Volume One, Chapter 100: The Rhythm of Living Together?

Choose between 1357 and 246.

Warning: there are no other options.

If you do not reply within three seconds, option one will be selected by default.

No beginning, no end—yet Sang Wan understood at once.

Before she could even send back a two, a new message from Lou Ye popped up in the chat box.

Received!

What had he received?

Separated by two floors, Lou Ye seemed to see all of Sang Wan’s disbelief and speechlessness in that instant.

Her phone chimed, and a video call came in.

After locking the door, Sang Wan walked toward the bedroom. “What did you receive?”

“I said it already. If you don’t choose within three seconds, option one is the default. So from now on, on the nights of 1357, we’re staying together.”

On the other end of the video, Lou Ye had entered his room. Half his face was cloaked in the dim light gathered by moonlight; his finely carved features looked especially sharp, handsome beyond measure.

Sang Wan quickly changed her answer. “Then I choose 246!”

One less day was one less day!

“Rejected.”

Lou Ye refused without the slightest hesitation. “Sister, you have to follow the rules. You can’t go back on your word! I gave you five seconds and you still didn’t choose—you can’t renege now!”

Before Sang Wan could come up with a more reasonable excuse, the camera suddenly turned.

Lou Ye, now in the bedroom, had already taken off his shirt. The screen showed his face, a section of shoulder, and... a faint sliver of chest muscle.

“Sister, I’m going to shower. Are you still watching?”

What?

Since when was she watching?

Her emotions in complete disarray, Sang Wan panicked and ended the call on the spot.

After showering and lying in bed, Sang Wan finally sensed that something was off.

Who said she absolutely had to choose?

How had she somehow been led around by the nose?

She wanted to send him a WeChat message saying she chose neither.

But the soft bed was like a cloud in the winter sun, and her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, while her hand seemed glued in place and refused to lift.

By the time the fluffy weight pressed down on the blanket corner, and 2S had obediently curled itself into the crook of her arm—

Sang Wan turned over, hugged it, and fell asleep in an instant.

A dreamless night.

Before the alarm even rang, Sang Wan was roused awake.

A cool kiss landed on her bare shoulder, and she jolted fully awake.

When she turned back, Lou Ye’s kisses came down like a storm, ushering in a brand-new day.

“Sister...”

Deep in the throes of passion, Lou Ye fixed his eyes on Sang Wan. “I’ve changed my mind.”

Sang Wan’s mind went blank.

All she wanted to say was that at this moment, anything was fine.

Lou Ye protested in a hoarse voice, “I don’t want 1357. I want every day!”

What?

A cohabitation pace?

“No...”

She tried to say no, but Lou Ye did not give her the chance.

Everything ended.

Sang Wan turned over, hiding her burning face beneath the pillow.

Lou Ye leaned over from behind, peppering her back with tiny, dense kisses. “If you don’t answer, I’ll take it as your agreement!”

“I didn’t!”

Her muffled voice came through from under the pillow.

Lou Ye automatically ignored it, scooped her up, and held her tightly against his chest. “I’m already swallowing my pride and playing the role of your shameful hidden lover, and you still won’t let me ask for just one condition?”

Wronged!

Again with the wronged act!

Sang Wan turned around and glared at him. “If you’re so wronged, then let’s just go our separate ways and make everyone happy!”

“Dream on!”

As if he had long since anticipated her answer, Lou Ye countered with perfect logic. “We’ve already slept together, and you’ve already gotten all the benefits. You think you can just dump me like this? Not a chance!”

“As if you didn’t get anything out of it!”

Sang Wan shot back.

Lou Ye lowered his head to kiss her. “Exactly. We both got the benefit. Since this is a mutually advantageous thing, shouldn’t we be all the more committed to promoting and carrying it out, striving for the utmost perfection, leaving nothing undone?”

For some reason, that line felt oddly familiar, as though she had heard it somewhere before.

But before Sang Wan could remember where, Lou Ye was already sweeping over her again, carrying her into a fresh blaze of heat.

At the department meeting at ten in the morning, Cheng Jingran pointed at the new S City project on the PowerPoint and spoke with ringing force. “The break is over, everyone, let’s settle our minds... Now that we’ve secured this project, our entire project design department must push it forward with full force, striving to execute it as perfectly as possible, leaving nothing undone, leaving no regrets!”

Amid the chorus of agreement.

Amid the crackle of applause.

Sang Wan did not even need a mirror to clearly feel the warmth spreading across her ears and cheeks.

“Wan-jie...”

Back at her workstation, Sang Wan drank a few mouthfuls of black coffee before barely managing to suppress that heat.

Then Xiao Bai looked her over and said, “See? Office workers really do need vacations! Just two days, and all that work smell is gone. You’re practically glowing!”

Was she?

Sang Wan froze.

Xiao Bai nodded vigorously and handed over a small mirror.

In the palm-sized mirror, against the bright and gentle sunlight outside the window, Sang Wan could see her own clear eyes and her fair skin with a delicate pink flush.

Against the lively expression that made her seem full of charm, she really did appear to be glowing.

And that had never happened in all these past years.

In the year she married, she had pinched every coin until it split into two, living frugally and saving every penny.

When she married and became pregnant, she was tormented by morning sickness in the early months and swelling in the later stages, until her face turned ashen and colorless.

And the years after that needed no mention at all.

Sang Wan could no longer remember when she had last seen herself so radiant, so dazzling.

Xu Yiyi sent a WeChat message saying she had no class this afternoon and would come find her to hang out and, incidentally, see 2S.

Sang Wan replied yes.

Sensing that she was not busy, Xu Yiyi immediately sent a video call.

As soon as the video connected, Xu Yiyi asked in confusion, “Did you change your phone?”

“No...” Sang Wan looked equally puzzled. “Why?”

Xu Yiyi squinted, her face full of astonishment. “Are the effects of the hot springs really that strong? I thought you had beauty filters on!”

After Xiao Bai, Xu Yiyi was the second person to say that.

Sang Wan’s heart skipped a beat. “Um, I’ll... tell you about it when I get home tonight.”

What?

There’s something going on!

Alarm bells ringing in her mind, Xu Yiyi’s eyes lit up. “Alright, no need to say more! I get it!”

If the Sang Wan of the past few years had been weather-beaten and downtrodden, then the Sang Wan after her divorce could be called newly alive.

And the Sang Wan right now? Calling her a dead tree meeting spring again would not be an exaggeration.

Even without having tasted pork, had she never seen a pig run?

The source of that effect need not be explained.

Xu Yiyi only wanted to know whether it was the person she suspected.

The tacit understanding forged over years of friendship was still there; one look at Xu Yiyi, and it was as though Sang Wan already saw a screen full of question marks.

Knowing she would not have peace all day if she did not tell her.

Sang Wan nodded. “Yes, yes, yes—Professor Xu is truly the wisest. Is that acceptable?”

“Aaaaah!”

A scream rang out.

Footsteps and voices approached the break room.

Sang Wan had no time to lower the volume and quickly, nimbly hit end.

The next second, a WeChat message from Xu Yiyi came through.

Well done!!!

Don’t work overtime today. Come back and tell me everything in detail!!!

Sang Wan: ...

At the very same time Sang Wan walked back to her workstation,

in front of the South River Tower, a Maybach came to a slow stop, and Lou Ye stepped out from the back seat.