Wen Yifan's breath stopped.
Her mind instantly went blank, a buzzing sound filling her ears. The spot where he had touched her seemed to burn even hotter, doubling in intensity.
Extremely intense.
"Oh." Wen Yifan pretended not to take it seriously, directly ignoring it and steering the conversation back. "I'll also go to the hospital as soon as possible and follow the doctor's advice for treatment."
Sang Yan's gaze remained on her, thoughtfully making another "Mm" sound. But it was as if he hadn't heard what she said at all, as if they were on completely different wavelengths. "Why are you blushing?"
"The weather's too hot." Wen Yifan looked away, manufacturing an excuse. "It's been almost forty degrees lately."
"Oh." Sang Yan leaned back, glancing toward the air conditioner. "Isn't the air conditioner on?"
Silence.
"You weren't blushing when you just got back." Sang Yan smiled, not giving her an easy way out, his tone tinged with playfulness. "But after sitting in the air conditioning for a while, you've started blushing."
With him being so persistent, Wen Yifan felt helpless and decided to simply tell the truth. "Sang Yan, I've never seen a man's naked body before."
Sang Yan raised an eyebrow.
Wen Yifan tried to make him understand that this was entirely his responsibility. Her blushing was completely reasonable and not because of any other thoughts. "Before we started living together, I mentioned the requirement about not wearing revealing clothes. You agreed at the time, and your response was 'You wish'."
"I did say that," Sang Yan said lazily. "But today, I'm in a good mood."
"?"
"Willing to give you a little taste of sweetness."
Wen Yifan almost choked. "..."
She had never met someone so shameless before.
Staring at his extremely arrogant expression, Wen Yifan didn't argue with him, swallowing her anger and saying: "That's probably it then. I'll try to avoid such situations from happening again, and I'd also appreciate it if you could be more cautious on your end."
Sang Yan pointed out: "Your way of dealing with this is the same every time, using identical excuses."
Silence.
"Isn't this just changing the wording and order," Sang Yan said leisurely, "but still repeating the same mistakes?"
Wen Yifan was silent for a few seconds before patiently saying: "Then why don't you share your thoughts? If there's anything I can do to cooperate, I will."
"I just have one request." Sang Yan leaned back in his chair, looking at her nonchalantly. "Before you come up with a way to truly resolve this issue, please keep your distance from other men."
Wen Yifan froze.
"Don't be carefree with others while turning me into someone you can touch freely," Sang Yan deliberately paused for two seconds, then bit out three words, "Poor, little, thing."
Silence.
Finally dealing with the situation, Wen Yifan returned to her room.
First, she went to the dressing table and looked in the mirror, seeing that her face was indeed somewhat red. Wen Yifan unconsciously raised her hand to touch the spot where Sang Yan had just touched her. She pursed her lips and suddenly let out a breath.
Thinking about Mu Chengyun's gesture of trying to wipe her face earlier today, Wen Yifan was very clear that if she felt uncomfortable or disliked it, she had enough time to avoid it.
But this time, Wen Yifan didn't avoid it.
She seemed not to mind Sang Yan's touch at all.
Completely different from her reaction to others.
She wondered if Sang Yan would notice anything.
Wen Yifan picked up the remote to turn on the air conditioning, trying to cool down the temperature on her face. She settled on the carpet by the bed, taking out her phone and casually browsing its contents.
Absentmindedly recalling their recent conversation, Wen Yifan thought about Sang Yan's words, "Keep your distance from other men."
She felt there was something odd about that statement, as if it carried some hidden implication.
Or maybe she was just overthinking it.
Wen Yifan opened Weibo and listlessly scrolled through her homepage, coincidentally coming across that anonymous post. The draft she had sent via private message before coming home had already been screenshot by the blogger and posted.
By now, it had already received several hundred comments.
Seeing this, Wen Yifan prepared herself mentally and clicked on it.
The first comment immediately cracked Wen Yifan's expression.
[Curious, did he have morning wood?]
Silence.
She immediately closed Weibo.
Wen Yifan's face burned up again. She opened other apps on her own, looking at some righteous and pure content that could purify her mind. After a while, when she had calmed down, she reopened that Weibo post.
Fortunately, except for the first one, the other comments were normal.
[Maybe he mistook you for his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend.]
[? He probably wants to flirt with you.]
[Is he secretly in love with you? Maybe he's dreamed about this hundreds of times. He might have thought he was dreaming.]
[Honestly, no matter how unclear-headed someone is, they'd be startled to find another person next to them. Either he has a partner and is used to having someone sleep next to him, or he's doing it on purpose to take advantage of you.]
[??? Are you sure he was drunk?]
[How come others don't end up hugging each other? One of the two must be pretending.]
The rest of the comments were mostly similar.
Wen Yifan scrolled down a bit more but didn't continue reading.
Putting down her phone, Wen Yifan spaced out for a while, connecting all the events that had happened recently.
She suddenly felt that.
Sang Yan's attitude toward her seemed to be a little different too.
Even if her actions were uncontrollable, with Sang Yan's personality, if he felt disgusted or couldn't accept it, he probably wouldn't continue to tolerate it and would likely have moved out long ago.
And after all this time, his house should have been renovated by now, right?
Thinking about what Mu Chengyun said today.
And what Sang Zhi said about Sang Yan's attitude before and after the admission results came out.
Wen Yifan didn't know if she could be considered a thorn in Sang Yan's side, something that had been bothering him for years. So when they met again, he wanted to try to remove it.
He had to grasp it first, then pull it out.
Only then could he let it go?
Thinking of this, Wen Yifan suddenly remembered something a female classmate had said about Sang Yan a long time ago.
After such a long time, she couldn't quite remember the exact words.
She only remembered that the meaning was something like, seeing Sang Yan's proud and arrogant appearance made her uncomfortable, hoping that he would encounter something he couldn't achieve, something he couldn't obtain, to dampen his sharp edge.
At that time, Wen Yifan just listened without saying anything.
But in her heart, a completely different thought emerged unexpectedly.
Such a proud and dazzling young man.
He should get everything he desires.
Whatever he wants, give it to him.
Even if he wanted the stars in the sky, they should be plucked down for him.
Let him always maintain.
This current state of vigor and vitality.
In the time that followed, both of them had consecutive business trips and overtime work, so they didn't encounter each other much at home. During this period, Wen Yifan only sleepwalked once, waking up to find herself in Sang Yan's room.
But that day, Sang Yan came home late.
When Wen Yifan went to the living room, she found that he had slept on the couch for the night.
At that moment.
Wen Yifan very clearly felt that in her current state, she was completely unsuitable for living with someone else.
She should move out as soon as possible, find a one-bedroom apartment, and live alone.
Wen Yifan had become a full-time employee a few months ago, with her salary calculated based on her articles. She had calculated that if she worked hard enough, finding a one-bedroom apartment shouldn't be a big problem.
But even after finding a suitable place, Wen Yifan couldn't make up her mind.
Wen Yifan didn't want to move out.
She just felt that if she moved out and they no longer lived together, without the forced condition of having to see each other every day, she and Sang Yan probably wouldn't have any interaction afterward.
Although this was bound to happen eventually, it was reasonable.
But Wen Yifan unconsciously delayed it and never mentioned to Sang Yan about him moving out again.
She just especially hoped.
That day would come a little later.
In mid-September, after finishing an interview at the hospital, Wen Yifan took the opportunity to make an appointment at the psychiatric department. At the doctor's request, she underwent a series of examinations.
Wen Yifan's sleepwalking was hereditary. She had seen several doctors when she was in Yihe, but it didn't have much effect. Moreover, her sleepwalking wasn't frequent, so over time she became lazy about managing it.
This time was pretty much the same.
The doctor prescribed some calming medication for her and told her to pay attention to her diet and get plenty of rest.
Wen Yifan thanked him, went to the first floor to get her medication, and quickly departed the hospital.
On the way, Wen Yifan pondered that it seemed her sleepwalking had become more frequent after living with Sang Yan. But when she calculated it specifically, the number of times wasn't too many. From her observation, it seemed to have happened less than five times over this long period.
It's just that every time, very coincidentally, she had contact with Sang Yan while sleepwalking.
Sigh.
Wen Yifan felt somewhat helpless and tired.
Why did she have this troublesome condition?
Thinking about it, it was indeed scary, but Wen Yifan didn't want to move out. She could only do what she needed to do.
For the rest, she had no other solution.
Before they knew it, time gradually approached the end of October.
Due to the National Day holiday adjustments, Wen Yifan had three consecutive days off. She took one day to go out with Zhong Siqiao. With nothing particular to do, they found a dessert shop and stayed there for the entire afternoon.
They just met up to chat about recent events.
After chatting for a while, Zhong Siqiao suddenly asked: "How are things between you and Sang Yan lately?"
Wen Yifan didn't react immediately. "Hm?"
"Is there no possibility between you two?"
"What?" Not understanding why she would bring this up, Wen Yifan said with amusement: "We're just living together, but we're both very busy with work, so we rarely see each other at home."
"I'm just asking casually," Zhong Siqiao said. "Recently, Xiang Lang has been hanging out with Su Hao'an quite a bit. I heard him say that Sang Yan seems to have been going on a lot of blind dates arranged by his family lately."
Hearing this for the first time, Wen Yifan's expression froze slightly, the smile at the corners of her lips unconsciously fading.
"Blind dates?"
"Yeah, seems like he's been on several already. It's quite surprising, with his conditions, why would he need blind dates? But I was thinking before that you two are both unmarried, used to be compatible, and have been living together for so long, that some sparks might fly. But after all this time, nothing has happened."
Wen Yifan lowered her eyes and took a sip of milk tea.
"But with Sang Yan's terrible temper, you might have dodged a bullet." This topic only lasted briefly before Zhong Siqiao moved on to another. "Oh right, I met a guy at a mixer during the National Day holiday, he's incredibly handsome. I'm changing my target."
Lost in thought, Wen Yifan didn't respond.
Zhong Siqiao called out to her: "Diandian."
Wen Yifan immediately looked up. "Ah?"
Zhong Siqiao found it strange. "What are you thinking about? Why aren't you responding to me? I said I've changed my crush!"
"Oh." Wen Yifan smiled. "What about the previous one?"
"The previous one was too much of a player, he's the type who spreads his affection evenly. While chatting with me, he was also chatting with three or four other girls," Zhong Siqiao pouted. "This time I need to keep my eyes wide open when looking at people."
Wen Yifan nodded.
Zhong Siqiao propped her chin on her hand, looking somewhat dejected. "But I don't know if he's interested in me or not. I'll try to test the waters first. I'm too lazy to chase after someone."
"How do you test the waters?"
Hearing this, Zhong Siqiao laughed. "Haven't you ever flirted with someone?"
Silence.
"What's the use of having such a pretty face if you don't use it? Isn't this a waste of resources?" Zhong Siqiao said, "Just be a bit ambiguous in your language. When he's talking, you can respond in a way that shows you might be interested in him. But don't be too obvious."
Feeling like this explanation was as good as no explanation at all, Wen Yifan asked: "Can you give an example?"
"An example?" Zhong Siqiao thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Just chat casually at first, and when the conversation deepens, ask him what his zodiac sign is, then say something like you only like guys with that zodiac sign."
Wen Yifan looked confused. "Isn't that quite obvious?"
Zhong Siqiao also fell silent. "Okay, I'm not very good at this either."
Silence.
"Sigh, I haven't flirted with many people," Zhong Siqiao took out her phone, flipped through her photo album, and showed her a picture. "This is the guy I met at the mixer. He's a year older than me. And I like everything about his personality."
Wen Yifan glanced at her phone screen.
The man looked handsome, but his smile seemed gentle and cultured.
Zhong Siqiao put her phone away, also taking a look, and muttered: "Forget it, if he's not interested in me, I might try to pursue him. Otherwise, I feel like I'll regret it."
Hearing this, Wen Yifan's hand stirring her drink paused for a moment.
"I feel like he must be quite popular," Zhong Siqiao said very confidently. "But I'm the prettiest among the girls pursuing him. If I don't pursue him and he ends up with someone else because of that, wouldn't I be at a loss?"
After the gathering, it was already dark when Wen Yifan got home.
It happened to be a day off, so Sang Yan was also at home. At that moment, he was on the phone. He looked a bit troubled, as if suppressing his impatience. "Again?"
Silence.
Seeing her return, Sang Yan only glanced at her.
Wen Yifan changed into indoor slippers and walked toward the kitchen. She could still hear Sang Yan behind her, responding as if just to appease: "No, Mom. Why are you getting angry?"
"What do you mean you've been waiting for me for half a day? When did I ever agree?" Sang Yan said, "Alright, alright, alright, we'll talk about it when I have time."
"I don't know, I'll see."
"Hanging up now."
Soon, the living room fell completely silent.
Wen Yifan took a bottle of yogurt from the refrigerator, poked it open with a straw, and took a sip. She stood in the kitchen, her thoughts drifting, not entering the living room or immediately returning to her room.
This phone call must have been about his blind dates, right?
Imagining the scene of Sang Yan sitting and chatting with another girl, Wen Yifan lowered her eyes, her lips gradually straightening, her mood inexplicably becoming a bit gloomy.
Wen Yifan slowly finished her yogurt, stood for a while longer, and then returned to the living room.
Sang Yan was playing with his phone. He slightly raised his eyelids and casually said: "Back from a date with your little childhood sweetheart?"
"Hm?" Wen Yifan explained, "I didn't go out with Xiang Lang."
"Oh."
An awkward silence followed. Wen Yifan contemplated asking him if he had been on a blind date but felt she lacked the right to pry. She settled onto the sofa, her thoughts quickly enveloped by what Zhong Siqiao had said about "regret."
A sense of unease washed over her.
Then, snippets of her conversation with Zhong Siqiao floated back to her mind.
—"Just test the waters."
—"Start with casual chatting."
Wen Yifan pondered this and glanced over at Sang Yan. He was half-reclined on the sofa, dressed in a loose short-sleeve shirt that revealed a good portion of his collarbone. After hesitating for a few seconds, she called out to him: "Sang Yan."
"Mm?"
"Lately, your attire in public areas has been a bit..." Wen Yifan forced herself to bring up the topic, "revealing."
"What's wrong? You seem to have a lot of opinions." Sang Yan raised his eyes lazily, adding, "Are you worried you won't be able to control yourself?"
Silence.
"Can't you just restrain yourself a little? I know my face can be quite enticing," Sang Yan said, nonchalantly looking away, his tone particularly teasing. "But we're adults now; surely we should have some self-control?"
Wen Yifan fell silent for a moment before softly replying: "I don't."
This response caught him off guard. Sang Yan raised an eyebrow and looked back at her.
"Just try to dress a bit more appropriately. Otherwise..." Wen Yifan's mind was consumed by the phrase "ambiguous words," and she found the most suitable response. She said earnestly, "I'm afraid I might commit a crime."
Silence.
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