I’m Not Going to Be the White Moonlight
Kiss a little longer
The wind hurled summer’s heat wave against the window, and the drone of the cicadas stretched out in its wake.
The old-fashioned air conditioner was anything but quiet. Cold air sank from top to bottom in the office, and every buzzing vibration seemed to complain about how cheap this place was.
The large factory Chi Qian worked for was an old company, and not all old brands could maintain their glory. More often than not, “old brand” just signaled a gradual decline into decrepitude and decay.
Even a low-level employee1 like Chi Qian understood that this place held little acquisition value for Shi Jinlan.
Over the past three—no, it should be a little over two years—every company Shi Jinlan had acquired was far larger than this one. This wasn’t a scope defined for her by some script; it was a target she had chosen for herself.
Just for her, for Chi Qian.
Chi Qian had the feeling of a cannon to shoot a mosquito.2
But even more than that was the frantic beat of her heart, hidden beneath her joking thought.
The sunlight today was almost unfairly beautiful, like a scene from a movie playing out frame by frame before Chi Qian’s eyes.
Shi Jinlan’s face was angled slightly upward. Her eyelashes, like raven feathers, were dusted with a layer of golden light, making her deep pupils seem like black obsidian, without a single impurity.
Who would have guessed she was a seasoned master of strategy, old and scheming, deep in calculation3 in the business world?
And yet, no one could look into those eyes and not think she was a woman so clean she was not versed in the ways of the world.4
Those obsidian-like pupils held back so many emotions.
But gems are only considered beautiful because they are cut with enough depth and complexity.
As Chi Qian thought this, the warmth of their breath in the few seconds her mind had wandered created a layer of ambiguity.
They were so close. She could hear the sound of Shi Jinlan’s breathing. Those thick eyelashes blinked gently, fanning a light breeze that seemed to brush against her heart.
Thump, thump!
It was even more fatal than the other day. Amidst Shi Jinlan’s breathing, Chi Qian could hear her own heartbeat.
It felt as if ripe fruits were falling from a tall tree, thudding against her heart one by one. They tumbled through her desolate world, rolling on and on…
Until they rolled to Chi Qian’s feet, painting a round, full-bodied red in the depths of her eyes.
—What could she possibly do to repay Shi Jinlan?
—She had no treasures to her name, nothing to give in return, except for her own body…
Chi Qian was about to pick up the fruit that had rolled to the ground, but she stopped abruptly.
Wait, what am I even thinking!
“What’s Ah Qian thinking about?”
As if on cue with her thoughts, Shi Jinlan’s voice sounded right next to her ear.
Hearing this, Chi Qian was struck by a guilty panic. As if afraid Shi Jinlan couldn’t already tell, she stammered a denial, “N-nothing.”
This woman is still such a bad actress.
Shi Jinlan just looked up at Chi Qian, a hint of a smile in her eyes. She went along with her words, saying, “Since Ah Qian hasn’t decided what to give me, then I’ll just have to ask for it myself.”
Although her words sounded like a charming request, they left no room for Chi Qian to refuse.
Even though Chi Qian was looking down at Shi Jinlan from above, the initiative was still firmly in Shi Jinlan’s hands.
She was the evil dragon5 hibernating in the darkness, her golden eyes filled with a possessive desire for her “treasure.”
The cold air gusted over from time to time, making each breath particularly distinct.
Chi Qian couldn’t see herself as Shi Jinlan saw her, but her gaze couldn’t help but follow Shi Jinlan’s, unable to advance or retreat. Her heart just beat more and more fiercely, and she subconsciously moistened her lips.
She had a pretty good idea of what Shi Jinlan wanted.
【buzz buzz go for it… buzz good oppor-buzzzzz… buzz kiss buzz】
Just as Chi Qian figured out the answer, Thirteen’s intermittent voice echoed in her mind.
The static-filled current cut in and out through her thoughts, a disruptive and unpleasant interference.
Chi Qian remembered how, back when she was trying to complete her mission, Thirteen had persuaded her to sell her body according to the plot. Fine. But why was it still pushing her to do this now, when she was here to save the world?
Chi Qian really was a strange person, and stubborn too.
She had been looking at Shi Jinlan’s lips and thinking the exact same thing herself, but when someone else pointed it out, laying out all the reasons and making it perfectly logical, she suddenly didn’t want to do it anymore.
Perhaps the more you care, the more you desire a kind of simple purity.
Chi Qian’s heart rebelled. Even if she had to do it all over again, her feelings for Shi Jinlan were still just a tool, built on layers of deception.
Their kiss shouldn’t be like this.
Could it be that even with a second chance, they could never have that little bit of purity between them?
【Hos-buzzzz… don’t buzz hesita-buzzzzz…】
The choppy static sounded like it was struggling, but Thirteen continued to urge her on.
Chi Qian’s gaze was unfocused, hazily resting on Shi Jinlan’s lips.
Then, a wisp of cold air clung to a strand of Shi Jinlan’s hair, sweeping past Chi Qian’s line of sight along with it.
Shi Jinlan’s brow furrowed slightly. Her thin lips parted, and she uttered two words, neither too lightly nor too heavily: “So noisy.”
At the same time, in the space within Chi Qian’s mind, Thirteen felt an unknown force descend upon it.
A strong wind slammed directly into its round body, flipping it onto the ground and making it land hard on its backside. Then, the pathetic little ball was blown away by the wind, tumbling toward the boundless distance.
The static that had filled her mind came to an abrupt halt. Chi Qian could no longer hear Thirteen’s voice.
But she hadn’t quite heard what Shi Jinlan had just whispered, either.
Noisy?
What was noisy?
The air conditioner?
Chi Qian looked at Shi Jinlan in confusion, only vaguely sensing her displeasure when she spoke.
She looked as if her mood had been ruined, a layer of gloom pressing down in her dark pupils.
Chi Qian tensed up immediately. Caught between cold and heat, she chose to grant Shi Jinlan’s wish. “Do you want me to turn it off?”
Hearing this, Shi Jinlan’s gaze returned to Chi Qian.
She looked at the woman’s still-clear eyes, and a hint of a smile reappeared in her own cold ones. “What does Ah Qian want to turn off?”
The sun was unobscured, casting its light and shadows directly into Chi Qian’s eyes.
Shi Jinlan’s smile carried a mix of cunning and coolness, clearly indicating that Chi Qian’s answer was wrong, yet refusing to tell her the right one.
Chi Qian thought that the summer sun ought to be scorching, or at the very least, warm.
So why was it that, being watched by Shi Jinlan like this, a cold sweat broke out on her back where the other woman’s hand rested?
That smiling gaze held a deeper scrutiny, staring at Chi Qian as if it could see through anything.
Or maybe, she had already seen through everything.
The thought sent an involuntary shiver through Chi Qian.
But before she could even finish trembling, a force pressed down on her neck.
Shi Jinlan kissed her.
Those lips, which had lingered in Chi Qian’s sight for so long just moments ago, were now pressed against her own.
A faint, clean floral scent bloomed on Chi Qian’s body. It seemed completely non-aggressive, yet it slipped through the seam of her lips and into her mouth. Her tongue tasted it, separating the impeccably clean flavor into individual petals.
Chi Qian didn’t know if she should call Shi Jinlan’s kissing technique “skilled.”
But she pried her lips open with incredible ease. The soft friction of their lips melted her resistance, and the wet sounds were like the splashing of waves on the sea.
The kiss came so suddenly that for a moment, Chi Qian forgot to breathe.
Shi Jinlan found her hand and clasped it, holding the throbbing pulse at her wrist.
She was the one on top, the one who could do this with an ease as natural as to pick up at one’s fingertips.6
Every time Shi Jinlan’s lips brushed against her teeth, Chi Qian’s heart beat a little faster. She felt like she was about to be devoured by this woman’s familiarity, and her brow furrowed tightly.
Why is Shi Jinlan so damn skilled at this?
Dissatisfaction and jealousy, like a black snake flicking its tongue, coiled upwards around that question mark.
Chi Qian’s heart trembled in disarray. Forcing a moment of restraint, just a second before Shi Jinlan’s fingertips pressed into her palm, she threaded her own fingers through the gaps and grasped her hand.
Pried open at the same time were Shi Jinlan’s teeth.
Sunlight traced the silhouettes of their bodies on the wall of bookshelves. The taller shadow stooped even lower.
The hem of a light skirt fluttered onto the chair, forced apart by a raised leg, brushing past a knee that was both rounded and slender.
Chi Qian lifted her leg slightly, bracing it against the chair Shi Jinlan was sitting on.
Her neck was still held in Shi Jinlan’s hand, while her own arms were braced on the armrests on either side of Shi Jinlan.
She was her shackles; she was her cage.
The kiss felt less like a kiss and more like a territory marking.
Chi Qian was crashing sideways and bumping straight,7 determined to leave her own taste in Shi Jinlan’s mouth.
The clashing of teeth would make it impossible for anyone to call this an enjoyable kiss, but Shi Jinlan was different.
She closed her eyes submissively. Her body, which had been leaning forward, was forced back. She was locked beneath Chi Qian, as if about to be kneaded into her body.
At some point, the hem of her skirt had curled up. The cold air drifted along the floor, clinging unabashedly to the side of Shi Jinlan’s leg.
But Chi Qian’s kiss and her knee were hot. Their breaths mingled, ice cubes dropped into a blazing fire, a combination more maddening than setting a blaze.
Shi Jinlan was suddenly grateful she was sitting in a chair.
Otherwise, she had no idea what a mess this person would have made of her. She would probably be collapsing in her arms by now, with not a shred of her domineering aura left.
This idiot was always like this.
A master of pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger.8
When the kiss ended, Shi Jinlan’s high-heeled foot tapped the floor.
The now-unrestrained chair swayed twice, and Shi Jinlan’s legs, weak, also trembled twice.
One of her hands had remained on Chi Qian’s neck the entire time.
As she breathed softly, her slender fingers threaded through Chi Qian’s loose hair, feeling the dampness in its warmth.
Shi Jinlan spoke unhurriedly as she stroked Chi Qian’s neck. “You’re sweating.”
Chi Qian looked at the composed Shi Jinlan before her and didn’t think sweating was a good sign.
Leaning close, she tried to save face. “It’s summer.”
Shi Jinlan’s eyes curved with a smile.
Her clear pupils, veiled with a layer of mist, glanced out the window. Amid the sweltering summer heat wave, she said cryptically, “So, spring is better for kissing.”
Spring.
Chi Qian didn’t know why Shi Jinlan would say that, but deep down, it felt like she vaguely knew the answer.
The fluctuating cold air wafted past her gaze, and in a daze, a springtime scene appeared before her eyes.
The wind in her memory was far more comfortable than the unstable chill of the air conditioner. It was a pitch-black night, yet it was bathed in a bright glow. Tiny flowers bloomed and danced in the air, their fragrance filling the night, captivating the heart.
But it wasn’t just the flowers that were captivating.
What else was there?
What else should be in this picture?
Chi Qian was puzzled by the image that had suddenly appeared in her mind, as if she had truly seen it once before.
The bracelet on her wrist knocked against the desk with a clack.
Then, Shi Jinlan’s voice reached her ear. “Did Ah Qian just hear an intermittent static sound?”
Her voice was calm and serious, as if she were puzzling over some strange phenomenon.
Chi Qian froze.
When Shi Jinlan had said “so noisy” earlier, Chi Qian hadn’t thought much of it.
But now, that “so noisy” had materialized into a static sound, a sound Chi Qian herself had just been surrounded by.
No way…
Chi Qian was stunned. She forced herself to look at Shi Jinlan calmly. “Shi—Ah Lan, you must’ve heard wrong, right?”
“Is that so?” Shi Jinlan’s brow furrowed slightly, as if greatly troubled by this. “I thought we were being monitored by someone. That sound only seems to appear when we have intimate contact.”
Her words were getting closer and closer to Thirteen, and Chi Qian’s heart hammered faster and faster.
How could she let Shi Jinlan know about the system’s existence? If Shi Jinlan awakened, this world would be destroyed!
She couldn’t let her five-hundred-thousand a month salary lifestyle end before it had even officially begun.
No, she had to steer Shi Jinlan away from this line of thinking.
Chi Qian’s mind raced, desperately trying to misdirect her. “How’s that possible? Besides, why didn’t I hear anything? Logically, if you heard it, I should have heard it too.”
“That’s true.” Shi Jinlan nodded, as if convinced by Chi Qian.
But then she looked up at Chi Qian again. Her long fingers hooked around Chi Qian’s hand, and she looked at her with sincere, earnest eyes. “Then is Ah Qian willing to run an experiment with me?”
Chi Qian had never seen this side of Shi Jinlan before.
Those deep pupils stared straight at you, with no intimidating gloom, no oppressive sense of non-negotiable command.
The red flush of passion from their kiss still lingered at the corners of her eyes, refusing to fade.
That touch of red against her fair skin was pure and soul-stirring, especially for someone who had just tasted its flavor.
Chi Qian’s heart wavered.
She didn’t want to refuse Shi Jinlan, and she thought that maybe running an experiment wasn’t a bad idea. She could just warn Thirteen in her head not to make a sound, and that would dispel Shi Jinlan’s suspicions.
“Okay… how do you want to experiment?” Chi Qian nodded, waiting for Shi Jinlan to explain her method.
When Shi Jinlan heard her answer, a smile blossomed in her pure, sincere eyes.
She tightened her grip on Chi Qian’s hand, pulling her until she stumbled into her embrace. “Then let’s kiss a little longer.”
The author has something to say:
Lanlan: I’m just a little kitty who wants kisses from my wifey~
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