Sweet Gardenia - Chapter 31.2

Fu Yanshang left a little after three, promising to return before eight.

She spent some time selecting samples and thought about calling Li Siyi to come up and help her choose. She had been so preoccupied with Fu Yanshang these past couple of days that she hadn’t even asked what Li Siyi was up to.

But knowing her personality, she was either lounging in the hotel sleeping or out partying all night at a bar.

However, the call went unanswered for a long time. Just as Lu Zhi was about to hang up, she heard a male voice, clearly groggy from sleep, ask, “Who is this?”

Her brain underwent a brand-new evolution in that moment. She double-checked the contact name, and the next second, a scream erupted from the other end, so loud she could even hear the echo from the top floor.

A moment later, a familiar voice came through the receiver.

Li Siyi: “You might not believe this, Lu Zhi, but I think I just saw my ex-boyfriend.”

Lu Zhi: “Where?”

“In my bed.”

“…”

“The one you met online, dated during school, had a long-distance relationship with, and then broke up with?”

“Yeah.” Li Siyi thumped her head hard, filled with regret. “Didn’t I hook up with a hot stranger last night? How is it him again? Isn’t this a total loss??”

Before Lu Zhi could respond, she heard an indistinct male voice from the other side: “I can hear you.”

“I’m talking about you! Weren’t you still in school? Wasn’t I… Wait, wait, wait… was it you who messaged me a while back?”

“You dared to catfish me three times? All three of my online relationships were with the same person?? Do you have a death wish?!”

Lu Zhi promptly exited the conversation, leaving the space for them to sort things out.

Unlike He Zhao, she had no intention of becoming part of their little drama.

But Li Siyi didn’t give her the chance. Soon, her door was knocked on urgently, and Li Siyi rushed in, frantic: “My damn lingerie got torn. Hurry up, lend me a set.”

Lu Zhi: “…”

“You two are playing that wild?”

“I’ll explain later. That bastard set me up again,” Li Siyi said, wrapped in a towel and pacing back and forth. “Hurry, any set will do. I’m feeling a draft right now.”

“…”

Lu Zhi pursed her lips and pointed casually. “That one.”

Li Siyi pulled it out, glanced at it, and tossed it onto the bed. “This one’s too pretty. Save it for a special occasion to wear for your husband. I’ll just wear something plain.”

“As if he deserves to see me in something this nice after tearing my lingerie?”

Lu Zhi: “So you’re saying he’ll get to see this set tonight too.”

Li Siyi raised her hand in a vow. “I absolutely have no such intention, but just in case something unexpected happens, I don’t want to look like I deliberately dressed up for it, you know?”

Lu Zhi said, “One night after you broke up, you even called out his name.”

“That’s all ancient history.  Don’t bring it up.”

Li Siyi turned her back and pulled off her towel, revealing a mottled expanse of skin on her back, a completely unfamiliar territory Lu Zhi had never encountered. She hadn’t reached such an advanced stage yet.

Would she end up like that too someday…?

Lu Zhi asked in advance, “Does your back… hurt?”

Li Siyi turned around, startled. “Damn, is this guy part dog?” Then she replied, “It’s fine. You’ll find out when the time comes.”

At this point, Lu Zhi rubbed the corner of her lips and asked again, “So, when you two usually… engage in those activities, a little redness and swelling are normal, right? I mean, on the skin?”

“Of course it’s normal. Haven’t you seen the marks I left on him?” Li Siyi shared helpfully. “If there’s no trace at all, it wasn’t intense. Where are you red?”

Lu Zhi: “…”

She said guiltily, “Nowhere. I was just asking.”

Li Siyi slipped on her bra, adjusted it with a sigh, and remarked, “You’re eating well. Mine are practically empty.”

“…”

“Wait, no,” Li Siyi corrected herself. “It should be: your husband is eating well.”

“Just go already,” Lu Zhi urged, pushing her. “Go clean up your mess. Your little brother is waiting for you.”

After a pause, Lu Zhi asked again, “Are you safe tonight?”

“Not sure. Depends on my self-control.” Standing still for a moment, Li Siyi added earnestly, “After all, unlike you, I haven’t had estrogen in a long time.”

“…”

…

After rushing through all that with Li Siyi, it was only four o’clock.

Lu Zhi stayed by herself for a while, grew bored, and opened her phone to search for nearby cake shops.

How could you have a birthday without a cake?

She was someone who valued a sense of ceremony.  Even for her own birthday, she would prepare a lot in advance. But today, time was too tight, and this was all she could manage.

By the time she returned to the hotel with the cake, it was seven o’clock. Fu Yanshang hadn’t returned yet. The temperature in Jiangcheng was too high, so she headed straight into the bathroom for a shower.

While drying her hair, she habitually lifted the blanket, planning to nest inside and blow-dry her hair, but her gaze suddenly paused on a camisole nightgown Li Siyi had tossed over earlier.

And a pair of panties.

She really didn’t understand it. She took a photo and sent it to Li Siyi: What was the designer of these panties thinking? Can they even be worn?

Aren’t they just a few strings? What could they possibly hold?

A reply came three minutes later.

Yes, they can. Don’t judge them just by how bizarre they look alone.  They actually look pretty good on.

Lu Zhi wasn’t convinced.

Li Siyi: Try them on yourself and you’ll see.

…

Fu Yanshang swiped open the hotel room door exactly at eight o’clock.

The room was dim, the lighting intelligently lowered, with only a bedside lamp still on. Its soft glow cast a gentle circle, making the white bed appear even softer. Lu Zhi was curled up inside, fast asleep.

She looked like an immature silkworm cocoon, her long hair spread out behind her, her body curled into a crooked letter. Usually lively and energetic, she was quiet in her sleep.

She had wrapped the blanket tightly around herself, her body rising and falling slightly with each breath, like the heroine from some fairy tale who had fallen into the pages of a flower book.

He suddenly remembered the past, how his father, desperate to urge him into marriage, would go to any lengths, fervently describing the happiness of having someone waiting for you at home when you returned late. And back then? He hadn’t paid it any mind, never imagining it would come to this day.

It seemed he could understand a little now. He set down the box in his hand and approached.

The blanket was too thick, and she habitually kept the air conditioning low. Only when he drew near did he notice the faint sheen of sweat on the tip of her nose and chin. He reached out, not intending to wake her, and gently peeled back a corner of the blanket.

To his surprise, this small movement, which she normally wouldn’t have noticed, startled her awake instantly.  Yes, startled, as if there were some secret hidden beneath the covers.

After waking, she clutched the edge of the blanket tightly and murmured, “You’re late.”

“Mm,” he leaned down and kissed the corner of her eye without refuting her. “Why are you wrapped up so tightly? Aren’t you hot?”

She shook her head groggily, then noticed the new box on the bedside table and stared at it for a moment. “Did you buy cake? But I prepared one too, and I made it myself.”

“No,” he said. “I bought flowers.”

“Really?”

She didn’t believe him and leaned forward to look, her fingers unconsciously loosening their grip. As the blanket opened a small gap, a pale pink ribbon flashed into view.

He raised an eyebrow, as if realizing something, and before she could react, his fingers pressed down on the soft edge of the blanket.

The fabric rustled and gathered under his touch. Among the one-in-three-hundred chance from last night’s purchase, one particularly lucky set had been chosen by her. The straps of her camisole had slipped halfway down, hanging limply by her hand. The delicate, handcrafted lace patterns were no match for the smoothness of her skin beneath.

Lu Zhi almost immediately tried to burrow back under the covers, but unfortunately, she didn’t succeed. Her neck and chest were dotted with fine beads of sweat, shimmering and gathering with her movements, all flowing toward a deep crevice.

He took two tissues and wiped the sweat from her skin, his tone laced with a suppressed laughter she had rarely heard. “No wonder you were so unusually wrapped up. So my birthday gift was here all along.”

…

“I didn’t…” Before she could finish her protest, his kiss descended, silencing all her words. This time, he kissed her fiercely, his tongue insistently exploring hers. She began to regret it, but the fingers clutching his collar gradually softened. Fu Yanshang cupped her chin, allowing him to delve deeper, as if he couldn’t get enough of tasting the flavor of her sleep.

In the end, she was left breathless and weak from the kiss, struggling to catch her breath as her skirt rode up, revealing her smooth thighs and a ribbon dangling at her waist and hips.

This was truly an accident.

After Li Siyi had finished talking, she had been curious and tried it on. Then she fell asleep and forgot to take it off.

But someone else took it off for her.

His movements were deliberately slow, his gaze fixed intently on his fingers. She finally realized that such intense focus wasn’t always a good thing. Her knees rubbed together restlessly as she whispered, “I want to change…”

“Mm, let me help you change, baby, okay?”

Why was he calling her that again…

He never played by the rules, and she had foolishly believed him. The new set was placed by the bed, but he made no move to put it on her.

Dazed and still oxygen-deprived from the kiss, she asked with what seemed like reasonable confusion, “What are you doing?”

“Hmm?” He tilted his head and kissed her knee. “You’re so beautiful. Can’t I have a taste?”

Her entire consciousness turned to ashes in the next instant.