Thick curtains blocked out the bright full moon, plunging the room into pitch blackness where nothing could be seen.
Not even the sharp glint in Lu Jin’an’s eyes.
What are we?
At that moment, Gu Nianyi’s brain short-circuited, like a computer that had crashed and refused to boot up.
Lu Jin’an’s palm burned hot against her waist through the thin fabric of her clothes, drawing her toward the center of the bed and giving her no chance to pull away.
After a long pause with no answer, the man asked again, “Is it that hard to say?”
Gu Nianyi’s brief daze snapped back with his second question, her reason flooding in.
“Not hard at all, Dr. Lu,” she murmured, her voice barely louder than the thump of her heartbeat.
Not hard, but still no answer.
“So? What are we?” His voice pressed down from above her head like an invisible low-pressure system, heavy and oppressive.
Tonight’s Lu Jin’an was utterly different, relentless in his words and actions, his large hand cupping her waist.
The heat from his palm seared through to her skin, her heart pounding like a drum.
She had never been this intimate with a man before, let alone a mature one like him.
Drowning in his masculine scent.
They were pressed too close, the air thinning out as if they were on a high plateau, her breaths coming quicker and shallower.
Drawing courage from the darkness, Gu Nianyi lifted her head. “What do you think, Dr. Lu?”
Lu Jin’an’s lips curved slightly. “Lying in the same bed, under the same covers—what else could we be?”
“So, what are we?”
Gu Nianyi played dumb, tossing the question right back at him, her tone even and composed, neither too loud nor too soft.
She seemed approachable and soft-spoken, but in truth, she was hard to open up to anyone.
She responded to gentleness, not force—the harder you pushed, the more she pulled away.
Lu Jin’an positioned her on one-third of the bed, releasing his grip on her waist. He turned her body to face him squarely.
In the black night, they couldn’t see each other, but they could feel the other’s presence vividly.
Lu Jin’an parted his lips, enunciating each word. “Husband and wife.”
His jaw clenched as he spoke those cold words that bound them together in reality.
At the same time, he placed his hand on the small of her back, preventing any further escape.
His actions spoke his attitude—and his displeasure.
After answering his own question, Lu Jin’an added, “What do you think?”
Gu Nianyi smiled. “Dr. Lu is right.”
“Don’t run away anymore.”
After their exchange, Gu Nianyi felt wide awake. Lu Jin’an’s hand was an impossible presence to ignore; her whole body went rigid, like a shadow puppet figure.
She forced her eyes shut, trying to sleep, but the more she tried, the less she could.
She didn’t dare curl up her legs or make any big movements.
Her eyes drifted aimlessly in the darkness, seeing nothing.
And the culprit behind all this, Lu Jin’an, had actually fallen asleep, his even breaths fanning over her.
Gu Nianyi couldn’t help but admire his enviable sleep quality.
She carefully lifted his hand away, finally able to breathe.
Fortunately, he slept flat on his back. She quietly turned away, facing the window.
In the early morning, a thin mist heralded the start of the day.
Birds flying south outside the window chirped noisily.
Lu Jin’an’s internal clock woke him. He turned his head and saw the girl beside him, her lashes fluttering lightly, her sleeping face serene and refined.
The man gently lifted the covers to see her sleeping position.
Unlike his, she lay curled on her side.
He wasn’t an obstetrician, but he knew this was the position of a fetus in the womb—a sign of a deep-seated need for security.
Gu Nianyi had woken the moment he stirred; her sleep was light, any hint of light or sound enough to rouse her.
“Morning, Dr. Lu.”
They still had to head to the homestay, so she didn’t linger in bed.
“Morning.” Lu Jin’an’s voice was husky, laced with morning drowsiness.
It was a rare sight—Gu Nianyi seeing Dr. Lu without having freshened up. His dark hair was slightly mussed, the collar of his sleep shirt wrinkled, dusted with the messiness of the everyday world.
She couldn’t help stealing a few extra glances.
His tall figure moved slowly into the bathroom as she headed to the walk-in closet to change.
Ruan Zhixu had prepared everything meticulously—various dresses in simple, understated styles that wouldn’t be overly flashy.
Gu Nianyi sat before the vanity, staring blankly at the array of bottles and jars on the table.
The bare-faced girl in the mirror was about to vanish.
Today, she was no longer just Gu Nianyi.
She was Mrs. Lu, Lu Jin’an’s wife.
She needed to play the part well, to be a proper and presentable member of the Lu Family.
The entire Lu Family drove to Mount Sunset Glow to celebrate Lu Jinyi’s homestay opening and enjoy some leisure time.
Joining them was Lu Huaizhi, Lu Jin’an’s cousin, who had just returned from abroad.
She had heard from the Lu grandparents that he was the most carefree of the bunch—disregarding family arrangements and acting wildly on his whims.
Seeing him today confirmed it.
His silver supercar roared through the mountain roads, the engine’s rumble startling a flock of birds into the sky.
They swarmed upward in a group.
“How old is he?” The implication was clear: childish.
“Two years older than you.”
Gu Nianyi put on an expression of sudden realization. “So you’re the oldest, Dr. Lu.”
Lu Jin’an teased her dryly. “Think I’m too old?”
Gu Nianyi choked, her cheeks flushing deeper. Just as she opened her mouth to deny it, he cut in.
“Too late.”
Silence fell again. Last night’s interlude had dissipated with the mist, only to be replaced by fresh awkwardness.
Gu Nianyi glanced at Lu Jin’an. His lips were pressed in a noble, aloof line as he drove steadily and calmly along the sparse mountain roads.
Drowsiness overtook her, and she closed her eyes.
She was still asleep when they reached the parking lot at the summit.
Lu Jin’an turned off the engine and leaned halfway back in his seat, staring at the girl in the passenger seat.
Ten times out of ten that she rode with him, Gu Nianyi fell asleep eight times.
Was his driving that hypnotic? Next time she had trouble sleeping, she wouldn’t even need melatonin.
Lu Jin’an studied her intently, his gaze lingering inch by inch over her face. Gu Nianyi looked different today—her makeup a touch heavier than usual.
Her thick lashes fluttered like butterfly wings.
Her dark hair draped over her shoulders, the tips lightly curled, her lips the color of ripe red berries.
Slightly parted, as if waiting to be plucked.
Then, without warning, the girl before him opened her eyes.
Gu Nianyi’s luminous almond-shaped phoenix eyes met Lu Jin’an’s deep black ones head-on, drawing her in.
She asked blankly, “Dr. Lu, what’s wrong? Is my makeup smudged?”
She lifted a hand to touch the corner of her mouth—no drool.
The man looked like a thief caught red-handed, losing his usual composure for a split second. He actually averted his gaze.
His fingers tapped the steering wheel lightly. “No, we’re here.”
Gu Nianyi checked her phone; by the screen’s time, she’d slept half an hour after they parked.
So, Lu Jin’an had been watching her. For half an hour?
A little creepy.
Gu Nianyi jogged a step to catch up with Lu Jin’an’s strides.
They walked side by side toward the homestay entrance. Gu Nianyi reached out her slender arm, threading it through his elbow to link arms with him.
The unexpected move made the man’s body stiffen.
Gu Nianyi hesitated. “Don’t we need to put on a show?” She started to pull her arm back—was this presumptuous?
Lu Jin’an glanced down, pressing her hand in place with his. “Just like this.”
From behind, they looked like the perfect pair.
In the homestay lobby, they met the rest of the Lu Family. Seeing the two arm in arm, Lu Huaizhi greeted lazily, “Hey, Sister-in-Law.”
Gu Nianyi nodded politely. “Hello.”
Just as his family had described—good-tempered, polite and respectful.
Meng Chenyi spotted Lu Jin’an and huffed, walking away. His grudge still lingered.
Young as he was, he held onto things.
Gu Nianyi tugged Lu Jin’an’s sleeve. “What did you say to him?”
“Don’t remember.” Lu Jin’an rubbed his chin, feigning recollection. “Oh, right. I told him not to steal my wife.”
Exactly as Meng Chenyi had said. Kids relayed things so precisely?
Hearing “my wife” from his lips, in that magnetic voice, made it sound even more intimate. A blush crept up Gu Nianyi’s ear tips.
The cocktail party was set for evening; the day was free for activities, with rooms pre-assigned.
Hers and Lu Jin’an’s was on the top floor.
One push of the window revealed the view of the entire Mount Sunset Glow.
Gu Nianyi eyed the lavish decor. This was no ordinary homestay—the cheapest room ran 4,999 yuan a night, half her monthly salary. The priciest neared six figures, more than a year’s wages.
The sun hung in the sky, slowly sinking as the sunset painted a brilliant glow.
Gu Nianyi pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of the pink sky—not a wasted trip.
She sat on the bed’s edge, picking through clothes, unsure what to wear to look respectable without overdoing it.
A dress felt too formal; business casual seemed underdressed.
“Wear whatever’s comfortable. No need for all that fuss.”
Lu Jin’an put away the fancier options, leaving the simplest: a white blouse with a pink mermaid skirt.
He’d never cared about such things before, always finding women troublesome.
The evening banquet began. Gu Nianyi didn’t recognize many guests and stuck close to Lu Jin’an, enduring their teasing about the couple’s affection.
Her face was frozen in a smile, more exhausting than running the 800-meter.
Having exchanged all the necessary greetings, Lu Jin’an went off to chat idly with his friends.
She sat in a corner, a plate of food in front of her—meats, vegetables, and whole grains. It all looked utterly ordinary, every bit of produce organic.
She wasn’t used to these scenes of clinking glasses and forced mingling, surrounded by strangers in flawless makeup and sky-high eight-centimeter stilettos, chatting about topics that flew right over her head.
She was just an interloper who had stumbled into this gala by mistake.
She wasn’t the only one who felt out of place like Gu Nianyi. Others at the opening celebration shared her thoughts.
“What’s the deal with Lu Jin’an’s wife? Never seen her before.”
“From some county down the road. Parents are regular factory workers, and she’s got a little brother too.”
“Not exactly a match made in heaven. No wonder she’s not fitting in.”
“They call it ‘gentle,’ but she’s just dull and boring. Who could put up with that long-term?”
“She’ll get booted out eventually.”
Gu Nianyi was slightly nearsighted, which made her hearing unusually sharp.
The men’s conversation flowed right to her ears. “A real Cinderella and the prince story, huh?”
She wanted to correct their misconception—Cinderella had money; her stepmother had just seized it all.
She didn’t even measure up to Cinderella.
Lu Jin’an overheard every word. The man strode toward the corner on long legs, his brow furrowed, his face ashen as if coated in frost.
He sized them up and down, looking at them like they were something filthy.
“I wasn’t aware my wife wasn’t welcome here,” he said.
His tone was icy, his deep black eyes sharp as a hawk’s.
The once-lively reception fell deathly silent, the air thick and stagnant. No one dared even breathe too loudly. The men before him fell quiet.
Lu Jin’an paid them no mind. He suddenly curled his lip, his eyes flicking upward coldly. “Boots? You first.”
He called over a group of security guards, who straight-up tossed the three men out.
Tossed them for real—several guards lifted them bodily and dumped them at the door.
No one dared intervene, not even the Lu family members.
“Nothing to see here, folks. Move along,” Lu Huaizhi called from the back, waving everyone off. He seemed genuinely invested in this—Lu Jin’an’s protectiveness toward his wife was something new.
Lu Jin’an reached Gu Nianyi and shed his icy demeanor. He bent down and asked, “Wife, are you full?”
Wife?!
Gu Nianyi’s ears turned pink. She nodded woodenly. Everything had happened so fast; she was still reeling from the shock.
At that, the man’s lean, strong arm slid behind her knees. Ignoring the stares, he scooped her up in a single-armed bridal carry, grabbing her high heels with his free hand.
He wove through the crowd toward the elevators.
The sudden move startled Gu Nianyi. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, her voice a mosquito’s buzz. “I can walk myself.”
Lu Jin’an didn’t break stride. “Didn’t you blister your heels?”
“How did you know?” She wasn’t used to heels. Once they rubbed raw, she’d sat aside. No one should have noticed.
The man said nothing, just kept walking with her in his arms.
“Dr. Lu, thank—”
The first syllable of “thanks” escaped her lips before Lu Jin’an cut her off.
He pressed the elevator button and spoke in a stern voice. “I don’t want to hear ‘thanks,’ ‘sorry to trouble you,’ or ‘no need to bother’ again.”
Gu Nianyi’s gaze drifted to his clenched jawline. She’d made a promise just recently and already forgotten it, defaulting to gratitude.
“I won’t,” she said.
Her voice dropped, buzzing softly against his chest, laced with grievance.
Lu Jin’an’s fingers twitched. He wanted to explain that he wasn’t mad at her, but his lips parted and closed again.
Lying in Lu Jin’an’s arms, Gu Nianyi felt a surge of palpitation crash over her like waves, one after another, refusing to ebb.
She’d heard far worse than what those three men said—especially on their wedding day, when people accused her of using shady means to marry into wealth.
Climbing the social ladder was the truth, and their mismatch was fact.
She’d thought it was no big deal before. But with someone shielding her, standing up for her, all the buried grievances sprouted up like mushrooms after rain.
The elevator crawled upward at a leisurely pace. Gu Nianyi steadied her emotions. “Dr. Lu, I can walk. You’re going to get tired holding me.”
“Not tired.” It was the second time he’d carried her, and longer than the first. She couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds, he figured.
The elevator stopped at the third floor, and other guests stepped in, heading to the top as well.
The rooftop had a garden for stargazing at night.
A one-armed bridal carry was common on TV, but seeing it in person was rare. By chance, the new arrivals were a couple, and the woman kept jabbing her boyfriend’s arm, urging him to take notes.
Gu Nianyi felt the stares and buried her face in Lu Jin’an’s chest. She didn’t want to be seen—it was too embarrassing.
Lu Jin’an glanced down at the girl in his arms. Her right cheek pressed lightly against his shirt, not quite daring to lean fully in.
Her face was flushed crimson, the color spreading to her earlobes and neck.
His brow relaxed. He shifted his body slightly, blocking others’ views and shielding her shyness.
A Band-Aid and iodine hung from the door handle—items Lu Jin’an had gotten from hotel staff downstairs.
He set Gu Nianyi on the sofa and knelt to grasp her ankle, inspecting her heel. “Let me see.”
A man’s body heat was warmer than a woman’s, like a heating pad pressed against her.
“No…” Gu Nianyi caught herself before “trouble.” She changed tack. “It’s fine. Nothing serious.”
She pressed her hand over his, trying to push it away.
But her strength was no match for his.
Both heels were rubbed raw, red flesh exposed.
Lu Jin’an’s brows furrowed slightly as he tore open the packaging to disinfect.
“I’ll do it myself.” Gu Nianyi reached for the iodine, but he dodged.
He acted like he hadn’t heard, steadfastly wiping the wound.
Just like that time in the hospital.
No one could stop him when he set his mind to something.
His head bowed, eyes shadowed by long lashes, his expression impassive as he focused on the task.
Lu Jin’an gently applied the Band-Aid, careful not to touch the sore spot. “It might sting a bit when you shower.”
“Got it, Dr. Lu.”
As if she really were his patient, following doctor’s orders.
The girl hugged her clothes and headed into the bathroom. Lu Jin’an gave a wry smile.
How bad could a scrape hurt? No incision, no flesh torn open—not even a fraction of what he saw in the OR.
He’d witnessed countless partings in death and all sorts of wounds, grown numb to it. What was with him today?
Fussing over a little scrape like this.
Gu Nianyi emerged from the shower, hair blow-dried, dressed in her going-out clothes.
“Dr. Lu, I want to check out the mountaintop. Don’t wait up—go to sleep. Good night.”
The first twenty-four years of her life had been a grind of survival and study, no vacations. Today counted as half a trip, and she didn’t want to miss the mountain nightscape.
“You’re going out in that?”
Just a shirt and jeans, nothing else.
Gu Nianyi remembered then—this was the mountaintop, fifteen degrees cooler than the base, dropping to around ten at night.
But she had no jacket. She deflated and sank back onto the bed.
Lu Jin’an pulled a suit jacket from his bag like a magician.
“Why’d you bring a jacket?”
“Habit. AC rooms get cold. Let’s go.”
He explained briefly and headed out with Gu Nianyi.
As she climbed the final step to the rooftop garden, Lu Jin’an suddenly took her hand.
“Careful. It’s dark.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Strangely, she didn’t pull away—instead, she let him lead.
He gripped her hand tighter, guiding her step by step into the garden.
To set the mood, the rooftop garden had no harsh lights, just strings of warm yellow bulbs. She wore Lu Jin’an’s black suit jacket, sticking close behind him.
He’d taken her hand first; then she gripped back.
It felt like the whole world had narrowed to just the two of them.
The rooftop garden was spacious—room for barbecues, sparklers, even a little playground for kids.
Gu Nianyi stared at the swing set, rooted to the spot, hesitating whether to try it.
Lu Jin’an noticed her pause and led her straight there, settling her onto the seat.
“Adults can swing too.”
She turned to argue, only to meet Lu Jin’an’s refined face. Her smile faltered.
His eyes held the deep night, mingling with her breath.
In that instant, the wind stilled, the world frozen.
Under the dim yellow lights, the man leaned in slightly, their gazes locking.
Her misty eyes fixed on him, mere inches apart, her full lips parting.
Lu Jin’an’s throat went dry. He swallowed unconsciously.