He only touched her lightly before pulling back, but on Jian Fei's side, it was as if she had been hit by an earthquake.
Her mind buzzed, her body went numb, and all her blood rushed to her head. She felt her face burning.
"You, what are you doing?"
Ke Teng took in her shy and flustered appearance. Seeing her blush so deeply that she looked like she was about to bleed, he couldn't help but feel cheerful.
"Why is your face so red? Haven't you kissed a man before? Is this your first kiss?"
"..." Jian Fei wanted to curse him for asking the obvious!
And for clearly knowing she'd never had a boyfriend and still stealing a kiss from her, the offense was grave!
Before she could even speak, the phone on the bedside table vibrated.
She grabbed it and glanced at it. It was a WeChat message from her sister.
"Sis, can you hug me?"
Followed by a crying emoji.
Jian Fei had a gut feeling her sister had encountered something upsetting. Forgetting about Ke Teng, she quickly sat up to reply.
"What's wrong?"
Her sister replied, "He's getting married. He sent invitations to all his colleagues today, and I received one too."
"The girl he's marrying, I know her. She's beautiful, gentle, and a hundred times better than me. I should really bless him, right?"
"But I don't want to bless him. I'm so sad. Sis, do you think I'm a bad person?"
Looking at the words her sister sent, Jian Fei's mood plummeted. Her nose felt a little sore.
If she was unfortunate, her sister was even more so.
She had never lived a good day since birth, constantly battling poverty, and enduring the disdain of others.
She didn't deserve love, didn't deserve to be loved. Her life was so dim, it was as if there was no hope in sight.
She was so good, so gentle, so beautiful...
As Jian Fei typed to her sister, Ke Teng watched her from the side.
As he watched, he noticed her eyes were getting teary. With a pang of concern, he leaned closer.
"What's wrong?"
Jian Fei bit her lip as she typed to her sister.
"Oh, it's no big deal. Only unpromising people think about marriage when they're young. Excellent people are all single."
"Look how fragile marriage is these days. Many people get married one day and regret it the next. Men are unreliable creatures, let's not think about them."
"Let me recommend some movies for you to watch and distract yourself. If you're still feeling down after watching them, I'll chat with you."
Her sister took a long pause before replying with a simple "Okay."
Jian Fei sent her the titles of two movies: Becoming Jane and Kim Ji-young, Born 1982.
Both were outstanding films representing women, and although Ke Teng hadn't seen them, he had heard of them.
Seeing their sisterly chat turn so emotional, with Jian Fei's eyes welling up, he dared not tease her further. He sat up, pulled Jian Fei into his arms, and patted her head.
"Don't think about unhappy things. Is the world really as dark as you think? Look on the bright side."
In the world of the rich, it seemed no problem couldn't be solved. Jian Fei didn't expect him to understand her.
However, thinking about the uncertain future and her poor sister, she couldn't bring herself to take a nap.
"Do you think drinking can really drown one's sorrows?"
Ke Teng looked down at her. "What? You want to drink?"
"Can't I? We're not working today anyway. I want to try."
"Then I'll join you."
There was a small shop on the street outside their complex. Ke Teng went down and picked up the two most expensive bottles of baijiu. They drank a couple of glasses with the leftover dishes they hadn't finished.
As they drank, they chatted intermittently, from primary school to university. Before they knew it, one bottle of baijiu was empty.
Jian Fei's head felt fuzzy. She flopped onto the sofa, covering her eyes with her arm.
"I'm not cleaning up. We'll leave it like this today. I'm tired, I'm sleepy. I want to sleep."
Ke Teng looked at her flushed and beautiful face, feeling a surge of affection.
"Can you walk? Do you need me to carry you?"
Jian Fei didn't know if she could walk, but she suddenly wanted to experience being carried like a princess. So she lowered her arm and looked at Ke Teng with a hazy gaze.
"You want to sleep with me?"
Ke Teng said lazily, "I've been drinking, I can't drive. Are you going to kick me out?"
"Alright then, carry me over."
Ke Teng's embrace was warm, like a furnace.
In this November that was already starting to turn cold, it was truly comforting.
And his arms were so long, so strong, and his neck looked so good.
Jian Fei hooked her arm around his neck, her gaze falling directly on his Adam's apple. Seeing it bob a few times, she couldn't resist reaching out and poking it.
"Ke Teng, you're actually quite good-looking."
His breath, carrying the scent of alcohol, brushed against her cheek and neck. Ke Teng felt a tingling sensation from head to toe.
He put her down, propped himself up on his arms above her head, and looked at her sparkling eyes. He couldn't control himself any longer. "Jian Fei."
"Hmm?"
"Were you angry when I kissed you just now?"
Jian Fei looked at him, thought for a moment, and shook her head.
"No."
"Why not? Don't you actually mind me, do you still have some feelings for me?"
Jian Fei didn't know why she wasn't angry. She seemed to have gotten used to his various touches.
"I don't know."
"If I wanted to kiss you again, or even want something more, would you refuse me?"
As a medical student, she couldn't possibly not understand his meaning.
Looking at his young, handsome face, her mind buzzed. Thoughts arose and subsided, only to rise again, but ultimately, she followed her heart.
"No."
Ke Teng was a little surprised, but also felt a sense of predictable triumph.
"Why? I've never pursued you before."
Jian Fei looked back at him. "I don't know. I think, perhaps at my age, it's time to try."
She didn't know who she'd meet in the future. In any case, Ke Teng was handsome and had a good physique, so it wasn't a loss.
Ke Teng's surging blood was about to flow out of his nose. "Will you regret this tomorrow?"
Jian Fei declared with conviction, "In my life, I've never regretted anything."
Ke Teng lowered his head...
How to put it, the two of them were truly like an old couple who had known each other for a very long time.
It didn't feel awkward, nor was it as uncomfortable as she might have imagined.
Jian Fei even secretly wondered if she had a natural talent in this area.
How did she get the hang of it so quickly...
In the dark room, as she was lost in thought, she heard a strange noise.
Before either of them could react, with a "thud," the bed sank.
The old, worn-out bed in this dilapidated rental room, which hadn't been used for who knows how long, had one of its legs break...
The silent, ambiguous atmosphere was broken. Both of them froze and couldn't help but meet each other's eyes.
The way their eyes met at such moments was always different from usual. As soon as their gazes locked, Jian Fei admitted she chickened out.
She wasn't used to seeing Ke Teng like this, so she quickly averted her gaze.
Ke Teng was caught in an awkward position. Seeing her so embarrassed, he couldn't help but chuckle.