Rong Jingchen didn’t stop. His lips remained pressed against her lower abdomen, lingering there, unwilling to leave.
Xu Jingshuang was kissed until her whole body went weak, but that warm trickle was growing more and more obvious, reminding her of the severity of the situation.
“Rong Jingchen…” Her voice was a little louder than before. “Really, we can’t!”
Rong Jingchen’s movements halted. He pulled back slightly, still wanting more. Strands of hair hung over his forehead, and the desire in his eyes hadn’t fully dissipated.
He looked at the woman beneath him.
Her lips were red and swollen, wet from his kisses, and her eyes were wet too. The collar of her nightgown had been pulled askew, exposing a large expanse of skin on her shoulders and neck, all of it covered in marks he had left.
His voice was hoarse beyond recognition: “What’s wrong?”
Xu Jingshuang’s face flushed even redder. Biting her lip, she said, “I think… Auntie Flo is here.”
Rong Jingchen’s brows knitted tightly. “You’re sure you’re not joking?”
“I’m not joking.” Xu Jingshuang shook her head earnestly. “It’s really here. Let go of me, quickly.”
Rong Jingchen studied her expression. She didn’t look like she was lying.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. But he didn’t let go of her. Turning onto his side, he scooped her into his arms, burying his face in the warm hollow of her shoulder, his scorching breath spilling onto that bare patch of skin.
“Rong Jingchen…”
“Don’t move.” His voice was muffled, coming from the hollow of her shoulder. “Let me cool down for a bit. Once you’ve stoked a fire, it can’t be put out that quickly.”
Something was pressing against Xu Jingshuang—she could feel its presence even through two layers of fabric. She didn’t dare move again.
She’d never eaten pork, but she’d seen a pig run—she understood immediately what that was.
Just now, she’d only wanted to tease him verbally, to salvage a bit of face. Who knew things would spiral out of control? One step more reckless than the last, one step deeper than the last.
She felt a little guilty, as if she really had gone too far. But she hadn’t done it on purpose—who could have predicted that Auntie Flo would choose exactly this moment to arrive?
The room was quiet for a moment.
Rong Jingchen finally released her. “Go.”
Xu Jingshuang felt as if she’d been granted amnesty. She sprang up from the bed and padded toward the bathroom in her slippers.
The door closed.
She sat on the toilet and looked down. Sure enough, Auntie Flo had come to visit—what timing. Yet a small sense of relief welled up in her heart.
She knew this day would come sooner or later. She wasn’t the prudish type—once married, sleeping in the same bed, what happened was only natural.
But she didn’t want it to happen so soon. At least not today, not when she wasn’t fully prepared.
She sighed.
Then she discovered an even more serious problem! There were no feminine hygiene products here.
She’d forgotten—this apartment had been Rong Jingchen’s alone before. There was no way he’d have sanitary pads. There weren’t any in her luggage either—who packs sanitary pads in their suitcase ahead of time? The housekeeper who’d made dinner had long since gone home.
If she ordered delivery, the courier couldn’t get into the building. Without the owner’s authorization, they couldn’t even get through the main gate. And even if they could, from placing the order to delivery would take at least half an hour. She couldn’t sit on the toilet for half an hour.
Xu Jingshuang thought it over. Calling the person outside would be faster.
She cleared her throat. “Rong Jingchen…”
Footsteps quickly stopped at the bathroom door. “What’s wrong? Do you need me to come in and help?”
Xu Jingshuang rolled her eyes inwardly. Help? Help with what? What could he possibly help with in a situation like this?
“No!” Her voice rose a little, and she continued, “It’s just… there are no sanitary pads here. Can you go buy some for me?”
“And what else?”
“You’re willing to go?”
“Speak.” A certain someone was concise and to the point.
Xu Jingshuang hadn’t expected him to agree so readily. She was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran through everything she needed in her head.
“Daytime and nighttime pads, and sleep pants too. Buy them all.”
“What pants?”
Rong Jingchen frowned slightly. He had never heard that term before.
“Sleep pants,” Xu Jingshuang repeated, cheering herself on internally. This is normal, totally normal. Every man buys these things for his wife. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.
“It’s… like underwear, that you can just wear directly. If you can’t find them, just tell the store staff and let them help you.”
There was a second of silence outside the door: “Mm.”
“Oh right, bring me my phone.”
“What for?”
“I’ll scroll on my phone while waiting for you to come back. I can’t just sit here doing nothing.” She had run too fast earlier, and her phone was left on the nightstand charging. Without her phone, what was she supposed to do sitting here? Stare into space?
Rong Jingchen didn’t respond.
He turned and went to the nightstand to get her phone, walked to the bathroom door, and passed it through the crack.
He didn’t go downstairs himself. Instead, he made a phone call and gave brief instructions. Then he pushed open the door to the guest room next door, walked into the bathroom, turned the faucet to maximum, and let ice-cold water pour down from above.
The water was cold, but the fire burning inside his body was still raging. He closed his eyes, and his mind was filled with the scene from just now. He remembered when he kissed her, that little fool was still looking at him with her eyes open, her lashes fluttering, her lips as soft as jelly.
As he thought about it, his body tensed again.
The cold water kept running, for a long time.
When the doorbell rang, he had just come out of the guest bathroom, changed into clean pajamas.
Standing outside the door was the private butler, wearing a dark uniform, holding a large bag in his hand.
“Mr. Rong, the things you asked for.” The butler presented the shopping bag with both hands, his gaze not straying inside, his posture respectful in just the right way.
Rong Jingchen took it, nodded, and closed the door.
He carried the bag, his expression unchanged, and walked to the bathroom. He knocked: “Open the door.”
The bathroom door opened a crack.
Xu Jingshuang poked her little head out. She reached out and took the large shopping bag: “Thank you.”
The door closed.
She set the shopping bag on the counter and opened it.
She gasped. There must have been a dozen or so packs, all kinds of brands, all kinds of styles, everything.
Did this guy go rob a convenience store?
She rubbed her forehead, dug out the sleep pants, and quickly changed into them. Then she adjusted her nightgown in the mirror, fixed the neckline, and after confirming her appearance was still presentable, she opened the door and walked out.
She didn’t see Rong Jingchen in the bedroom.
Xu Jingshuang stood in the middle of the bedroom, looking left and right. Where did he go?
Just as she was wondering, the door was pushed open.
Rong Jingchen walked in carrying a cup. He walked up to her and handed her the cup.
“What is this?” Xu Jingshuang took it. It smelled of ginger, with the sweet fragrance of brown sugar.
“Brown sugar ginger tea,” Rong Jingchen said. “Drinking some of this will make you feel better.”
“Thank you.”
She lowered her head and took a sip.
The temperature was just right, not too hot. The sweetness was just right too, not too cloying. The ginger flavor wasn’t strong, mostly masked by the sweetness of the brown sugar. It was very pleasant to drink.
After finishing the drink, he placed the cup on the nightstand, lifted the covers, and lay down.
The bed was large. A distance of half an arm’s length separated the two of them. This time, neither moved, neither spoke.
Rong Jingchen had returned to that stern demeanor, leaning against the headboard and looking at his phone, his face expressionless—a completely different man from the one who had pinned her down and kissed her for so long just moments ago.
Xu Jingshuang felt a little awkward.
She withdrew her gaze and stared at the ceiling. “Turn off the light. I want to sleep.”
Rong Jingchen turned his head and glanced at her. An extremely faint “heh” escaped from deep in his throat.
“You really do know how to order me around.”