Fei Chaichai had never been this close to Li Yuyuan before.
Close enough that for the first time, she noticed a tiny mole hidden at the corner of his eye—light in color, yet perfectly accenting those utterly cold, indifferent eyes, stirring something deep in her heart.
She dove in headfirst.
It took a while before her senses beyond sight began to function again.
When the words "sleep with me once" that had been circling in her ears finally reached her brain, the dazed infatuation in Fei Chaichai's eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by shock, anger, and disappointment.
She stared at him in disbelief, eyes wide.
Actually, ever since she'd parted ways with Li Yuyuan last time, she'd occasionally reflected on things and felt that maybe she'd sometimes thought too badly of him.
Now it seemed she'd still overestimated his moral bottom line!
Because he didn't have any bottom line at all!
What was even more infuriating was—how could he use that face, identical to Number 108's, to say such filthy words to her!
If it had been anyone else, Fei Chaichai would have already started throwing punches.
But standing before her was Li Yuyuan.
The thought that hitting him would be no different from hitting Number 108 made it impossible for Fei Chaichai to be ruthless—she couldn't even bear to give him a light slap.
The only action she could take was to manually sever her connection with that face.
So she raised both hands, crossed them in front of Li Yuyuan's face, and then, mustering all her strength, shouted: "You! You! You pervert! Saying such outrageous things to a young, beautiful girl! Do you have no shame?!"
She was so angry her brain was starved of oxygen, her words jumbled and incoherent, grabbing whatever words came to mind without any regard for logic.
As she grew more agitated, the hands she'd raised to block her view rose and fell with her emotions, swaying back and forth.
Her soft palms brushed ever so faintly against the man's nose.
A shallow arc curved up on the thin lips hidden behind her hands.
Li Yuyuan chuckled and straightened up, his shoulder line slowly relaxing as he glanced at the clock in the lobby.
Six twenty-nine.
Confirming the time, Li Yuyuan withdrew his gaze and cast a light sidelong look at the "young, beautiful girl's" ears, red with anger.
Thanks to her vivid imagination, his image had probably already upgraded from "a villain guilty of every crime" to "a complete and utter scumbag."
Burning with rage, Fei Chaichai was completely oblivious—she didn't even notice her hand had touched Li Yuyuan. After finishing her tirade, she turned and walked away.
Just as she was about to step out the door, she made a smooth U-turn and came back the same way.
But the moment she turned around, she saw Li Yuyuan standing right where he'd been, hands in his pockets, posture relaxed, not having moved an inch—as if he'd calculated she'd come back.
Fei Chaichai: "…"
Even angrier now.
She stomped over and launched into a new round of criticism: "Lust is in everyone's nature. As someone who's been through it, I completely understand that feeling. But! A gentleman appreciates beauty the right way! I only wanted to touch you! But you—you actually want to sleep with me! What do you take me for… no wait, are you even human?!"
Li Yuyuan listened attentively, showing no favoritism, and judged fairly: "Sounds like I'm not."
Fei Chaichai: "?"
Was she asking for his commentary?!
The bullet she'd once fired had become a boomerang, hitting Fei Chaichai square between the eyes.
She finally understood how the head disciplinarian must have felt. A fist clenched so tight it was rock hard rose slowly from between them as she fumed: "I'm scolding you, not asking you!"
Li Yuyuan raised an eyebrow slightly, as if only now, after Fei Chaichai's clarification, did he belatedly understand.
This time he didn't respond, only tilted his chin toward her, signaling her to continue.
Fei Chaichai certainly didn't hold back. Her mouth went off like a machine gun, rattling on without pause, scolding until she forgot heaven and earth, drowning out the sound of the elevators.
Six thirty-one.
In the empty elevator lobby, six elevators arrived at the first floor one after another.
Every single one was packed.
Some people were heading home from work, some going to the cafeteria for dinner, and others going out for a stroll.
But when the elevator doors opened, not only did no one step out, even the cheerful chatter immediately died down completely.
In the dead silence, everyone's eyes were busy.
Busy watching the show.
The first thing everyone noticed was the young girl with her back to the elevators.
From a distance, her colorful figure looked no bigger than a little speck, yet the voice erupting from her was earth-shattering, ringing through the lobby, occasionally punctuated by sensitive words like "sleep with me," "disgusting," and "scandalous."
And the person being scolded relentlessly was none other than their boss.
But there wasn't a trace of anger on his face. Instead, he listened with great patience, as if he weren't being scolded by a young girl but praised.
At first glance, the scene looked warm—so warm it made everyone else's hearts race with alarm.
All of them instinctively held their breath, turned away, covering their ears and hiding their faces.
The girl dared to scold, but they certainly didn't dare to listen.
Everyone urged each other on with "Let's go, let's go, hurry upstairs," while frantically pressing the door-close button, terrified that they'd be fired tomorrow for stepping into the office with their left foot first.
Qin Ling was equally stunned.
To avoid delaying the young lady's big moment, he'd deliberately waited a few minutes before coming in.
But the moment he walked through the door, he overheard a conversation loaded with that much information. Now he could neither advance nor retreat.
Although he loved poking his nose into things—especially Li Yuyuan's business—he knew very well which situations called for it and which didn't.
Qin Ling only thought for a second before choosing to swallow all his questions and casually duck behind a potted plant for cover.
Everyone came and went like ghosts.
Fei Chaichai never noticed anyone arriving or leaving the entire time.
Once she'd exhausted her anger, she walked over to the shallow pool nearby and plopped herself down on its edge.
During her intermission, she didn't forget to add, "Don't you leave, I'm not done scolding you yet. This isn't going to end so easily—"
Mid-sentence, a bottle of oolong tea appeared before her.
Fei Chaichai froze for half a second, but didn't hesitate for another. She took it without a second thought—she'd never punish herself over an enemy's mistake.
But just as she tilted her head back and gulped down a big mouthful, she suddenly realized something was off. She lowered the oolong tea and looked at the man before her, asking with genuine confusion and complete seriousness, "Li Yuyuan, are you sick in the head?"
"Hm?"
The cold condensation droplets on the bottle still lingered on her fingertips—chilly and damp—stirring a craving for the warmth of that palm.
Li Yuyuan kept his eyes lowered, answering casually.
Fei Chaichai shot up with a "swish," then, annoyed that Li Yuyuan was too tall, took a big step up onto the pool's edge to close the height gap, jabbing his shoulder hard with the oolong tea bottle. "I've realized you have a serious problem with your way of thinking."
The reason she hadn't just stormed off earlier, besides not being done scolding him, was that she wanted to hear how Li Yuyuan would "clear his name."
Now she'd gotten her fill of venting.
But Li Yuyuan? Normally he'd corner her into speechlessness at every turn, yet at the critical moment, he couldn't even be bothered to offer the most basic defense for himself—and instead had the leisure to buy her a drink.
Did that make any sense?
For some reason, Fei Chaichai couldn't stand his indifferent attitude toward himself. She switched tactics: "Everyone's saying such awful things about you, why don't you defend yourself for once and explain properly!"
The young lady's tone was full of frustration at his lack of ambition, as if she'd forgotten whose side she was on and was now fighting for his cause instead.
With every word she spoke, the oolong tea pressed against his shoulder gave a little jab in rhythm.
Li Yuyuan's gaze grew darker with each one.
He still kept his eyelids lazily lowered, masking all his emotions, and didn't correct her for getting things backwards. In a flat tone, he said, "I'm waiting for your explanation."
"…Me?"
How did this manage to loop back to her?
Fei Chaichai pointed at herself in disbelief, utterly baffled. "What do I need to explain to you?"
When she looked up again, those dark eyes had reverted to their usual casual, carefree demeanor, lazily looking down at her as he settled the score: "Explain what indecent, disgraceful things I did that made you so certain I want to sleep with you."
"…Didn't you say it yourself!"
It hadn't even been that long—was he really going to deny it now?
Fei Chaichai figured he was just a busy man with a short memory, so she didn't mind repeating it word for word: "I clearly heard you say just now—sleep with me once, and all previous debts are wiped clean. Don't you dare try to weasel out of it."
Li Yuyuan hummed in acknowledgment, not denying it, but continued asking her with his usual consistency: "So, which word meant sleeping with you?"
"—"
Fei Chaichai drew in a breath, but not a single word came out—she swallowed it all back down.
Thinking about it carefully, there really didn't seem to be any word in what he'd said that explicitly conveyed the signal that he wanted to sleep with her. It was all her own interpretation.
But isn't that how innuendo worked!
Could she really have misunderstood?
Fei Chaichai wavered for a second, then quickly snapped back to her senses. Having learned her lesson, she didn't rush to a conclusion this time. Instead, she challenged him first: "If that wasn't what you meant, why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Because," Li Yuyuan spoke at a measured pace, but his drawn-out tone amplified the pressure, making even a statement of fact sound like an accusation, "you were scolding me, not asking me."
"…?"
The familiar Li Yuyuan was back.
Fei Chaichai wanted to argue but had no grounds to.
Though she didn't believe for a second that Li Yuyuan was the type to listen to her, she still decided to give him one more chance to explain.
She pulled back the oolong tea and slung it over her shoulder.
But whether it was because the motion was too big or the momentum too strong, the moment the tea landed on her shoulder, she suddenly lost her balance and stumbled backward a few steps. Her left foot missed the pool's edge, and her right foot instinctively lifted to steady herself—only to kick her canvas shoe flying.
At this critical moment of life and death, a large hand kindly helped her find her balance again.
The hand had distinct knuckles, a wide palm, and before the fingers even fully closed, they already enveloped her forearm.
His lower-than-average body temperature seeped through her thin sun-protection jacket, penetrating her skin.
It was just as cool as the oolong tea in her hand.
Yet Fei Chaichai felt it scorching hot, as if the Azure Mist coiling around his arm had taken on warmth, making even the air around them burn.
She stood frozen, one foot bare.
However, unlike the "tug-of-war" with Xia Jinsai last time, Li Yuyuan released her arm quickly this time and offered her a suggestion: "Next time you want to shut me up, you might pick a more dignified prop."
These words snapped Fei Chaichai back to attention.
Her body tensed even more, afraid he might notice her earlier awkwardness. Her gaze darted around restlessly as she stammered, "I-I never used a prop to shut you up."
Li Yuyuan said nothing. He picked up the shoe she had kicked off and placed it by her foot.
A soft thud.
Fei Chaichai fully snapped back to reality and cursed herself inwardly.
Look, look—this is what happens when you let your mind wander without knowing the full story.
If she had seized the opportunity just now and grabbed Li Yuyuan's hand back, she might have already wrapped up and gone home by now. Instead, she was stuck here while he piled on.
Fei Chaichai had missed her chance, and there was no medicine for regret. She could only pick up her trusty oolong tea and give her useless head a few firm taps to teach it a lesson.
But a lazy voice landed on her head before the tea bottle could, drifting down lightly with a mocking tone: "Self-inflicted martyrdom won't work either."
"Huh?"
M-martyrdom?
In his eyes, she was that cunning?
Despite the malicious assumption, Fei Chaichai's mood actually improved.
She lowered the oolong tea, stopped tapping her head, slipped her shoes back on, and hopped off the pool edge, saying magnanimously: "Fine, let's say I misjudged you earlier. Now explain properly—what exactly does 'accompany' mean in 'accompany me for a sleep'?"
The young girl clasped her hands behind her back, strolling around as if inspecting her own territory.
Li Yuyuan watched her leisurely retreating figure and explained unhurriedly: "It means I sleep, and you watch."
"…???"
Was that even human speech?!
Her mood, which had just improved, took a nosedive immediately.
Fei Chaichai halted mid-step, rooted to the spot, eyes blazing with fury, almost cursing him for being insane again.
But for the sake of her equally burning throat, she forced herself to hold back. She turned around, smiled politely, and expressed her dissatisfaction in a very civilized manner: "May I ask—are you tormenting me, or tormenting yourself?"
Li Yuyuan strolled slowly over to her side, as if genuinely stumped by her question. He pondered for a moment: "Hard to say."
"…"
Now he was just putting on a show.
Fei Chaichai's smile grew even brighter, and her fists clenched even tighter.
But she didn't nitpick the details and followed his logic: "Fine, fine—let's say your sleeping is highly entertaining, and it'd be a shame for no one to watch. But you're not short on audience members. Why must it be me?"
On one hand, Fei Chaichai found the whole thing utterly absurd.
On the other hand, she couldn't help being drawn to such an absurd proposition, curious about Li Yuyuan's criteria for selecting his "unlucky spectator."
Who would have thought Li Yuyuan's reason was extremely simple, summed up in one phrase: "So I can sleep well."
Fei Chaichai froze at that, thinking she was stuck in a loop.
She never imagined she'd hear those heart-wounding words again in her lifetime.
But last time, Li Yuyuan had said that to reject her attempt to cop a feel. How had it flipped today?
Fei Chaichai was baffled by his inconsistency. Unable to figure it out on her own, she just asked directly: "So do you hate me, or don't you hate me?"
Among all the points worth digging into, her focus landed on the most irrelevant detail.
Li Yuyuan raised an eyebrow, though he didn't look particularly surprised, as if accustomed to her leaps in logic. He countered smoothly: "Is there no third option?"
Third option?
Weren't those two options covering all possibilities enough for him?
Fei Chaichai frowned, inwardly complaining that Li Yuyuan really knew how to make things difficult for her, but she couldn't help thinking it over. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck, and her eyes lit up as she looked at him, confirming: "Hates me sometimes, doesn't hate me other times?"
More than caring whether the answer was right, she seemed amazed that she'd come up with such a brilliant "third option" in just a few seconds, her face openly showing self-admiration.
Li Yuyuan heard her out, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. The soft light of dusk spread across his calm, cool features, so faint it was almost imperceptible.
But that hint of color at the corner of his eye stripped away the coldness, brazenly alluring.
Fei Chaichai's gaze suddenly grew unfocused.
Before she could sink into it, she shook her head abruptly, forcing herself to focus elsewhere. She put on a stern face and demanded indignantly, "Why are you laughing at me again? What did I say wrong?"
Despite being snapped at, Li Yuyuan didn't rein in his expression much. He lazily raised an eyebrow and corrected her negative assumption: "Maybe I'm laughing because you got it right."
"?"
What the heck.
So he hated her one moment, and didn't the next?
Fei Chaichai had stumbled onto the truth and guessed Li Yuyuan's thoughts correctly, but she couldn't quite muster any joy from it.
She let out a sulky "Oh" and refused to back down. "Fine then. If you like flip-flopping like a weathervane, go ahead. Not my business. As for being your audience while you sleep—sure, I can do that. But you trust me that much?"
Amidst her rapid-fire questions, Fei Chaichai had already quietly weighed the pros and cons of this deal.
From her past experience, someone as grudging as Li Yuyuan would never easily let go of "old scores and new debts" alike.
So if she wanted to continue her grand mission of taking liberties with him, she'd have to clear all those messy accounts first.
And now, a ready-made solution for wiping the slate clean was right in front of her—she just needed to waste a few short hours of her life.
All things considered, "sleeping with him" was a win-win with zero downsides for her.
If anything, Li Yuyuan was the one taking a bigger risk for a greater reward.
Fei Chaichai rarely got the upper hand, so she lifted her chin and put on airs. "Aren't you afraid I'll take advantage of you while you're asleep and do whatever I want to you?"
Even she couldn't tell if that was a warning or a provocation.
But to Li Yuyuan, it was the same either way.
The same—reckless and without regard for consequences.
Still, since the girl was finally having her moment of triumph, he wasn't about to dampen her spirits. He said calmly, "You're welcome to."
"Welcome to what?" Fei Chaichai didn't follow.
Li Yuyuan added lazily, "Do whatever you want to me."
"…………"
Now that was a real provocation.
If the tiger didn't show its fangs, she'd be treated like a pushover.
Fei Chaichai's fighting spirit was fully ignited. "Name the time! When do we start!"
She rubbed her hands together eagerly, raring to go, only to hear Li Yuyuan reply without any plan at all: "Haven't decided yet."
Decide?
"What's there to decide?!"
The emperor wasn't worried, but the eunuch was.
To avoid any delays or complications, Fei Chaichai led by example and overcame her laziness.
She transformed into a woman of action, raising the oolong tea in her hand like a tour guide's flag and marching straight toward the elevator, laying out the plan clearly: "Why wait for another day when today works just as well? It's not even seven yet—peak melatonin secretion hours. If not now, then when?"
After spouting that nonsense, she eagerly pressed the elevator button.
But once she stepped inside, Fei Chaichai realized her only "tour member" had fallen behind, still standing where he was.
She quickly waved him over, urging, "What are you standing there for? Come on!"
The scene didn't perfectly mirror the one from a few years ago.
She had grown much taller, her sharp jawline having shed the childishness of her youth, but the innocence still lingered in her eyes and brows—like early summer green plums, not quite ripe, tart and fresh all at once.
Li Yuyuan looked at her, the back of his hand growing slightly warm.
After a brief pause of two or three seconds, he walked toward her.
Seeing this, Fei Chaichai lowered her hand but didn't breathe a sigh of relief. Instead, a flicker of doubt crept in.
She vaguely sensed something off about Li Yuyuan, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what. Deciding to trust her instincts, she asked bluntly, "You're not having second thoughts about our deal, are you?"
Li Yuyuan didn't deny it. He hummed in acknowledgment.
Fei Chaichai's expression immediately turned serious, ready to warn him that a move once made cannot be taken back, when he added regretfully, "I should have asked for three times."
"…………"
So he was regretting not squeezing her dry?!
Fei Chaichai didn't respond to that. She just blew hard at her bangs, dismissing her earlier doubts and refocusing on the matter at hand.
She had already picked out their sleeping spot in advance. After Li Yuyuan entered, she asked, "Which floor is your office on?"
Her index finger was poised and ready, waiting for the command.
Li Yuyuan glanced down at her lazily and said slowly, "Top floor."
Top floor… top floor…
Fei Chaichai muttered to herself while quickly scanning the elevator panel. It took considerable effort to find the button corresponding to the "top floor," and she couldn't help but suspect Li Yuyuan had a hand in designing the elevator.
The biggest number "18" was squeezed at the very bottom—just as unreasonable as him.
She slapped the button.
When she moved her hand away, "18" remained dark.
Fei Chaichai let out a puzzled "Huh?" and thought she must have pressed it crookedly in her haste. She re-aimed and pressed again.
Twice.
Three times.
Still, the button refused to light up.
Fei Chaichai: "?"
Broken?
A wave of suspicion washed over her. She turned around, about to ask the "elevator designer" what was going on.
But almost at the same moment, the man behind her happened to lean forward—perhaps having noticed her futile attempts, he intended to press the floor button for her.
Between her leaning back and his bending forward, the previously safe distance suddenly closed in dangerously.
Fei Chaichai's field of vision narrowed sharply.
Just that stretch of pale, cold neck alone filled her entire view.
She could clearly see the withered branches scattered sparsely beside his Adam's apple.
The next instant, her delayed breath was completely overtaken by his signature scent—dry and cold, like the chill air before a heavy snowfall, silently enveloping her.
In what felt like an eternity but was barely half a second, neither could tell who moved first.
Fei Chaichai only felt a sudden chill at the tip of her nose, as if it had brushed against his jaw.
Then, the fragments of his tattoos loomed ever larger before her eyes.
In the blink of an eye, they were covered by her lips.