Chapter 22

Bai Lu was so startled that a bizarre carousel of mosaic images raced through her mind in a flash.

In the next second, she flipped over and scrambled toward the other side of the bed. A hand reached out from behind and closed around her ankle.

Lu Zhi’s palm wasn’t large, but it was a painter’s hand, the fingers long and slender. That one grip was enough to completely encircle Bai Lu’s slim ankle.

All the strength in Bai Lu’s body dissolved like silk threads slipping away. She could feel that Lu Zhi wasn’t using any force, barely even holding her, yet the feeling of restraint was so intense it made her entire body go limp.

She turned back and saw Lu Zhi kneeling on the bed with one leg, her left hand bracing against the mattress, her right hand holding her ankle. Lu Zhi leaned forward, her loose collar dipping slightly to reveal a generous glimpse of the spring scenery beneath.

A wildfire blazed up from the bottom of Bai Lu’s heart, burning her until she felt dizzy, her mouth dry and tongue parched.

“Running away?”

Lu Zhi’s expression was calm, her eyes carrying a genuine question. Her thumb unconsciously rubbed the slender bone of Bai Lu’s ankle. A delicate, sculpted bone protruded from the side, and fine blue veins were visible beneath the snow-white skin, so fragile it seemed it would snap with the slightest pressure.

Lu Zhi tilted her head slightly and placed a light, fleeting kiss on Bai Lu’s calf.

As if burned, Bai Lu’s body collapsed powerlessly onto the bed. A thin layer of mist quickly welled up in the corners of her eyes.

Lu Zhi looked down at her from above. Bai Lu was wearing a moon-white cotton-linen nightgown today, its collar and cuffs trimmed with a ruffle of delicate scalloped edges. Because of Lu Zhi’s action, the soft hem slowly slipped down from her leg, pooling powerlessly at the top of her thigh, revealing a vast expanse of spring.

She had thick, jet-black hair that cascaded loosely over the bed like a waterfall. Her jade-like, lustrous face was already stained crimson. Her dark, moist eyes looked pitifully at Lu Zhi, and her alluring pink lips parted slightly, seeming to be afraid or perhaps pleading.

Lu Zhi didn’t hear a word she was trying to say. She only saw a tender bit of pink trembling between those lips. She leaned in and captured that moist tip of a tongue.

Bai Lu had no strength to resist. The consciousness in her mind was a chaotic, rolling magma. The string called reason had been stretched tighter and tighter, pulled until it was a fine, thin thread.

It wasn’t until Lu Zhi’s kiss moved from her neck to the corner of her eye that she realized she was crying.

Lu Zhi raised her head slightly. Bai Lu was so incredibly beautiful, the surging desire and the struggle of reason burning her into a gorgeous rose in full, wanton bloom. The ache in the tip of Lu Zhi’s heart was hard to bear. After a long moment, she finally released her grip on Bai Lu’s waist, touched her damp eyelashes, and asked, her voice laced with restrained breathlessness, “So timid, and yet you still came to provoke me?”

Bai Lu blinked. Tears glistened in the reddened corners of her eyes, and she let out a pitiful little whimper.

Lu Zhi sighed, soothingly kissed her forehead and eyes, reached out to straighten her collar, and then held her for a while to calm down before turning over and switching off the light. The space was instantly plunged into darkness.

“Sleep.”

After saying these two words, Lu Zhi wrapped an arm around her, pulling Bai Lu completely into her embrace. Then she tugged the blanket that had been trapped beneath them, covering them both tightly.

Bai Lu didn’t dare move a muscle. At first, she felt hot, but slowly the desire in her body subsided. Only then did she hear the sound of Lu Zhi’s heartbeat, clearly transmitted to her ear.

Bai Lu thought she wouldn’t be able to sleep, but perhaps because so much had happened that night, the moment she closed her eyes, she almost instantly drifted into unconsciousness in that tender haven.

A night without dreams.

When she woke up the next day, the light in the space wasn’t strong. Bai Lu was dazed for a long time before the memories of last night slowly crept back into her mind. She felt around beside her—empty. The places her fingertips touched were all cool. Even the scent that belonged to Lu Zhi in the air had dissipated to the point of being barely perceptible.

Bai Lu jumped out of bed barefoot. The floor was covered with a thick carpet, its crystal velvet pile very deep. Every step her delicate soles took sank into a soft depression.

The blackout curtains, thick and heavy, were drawn, leaving only a tiny gap in the corner that leaked a sliver of the outside sunlight.

She looked around the dim bedroom. The electronic fluorescent clock on the nightstand read 10:27 AM.

Lu Zhi… had left?

Bai Lu opened the bedroom door. The living room outside was bright, but the space was silent. Clearly, there was no one else but her.

She bit her lip, and a huge hole suddenly opened in her chest.

Bai Lu walked out in a daze, her gaze drifting unconsciously around, then abruptly stopped.

Lu Zhi was drawing something on the balcony just outside the living room. A vibrantly patterned, dark, plush shawl was draped over her shoulders. The bright sunshine drew a sharply defined dividing line under the balcony’s awning. She sat entirely in the shade. Her hair was casually tied in a low ponytail. Her profile was smooth and beautiful, her skin so fair it seemed translucent—lovely like a piece of lustrous, fine jade, exquisitely carved and then left to rest.

Bai Lu couldn’t help but stop in her tracks. Her breathing became as light as if she feared startling a butterfly that had happened to land, until her heart was filled full to the brim.

As if sensing her, Lu Zhi quickly turned around. Seeing Bai Lu, she didn’t put down the pencil in her hand. She just smiled at her and said, “Awake?”

Bai Lu suddenly felt a little embarrassed. She pursed her lips and gave a small “Mm.”

Lu Zhi’s eyes fell on her bare feet.

Only then did Bai Lu remember she wasn’t wearing shoes. She looked down and saw the two big toes on her left and right feet fighting with their respective second toes.

Lu Zhi smiled again. “Go put on your shoes.”

“Oh.” Bai Lu’s ears reddened, and she hurried back into the bedroom.

By the time she came out wearing soft, fluffy slippers, Lu Zhi was still on the balcony. Bai Lu walked over and saw that the sketch on the easel was done in black, gray, and white tones. The subject was simple: an elm tree. Old trunk, twisted branches, a large canopy like an umbrella. The bark on the trunk was cracked in inch-long fissures, like the scales of a fish.

Bai Lu looked up and searched among the several elm trees outside the balcony, already beginning to show hints of yellow and green in the spring breeze. She easily found this one, which clearly looked like it had weathered many years of wind and rain. She pointed at it. “You drew that one.”

“It really looks like it.”

Lu Zhi smiled. Right now, what she was best at was copying. But when she tried to create something herself, the results were often less than satisfactory.

Bai Lu dragged a chair over and sat beside her, watching her draw. Lu Zhi had beautiful hands. Her palms were full and fair, her fingers long, slender, and elegant. Her nails were trimmed short and clean, likely coated with transparent gloss, their surface reflecting a healthy, pearlescent sheen. In this hand, the fine pencil seemed to be given life, dancing gracefully and freely across the pristine white paper, eventually outlining an astonishing scene.

Bai Lu quietly rested her chin on her hand and watched. The air was filled with a gentle spring breeze, incredibly comfortable.

But soon, Lu Zhi put the pencil down.

Bai Lu leaned in. “It’s beautiful.”

“Give it to me.”

Lu Zhi had many such casual sketches, so she naturally nodded. Bai Lu smiled so wide her eyes narrowed into crescents.

After tidying up and returning to the room, Lu Zhi called the staff to have breakfast sent over.

Bai Lu hurried into the bathroom for a quick wash. When she came out, she saw that there were two servings of food on the dining table.

“You haven’t eaten yet?” Bai Lu asked.

“Waiting for you.”

Bai Lu sat properly at the dining table, the smile on her lips unable to fall. She just felt so blissfully happy she was practically bubbling over.

Yesterday had been a day of play; today was free time. They were all young people, so even though it was business networking, it wasn’t that formal. According to the staff, the few men had gone fishing around ten o’clock. Most of the other younger folks hadn’t ventured out yet, probably on the same schedule as Bai Lu.

It was almost one in the afternoon when the fishermen returned. The fish in the lake were all artificially raised and incredibly dumb. The inexperienced anglers had managed to catch a whole bucket of them, so they handed them over to the kitchen to make a whole-fish feast.

Lu Zhi received the message and prepared to go out. After changing her clothes, Bai Lu had just finished drying her hair. Then, she obediently knelt at the foot of the bed, watching as Lu Zhi picked out clothes for her from the wardrobe, piece by piece.

“This one’s been worn.” Lu Zhi pointed to a bra.

“This one is new.” Lu Zhi pointed to a pair of panties.

“Skirt, I’ve worn this.” Lu Zhi tossed over a long white dress.

They had come out to have fun and hadn’t brought many clothes. Lu Zhi’s habit was always to bring one more set than the number of days. And now, that extra set happened to be perfect for Bai Lu.

Bai Lu continued kneeling, unmoving. A pale, snow-white calf peeked out from under the hem of the skirt. Her dark, shining eyes were still fixed on Lu Zhi.

Lu Zhi understood instantly. She tilted her head helplessly and said in a crisp voice, “Fine, I’ll step out.”

Seeing Lu Zhi leave, Bai Lu hurriedly jumped off the bed. She took the bra and held it against herself, comparing. Hmm, they did seem to be about the same size. Maybe she was even a little bigger. Lu Zhi was so tall, she actually looked a bit slimmer than her…

And the underwear too. It seemed to be the same color as the bra, and the material felt similar. A matching set? So why did she say one had been worn and the other was new?

The skirt was so long, reaching her ankles. Where did it reach on Lu Zhi? Mid-calf? She wasn’t that much shorter than her, was she?

As Bai Lu dawdled while getting dressed, all sorts of thoughts flitted through her mind.

But while clothes could be swapped, shoes were a different story. Lu Zhi was taller than Bai Lu, so naturally, her feet were a size larger. Bai Lu took a few laps around the living room in her shoes, clip-clopping along; she was clearly uncomfortable.

Seeing Bai Lu so gleeful, like a child sneaking into her mother’s shoes, even though her heels were already rubbing red, Lu Zhi quickly pulled her back and took the shoes off. “You’d better just walk those two steps back and put on your own shoes.”

Bai Lu’s leg rested on Lu Zhi’s knee, her tender, pink toes wiggling like little beans. She sighed and said, somewhat disappointed, “Alright.”

Actually, Bai Lu’s room wasn’t even a hundred meters from Lu Zhi’s. She had wanted to save the trouble and just leave directly from Lu Zhi’s room, but it turned out she had to go back after all.

Wearing slippers, Bai Lu headed back to her “Plum Cloud Stream.” When she opened the wardrobe, she found it amusing. Since she ultimately had to make the trip back anyway, why had she put on Lu Zhi’s clothes just now? She could have just come back and changed into her own.

Although she felt a bit silly, Bai Lu was still very happy. She kicked off the slippers, put on a pair of white canvas shoes, found a blue floral headband and put it on, then checked herself in the mirror five or six times before finally heading out.

At the lunch table, everyone was teasing Bai Lu about how well she could hold her liquor. Bai Lu wasn’t shy at all; she laughed and joked with them openly. It seemed the drinking party last night had indeed made them all much closer.

It was past three in the afternoon when lunch ended. Lu Zhi and Bai Lu went together to see off the key guests. Bai Lu didn’t feel like dealing with the rest of her friends anymore, so she waved them off, telling them to do whatever they wanted.

This was Lu Zhi’s first time seeing this mature, take-charge side of Bai Lu. Thinking about it, she even felt a little proud.