Lu Xixiao understood her meaning almost instantly.
He froze for a second, then leaned forward directly, one hand cupping the back of Zhou Wan’s head as he kissed her.
Since their reunion, it wasn’t as if they hadn’t kissed before—they had even done more intimate things. But this was the first kiss completely free of barriers.
The moment his lips touched Zhou Wan’s soft ones, Lu Xixiao paused.
The feeling of regaining what was lost made him acutely aware once again of how excruciating these past seven years had been. His Adam’s apple bobbed sharply. Like the trepidation of nearing home after a long absence, he was a little afraid of frightening his girl.
But he couldn’t control himself. Like a dog finally finding its way home, or a fire that couldn’t be quenched by rain, he kissed her fiercely.
The sensation was utterly intoxicating—like clouds parting to reveal the moon. Zhou Wan obediently tilted her chin up to accept Lu Xixiao’s kiss, her tears dampening her eyelashes.
She sobbed, trembling as she called his name in a muffled voice, “Lu Xixiao, Lu Xixiao…”
“Mm.”
Lu Xixiao responded hoarsely. He lifted her chin, gently nibbling her full, moist lips, his fingers trailing from the nape of her neck downward, lifting the hem of her clothes.
When his cool fingertips touched the skin at her waist, Zhou Wan flinched slightly, then forced herself to relax, though she grew increasingly stiff from nervousness.
Lu Xixiao lowered his gaze, then bent to kiss the corner of her mouth.
His voice was low and raspy: “Wanwan.”
“Mm.”
The man’s dark lashes fluttered slightly. “You have no idea how much I love you.”
Zhou Wan let out a tearful “Mm.”
Lu Xixiao tightened his arm, pulling Zhou Wan onto his lap. He pressed against her, kissing her relentlessly—from her lips to her chin, then down to her neck.
Outside the window, spring rain fell, pattering drop by drop into their hearts.
Inside the room, it felt as if the sound of the rain had drenched everything in a damp, sticky humidity.
“Wanwan.”
Lu Xixiao looked closely into her eyes. His pupils were dark, desire vivid in their depths. His voice was magnetic and deep, almost hypnotic. “Do you want to see your name again?”
Zhou Wan met his gaze. After a few seconds, her eyes drifted downward, settling on his collarbone.
Her name lay beneath that piece of clothing.
Lu Xixiao kissed her ear and whispered, “Help me take it off.”
“…”
Zhou Wan’s eyelashes fluttered violently. She lowered her hand, pinching the hem of his shirt with two fingers, then paused. Her cheeks flushed so deeply they seemed about to drip blood. She didn’t dare meet his eyes again.
“Hurry up,” Lu Xixiao urged. “Take it off, and I’ll forgive you.”
Zhou Wan’s voice was very, very soft: “You said earlier that if I stayed by your side, you would forgive me.”
Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly, surprised that at this critical moment, Zhou Wan could still reason so clearly with him.
His mischievous side surfaced again.
“Then let’s add another condition.”
He stated matter-of-factly, lowering his head to bite her collarbone. His teeth gently grazed the skin as he murmured, “Tattoos don’t hurt much when inked on fleshy areas. The collarbone is one of the most painful spots.”
Zhou Wan immediately felt a wave of guilt, her eyes growing warm.
Lu Xixiao brushed his index finger lightly across her cheek, speaking unhurriedly: “You have a chance to make it right now.”
Zhou Wan’s face was flushed beyond recognition, her fingertips trembling. She gritted her teeth, refusing to let shame overwhelm her, forcing herself to stay calm. Her fingers, still clutching the hem of his shirt, moved upward and pulled off his top.
She saw the tattoo again.On a gloomy, rainy day, the room wasn't particularly bright, but it was still much brighter than the previous night.
She clearly saw those two words—every stroke was unmistakably Lu Xixiao's handwriting.
Lu Xixiao didn't give her another chance to shed tears. He scooped her up and carried her toward the bedroom.
He kicked the door open, placed Zhou Wan on the bed, then leaned over to pull open the bedside drawer.
Following his movement, Zhou Wan tilted her head to look. When she saw what was in his hand, her face flushed even redder. "Why is this here?" she asked, her voice trembling.
Lu Xixiao chuckled softly as he tore open the packaging. "I bought it last time when I was getting breakfast."
"..."
It was clearly premeditated.
The last time they were together felt less like intimacy and more like a struggle of dominance and submission. But this time was different—both had confronted their pasts openly and honestly, offering each other their burning, sincere hearts.
Zhou Wan had suffered a bit last time, so she was initially afraid. But gradually, she was pulled into the whirlwind of passion, unable to extricate herself.
She felt like a small boat drifting on a boundless sea, lifted and dropped by the waves, over and over again.
Later, Zhou Wan's nails dug deeply into Lu Xixiao's arms as she traced the tattoo on his collarbone. She inexplicably felt an illusion—that their flesh and bones were intertwined.
In the end, it was Lu Xixiao who pulled the quilt over both of them, kissed the corner of her lips, and whispered, "Wanwan, I'm finally not alone anymore."
His words made her nose sting with emotion.
She had no strength left. Drenched in sweat, her voice hoarse, she could only lift her arms with effort to wrap around Lu Xixiao's back, burying her face against his chest.
Lu Xixiao held her tightly in return.
Those two isolated planets had finally entered the same orbit.
Utterly exhausted, Zhou Wan fell asleep in his embrace, the unique scent of Lu Xixiao filling her senses.
...
When she woke, the rain had not yet stopped.
Drip, drip—raindrops fell one by one from the eaves, creating small puddles on the ground.
By the time Zhou Wan opened her eyes, the sky was nearly dark. She glanced out the window and instinctively burrowed deeper into the soft blankets, her body languid and unwilling to rise.
Her body still ached, and she felt too weak to move, as if she had grown roots in the bedding.
Not long after, Lu Xixiao pushed the door open and entered.
He wasn't wearing a shirt, his broad shoulders and narrow waist giving him a rugged yet elegant silhouette. His muscle lines were perfectly symmetrical, every contour graceful and fluid. Besides the old tattoos and scars on his collarbone, there were now numerous bite marks—left by her earlier.
Zhou Wan dared only a glance before turning her head away, as if to conceal her embarrassment.
Lu Xixiao laughed softly. "Why won't you look at me?"
Zhou Wan remained silent.
Vivid images of their earlier intimacy flashed in her mind, along with Lu Xixiao's mischievous demands. Taking advantage of her affection, he had coaxed her into saying and doing many things.
Lu Xixiao sat on the edge of the bed and pinched her cheek. "Are you planning to act coy now?"
Only then did Zhou Wan speak, her voice slightly hoarse. "I'm not."
"Then why won't you even look at me?" he said, almost like he was whining.
Blushing, Zhou Wan had no choice but to turn her gaze to him.
"Does it still hurt?" Lu Xixiao asked.
"..."
Zhou Wan pressed her lips together. "A little."
He nodded. "Well, I'm in quite a bit of pain too."
"..."
Lu Xixiao turned sideways, showing her his back. It was covered densely with nail marks. Zhou Wan had no recollection of creating these "masterpieces" and stared in surprise."Did I do this?"
"Who else?" Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow. "You nearly scratched me until I bled."
Zhou Wan felt both embarrassed and distressed.
She had originally been too shy to say anything about the matter, but felt she owed Lu Xixiao an explanation. After some thought, she said softly, "Then I'll cut my nails shorter from now on, so I won't hurt you."
Not expecting this response, Lu Xixiao was momentarily stunned before breaking into laughter.
He seemed to find it immensely amusing, his chest vibrating with laughter as he nodded. "Alright."
Seeing her lack of energy, Lu Xixiao didn't tease her further. After pouring a glass of warm water and helping Zhou Wan drink it, he let her rest.
Zhou Wan took another nap and finally felt better when she woke up.
She put on her clothes and got out of bed. Lu Xixiao was sitting on the sofa, looking bored with his phone.
Hearing movement, he lifted his head. "Awake?"
"Mm."
"Hungry?" Lu Xixiao asked. "Takeout or eating out?"
Though her legs still felt weak, having stayed home all day, Zhou Wan wanted to go out for a bit.
"Let's go out."
"Alright."
Lu Xixiao grabbed an umbrella, and they went out together.
This area had always been part of the old town district, and after seven years it felt even older. There weren't many elaborately decorated shops around. Not wanting Zhou Wan to get too tired, Lu Xixiao randomly picked a stir-fry restaurant.
It was a small, unassuming place, but the food was quite good—no wonder it had stayed in business for so many years.
Zhou Wan didn't eat much before putting down her chopsticks.
"Full?" Lu Xixiao asked.
"Mm."
"You ate so little."
"I wasn't very hungry to begin with," Zhou Wan said gently with a smile. "I'm full."
Probably from sleeping on and off for too long, Zhou Wan still felt somewhat listless. After the meal, Lu Xixiao didn't rush her home immediately, deciding they should stroll around outside for a while before returning.
Both sides of the path were lined with cherry blossom trees.
The cherry blossoms were in bloom, and after the rain, the ground was covered with delicate cherry blossom petals.
The cherry blossom season was pitifully short—likely after this spring rain, the blossoms would be gone.
Fortunately, they had caught the final blooms.
Before they knew it, they had arrived at that familiar arcade.
Zhou Wan stopped and looked over.
Lu Xixiao followed her gaze. "Want to go in and play for a bit?"
Zhou Wan nodded.
She hadn't expected this arcade to still be here.
It had been renovated and looked very different from how Zhou Wan remembered. The girl at the counter was also someone she didn't recognize.
Seeing them enter, the girl immediately asked if they wanted to get a membership card.
"We actually had a card here before," Zhou Wan said. "But that was seven years ago. I'm not sure if you can still look it up."
"Seven years? That's so long ago. I think this place changed owners at some point. Although we imported all the old data, I'm not sure if records from that long ago are still there," the girl said. "Give me your phone number first, and I'll check."
Zhou Wan recited Lu Xixiao's phone number.
The girl entered it into the computer and hit enter—"It's still here! There's over a hundred yuan left on it. Here, I'll issue you a replacement game card."
Zhou Wan nodded and thanked her.
There weren't many people in the arcade, mostly students in school uniforms.
Someone like Lu Xixiao attracted attention regardless of his age—the moment he walked in, all eyes turned toward him.Since Zhou Wan stopped working part-time here, Lu Xixiao had only visited this place once—on Christmas Eve night, when he stayed up all night and won a bicycle.
"What do you want to play?"
Zhou Wan scanned the arcade and remembered how good Lu Xixiao used to be at basketball when she spotted the shooting machine. She pointed: "That one."
The shooting machine had a two-player mode. They swiped their card, the guardrail on the machine lifted, and orange basketballs rolled toward them one by one.
After shooting a few baskets, Zhou Wan quickly grew tired, and her accuracy was quite poor. She simply stepped aside to rest, watching Lu Xixiao play.
He was dressed much more casually after work—white shirt, black pants—but the spirited look in his eyes remained just as before, as if nothing had ever changed.
He was still the same Lu Xixiao from before.
Zhou Wan couldn't resist taking out her phone and snapping a photo of him.
Just as the countdown ended, Lu Xixiao turned his head and raised an eyebrow: "Taking sneaky photos of me?"
Zhou Wan hadn't really thought of it as sneaky, but his question made her self-conscious. She guiltily put her phone away and softly replied, "Mm."
"I'm your boyfriend now. You can take photos openly."
As he spoke, he took out his own phone, opened the front camera, and held it up.
Zhou Wan looked at the two of them in the frame, paused for a moment, then gave a faint smile.
Lu Xixiao captured the shot, freezing the moment.
He lowered his head, fiddling with his phone, and asked without looking up: "This is our second photo together, right?"
The first time was when they took photo stickers at the mall.
Zhou Wan froze mid-movement, seemingly lost in thought. She pressed her lips together and didn't respond.
They played a bit longer before leaving.
The air was heavy with moisture as Lu Xixiao held Zhou Wan's hand and walked toward home.
...
Back home, Zhou Wan finished showering and lay down in bed.
She had taken three days off and would return to B City tomorrow. Before sleeping, she habitually checked her work group chat for any new assignments. After confirming there were none, she idly opened her social media feed.
Zhou Wan rarely posted and thus seldom browsed the feed either.
She scrolled downward, liking some interesting posts along the way.
Continuing to scroll.
Suddenly, her gaze halted.
She saw the photo they had just taken at the arcade.
It was posted by Lu Xixiao.
In the photo, the lighting was somewhat dim, with the shooting machine beside them. The red glow from the machine cast sideways on their faces, blurring the lines between light and shadow. They stood close together—Zhou Wan smiling shyly and quietly at the camera, while Lu Xixiao leaned slightly toward her cheek, his eyes brimming with the carefree spirit of youth.
Above the photo was a line of text—
[Finally, we will welcome the blazing summer together.]
OpenNovel