In the bedroom, Shen Xingyao lay on the bed, tossing and turning like a pancake on a griddle.
It was cold. So cold.
Even though she was under the covers, the heating in this rundown house was practically nonexistent.
She was also wrestling with her conscience.
“It’s snowing outside. Sleeping on that broken sofa for one night would probably send him straight to the morgue, right?” Shen Xingyao’s conscience twinged faintly.
She recalled all the awful things the original owner had done, and it was almost too embarrassing to think about.
To keep her golden goose husband, the original owner had practically been ready to drug him.
Later, when Pei Yanqiu ran out of money, the original owner probably stopped because she saw no more profit to be gained.
Now, every time Pei Yanqiu came back, he just squeezed onto the sofa for the night.
“Should I… ask him to come sleep here?” Shen Xingyao bit her nails. “But the bed is so small. Wouldn’t it be awkward to squeeze together? What if things get out of hand? I’m a decent person!”
Just as she was locked in an internal battle, her mind playing out an eighty-episode drama, the bedroom door suddenly let out a soft creak.
Shen Xingyao stiffened, immediately closed her eyes, and held her breath.
She felt the mattress dip slightly, and then a warm presence, carrying the fresh scent of shower gel, pressed against her back.
On this freezing winter night, that warmth was as tempting as a small stove.
“Ah!” Shen Xingyao pretended to be startled and turned over.
The next second, she was face-to-face with a handsome visage mere inches away.
The dim yellow light from above outlined Pei Yanqiu’s flawless jawline, his high-bridged nose, and those moist eyes.
The muscles in his body were slightly tense from nervousness, radiating a strong, hormonal aura.
Shen Xingyao’s brain short-circuited instantly. All her words got stuck in her throat and were swallowed back down with her saliva.
So… so delectable~
Pei Yanqiu watched her staring at him dazedly, as if she wanted to devour him whole, and thought to himself, “Just as I thought.”
She was waiting for him!
She really did have ulterior motives toward him!
In that case, as a man, how could he back down?
Tonight, he must redeem his honor and show her what good technique really meant!
Pei Yanqiu took a deep breath, rolled over, propped himself up on one hand beside her ear, and looked down at her. His voice, deliberately lowered, sounded husky and sensual. “Not asleep yet?”
“N-no… not yet,” Shen Xingyao stammered, her mind already playing a movie.
“Then let’s not sleep.” Pei Yanqiu wasted no more words. He lowered his head and accurately captured her lips.
“Mmph!”
This kiss was completely different from the one in the snow.
It started with light pecks, as if tasting a fragile piece of cake.
Then it slowly deepened, prying open her defenses, tangling with her in a way that was gentle yet unyielding.
This was all the result of Pei Yanqiu’s serious study and summarization in the past half hour!
He was a very smart student, and coupled with his impeccable looks, he was simply unstoppable.
Shen Xingyao was kissed into a daze. Her mind felt like fireworks were going off, and her hands had somehow found their way around his neck.
Who could resist this?!
The transformation from a cute puppy to a big bad wolf was just too addictive!
The temperature under the covers skyrocketed, and both their breathing grew heavy.
Pei Yanqiu’s hand slowly moved up along the curve of her waist. Shen Xingyao felt as if an electric current had run through her entire body, leaving her as soft as a puddle of water.
At this critical moment, just as they were about to enter the main event of life’s great harmony, Pei Yanqiu suddenly froze.
Panting heavily, his forehead pressed against hers, Shen Xingyao could feel in the darkness that his entire body was alarmingly hot, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
He stammered, “That… that thing, do we have it?”
Shen Xingyao, still dazed, asked, “What thing?”
“Just… just that thing!” Pei Yanqiu’s voice cracked with urgency as he gritted his teeth and squeezed out three words, “Con! Dom!”
Shen Xingyao’s mind, originally clouded by hormones, instantly cleared as if splashed with ice-cold water upon hearing those three words.
The original host had been obsessed with the idea of “motherhood elevating status”—how could she possibly have prepared such birth control items at home, which would hinder her plan of “cooking the rice”?
“No!” Shen Xingyao blurted out, pushing him away at the same time and shielding her chest with her hands. “How could there be such a thing at home?”
She too realized the seriousness of the problem. Without that, there was a risk of pregnancy!
What a joke! Although she craved his body, she had just transmigrated here.
What if she really got pregnant? At this critical juncture where even food was hard to come by, how could she raise a child?
By powering it with love?
Pei Yanqiu was pushed back slightly, stunned.
No?
Of course, she had been scheming to get pregnant before, so naturally, she wouldn’t have prepared it.
What now?
Pei Yanqiu felt the fire inside him burning so fiercely that his organs ached, but reason told him that having a child now was absolutely out of the question.
He didn’t know how long the lawsuit with the club would drag on, and his mother’s situation was still unstable. How could he let her and a child suffer together?
“Then… forget it,” Pei Yanqiu said painfully, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, and turning over.
He lay stiffly on his back on the bed, like a corpse with unclosed eyes.
Endure! A real man must endure!
Shen Xingyao looked at his aggrieved expression, as if he were about to explode from holding back, feeling both amused and heartbroken. She was about to comfort him, saying, “Well, actually, we could…”
“Pop!”
The dim incandescent light above their heads suddenly and without warning went out.
The entire room plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Shen Xingyao’s remaining words stuck in her throat as she exclaimed, “Why is there a power outage?”
The electrical circuits in this rundown neighborhood were always acting up, and tripping the circuit breaker was a common occurrence.
Pei Yanqiu had no choice but to crawl out of the blanket, fumbling in the dark to put on his jacket. “It must be a tripped circuit breaker. I’ll go to the hallway to reset it.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll light the way for you.” Shen Xingyao quickly retrieved her phone from under the pillow and turned on the flashlight function.
The faint beam of light dispelled the darkness. Pei Yanqiu opened the bedroom door and had just stepped into the living room to open the main door when a series of hurried door-opening sounds came from the hallway.
The next-door apartment was occupied by a couple from Northeast China.
At that moment, the husband, wearing only shorts and draped in a military coat, walked out cursing loudly.
“Damn my temper! This damn wiring is deliberately messing with me, isn’t it?” the husband shouted as he walked, his voice loud enough to be heard throughout the entire building.
“The atmosphere was just right, my wife had already taken her clothes off, and bam! The power’s out! Pitch black, I can’t even find the damn door!”
The hallway fell silent instantly.
Shen Xingyao, holding her phone to illuminate for Pei Yanqiu: “……” I don’t want to listen to a little smutty story!
Pei Yanqiu, about to push the circuit breaker: “…”
What door can’t be found?
We’re all adults, isn’t this speed a bit too fast?!