Reborn a day later, I emptied my enemy's possessions beforehand.

Zhou Haibing's palms were warm, and when he pushed down on the skin with the heel of his palm, he applied a steady, gentle pressure that landed perfectly on the aching nodules.

"Relax," he said again, his voice very soft.

"These are the muscles in your chest, which connect to your back. They're as hard as a rock here. If you don't loosen them up, it will hurt when you lift your arm tomorrow."

Li Su'e bit her lip and slowly lowered her raised hand.

She gradually discovered that the places Zhou Haibing pressed were indeed sore nodules, and each press brought a deep sense of relief.

When those nodules were pressed open, a soreness spread from that point outwards, followed by an indescribable feeling of relief.

She stopped tensing up, her body became softer and softer, her breathing became deeper and deeper, and finally she didn't even bother to open her eyes.

After pressing on her chest, Zhou Haibing pressed down her arm all the way to her fingertips.

He held her fingers, kneading them one by one, from the base to the tip, then gently tugged at the tip, making a slight cracking sound at the joints.

Li Su'e's fingers, which had been stiff from working, felt much better after he rubbed and pulled them.

He moved from her arm to her abdomen, rubbing her stomach clockwise a few times with his palm, then pressed down on her waist, pressing his thumb down on the area around her lower back.

Li Su'e was like a lump of kneaded dough, slumped on the mattress, even her toes were loose.

When he finished pressing the last button and stopped, Li Su'e didn't open her eyes for several seconds.

She turned over and lay on her side, looking at Zhou Haibing sitting on the edge of the bed, her voice soft and languid, like melted syrup:

"Hai Bing, when did you learn massage? It feels so good, I feel like my whole body is falling apart, but it's also so relaxing."

Zhou Haibing screwed the oil bottle back on and put it back in the drawer. He took a tissue, wiped his hands, crumpled the tissue into a ball, and threw it into the wastebasket by the bedside.

"I learned from a master craftsman and worked as a masseur for several years."

You've been working so hard these past few days, your muscles are all stiff. I'll give you a massage every night from now on, and I guarantee you'll feel refreshed the next day.

Li Su'e propped herself up, put her vest back on, and leaned against the headboard, looking at his profile.

The light shone from behind his shoulder, outlining the contours of his face clearly: a straight nose, a sharp jawline, and a small shadow in his eye socket.

A warm feeling welled up inside her, and she reached out to tug at his fingers, gathering them in her palm.

"Then you lie down too, let me massage you. You lay bricks and move tiles every day, you're much more tired than me."

Zhou Haibing turned to look at her, and suddenly there was something in his eyes. His gaze was deep and warm, like a pot of water that was about to boil.

He tossed the tissues in his hand into the wastebasket by the bedside without responding to her.

Li Su'e felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze. Just as she was about to say something, Zhou Haibing leaned down, placed one hand on the pillow beside her ear, and covered her with his whole body.

"We can talk about the massage later." His voice was low, his breath brushing against her face, warm and ticklish.

"I have even more amazing skills I haven't shown you yet."

Li Su'e's face flushed red again.

She raised her hand and pressed it against his chest, her palm resting on his chest. She could feel his heart beating heavily and powerfully beneath her.

But that little bit of strength was practically nonexistent; she herself knew she hadn't exerted any effort.

Zhou Haibing lowered his head and kissed her lips, silencing all the words she wanted to say.

She froze for a moment, her fingers curling against his chest before slowly loosening and wrapping her arms around his neck.

The bedroom light was on, and the ceiling light cast the shadows of the two people onto the light gray quilt. The shadows overlapped, swayed, and sometimes lengthened and sometimes shortened.

This time, Li Su'e did not mention turning off the lights again.

Afterwards, the two lay side by side on the bed, covered with a thin blanket, which was pulled up to their chests.

Li Su'e turned to her side and curled up next to him, resting her head on his arm, her nose touching his shoulder, her breathing long and even.

Her hair was mostly dry, lying on the pillow, with a few strands draped over Zhou Haibing's arm, tickling him.

Zhou Haibing reached for the bedside lamp switch and turned it off with a snap.

In the darkness, only the faint green light of the electronic clock and the gradually calming breathing of the two people remained.

He gathered her fingers in his palm, intertwined them, and closed his eyes.

The next morning, a rapid "beep beep beep" sound rang out in the bedroom.

Li Su'e suddenly opened her eyes, her heart pounding twice.

She froze in the darkness for a few seconds before realizing that the sound was coming from the small white box on the bedside table.

Zhou Haibing reached out and pressed the button on top of the box, and the sound stopped.

"What is this?" Li Su'e sat up, her hair loose over her shoulders, still groggy from just waking up, her eyes half-open, staring at the small white box.

"Alarm clock." Zhou Haibing picked up the alarm clock and showed it to her.

There are three hands on the round dial, and the small white hammer at the top is still wobbling slightly.

The numbers on the clock face were fluorescent green, standing out conspicuously in the dark room, like a few small stars suspended in the air.

"Set the time, and it will ring automatically when the time comes to wake us up."

The basement is completely dark, with no sunlight coming in, so you have no idea what time it is without a clock.

Li Su'e took the alarm clock and examined it from all angles. There was a fine ring of numbers on the dial, and a button at the very top that could be pressed.

She touched the button with her finger, then flipped it over to look at the back. The back was a smooth white plastic shell with nothing on it.

"This thing is great; with it, I'm no longer afraid of oversleeping."

Back in the days at the educated youth settlement, we had to listen to the roosters crow every morning. If the roosters didn't crow, we wouldn't know it was dawn. Sometimes, on cloudy days, the roosters wouldn't crow, and everyone in the house would oversleep.

She handed the alarm clock back to Zhou Haibing, and the two of them sat up in bed.

Zhou Haibing put on his clothes and pants, while Li Su'e put on her vest and coat again, and then took out the briefs from yesterday and put them on.

This time she didn't have as much hesitation when she wore it. Although she still felt it was revealing, it was really comfortable.

She finished dressing, tugged at the hem of her vest, pulled up her waistband, and stretched her legs by the bed. She found that no matter how she moved, the underwear stayed in place, which was indeed more convenient than boxer shorts.

The two left the bedroom and walked down the hallway to the bathroom to wash up.

The bathroom light still held the warmth of last night, the wall tiles were dry and clean, and a faint scent of shower gel lingered in the air.

The two stood side by side in front of the sink, each holding an enamel cup to fill with water, and brushing their teeth in front of the mirror with toothpaste on their toothbrushes.