Standing at the bathroom door, Lu Xingzhi tilted his head slightly as he wiped his wet hair with a dry towel. Some of the water on his hair dripped on the floor, some on his bathrobe, and some on his face, sliding along his tall nose bridge and consequently dropping onto his chest which was barely visible under the bathrobe.
He was standing there like a dangerous yet relaxed leopard. It was quite a seductive picture to look at.
Suddenly, he chuckled. His laughter was low and cheerful, his shoulders shaking with the laugh.
It was already way past dinner time, and so, Lu Xingzhi called the reception using the telephone in the room and asked the hotel staff to deliver supper to their room.
Jiang Yao lay lazily in the bathtub. Her body was covered with Lu Xingzhi’s love bites after a night of indulgence. Tiny dots of reddish marks were imprinted on her neck, chest, as well as her back and waist.
She could even feel that she was soaked in his unique scent.
The supper was delivered to their room swiftly. After waiting in the living room for a few minutes but to no avail, Lu Xingzhi walked to the bedroom, knocked on the bathroom door, and urged coyly. “Hurry up, or I’ll go in and carry you out.”
“Give me a minute! I’ll be quick!” Her frantic voice echoed through the door.
Jiang Yao changed into her pajamas before opening the door. She assumed that the man would wait for her outside the door, but it was empty. She stepped out of the bedroom in her slippers and detected a faint odor of cigarette as soon as she walked into the living room.
She looked around the living room and then glimpsed Lu Xingzhi’s figure on the balcony.
Jiang Yao approached him slowly and frowned. “Did you smoke?”
Donning the bathrobe, Lu Xingzhi leaned against the guardrail with one hand on the tile of the rail and a cigarette in the other hand. When Jiang Yao approached him, he was huffing a smoke, standing slantingly against the railing, shaking one of his legs.
The cold and clear moon was hanging in the sky behind him. He seemed to be a dark angel descending from the moon, making the crescent moon his exclusive backdrop. However, this scene seemed too lonely and forlorn.
The moment Jiang Yao saw Lu Xingzhi, a dangerous aura emitted from his body that distanced himself from the rest of humankind, but the aura dissipated instantly when her voice resonated.
Jiang Yao wondered if, in her previous life, Lu Xingzhi had spent his many lonely nights like this—staring at the blue moon while puffing cigarettes in his leisure time.
Jiang Yao felt a sudden jab in her heart when she saw him like this.
Lu Xingzhi quickly stubbed out the cigarette, knowing how repulsive she was to the smell of smoke. He then waved at her and said, “Come here.”
Jiang Yao strode toward him and snuggled up to him, a rare action from her. Laying comfortably in his embrace, she lifted her head and rested her still-wet hair against his body. “Smoking is bad for your health, stop smoking. You have to take care of your body. At the very least, you have to live longer than I do.”
What if Lu Xingzhi died before her again in this life? How would she be able to face the pain of losing him again? She wasn’t sure if she could handle it again. The thought sent her trembling in extreme fear.
She had spent thirty-something years in her previous life without him, but now, she dared not even think about not having him in her life.
“Don’t you worry, I’ll live for a hundred years.” There was an old saying that went ‘bad things never die’, and Lu Xingzhi had never once considered himself to be a good guy.
The supper consisted of seafood porridge and several side dishes. They were placed on the dining table in the living room, and the fragrance had permeated the entire room.
Lu Xingzhi scooped a bowl of porridge for Jiang Yao and without waiting for him, she quickly picked up the chopsticks and started eating. He smiled at the amusing scene, thinking that she must be very hungry by now.