After the morning sun came a brilliant, blazing sun. The warmth streaming into the room promised that today’s weather probably wouldn’t be too bad. Perhaps it would even become the single finest day of Jiahai City’s weather in the whole of November.

Song Nanyin lay with her eyes closed, her hands resting on her lower abdomen, drowsy, savoring the lingering afterglow of physical pleasure. Though this lovemaking had not been what she wanted at the outset, once she woke and tasted it, she had begun to cooperate and then to grow passionate.

How to put it? Unlike the first time, with its half-hearted reluctance, this time sleeping with Liu Zhaoran had felt more like something she was doing of her own will. Though she didn’t want to admit it, Song Nanyin couldn’t deny that after that last bout of lovemaking, Liu Zhaoran was not the only one who had acquired a taste for it.

Perhaps sex was the easiest act in today’s fast-food society, and the quickest way to release both body and mind. That was exactly why so many people chased a stranger’s kiss or embrace.

“What time is it?” Song Nanyin’s voice was a little hoarse, her body still soft. She looked over at Liu Zhaoran, who had already showered and changed, and her gaze flickered slightly.

WCRR didn’t necessarily require formal wear during regular working hours, but Liu Zhaoran, as a director, often had meetings, so in most cases she still appeared in formal attire.

In just this little while, she had already gotten herself neatly ready. Her long black hair was blow-dried and simply, naturally coiled at the back of her head. A pure white suit and pencil skirt, and beneath the skirt, a pair of absurdly straight, long legs. She wasn’t wearing stockings, her bare feet on the carpet, her head tilted up as she tied her tie.

Song Nanyin had always felt that Liu Zhaoran in formal wear had a very attractive quality. Setting aside Liu Zhaoran’s nature as a black-hearted lotus, the woman truly had an excellent face and bearing. Even a somewhat stern formal suit, once she put it on, was dyed with her own distinctive color.

Seductive. Other than that word, Song Nanyin could not think of a more fitting description.

Whether Liu Zhaoran did it unintentionally or deliberately.

The way she tilted her head slightly and fastened her shirt buttons all the way to the top was seductive.

The posture of her fingertips holding the tie as she tied it also made it impossible for Song Nanyin to look away.

The curve of her profile was lovely, with a smile hooked at the corner of her lips. Someone who didn’t know her well would only find it gentle and elegant. But someone as familiar with Liu Zhaoran as Song Nanyin would think she had definitely noticed her gaze again, and was probably scheming some bad idea in her head.

At that moment, Liu Zhaoran finished getting ready and finally turned her head to look over. As their eyes met, from the smile in Liu Zhaoran’s gaze, Song Nanyin guessed that she had indeed been right.

“Team Leader Song, the way you’re lying there in bed looking at me, hair all tousled like that, makes me want to lie back down and keep making love with you.” Liu Zhaoran said it bluntly, also piercing through Song Nanyin’s prolonged stare from just now.

Fortunately, Song Nanyin had long grown used to Liu Zhaoran’s black-bellied ways. She propped herself up, knowing it was getting late and she should get herself ready and head to the company right away.

“Liu Zhaoran, I’d bet no one in the whole company knows you’re actually like this.” Song Nanyin rolled her eyes at Liu Zhaoran, but without the embarrassment of being caught, nor did she bristle.

Seeing she was about to get up, Liu Zhaoran walked over, gently pressing her shoulder and pushing her back down. Perhaps because she had used her waist too much just now, Song Nanyin’s waist was still a little weak, and pressed like that, she really did lie flat again.

“What I’m like has nothing to do with them. In the end, the me they imagine in their hearts is merely the me of their own fantasies. The company isn’t busy today, so it’s fine for Team Leader Song to go in later.”

Liu Zhaoran said with a smile, showing every intention of pulling strings for her. Though it was well-intentioned, Song Nanyin frowned slightly at the words.

Fine, she admitted, Liu Zhaoran’s position was several levels above hers, and the company indeed wasn’t busy these two days. But she was still a team leader, and showing up late however she pleased was, in the end, not a good look.

“I can work on the upcoming planning ahead of time. You’re the one who delayed me, so why should I be late because of you?”

Song Nanyin thought of this sudden lovemaking and still found it a little hard to speak of. Especially thinking about how she and Liu Zhaoran had just been making love so crazily on a weekday morning, soaking the whole blanket wet; thinking about it, it was quite embarrassing.

“But after all, we’re legal bed partners. Team Leader Song ignored me for two weeks, and I didn’t know how to bring it up. Sorry, this morning, I really couldn’t hold back.” Hearing Song Nanyin bring it up again, Liu Zhaoran sat on the edge of the bed with a few traces of guilt on her face.

Feeling her hand touch her cheek in a gentle caress, those black eyes shimmering with a soft, warm light, Song Nanyin felt her heart skip a heavy beat. She cleared her throat and sat up somewhat nervously.

Because she remembered words she had read somewhere, saying that viewed from a top-down angle, a person’s face turns ugly. Thinking she might look a bit unflattering under Liu Zhaoran’s gaze, Song Nanyin couldn’t stand it.

“Even if you wanted to, you could have said so in advance. Why did you have to do this kind of thing in the morning…” Song Nanyin muttered in a low voice, completely unaware that she was digging a pit for herself. Hearing her say this, Liu Zhaoran’s smile deepened.

“Then, from now on, can I ask Team Leader Song to fulfill the terms of the contract? When I want it, I can bring it up with you directly, right?” Liu Zhaoran laughed softly, looking like she was in a very good mood. Song Nanyin’s words stuck in her throat. She felt something was off, but could only nod.

A contract was, after all, something that should indeed be fulfilled.

“Alright, I should go. I’ll tell your team members you’ll be coming in later today. I made lunch and put it under the insulated cover. Remember to bring it.”

After saying this, Liu Zhaoran didn’t forget to tuck the blanket around Song Nanyin, then turned and left the bedroom with a smile. Watching her leave, Song Nanyin raised a hand and swept it through the air, as if catching the scent Liu Zhaoran had left behind.

“What’s this, making it seem like… we have a great relationship.” Song Nanyin said, turning over to face the pillow that belonged to Liu Zhaoran. It was clean, and precisely because it was clean, the black strand of long hair on it stood out especially.

Song Nanyin closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her hand had already moved forward beyond her control, winding that strand of Liu Zhaoran’s hair around her finger and rolling it back and forth.

Liu Zhaoran had good hair quality; wrapped around her fingertip, it didn’t give the feeling it would easily snap. Song Nanyin’s eyes went vacant, unable to resist the wandering thoughts. At that moment, the phone under the pillow buzzed. She glanced at the caller and saw it was Chai Yue. She sighed softly and picked up.

“Hey, did you forget the time difference again? It’s only 9 here.” Song Nanyin knew without thinking that Chai Yue’s side must be evening, otherwise she wouldn’t be idle enough to call her.

“Of course I know it’s morning there. Why is it so quiet on your end? Not at the company?”

“Got up late. I’ll head over in a bit.”

“Oh? Got up late? That’s not like you. Isn’t your biological clock always precise? Could it be you overindulged last night?”

Chai Yue’s voice carried a hint of playful laughter. Though it was a guess, Song Nanyin felt she had guessed pretty accurately. Except the overindulgence wasn’t last night, but this morning.

“Cut the nonsense. Go on, what did you want me for?”

“It’s like this. I’m going back at the end of the year, and I mentioned it to a few friends earlier. A while ago, I ran into Auntie Jiang at a restaurant. She seems to be planning a wedding recently, and asked me to ask whether you want to attend.”

Chai Yue’s tone was a little hesitant as she brought this up. The Auntie Jiang she spoke of was Song Nanyin’s mother, Jiang Yi. Her memories of her own parents had long grown blurry for Song Nanyin. Two unreliable people got married, had her amid an unreliable life, then divorced and went their separate ways.

In this failed marriage, perhaps the only victim was Song Nanyin herself. Her father didn’t need her, and her mother didn’t want someone like her, a burden, added to her future life.

After that, Song Nanyin could only live with her grandparents. Her parents’ only presence was the living expenses deposited into her account each year. Beyond that, nothing else.

She had heard that the man called her father died from alcoholism, and her heart felt no ripple. She had heard that her mother went abroad to work and dated a new boyfriend. These things had nothing to do with her; Song Nanyin only listened.

Later, her grandparents passed away one after another. After she reached adulthood, her only remaining means of contact with Jiang Yi was the occasional phone greeting. What that woman looked like now, Song Nanyin could no longer remember. And what she herself was like, presumably Jiang Yi had never cared.

“I’m not going. She’s living well over there, and she has children closer to her. What would I count as if I went? It’d be awkward.”

Song Nanyin laughed lightly and said it without concern. She felt that Jiang Yi having Chai Yue tell her was probably just going through the motions. If she truly hoped she would come, she should at least have called personally, right?

“I know you don’t want to go, so I only said I’d help ask for you. It’s been so many years, and she’s never once mentioned coming back to see you. I just think she’s really gone too far.” Chai Yue was also somewhat displeased as she brought up Jiang Yi.

She knew Song Nanyin actually held some resentment toward Jiang Yi, but perhaps she had long gotten used to independence. As time passed, she had long gone numb.

“Forget it. This kind of thing is meaningless. Don’t bring her up. You called just to tell me this? Nothing else?”

“Of course not. I wanted to tell you I’ve started seeing a new boyfriend. He’ll be coming back with me this time too. Help me size him up and see what you think.”

“I knew it. You calling specially must mean something’s up. Alright, when the time comes I’ll treat you both to a meal.” After finishing the conversation with Chai Yue, once she felt her body had some strength, Song Nanyin finally got up to shower.

She got herself ready, put on simple makeup, and opened the lunch Liu Zhaoran had made to look at it. Inside, the food was still packed in the fine insulated lunch box: three dishes, two meat and one vegetable, and the soup she had said a few days ago she wanted to drink was placed in a cup.

Looking at all this, Song Nanyin inexplicably felt her nose sting.

No one had ever prepared these things for her. Unexpectedly, Liu Zhaoran was the first.

Song Nanyin wrapped the lunch up and placed it on the back seat of the car, driving herself to the company for the first time in a while. She sat down in the Planning Department. Just as she sat, her phone lit up with a message from Liu Zhaoran.

“Here so early? Brought the lunch?”

“Brought it. How did you know I’d arrived?”

“I just saw you from upstairs. Your hair is very eye-catching. In a crowd, I can spot you at a single glance.”

What’s this, Liu Zhaoran? Can’t you talk without being so cheesy?

Song Nanyin looked at this message, needling her in her heart, while the corners of her mouth unconsciously curved up. Just as she was about to reply, a university classmate she hadn’t contacted in a long time sent her a message. Usually in this kind of situation, it was either a wedding or a full-month celebration; in unluckier cases, it might be a funeral banquet…

Song Nanyin opened the message and found she had overthought it. None of the above.

“Ah-Song, in a few days is our school’s anniversary celebration. Are you coming?”