Chapter 11
After Shi Yu finished showering, he came out and dried his wet hair with a towel. He didn’t put on a bathrobe but instead changed back into the same dirty clothes he had worn during the day.
His gaze swept over to Jiang Shangwan. She seemed utterly exhausted, lying on her side on the sofa, already fast asleep at some point. Her long legs were crossed, with one slipper still hanging loosely on her foot. One slender arm remained outstretched, like a dozing swan.
He had no choice but to give up the idea of using the hairdryer, afraid of waking her.
Jiang Shangwan’s chest rose and fell steadily—she was breathing deeply and calmly. She had taken off the jacket Shi Yu had lent her and had fallen asleep wearing her own long dress, resting so peacefully.
Shi Yu gazed at her serene, gentle sleeping face and felt his heart soften. Her cheeks were rosy in sleep, having shed her usual bright and flamboyant demeanor—she looked very cute.
At the same time, a trace of sourness tugged at his heart. Had she fallen asleep so trustingly in a room with another man?
Was she always this defenseless around other men?
Countless complicated and bitter thoughts exploded in his chest, leaving a blocked, stifling sensation.
Shi Yu gently removed the slipper hanging from her foot. Perhaps sensing the movement, her toes curled slightly in reflex, brushing against his palm.
After some hesitation, he stiffened his body and very carefully picked her up, doing his best not to make any noise. With great caution, he opened the door and placed her on the soft bed that had already been made for her.
Maybe she was truly too tired—she slept deeply and didn’t wake up.
Shi Yu pulled the covers over her and tucked in the corners, preparing to go sleep in another room. But just as he turned, the hem of his clothes was caught.
His steps halted.
“Don’t go…” Jiang Shangwan murmured. Her relaxed face began to scrunch up, as if she were reliving some painful memory. “Don’t go…”
Shi Yu’s heart sank, thinking she might be dreaming of a certain unforgettable ex-boyfriend.
He let out a soft sigh and sat back down on the edge of the bed, feeling even more downcast. His still-damp hair kept dripping water, running down the corner of his eye and across his cheek, carrying with it a faint dryness from the shampoo.
“Mm.” Shi Yu still gently reassured her in a low voice, “I haven’t left. I’m here.”
As if she had received a clear and definite answer in her dream, Jiang Shangwan slowly began to relax again. Her hand never let go of Shi Yu’s shirt hem—his shirt was now wrinkled beyond recognition.
It was almost four o’clock in the morning. Shi Yu forced himself to stay awake, not daring to sleep. He just sat by the bed, watching Jiang Shangwan in her deep slumber. Whenever she frowned and looked like she might wake, he would lightly pat the blanket over her until she settled back into sleep.
He thought, if she could sleep well—even if she mistook him for someone else in her dreams—then that was enough.
In her dream, Jiang Shangwan felt like she was drifting through a shattered, fragmented world. She was like a leaf turned into a little boat, floating down a river, seeing ever-changing scenes along the way.
One moment, she was giving a speech at a conference table, the applause from the crowd thunderous and full of praise. The next, she saw her parents abandoning her when she was small, leaving her behind alone, sobbing and begging them not to go.
Joy and sorrow flipped back and forth in this world like strokes of ink in a landscape painting, finally gathering into a rushing river across the paper. Sometimes she slept soundly, other times she trembled, as if yearning deeply for a moment of joyful release.
Then she saw a long, beautiful hand with clearly defined joints—this hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind. She also saw that same hand curl slightly while flipping through documents, brushing lightly against the back of her hand.
It sent a shiver through her.
But it felt so good.
Desires hidden in her subconscious began to quietly stir again. Those fleeting thoughts she once suppressed started to take over her dream. She remembered she had once wanted to taste the feeling at those fingertips.
So—why couldn’t she taste it?
Shi Yu was dozing off, barely keeping his eyes open, planning to comfort her whenever her sleep was disturbed. Only once she slept soundly could he allow himself a quick nap while sitting. But suddenly, her movement became more intense—she grabbed his hand and pulled it over. Perplexed, he forced his eyes open to look.
In an instant, all drowsiness vanished, and he was completely awake.
Jiang Shangwan was holding onto one of his fingers.
Shi Yu’s Adam’s apple moved involuntarily as he watched her, eyes still tightly shut, slowly take his finger into her mouth, licking it up and down. She even lightly teased him with the tip of her small, crimson tongue.
The sticky sensation on his fingertip made his scalp tingle—it felt overwhelmingly real. Yet Jiang Shangwan didn’t stop. Her soft lips brushed against the back of his hand as she murmured, “So sweet.”
The strange, intense sensation in his lower body reminded Shi Yu that he had to leave—his whole body was tense with discomfort.
He wanted to get up and leave decisively, but Jiang Shangwan held tightly onto his hand. Whenever he tried to pull away, she would lightly furrow her brows, that sorrowful expression making it impossible for him to be cruel.
He lowered his head and let out a long sigh, feeling utterly torn.
Reason and desire clashed within him. Shi Yu pressed his lips tightly together, veins bulging along his neck, a thin sheen of sweat forming on his skin. He had never felt so anxious, as if every step forward was a struggle.
Suddenly, he spoke: “Ah Wan.”
Jiang Shangwan clung to his hand, breathing deeply in her sleep, giving no response.
He tried again: “Do you like my hand?”
This time, Jiang Shangwan seemed to react slightly. With a hint of obsession, she began to nuzzle against it again, even subconsciously placed a kiss on it.
A very soft, and very gentle kiss.
But Shi Yu felt like he had completely broken down.
He finally yanked his hand away—now covered in damp traces—and fled in a panic to the bathroom. He didn’t rinse it with water or wipe it with a towel. Those things had a more fitting use.
It wasn’t until tens of minutes later, after everything was… over…
That he slowly washed his hand clean.
He stared at himself in the mirror, barely able to recognize the person reflected back at him. The face in the mirror was unnaturally flushed, eyes dark and heavy, his clothes wrinkled all over—radiating a worn-out, lustful aura.
He was a person with very low sexual desire. Even under the common premise that most boys awaken early to such feelings, he rarely acted on his own impulses—and he had never before lost control of himself to the point of near collapse like this.
But she had once again stirred and dominated him.
After calming his breath, Shi Yu returned to Jiang Shangwan’s room and carefully covered her with the blanket again. Fortunately, she was now sleeping deeply and was not awakened.
He walked over and brought his face close to the hand that was half exposed outside the blanket. Her nails were slender and smooth, painted with a nude pink polish.
He bowed his head and gently placed a precious kiss on the back of her hand.
—
When Jiang Shangwan woke up, she felt a sense of restraint on her body—some tightness and discomfort. Groggily, she realized it was because she had fallen asleep without unhooking her bra.
Huh?
She opened her eyes and looked at the hotel ceiling. It seemed she didn’t really remember coming to this room. Then the memories of last night gradually resurfaced in her mind. She remembered that she had checked in together with Shi Yu so he could rest early, and then she let him go take a shower…
After that, she had little recollection, it seemed she had just fallen asleep. When she stepped out of the room, she didn’t seem to find any trace of Shi Yu. She checked the time—it was 9:08 in the morning—he must have already left to go back to school on his own.
Jiang Shangwan felt a headache. It seemed she had dreamed a lot last night and hadn’t slept well. She reached out and gently pressed her temple, trying to ease her tense nerves. Then she went into the nearest bathroom to freshen up. As she inhaled lightly through her nose, her brows furrowed, she seemed to have smelled something slightly embarrassing.
She gently patted her cheek and prepared to wash her face and do her skincare, decisively dismissing that almost impossible thought. She hadn’t even taken off her bra—what could have happened? And if there had been any rough actions, she surely would have been awakened, after all, she wasn’t some naive little girl unaware of the world.
Jiang Shangwan applied a face mask, took a shower, wrapped her hair, and walked into the living room. There, she saw a note stuck to the hotel desk and a takeout bag.
“I asked the housekeeper to prepare breakfast suitable for your stomach condition. When you wake up, call them and they will deliver it to you. The takeout bag contains ginger tea—I left it aside, brewing a pack will help soothe your stomach. The doctor said to observe your condition for the next couple of days, so you still need to watch your diet carefully. If you feel unwell, you should return to the hospital for a checkup.
Also, I’ve gone back to school for classes. — Shi Yu”
Holding the note in her hand, Jiang Shangwan felt much of her tiredness from poor sleep lift. A thoughtful child really does win the favor of elders—she felt her mood improve considerably.
—
Shi Yu had basically not slept all night. After staying up until dawn, he was completely exhausted, but instead of feeling sleepy, he became even more alert—like an extreme rebound. Still, the weariness on his face was impossible to hide.
He returned to the dorm at 7 o’clock in the morning, with one hour left before his 8 o’clock in the morning class. As soon as he stepped through the door, his roommate Lin Chuan suddenly appeared behind him with a mischievous grin and said meaningfully, “Well, well… let me see which guy didn’t come back to the dorm last night!”
Shi Yu calmly sat down on his bed and began changing out of his dirty clothes.
“Holy sh*t,” Lin Chuan was shocked when he saw Shi Yu’s face and overall condition. He clicked his tongue and said, “Damn, impressive. Looks like you’re officially the first one in our dorm to get a girlfriend. That outfit—tsk, that face—tsk, and those marks on your body—tsk, you might as well write it all on your forehead!”
Shi Yu’s clothes were indeed in terrible shape. He changed into a fresh T-shirt and shorts, then paused and said, “I’m not in a relationship.”
“What???” Lin Chuan was practically pounding his chest in frustration. “What the hell, man?! Just look at yourself in the mirror—you look like you’ve been completely drained!”
Shi Yu stayed silent, thinking that Lin Chuan’s description wasn’t exactly wrong.
Seeing his expression, Lin Chuan knew his guess had hit the mark. “Wait, bro… don’t tell me she used you and then ditched you coldly?”
Shi Yu remained silent again, feeling like that was also… quite accurate.
Lin Chuan nodded. “Alright then, man. I thought with the way you look, you’d be killing it in the romance department. Who would’ve thought you’d end up getting played?”
Shi Yu hesitated for a moment, then humbly asked, “Then what should I do to make her actually see me… as a man?”
Lin Chuan: “…Come on, bro. You look like this—just stand there and that should be enough!”
“But she always seems to treat me like a kid,” Shi Yu said.
“Good grief! Who calls someone 189 cm tall a kid?!” Lin Chuan was outraged. But then, as he thought more carefully about what Shi Yu had said, his eyes widened in admiration. “Damn, bro… turns out you’re with an older woman?! Respect!”