He was absolutely doing it on purpose.
Lu Jin’an noted the ring of redness and swelling. Next time, he’d have to be gentler.
Gu Nianyi felt like a fish splayed out on the cutting board—even if she was the one reaping the benefits.
“Dr. Lu, could you step out? And draw the curtains?”
There were no neighbors in sight, so privacy wasn’t really a concern, but it still felt profoundly strange.
Lu Jin’an crouched at the bedside. “Your clothes are right there next to you.”
He was shielding her embarrassment.
Lu Jin’an’s gaze drifted to her neck, where faint red marks bloomed. His lips curved into an unconscious smile.
Her body now carried his brand.
In hidden places too—like the insides of her thighs, her chest, the scar on her abdomen…
Gu Nianyi slipped into her clothes. The instant her feet hit the floor, her knees nearly gave out.
Her legs and waist ached with weakness, her whole body drained of strength.
She felt like a crumpled sheet of origami, folded and refolded all night long.
Gu Nianyi decided she ought to warn Lu Jin’an about his kidney health. After all, he wasn’t some young stud anymore.
She shuffled toward the bathroom, spotting clothes strewn along the path.
Lu Jin’an had to have left them there deliberately. He’d remembered to change the sheets—how could he forget to pick up the clothes?
She gathered them as she went: her bra and panties.
And Lu Jin’an’s underwear.
The flush she’d barely managed to quell flared right back up.
Lu Jin’an wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Wife, you can’t just leave. You have to take responsibility for me. It was my first time.”
He made it sound like she was the callous playgirl.
Slept with him and now ready to bolt at a moment’s notice.
It had been her first time too—and she hadn’t held him accountable for it.
Gu Nianyi tilted her head and grumbled, “Dr. Lu, you’ve got some nerve.”
Lu Jin’an planted two quick kisses on her neck.
“Now that’s nerve.”
After that wild night, reality came crashing back.
Gu Nianyi finished brushing her teeth, her expression serene. “Tell Xie Yunting to look ahead.”
She wouldn’t breathe a word to anyone about exactly where Ming Yue had gone.
Lu Jin’an’s arms tightened around her. “And you? Will you slip away without a goodbye?”
The words “I won’t” hovered on the tip of her tongue, but Gu Nianyi couldn’t force them out.
She didn’t dare promise anything.
Life was too unpredictable.
Actions always carried more weight than words.
An eerie silence descended on the room.
In a daze, Gu Nianyi glanced at Lu Jin’an’s reflection in the mirror. His head hung low, and her heart softened at last. She began to coax him. “I won’t, silly. We’re married now.”
She realized Ming Yue’s departure had struck a raw nerve in Lu Jin’an.
During those few minutes of hesitation, Lu Jin’an had seen right through her refusal to commit.
He couldn’t understand it. Last night had been perfect—she’d have promised him the moon without a second thought.
But once they were out of bed, she transformed.
Rational. Logical. Coldly detached.
Suddenly, they were locked in a silent battle of wills, each waiting for the other to break first.
The air grew thick, heavy with tension.
Gu Nianyi patted his hand and forced a smile. “What do you want for dinner? I’ll cook. I’m pretty good in the kitchen.”
She’d even forgotten her old lack of confidence.
Back then, she’d downplay her skills and timidly ask if Lu Jin’an liked her cooking.
Lu Jin’an’s mouth flattened into a grim line. “You still have the strength? I ordered takeout. No need for you to bother.”
His wife didn’t need to cook. Didn’t need to keep house.
Didn’t even need to play the part of Mrs. Lu.
She just needed to be herself—Gu Nianyi.
Gu Nianyi turned to face him with a radiant smile. “Aw, so Dr. Lu misses out on my cooking.”
Lu Jin’an stressed the point, tapping her forehead lightly with his finger. “My wife is here to be spoiled, not to slave away.”
“Dr. Lu, you’re too good to me.”
Gu Nianyi stroked his ego, her coaxing a blatant patch job.
She leaned into him, draping herself against his chest. “Dr. Lu, I’m exhausted.”
A clumsy pivot if ever there was one, but it worked on him.
Lu Jin’an slipped an arm under her knees and murmured tenderly, “I’ll carry you, baby.”
He was so easy to appease.
One little sweet word from his wife, and he was putty.
“Baby,” “treasure”—Lu Jin’an tossed out the endearments effortlessly now, leaving Gu Nianyi flustered just to hear them.
She looped her arms around his neck. “Dr. Lu, don’t you need a break?”
The man let out a quiet sigh. “No. I’m fine.”
Gu Nianyi wriggled free from his embrace and hopped down. “I can’t breathe in here.”
She fled the dim confines of the bathroom in a hurry.
She really was terrible at lying. She could have soothed him with a simple “I won’t leave” without batting an eye.
But Ming Yue’s troubles mirrored her own, and with New Year looming, a trip back to Blue Mountain Town awaited.
She didn’t want to face that family.
A moment’s calm didn’t guarantee forever.
The dishes Lu Jin’an had ordered came from a private kitchen—light and flavorful.
Ming Yue was like a traveling frog, firing off photos every so often. The south was paradise, she said—no brutal winters, no frostbitten hands from washing clothes in icy water.
She should have come ages ago, she added.
She’d even squeezed in interviews at a few companies. Things looked promising; she could start after the New Year.
It seemed she was truly putting down roots in Harbor City.
Ming Yue sent a voice message. “Take some time off? Come visit!”
Gu Nianyi long-pressed to convert it to text, a grin splitting her face. 【Just started the job—no leave yet. I’ll come for New Year’s Day. You buy me seafood.】
Ming Yue: “Yes! Yes! Miss you tons, Yi Yi.”
Gu Nianyi: 【Miss you too, boo hoo.】
They’d never been separated for so long, or so far apart.
Lu Jin’an couldn’t bear watching Xie Yunting spiral deeper. 【Ming Yue’s doing great.】
She was the only one who could make Gu Nianyi light up like that in a chat.
He wanted to urge Xie Yunting to move on.
In the end, though, he deleted the message. As he’d told himself—what if it had been Gu Nianyi who’d left?
Lu Jin’an figured he’d lose his mind worse than Xie Yunting ever could.
He probably wouldn’t last a single minute.
Xie Yunting was meticulously taping back together the photo he’d shredded. 【I understand.】
The proposal diamond ring—tossed away and then retrieved—sat forgotten on the corner of the table.
Gu Nianyi reminded Ming Yue to watch her step and save the chat for the hotel.
She set her phone down and looked up. “Dr. Lu, do you usually pull New Year’s Day shifts?”
Lu Jin’an nodded. “Yeah. Got plans?”
Gu Nianyi nibbled on her chopstick. “Nah, just curious.”
She couldn’t reveal Ming Yue’s location to Lu Jin’an. Nor did she want to hide her own plans to visit.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Lu Jin’an lifted his gaze through his lashes, clocking her chopstick-chewing tell. That’s what she did when something weighed on her.
Ever thoughtful, he said, “If you’ve got plans, give me a heads-up.”
Gu Nianyi beamed at him. “Will do, will do. No worries, Dr. Lu.”
As if he could relax.
Yeah, right.
That evening, Lu Jin’an shadowed Gu Nianyi everywhere, never more than an inch away.
She headed to the kitchen to wash fruit; he trailed after.
His arms encircled her waist, turning him into a oversized human accessory.
Gu Nianyi swatted at his hands, pretending to scold him. “Dr. Lu, behave.”
Lu Jin’an blinked innocently. “Just hugging you. Nothing more.”
“It’s ticklish! Dr. Lu, quit poking.”
Gu Nianyi set the fruit knife aside and spun around to still his hands. He was pinching the soft flesh of her belly.
Their palms met, and laughter bubbled up between them.
Their eyes locked in the space between, her red lips parting just a fraction.
In the next breath, Lu Jin’an bent down.
His cool, thin lips grazed the corner of Gu Nianyi’s mouth.
The faint scent of pine filled her senses as the man’s hand cradled the back of her head, kissing her softly.
Gu Nianyi’s eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly taking flight.
A rush of heat flooded Lu Jin’an’s core, and with great reluctance, he let go of the woman in his arms.
To distract himself, Lu Jin’an picked up the fruit from the table. “I’ll cut it.”
“What a waste of talent, Dr. Lu.”
Gu Nianyi leaned against the sink, watching as Lu Jin’an sliced the fruit. His hands, with their prominent knuckles, gripped the kitchen knife firmly, and the sharp lines of his profile stood out in stark relief.
His eyelashes lowered slightly, his expression one of utter focus.
It was as if he weren’t simply cutting a pear but conducting some vital experiment.
He had rolled up one sleeve, the veins on his forearm subtly bulging—a sight that was truly pleasing to the eye.
The ring on his ring finger gleamed brightly.
Lu Jin’an picked up a slice of pear and fed it into her mouth. “Is it sweet?”
Gu Nianyi chewed it a couple of times. “Sweet.”
But then, without warning, Lu Jin’an leaned in and kissed her lips, giving his own a quick lick afterward. “It really is sweet.”
In an instant, Gu Nianyi’s face flushed bright red. “How old are you?”
Still playing games like sneaky kisses.
“Twenty-eight,” Lu Jin’an replied with perfect seriousness.
The two of them curled up on the sofa, petting the cat while an animated cartoon played on the TV. Nian Gao lay lazily across Gu Nianyi’s lap.
Nian Gao’s weight was making her legs ache, and it certainly had nothing to do with their earlier lovemaking.
Gu Nianyi glanced out the window and asked Lu Jin’an, “Want to take the cat for a walk?”
Lu Jin’an draped an arm around her shoulders and arched a brow. “You still have the energy?”
This man wasn’t the least bit proper anymore.
Gu Nianyi looked away. “I do.”
Lu Jin’an helped her into a coat, buttoning it up snugly to keep her from catching a cold.
He held Nian Gao’s leash as the pair walked side by side beneath the streetlights.
The warm yellow glow was soft and gentle, the night thick and enveloping.
They strolled slowly along the neighborhood path.
Nian Gao wandered here and there, rolling playfully in the grass.
Suddenly, a tiny droplet of water landed on the tip of Gu Nianyi’s nose. She tilted her head back to look up.
Fine snowflakes swirled and drifted down from the sky.
The first snow of the season had arrived right on cue.
“It’s snowing,” Gu Nianyi said.
In that moment, as the snowflakes fell, Gu Nianyi felt an overwhelming urge to kiss Lu Jin’an.
She called softly to him. “Lu Jin’an.”
The instant he turned his head to look at her…
Gu Nianyi placed her hands on his shoulders, rose onto her tiptoes, and pressed her lips to his.
A single snowflake settled on her eyelashes.
The world fell still. The air seemed to freeze. Between heaven and earth, there was only the two of them.
Starlight danced in Gu Nianyi’s amber eyes. A smile curved her lips as she rubbed her hands together. “It’s so cold. Let’s head home, Dr. Lu.”
Lu Jin’an slipped her hands into his pocket, his warm palm enveloping hers and chasing away the chill.
This winter was truly wonderful.
He rubbed her fingers, his brows knitting together. Why was there nothing there?
The moment they got home, Lu Jin’an’s first order of business was to retrieve the wedding ring from the nightstand. While Gu Nianyi wasn’t looking, he slid it onto her ring finger.
It was a perfect fit.
Gu Nianyi glanced down and saw the ring she had stowed away in the drawer now adorning her hand.
The platinum band centered with a diamond sparkled with brilliant silver-white light under the lamp.
Lu Jin’an accused her. “Gu Nianyi, you have no sense of being married.”
He had worn his ring for months now, but she had never once put hers on.
Gu Nianyi: “…”
She had some awareness, didn’t she?
The phone on her bedside table lit up.
Gu Guohua: [Yi Yi, are you coming back for New Year’s Day?]
Lu Jin’an deleted it without a sound.