

Shen Yu was too lazy to argue with him. He woke up at six in the morning. The biological clock of a senior high school student is more punctual than an alarm clock. When he turned around after waking up, he saw Chen Mian sleeping quietly next to him. Her long, messy hair covered half of her face. Her face was buried in his chest, her hands were wrapped around his waist, and her legs were wrapped around him.

Its sleeping posture is not very still, which is completely opposite to its usual indifferent appearance. It's as if it has developed a clingy hidden side.

This was the first time Shen Yu had slept with Chen Mian until dawn. Chen Mian sleeping next to him already made him a little restless, not to mention that this person was so unruly, as if he wanted to be attached to him.

She slept comfortably, but Chen Yu was incredibly hard. In the end, he only gave up after seeing Chen Mian's swollen lower body from last night's passion. He pulled her away and took her to the bathroom for a cold shower. After coming out, he didn't dare stay on the bed. He changed into his pajamas and went to the living room to find people to play games for fun.

You Huai was almost exasperated. Last night, he was on a bus for more than three hours, which felt like riding a rocking horse, before he finally arrived at his destination. Before he could even get comfortable, he went to take his exam with his cello, which he had been playing like a bellows. When he got back to the hotel, he played Werewolf for several hours with his group of night owls. He didn't go to bed until 3 a.m.

He had only slept for less than three hours when Chen Yu's phone call woke him up. He was playing games like a sleepwalker, and leaning against the headboard, he opened a bottle of mineral water with one hand and took a few sips before he became a little more awake. Just as he was about to say, "Let's play a proper game," he heard a girl's voice on the other end of the line ask Chen Yu, "What time is it?"

You Huai was really furious. He cursed out loud, "Chen Yu, you fucking told me you were bored and wanted to play games, but it turns out you were waiting for the girl to wake up and using me as a pastime? You're a scumbag."

Shen Yu ignored him completely, checked the time on his phone—10 PM—and replied to Chen Mian, "12 AM. You can still sleep quite a bit."

You Huai laughed on the other end of the line, "Why don't you just say three o'clock in the afternoon?"

Before he could finish speaking, he saw Shenyu quit the game.

Chen Mian glanced at the sky outside the window and guessed that Shen Yu was probably lying to her.

Ignoring everyone, he went straight to the entrance, picked up his backpack, sat on the edge of the sofa, took out his phone, and saw several missed calls from Song Ai. The number of WeChat messages and text messages also jumped to thirty.

She looked at it for a while, but didn't call back. Instead, she said to Shen Yu, "Ten o'clock."

His tone was cold, like a victim emerging from a fraud ring, condemning him as a "liar."

These words were clearly tinged with personal emotion. In those enchanting scenes last night, she cried and begged Shen Yu to slow down. He said he would, but he never stopped. Like a wolf that had finally spotted its prey, he bit down and wouldn't let go. Chen Mian didn't even know what time it ended.

The energy of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy is unimaginable. It was the first time the two slept together. Shen, who had just lost his virginity, ejaculated as soon as he entered. Chen Mian, who was also experiencing the adult world for the first time, thought it was over. She pushed Shen away and prepared to get up and go home, but he grabbed her hands and pressed them back down. He sneered and said to her, "This is nothing."

To be honest, their first night together was quite chaotic. It was a bad day with thunder and lightning outside the window, and the room was dimly lit by a single lamp. At first, Chen Mian bit her lip and let him come in and out, trying her best to avoid letting those ambiguous and unspeakable moans leak out from between her lips. But as time went on, Chen Mian couldn't take it anymore. In addition, the sky outside the window was very deceptive, looking like it was eleven or twelve o'clock. She was worried that Chen Song had already gone home.

Enraged, she bit Shen Yu's hand and cursed him in a low voice.

He called her a bastard, but when the man kissed her eyes, she said yes.

She called him a jerk, and the man lowered himself down, licked her waist, and said yes.

That final thrust sent her into spasms, trembling as she climaxed beneath him, her voice hoarse as she cursed him as a beast. Shen Yu, however, remained good-natured, intertwining his fingers with hers and saying, "Fine, I give up."

As soon as she got out of bed, he started calculating, blocking her from leaving and asking, "What a beast, a bastard, a piece of trash?"

Eager to get home, Chen Mian could only say, "No, Shenyu is the best."

He's never come up with anything new when it comes to coaxing people. He's been using the same phrase "Chenyu is the best" to fool him for the past two years, and he hasn't improved at all. He's just changed his tune from "Chenyu is the best" to "Chenyu is the most capable".

She'll only coax him at specific times; otherwise, she's the same as she is now, turning her back on him without a second thought. She'll purse her lips and look calm and collected, but she'll call him a liar right away. When she's asleep, she's clingy, but when she's awake, she's completely unresponsive and wants to sit eight meters away from him.

Fog rolled in outside the window. The weather forecast had predicted good weather for the next week, but that prediction was broken in less than two days.

Shen Yu didn't argue with her and started ordering food on his phone.

The two sat at opposite ends of the table. Chen Mian scrolled through her phone messages, most of which were from Zhao Lili. In the past two days, Zhao Lili had sent more than a dozen messages about the confession wall. Yesterday, Zhao Lili asked her what the homework was. After replying to Zhao Lili, Chen Mian called Song Ai back.

The phone rang several times before it was answered.

Song Ai's voice was languid, "When are you coming back to get your things?"

Chen Mian glanced at the time. "Today, then."

"Okay, remember to bring some money when you come back. You've used up what you gave me last time." He then smiled, adding a hint of reminder, "Remember? If it weren't for me last time—"

The words were left unsaid, but both understood the meaning behind them.

Chen Mian was quiet for a while before she murmured an "Mmm".

They had nothing more to say, but Song Ai didn't hang up. Both of them were breathing lightly, and they couldn't hear any unusual sounds on the other end. Chen Song was probably not home. But that makes sense; if Chen Song were home, Song Ai wouldn't have called her to ask for money.

Finally, I heard Song Ai laughing on the other end of the phone, "No wonder your dad said you're a money tree, you really are, well done, quite promising."

Then, with a snap, the call ended before Chen Mian could reply.

Chen Mian put away her phone and stared blankly at the slippers on her feet.

Someone gently patted her head. She looked up and saw Shen Yu.

Shen Yu, still holding his phone, wavered between the porridge and noodles, and simply asked her, "What do you want to eat?"

Chen Mian glanced into the kitchen. "No food?"

Shen Yu: "You can do it?"

Unexpectedly, Chen Mian replied to him, "Yes."

Returning to the previous question, Shen Yu chuckled, "There's no room for you to make a fuss. Nobody lives here, so where would you get the food? Just eat your takeout."

Chen Mian frowned. "Where did those pajamas come from?"

She was referring to the women's pajamas that had been changed into on her. They fit her perfectly, were white, and looked like a matching set with the one Chen Yu was wearing.

Why don't you ask where the house came from?

Chen Mian was quite obedient, "Where did the house come from?"

"I bought it." Seeing that the person didn't seem to want to choose, Shen Yu simply picked out the porridge and, while paying, instructed Chen Mian, "So, where did you think the pajamas came from?"

Chen Mian was quiet for a few seconds, then spoke in a very obedient tone, mimicking his voice, "You bought it."

bite--

The phone showed that the payment was successful.

Shen Yu put away his phone, and when he looked up, he saw Chen Mian's eyes staring at him.

Well-behaved and docile.

—It's an act.

Tsk.

Shen Yu rubbed his cheek, though he knew that the person looking at him like that definitely wanted something.

But he still fell into the trap himself.

"You have something to say?"

Chen Mian said softly, "Song Ai wants money."

Shen Yu immediately laughed, "You're not being honest, Chen Mian. Why are you being so roundabout? Can't you just say how much you want?"

Chen Mian looked at him with some confusion and repeated, "It was Song Ai who asked you for it."

"What's the difference?"

“Song Ai was someone you found.”

OK.

Shen Yu understood. What Chen Mian meant was that Song Ai was someone he had found, so it was perfectly normal for him to give her money.

They refuse to suffer the slightest loss, are too lazy to even take on a favor, and are quite frank in their heartlessness without any pretense.

Shen Yu almost laughed in anger, "Where's your conscience? Who am I helping by asking Song Ai?"

Without pausing for a moment, Chen Mian replied directly, "Your conscience has been eaten away."

Her tone was calm, but for some reason, Shen Yu could detect a hint of grievance in it.

But what's really strange is that Shen Yu puffed out his cheeks, his tone quite displeased, "I ate it? Can't you say something nicer?"

“It’s you.” She took his hand and led it to her chest, her neckline slipping down to reveal the red marks on her fair skin. It stopped at her left breast, her heart pounding. The gesture was intimate, but her tone was flat, as if stating a fact. “You ate it last night.”

The feel of her skin in his hand was full and soft, and the fire that Chen Yu had suppressed with the cold shower was rekindled. He pinched Chen Mian's chin, signaling her to stop while she was ahead. He had clearly taken advantage of her, but his tone was somewhat displeased.

"Are you sure I'd admit it?"

"You don't know how?" Chen Mian looked at him.

This kind of gaze can easily give the illusion that she has invested emotional feelings.

But clearly not; the word "liar" is the most appropriate to describe Chen Mian.

But it was like being in a pyramid scheme. The daily interactions were like constant brainwashing. Shen Yu originally planned to say no, what a load of crap.

He only follows his own rules in his behavior and conduct. Behind his politeness and restraint lies indifference and apathy. He has never done anything like helping an elderly person cross the street, which he wrote about in his elementary school diary. To be more precise, he rarely puts his heart into things that can be solved with money. This was how his relationship with Chen Mian started.

But things have turned sour lately; I've lost both my money and my loved ones.

The last layer of cellophane was only semi-transparent. Even You Huai could see that he was gradually taking it to heart, but no one could guess Chen Mian's attitude. It was most appropriate to say that this girl was heartless. But sometimes she just played tricks on people. Shen Yu, who didn't know how to help the elderly cross the road in elementary school, had gotten into the habit of spending money and time on Chen Mian. Let alone crossing the road, judging from the situation, even if she wanted to go to heaven, he would build a ladder for her in the end.

But on what grounds?

Shen Yu was somewhat displeased. He had always prided himself on not being a sycophant and often mocked You Huai's sycophantic behavior.

But if you really had to list them all out, Chen Yu really wouldn't fall behind.

Damn it.

He sat there with his legs apart, pulling the person between his laps. He raised his chin, his tone somewhat arrogant, yet subtly displeased, and said, "Kiss me."

Chen Mian had no idea what Shen Yu was thinking, and was just a little confused by this topic that had gone completely off-topic. "What?"

But she heard the boy's voice, which sounded somewhat muffled, as if he was giving in to himself, and the ladder was handed to her feet.

"Kiss me, and I'll accept it."