Jiang Fei stood next to Wen Yishu, her wrist held in his hand.
He didn't look at her, but kept his eyes downcast on the thick book on the table, as if asking that question was just an illusion.
Jiang Fei moved her wrist, but he quickly tightened his grip on hers.
"Why are you suddenly asking this?" Jiang Fei gave up struggling, turned to look at Wen Yishu, and seeing that he still didn't speak, she lowered her voice, with a hint of amusement and laziness, "Are you so concerned about who I like?"
The hand holding her wrist trembled slightly, and Wen Yishu looked up at her.
Her cheeks were still flushed, her eyes slightly glazed, and her alluring eyes were half-closed, as if the playfulness she had just felt was merely an illusion.
“Luo Shi is really nice,” Jiang Fei bent down, leaned close to him, and winked. “Brother Wen, don’t you think so?”
Luo Shi, really, is very good.
Wen Yishu felt a pang of anxiety upon hearing her words.
He knew better than anyone that Luo Shi carried poison. He usually stayed in his own territory, and if anyone dared to trespass, he would devour that person without batting an eye.
This time, if the two hadn't shared a rare common goal, they would never have reached a consensus.
Luo Shi was for Luo Wan.
He was the same.
Is he... the same?
Wen Yishu's eyelashes trembled, and as if thinking of something, she quickly released Jiang Fei's wrist. The lingering warmth on her fingertips made him uneasy.
He hurriedly grabbed the suit jacket from the side, stood up, and said, "I'll take you."
Jiang Fei watched his movements, smiled and nodded, her cheeks flushed and her eyes curving into crescents.
The two walked toward the elevator.
The moment Jiang Fei stepped into the elevator, he noticed that Wen Yishu's face was tense, clearly still somewhat uncomfortable, but he quickly concealed it without revealing a hint of anything.
The hotel has 33 floors, and elevators go down floor by floor.
Jiang Fei occasionally glanced at the display screen next to her.
As the elevator descended to the twenty-first floor, it suddenly made a "snap" sound, a crisp metallic scraping sound, followed by the lights going out and the elevator coming to a complete stop in darkness.
Jiang Fei frowned, quickly stepped forward and pressed all the floor buttons, then pressed the alarm button.
No response has been received yet.
The person next to me swayed slightly, followed by a series of rapid breaths, which were quickly suppressed.
Jiang Fei reached out and gently touched Wen Yishu's arm. It was as stiff as iron, and the arm trembled uncontrollably at her touch.
She paused slightly, took out her phone, and the faint screen light had just lit up.
"I'm fine." Wen Yishu's voice suddenly came, and even though she tried her best to pretend to be calm, she couldn't hide the unsteady breath at the end of her voice.
Jiang Fei froze as she picked up her phone, then casually put it back in her pocket and asked nonchalantly, "What book were you reading just now?"
Wen Yishu's body was tense, and his eyes barely moved. He heard a soft voice asking him what book he had read.
He tried hard to recall, just like he had in that dim attic before. Even the most tedious reference books, he forced himself to memorize, in order to resist the feeling of impending death in his mind.
"Brother Wen?"
"'He begot himself, with the Holy Spirit in between, and sent himself to be the Redeemer. Between himself and others, he was deceived by demons, stripped naked and whipped, nailed to the cross and starved to death, like a bat nailed to the barn door...'"
Wen Yishu's voice sounded as if it were being squeezed out from between her teeth, initially strained, but later becoming barely smooth.
Jiang Fei listened quietly.
“‘But by then, all the living had become the dead…’” Wen Yishu’s voice stopped abruptly, followed by a pause in her breathing, and then an uncontrollable urgency.
He could feel not only the coldness of his body and the near-suffocating sensation, but also the restlessness in his heart.
He didn't remember the rest of the content; all he remembered was...
Wen Yishu turned her head, her eyes, now accustomed to the darkness, could vaguely make out the woman beside her.
"And then?" Jiang Fei was also looking at him, her eyes like two crystals in the dim light.
Wen Yishu's eyes barely focused on her face: "...Jiang Fei."
"I am here."
Wen Yishu repeated, "Jiang Fei."
After that, I couldn't concentrate on anything else. I was thinking about the game, about how she had drunk so much, and about what would happen if she knew the truth...
Thinking of... her.
Jiang Fei paused, then didn't press further. She simply walked up to him, stood on tiptoe, looked at his features, and then smiled with narrowed eyes: "I'm here."
Wen Yishu stared at her blankly.
In that instant, my heart was in turmoil, yet I found myself drawn closer.
With a loud crash, the elevator suddenly shook violently and began to sink.
The two of them were pulled to the side by the elevator. The next second, Jiang Fei felt her waist being gently stopped, and she fell onto the person in front of her.
There was no physical pain from the fall, only... my lips hurt. I hit Wen Yishu's lips and teeth, and I even tasted blood instantly. But after the pain, there was a cool and tingling sensation.
Jiang Fei gently licked Wen Yishu's lips... It tasted good, the light fragrance of red wine blended with the elegant warmth, creating a somewhat ambiguous atmosphere.
Wen Yishu beneath him gasped, her body tensing instantly, and her lips involuntarily returned a light kiss.
Their breaths mingled together.
With a "snap," the emergency lights inside the elevator suddenly turned on.
Jiang Fei feigned shock, her eyes widening as she quickly moved her lips away. She tried to stand up, supporting herself on Wen Yishu's chest, but his large hand remained on her waist. "Brother Wen..."
Wen Yishu just stared at her.
She would say he doesn't need to wear that fake smile mask.
She would ask him in the dimly lit elevator, "What did you just look at?"
She would respond to him again and again, "I'm here."
Now, she lay before him, her cheeks flushed, her red lips slightly swollen and glistening with a drop of blood, the drop slowly seeping between them.
Without realizing it, he reached out and caught the drop of blood with the tip of his index finger, gently wiping it from the corner of her lips.
“Brother Wen…” Jiang Fei called his name softly.
Wen Yishu came to her senses, looked at her own hand in disbelief, then at the corner of her lips, her eyes darkened, as if she couldn't believe it, and she quickly withdrew her hand from her waist.
Jiang Fei stood up.
"Is anyone inside?" came the voice of a staff member from outside the elevator.
“There are people inside,” Jiang Fei quickly replied. “There are two people inside.”
As she spoke, she turned to look at Wen Yishu, who had already sat up, and smiled as she reached out her hand to him: "Get up."
Wen Yishu glanced at her, then at her hands. There was light behind her, and her fingertips seemed to be dancing with light, pulling him out of this gloomy and dim space.
After a long while, he reached out and took her hand as he stood up.
At the same time, the elevator doors slowly opened.
The hotel manager stood at the door, his eyes filled with fear. "Mr. Wen, I'm so sorry, I startled you..." As he spoke, he looked down at the two men's clasped hands and added, "...and your girlfriend, I'm so sorry, we are willing to take full responsibility."
Jiang Fei hurriedly tried to pull her hand back: "No, you've misunderstood, I didn't..."
Before she could finish explaining, Wen Yishu grabbed her hand and walked outside with a slightly sullen expression.
The manager didn't look up until the two disappeared through the door. He wiped the sweat from his brow. Mr. Wen was always gentle and polite, and it seemed to be the first time he had ever seen Mr. Wen so...frightening.
...
The return journey was quiet; no one spoke.
Jiang Fei glanced at Wen Yishu. Ever since they left the restaurant, he had been frowning, lost in thought, and was now even more silent.
Her gaze moved to the top of his head.
Wen Yishu: Favorability rating 60.
It's gone up again.
Jiang Fei rubbed the corner of her lips with the back of her finger. The wound from the fall was slightly swollen, and it still tasted rusty when licked.
Wen Yishu noticed her movement, paused on the steering wheel, and suddenly stopped the car.
Jiang Fei glanced out the window. They hadn't arrived at the villa yet. The night was deep, and only a pharmacy by the roadside was brightly lit.
A short while later, Wen Yishu returned, handed her a tube of ointment, and then drove straight to the villa.
Jiang Fei took the ointment; the transparent paste had a cool, minty scent.
With no mirror at hand, she applied the ointment to the wound on her lower lip by feel, and after thinking for a moment, deliberately applied some more than intended.
This time, there were no delays on the road, and it came to a smooth stop at the intersection outside the villa.
Jiang Fei got out of the car; the night breeze was a bit chilly.
The next second, footsteps sounded beside her, and Wen Yishu draped his suit jacket over her shoulders: "I'll take you inside." He smiled.
Jiang Fei smiled back and quietly followed beside him, still stepping on his shadow as before.
The difference is that last time he didn't put a suit jacket on her.
Wen Yishu didn't say anything more until they reached the door. Jiang Fei turned around and waved, "Brother Wen, I'm going back now."
After saying that, he started to walk into the villa.
"Feifei." Wen Yishu called out to her.
Jiang Fei turned his head in confusion.
Wen Yishu hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward, looked down at her under the streetlight, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
"Brother Wen?" Jiang Fei asked back.
Wen Yishu snapped out of her daze: "You applied the ointment crookedly." As he spoke, he rubbed the excess ointment on the corner of her lips with his thumb.
Jiang Fei smiled and was about to speak.
The sound of a wheelchair moving came from behind.
"So intimate, huh?" Luo Shi, supporting herself in her wheelchair, slowly emerged from the dim light around the corner. Her features were exquisitely beautiful, like an angel's, but her face was deathly pale. "It seems I've disturbed you, Second..."
The sound stopped abruptly.
Luo Shi squinted, staring intently at Jiang Fei's lips under the streetlight.
—It was swollen and full, with ambiguous red marks on its lower lip, which aroused the imagination.
Author's Note:
"He begot himself, with the Holy Spirit in between, and sent himself to be the Redeemer. Between himself and others, he was deceived by demons, stripped naked and whipped, nailed to the cross and starved to death, like a bat nailed to the barn door..."
—From Ulysses
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com