The roads in the village were poorly maintained and bumpy. Ah Man, sitting in the mini-bus, was rocked to drowsiness. It wasn't until he switched to the train bound for Huahai that Ah Man was able to stretch his limbs and regain some energy. Sitting by the window, watching the scenery flash by, he thought of the passionate scenes with his wife the past two nights. It left Ah Man feeling both unfinished and incredulous, as if the things that were only fantasy during college had suddenly become a reality. Ah Man suddenly remembered the novel his wife mentioned before he left, and since he had nothing to do on the train, he took out his phone and started reading.
The novel wasn't long and mainly told the story of a white-collar worker with a strong M tendency who was a high-level executive by day and experienced BDSM at a mysterious place at night. The endless array of BDSM activities still excited Ah Man. When he reached the end, where the two high-level female managers from the company were willing to have their limbs amputated to become the male protagonist's dog slaves, living happily with the main couple, Ah Man felt something deep within him trigger. He smiled and muttered to himself, "It's pretty intense, but I like it."
Putting down his phone, Ah Man regretted not reading the novel at home so he could ask his wife if it influenced her, and what she thought about the dog slaves at the end. When Ah Man took out his phone again to send a WeChat message to his wife, he changed his mind. Thinking of his wife's shy demeanor, he probably wouldn't get much out of asking in a message and would only end up frustrating himself. He put the phone back, but soon thought of someone else. He had confessed to his wife, and her attitude was clear, allowing the guilt in his heart to finally lift. So Ah Man took out his phone again. He didn't have Zhao Yuetong in his WeChat contacts, but he tried adding her using the phone number from her last text message. An account with the nickname "Heart Full of Tong" appeared on the screen, and Ah Man clicked the "Add to Contacts" button, typing "I'm Man Hao" in the verification message. Soon, the other person accepted Ah Man's friend request.
"Thinking of me, Manager Man?" followed by a smiling face emoji.
"I'm on the train back to Huahai," Ah Man replied indirectly.
"Oh, just finished being cozy with your wife and now heading back to work?" followed by a sneaky laughing emoji.
Ah Man thought for a moment and replied with two words: "Yes."
"Must have been exhausting these past couple of days!" This time followed by a string of sneaky laughing emojis. Ah Man felt a mix of frustration and amusement. This Zhao Yuetong, if I don't show you my colors, you'll really think I'm easy to push around? Ah Man quickly sent a message back: "Not exhausted yet, want to check for yourself?" This time Ah Man added an angry face emoji, imitating Zhao Yuetong. To his surprise, the other person didn't back down and quickly replied, "Sure, meet at the usual place, Jindu Hotel, dare you come?" This time without an emoji. Ah Man was in a great mood and, after thinking it over, sent a message back: "OK, but you bring your own stuff." Ah Man felt he was being quite mischievous, arranging a hotel room and making the other person bring the props.
"Deal!!!" Seeing Zhao Yuetong's one-word reply with three exclamation points, Ah Man imagined she must have typed it through gritted teeth.
After getting off the train, Ah Man hailed a taxi and went straight to the Jindu Hotel. On the way, he received another message with just four numbers: "2319". Ah Man smiled and put his phone back in his pocket.