Su Shanshan slept until the sun was about to set.
Through the tree shadows and her room’s window, the fragmented sunset left countless fiery red spots on her face.
The light irritated her eyelids, making them twitch slightly before she finally woke up.
For some reason, she looked extremely flustered.
After realizing she was in bed, she quickly got up and twisted her neck, searching for something.
It was as if she was afraid something beside her had disappeared.
“What are you looking for?”
A gentle male voice sounded by her ear, and her eyes immediately brightened several degrees.
Su Shanshan turned her head and saw Pei Xingyan sitting quietly at the head of her bed, watching her.
From his demeanor, he must have been by her side the entire time.
“Baby~” she called out coquettishly, sliding right up next to him in an instant.
Seeing her like this now, Pei Xingyan finally confirmed that the Su Shanshan he knew was back.
“Baby, baby~” she snuggled her face against his waist like a spoiled child, mumbling indistinct words.
Though it was hard to fully understand, he could roughly tell they were all expressions of affection and happiness.
“All right, all right, be careful,” Pei Xingyan gently stopped her.
“Xiaoxiao, your wound has cracked open.”
Su Shanshan blinked in surprise, then absentmindedly felt around her body before realizing her arm was heavily wrapped in thick gauze.
A subtle change crossed her expression; her eyes darted around mischievously like the Monkey King plotting some mischief.
She stood frozen like that for several seconds before reacting and snapping out of her daze.
“All right, all right, I’ll listen to baby~” She casually hid her hand under the blanket, but her face remained pressed against Pei Xingyan’s waist.
Her voice was soft and sweet as she said, “Thank you for caring, baby is the best to me!”
There seemed to be nothing unusual.
But those few seconds of vacancy hadn’t escaped Pei Xingyan’s notice.
Her face clearly showed confusion and astonishment.
She definitely didn’t know what had happened during that period.
Thinking back on the strange incidents before, Pei Xingyan now had a rough guess.
He tugged at Su Shanshan’s shoulder and supported her upper body, letting her lean back against the headboard.
Su Shanshan cooperated, her body soft and light, requiring no effort on his part.
Then he spoke quietly, “Next time, don’t be so reckless, okay? It’s really lucky you only cut yourself this shallowly with the knife. If it were any deeper and left a scar, you’d be crying.”
Su Shanshan pouted and nodded but clearly didn’t want to linger on this topic.
She continued to act coquettish, “No, no, even if there’s a scar, baby wouldn’t mind, right?”
Pei Xingyan lowered his head to comfort her, his mind becoming even clearer.
He had just told a tiny lie—Su Shanshan’s wound wasn’t made by a knife; it was actually scraped on the edge of a table.
She had no idea how she got the wound on her arm.
Everything she was doing now must be out of fear of having the abnormality on her body discovered.
Why was she hiding it? Was she afraid of being rejected or abandoned if the problem was found out?
Or was there an even deeper reason?
“Baby, have you been sitting here this whole time?” Su Shanshan, clearly feeling guilty, kept changing the subject to avoid him speaking.
Before he could answer, she said again, “You’re really good~ I think I like you even more now!”
Then she threw Pei Xingyan’s earlier reminder not to move recklessly right out the window, once again hooking her arm around his and leaning her entire upper body weight on him like usual.
“Baby, baby,” she kept calling, teasing him, “Did you do anything bad while I was asleep? Did you? Did you?”
Maybe to cover her own guilt, she brought up the topic, but there was also a hint of hope in her eyes.
She looked at the person so close in front of her, longing for the answer she wished to hear.
She quietly draped her leg over Pei Xingyan’s and seemed like she wanted to trap him, her hand wrapped around his neck, her face inching closer.
“If you didn’t get the chance before, it’s not too late now…” she breathed softly.
“Last time in the classroom you touched my leg, right? Here, there won’t be anyone to interrupt us. It’s okay…”
“…” Pei Xingyan shrank his neck and didn’t dare move a muscle.
“Phew~” Su Shanshan made herself blush with shyness, her warm breath even reaching Pei Xingyan.
She exhaled softly then quickly hid back under her quilt, pulling the edges with both hands and revealing only one eye.
“But I’m still a little shy, baby. Wait until I’m mentally prepared, okay?”
“Better to wait until you’re ready.” Pei Xingyan’s face was full of lingering shock.
He said with lingering fear, “My heart almost exploded just now.”
He wasn’t lying at all.
If Su Shanshan really tried to do something like pulling off his pants, he would definitely have run without looking back.
Whether out of his desire for money or the sympathy to soothe a poor girl’s heart, it was nothing compared to what was at stake for him.
“Hehe,” Su Shanshan stuck out her tongue, “I know baby, you’re a virtuous and self-disciplined good man~”
Virtuous and self-disciplined wasn’t really the right phrase here, Pei Xingyan thought to himself as he turned to tuck her in properly.
Su Shanshan stretched happily, purposely kicking the blanket so it shook and fluttered.
She was completely immersed in the joy of being cared for so well.
Suddenly, she noticed something discordant.
She saw a red mark on the half of Pei Xingyan’s face that was always turned away from her.
No doubt, it was a lipstick mark.
She jumped up abruptly and, like a madwoman, reached toward Pei Xingyan’s face, her expression turning fierce, nearly wild.
“What’s wrong? Not enough to kiss this side, so you want to switch to the other?” Pei Xingyan said calmly, maintaining his posture.
Su Shanshan’s hand froze mid-air, her eyes instantly becoming clear.
“This is… my kiss?” she asked blankly.
“You can’t deny it. If you didn’t kiss me before you slept, who else would it be?”
“It was me…”
Su Shanshan collapsed heavily back onto the bed, looking utterly lost.
“What’s wrong?” Pei Xingyan stayed alert, watching her reaction closely but didn’t forget to care.
Su Shanshan took several sobbing breaths, trying to suppress her emotions.
After a while, once she had calmed down, she forced a smile.
She shook her head and answered in the gentlest voice she could muster, “Yes, but I’m a little greedy. I want to kiss you once more, is that okay?”
Without waiting for Pei Xingyan’s response, she stayed kneeling on the bed, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Her waist lifted slowly, bringing her face close to his.
Her lips pressed heavily onto the clean side of Pei Xingyan’s face, the pressure strong and firm, like stamping her ownership.
“Baby, will you always like me?” she whispered, moving her lips and leaning into his ear.
She pleaded softly, “Only like me, only like me just like this, forever and ever, okay?”