Chapter 69: The hot, wet, and numb feeling on my lips lingers between my legs
Lu Cong frowned, "Necklace?"
Li Wenjing pursed her lips and said nothing. He asked again, "I thought it was something else. When did you become a believer?"
"It's made of platinum, very expensive..."
Li Wenjing reached out to grab it, but he raised his hand high, his brows furrowed even tighter, "Even if it's made of diamonds, it's not worth your life."
“Actually, diamonds aren’t worth much…”
"The button is broken. I'll go fix it for you."
Before Li Wenjing could lower her hand, the driver and passersby gathered around, asking if they were alright and scolding her. Knowing she was in the wrong, she lowered her eyes and remained silent. Lu Cong waved his uninjured hand, repeatedly saying he would take care of the wound himself and asking them not to worry. The driver insisted on giving them a ride to the hospital.
“There are still many good people.”
Lu Cong put the necklace into his chest pocket while not forgetting to tease her.
The atmosphere between them suddenly became strange. Li Wenjing opened her mouth, but the word "I'm sorry" got stuck in her throat. He turned his head away from the window. From the time he was bandaged in the hospital until he walked out the door, his face remained cold and expressionless.
It was already afternoon when he returned to the rental car agency. After buying supplies for his road trip, he gritted his teeth and used his bandaged hand to move the items into the trunk. Li Wenjing silently opened the car door and got into the driver's seat.
"Let me do it." He spoke to her again.
"No, your hand must be hurting. Rest first." Li Wenjing inserted the key and said softly, "Thank you for saving me."
"You have some conscience. Be careful and don't let your mind wander." He jumped into the passenger seat and drove off. He reached out to tinker with the car stereo, and the first song that came on was "Casablanca." He hummed along softly. Li Wenjing gripped the steering wheel tightly, trying not to let the familiar melody distract her, but her eyes burned.
The car accident delayed their trip for most of the day. He researched routes and discussed with her camping by Lake Naivasha on their first night. In summer, the lake was a pale gray-blue, tinged with melancholy. The waves lapped against the shore like sighs. By the time they had pitched the tent, the sun had already set. The wind carried the afterglow of the sunset, scattering fragments across the lake, reflecting on her skin like shredded cotton. She brushed them away, and the sky darkened completely.
Under the silent gaze of the trees, she faced the lake alone. The night stained the world, and the lake gradually became more peaceful, with a deeper color. On the shore, the joyful sounds of other campers rose and fell. Lu Cong came over and handed her a barbecue and two bottles of drinks.
"I went to that party and begged for food, and you're asking me if I want to join you?"
"Why not?"
"Come on, they're all fair-skinned, beautiful girls with long legs," he sighed half-seriously as he sat down next to her, "I'm married now, I won't join in the fun anymore."
"If you don't go, then I will."
"You don't go either."
He put his arm around her shoulders and pressed his lips against hers. The moisture from the lake and his warmth enveloped her, his breath pounding her heart and lungs, leaving her breathless. She reached out to cover his eyes, and he licked her palm with his tongue, as if she were a piece of candy, slowly melting her.
"Going back to the tent?" he asked in her ear.
"Is your hand okay?"
"Skin injury."
"I'm sorry I'm a little tired today. I drove for so long..."
He immediately let go of her, "Ah! It's okay, eat something?"
She lowered her head and hummed, then took the skewer and began to eat. He said he was going to get something from the tent, and when he came back he held a piece of tiramisu and lit a cold firework. The star-like firework shone around her, tempting her to touch the flame.
"Happy birthday. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do for you outside."
"I even forgot about it myself," Li Wenjing said with a smile. "Birthdays are only celebrated by children. When you get older, you don't have a happy birthday anymore."
"I'm returning this to you. I went to the roadside to replace the buckle when I was buying something. They said the buckle was broken to begin with, why didn't you replace it?"
He took out the necklace, and the cross swayed between them. Li Wenjing reached out to take it, but he raised his hand again.
"Before I return it to you, promise me one thing first." The light in his eyes flickered with the fireworks. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"
"Do you ever act silly?"
"A lot. When I was a kid, I lived in a neighborhood with surveillance cameras everywhere, just like a prison. One time, I came home late from playing, and fearing my parents would find out and beat me up, I climbed over the wall and set off the alarm. Imagine! Multiple headlights blared at me, and the alarms started blaring. It was incredibly embarrassing, and the whole neighborhood knew about it."
"There are even sillier times, like right now..." He laughed heartily and grabbed her hand. "My family originally wouldn't let me go out this time. They wanted me to go study with my comrades and stay in Beijing for further studies for the second half of the year. I said no, I have to find a girl. I promised her I would. My dad was afraid I'd mess around, so he gave me a strict order, saying I couldn't go back unless I had settled my lifelong affairs. You see, this has left me with no home to return to. I'm really at my wit's end."
After the fireworks burned out, there was a moment of silence. He held the burnt firework stick and whispered, "So, come home with me."
"Are you kidding or are you serious?"
"Do I sound like I'm joking?" He raised his voice, then laughed again. "There are a lot of benefits to coming back with me. Look, my parents alone will give you two big red envelopes, and my grandparents will give them too. You can tell I've made a killing on this trip!"
Li Wenjing laughed. "So many people? That makes my heart flutter."
"What about us?"
She turned away her smile and shook her head. "I've never accepted a red envelope, nor have I ever gotten along with so many families. It's hard for me to fit in with your family. I'm older than you, and my family isn't well off. I don't want to have to explain all this to others over and over again, and I don't want to be judged for no reason."
"Don't worry too much!" He gently nudged her forehead. "My family is very nice. My parents don't care at all. They even say, 'A woman three years older than you is destined to be rich,' and compliment me on finding a good partner."
"You don't understand. You have a happy family, so of course you can be casual about dating. But when it comes to marriage, they definitely want to find someone who is well-matched, rich, and beautiful."
"Oh, there's no such thing as a white, rich, and beautiful girl! My family wasn't that happy either. I'm embarrassed to even mention it. When I was in high school, my dad cheated on me and argued with my mom every day. She was so angry that she was hospitalized for uterine fibroids. I thought they were going to get divorced, so I gave up studying and spent every day thinking about who I would be with in the future. It was really weird! The weird thing was that my dad went to the hospital to take care of my mom and got scolded by my grandparents, but when he came back, we made up in tears."
He bit the corner of his mouth. "Later, when I grew up, I found out that this matter was not over at all. My father had other sons outside, and they were waiting for my mother to give up their positions. But my mother said that it was for my future and she just pretended not to see it. I don't know what future I have. I am always idle and do not do anything serious. But they say I am the most motivated. Isn't this a joke? Sometimes I also want to stay away from them forever, but I am soft-hearted and can't bear it."
"Yeah, I know."
"You are indeed a woman who has seen many storms." He reached out and held her in his arms again. "I hope you won't be unhappy when I say this."
"No one should despise each other. You can leave if you want, but the process is very painful. Besides, they still love you. They have raised you so well for so many years, so they keep holding you back. Either don't leave, or you will be heartbroken and break up, which you can't do. Since we are not enemies, we are just living together. There is no need to force yourself. Just choose the way that makes you feel comfortable."
He smiled, "I'm almost completely falling in love with you."
After leaving Kenya, she hadn't seen Lu Cong for over two years. Now, seeing him again, alone with him, cuddling up, quietly lying on his chest, gazing at the stars, she felt a rare sense of peace. She rarely felt this way before. Her life was always so relentless, and she felt the same way when she walked with Gu Weiyi. She thought of work, money, the company... nothing else. Just being with him, life slowed down. The happiness she felt then was like air—undetectable, yet tangible. This brought up another question: did she like him, or did she like the feeling of relaxation, or did she simply like herself when she was with him?
This question lingered in her mind until the end of this East African road trip. Their skin was tanned even darker, but their faces showed a vibrant hue nourished by the sun.
Lu Cong said that they wanted to buy tickets back together. She said that he didn't need to buy the tickets, she would buy them on her phone, and then they could just check in and choose seats together. Lu Cong blinked, said nothing, then knelt at her feet, looking up at her with bright eyes. She stared at him intently, suddenly not knowing what to say. He put his hands around her waist and took off her skirt, his lips crawling up along her thighs, his coarse black hair sliding across her lower abdomen along with the warmth of his lips. She almost couldn't stand, grabbing his hair and gasping loudly. He hugged her waist tightly, and his nose poked her pelvis, causing her to tremble.
After that, his hand reached up and reached into her underwear. She was still trembling and fell on him. He lay on the ground, their skin pressed against each other. His body was very hot, as vibrant as the heat evaporating from the earth. He kissed her very hard, sucking until her lips were stretched and deformed, and their lips stuck together for a long time.
So the last day of the trip was just like the first day, they didn't go anywhere except to bed. When they arrived at the airport the next day, the hot, wet, and numbing touch of his lips seemed to still linger between her legs, and they had become so soft from crawling on her legs that they felt glued together.
Before changing her boarding pass, she stopped. She didn't follow him, and he turned back, his eyes quickly turning red as he stared at her.
"I told you I'd buy you a plane ticket." He sighed towards the sky, "I'll buy one right now. Come with me."
"I've already bought some back to England, sorry..."
He interrupted her hastily, "Because of him? Wenjing, I'm the one you're dating now! What are you doing? Why are you making your life so miserable for someone who can't wake up? Look at me. Although my family isn't as rich as his, I'm in much better health than him, taller than him, and I treat you no worse than he does. To be honest, I don't think he treats you well. I'm confident I can do better than him."
"I don't think I can start a family with anyone else yet, not because of him. I don't have any responsibilities towards him, it's just that we are very different. You have a home you want to go back to, and that's not my home. The more I think about it, the more anxious I become... So I refunded the ticket. I can't go back with you. I'm sorry, please understand."
"But I love you and don't want to let go." He dropped his luggage and hugged her tightly. After a suffocating hug, his lips pressed against her cheek. "With just the word from you, I can buy a plane ticket right now and go to England with you."
"Don't be like this, I told you not to force yourself."
"Then please remember me, okay?" His voice began to choke. "You've always held the place in my heart for two years... Otherwise I wouldn't have come to you..."
He cried like a child on his shoulder. She patted his back gently and wiped away her tears before he noticed.
After saying goodbye to him, she boarded the plane back to England. She first had a deep sleep on the plane, and the haze of heartbreak in her heart dissipated a lot. Looking at the white clouds outside, her mood became relaxed again. She leaned against the window, and the sweet and exciting time she spent with him flashed before her eyes. She recalled it and couldn't help laughing.
It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter. It’s just another man she lost. If he still misses her, he will come to her again, she said to herself, but for her, she didn’t want to look back.
She greeted the neighbors who were walking their dogs or jogging along the way. When she returned to her home, she found that the garden had just been trimmed. She wondered if it was the property management service and thought about calling back to ask what was going on. Then she opened the door and was greeted by the fragrance of flowers. Her home had never been so tidy.
Footsteps sounded from the other side of the room, and her heart began to beat wildly. When Gu Weiyi really walked towards her, she immediately turned her eyes away when she saw him. Her whole body stiffened as she walked past him and threw her bag on the coffee table.
Sitting on the sofa, the flame of the lighter flickering in her hand danced in her eyes. She asked to herself, "Why are you here?", she asked to herself, "Why are you here?"
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