Li Shaobin clenched his teeth. He was only thinking about how to pocket his balls. He couldn’t lose. If he lost, it would be very embarrassing.

Luckily, he won the first game but it wasn’t a brilliant win. He only beat her by a ball.

In the second round, Ruan Yang slowly got the hang of it and she could indistinctly feel that she must’ve been very familiar with playing pool in the last eight years. Slowly, with every two balls Li Shaobin pocketed, she would catch up with three then he would pocket more balls and she would catch up again.

The heater in the suite was on and Li Shaobin started perspiring nervously.

The round ended with Ruan Yang’s victory. He frowned with annoyance.

“I’m not playing anymore.” He put the cue stick down.

“You’re not angry, are you?” Ruan Yang asked with a slight smile as she walked over.

Li Shaobin felt his face heating up. He turned his face away. “I’m not angry. I let you win.”

“You’re not even admitting that you’re angry.” Ruan Yang picked up a piece of pineapple with a toothpick and put it to his mouth. “Come, have some pineapple to simmer down. A man shouldn’t be so petty.”

Seeing that he had received the rare treatment of being fed, Li Shaobin didn’t feel so gloomy. He opened his mouth to eat the pineapple and said with his mouth filled, “I’m not petty; I just felt embarrassed that someone I like defeated me. I wanted to look good in front of you.”

“I’m your girlfriend now; why do you have to look good in front of me?” Ruan Yang leaned on the pool table and glared at him unhappily. “Don’t tell me you want to teach me a lesson?”

“I don’t. I just wanted you to admire me. Forget it.” Li Shaobin pouted. He picked up two glasses of red wine that he had poured and passed one to Ruan Yang. “This bottle costs 20 thousand. Finish it before we leave; let’s not waste it.”

“Then we really can’t waste it, but will we get drunk if it’s only the two of us finishing it?” Ruan Yang stared at the dark red liquid.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take you home if you’re drunk.” Li Shaobin couldn’t help but grin when he thought of how she would look when drunk.

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Ruan Yang took a little sip of red wine. The corner of her mouth was stained with some of the beautiful red liquid, looking very seductive.

Li Shaobin felt his throat heating up and his breathing roughening. “What’s there to worry about? I’m a gentleman.”

Ruan Yang smiled without saying a word.

Li Shaobin drank half a glass gloomily. The two sat on the black leather couch together and watched a movie for a while. He pretended to feel faint and lay on her lap. “Ruan Yang, my head is spinning. Let me lie for a while.”

Ruan Yang let him be. Although she felt awkward with his face sticking to her thighs, she couldn’t sit properly if he kept cuddling her here and there.

When they finished the bottle of red wine, it was already past 10 pm.

When the two walked downstairs, Manager Liao of the winery saw that both of them had drunk some wine, so he came over and asked, “Young Master Li, you’ve had alcohol. Do you need me to drive for you…”

“I’m not drunk, so why do I need a relief driver?” Li Shaobin interrupted him with annoyance.

“Let him do it; it’s safer,” Ruan Yang said softly.

“Alright, you drive.” When Li Shaobin heard her, he quickly passed his car keys to Manager Liao.

Manager Liao looked at the sports car keys in his hand and was speechless. Li Shaobin would usually do whatever he wanted in front of them, but in front of a woman, he was so obedient.

…

The sports car drew a beautiful curve in the night. Li Shaobin and Ruan Yang sat in the backseat. Somehow, Li Shaobin lay on her legs again, saying that he wanted to sleep.

Ruan Yang also drank so she also felt quite sleepy. Thus, she just let him be. She put her hand on his cheek and slowly, somehow, she started touching his earlobe. His earlobe was meaty so it felt soft and comfortable. It felt as though she was playing with clay—pinching and twirling it in her hand.

Li Shaobin clenched his teeth and finally pulled her hand away after he couldn’t tolerate it anymore. “Ruan Yang, stop touching.”

Manager Liao, who was driving in front, almost lost grip of the steering wheel. What an intense moment late at night! What were the two of them doing in the back? It made him so afraid that he didn’t even dare to look back. Also, that sounded too erotic.

Ruan Yang was afraid that since there was someone sitting in front, he would start imagining things, so she retracted her hand embarrassedly.

When they arrived at her apartment, Li Shaobin got up immediately to help her open the door. Ruan Yang said softly, “You don’t have to see me up. Go back sooner.”

“I have to. I’ll just see you to your door.” Li Shaobin half-hugged her and half-pushed her in eagerly.

When they got into the elevator, since there were only the two of them, he reached his hand out to hug her. “Ruan Yang, how long are you planning to stay in Norway? When are you coming back?”

“I don’t know. It shouldn’t be for too long—seven to eight days at most? I’ll let you know when I’ve booked the return flight,” Ruan Yang replied lazily.

“You said it, seven to eight days.” Li Shaobin grabbed her little hand sadly. The elevator moved up quickly and in no time at all, they had arrived at her floor. He grabbed her hand which was holding onto her keys pitifully and lowered his head to kiss her.

Thinking that she would be going to Norway tomorrow, Ruan Yang allowed him to kiss her and let him kiss her however he liked.

Li Shaobin was very agitated. It felt just like a dream and he didn’t feel Ruan Yang pushing him away.

Slowly, he started to feel unsatisfied. Ruan Yang suddenly grabbed his hand. She lifted her blushing and awkward face with difficulty. “Enough. Don’t push your luck.”

Li Shaobin fell into disappointment. He pouted and said softly, “Ruan Yang, let’s register our marriage.”

“Register our marriage?” Ruan Yang was stunned.

“Yeah, register our marriage.” Li Shaobin nodded seriously and said, “That way, we can live together legitimately and I can also sleep with you openly and uprightly.”

Ruan Yang: “…”

“Ruan Yang, I definitely won’t abandon you,” Li Shaobin continued to say. “I’ll hand all my savings to you and listen to you in the future. You can control me however you want.”

The corner of Ruan Yang’s mouth twitched. “You’ve had a drop too much. We’ve only dated for a few days yet you already want to get married. Marriage isn’t child’s play.”

“I didn’t drink too much. Those who get into relationships without marriage in mind are being gangsters. I didn’t get into a relationship with you just to have sex,” Li Shaobin said seriously. “I did it so that I can have sex with you for life.”

Ruan Yang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She didn’t know whether she was having more complicated feelings or feeling more touched. “No matter what you say, you just want to have sex but you’re afraid I won’t let you, so you said you want to register our marriage, right?”

“Yeah.” Li Shaobin nodded honestly. “Don’t find me promiscuous. A lot of men out there want to have sex but are unwilling to take on responsibility now. Ruan Yang, you’re the only woman I want to have sex with for my entire life.”

Ruan Yang was speechless. Must this guy make sex sound so touching? “Wasn’t there a crush you used to like a lot?”

Li Shaobin became depressed when he heard that. “Back then, I just felt my heart beating for her but I didn’t think about anything else. She said she liked someone else and besides, I was too young then. I didn’t know what sex was. Now that I met you, I’ve become a self-taught master. Look, Changqing already has a child and you’re not getting any younger. In my opinion, judging from how Jiang Duoyao and Yan Molun stick together and sleep together every day, they’ll definitely be married and have a child soon.”

Ruan Yang’s face flushed red when she heard that. What on earth was that? It sounded like a marriage proposal but not really a marriage proposal. He simply just drank a little outside and came back saying that he wanted to get married. How preposterous! “You’re really crazy. Don’t go on further; otherwise, I’ll get angry.”

Li Shaobin felt gloomy as though he was splashed with a bucket of cold water.

Ruan Yang explained, “In my opinion, your brain is overwhelmed by desire right now. A relationship consists of various stages and we’re only in the first stage. If you just bypass the other stages and jump into marriage, what’s going to happen when we realize that we’re not suitable for each other?”

“It shouldn’t be much of a problem,” Li Shaobin said. “If anything’s unsuitable, I will change.”

“Change your head. Head to sleep quickly.” Ruan Yang pushed him into the elevator.

“Then I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow,” Li Shaobin said, depressed, knowing that registering their marriage would be impossible.

“Alright.” Ruan Yang suddenly felt like laughing when she was alone after the elevator door closed. What was this mess about?

——————-

The next morning, Li Shaobin got up early in the morning on a rare occasion to pick Ruan Yang up. The Northern City airport was quite far away and Ruan Yang was eating her breakfast in the car, thinking to herself that it was a wise choice to find herself a boyfriend since she had someone to chauffeur her everywhere she went.

Of course, aside from Li Shaobin’s chattering throughout the journey which could be a little annoying, everything else wasn’t bad.

“Ruan Yang, I’ll tell you honestly—you have to remember to come back. Also, there are a lot of handsome guys over there but foreigners are quite wild. They’ll have one night stands casually and can love you to death today but tell you to stop pestering them tomorrow. Besides, there’s a higher rate of foreigners getting AIDS…”

“Enough. I’m only going there to return the house and quit my job. Do you have to do this?” Ruan Yang rolled her eyes. “You make it sound like I’m a very promiscuous woman.”

“No, I’m just worried and afraid that someone would snatch you away from me,” Li Shaobin said pitifully.