Yan Huan’s eyes snapped open when the car pulled up before the residential area.
She broke into a narrow-eyed smile. It’s good to be back home.
“Put on your clothes, we are home.”
Lu Yi put on his clothes and took the luggage out of the car. He held the door open for Yan Huan, who had already put on her coat. She looked like a clumsy bear in her winter clothing.
She sighed.
“What’s wrong?” asked Lu Yi, walking over. He was a head taller than her and well-built. Beside him, Yan Huan looked frailer and weaker than ever.
Yan Huan lifted her eyes and stood on her toes, closing the distance between them.
“Have you ever heard of this phrase?”
“Hmm?” smiled Lu Yi, gently tapping his forehead against hers. “What phrase?”
She extended her arms.
“In your hold, I’ll never be cold.”
Lu Yi couldn’t help but chuckle. He squeezed Yan Huan’s cheeks. Her skin felt warm and smooth. Maybe she wore too much, or maybe it was because she just stepped out from the car.
“Stop being cheeky. Let’s go home.”
“Okay.”
Yan Huan held his large hands tightly, letting it envelop hers. His hands were dry and warm. These were the hands that would take her everywhere for a lifetime, till death did them apart.
She didn’t know that for sure, but she believed that it would happen…
Yan Huan pressed the 15th floor. She turned and tilted her head.
“Pass that to me,” said Lu Yi, pointing to the large military bag on Yan Huan’s shoulders. Inside were her clothes and keepsakes from everyone. Clothes didn’t matter much, but the keepsakes from everyone were priceless to her.
“Okay.” Yan Huan plucked at the buttons on his coat playfully as she waited for the lift to arrive.
Ding! The lift chimed open.
When she stepped out of it and stood before her door again, everything felt unreal to her. She hasn’t been back for a year. It didn’t make sense when she thought about it.
This was her home, her true home.
She rifled through her bag and found her keys, which she used to unlock the door.
Right as the door opened, she noticed something odd. There was a pair of women’s shoes at the doormat, as well as a pair of men’s shoes. There was also, well, clothes on the floor. Lots of them. Belonging to both sexes.
The first thing that came to Yan Huan’s mind was whether it was that human trash Ding Ming again. Could Yi Ling have gotten back together with him? In her panic, she didn’t notice that the shoes were a few sizes larger than the average man’s shoe. Normally, no man or woman would have such large feet. Feet size had something to do with height. Big feet meant great height. Of course, there were exceptions, but not a lot either.
How could a 173cm guy like Ding Ming wear size 47?
Yan Huan stalked into the kitchen and picked up a cleaver before Lu Yi could stop her.
Bam! Yan Huan kicked the bedroom door open and rushed in, cleaver in hand.
“Ah…”
“Ah!”
Two screams broke out at once, one belonging to Yan Huan and the other Yi Ling.
Inside, a naked man and woman were in the middle of doing the deed. There was a sweet aroma of alcohol in the room. As to whether the act spurred from alcohol or lust, no one knows.
The two were at the peak of their intimacy. Yan Huan stood rooted to the ground, shocked mindless. So was Yi Ling.
Lu Yi took the cleaver from Yan Huan’s hands and covered her eyes with his hand. He then slammed the door shut.
“Don’t mind us,” said Lu Yi. He placed the cleaver back to where it belonged, then shouldered the luggage and took the stupefied Yan Huan’s hand.
“Time to go. Or would you rather enjoy the show?”
Yan Huan blinked stupidly and pointed at the room.
“Lei…Qing…Yi…”
“It’s him alright,” said Lu Yi, dragging her away. “What’s so strange about that? It’s just sex between two consenting adults.”
“I don’t know,” Yan Huan shook her head. How could she not find it strange? She had expected it to be Ding Ming. She wouldn’t have done it if it was anyone else, especially Lei Qingyi.
Her face sunk. “What should I do?”
“Nothing. It’s their business,” said Lu Yi, putting Yan Huan’s luggage on his shoulders and dragging her away. “Just pretend you never saw it. They’ll play along.”
Is that how it’s going to be?
But Yan Huan knew the sense in it. It definitely didn’t seem like a topic they would talk about at the dinner table.
Her face was burning. Why was she so rash?
“Relax,” Lu Yi consoled her. “You didn’t see everything after all, right?”
“If I did, Yi Ling would kill herself out of embarrassment,” Yan Huan scratched her head. In the end, she decided that she would avoid her for a while to prevent any awkwardness.
Lu Yi held the door open for Yan Huan to go in.
This was Yan Huan’s true home. It was warm and cozy inside, no matter how cold it was outside, and always someone there to keep the lights on for you. That was what home was all about.
Lu Yi put his hand on Yan Huan’s shoulder and bent forward. “Take a shower and get some rest, alright?”
“I will,” nodded Yan Huan. She could feel the exhaustion setting in. She wanted to sleep without eating.
In the bathroom, she took off her clothes. Her body was covered in bruises from the beating.
In the steamy bathroom, the hot water washed away her exhaustion but somehow made her more tired.
That was when the bathroom door opened. Yan Huan was surprised. In the steam, Lu Yi walked in and began to massage the body foam onto her with a shower ball without a word.
A few days had already passed, yet the black and blue bruises that covered every inch of her body told of how hard Miao Xinyuan had hit her.
Lu Yi rubbed the body foam across her body. It came with a fragrant lemon smell, Lu Yi’s favorite. It wasn’t aromatic, but refreshing.
Yan Huan shrunk towards him. Suddenly, she felt like crying.
The steam thickened as the temperature in the room rose.
Lu Yi reached out and hugged her tightly from the back.
