Heartache

As dusk approached, Yu Lian got out of the car and waved to the people inside.

She had lost the thin shirt she wore when she arrived, and was now wearing his t-shirt and jacket. As soon as she got out of the car's air conditioning, her face flushed red. She turned to leave, but Pei Shaoyuan grabbed her wrist.

I could only stand back and listen to what else he had to say.

Pei Shaoyuan didn't get out of the car, afraid that if he went with her he really wouldn't want to leave. He stared intently at her, trying to find even the slightest bit of reluctance in that pretty face.

"Don't forget your promise, or I'll come back to catch you again."

Even though they lived in the same city, he couldn't keep up with her, let alone when she was far away in H country. The anxiety of separation that he had been suppressing ever since he saw the flight information burst forth the moment she opened the car door.

My hands are itching; I want to grab her by the scruff of her neck, lift her up like a kitten, and take her away in the car.

"Isn't it just having to video chat every day?" Yu Lian said impatiently, looking down and trying to pry his fingers open. He pinched the base of her fingers a couple of times before reluctantly letting go.

"Besides video calls, you'd better tell me before you do anything. Don't just go off on your own and leave me waiting for you on my phone. Even if you're with another man, don't lie to me."

Pei Shaoyuan's words angered him, and his anti-male sentiment erupted. He had not found any benefits in men.

A man who is a mistress and also beats the wife; a man who claims to have a best friend relationship online; a man who claims to be a voice-singing substitute and is very scheming; a man who disciplines his sister like he's a child bride.

Men, men, where do all these despicable men come from in this world?

Yu Lian nodded perfunctorily. He closed the door very slowly, leaving only a tiny gap before opening it again. He then ripped off his hoodie and smeared it over Yu Lian's face.

Suddenly everything went dark, and I heard the car door finally slam shut in frustration.

"How can I leave if you keep staring at me like that? If you do leave, keep your clothes safe."

Yu Lian tore off her clothes, but the car had already driven away. She was wrapped in one layer of clothing and hugging another in her arms. The perfume scent that she could always smell on him wafted up to her, and she even had his pinky ring on her finger. He was like a dog penning its territory, claiming her place.

She turned to open the door, but the lock was remotely unlocked with a click. Yu Lian looked up and saw Lu Jiefei standing there, half-hidden by lush bushes through a floor-to-ceiling window. He was silently gazing at her, waiting.

The light gray knit sweater was accentuated by her rounded shoulders and narrow waist. The cuffs of her black striped shirt were rolled up and tucked into her elbows. From a distance, her facial expression was a blur.

Yu Sihui and Lu Zehui, the two first-generation entrepreneurs, are very busy with work every day. At this time, only Lu Jiefei, who has just returned from school, is home. As long as he doesn't tell his parents, Yu Lian isn't too afraid of him. She slowly walked in, her thighs, which were covered by the hem of her overly long clothes, trembling.

The phone vibrated a few times in my palm.

"bias: What, you got a seven-day no-reason suspension after getting a *?"

Yu Lian had no idea how many people would be monitoring her when she went home. She subconsciously looked back but didn't see anyone. Her phone kept buzzing with messages.

"bias: What are you looking for? You want me to take over? I'm still a nobody, do you think you're worthy?"

"bias: He just dumped you in the car after you were so badly hurt you could barely walk. Whose husband is he? Whose true love is he? How does it feel to be tricked into having sex, Yu Lian?"

Yu Lian paused for a moment, wondering what Jiang Shaoheng was dreaming about, whether he would take over or not. It was truly humorous that he could be so sarcastic and still make a wish; she couldn't help but smile at his antics.

When Lu Jiefei saw that she was taking a long time to arrive, he opened the door to greet her. She was holding her coat and typing with difficulty.

"Xiao Lian's inner monologue: TT"

Xiao Lian's inner monologue: My heart aches.

Purely out of a perverse sense of humor.

Let him think he's been abandoned. There's no point in taking someone like that seriously. He's just a fool.

"bias: If you're heartbroken, just die."

Lu Jiefei had already walked up to her, reached out and took the bulging coat from her arms, his fingers seemingly exerting force, his muscles clearly visible.

"Let's go home first." Lu Jiefei didn't want to see her being laughed at by others, so he turned around and walked away, his hand gripping the man's clothes so tightly that his knuckles were weak and numb, so that he wouldn't accidentally drop them.

I don't know how hard it was to part, I even clung to her to reply to her messages on the short way home.

Upon entering, Yu Lian was sweltering in the heat. She couldn't wait to take off her coat and toss it onto the low cabinet. Her collar was roughly pulled open, revealing a mark on her neck and collarbone that hadn't faded even after being sucked so hard.

Having very fair skin makes any other skin tone seem like showing off, like you're deliberately trying to attract attention.

Lu Jiefei was too tall; with his hands resting on the cabinet, all Yu Lian could see was a tiny gap between his chest and the door. It was as if he were imprisoning her in the smallest prison in the world.

Yu Lian pushed him, her anger about to erupt: "It's hot, why don't you come inside?"

He pressed his hand against his forearm, his palm warm, and he couldn't tell if he was using force. Lu Jiefei had fed stray cats at school and had gotten used to being fed by the students. When he found that he had no shortage of people to feed them, he became heartless. When he was unhappy, he would retract his claws and hit people with a bang. His paw pads were soft and warm.

At least he wasn't the only one who was heartless.

Lu Jiefei glanced at her coat, which was teetering precariously on the edge of the cabinet, but ignored it. Yu Lian pushed his hand away, but he grabbed it, not even holding it, and pinched her palm with his thumb. He must have hit some pressure point, because Yu Lian squinted in pain.

On the coffee table in the living room was a paper bag with the pharmacy logo printed on it, and next to it were several drug instructions with dense text and several tubes of ointment.

Yu Lian sank into the sofa, watching as Lu Jiefei took out a box of medical finger cots from a paper bag. The cots were milky white and he rubbed them down from the fingertip to the base of the finger.

again?

The shameful memories resurfaced. Back then, I had only agreed to let him examine me because I was afraid he would tell on me. Now, I wasn't so willing and moved to the farthest corner of the sofa.

"What's going on now?"

Lu Jiefei only put two fingers on her wrist, turned around to look at her, and glanced lightly at the low-waisted shorts under her T-shirt. The shorts were stuck at the top of her thighs, creating a slight curve of flesh.

"You can't wear tight pants afterwards. Have you read everything I wrote to you?"

Yu Lian certainly didn't finish reading it. The document was several pages long, and she would get dizzy just from glancing at it. How could she possibly read to the end?

He stammered, "Yes, I've finished reading it. But I don't have any other pants to wear, so I'll just wear these for now and change when I get back. I really have finished reading it."

She was a habitual liar, and Lu Jiefei had no patience to discern the truth in her words. Or rather, from the moment he saw her strange walking posture through the glass, he lost all patience for her.

"Okay, I've finished reading it. Have you done it?"

"Safety measures, post-coital cleaning, and you can't even put your pants back on properly—how can I trust you to have done all that?"

His ungloved hand pressed down on her thigh, holding her in place and preventing her from rubbing against him any further. Her attempts to close her mouth were also pushed away by his knee.

The smoother the skin under his hands, the more it reminded him of how young the girl before him was. Yu Lian was only nineteen years old; children her age who started school later were still in high school.

She didn't come home all night. While she was out, she was assaulted by someone of unknown origin. All he could do was wait in front of his phone for her to call for help if she happened.

A sense of powerlessness and loss of control consumed him all night. As he typed in the document, the familiar keyboard layout kept causing him to mistype. Lines of academic jargon distorted into pages of curses.

Yu Lian looked at his cold expression and dared not speak. She could easily turn on others and make a scene, but she couldn't bring herself to do it with Lu Jiefei. Even without blood ties, she was suppressed, perhaps because she truly regarded him as a brother.

In fact, during the many times her parents argued and smashed their home to pieces, dragging her out of her room and saying that they would have divorced long ago if it weren't for the children, she really wanted to have a brother.

Denim shorts have only one button and one zipper. Once zipped up, they're already worn and tattered from the tight fabric. Like a crushed flower, no matter how thick the petals are, if you pinch them with your fingernail, dark sap will seep through the thin skin.

The slightly open mouth was either worn open or simply never closed to begin with.

[I probably can't write the rest]