Tonight's weather forecast predicted light to moderate snow.
The sound of wind and snow grew stronger outside the window, flakes gradually accumulating on the plants in the greenbelt, as if they were being wrapped in a layer of white silver.
He finally stopped hesitating, eliciting a soft, bone-melting moan from her.
The temperature in the room rose higher and higher. After such a long time apart, he was exceedingly gentle. Gu Ran hadn't expected herself to be so coquettish and whiny, asking for it then saying no, saying no yet hooking her legs around him to keep him from leaving.
Ji Shiyu, thoroughly tormented by her, found it quite unbearable. Even when he had her in his mouth, he couldn't indulge freely. He could only patiently kiss her temple and ask, "Then what do you want me to do?"
Gu Ran covered her face, unable to articulate a reason herself, her voice a sweet, plaintive murmur. "I don't know."
Ji Shiyu desperately restrained the impulse he knew would surely make her cry, his voice hoarse as he asked again, "Then what do you like?"
Gu Ran lowered her hands, looking at the man before her. Her eyes were clear, yet they seemed to hook and captivate like tiny grappling hooks.
"I... like you," she bit her finger and answered softly.
The taut string of restraint in the man's mind finally snapped at that moment.
He kissed her surprised gasp, giving the most fervent response he could muster now. A lone boat tossed upon stormy waves, the wind and snow still howled outside, while the warm-toned light warmed nearly the entire night.
Amidst her whimpers, Gu Ran discovered she only held half the initiative. Letting him in was her decision, but making him leave proved terribly, terribly difficult.
...
The snow fell all night. The morning after a snowfall always seemed exceptionally quiet.
Gu Ran slept deeply until eleven, buried in someone's embrace, opening her eyes to see the buttons on his pajamas.
A low voice asked from above her head, "Awake?"
Hearing this, Gu Ran immediately ducked her head, wishing she could bury it in her stomach.
She hadn't felt this shy even the first time.
Ji Shiyu picked Gu Ran up.
It proved that letting a man wait too long was unwise, especially when she was the one who made him wait. Gu Ran had been thoroughly worn out. Ji Shiyu knew all the places on her body that ached. He carried her through every step of the morning routine. He brushed her teeth, combed her hair, washed her face. Even for the skincare routine after washing, Gu Ran, draped over Ji Shiyu, commanded coquettishly, "Not that one, you have to apply that first."
Ji Shiyu selected the lotion Gu Ran wanted for her face, squeezed a bit into his own palm first, then gently applied it to Gu Ran's upturned little face.
He occasionally overheard the female secretaries in the CEO's office discussing various skincare issues, which sounded like quite a troublesome matter. But facing Gu Ran's face now, smooth as a peeled hard-boiled egg, he couldn't find any part that seemed headache-inducing.
Gu Ran held her head up for a while, letting Ji Shiyu apply all the morning products to her face, then was carried over for breakfast.
Or, more accurately, lunch.
Gu Ran sat on Ji Shiyu's lap. Ji Shiyu brought the preserved egg and lean pork porridge, prepared by the chef and delivered earlier, to his lips, blew on it, tested the temperature, then fed it into Gu Ran's mouth.
Gu Ran took a big bite.
Warm food flowed into her stomach, gradually easing the weariness and lethargy throughout her body.
Gu Ran smacked her lips and glanced at her phone.
Monday, 12:23 PM.
A perfectly ordinary time. She didn't think anything was amiss until Ji Shiyu fed her another spoonful of porridge, and she suddenly realized.
Gu Ran whirled her head around to look at Ji Shiyu, who was attentively feeding her.
Ji Shiyu paused his spoon. "What's wrong?"
Gu Ran: "Aren't you going to work?"
Instead of saying he didn't need to go, Ji Shiyu replied, "It's fine."
What's fine? Gu Ran immediately jumped up from Ji Shiyu's lap. Her legs, still weak from last night, almost gave way when her feet touched the floor. Ji Shiyu set down the porridge bowl and reached out to catch her. Gu Ran steadied herself against the dining table and sat down on a nearby chair.
"I'll eat by myself," she said, pulling the bowl in front of her. "You should hurry to work."
Ji Shiyu repeated, "It's really fine," but unfortunately, Gu Ran's attitude was firm, almost to the point of shooing him away.
Gu Ran actively kissed Ji Shiyu on the lips. "Go on."
Ji Shiyu held the back of her head and kissed her a while longer, finally leaving reluctantly.
...
Xinbo Headquarters, CEO's Office.
Ji Shiyu hadn't come to work this morning, arriving fashionably late close to the afternoon.
Ji Shiyu wasn't some idle playboy placed in the company by his family who could skip work on a whim. He kept a rock-solid schedule of work, leaving, and overtime. Skipping a whole morning was a first for the year.
The female secretaries in the secretarial department whispered among themselves. For something like skipping work to happen to Ji Shiyu, something must have occurred.
A department head from a subsidiary division was here today to report to Ji Shiyu. Seeing the secretaries discussing, he lamented his bad luck—why did it have to be today, of all days?
The manager paced countless circles outside Ji Shiyu's office door, unable to muster the courage to knock and enter.
Xu Hui happened to pass by.
"Manager Chen?"
Manager Chen grabbed Xu Hui like a lifeline, mournfully expressing his current tension and fear.
Xu Hui expressionlessly extracted his hand from Manager Chen's grip.
"Just go in with confidence."
"If there's no bonus, I'll give you my position as the CEO's special assistant next year."
After saying this, Xu Hui knocked, opened the door, and tossed the still-mournful Manager Chen inside.
Having completed this set of actions in one smooth motion, Xu Hui calmly blew on his hand, then looked at the office door, a knowing smile suddenly appearing on his face.
Gu Ran's social media feed yesterday showed she went to an amusement park. Who took all those photos was obvious.
Having happily accompanied her all day, then going silent at night, and being late for work the next morning—clearly, there wasn't enough time at night, so they had to make up for it in the morning.
Who knows what loving things the couple, separated for over half a year, got up to all night.
Feeling smug about seeing through it all, Xu Hui tossed his hair and walked away, his insight and achievements hidden.
Inside the office, for the first time, Ji Shiyu was distracted while facing a subordinate.
He closed his eyes, and images of Gu Ran's soft, low moans beneath him last night flooded his mind.
He forced himself to pull away from those scenes and opened his eyes again. Manager Chen across from him had almost finished his report and was now nervously awaiting judgment.
A bit of sweat beaded on Manager Chen's not-so-lush scalp.
He was in charge of a tiny, insignificant department, usually never even getting to see Ji Shiyu. He worked diligently all year for this one annual report, and of all days, he had to run into today.
He heard Ji Shiyu take a deep breath.
The judgment was coming.
Manager Chen clenched his fists tightly, looked up, and saw Ji Shiyu frowning at his report, saying, "The bonus... let's raise the coefficient this year."
Manager Chen: "?"
...
After eating, Gu Ran went back to nestle in bed.
She rolled over and discovered her Stitch and Peppa Pig plushies were neatly arranged on the nightstand, smiling, their faces turned toward the bed.
Suddenly realizing these two had been smilingly observing the entire night's proceedings, Gu Ran: "..."
Her face flushed slightly as she reached out to turn both Stardust Dew and Peppa Pig around, making them face the wall in unison.
Gu Ran was curled up on her bed looking at her phone. Claw Paw had recently released its year-end financial report, announcing the four most profitable streamers from last year, and she was one of them.
Her fans, Little Fishies, were cheering "Wealthy Lady Ran is amazing!", while the "Hundred Years Couple" shippers were counting down the days to their hundred-year anniversary with their usual dramatic despair.
Gu Ran looked at her fans.
As for the matter of her relationship status, now that she had one, she had one.
She wanted to choose the right time to announce her relationship.
Claw Paw had the most detailed streamer data analysis and fan demographic breakdown. She wasn't a flawless streamer selling a girlfriend persona. The biggest characteristics of her streams were that she was beautiful and entertaining. Most fans treated her like a friend in their lives, liking her purely for who she was. Some had even started treating her like a daughter they were raising.
It was like how some female celebrities could get married, have children, or get divorced, and their fans would still stick by them.
Still, no matter what, even when Wang Daxia finally got into a relationship, some people clamored about unfollowing. If she announced her relationship, it definitely wouldn't be without impact.
Gu Ran knew well that if that man wasn't Ji Shiyu, the Claw Paw vice president would surely be rushing over with a knife in hand right now, trying to stop her from even thinking about announcing a relationship.
Actually, even if it was Ji Shiyu, he probably wanted to rush over with a knife too, but as the top boss, he simply lacked the courage.
Suddenly feeling troubled, Gu Ran fretted and rolled over twice on the bed. Then, remembering his first confession, she let out a muffled laugh.
In the evening, Ji Shiyu came back, bringing crayfish.
After Gu Ran finished her livestream, Ji Shiyu peeled the shrimp for her.
His continuous late-night snack deliveries had already made her gain two pounds, so her late-night snacks were now strictly controlled, only allowed occasionally.
Watching the man patiently peeling shrimp, Gu Ran pouted and told him her worries in a half-teasing, half-serious tone.
"It's all because I have to announce my relationship with you that I'm so worried. It's all your fault."
Ji Shiyu peeled a shrimp and fed the meat into Gu Ran's mouth. Hearing her talk about announcing their relationship, he smiled first, then after some thought, made a decision. "It's fine, no need."
"It's good like this now." He used a napkin to wipe the oil from the corner of Gu Ran's mouth.
Gu Ran hadn't expected Ji Shiyu to not care about this at all. She suddenly became serious. "You think it's good like this now?"
"You actually think it's good like this now?"
Faced with this repeated questioning, Ji Shiyu paused his motion of wiping her mouth. He felt his next answer was crucial, likely determining whether he would be allowed on the bed tonight.
After some thought, Ji Shiyu answered, "Mm-hmm."
"Being anything is the same."
Whether it's a part-time helper, a tool person, or a secret boyfriend—as long as she was willing, he'd be it for as long as she wanted.
However, upon hearing this answer, Gu Ran suddenly straightened up, moving a little away from Ji Shiyu. She frowned, her expression turning grave.
Gu Ran looked at Ji Shiyu, her lips pursing. "But I'm really upset right now."
"Do you really see me as that kind of scummy woman who would sleep with you and not give you a proper status?"
