Night fell.
It was already eleven o'clock.
The birds were asleep, the neighbors were asleep, and everything inside and outside the courtyard was quiet.
Dong Xuebin lay on the large double bed beneath a fragrant quilt, his head resting on a pillow still covered with a straw-mat pillowcase. His eyes were closed as he pretended to sleep.
"Are you getting up or not?" Big Sister Zhang asked.
"No." Dong Xuebin stayed put.
Zhang Longjuan smiled. "Playing dumb, are you? Fine! Don't blame Sister Zhang for being impolite, then."
Dong Xuebin was unconcerned. He had no intention of leaving. "Be as polite or impolite as you like. I'm sleeping either way."
After a pause in the darkness, Big Sister Zhang said, "Fine. If you won't leave, Sister Zhang will. I'll go sleep in the side room, all right?"
The side room was also part of the Northern Region, a small room separated off from the Courtyard House. But because it was smaller and partly blocked by the eaves of the West Room, its lighting was not as nice as the main room in the Northern Region. It was even less comfortable than sleeping in the West Room. As soon as Big Sister Zhang finished speaking, the wooden bed creaked. The quilt was thrown aside with a rustle, and slippers shifted below. Big Sister Zhang really was getting out of bed. Dong Xuebin froze. Opening his eyes, he caught sight by moonlight of Big Sister Zhang's plump butt wrapped in a bath towel and her sexy silhouette, close enough to touch.
One step...
Two steps...
Three steps...
Zhang Longjuan's legs still seemed uncomfortable. She limped slowly toward the door, and after several seconds, she had only taken three steps.
Dong Xuebin's heart softened at once. How could he keep sulking? He hurriedly