Chapter 92: The Bathroom

Gu Yunci lifted the restoration invitation in his hand toward her.

Meng Shutang snatched it in one swift grab, bent over and slipped into the car.

Gu Yunci laughed as he got into the car, fastened his seatbelt, looked at her in the rearview mirror and said, "This is the responsible Teacher Meng I know."

Meng Shutang glanced out the window, ignoring him.

Three hours later, the car entered the interior of Chashan fudi.

The sky that had just been clear and boundless suddenly filled with dense black clouds, a gale swept the ground, and a torrential downpour began.

The main road became jammed to the point of no flow, horns blared one after another, and people's patience grew heavier with each passing moment.

Meng Shutang watched the rain outside, yet she was not the slightest bit irritated.

The scene reminded her of four years ago when she went to the airport to pick up Gu Yunci; on the way back, the rain was just as heavy.

Warm light fell on her reddened earlobes; she wrapped her arms around him, expressing the longing she had felt over the past few days apart.

His deep eyes swirled with desire, and he said, "Mrs. Gu, I'm going to kiss you."

As the words finished, his kiss descended.

The kiss was not a rough seizure, but a gradual deepening, accompanied by tender invitation and lingering.

Her tightly closed cherry lips were slowly invaded, her breath gradually deepening.

When Gu Yunci rose, he casually set down the armrest and pressed her onto the leather seat.

Perhaps because they hadn't seen each other for days, his movements were a bit impatient and clumsy, injuring her.

She clutched his lapel tightly with both hands, curled up in his embrace and started to cry; in the past, he would have soothed her for a long while.

But that day, he pushed her away and placed a divorce agreement on her knee…

"The rain won't stop for a while; there's a guesthouse up ahead. Shall we go down the side path later?"

The man turned his head and asked.

Meng Shutang didn't look at him and said, "Okay."

When night fell completely, they finally left the main road and found the only guesthouse still operating.

The innkeeper was very enthusiastic, but upon hearing their request, she said, "Sorry, we only have the last room left."

Meng Shutang turned her head to look at Gu Yunci and said, "How about we keep looking?"

A car horn sounded at the entrance as another vehicle arrived.

The innkeeper glanced outside and said, "I suggest you stay; the rain on the mountain comes quickly and leaves slowly."

The surrounding few inns are fully booked; ours has good conditions and a high price, which is why only one room remains.

"If you hesitate any longer, this room will be gone."

The door was pushed open, someone entered, and a gust of cool wind accompanied by rain rushed in.

The innkeeper, watching someone come in, looked at Meng Shutang and said, "Miss, no need to be shy; although we are a couple‑run inn, we won't leak any information."

Meng Shutang was still hesitating.

Gu Yunci made a decisive move, pulled out 2000 cash and said, "We'll stay."

The innkeeper smiled as she took the money, counted it, and said, "Alright, that includes a 300 deposit; when you leave, any excess will be refunded or you'll top up as needed."

"You can check in first; shortly, the staff will deliver the receipt to your room."

As they carried their luggage and rode the elevator, a young couple approached the front desk and asked, "Excuse me, are there any rooms left?"

The innkeeper replied briskly, "No, the nearby inns are all full; you'll have to get on the highway and look further ahead!"

The young couple muttered, "How unlucky…"

The elevator doors closed, and Gu Yunci and Meng Shutang arrived at the second‑floor room.

The room was overall in natural wood tones, a terracotta lamp casting an orange‑yellow glow, cotton‑linen cushions and straw mats arranged haphazardly, and the air carried a faint scent of cedar and old books.

Outside, the rain poured down in a chaotic deluge; the windows were tightly shut, and inside the house was so tranquil it felt cut off from the world.

Only a string of delicate wind chimes at the eave occasionally tinkled, breaking the room's serene Zen atmosphere.

Meng Shutang stared at the wind chime and was momentarily stunned.

She recalled the two childhood playmates.

The pink bell and the star hairpin.

When she was young, she often hung the little bell on her backpack, and it jingled as she walked.

Unfortunately, on her tenth birthday, Bai Lianyue stepped on and broke the bell; afterward, she sincerely apologized to her, saying it was not intentional.

And the star hairpin became the only small joy in her bleak childhood for the years to come.

Later, when she moved out of the old house, it was accidentally lost and has been missing ever since.

Gu Yunci saw her standing there dazed and asked, "What's wrong?"

Meng Shutang shook her head slightly and said, "It's nothing."

Inside the room there was only a double bed; Meng Shutang looked at it, her complexion slightly uneasy.

Gu Yunci raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "You take the bed, I'll sleep on the sofa."

After speaking, he consciously placed her luggage on the chair beside her, while his own was tossed onto the far end of the sofa.

The atmosphere in the room was inexplicably tense.

Meng Shutang remembered that four years ago, before the divorce, they had once shared a room in Wenlüxiaozhen.

At that time, despite the awkwardness, there was still an unbroken layer of lingering affection between them.

It was not like now, where the stiffness was suffocating.

Watching Gu Yunci sit on the sofa and pull out his phone to charge, she took a towel and went into the bathroom.

Listening to the rushing water in the bathroom, Gu Yunci, idle after charging his phone, noticed the spider plant on the cabinet beside the bathroom door had withered, so he fetched water to water it.

He accidentally knocked the pot rack; the pot began to fall, and to catch it, he staggered backward.

When she got up, she unintentionally glanced toward the bathroom, and in that instant, she froze there.

The glass door looked frosted from outside, but as a couple's B&B, it's something you can sense but not put into words.

Amidst the mist, those ink-black eyes saw clear water sliding down Meng Shutang's smooth shoulders and slender waist.

At a glance, she truly had an ethereal grace, her charm timeless.

The man's pupils suddenly constricted, his breath halted in that instant, and he stiffened there.

He almost reflexively turned around, his ears flushed red, and his steps became flustered.

He hastily placed the spider plant on the flower rack, his heart racing wildly out of control.

Meng Shutang also washed quickly, rinsing off the foam on her body, then came out of the bathroom.

Under the warm yellow light, her wet hair clung to her shoulders, the ends dripping water; her legs were slender and fair, her ankles delicate and smooth, almost too beautiful to bear.

Gu Yunci watched this scene without showing any emotion.

Long before, he had secretly been infatuated countless times; at those moments, he always pretended not to care, yet he always kept it hidden in his heart for a long time.

Seeing her again now, his breath caught, and he could hardly move his gaze away.

Meng Shutang lowered her head to finish drying her hair, then sat on the bed and looked at her phone.

Gu Yunci rose and said, "You don't need the restroom anymore, do you?"

Meng Shutang didn't lift her head, softly humming in acknowledgment.

The man entered the bathroom; not hearing the water run for a long while, Meng Shutang grew suspicious, knowing he had a severe cleanliness obsession and used to shower every day.

Looking up, she saw him shaving; the frosted glass seemed nonexistent, and she could clearly see the man's cold, hard jawline as he tilted his head back and the slight movement of his Adam's apple.

No wonder he wasn't taking a shower.

Meng Shutang's mind went "boom," her melon-seed face instantly flushed red, even the roots of her ears turning crimson.

Embarrassed, ashamed, a mix of emotions swirled, making her somewhat unable to sit still, she rose angrily.

She wasn't angry at Gu Yunci, but angry at herself for dawdling in the bathroom.

Just as she paced back and forth irritably, with a splash, the glass door opened and the man stepped out.

Their eyes met; the atmosphere, which had been tense as they entered, now seemed to gain a layer of intimacy.

Meng Shutang turned around; the floor was wet and slippery, she couldn't keep her footing, and her body lost balance.

Before she could even scream, Gu Yunci, quick-eyed and quick-handed, extended his long arm and wrapped it around her waist, which was too small to encircle with one hand.

The two fell onto the nearby bed, with Meng Shutang pressed underneath.

The man pressed down heavily, his lips barely touching hers; Meng Shutang clearly felt something hot pressing against her thigh.