Countless times.
Ever since he had been to Jiang Sui’s home, Lu Yunze’s summer vacation life had changed a bit.
Actually, he had refused at first. After all, it was impossible for him to just go simply because Jiang Sui told him to. No matter how one looked at it, he was a Young Master—specifically, *her* Young Master. If he agreed too easily, he felt he would lose face.
Faced with his refusal, Jiang Sui was not in a hurry at all. She merely murmured softly in his ear.
“I only have Young Master as a confidant, but if Young Master is unwilling, I won’t force you, of course.”
“Young Master’s attitude makes me look like an unreasonable person instead, not like a qualified maid at all.”
“See? I only said a few extra words, and Young Master became like this.”
Faced with her self-pity, Lu Yunze raised his hands in surrender on the spot.
“Dear sister, please stop nagging. I’ll go, alright?”
In truth, his refusal wasn’t because he didn’t want to go, but because he couldn’t find a suitable excuse.
He couldn’t use “going out to play” as an excuse every time, could he? Jiang Sui thought it was fine, but someone else didn’t think so.
“Brother Lu, tell the truth. Has something happened lately?”
“Huh? Not really.”
“If you’ve run into trouble, you can tell us directly. There’s no need to hide.”
“I really haven’t.”
Luo Yao had already grown somewhat impatient with his excuses, and her expression turned noticeably cold.
Lu Yunze immediately felt a mountain of pressure.
This wouldn’t work. Continuing like this definitely wouldn’t work.
Since gentle persuasion wouldn’t move her, he had to change his approach.
He fell silent for a moment, then suddenly pulled a long face.
“Do I need to report to you every time I go out to have fun? When did you become more annoying than my mother?”
“Ah…?”
Luo Yao was stunned for a moment, and her momentum weakened instead.
“I just want to have my own life. Don’t I even have that much freedom? We’ve known each other for so many years—is there not even a shred of basic trust between us?”
“No, no, that’s not it. I’m not blaming you…” Luo Yao suddenly panicked. “I’m just worried you’ll run into bad people, especially women…”
“Sigh, I thought you were the person who trusted me most.” Lu Yunze let out a sigh. “I didn’t expect… It seems we’ll only drift further apart from now on.”
“Alright, alright, is it okay if I believe you now?”
Luo Yao finally couldn’t hold out any longer.
“Go ahead and play if you want to. I didn’t mean to stop you.”
“Are you really not going to ask anymore?”
“I won’t ask, I won’t ask!” She waved her hands repeatedly. “As long as you stay safe.”
Hearing this, Lu Yunze’s expression changed instantly. He smiled and patted her shoulder.
“I knew you understood me best. Thanks.”
“Ah… Oh.”
Luo Yao stood there, watching his departing back as if she were in a daze.
In this way, Lu Yunze would go to Jiang Sui’s house every weekend.
Luo Yao, the only person who would have suspected him, had been convinced, and he no longer hesitated.
***
On a Saturday morning in late July—
Lu Yunze’s first sensation upon waking up was a headache.
It felt like he had been struck by a blunt object. His head was groggy, and his eyelids were too heavy to open.
He closed his eyes and tried to remember, and the reason soon became clear.
Last night, he had gone to Jiang Sui’s house again.
Xia Youqing was very happy and had even brought out several bottles of wine to celebrate.
Initially, he hadn’t wanted to drink.
After all, alcohol could lead to mistakes, and it was easy to lose one’s composure when drunk.
However, under Jiang Sui’s taunts of “No way, could it be that Young Master is afraid to drink?”, his competitive spirit was instantly ignited.
He had rolled up his sleeves on the spot and engaged in a drinking contest with Xia Youqing.
Whoever fell first was the loser.
He could no longer remember exactly how much he had drunk.
He only knew that the person who won in the end was him.
As for what happened after that—
He only remembered being supported to the bed by Jiang Sui, and then he fell asleep while hugging something.
In short, he drank too much, slept like the dead, and was suffering the backlash upon waking up.
“No wonder I feel so miserable…”
He gave a light chuckle and hugged the ‘pillow’ in his arms tighter, intending to sleep a bit longer.
Wait.
A pillow?
This ‘pillow’ was far too soft, and it even had warmth.
After hugging it for a short while, he began to sweat.
More importantly—
His hand had, at some point, slipped inside a layer of fabric and touched something soft and full.
The sensation…
It was a bit like something he had seen before, but much softer and warmer.
And there was that small, round point…
When he rubbed it, it actually became firm.
Something was wrong!
Lu Yunze snapped his eyes open.
The thing in his arms was no pillow at all—
It was Jiang Sui!
He didn’t know what had happened last night, but the two were actually sleeping together, hugging each other the whole night, and they were face-to-face.
Their upper bodies were pressed tightly together, and their legs were tangled below.
Lu Yunze instantly held his breath, terrified of waking her up.
Looking down, he finally realized where his hand was placed.
Cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead, and his face began to heat up.
Following the movement of his fingers, Jiang Sui even let out a faint sound.
That sound made his scalp go numb.
‘This is too lethal…’
He complained frantically in his mind.
‘Did something really happen last night…’
All sorts of terrifying thoughts surfaced in his mind.
He quickly shook his head.
‘Calm down, I’m definitely overthinking this.’
He tried his best to calm himself and began to think about how to escape quietly.
He discovered that both of his hands were pinned down and had already grown a bit numb.
Just as he was finally prepared to break free—
The bedroom door was suddenly pushed open.
A sleepy-eyed Xia Youqing walked in, opened the wardrobe, and took out a quilt.
Then she turned around—
And locked eyes with Lu Yunze.
The air froze instantly.
“That… Madam, I can explain…”
“…Just act like I wasn’t here. You two continue what you were doing last night. Go on.”
Instead, she curled her lips into a mischievous smile.
“That’s right, it’s exactly what you’re thinking.”
After saying that, she closed the door and left, leaving Lu Yunze behind, so shocked he was speechless.
After a long while, Lu Yunze slumped on the bed, his eyes somewhat vacant.
‘Lu Yunze, oh Lu Yunze, what have you done…’
She trusted you so much, treating you as someone she could rely on in the outside world, yet you committed such a beastly act against her.
You’re simply not human. How can you face her from now on?
Even if it’s Jiang Sui, if she really suffered through something like this, she probably won’t show him a smile ever again. Even if they met again, she would only have a cold expression.
‘Taking away Jiang Sui’s smile… something like that is absolutely unacceptable…’
Lu Yunze suddenly exerted force and pulled his arm out.
The sleeping Jiang Sui’s body swayed slightly, and her head hit the pillow with a *thud*.
‘I’m really not human… really not human… really not human…’
Jiang Sui rubbed her head and opened her eyes groggily.
The first thing she saw was Lu Yunze sitting beside her, muttering under his breath with a face full of dejection.
“What’s going on…”
“Young Master, what’s wrong with you?”
“Jiang Sui…” Lu Yunze hadn’t expected her to wake up and was at a loss for a moment.
“Did something happen?”
Jiang Sui slowly sat up. The buttons of her pajamas hadn’t been fastened yet.
Lu Yunze pursed his lips and lowered his head, asking in a whisper:
“The things that happened last night… do you still remember them?”
“Last night?”
Jiang Sui tilted her head and thought for a moment.
“Last night…”
It was as if she remembered something.
Lu Yunze immediately lowered his head further, his tone heavy.
“I’m sorry, I’m a bea—”
“Young Master, you’re even worse than a beast.”
“Huh?”
Lu Yunze’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed right there.