At eight in the morning, Yanping's phone alarm woke her up. Reluctantly, she reached out and blindly grabbed the endlessly ringing phone, casually pressed it, and the world returned to its original quiet.
Just as she was about to continue her sweet dream, Yanping suddenly sat bolt upright. Last night's events flashed through her mind, and she looked around at everything nearby.
"Mom!" After letting out a scream, Yanping hurriedly threw off the towel blanket covering her and quickly checked the important parts of her body.
Thank goodness, thank goodness. Her bra and panties had not been touched and were still intact. She had fallen asleep on the couch but had somehow ended up on the bed. That guy must have carried her over.
At that moment, a woman's wild imagination was running at full force in Yang Yanping's mind.
Had he kissed her? Had he groped her? Or secretly taken nude photos of her or something?
After a brief bout of imagining things, Yanping suddenly turned and spotted a small note on the bedside table. She quickly picked it up and read it carefully.
Hehehe. Without any warning, she covered her face and giggled foolishly. Her little feet kept kicking back and forth against the bedsheet as well. A young girl's mercurial moods were truly vivid.
Finally, she picked up her phone, wanting to reply to Li Yang right away. She was just about to dial the number he had left behind.
No, she could not let that bastard think she cared about him that much. Who knew whether he had taken advantage of her last night? She had been asleep and did not know a thing.
In the end, a girl's sense of reserve kept Yang Yanping from contacting Li Yang immediately. She sat there spacing out for a while before remembering that she still had to go to work.
"Oh my god!" Yang Yanping reacted as if she had been electrocuted. In a panic, she slipped into her slippers, grabbed her toiletries, and rushed into the bathroom to pee, brush her teeth, wash her face, and apply all kinds of women's lotions and creams.
Only then did she return to the room and continue touching up her makeup in the mirror. She fixed every last detail of her hairstyle, smiled with satisfaction, then took off her little sleepwear and changed into a fresh blouse, skirt, and stockings.
By the time she left, there were less than twenty minutes until work.
Yang Yanping hurried along in high heels with her bag slung over her shoulder, panting as she jogged. Even then, she did not forget to curse Li Yang out in her heart, pinning the blame for being late entirely on him.
Women really were unreasonable. At that moment, she had completely forgotten that Li Yang had helped stop someone from harassing her.
When lunchtime came, Yanping looked at the blazing sun outside. Pouting unhappily, she picked up her sun umbrella and went out. At a nearby snack shop, she casually ordered a mixed bowl of liangpi and rolled noodles, along with a bottle of Haibi Soda. Holding a napkin in one hand, she ate gracefully in tiny bites, worried that the broth would splash onto her pristine white blouse.
It took her nearly half an hour to finish a meal that could have been wiped out in just a few bites.
She took a small mirror from her bag and wiped the corners of her mouth without a care for anyone around her. Then she carefully checked whether her teeth were clean. She really was a refined little woman.
Finally, she narcissistically looked herself over from side to side before leisurely putting the mirror back into her bag.
There were still dozens of minutes before work. Yanping was enjoying the shop's air conditioning and could not be bothered to get up, so she picked up her phone with a sly smile and called Li Yang's number from her contacts.
"Hello, who is this?" Li Yang had just finished buying a lingerie set for Lao Zhao's daughter when he received a call from an unfamiliar local mobile number. After working in sales for so long, answering calls had become second nature to him. He answered without even thinking about where the call came from.
Hearing Li Yang's cold voice, Yanping suddenly realized that he did not know her number yet, so she decided to tease him.
"You scumbag! You just said you were going to marry me, and now you're refusing to admit it!" Yanping pretended to sob dramatically, her performance so convincing that the bespectacled young man beside her mistook it for a beautiful woman truly being deceived in love. Unable to help himself, he cursed the scumbag Yanping had mentioned and his entire family in his heart.
"You woman really have nothing better to do." Li Yang's words made her feel as though she had been stripped naked and displayed in the middle of the street.
"You're so annoying! You saw through me that quickly?" Yanping protested unhappily to Li Yang.
"Hehe, who told you to be so dumb? Is that my fault?"
Li Yang was in high spirits. He thought Yang Yanping was pretty interesting and not annoying at all.
The two bickered and joked around for quite a while. Seeing that it was almost time, Yanping finally got to the point. "Li Yang, let me treat you to dinner after work. Consider it repayment for coming to my rescue."
"I already have a dinner appointment tonight. If you insist on treating me, we can do it after I get back." Li Yang figured he would not be delayed too long at Lao Zhao's house, so he told her what he had in mind.
"That's great! I was worried you'd eat too much and waste my money. Since you'll be coming back, I'll make noodles for you myself. That'll save me quite a bit of money! Thanks a lot!"
After saying that, Yanping could not help covering her little mouth and giggling secretly. The bespectacled young man beside her was already staring dumbly, completely at a loss.
"Sure. I'm in Sunqi Tun Village. I can drop by when I pass by on my way back. Bye!"
They both hung up quickly, as though they were afraid of saying even one more word.
Afterward, Yanping happily hummed a song, picked up her sun umbrella, and walked away with a sexy, seductive sway, her pert hips twisting as she went.
That little butt of hers swayed once, and the bespectacled young man's fragile heart was instantly shattered. He stared blankly at Yanping's retreating figure for a long time, unable to come back to his senses.
"Hey, that girl left without paying." The middle-aged owner came over to clear the bowl and shook his head toward the door. It was only a few yuan. Forget it. That girl came here often enough.
The owner thought about it, then did not dwell on it any further.
"Boss, how much was it? I'll pay for her." The bespectacled young man volunteered to play the good Samaritan.
"Six yuan. Liangpi and a bottle of Haibi," the owner answered briskly.
"Okay, put it together with mine." The bespectacled young man finished his meal in two bites, casually wiped his mouth, stood up, and paid the bill. The beauty was gone, so there was no point staying. He should hurry back to the construction site and keep hauling bricks. Then he headed out, put on his hard hat, and walked toward the nearby worksite.
After getting off work that evening, Li Yang sat on Lao Zhao's battered tricycle and followed Qingdao Road all the way back to Lao Zhao's home in Sunqi Tun Village. With the city's rapid development over the past few years, Lao Zhao's home had gradually become part of an Urban Village, and there were quite a lot of renters.
A few years earlier, at his wife Wang Jingjuan's suggestion, Lao Zhao had gritted his teeth and used up years of savings to build up the front and back of the house solidly, then gave it a simple coat of paint and renovation. Gradually, the new house caught the attention of many migrant tenants. By now, aside from the first floor of the main house that the family kept for themselves, all the upper rooms in the front and back buildings were fully rented out. Rent and utilities alone brought in more than four thousand yuan a month, making the couple incredibly happy.
Lao Zhao had always been henpecked, but afterward he became even more obedient to his wife, without the slightest complaint.
On the way, Lao Zhao bought some braised dishes to go with the alcohol. The two of them bragged and joked as they sped home like lightning.
"Brother, you came out to hang around today without bringing your little girlfriend? Aren't you afraid she'll get mad?" Lao Zhao was an old smoker, and even while riding the tricycle, he did not forget to keep a cigarette between his lips.
Li Yang casually waved away the drifting smoke and replied, "I wanted to bring her too, but she went to Yiyang to provide support. She hasn't come back yet."
"Hehe, being apart for a few days is good too. You young people rely on your strong bodies and toss around all night like you never want to stop. Not that I'm trying to nag, but you have to take care of yourselves, especially us men. We can't compare with women. When you reach my age, you'll understand how great being young is."
"Oh, so Lao Zhao can't do it anymore, huh? Does Sister-in-law not even let you sleep in the same bed at night?"
"Hahahaha!" Li Yang laughed by himself.
"You brat. I'm not going to argue with you. Your sister-in-law and I really do sleep in separate rooms, but that doesn't affect our relationship. After a couple has been together long enough, love turns into family affection. A married couple doesn't have to obsess over those things in bed. You're not married yet. You'll understand later."
"A man has elderly parents above him and children below him. He works himself to the bone outside every day to support the family. By the time he gets home at night, if he still has the energy to think about that stuff, I'd be shocked."
Lao Zhao looked like a man speaking from experience as he tirelessly lectured Li Yang about married life. But Li Yang could not understand it at all right now. People never gave up until they hit the Yellow River. That was just how people were.
Before long, they reached Lao Zhao's front door. Li Yang got out first and helped open Lao Zhao's red double gates. Light streamed down from the transparent canopy above the courtyard, making it fairly bright.
The tenants returning one after another also went inside. The yard was packed with all kinds of bicycles and motorcycles.
Lao Zhao hummed a tune, still reluctant to throw away the cigarette butt in his mouth, and led Li Yang into the main house's living room.
"Honey, I'm back!" Lao Zhao shouted in his booming voice. Three women immediately came out of the kitchen, each one unbelievably beautiful: Wang Jingjuan had the mature charm of a married woman, eldest daughter Zhao Meili was a vibrant youthful beauty, and second daughter Zhao Meimei had a sweet, adorable schoolgirl look.
Wang Jingjuan was in her thirties, like a gorgeous flower blooming at the height of a mature woman's charm. The last time Li Yang had visited, it had been the dead of winter and she had worn thick cotton clothes. Now it was June, and Wang Jingjuan's curvaceous, sexy figure was like a beautiful painting, leaving Li Yang staring in astonishment.
She wore a fitted black dress, like a brilliant star in the night sky. Even with an apron over it, it could not conceal her endless charm.
He truly did not know how Lao Zhao had managed to win her over in the first place. It was a flower stuck in a pile of cow dung.
"Put that cigarette out already. Can't you see the kids are home?" Wang Jingjuan glared fiercely at the smoking Lao Zhao and scolded him.
"Oh, Little Yang Brother, you came all this way. Why did you bring gifts?" Wearing a lovely smile, Wang Jingjuan hurried over to take the bag from Li Yang's hand.
"Brother, let me see what gift you bought me." Nineteen-year-old Zhao Meili truly lived up to her name. Dressed simply in a white short-sleeved shirt and denim shorts, she was so beautiful that words could not describe her.
Her figure was developed perfectly in every way, inheriting her mother's excellent genes. She was lively and outgoing as well, happily pulling Li Yang over and opening the gift box.
"Oh, I love it so much! Mom, look what Little Yang Brother bought me!" Zhao Meili proudly raised the set in her hands. The younger sister was gentle, shy, and not very talkative, but when she heard her older sister call out, she also came over. The girls' happiness and excitement were written all over their faces.
"This must have been expensive. You haven't even gotten married yet, so don't waste money. Don't be so polite next time you come, or Sister-in-law won't let you into the house." Wang Jingjuan stood at the kitchen door, smiling warmly at Li Yang with an affectionate look in her eyes.
"It's fine, Sister-in-law. I already treat all of you like family. It's my little sister's birthday, so I'm happy too." Li Yang responded politely.
She and Lao Zhao had no son, which was truly a regret. Although Wang Jingjuan was a woman herself, it did not stop her from favoring boys. Unfortunately, there was no hope for that in this lifetime, so she felt as though Li Yang was half a son to her.
"Lao Zhao, come in and help me out. There are only two dishes left," Wang Jingjuan urged.
"Okay, honey." Lao Zhao gestured for Li Yang to make himself at home, then went into the kitchen.
Li Yang chatted with the two younger sisters as well. Before long, his witty, humorous talk had them laughing nonstop. Wang Jingjuan glanced out from the kitchen and smiled so widely that she could barely close her mouth. It was such a warm scene.
After the food was ready, everyone gathered around the dining table. Zhao Meili carefully placed the gift Li Yang had given her to one side, intending to admire it properly after dinner.
Lao Zhao raised his glass and said with a smile, "Today is Meili's birthday. I wish my precious daughter gets prettier and prettier and stays happy forever!" Everyone raised their glasses and drained them in one go.
After dinner, Zhao Meili impatiently brought out the birthday cake her mother had bought for her and began cutting it herself in front of the family. Full of joy, she gave everyone a piece, saving one for herself until last. As she ate, she kept asking Li Yang whether it tasted good. Li Yang smiled and praised the cake, saying it was delicious, making her even happier.
By then, Li Yang was a little excited from drinking. Having grown up without sisters, he was now experiencing the warmth and harmony of family. He lightly dipped a finger into some cream and mischievously swiped it across Zhao Meili's collagen-filled cheek, making her giggle nonstop. She even followed his lead and started playfully tussling with him.
Zhao Meili had also grown up without an older or younger brother, so her feelings toward Li Yang were especially ambiguous. Half of it was family affection, the care of an older brother; the other half was a young girl's first stirrings of love. Both were normal.
The second daughter was introverted and only sixteen, three years younger than her sister Zhao Meili. Sitting there and watching the two play around, she smiled happily too. She was in her second year of high school at a key county school and would take the college entrance exam next year.
Wang Jingjuan watched the lively scene before her with an affectionate gaze, happily eating the cake in her hand in small bites with a fork. Lao Zhao was tactful as well and slowly got up to clear the leftovers from the table, though most of the plates were empty. Li Yang's appetite had made Wang Jingjuan very happy.
First, Li Yang liked her cooking. Second, Wang Jingjuan believed boys should have big appetites and be able to eat and work. She did not like boys who were skinny as sticks and looked sickly. Li Yang happened to fit her ideal type of man perfectly: sunny, handsome, and strong.
Though she was already a married woman, everyone loved beauty, and women were no exception.
At that moment, Li Yang looked at Lao Zhao busy in the kitchen, then suddenly got up and gave the smiling Wang Jingjuan a swipe on the face as well. White cream immediately stuck to Wang Jingjuan's beautiful cheek.
"Oh, you're so annoying," Wang Jingjuan said with a coquettish smile. Her bewitching, alluring manner was like a fire, instantly igniting Li Yang's body and provoking a powerful reaction. It was simply too stimulating. It seemed the charm of a mature married woman was like deadly poison, carrying irresistible destructive power for boys Li Yang's age.
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