She froze for a few seconds without answering, still trying to get up. I kept pressing, "Tell me, and I'll let go."
"Well... we didn't do much. I'd just lie face down with my butt up," she whispered.
Hearing that, I couldn't help but have a reaction, feeling a bit embarrassed. I let go of her, but she seemed to notice it and didn't get up. She stayed lying on top of me, making the atmosphere even more delicate.
She slowly spoke, "We didn't stay together for long. His wife found out, and that was it. I quit the job right after."
"Did someone talk bad about you behind your back? Did Zhao really let you leave so easily?" I asked while tightening my grip around her.
She squirmed a little, trying to get out of my hold, then continued, "Whether he wanted me to stay or not didn't matter. I found out he had other girlfriends too."
"Can his body handle all that?" I teased, pressing down on her butt, causing it to press against me.
She used more force to pull away from my hands and sat up on me, lightly bouncing on my stomach.
"Ow," I winced in pain, not expecting her to do that.
"Aren't you acting all weird? Let's see how weird you'll act now," she said while bouncing lightly again.
Her sudden move caught me off guard, and I grabbed her, holding her down to stop her from jumping.
She tried to wiggle free and started bouncing again, saying, "Are you still acting weird? Are you still going to ignore my messages?"
At that moment, Chen Yili's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Wang Peng, why are you still sitting there? Didn't you say you weren't feeling well? Maybe you should rest early."
I muttered a response, realizing I had been sitting there for almost an hour and a half, lost in my memories. Everything felt so vivid, like it had just happened. I quickly turned off my phone and went to take a shower. As the water flowed down over me, my thoughts drifted back to that time again.
From that point on, our relationship grew much closer, but in public, I pretended it wasn't that serious. After all, Zhao still called her from time to time, and living in a small city like Guanghan, where shady characters had influence, I didn't want any trouble. If her relationship with Zhao wasn't really over like she claimed, would I end up like those guys in the movies who get hunted down for messing with a gangster's woman? It was unlikely, but the thought always crossed my mind. She probably understood, too, because she never mentioned it.
We continued our routine—working during the day, meeting up for dinner at night whenever we had time. At this point, we still hadn't slept together, even though I'd dropped hints about it. In my mind, it should've been easy, especially after how close we got at the café that one time. But weeks had passed, and nothing had happened.
I finally asked her directly, "How about we go sing some karaoke tonight?" I figured we could get a private room at a KTV, have some drinks, and it would be easy from there.
"Sure, just the two of us?" she asked.
"Who else? You want to invite Zhao?"
"Are you itching for a beating again? Should I smack that weirdness out of you?" she joked, pretending to be mad.
"Hmm, let me think... Okay, I could invite a friend. He works at the quality inspection bureau," I thought of Li Sen, who I hung out with a lot at the time. I had told him I was seeing someone.
"Then I'll invite Hu Yao," she said with a playful smile.
"Her? Hmm... sure, I guess," I replied, a little surprised.
"What? You don't want her to come?" she asked, staring at me intensely.
"No, no, it's fine. I'll let my friend know. Let's go to the KTV on Yueyang Road." I pulled out my phone and called Li Sen.
Within an hour, the four of us met up at the KTV. After the usual introductions, we settled in. Of course, I already knew everyone. Li Sen, being his usual outgoing self, quickly hit it off with Hu Yao, and they chatted non-stop.
"You sure they just met today? They're hitting it off pretty fast," I whispered to Lü Xiaoran as Li Sen sang.
"Isn't that what you call love at first sight?" Lü Xiaoran teased with a grin.
"Pfft, love at first sight? Li Sen's been married for three years," I muttered, rolling my eyes.
Lü Xiaoran glanced at Li Sen and Hu Yao, then turned back to me, saying, "Well, Hu Yao's single, so you'd better make sure she knows that."
Just then, Lü Xiaoran's phone rang. She glanced at it and answered, "Zhao? I'm out singing with Hu Yao and some friends. Uh-huh... uh-huh... you want to come? Well, there are two other people here you don't know... Oh, alright. Yeah, come by, we're at the KTV on Yueyang Road." She hung up and turned to us, "Zhao's coming."
The room suddenly fell quiet.