Fortunately, Li Haimei didn't let Xu Xiuwen remain awkward for long.
Li Haimei shot Xu Xiuwen a sharp look, then composed herself and instructed the driver, "Old Zheng, take me home."
"Understood, Ms. Li."
As soon as Li Haimei spoke, driver Old Zheng immediately started the car. The vehicle headed out onto the road, slowly making its way towards Li Haimei's home.
During the journey, Li Haimei's face was already flushed. She looked out the window, hoping to conceal her emotions in this manner.
By agreeing to go home first, did it mean she was agreeing with his idea?
Li Haimei wasn't sure if she had agreed or not. Through the car window, she noticed Xu Xiuwen was still staring at her. Their gazes even met through the glass.
Then, Li Haimei saw Xu Xiuwen wink at her.
Her heart immediately began to pound rapidly, louder and louder, until she could hardly hear anything else.
After what seemed like a long while, the car finally arrived near Li Haimei's neighborhood. Xu Xiuwen got out of the car early.
Li Haimei remained in the vehicle until it reached her building. Once the car was parked, she asked driver Old Zheng to drop off her secretary, Su Luoyi, and reminded them to be careful on the way.
After getting out of the car, Li Haimei stood still, watching the vehicle drive away. However, she didn't turn to go upstairs but remained where she was, as if waiting for someone.
Li Haimei looked quite nervous, occasionally glancing toward the entrance of the neighborhood, but all she could see was the dark shadow.
At that moment, a man emerged from the shadow.
He was a tall figure, with a handsome face.
The man was Xu Xiuwen.
Xu Xiuwen had gotten out of the car early to avoid letting Li Haimei's driver and secretary know about their relationship. He had been worried that Li Haimei might go straight upstairs without waiting for him.
Seeing Li Haimei waiting downstairs reassured him that his concern was unnecessary.
As Xu Xiuwen approached, he couldn't help but let out a smug laugh. The neighborhood was unusually quiet, and Xu Xiuwen's laughter was particularly distinct at this moment.
Li Haimei naturally heard it. She knew exactly why Xu Xiuwen was laughing.
She was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole to hide in. She didn't understand why she was waiting for him or why she hadn't gone upstairs directly.
As Xu Xiuwen came closer, he smiled and asked, "Honey, were you waiting anxiously?"
Li Haimei's eyes widened. "What did you just call me?"
"Why are you so surprised? I called you 'honey'."
"Who gave you permission to call me that?"
Xu Xiuwen chuckled, "You're my wife; I can call you whatever I want."
"Who's your wife? Don't call me that, or I'll get angry."
"Oh? Are you going to get angry, dear? I've never seen you angry before. I wonder if you look as beautiful when you're angry?"
Li Haimei's heart raced again at his compliment.
"Xu Xiuwen, don't think that just because of what happened before, you can disrespect me. If you push me too far, don't blame me for being harsh," Li Haimei said, forcing herself to sound threatening.
Xu Xiuwen shook his head, "How could I disrespect you? In my heart, you're more precious than a pearl."
Li Haimei had heard very few love confessions in her life. Although Xu Xiuwen's words were simple and straightforward, they were the most sincere words of affection she had ever heard.
Her heart softened immediately.
"Can you not be so disgusting?"
Xu Xiuwen chuckled, "Am I disgusting? I just want to be close to my wife. If that's disgusting, then I'd rather be disgusting."
Hearing Xu Xiuwen call her "wife" again made Li Haimei's heart flutter.
At that moment, Xu Xiuwen suddenly hugged Li Haimei.
Li Haimei's body tensed up at first, but then gradually relaxed.
"Let go of me!"
"No way!"
"You're so shameless!"
"Thank you for the compliment!"
Facing Xu Xiuwen's stubbornness, Li Haimei felt helpless. She had never encountered such a person in her past life.
What could she do?
She wasn't even sure if she really wanted Xu Xiuwen to let go.
The two of them stood hugging downstairs for five full minutes.
Li Haimei's rationality slowly returned to her, and she could only use words to remind him.
"Let go quickly. We're right outside my home. If someone recognizes me, it'll be a disaster."
This time, Xu Xiuwen finally released her.
After separating, Li Haimei smoothed the wrinkles in her qipao and then adjusted her hair.
Xu Xiuwen, however, took Li Haimei's hand and started walking toward the entrance of the neighborhood.
"What are you doing?" Li Haimei chided softly.
She pulled her hand away from Xu Xiuwen's grasp with force.
Then she rolled her eyes with a lively expression.
Xu Xiuwen was momentarily stunned. "Going out for a room?"
"I didn't agree to that."
"Didn't you?"
Li Haimei thought about how she had first agreed for driver Old Zheng to take her home, and then had waited here for him. She indeed had no strong argument to say otherwise.
Li Haimei said firmly, "We can't go to a hotel. What if someone recognizes us? What will you do then?"
"What should we do then? Your car isn't here, and mine isn't either. We can't exactly hide in the bushes, can we?"
Li Haimei frowned at his words and couldn't help but say, "Do you know what you look like right now?"
"What do I look like?"
"You look like a pervert!"
Xu Xiuwen laughed, "You're right. Not only am I a pervert, but I'm also eager to devour you."
Li Haimei realized her words had no effect on Xu Xiuwen. Instead, she was always the one blushing and having her heart race because of him.
"What now? How about we go to my place?"
Li Haimei shook her head. "No, Old Zheng will be picking me up here tomorrow morning."
Seeing Xu Xiuwen's impatient look, Li Haimei suddenly found it amusing. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "How about you come to my place?"
"My place? Is that okay? Isn't your daughter at home?"
Li Haimei thought for a moment and realized it might not be appropriate.
"Then forget it."
"It can't just be forgotten! We're going to your place!" Xu Xiuwen quickly decided.
He was determined to take the risk for a mature woman like Li Haimei.
Xu Xiuwen pulled Li Haimei into the building.
Li Haimei felt she had no way to back out now.
In no time, they arrived at Li Haimei's doorstep.
She thought about how her daughter was at home while she was bringing a man in.
Her heart started to pound wildly, and the beats only got faster.
"Hurry up and open the door," Xu Xiuwen urged.
Li Haimei glanced back anxiously and said, "I'll check first to see if Keke is in her room, and you must be completely silent."
"Don't worry, I know what to do."
At this point, Li Haimei realized it was too late to change her mind. She gathered her courage, took out her keys, and unlocked the door.
Once inside, she moved quietly and scanned the room. Seeing that her daughter wasn't there, she finally relaxed.
"Come in," Li Haimei whispered.
Xu Xiuwen immediately walked in. He took off his shoes and was about to place them on the shoe rack.
Li Haimei shot him a warning look.
Xu Xiuwen quickly realized that if he left his shoes on the rack, Keke might see them and figure out he was there.
He hurriedly grabbed his shoes and, barefoot, rushed towards Li Haimei's room.
The distance from the entrance to Li Haimei's room was just over twenty meters, but for Xu Xiuwen, those twenty meters felt incredibly long.
Fortunately, Keke didn't come out of her room during that time.
Xu Xiuwen burst into Li Haimei's room and closed the door, letting out a deep breath of relief.
Soon after, Li Haimei joined him. Just as she was closing the door, the sound of Keke's room door opening came from outside.
Xu Xiuwen silently thought, that was close.
They had just barely avoided being discovered. Once the noise outside ceased, Xu Xiuwen and Li Haimei both sighed in relief.
Xu Xiuwen chuckled, "I can't wait any longer. Let's get started."
Li Haimei gave him an exasperated look. "Why are you so impatient? I need to take a shower first."
She turned to head towards the bathroom.
But Xu Xiuwen wasn't about to wait. Without a word, he stepped forward, grabbed Li Haimei from behind, and lifted her off the ground with a firm grip.
Li Haimei was lifted into the air, and her legs were forced off the floor. She felt a bit panicked but, realizing what was happening, her face turned red. "Xu Xiuwen! Let me go!"
With Keke's room nearby, Li Haimei couldn't be too loud, so her protests were not very effective.
Xu Xiuwen firmly said, "I'm not letting go."
He carried Li Haimei to the edge of the bed and tossed her onto it.
She bounced a few times on the soft surface.
Li Haimei let out a soft gasp.
Xu Xiuwen then came down on her.
Li Haimei quickly said, "I haven't taken off my clothes yet."
Xu Xiuwen, still busy, replied, "It's fine, it doesn't matter."
But after a while, Xu Xiuwen realized things weren't going as planned. The slit in Li Haimei's qipao wasn't high enough for what he wanted.
After some struggle, Xu Xiuwen had to stop.
Li Haimei looked at him in frustration.
Xu Xiuwen awkwardly scratched his head and then laughed.
Seeing this, Li Haimei also gave a resigned smile.
She gently pushed Xu Xiuwen away and said, "I don't know why you're so impatient. I'm not going anywhere!"
Li Haimei slowly began to remove her qipao.
She also wanted to take off her flesh-colored stockings, but Xu Xiuwen was already too eager.
"Damn it..."
....
The night stretched until dawn.
In the morning, the sun rose in the east. The warm sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, dispersing the lingering hormonal atmosphere in the room.
On the large bed lay a man and a woman. The man slept soundly, though one of his hands was quite restless. The woman, Li Haimei, had woken up first.
As she regained her rationality from the previous night, the sensations lingering on her body reminded her of what had happened.
Li Haimei stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. The man beside her was only three years older than her daughter and over a decade younger than her.
With such a significant age difference, it seemed impossible for anything to happen between them. But due to an unexpected turn of events, they had spent the night together.
It should have ended there. Yet, Li Haimei found herself losing control. The man seemed to have a magical allure that made her want to know him better. Despite only having a few encounters, she found herself unable to detach.
She had brought him to her home and spent the whole night with him. Li Haimei had thought she would never get close to another man in her lifetime, but unexpectedly, Xu Xiuwen had broken that vow.
Was she regretting it?
Li Haimei wasn't sure.
She decided to set her thoughts aside for now. Carefully, she moved Xu Xiuwen's hand away but didn't get out of bed. Instead, she turned onto her side to face him.
As she lay there, her gaze wandered down from the man's forehead, across his high nose bridge, to his lips, and then to his sensual jawline...
At that moment, she had only one thought: this sleeping man is really handsome!
Whether a man is handsome or not shouldn't be a concern for a woman of her age. Yet Li Haimei found herself involuntarily focusing on these details, just like a teenager might.
This made her feel quite embarrassed. Fortunately, these were only her private thoughts and wouldn't be known to anyone else. Otherwise, she'd be utterly mortified.
Suddenly, a ringtone broke the silence, startling Li Haimei.
Regaining her composure, she realized it was her phone alarm. She quickly turned over, found her phone, and turned off the alarm.
Her movements were swift, as if she feared the alarm might wake someone.
After turning off the alarm, Li Haimei sighed with relief. But it was too late.
Xu Xiuwen's eyelids twitched, and then he opened his eyes. Seeing Li Haimei first thing, he smiled slightly and said in a gentle voice, "Good morning, wife. Did you just wake up?"
"Wife!"
These two simple words made Li Haimei's heart race uncontrollably. She had stood on many important stages and given countless significant speeches, but never had her heart raced so fast as it did now.
Li Haimei was at a loss. Should she sternly rebuke him for calling her that? Or should she gently respond with "husband"?
The thought made her face flush deeply.
In the end, she gave a vague "mm" response. It was unclear whether she was acknowledging the term "wife" or responding to the question about waking up.
Her attempt to deceive herself didn't fool Xu Xiuwen.
Seeing Li Haimei's flushed face, Xu Xiuwen guessed why she was reacting this way.
He suddenly leaned closer and arrogantly pulled her into his embrace.
With a mischievous grin, he asked, "Do you like me calling you wife?"
"Huh?" Li Haimei was momentarily stunned.
Realizing she had been seen through, she felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her.