Too Much

The next day, when Lin Yang woke on her own, her mind was still a little foggy.

She’d already been changed into a comfortable nightdress, but Xu Zhitong was actually holding her in her arms, lying on her side with her face buried in the crook of Lin Yang’s neck.

Xu Zhitong’s pajama collar was wide. Holding Lin Yang like that, the fabric had slipped loose, revealing skin that was pale and almost translucent. Too close. With every faint rise and fall, Lin Yang could hear the steady beat of her heart, and even see the blue veins beneath.

Lin Yang remembered everything that had happened last night, and her body stiffened.

Alcohol was trouble.

Once the buzz hit, things like this happened...

Lin Yang felt a little regretful as she looked at Xu Zhitong, but she also knew this wasn’t her fault.

If anyone was to blame, it had to be herself first.

She hadn’t resisted temptation; as for the things Xu Zhitong had promised not to do, she hadn’t done them.

Lin Yang paused, then found the thought absurd.

What, was she supposed to praise or reward Xu Zhitong for that?

Although she had kept her word and not eaten the parts she’d promised not to eat, she had gone after the parts she absolutely shouldn’t have touched.

She had even used her teeth.

Lin Yang had cursed and asked if Xu Zhitong was a dog. At first she’d been gentle enough, but once she got carried away, she started grinding softly. Even when the force wasn’t heavy, it felt like electricity against Lin Yang’s soft, sensitive lips; the hand she’d been covering her mouth with had even loosened unconsciously.

By the end, her lips were sore and swollen, almost numb from being kissed too many times. When Xu Zhitong finally lifted her mouth from hers, their lips were still wet and pressed tightly together, and a clear bead of moisture was left at the corner of her mouth. She’d even asked worriedly whether Lin Yang was getting dehydrated. Lin Yang, weak all over, had told her to get lost.

Xu Zhitong seemed not to understand her at all. Looking very tender, she said, “But I still haven’t wiped it clean.”

That wasn’t something you could just wipe clean. Lin Yang had kicked at her, but it came out soft and weak, and Xu Zhitong had easily caught her foot, tilted her head, and kissed it. It was as if every inch of her was precious.

Lin Yang had snapped, “Isn’t that dirty? Don’t kiss my foot and then kiss me...”

“Oh,” Xu Zhitong had said, swallowing before looking up from below and licking her lips. “Then I’ll wash my mouth. What a coincidence. There’s a hot spring right in front of me.”

And then she’d lowered her head and kissed her again, sweetly.

Was that really something a person would say?

When Lin Yang heard it clearly, she was so embarrassed she nearly exploded. She lifted her head, drew in a shaky breath from the kissing, and still stubbornly said, “Who are you... Get lost. You’re not Xu Zhitong, are you?”

“I’m your wife, though,” Xu Zhitong had said with a smile, lifting the tip of her wet nose; she’d rubbed there against Lin Yang’s lips just now too, and looked filthy in a way that was almost sensual. Then, as if she were truly sniffing, she said, “Smell me. I’m full of your scent.”

Lin Yang had been so embarrassed and angry she was nearly numb. Even she couldn’t tell whether, when she finally fell asleep, it had really been because of the alcohol or because she was trying to flee.

These memories were vivid in her head; Lin Yang never blacked out, so they were all too clear.

The warmth of their morning embrace was still there, as if silently reminding her of last night. Lin Yang bit her lip, lifted her head, and angrily took a bite out of Xu Zhitong’s collarbone.

After spending so much time together, it seemed Xu Zhitong had infected her with some strange appetite.

Xu Zhitong was sleeping very deeply. Even after being bitten, she didn’t wake up, though Lin Yang had bitten very lightly, of course.

The slight pain in her collarbone only made Xu Zhitong mumble in her sleep. Her arm around Lin Yang shifted, and still half lost in dreamland, she pulled the blanket up a little, then patted Lin Yang’s back as if soothing her to sleep.

Lin Yang froze.

Her irritation faded. She looked up at Xu Zhitong. The “lover” in front of her clearly wasn’t awake; she was only moving by instinct.

Her eyes were closed, thick lashes resting quietly, her breathing even, serene as if all was well with the world.

These past few days, the dark circles under her eyes had been taken care of until they’d faded quite a bit; after last night’s late antics, a trace of fatigue had surfaced again.

And so Lin Yang was held in Xu Zhitong’s arms like that, lying on her side with her face tilted up, staring at Xu Zhitong for a long while.

For some reason, sleepiness crept up on her too, and she drifted off again.

When she woke once more, her head felt a little foggy.

She still instinctively looked beside her, only to find Xu Zhitong wasn’t there. Half-dazed and dependent, she called softly, “Xiao Tong?”

Her gaze swept around the empty room, and she suddenly noticed the lower half of the bed; the blanket there was slightly bulging. At the sound of her voice, it moved.

Then it lifted.

Xu Zhitong, with the white bedding draped over her, looked like a little ghost from some childhood make-believe game. Her hair was a mess, and she was kneeling on the lower half of the bed. But unlike a pure little ghost from pretend play, Lin Yang’s dress had been pushed up to her waist, and her inner layer had been set aside.

“Hm? You’re awake.”

“...”

Lin Yang quickly brought her legs together and braced herself against the bed to scoot back a little.

The curtains in the vacation villa didn’t block much light. It was nearly noon; the room was bright, birds were chirping outside the window, and everything was crystal clear.

Broad daylight. Why was Xu Zhitong doing this again so early in the morning...

Before Lin Yang could carefully check whether anything down there felt strange, Xu Zhitong said naturally,

“Good morning. I checked, and it seems a little swollen there.”

So natural, like she was asking what to eat for breakfast.

Lin Yang, who had nearly become breakfast: “...”

Xu Zhitong looked innocent and proper as she continued, “I just looked it up. We should get some ointment to put on it. Do you think they can deliver it here? The pharmacy seems pretty far away.”

Lin Yang: “...”

Her face grew warm. She couldn’t take this topic being brought up so openly and even stammered a little. “C-couldn’t we?”

Xu Zhitong sounded regretful. “Then does this club have a medical room? I’ll go ask the butler, okay?”

?

If they needed something like that, the butler would be able to guess at a glance how intense their night had been.

Lin Yang said quickly, “Don’t go.”

Xu Zhitong hummed, looking at Lin Yang’s flushed face. Even with her legs tucked in and a pillow in her arms, she still couldn’t hide the soft, smooth curve of her legs, let alone the fact that her skirt was very short; she looked tempting without even knowing it.

Xu Zhitong said, “Then can I use Plan B?”

Lin Yang asked, “What’s Plan B?”

Xu Zhitong stuck out the tip of her tongue. “It’s just using saliva...”

Lin Yang hurled the pillow at her, embarrassed and furious. “Go die, Xu Zhitong.”

Xu Zhitong caught it smoothly. “So fierce, Yangyang.”

“...” Lin Yang bit her lip and softened a little. “Get lost.”

Xu Zhitong held on to the pillow and showed no intention of returning it. Lin Yang leaned against the headboard, turned around, and grabbed another pillow to “protect” herself.

She felt she needed to make this clear.

“Last night, you were drunk. You can’t do that again next time... understand?”

Pretending Xu Zhitong was in love with her was already a grave sin.

Now that she had let Xu Zhitong go this far, once her memories returned, this would be no different from tricking her.

Lin Yang didn’t dare imagine it, but she also didn’t know how to explain it to Xu Zhitong in front of her now. She bit her lip, and the words stalled.

Xu Zhitong blinked, looking somewhat puzzled.

She seemed to take this as meaning they had gone too far last night, and after a pause, she obediently said, “Okay, then we’ll talk about it later.”

Uncannily easy to talk to.

So Lin Yang swallowed the rest of her warnings, looked at Xu Zhitong twice more, and said, “I’m going to wash up.”

She braced herself on the edge of the bed and turned to get down, only to stagger. Xu Zhitong caught her waist in time.

The warm touch came through the thin nightdress and pressed against her waist, as if it had stirred up some of last night’s memories. Just when Lin Yang had no strength left to refuse, Xu Zhitong let go of the restraining hand, only to put it in front instead, rubbing her side and then pressing against her lower abdomen.

Lin Yang’s already weak legs nearly gave out.

This was too much; all of it.

Xu Zhitong sat on the bed and asked worriedly, “Should I carry you there?”

Lin Yang gritted her teeth and straightened up, forcing herself to look fine. “No need.”

By the time Lin Yang slowly made it into the bathroom and collapsed onto the toilet seat,

the Xu Zhitong left in the bedroom finally let her composure break down too, her face turning red.

Oh my god, she had really done it.

Wasn’t this supposed to be normal for married couples? Maybe after losing her memory, it really had been a long time since she’d done this. Thinking back on it, her heart was still pounding hard.

And she was starting to regret it a little.

Last night she hadn’t been very clear-headed. Her mind had been full of the memories and instincts she’d learned.

When she woke up this morning and saw Lin Yang, warm and soft, held in her arms, she had wanted to keep going, only to realize she’d gone too far last night.

Although last night had only been about eating, the tutorial had said you couldn’t go on too long. The blurry alcohol-soaked memory reminded her that when she had been cleaning up last night, it had already become engorged, so she had quickly burrowed into the blankets to check.

Sure enough, Xu Zhitong’s breathing tightened. It was even more swollen there, puffy and much darker in color.

And Lin Yang, asleep and very compliant, had, under Xu Zhitong’s careful inspection, opened up even when Xu Zhitong only tried to lift the side to look. She could even be eased down. Perhaps sensing her prolonged stare, there had even been a fairly obvious trace of moisture.

Fortunately, Xu Zhitong still had some sense left. She pulled her gaze away and bent her head to search for what ointment she should use.

Xu Zhitong knew Lin Yang well; she knew that even if Lin Yang felt good, once her reason came back, she would still be embarrassed. Lin Yang always liked to suppress her own desires.

She messaged the operations assistant and had the filming materials sent straight home.

She also washed up in the outer room, changed out of the soft oversized sleep shirt, and simply put on a black tank top and cargo pants before tidying her hair.

When she came out, Lin Yang had already changed. She was wearing a dress that reached her ankles. Comfort aside, the main reason was that there were kiss marks even on her ankles.

The two of them fell silent for a moment.

Xu Zhitong raised her phone and changed the subject. “The operations team sent over the brand script for the vlog, and the stuff’s already been sent home. Should we... head back earlier?”

Lin Yang answered quickly, “Okay.”

She agreed so fast, as if she couldn’t wait.

Xu Zhitong, knowing full well what she was doing, asked, “Actually, we could stay a little longer too. Soak in the hot spring some more, maybe try the resort’s leisure activities. What do you think?”

As if.

Lin Yang bit her lip and gave her a glare.

Xu Zhitong didn’t know what she meant, but to her, it looked coquettish.

She smiled. “Then I’ll pack up the things.”

Lin Yang stopped her and asked, “Did you clean everything outside up?”

Xu Zhitong said, “I sorted it out a little... okay, I’ll go take care of it.”

Of course they couldn’t let the resort’s cleaning staff deal with the traces from last night. Both of them cared about their dignity, so Xu Zhitong busied herself for a while.

She cleaned away every trace that should have been there and every trace that shouldn’t. When she came back, Lin Yang had already packed her things.

The two of them ate a late breakfast at the resort and left early.

When the butler saw them off, he couldn’t help feeling curious, thinking perhaps the service here had displeased the guests.

Standing beside the car, Lin Yang gathered the hem of her long dress and straightened her back before giving a perfectly proper explanation: “I have work to handle back home. It wasn’t that your service was lacking in any way. We’ll come again next time; thank you.”

In truth, they definitely wouldn’t.

Xu Zhitong felt a little regretful. If her feelings for Lin Yang were deeper, then in this beautiful mountain hot spring retreat, the two of them could probably spend several days and nights like that.

But Lin Yang was already uncomfortable, and her core goal of strengthening their relationship had already been achieved. Xu Zhitong sensibly didn’t press the issue.

Besides, home was where the two of them belonged.

Xu Zhitong understood the importance of moderation with Lin Yang all too well, and on the way back she behaved incredibly well.

At night, after Xu Zhitong finished her livestream and Lin Yang also wrapped up her work, she took a shower, tied the sash of her robe, and crossed the empty, dark living room on her way back to her room to sleep.

Facing the quiet guest room, Lin Yang let out a soft sigh.

At last, she could get a good night’s sleep.

That wasn’t to say she hadn’t slept well last night; in fact, the quality of that sleep should have ranked among the best of these past years.

But after showering, she still felt very uncomfortable. So she’d gone without anything under the bathrobe, stood in front of the wardrobe for a while choosing sleepwear, and finally picked the most comfortable nightdress. After hesitating for a bit, she still didn’t put on an underlayer.

Lin Yang did her skincare, sprayed her usual sleep scent on the pillow, and was just about to rest.

Then there was a sudden knock at the door, three times.

“...”

Lin Yang paused, not exactly willing, and opened the door.

Outside stood Xu Zhitong, holding her pillow. Her hair was neatly in place, and so was her expression.

She put on an act and said, “I was drinking water in bed and spilled some by accident. I can’t fall asleep on the sofa. Can I sleep with you?”