Liu Xie returned to the car, holding two delicate paper bags.
After silently fastening his seatbelt, Liu Anran looked back at Liu Xie, who was clutching the two paper bags to his chest, lost in thought.
It didn’t take a genius to guess it wasn’t anything decent.
“Are you really ready for this?”
Liu Anran asked, turning the steering wheel while glancing sideways at Liu Xie in the passenger seat.
Now that they were a couple, Liu Xie buying these things right in front of him didn’t need much explanation.
And she was the one who had dragged him inside to buy them.
It was practically like grabbing Liu Anran by the ear and shouting into a megaphone: “I’m going to do it with you tonight!”
Liu Anran was naturally welcoming of the idea, but he couldn’t ignore how strange this all was.
“Shut up!” Liu Xie glared at him fiercely. “I’ll do what I want.”
It sounded a bit willful, but that was normal. Liu Xie had always been a willful person.
“I just want to remind you, normally, this kind of thing is a ‘one and only’ commitment for a lifetime. I’m not in such a hurry that I need a result or anything right now.” Liu Anran paused. “Or did you really take my previous words to heart, planning to give me a child to tie me down?”
“Just think of me as being in a hurry.” Liu Xie pressed the two paper bags in her arms even tighter. “Just listen to me and do as I say.”
Liu Anran fell silent for a moment, his eyes dimming slightly.
Clearly, he couldn’t just let Liu Xie go through with this.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t touch Liu Xie tonight, let alone do that.
Because it was obvious Liu Xie wasn’t ready yet, hadn’t prepared herself to give herself over. So, Liu Anran couldn’t possibly do anything to her.
On the contrary, he was concerned. What problem had arisen that could make the usually blunt and carefree Liu Xie act like such a shy little girl and do something she normally resisted the most?
Before, when Liu Xie had become a girl and their relationship was still as siblings, the two of them were extremely close. Holding hands or hugging was no big deal.
But after they confirmed their romantic relationship, the physical intimacy between them actually regressed. Liu Xie was unwilling to hold hands with him anytime, anywhere, and didn’t want to hug him anytime, anywhere either.
She was shy. Liu Anran knew that.
He wasn’t troubled by this surface-level regression in their relationship. On the contrary, he was happy, because it meant Liu Xie truly saw him as a man.
But what reason could make Liu Xie discard even that original shyness to accommodate him?
He didn’t need Liu Xie’s forced compliance. What he hoped for was a natural progression.
“We’re here.” After the car stopped, Liu Anran looked at Liu Xie, who was still dazed and lost in thought, and spoke up to remind her.
“Oh, oh…” Liu Xie immediately tried to open the door to get out, only to be yanked back into place by her seatbelt.
It even caught her neck for a second, making her cough twice before she managed to unbuckle it and get out of the car.
Standing before her was Liu Anran, his hand outstretched.
Liu Xie was slightly taken aback. Then, shifting the paper bags in her arms to her right hand, she tilted her head slightly, not daring to look at Liu Anran’s expression, and placed her left hand in his.
Liu Anran froze.
He had meant to offer to carry the bags for her.
He chose to say nothing, deciding to ask for clarification once they were home.
Two sets of footsteps, the elevator doors closing. It was rare for Liu Xie and Liu Anran to be this silent all the way home.
Normally, Liu Xie would be chattering away on the way upstairs, talking about what she saw at school that day, or how many games she lost and was waiting for Liu Anran to carry her to victory.
But today, she said nothing.
The expression on Liu Anran’s face, walking ahead, grew increasingly grave.
He opened the apartment door.
Perhaps because they had spent too much time wandering outside, the sky had already darkened, forcing Liu Anran to turn on the lights.
Maybe it was because before the lingerie store, when their car passed an adult shop, Liu Xie had said she wanted to buy something, causing Liu Anran to specifically pull over.
But then Liu Xie hesitated in the car for a long time and ultimately didn’t get out.
At the time, Liu Anran thought Liu Xie was joking with him, all talk but no action as usual. But given what happened later at the lingerie store, Liu Xie back then might have been serious.
It’s just that Liu Anran didn’t know it at the time.
“You go take a shower first.”
Liu Xie pushed him from behind, shoving Liu Anran into the bathroom.
Liu Anran couldn’t help but feel there was an air of ‘no arguments allowed’ in Liu Xie’s actions.
“I haven’t gotten my clothes yet.” Liu Anran couldn’t just go into the bathroom empty-handed.
“Do you still need to wear clothes?”
Liu Xie was stunned, then, under Liu Anran’s gaze, blushed and scurried to the living room sofa.
Liu Anran went to their shared bedroom and found his pajamas from the large shared wardrobe.
By the time he finished his shower and came out, Liu Xie dashed into the bathroom as if swapping places with him.
Still holding those two paper bags.
Liu Anran stood by the bathroom door. He had no intention of peeking through the glass. He just pinched his chin, thinking.
He decided to wait and see how far Liu Xie would go, and then ask for a clear explanation.
So, after towel-drying his hair a bit, he returned to the bedroom and leaned against the headboard.
He scrolled through his phone, watching the bizarre little videos Liu Xie had sent him earlier, reviewing them one by one like official business.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly a golden head peeked around the door frame, then a hand groped to turn off the room’s main light.
And, almost as an afterthought, closed the door upon entering.
It was Liu Xie. Liu Xie, who seemed to have nothing on but a white shirt draped over her.
It went without saying. Liu Xie, who had only taken those two paper bags into the bathroom, still couldn’t bring herself to wear the overly revealing clothes. She had simply put on the white shirt Liu Anran had just taken off.
Then, in the impenetrable darkness, Liu Anran felt the covers near his feet being lifted. A soft, warm, slightly damp presence slipped in.
It even pressed against his calf, as if confirming its position.
Then, that lump, along with the tented-up blanket, gradually approached, like some little monster sealed inside the duvet.
Finally, it pushed up the blanket covering Liu Anran to his chest, and a head with wide, round eyes emerged.
Liu Anran reached out with his right hand and turned on the bedside lamp on the nightstand.
Liu Xie’s slightly panicked expression appeared before his eyes, her cheeks tinged with pink.
Clearly, she hadn’t expected there to be a lamp here, because this side was always where Liu Anran slept. At most, she would cuddle into his arms, never reaching the edge of the bed.
Liu Anran’s guess was correct. Liu Xie had indeed come out wearing only his white shirt.
The obviously oversized collar revealed an abyss that shouldn’t be seen, and the hem of the white, gauzy garment she’d bought peeked out slightly from under the collar. She really had put on the clothes she bought.
Liu Xie swallowed, the sound somewhat noticeable in the quiet room.
Her shoulders braced against the blanket, she straddled Liu Anran’s waist, sitting up slightly to look down at him from above.
Liu Anran initially wanted to look into Liu Xie’s eyes.
But his own eyes, filled with astonishment, dropped to where Liu Xie was sitting on his stomach, roughly around his navel.
That area was warm and damp.
The hem of the white shirt wasn’t particularly long, but it wasn’t short either.
It seemed like it might cover everything—Liu Anran couldn’t make out the shape—but then again, it seemed like it might not, as he could vaguely catch glimpses of flesh-toned skin.
“That… the size seemed wrong, a bit too small, so I didn’t wear it…”
Although, given the design with the opening, wearing it probably wouldn’t have made much difference anyway.