Chapter 36

On the evening of New Year’s Eve, Ji Qingyuan, before his performance, repeatedly reminded Zhu Xinyue and Ji Linyu to watch it, insisting they take photos and videos when he was on stage as proof.
After finishing their hike and having dinner out, Ji Linyu and Zhu Xinyue checked into a standalone villa in a resort town in the neighboring city.
The house had been cleaned the day before they arrived. It was spacious and open, and from the balcony, they could see the mountain they had hiked earlier. Far from the city center’s noise, it was very quiet here.
Ji Linyu was in the living room, adjusting the TV to the channel broadcasting the Spring Festival Gala.
Zhu Xinyue, meanwhile, wandered around the house.
“Boss Ji, have you stayed here before?” Zhu Xinyue leaned against the staircase railing, looking toward Ji Linyu in the living room.
“No, this house was bought last year and just finished renovating,” Ji Linyu replied, not much more familiar with the place than she was.
Zhu Xinyue had originally hoped he could give her a tour, but since he said that, she decided to explore on her own.
The master bedroom was on the second floor, with a guest room opposite it. The decor was very consistent, done in a modern minimalist style, much like a hotel.
Zhu Xinyue walked into the master bedroom and casually opened the wardrobe, finding both men's and women's clothes inside, all brand new with tags still attached.
The men's clothing matched Ji Linyu's size, while the women's clothes were exactly her size, though they were all dresses.
Zhu Xinyue recalled the time she and Ji Linyu went shopping before the wedding. It seemed that even back then, Mr. Ji had secretly noted down the size of her dresses.
Even the brands were the same ones they had browsed that day.
Zhu Xinyue took one of the dresses and held it up against the full-length mirror in the walk-in closet. However, since she was still wearing her tracksuit, she couldn’t get a clear idea of how it would look.
Should she try it on?
Zhu Xinyue turned on the light in the walk-in closet, drew the curtains, and began trying on the clothes.
A black velvet long dress with lantern sleeves and a deep V-back with a crisscross tie design, sexy yet elegant, it accentuated her figure perfectly.
As she looked at herself in the mirror, Zhu Xinyue suddenly realized that since she and Ji Linyu had gotten together, aside from kisses and hugs, they hadn’t taken things further. Even when staying at Pear Mountain, they slept in separate rooms...
In the wardrobe before her, men's and women's clothes were placed together. Whether it was intentional or unintentional on the part of the staff arranging the wardrobe, it seemed to imply they would share a room tonight.
Scenes that made her blush flashed through Zhu Xinyue’s mind. She coughed lightly and began carefully selecting clothes from the wardrobe.
After trying on several dresses, Zhu Xinyue heard a knock at the door.
"Xinyue, Qingyuan’s show is about to start," Ji Linyu called from outside.
Zhu Xinyue was in the middle of tying the straps of her dress. She glanced at the mirror and felt the current dress was a bit too dreamy and exaggerated, with its sheer fabric, puffed sleeves, and wide skirt, it looked as though she was about to turn into Cinderella and ride off in a pumpkin carriage to a ball.
"...Wait a moment," she said hurriedly, taking off the dress and slipping into another one at random.
Ji Linyu, standing outside the door, couldn’t quite make out what she said. After waiting a while without a response, he grew concerned that she might be in some trouble and pushed the door open.
As he turned the doorknob and cracked the door open just a sliver, a force from inside pushed it shut again.
"Wait, I... I’m changing," Zhu Xinyue said, her cheeks flushed red.
Ji Linyu recoiled as if burned, immediately releasing the doorknob and letting the door slam shut with a loud thud.
She was changing? Ji Linyu coughed, forcing inappropriate thoughts out of his mind.
"I’ll wait for you downstairs then," he said, about to head down when the door cracked open again.
Zhu Xinyue peeked out and asked, "Could you help me tie the straps?"
The room’s heating was turned up quite high, making it comfortable even in a short-sleeved dress. The dress Zhu Xinyue had hastily put on was a strappy mini dress, but its shoulder straps needed to be tied into bows.
Ji Linyu entered the room.
The only light in the room came from the dim lamp in the walk-in closet on the right side near the entrance. The overhead light fell on Zhu Xinyue, the warm white glow making her skin appear fair and delicate. Two slender straps had slipped down, turning her spaghetti strap dress into a strapless one, accentuating her perfect shoulder line and prominent collarbones.
"The straps..." Zhu Xinyue held up her dress with one hand and hooked one of the straps with the other, turning slightly. "There’s another strap at the back. Tie it together with this one."
Ji Linyu’s gaze fell on the thin strap hanging down at the back of her dress. He picked it up and took the other strap from her hand.
Such thin straps, once tied, it seemed like they could come undone with a single tug. Ji Linyu’s ears flushed red as he focused intently on the two straps, clumsily tying a tight knot for Zhu Xinyue’s shoulder strap.
That made it much more secure.
"Let’s go, we should head downstairs to watch the show." After helping her tie both shoulder straps, Ji Linyu took Zhu Xinyue’s hand and led her downstairs.
Zhu Xinyue felt something was off about the straps, they were tied a bit too tightly, making it hard for her to move freely. But since the host’s voice announcing the program could already be heard from downstairs, she decided to ignore it for now and followed Ji Linyu down.
On the TV, a festive scene unfolded. In the lower-left corner, Ji Qingyuan’s name appeared in the subtitles, it was his turn to sing.
Zhu Xinyue opened her phone’s recording function to film Ji Qingyuan on TV, proving that she was still diligently watching his performance.
But when she glanced sideways and saw Ji Linyu sitting motionless beside her, staring intently at her, she lowered her voice and asked, "Aren’t you recording? Later, Ji Qingyuan might say you’re not paying attention to his show."
"He knows we’re together." Ji Linyu reached out and wrapped his arm around Zhu Xinyue’s waist.
The dress was form-fitting, and the heat from his palm seeped through the thin fabric, making Zhu Xinyue’s grip on her phone unsteady.
Ji Linyu reached from behind to steady her phone, supporting it from below so she wouldn’t have to hold it up so strenuously.
Just his proximity was enough to make Zhu Xinyue’s heart race, let alone their current position, which was almost an embrace.
In the living room, aside from the music from the TV, the only sound was Zhu Xinyue’s own heartbeat.
Why had she never realized before that this song was so long?
When the song finally ended, Zhu Xinyue sent the recorded video to Ji Qingyuan and let out a sigh of relief. Just then, the TV was turned off.
The living room suddenly fell silent. Zhu Xinyue’s thoughts ran wild, was something about to happen?
"I’m going to take a shower." Ji Linyu released Zhu Xinyue, stood up, and went upstairs.
Nothing happened. He went straight upstairs.
Zhu Xinyue’s expectations were dashed. While she could breathe freely again, she couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
Did he really have no thoughts about her at all? Zhu Xinyue pressed a hand to her rapidly beating heart and began to overthink again.
Her appearance wasn’t bad, was it? Many people had complimented her on her looks.
Could it be... that he wasn’t capable? Or did he have some psychological barrier? Zhu Xinyue furrowed her brows. If that were the case, their future life together would be difficult. If they weren’t compatible in that aspect, conflicts would inevitably arise sooner or later.
Zhu Xinyue planned to wait until Ji Linyu finished his shower to have a proper talk with him.
She entered the second-floor bedroom and heard strange noises coming from the bathroom.
The sound of running water was mixed with suppressed groans.
Thinking Ji Linyu might have bumped into something, Zhu Xinyue knocked on the door and asked, "What's wrong? Do you need help?"
She could fetch the first aid kit for him.
The noises inside suddenly stopped, leaving only the endless sound of water.
"Ji Linyu? Are you okay?" Growing more concerned, Zhu Xinyue knocked again.
Just then, the bathroom door opened. A gust of steam-laden air brushed through her hair as she tilted her head up slightly, meeting Ji Linyu's deep, dark eyes.
Water droplets trickled from his hair, falling onto his shoulders and sliding down along his muscle lines. Zhu Xinyue didn’t dare look further down, her gaze fixed intently on him.
"...Can you help me?" Ji Linyu's voice was hoarse, sending what felt like an electric current straight to her ears.
Zhu Xinyue swallowed and tentatively asked, "H-how can I help?"
Ji Linyu grabbed her wrist, pulling her into the bathroom and shutting the door behind them.
He was completely drenched, every part of him soaked. As he held her wrist, her dry skin grew damp from his touch.
He pinned Zhu Xinyue against the back of the bathroom door, kissing her lips recklessly, nibbling on her soft mouth. But he seemed inexperienced, unable to find relief for his desire, which only grew more intense.
Zhu Xinyue’s hands rested on his shoulders, the temperature beneath her palms rising steadily. Her dress was dampened by the water on his body, dark stains spreading across the fabric.
In the midst of their mingled breaths, Zhu Xinyue felt that his kiss was different from all the previous ones, more urgent and... overwhelming.
When she was nearly out of breath, he finally released her. Zhu Xinyue leaned against his shoulder, gasping for air.
Ji Linyu held her wrist, guiding her hand downward.
His words were slurred, and with every syllable, his wet lips brushed against her earlobe, making her heart race wildly.
"You said you’d help me."
It was time for her to fulfill her promise.
Zhu Xinyue’s body no longer obeyed her. Her knees weakened, one hand hooked around his neck while the other was under his control. She blushed from head to toe, utterly embarrassed.
He rubbed against her delicate palm, bending his knees to press into her hand again and again, as if determined to wrinkle her skin with the friction.
It was a wild, unrestrained, and chaotic collision.
Enveloped in the steam, Zhu Xinyue could see nothing clearly. She felt like a small boat adrift on the sea, watching waves crash over her, soaking her dress, rising and falling with the tide.
When the great waves surged, one after another, finally beginning to calm down, Zhu Xinyue's dress was completely soaked, the hem clinging tightly to her thighs as she gazed pitifully at Ji Linyu.
"C-can we stop now? Maybe you should take a shower first?" Zhu Xinyue realized her voice had become somewhat strained.
Ji Linyu directly picked up Zhu Xinyue, effortlessly placing her on the spacious bathroom countertop.
"Reciprocity."
Without any fabric barrier, the cold marble surface pressed against her feverish body. Zhu Xinyue leaned back, only to encounter the water-streaked, foggy mirror that chilled her, making her straighten her back again, hands braced behind her.
Ji Linyu pressed one hand against her knee, forcing her to part her legs, and kissed her lips in this position.
Zhu Xinyue clenched her palms, enduring the kisses he gave her, her body surging with waves of heat so intense that the marble surface beneath her began to fog up.
Ji Linyu's large hand lifted her skirt, his fingers hooking onto her intimate clothing. His gaze deep, meeting her dazed eyes, he looked at her questioningly, his voice hoarse: "...Is this okay?"
Zhu Xinyue felt somewhat uncomfortable, the inside of her knees rubbing against his waist and abdomen, then she nodded.
What she thought was reciprocity, she assumed he would use his hands too, but unexpectedly, Boss Ji was bolder and more greedy.
She melted like candy on his tongue, the small bathroom filled with a sweet fragrance.
Tonight was destined to be sleepless.