By the time the Hummer pulled up in front of the Moriyama apartment building, it was already daylight. Lin Xiao turned off the engine, leaned back in the driver's seat, and counted on his fingers what he'd gotten last night: Kingpin's two arms, the dozen or so men lying haphazardly in the warehouse, the Kingpin on Kingpin's cane which he'd casually slipped into his pocket as a souvenir, and now this Hummer. This trip had satisfied his Heartfire, brought him the money, and given him another car. That old bastard Kingpin wouldn't dare lay a finger on him for at least two weeks.
The only downside was that I didn't sleep with Mei last night.
Lin Xiao felt a little annoyed again at this thought. Next time he lectured Kingpin and the others, he would definitely teach them what "knowing when to back down" meant. (Meow Meow's Little Classroom: Knowing when to back down: Taking the initiative to yield at the appropriate time to avoid being disliked.)
Lin Xiao went upstairs dejectedly. When he opened the door, he saw Mei tidying up the table. A smile returned to his face, "Mei, I'm back."
Mei didn't respond. She went into the kitchen and brought out a bowl of congee with preserved egg and lean pork, and then took out a plate of pickled vegetables and placed them on the table. Since she got together with Lin Xiao, Mei had started to learn how to cook Chinese food. Although it didn't look very fancy, it tasted pretty good.
Lin Xiao's heart softened. "Mei, wait a moment."
Mei stopped and glanced back at him. Lin Xiao was slightly taken aback, then a smile appeared on his lips. He walked over and hoisted Mei onto his shoulder.
" Lin Xiao!" Mei cried out in surprise, patting his back twice. "Put me down! I haven't forgiven you yet!"
"A whole day has passed." Lin Xiao tossed her onto his shoulder and strode towards the bedroom. "You promised you'd only sleep apart from me for one day, but it's dawn now, so that promise has expired."
Mei's face flushed red visibly. She buried her face in the back of Lin Xiao's neck and mumbled something. Lin Xiao didn't hear it, but he could feel her arms around his neck tighten a little.
After the bedroom door is closed
The bed started creaking, a loud, loud noise.
Mei's initial "Put me down" turned into "Gently, gently," and then into screaming for God. The bed was already quite old before Lin Xiao moved in. After Mei moved in, she replaced the mattress, but the bed frame remained the same. At this moment, the bed frame was emitting a series of rhythmic screams, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on—no, a cat whose tail had been stepped on repeatedly and kept screaming.
Three hours later, Mei's face turned pale, and she told Lin Xiao to stop.
She lay on the bed, her hair scattered all over the pillow, looking as if she had just been pulled out of the water. Her chest was still heaving violently, her lips were slightly parted, and her eyes were staring blankly at the ceiling, unable to utter a single word. Lin Xiao leaned against her, one hand supporting his head, the other resting on her waist, his thumb gently stroking her lower back.
Mei's eyes darted around, turning to Lin Xiao. Her gaze held a mixture of satisfaction, exhaustion, helplessness, and a question she couldn't bring herself to say, "Are you even human?" Lin Xiao understood, chuckled, and kissed her forehead.
Mei reached out and pinched his arm lightly, like a cat scratching him.
"Lin, I really can't take it anymore, I want to drink water." Mei's voice was hoarse beyond words. After saying that, she buried her face in the pillow and refused to look at him anymore.
Lin Xiao chuckled, got out of bed, and went to the kitchen to pour a glass of warm water. When he returned with the glass, Mei had turned over and was lying on her side, looking at him with her eyes half-open. Mei took the glass and sipped the water, her eyelashes drooping and casting a small shadow in the morning light.
Mei placed the water glass on the bedside table, shrank back under the covers, and began to let her mind wander.
Will he be dissatisfied?
The thought, once it surfaced, dripped more and more like a leaky faucet. Mei pulled the blanket up to her chin, her fingers unconsciously tugging at the corner. She knew this idea was illogical—in the past three hours, Lin Xiao's performance had shown no sign of dissatisfaction; in fact, it could be said that she was extremely satisfied. But the problem was, he was capable of "doing" everything, while she was just an ordinary person. A nurse in her thirties, at her best, could only stand and walk home after working two consecutive night shifts; compared to Lin Xiao, she was worlds apart.
It's sweet, yes, but who can stand being sweet every single day?
Mei sighed softly.
It wasn't that she disliked him. Quite the opposite, she liked him terribly. Lin Xiao was good to her, good to Peter. Although he often said frivolous things, he was never ambiguous when it came to serious matters. He would remember that she liked daisies, would slice the imported ham Tony gave her and put it in the Fridge for her to eat after work, and would secretly draw piglets all over Peter's homework, then deny it to the death. He gave her the most reliable support in her life, and also the most exciting nights of her life. But the latter was just too exciting.
Mei buried her face even deeper into the pillow.
She began to seriously consider a question she had never thought about before: Should she find Lin Xiao another one?
It wasn't that she didn't love Lin Xiao anymore; quite the opposite, she loved him too much. She simply couldn't handle it all on her own. This conclusion wasn't an exaggeration; it was based on firsthand experience. Rather than being bedridden herself, she'd rather...
No, what am I thinking?
Mei shook her head under the covers, trying to wake herself up. But the thought was like a seed that had already taken root in the soil, and it wasn't so easy to uproot it.
She thought of Gwen Stacy.
Peter had mentioned the blonde girl to her, saying that Lin Xiao had saved her and that she always pestered him at school, asking everything about Lin Xiao, from "What does Lin Xiao like to eat?" to "What does Lin Xiao usually do on weekends?" Peter was practically running away from her. Mei initially found it amusing; it was perfectly normal for a high school girl to have a vague crush on her savior. But then Peter told her something else that caught her attention—"That Gwen Stacy can wear strange clothes and scale walls, and she's evenly matched with Uncle Lin in a fight."
The girl bitten by the mutated spider.
Like Lin Xiao, he is a superhuman.
Thinking about this, Mei suddenly felt a pang of unease. Not because of jealousy—well, not entirely. It was because she realized that if that girl really was like Lin Xiao, then at least when they were together, they wouldn't have to worry about breaking each other's beds. Unlike her, who felt she couldn't take even the slightest bit of force from Lin Xiao.
But she's still a student, only seventeen. And Peter said that while it's true the girl likes Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao doesn't seem to have any special feelings for her; he even spanked her in front of him last time. Mei couldn't help but laugh at this, then quickly suppressed her laughter, inwardly scolding herself—what's so funny?
Mei set a bottom line for herself: she couldn't let her own shortcomings harm others.
What about Lin Xiao's colleague?
Mei rolled over in bed, staring at the chandelier on the ceiling—the woman who always bullied Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao always had a gritted-teeth expression whenever he mentioned this female instructor—"She cheated me out of a meal again," "She docked my pay again," "She made me do manual labor again."
Mei felt that the woman was definitely interested in Lin Xiao.
It wasn't that she was overthinking; women understand women best. She understood women's thoughts. If a woman didn't like a man, she wouldn't repeatedly cause him trouble. Causing trouble is itself a form of attention, and sustained attention must have something supporting it.
Thinking of this, Mei felt a sour feeling well up inside her; that woman was a complete bitch.
She wouldn't ask the female instructor what she thought; maybe that woman was waiting for her to speak up so she could rightfully steal Lin Xiao away.
Mei groaned under the covers, turned over, and reached out to pinch Lin Xiao's arm. The pinch wasn't hard, but the location was clever; she pinched the tenderest part of the inner side of the arm.
Lin Xiao hissed, turned around, and looked completely bewildered. His expression shifted from confusion to scrutiny, from scrutiny to wariness, and finally to a guilty conscience. Could Mei know something?
Mei couldn't help but laugh at his expression.
"What's wrong?" Lin Xiao asked cautiously.
"It's nothing." Mei pulled the blanket up to cover half her face, leaving only her large, watery eyes looking at him. "I just suddenly wanted to pinch you."
Lin Xiao opened his mouth, then closed it again. He tilted his head and thought for a while before finally coming up with what he considered the most reasonable explanation—"Are you hungry?"
Mei didn't answer. She pulled the blanket over her face, and her shoulders twitched suspiciously several times.
Lin Xiao's face darkened. Then, as if remembering something, he patted Mei's shapely bottom. "By the way, we're moving. My Manhattan apartment is all renovated, it's just sitting empty anyway. This place in Forest Hills is rented, and the soundproofing isn't great—look at how loud the bed was just now, those two downstairs neighbors definitely heard it."
Mei peeked half her face out from under the covers, her expression shifting from a smile to surprise, "Moving? Your apartment, the one Tony gave you? The whole building?"
"Yes, seven floors. One floor is enough for us; leaving the other six floors empty is a waste. We'll have Peter move in too; his room is too small."
Lin Xiao thought for a moment and a smile curved his lips, "Let him stay on the top floor rooftop. The lighting is good there, and he won't be able to hear any noise."
Mei rolled her eyes dramatically and sat up. "Fine, whatever you say, you bad man."
Lin Xiao's lips curled up into a smile that he himself didn't even realize was true.
An hour later, Lin Xiao stuffed several suitcases and a bunch of miscellaneous items into the Hummer's trunk. Peter gone to school, so his things wouldn't be moved for the time being; they'd be moved over the weekend. Mei sat in the passenger seat, holding the glass vase with daisies in her arms—it was the first thing to be placed in the new house, not for any other reason than Lin Xiao said he liked it.
The Hummer started and drove towards Manhattan. Lin Xiao freed one hand and placed it on Mei's leg. Mei placed her hand on top, interlaced her fingers, and clenched them tightly.
Outside the car window, the New York sun was shining brightly.