Fang Yize spoke without hesitation: “I think being in a relationship should involve mutual companionship and support. Also, when problems arise, both parties must actively resolve them together—cold wars are absolutely forbidden!”
“Furthermore, there is the matter of giving,” Fang Yize added, looking up at Jiang Xule seated on the sofa. “Giving comes in many forms; it doesn’t have to be financial. Companionship is a form of giving, too. For example, when you wake up in the morning and say ‘good morning’ to me, then give me a kiss—that is also giving.”
“My girlfriend doesn’t need to be wealthy or incredibly romantic. Even if she’s never been in a relationship and is a bit clueless, it doesn’t matter. She just needs to be sincere and love me.”
After finishing her speech, Fang Yize felt a wave of shyness. She turned back toward the laptop on the desk, cupping her warm face and grumbling playfully, “Oh my! This is my first time being in a relationship too, so I can’t really give you much expert advice.”
Jiang Xule said nothing, simply staring at Fang Yize’s back, her thoughts unreadable.
While Fang Yize tapped away at her keyboard and scribbled in her notebook, her mind was racing: “Why hasn’t Jiang Xule replied? Why did she suddenly ask that? Could it be… she finally likes me too?”
Before Jiang Xule could say a word, Fang Yize had already succeeded in coaxing herself into a good mood.
Once she finished her work and completed her skincare routine in the bathroom, Fang Yize emerged, ready to turn off the lights and go to sleep.
Jiang Xule had been sitting on the bed waiting for her for quite some time. Seeing Fang Yize turn off the lights, she finally put down her phone and prepared to slide under the covers.
However, aided by the dim light filtering in from outside, she caught sight of Fang Yize beginning to undress.
Her heart skipped a beat.
“Hey!”
Fang Yize was startled, her movements coming to an abrupt halt.
“Why are you taking your clothes off?”
Just then, several messages arrived on Jiang Xule’s phone, and the screen suddenly lit up, casting more light into the room. In that brief moment, Jiang Xule caught a glimpse of Fang Yize’s defined abdominal muscles before the screen went dark again.
Fang Yize was accustomed to sleeping naked. The night before, because it was their first night together, she had been shy, but she also worried that Jiang Xule would be uncomfortable.
“Sleeping with clothes on is very uncomfortable,” Fang Yize said with an innocent face.
“You still can’t take them off. There’s someone else here.”
Fang Yize turned and looked around. “Where? If you’re shy, just don’t look at me.”
“Fang Yize!”
Seeing no other way, Fang Yize stopped, kicked off her slippers, and climbed into bed. Pulling the duvet over herself, she said, “Then is it okay if I take them off under the covers?”
Jiang Xule was helpless against her. She could only shift her body toward the edge of the bed, turning her back to Fang Yize. Before closing her eyes, she prayed silently that she wouldn’t toss and turn in her sleep, reminding herself constantly that there was another person beside her.
Shortly after, she felt a warm sensation against her. Glancing back, she saw that Fang Yize had shifted the duvet further over her.
“The AC is on; you’ll catch a cold if you don’t cover up.”
Jiang Xule pursed her lips and closed her eyes.
“Why don’t you move further in?” Fang Yize spoke to Jiang Xule’s back again. “I’m worried you’ll fall off the bed when you turn over.”
“I won’t fall. I’m not a child.”
The next second, Fang Yize scooted closer to her and said, “Jiang Xule, I’m not going to do anything to you. What are you afraid of?”
“Who’s afraid?”
“Then turn around. You’re sleeping right on the edge—if that’s not fear, what is?”
Jiang Xule knew Fang Yize was deliberately goading her. She could have ignored it, but she remained silent for three seconds. She wasn’t debating whether or not to turn around, but rather what Fang Yize would do if she did.
Whatever.
Jiang Xule quickly rolled over, and as expected, her eyes met Fang Yize’s.
However, she didn’t maintain eye contact for long. Her gaze involuntarily drifted toward a patch of skin that wasn’t covered by the duvet.
The next moment, Fang Yize raised her hand and covered Jiang Xule’s eyes.
Before Jiang Xule could react, Fang Yize leaned in and pressed her lips against Jiang Xule’s. Because she couldn’t see clearly, her aim was slightly off, and the kiss landed on the corner of the mouth.
When they pulled apart, she released her hand from Jiang Xule’s eyes but maintained her position, leaning over her at a close distance to see her reaction.
“You didn’t give me any notice again.”
The corners of Fang Yize’s mouth curled up. “Then I’m going to do it again. Get ready.”
This time, she didn’t cover Jiang Xule’s eyes. Instead, she pressed down on her shoulders, making the side-lying Jiang Xule lie flat on her back. This time, the kiss was perfectly aimed.
And this time, there was a response.
She could feel Jiang Xule sucking on her lips—very lightly, yet it felt as though she were melting. Her heart rate accelerated uncontrollably.
After a moment, Jiang Xule’s hand emerged from under the covers and gripped Fang Yize’s neck. As she sat up, pulling the duvet with her, she used the momentum to pin Fang Yize down onto the mattress.
Fang Yize instantly became the submissive one, but she refused to be outdone. She tilted her head up to meet her. Sitting opposite each other, their lips moved in sync. What started as light pecks gradually became bold and passionate, as if they were competing for victory.
The atmosphere was incredibly thick with tension—their faces flushed and their hearts pounding in a blurred haze of emotion.
However, every physical reaction told them they couldn’t continue like this.
By unspoken agreement, they stopped, moved apart, and looked at each other, the only sound remaining being their ragged breathing.
It was as if a mist had settled before their eyes, making the darkness even more disorienting than before.
Fang Yize tilted her head and leaned against Jiang Xule’s shoulder through the layer of the duvet. Every breath she took hit Jiang Xule’s neck with precision, causing an itch that Jiang Xule struggled to endure.
Fang Yize wanted to wrap her arms around Jiang Xule’s waist to rest, but the duvet in front of her was in the way. Just as she was about to push it aside, Jiang Xule beat her to it, grabbing both sides of the blanket and wrapping it around her, covering her exposed back in the process.
“Baby, I’m going to turn into a caterpillar,” Fang Yize said in a coaxing, spoiled tone.
“That’s for the best. That way you can’t act up.”
Jiang Xule gave her shoulder a gentle push, letting Fang Yize fall back. Then she heard Jiang Xule say, “You have to get up early for work tomorrow. Go to sleep.”
Fang Yize struggled to pull the duvet out from under her back and draped it over Jiang Xule. Then, without room for negotiation, she burrowed into Jiang Xule’s arms and wrapped her hands around her waist.
“I want to sleep while holding you.”
“You’re not wearing clothes…”
“I still want to sleep while holding you.”
Jiang Xule’s mind was a mess. She tried to calm herself with deep breaths, lying stiffly on her back, not daring to move an inch.
Their long hair intertwined, their skin pressed together, and the air was filled with each other’s scent. She wondered if their heartbeats were starting to beat in resonance.
After a long silence, Jiang Xule said, “Fang Yize, don’t make breakfast tomorrow.”
Fang Yize was on the verge of falling into a deep sleep. She replied weakly with her eyes closed, “Why?”
“Eating burnt food is bad for your health.”
“Mm…”
The next morning, after Fang Yize left for work, Jiang Xule stayed behind to help her pack her luggage—a task she was more than happy to do. Compared to working outside in the sun and wind, folding clothes in an air-conditioned room was much easier.
But she might have celebrated too early.
She should have realized the severity of the situation when she first noticed there was no wardrobe in Fang Yize’s bedroom.
This was Jiang Xule’s first time entering Fang Yize’s walk-in closet. In a space nearly as large as the bedroom, all four walls were lined with wardrobes. There wasn’t an inch of spare space; they were packed tight with clothes and bags.
Fang Yize had mentioned doing a “minimalist declutter,” but she had never gotten around to it. This move forced her hand; otherwise, they would need several moving vans.
One van for her tops, one for her pants, one for her dresses, one for her bags, and one for her jewelry.
Jiang Xule felt the urge to post on social media again.
She snapped a photo and posted it to her Moments with the caption: Is she planning to build a real-life Barbie closet?
To Jiang Xule’s surprise, Fang Yize was the first to like it.
Is this girl slacking off at work?
Soon, she saw Fang Yize’s comment below.
Fang Yize: [It’s hard work for my baby, boohoo .]
Jiang Xule looked at the emoticon and could practically see the expression on her face. She was just starting to chuckle when she saw the replies following it.
XX: [?! Fang Yize? Baby? What’s the tea?!]
She had forgotten they were high school classmates and shared a huge circle of mutual friends…
XX: [This is crazy, crazy!]
XX replied to XX: [Why the fuss? I call my friends “baby” all the time.]
XX replied to XX: [I’m surprised they’re close enough to call each other “baby”! And they’re living together!]
A heated discussion immediately broke out below. The screen was filled with blue and white text, scrolling endlessly. By the time Jiang Xule thought about deleting the post, it was already too late; it would only make people misunderstand more.
Misunderstand? Misunderstand what? They actually are a couple.
Jiang Xule calmly set her phone aside and began organizing the clothes Fang Yize had left outside the wardrobe. Her job as an Escape Room NPC didn’t start until the afternoon, so there was no rush.
When Fang Yize returned at noon, she worked with Jiang Xule to pack many clothes into bags. After a few taps on a charity platform, they arranged for all the clothes to be shipped out.
Fang Yize’s style was versatile, covering every category imaginable. Some small tops could even be worn by children, and she had barely touched some of her off-season down jackets—all of which were added to the donation list.
Her clothes weren’t cheap; some even still had the tags on. Seeing them all given away for free made Jiang Xule’s heart ache on her behalf.
“You could have at least put them on Xianyu (second-hand market)…” Jiang Xule said while folding a garment.
“I’d rather donate them to people who actually need them than sell them for a low price on a second-hand platform. I might run into a difficult buyer who looks for trouble; then I wouldn’t get the money, I’d lose the item, and I’d get stressed out. It’s not worth it.”
“But this is basically the same as giving away money,” Jiang Xule said.
“Isn’t that what charity is?”
The clothes she was donating were worth at least a hundred thousand yuan, if not a million. Before this, the word “charity” didn’t exist in Jiang Xule’s life, so it was only natural for her to feel it was a waste.
But what shocked Jiang Xule even more than the sheer volume of donations was that Fang Yize had written Jiang Xule’s name as the donor.
“These are your clothes. Why did you write my name?”
“You helped me pack them. I’m just letting you experience the joy of doing charity.”