I'm in Wuha, and the whole internet is shipping me and Song Yuqi as a couple.

The stars were still in the sky, but the torches in the yard had burned down to almost nothing.

Deng Chao was the first to get up from the recliner, stretch, and crack his bones.

"Alright, alright, let's go back to our rooms and rest. They say it's a free day, but who knows what tricks Wu Zheng will pull tomorrow?"

Chen He yawned and walked towards the villa in his slippers, passing Jiang Che and Song Yuqi.

He deliberately slowed his pace and tilted his head to glance at the two people's clasped hands.

"Tsk."

Song Yuqi pulled her hand back a fraction of a second faster than Jiang Che released his.

Chen He shook his head with satisfaction, put his hands in his pockets, and went upstairs.

Lu Han tidied up the empty bottles on the table, tied the trash bag tightly, placed it by the door, and finally nodded to the two people who were still sitting there.

Get some rest.

After saying that, he went inside.

Only two people remained in the courtyard, accompanied by the increasingly loud sound of the waves.

Song Yuqi bent her knees, tucked the bath towel into her thighs, and wiggled her toes a couple of times inside her slippers.

She didn't get up immediately.

Jiang Che didn't move either, leaning back in the recliner with his arm resting on the armrest and his fingers loosely dangling, looking very relaxed.

She smiled slightly, stood up, and patted the sand off her pants.

"I'm going upstairs."

Jiang Che hummed in agreement and then stood up.

The two entered the villa one after the other. Lu Han had turned off most of the lights in the living room, leaving only the wall lamps in the corridor and at the top of the stairs.

When they went upstairs, Song Yuqi walked in front.

One thing kept running through her mind.

To be precise, it started spinning from the moment the barbecue began.

She wasn't unaware of what Chen He and the others were whispering about in the corner.

What do you mean by "Jiang Che's lips drooped for half a second when he came out"? What do you mean by "they were definitely discussing whether or not to wear it"?

Even when Chen He lowered his voice to its lowest level, it could still be heard clearly from three meters away.

Song Yuqi was biting into an enoki mushroom and didn't say a word, but her heart skipped a beat.

She remembered that sentence very clearly.

"It's fine if you don't wear it, actually I don't really want to see it."

He ran away as soon as he finished speaking.

He ran even faster than when Chen He was being chased and hit by water guns.

She thought about it for a long time and came to a conclusion.

Jiang Che wants to see it.

She said she didn't want to, but when her eyes scanned the box, she clearly saw the pause.

Moreover, Chen He said that his mouth was drooping when he went downstairs.

Although Chen He is often unreliable, sometimes unreliable people can see things that reliable people cannot.

Song Yuqi pushed open the door to the master bedroom, her steps pausing slightly.

A floor lamp was on in the room, casting a dim, yellowish light. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky was filled with stars and the outline of the distant coastline.

She walked to the suitcase, squatted down, and unzipped it.

Beneath the two coats, the dark blue velvet box lay quietly at the very bottom.

Just as her fingers touched the box, she heard Jiang Che's footsteps behind her.

He entered the room, closed the door behind him, and went to the window to draw the curtains.

Song Yuqi pulled out the box, hugged it to her arms, stood up, and turned her back to him.

My heart was beating unusually fast.

She remembered the afternoon in the pool when he wrapped his arms around her from behind and taught her how to breathe, the warmth of his palm against her waist.

When I think of that photo of him leaving, the way he smiled was truly beautiful.

Suddenly I realized that I've been passive for far too long.

From Chongqing to Wuhan, from Seoul to Sanya, he always made the first move, and she would react afterward.

She pursued him for ten years, but in the end, he was still the one in control of the relationship.

Song Yuqi opened the box and picked up the light pink shoulder strap with her fingers. The silky texture was so smooth that she almost dropped it.

Her ears were already starting to burn.

But she did not back down.

The curtains were half-drawn, and Jiang Che turned around to see her standing in front of her suitcase.

He was holding the velvet box that he had personally put into the closet, which she had then stuffed into the bottom of her suitcase.

He stopped moving.

Song Yuqi turned around to face him.

She held the slip dress in her hand, the lace trim dangling from between her fingers, gleaming softly in the light of the floor lamp.

She looked at him, her voice very soft, with a slight drawl at the end.

"Didn't you say you weren't that interested in seeing me wear it?"

Jiang Che didn't reply.

His gaze moved from her face to the pajamas in her hand, then back to her face, his eyes darkening.

Song Yuqi was panicking inside, but she kept a steady expression on her face.

She shook her pajamas and tilted her head.

"Then I won't wear it."

As she spoke, she put the pajamas into the box and made a gesture as if she was about to close the lid.

"You don't want to watch it anyway."

Her fingers rested on the lid of the box, leaving a gap, and her eyes looked up from above the gap, meeting his gaze.

The room was silent for a few seconds.

The sound of the air conditioner blowing air suddenly became very noticeable.

Jiang Che took two steps forward, and the distance between them shrank to only an arm's length.

He looked down at the box in her hand, then looked up at her again.

"Who said they didn't want to watch anymore?"

Song Yuqi's eyelashes trembled, and her fingers tightened on the box lid.

"You said it."

"You said it yourself this afternoon."

"It's fine if you don't wear it, actually I don't really want to see it anyway"—your exact words.

Jiang Che looked at the thin blush on her face and her feigned composure.

He reached out, brushed her fingers off the lid of the box, and took the box from her hand.

Song Yuqi looked up and glared at him.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Didn't you say you weren't going to wear it?"

He put the box on the bedside table and turned around.

"Then I'll keep it for you."

Song Yuqi was stunned for a moment, suddenly feeling like she had been outmaneuvered.

She originally intended to lure him into a trap.

As a result, the bait was cast, but the fish didn't bite and instead took the fishing rod away from her.

"...You're cheating."

"How did I cheat?"

Jiang Che leaned against the bedside table, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You said yourself you wouldn't wear it."

Song Yuqi was so angry she wanted to bite her teeth.

His expression, though he said he respected her, clearly conveyed in his eyes, "Go ahead and wear it."

Her heart started beating even faster.

She walked over, picked up the box from the bedside table again, stepped back, and held the box in front of her chest.

"Then I've changed my mind."

"I'll wear it."

Jiang Che loosened his arms and slowly lowered them from the position of crossing his arms.

He neither said it was good nor bad.

He simply looked at her, his gaze moving from top to bottom and then from bottom to top, finally settling on her collarbone, which was slightly flushed with nervousness.

Song Yuqi held the box, her heart pounding, but her scalp was tingling with a sense of unease, as if she thought, "I've already said what I wanted to say, it would be embarrassing to back down now."

She turned and walked towards the bathroom, clutching the box.

I took three steps.

I was pulled back.

Jiang Che's hand gripped her wrist.

Song Yuqi turned around and met his eyes.

His expression was different from before.

Just now, there was a relaxed feeling as he sparred with her while smiling, but now there's an unspeakable undertone.

"Don't wear it."

Song Yuqi blinked.

"Are you serious?"

He released her wrist, his fingers tracing the back of her hand, his voice lowering by half an octave.

"If I actually wear it, I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself."

That's too direct.

This completely blanked out Song Yuqi's mind, and she forgot all the counterattack lines she had prepared.

She stood there, holding the box, her face burning hot enough to fry an egg.

"...Whether you can control it or not is none of my business."

He was still putting on a brave face.

But the sound had become so soft that he could barely hear it himself.

Seeing her stubborn yet guilty expression, Jiang Che finally couldn't help but laugh.

Song Yuqi got annoyed and shoved the box into his arms.

"What are you laughing at!"

"I'm not laughing anymore."

"Still laughing!"

Jiang Che caught the box, and with his other hand, he grabbed her and pulled her in front of him.

The distance between the two people suddenly became only the thickness of the box.

Song Yuqi tilted her head back, her nose almost touching his chin.

She could smell the scent of sea salt and charcoal fire on him, a scent different from the one she smelled in the pool that afternoon.

A little warmer.

Jiang Che looked down at her, put the box aside, placed his palm on the back of her head, and rubbed his thumb against her earlobe.

"Next time you want to tease me, make sure you can handle it first."

Song Yuqi's face turned red all the way to the roots of her neck.

She reached out and pushed against his chest, but after two attempts she couldn't budge him. So she buried her face in his chest, her voice muffled.

"You're bullying me."

"You struck first."

"Then you're not allowed to fight back."

There is no such rule.

Song Yuqi punched him in the chest, but didn't use much force.

Jiang Che lowered his head, rested his chin on the top of her head, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

The room quieted down, with only the sound of the air conditioner and the faint sound of waves outside the window.

Song Yuqi's heartbeat gradually calmed down from its frantic pace. With her ear pressed against his chest, she could hear another heart beating rapidly.

She couldn't help but laugh.

Your heart is beating so fast.