At the end of the workday, Song Nanyin went to the pickup point she had agreed on with Liu Zhaoran. The two had dinner together, then stopped by the supermarket before heading home.

Liu Zhaoran lived well. From the small details of her daily life, it was clear she rarely shortchanged herself. This was the supermarket nearest to the villa; located in the villa district, its prices were hardly low.

When Song Nanyin had bought medicine yesterday, she had casually glanced around. The supermarket was huge. Goods were divided by category across several floors, and each floor was further split into sections by brand and place of origin.

Since Liu Zhaoran was paying anyway, Song Nanyin figured she might as well pick out plenty of snacks that looked like they would taste good. Without checking prices, she tossed them all into the cart.

Watching her, Liu Zhaoran curved her lips and pushed the cart alongside her in an excellent mood. Occasionally Song Nanyin would compare two identical snacks with different flavors, choose one, and throw it in. Liu Zhaoran would then pick up the flavor she had hesitated over and toss that in too.

“Hey, Black-Hearted Lotus, with this much stuff, can the two of us even carry it?” Song Nanyin looked at the cart piled high and hesitated. They were both wearing high heels. Even with a car, there was still a distance to carry everything to the parking lot, was not there?

“We do not need to carry it. We will leave it to the supermarket staff. They will deliver it to the house.”

“Oh, in that case, I will pick out a few more.”

Hearing this, Song Nanyin turned back and added a few bags of dried fruit. They circled the store a few more times until they had confirmed everything they needed was bought, then headed for the checkout area.

While waiting to pay, Song Nanyin kept her head down and scrolled through messages on her phone. Mindless short videos were good for killing time, but she forgot them the moment she watched, hardly a useful memory. As for news reports, most of them just made her angry and added to her worries.

Song Nanyin did not know why she was thinking about such trivial things while waiting at the supermarket checkout, so she simply turned off her phone and looked up at Liu Zhaoran.

The other woman stood at her side. Not in front, not behind, but level with her, with probably only two centimeters between their shoulders.

Song Nanyin remembered a book she had read that said when familiar people went out together, they carried an inexplicable sense of familiarity and aura. Even strangers could tell you knew each other.

Liu Zhaoran was very close. Song Nanyin could clearly smell the faint fragrance on her. Besides the Grass-Smoke Scent she knew well, there was also a familiar perfume.

Maison Margiela’s relatively niche scent, Lazy Afternoon. This was Song Nanyin’s own favorite perfume. It suited being sprayed directly on the skin, clear but not heavy.

The faint pear scent was crisp and subtly sweet, like a cat lying on a small cushion on a sunny afternoon, stretching lazily, at ease and content.

Actually, the scent suited Liu Zhaoran. Song Nanyin had always felt that even with the same perfume, different people gave it a different charm when they wore it. And the way Liu Zhaoran “wore” this scent matched her temperament: clean, sweet, elegant, comfortable.

If only she did not bully her, it would be even better.

“Perfume, newly bought?” Song Nanyin turned her head, her gaze landing on the stray hairs at Liu Zhaoran’s temple. Her emerald eyes brightened slightly as she asked in a low voice. Liu Zhaoran turned to smile at her, as if delighted that Song Nanyin had noticed her scent.

“I sprayed Team Leader Song’s before. Since it smelled good, I went and bought the same one. I did not secretly use your perfume.” Liu Zhaoran winked playfully as she said it. Song Nanyin thought she looked beautiful; her gaze went blank, and she did not know what to say.

She was a little afraid the mood would go cold, yet she did not know what tone to reply in. All she could do was feign indifference with an “oh,” then look down and fiddle with her phone. On the black screen, a woman with a lewd smile was reflected.

Oh, it was actually her…

What was there to laugh about? It was not anything that happy. Song Nanyin, what the hell are you thinking?

After scolding herself inwardly a few times, Song Nanyin lit up her phone and swiped through it randomly. She finally understood why modern people liked looking at their phones. In awkward moments, this behavior could be called a dignified escape…

“Hey, the elevator goes straight to the parking lot.” After buying everything, Song Nanyin saw Liu Zhaoran heading for the second basement level and spoke up, confused.

“Team Leader Song, we still have some things to buy. Follow me.”

Liu Zhaoran stood at the elevator entrance. Behind her, the wall bore pink and red neon lettering that cast a rosy glow over her face. For some reason, Song Nanyin felt the three words “follow me” coming from Liu Zhaoran’s mouth were inexplicably suggestive.

“Oh, coming.” Song Nanyin click-clacked after her in her high heels, and the two descended to the second basement level. Unlike the bustling floors above, the second basement level had almost no one else. Just the two of them.

Seeing Liu Zhaoran push open a glass door and walk into a room, Song Nanyin followed. But the moment she stepped inside, the dazzling array of goods on the shelves made Song Nanyin’s face burn red. She also finally understood why this floor had so few people.

This was a self-service adult goods store. Though the storefront looked small, once the door opened, the space inside rivaled a small supermarket.

The shelves held this season’s featured new products, along with popular recommendations and bestsellers. The whole area was divided into a men’s section, a women’s section, an SM section, and a same-sex section.

This was Song Nanyin’s first time in such a place, and she had never expected Liu Zhaoran to bring her here. For a moment, she stood in the doorway, unable to go in or back out.

“Hey, Black-Hearted Lotus, why are you coming in here? What if someone else comes in?” Song Nanyin blocked the doorway and whispered, looking timid, her cheeks flushed. Seeing her reaction, Liu Zhaoran laughed at her inwardly. She really was an innocent little lion.

“Team Leader Song, we need to buy some essential supplies, and I do not know which kind you are used to.” As she spoke, Liu Zhaoran led Song Nanyin to the “daily goods” section, where the label read “finger covers for women.” Song Nanyin instantly understood what Liu Zhaoran meant. Red-faced, she told Liu Zhaoran to choose whatever she liked. Anyway… she knew nothing about these…

“We should buy some of these too, right?” After dropping the finger covers into the cart, Liu Zhaoran pointed at the condoms beside them. At that, Song Nanyin’s face burned even hotter. She looked up and saw Liu Zhaoran perfectly composed, nothing like a first-timer in a place like this.

“Black-Hearted Lotus, you… have you been here a lot?”

“Team Leader Song, I am an adult woman. There is nothing strange about me coming to a place like this. Actually, some of the toys are pretty useful, and I replace them with new ones regularly.”

Liu Zhaoran was utterly natural about it. She went to the women’s section, picked out a few delicately packaged little toys, and put them in the cart. Song Nanyin felt she was being far too cowardly. Exactly, it was just an adult toy store. It was not like it could eat her, was it?

With that thought, Song Nanyin casually picked a box of condoms and put it in the cart. At that moment, Liu Zhaoran glanced over her shoulder, then looked at Song Nanyin with meaning.

“So Team Leader Song likes ribbed and studded? I do not mind either way, but the stimulation would be pretty intense for you. Are you sure you can take it?”

Liu Zhaoran’s words were laden with meaning, and her gaze drifted down toward Song Nanyin’s lower body. Looked at like that, even in her skirt, Song Nanyin had the illusion of being seen through. She understood what Liu Zhaoran was really saying. Was she not just… hinting in a roundabout way that she could not handle it…

“Cut the nonsense. Whether I can handle it is none of your business. Mind your own affairs.” Song Nanyin looked at Liu Zhaoran’s smug look and truly wanted to go over and pinch that flawless face until it swelled.

Actually, reminded by Liu Zhaoran, she also felt this style probably was not right for her. But… she had already taken it. If she put it back, would that not just prove Liu Zhaoran right?

Song Nanyin steeled herself and decided not to swap it. Just then, Liu Zhaoran suddenly walked back, leaving the cart full of adult products aside and drawing close to her instead.

The two pressed near, Liu Zhaoran’s distinctive breath striking the side of Song Nanyin’s cheek. Song Nanyin took a deep breath, her gaze growing hazy. She had always considered herself unafraid of interacting with and being touched by people, but Liu Zhaoran’s contact was always close range, even negative distance.

The former was intimate; the latter, romantic. Perhaps because they had gone too wild the night before, even now Song Nanyin kept remembering how she and Liu Zhaoran had made love, the look of it and the feel of it. She had entered her with her fingers, caressing her. At the same time, she had also taken her inside, letting her melt into her body. That was negative distance without any barrier at all. Liu Zhaoran had truly been beautiful then.

So beautiful that she did not hate her as much anymore.

“Why are you this close to me?” Song Nanyin instinctively held her breath, then found her own nervousness funny. Was it not just Liu Zhaoran? What was there to be afraid of?

“Team Leader Song, I have no objection to the style you chose, but the size is a bit too big. This size is just right.” Liu Zhaoran picked up the small size from the shelf and put it in the cart.

Song Nanyin’s face burned hot, not because of the size, but because… Liu Zhaoran… she… how did she know so well?

“How can you be sure? Do not tell me you have…”

“That is right. Have you forgotten, Team Leader Song? I have measured it. Whether it is soft or hard, I know it clearly. Even better than you know yourself.”

As she spoke, Liu Zhaoran’s finger glided lightly across Song Nanyin’s chest, then dropped, tapping gently at the spot between her legs. Song Nanyin felt a wave of tingling numbness run down her spine, and her legs trembled.

She wanted to say something, but Liu Zhaoran’s hand came to her lips, rubbing over them slowly. Tilting her head, she leaned in.

Turning her head as she approached was the posture for a kiss. That way, their noses would not bump. It was perfect for pressing lips together and drawing in a lover’s taste and warmth.

Song Nanyin watched Liu Zhaoran lean in and instinctively closed her eyes, waiting for the kiss. But after a long moment, Liu Zhaoran simply took the wrongly chosen condom out of the cart and put it back on the shelf.

“Team Leader Song, we are done shopping. Let us go back.”

Liu Zhaoran’s voice pulled Song Nanyin back to her senses. She opened her eyes and realized Liu Zhaoran had already reached the door, holding the “goods” she had bought and looking at her.

Song Nanyin’s lips parted. Her gaze stared at Liu Zhaoran’s lips for a long moment before she looked away.

How embarrassing… She had been tricked by this Black-Hearted Lotus again.

Song Nanyin feigned calm on her face while seething inside. With a cold expression, she followed sulkily behind Liu Zhaoran. Just then, the person walking ahead suddenly stopped. Song Nanyin could not halt in time, and the next moment, Liu Zhaoran’s kiss fell abruptly upon her lips.

As if to make up for the regret from moments ago, Liu Zhaoran kissed her hard.

Urgent, thirsty, as if trying to make up for what had just been missed.

Eyes closed, Song Nanyin let out a thin whimper from her throat.

She really, truly hated Liu Zhaoran to death.