“Will you go out with me, baby?”
Pei Shuyi leaned against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. She lifted her head and looked up at Jiang Congli.
In the man’s unfathomably deep eyes, there was only her at this moment.
The faint redness in his eyes had yet to fade, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down repeatedly.
Unable to resist, Pei Shuyi tilted her head up to look at him, only for her lips to accidentally brush against his throat.
Jiang Congli’s body tensed even more.
Pei Shuyi gazed at him. “Okay.”
The single word floated lightly, like a breath escaping between her lips.
Jiang Congli’s breathing hitched. “What did you say?”
“I said okay,” Pei Shuyi replied, meeting his eyes word by word. “I’ll go out with you. Okay.”
For the last sentence, Pei Shuyi answered Jiang Congli in her slightly accented Cantonese.
Jiang Congli froze in place.
For a moment, his mind went blank.
He couldn’t find the words to describe what he was feeling, so his thin lips descended once more—only this time, without the earlier intensity, instead carrying a reverence born of certainty.
Pressing against hers, gently, slowly, carefully…
Pei Shuyi closed her eyes, her hands sliding up from his collar to wrap around his neck.
His kisses grew from light to heavy, trailing over her lips, the corners of her mouth, her jaw, the side of her ear, and her neck. With each kiss, he murmured, “Baby.”
Pei Shuyi’s ears burned at his whispers.
It reminded her of the female cat her family had kept when she was young, calling out just like this when in heat at night.
“Stop calling me that—”
“Baby.”
Jiang Congli whispered again, his lips brushing her collarbone.
Pei Shuyi’s words instantly dissolved into breathy sighs.
Her slender fingers clutched the fabric of his shirt at his back, knuckles turning white. She melted into his embrace, letting him kiss her, letting him whisper, letting him murmur “baby” over and over into the crook of her neck.
The air grew scorching, their breaths entwined.
Jiang Congli lifted her from against the door and carried her to the bed, kissing her all the way.
As her back sank into the mattress, Jiang Congli leaned over her, one foot still on the floor, the other knee pressed beside her waist. He interlaced his fingers with hers, palm to palm.
Pei Shuyi looked up at him.
His shirt was rumpled, the collar unbuttoned to reveal his collarbone and a sliver of his chest.
His hair, tousled earlier by her hands at the door, now had a few strands falling over his forehead.
Jiang Congli gazed down at her beneath him.
Her dress was crumpled, the collar askew, exposing her collarbone and most of her shoulder. Her long hair fanned out across the pillow, lips swollen and red, the corners of her eyes still damp from his earlier kisses.
Pei Shuyi flushed under his gaze and reached up to cover his eyes. “Don’t look…”
Jiang Congli caught her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it once, then again, before placing it over his heart.
“Shu Yi.”
“Mm.”
“I’m so happy.”
The man’s voice was low, his thumb gently stroking the back of her hand. “I used to think the happiest moment of my life was five years ago, when I took control of the Jiang family. But now I realize it wasn’t.”
“You know, that night, I sat alone in my office and thought it was just… ordinary. But today is different.”
He paused, looking at her. “Today, I feel like I’ve wasted the first thirty years of my life.”
“I like you so much.”
…
“Is this your acceptance speech?” Pei Shuyi couldn’t help but speak up, her voice still carrying the soft, tender quality from being kissed earlier.
Jiang Congli paused.
Seeing his suddenly halted expression, Pei Shuyi curved her lips into a smile, reached out to brush back the strand of hair hanging over his forehead, and let her fingers slide from his temple to the side of his ear. “You’ve said so much—aren’t you thirsty?”
Jiang Congli looked at her.
Her fingers were still pressed against the side of his ear, her palm resting against his cheekbone, her thumb gently tracing circles near his temple.
He suddenly lowered his head, burying his face in her palm.
“Not thirsty.”
His voice was muffled, his lips moving against her palm as he spoke. “I still want to talk.”
Pei Shuyi felt her palm tingling from his touch and tried to pull it back, but he grasped her wrist, refusing to let her withdraw.
“Jiang Congli, have you never been in a relationship before?” Pei Shuyi asked.
Jiang Congli’s brow furrowed slightly, as if she had hit upon a truth. “No.”
Pei Shuyi smiled. “No wonder.”
“No wonder what?”
“No wonder you had to give a speech after confessing.”
Jiang Congli looked at the sly smile on her lips and, unable to resist, lowered his head again to bite her lip—not hard, but with a hint of punishment.
“Ouch—” Pei Shuyi covered her mouth.
“Not as much as it hurts me,” Jiang Congli murmured.
“You’re the one who bit me—where does it hurt you?”
“Down there…”
“It hurts from holding back.”
After realizing what he meant, Pei Shuyi’s face flushed bright red.
She glared at him, but her eyes, still damp from being kissed, held no intimidation at all.
“Jiang Congli, do you realize that the way you are now is completely different from the person who told me in the courtyard, ‘We’ve known each other for less than twenty-four hours’?”
Jiang Congli fell silent for a moment. “Who’s that? I don’t know him.”
“Don’t talk to other wild men.”
Pei Shuyi was left speechless by his shameless, blame-shifting attitude.
Finally, unable to hold back her frustration, she reached up and pinched his nose.
“Let go,” he said, his voice muffled and nasal.
“No,” Pei Shuyi tightened her fingers.
Jiang Congli suddenly opened his mouth and bit the finger she was using to pinch his nose.
Pei Shuyi hissed in surprise and released his nose, her other hand immediately grabbing a handful of his hair.
Jiang Congli’s hair was softer than she had imagined. As her fingers sank into it, it felt like plunging into a soft, fluffy cloud.
She gave it a light tug.
Because she was pulling his hair, Jiang Congli tilted his head slightly, revealing the line of his jaw and the side of his neck.
“Satisfied?” he asked.
“No,” Pei Shuyi tugged his hair again, then slid her fingers deeper into his roots, her palm pressed against his scalp.
At the same time, having been lying in this position for a while, her calf began to feel stiff, and she couldn’t help but lift it slightly.
And then…
She accidentally… bumped into…
“Hiss…” Jiang Congli groaned softly.
After realizing what she had touched, Pei Shuyi’s face, which had just begun to fade, flushed red again—starting from her ears and spreading down her neck, even brighter than before.
Jiang Congli lowered his head, resting his forehead against her shoulder, his breath falling unsteadily against her collarbone. “Don’t move. Let me… calm down.”
His voice was hoarse beyond recognition.
Pei Shuyi’s hand remained in his hair, not even daring to curl her fingertips.
The silence in the room shifted into another kind of quiet, both of them holding their breath.
After what felt like a few minutes, or perhaps an entire century.
Jiang Congli finally lifted his head from her shoulder.
In the darkness, his eyes were deeper than usual, filled with a raw, naked desire for her.
“It’s fragile, take it easy, Shuyi.”
Jiang Congli’s tone was serious and measured, as if he were discussing a matter of great importance.
Pei Shuyi buried her face against his chest in frustration for a long moment. Seeing that he still had the mood to tease her, she couldn’t help but grit out through clenched teeth:
“Jiang Congli, shut up.”