Work carried on as usual. Sometimes they worked overtime, sometimes small problems came up, and otherwise things were fairly smooth. The only strange thing was that the real-estate agent had not called him lately. Had she decided he was too troublesome and stopped wanting to deal with him? While Mai Ding was wondering what the agent was thinking, Guo Ping nudged his chair with a foot. “Hey, Mai Ding, have you noticed? Yan seems to be in a pretty good mood today.”
“Does he?” Mai Ding looked toward the office in confusion. An Zi Yan rarely showed extra emotion, so if even his coworkers could tell, what exactly had happened, or was about to happen? Mai Ding’s eyelid began twitching uneasily. Bad sign. An Zi Yan being in a good mood usually had something to do with that kind of thing, but Mai Ding did not remember agreeing to anything today. Could it be that An Zi Yan was planning to rape him?
“Hey, what kind of expression is that? That’s too much. Yan is in a good mood and you can’t stand it? As a subordinate Yan hasn’t fired, your heart is seriously vicious.” Guo Ping scolded him. Who was Mai Ding supposed to complain to about this injustice? Everyone around him had warped values and no sense of right or wrong. Forget that for now. An Zi Yan being happy was definitely not good news for Mai Ding. He had to stay on guard. Without realizing it, Mai Ding buttoned every button on his shirt.
No matter what An Zi Yan asked him to do today, he absolutely could not go. Most importantly, he could not enter An Zi Yan’s office. Remember that. Remember it!
At lunch, Mai Ding followed his coworkers downstairs closely. The more people around, the safer he was. He absolutely could not give the two of them time alone. He had just reached the employee dining area when he felt his phone vibrate in his trouser pocket. He pulled it out, and every bit of his vigilance collapsed because of the message on the screen.
[The house has been bought.]
What?! What did that mean?! What had he done?! That casual bastard! So Mai Ding had guessed the wrong reason. An Zi Yan was not in a good mood because he planned to do something beastly. He had secretly bought the house and wanted to see Mai Ding’s reaction. Mai Ding was so angry his teeth itched. He lost all interest in lunch and charged back up to the seventh floor. The moment he stepped out of the elevator, An Zi Yan’s voice came from the emergency stairwell. “Over here.” Mai Ding rushed over, grabbed the front of An Zi Yan’s suit jacket, and demanded, “You, you really bought the house?” An Zi Yan shrugged.
“That apartment is pretty good, but we should be living somewhere simpler!”
“We? Did I ever say I was going to live with you? Can’t I buy it for myself?”
Mai Ding had no comeback. He could only stare, speechless. After thinking for a full minute, he finally asked, “Is that why you’re in such a good mood today?”
“Of course not.”
“Then…”
“I suddenly felt like doing it with you here today.”
“Are those words a human being should say?! Stop joking. The company isn’t your hotel.” Mai Ding was already backing away. So he had not guessed wrong after all. An Zi Yan being in a good mood really only had to do with this kind of thing. An Zi Yan grabbed Mai Ding and stopped him from retreating. “Stop talking nonsense. Every time you say a lot, and in the end we still do it.” Once again, Mai Ding had no comeback.
“There are cameras.”
“There aren’t cameras in the emergency stairwell on every floor.”
“W-wait.” As if anything he said would help. An Zi Yan moved too quickly. Mai Ding did not dare yell because someone might not have gone to lunch yet, or might already be coming back. Hardly anyone normally came through here, but that still was not a reason to do something this outrageous. No matter how righteous Mai Ding felt inside, his zipper had already been pulled down and his trousers had dropped to his knees. Pressed against the wall with his back to An Zi Yan, he tried to struggle harder, but An Zi Yan leaned close to his ear. “I’m warning you. The more you move, the harder I’ll go.” Mai Ding took a deep breath. An Zi Yan’s tone turned wicked. “Actually, you’re moving because you want me to go harder, aren’t you?”
“No!” Mai Ding immediately stopped moving. He had no intention of becoming the desperate person An Zi Yan described. This time every movement An Zi Yan made was precise and fast. Mai Ding rested his forehead against the wall and stared at the floor. All he could see were his own legs and An Zi Yan’s. His fingers curled against the wall as An Zi Yan touched him without restraint.
“We don’t have much time.” An Zi Yan seemed to be warning Mai Ding in advance. Mai Ding hissed softly when he felt moisture from An Zi Yan’s fingers spread behind him. When did he bring that kind of thing to the company? The thought shattered when An Zi Yan entered him. Mai Ding could not stop the sound that escaped, and An Zi Yan immediately covered his mouth with one hand.
“Shh.” An Zi Yan moved inside Mai Ding with practiced ease while Mai Ding lost the last of his resistance. Mai Ding’s legs weakened, and An Zi Yan’s other hand steadied his hips as he kept thrusting deeply, leaving no space between them. Every moan Mai Ding made disappeared into An Zi Yan’s palm.
Where did An Zi Yan get the strength to jolt him around this badly? Mai Ding could barely withstand the stimulation. He placed a hand over the back of An Zi Yan’s hand. “Ahh… slow… slower… ah…” His voice came out muffled.
“Shh.” Too unfair. Was he really going to dismiss Mai Ding with one word? The thought broke apart again. Mai Ding could clearly feel An Zi Yan’s heat, and as that heat sank into him, his lower abdomen seemed to burn too. He finally climaxed, but An Zi Yan did not stop. The release returned some clarity to Mai Ding’s mind. This could not continue. With the amount of time An Zi Yan usually took, Fan Shao Jun and the others would definitely finish lunch and come back before they were done. He had to hurry An Zi Yan along somehow. Mai Ding flushed in shame at what he was about to do. This is only so we don’t get caught, he comforted himself. He stuck out his tongue and lightly licked the fingers covering his mouth, then sucked hard on them. An Zi Yan’s hand loosened slightly. Embarrassment made Mai Ding’s voice sound even more tempting. “You’re so hot… ah… it feels so good… I…” Mai Ding said far more filthy things than he ever wanted to remember for the rest of his life. A low sound came from An Zi Yan’s throat. He released Mai Ding’s mouth and grabbed Mai Ding’s waist with both hands. Mai Ding felt as though his body was about to be broken apart. The movement behind him grew stronger and faster. Mai Ding bit his own arm. When An Zi Yan finally finished, Mai Ding came again too.
Using the last of his strength, Mai Ding pushed An Zi Yan away. He had cursed at and lectured An Zi Yan countless times, but An Zi Yan had never corrected himself. Mai Ding gave up. He pulled his trousers back up, then helped An Zi Yan fix his zipper, moving so skillfully he wanted to chop off his own hands.
“Absolutely, absolutely never again!” Mai Ding fled, leaving An Zi Yan behind with all the grief of someone who had suffered a terrible humiliation. But running away did not make it disappear. The lingering sensation in his body kept reminding him of exactly what had just happened.
Mai Ding had barely sat down when Guo Ping and the others returned from lunch. Feng Fei Meng looked at the flush still covering Mai Ding’s face. “Where did you run off to just now?”
“One of my friends was possessed by an evil spirit. I rushed over and killed him!”
No one understood what Mai Ding meant, but Feng Fei Meng and the others had only asked casually anyway and were not genuinely curious. The topic died under his coworkers’ complete lack of interest. Mai Ding’s phone rang. When he saw the caller ID, he hurriedly answered. “Auntie.”
“Xiao Ding, you’re really too disobedient!”
Mai Ding was scolded the moment he answered and immediately became nervous. “Did I do something wrong?”
“I told you to come visit Auntie more often. You agreed so nicely at the time, but were you only humoring me? You’ve already been back at work for a month and I still haven’t seen you.”
“I wasn’t humoring you. Really. I’ll come see you after work today.”
“I’m teasing you.” Wu Xin laughed on the other end. Maybe her laughter was contagious because Mai Ding foolishly wanted to laugh too. But just as he was about to, the laughter on the phone abruptly stopped. After a long silence, Wu Xin’s voice came through again. “Xiao Ding, actually Auntie has something I want to discuss with you. Can you not tell Zi Yan for the time being?” Mai Ding could hear the weight in Wu Xin’s voice. How could he refuse a request from An Zi Yan’s mother? Keeping it from An Zi Yan temporarily would, at worst, get Mai Ding scolded once he found out. Wu Xin was different. Mai Ding treasured the hard-won acceptance she had once given him and was deeply grateful for it. He agreed almost without hesitation.
After hanging up, Mai Ding continued staring blankly at the screen. He tried to guess why Wu Xin wanted to see him. He could not guess the content, but he knew it had to concern An Zi Yan.
Could Auntie have changed her mind? Does she no longer approve of me and An Zi Yan being together? The thought nearly made Mai Ding stop breathing. He had to be overthinking. Auntie was clearly good to him. Her attitude and tone did not sound like that either. His imagination had hurt him plenty of times before. This had to be the same. Mai Ding shook his head and tried to focus on work, but he could not shake the uneasiness inside him.
After enduring until the end of the workday, Mai Ding hurried to Wu Xin’s house. Standing outside, he lifted his hand toward the doorbell but could not bring himself to press it. The uneasiness inside him grew stronger and stronger. For one instant, he wanted to turn around and leave. What exactly was waiting for him behind this door? He hesitated, and even felt afraid.
The door opened from inside. Wu Xin smiled. “I was wondering why you still hadn’t arrived. What are you standing out here daydreaming for? Come in.” So he had been overthinking after all. Auntie looked exactly the same as usual. The house felt quiet, as though only Wu Xin and Mai Ding were there. Mai Ding placed both hands on his knees and stared at the tips of his shoes. “Auntie, you wanted to see me because…”
Wu Xin looked at Mai Ding’s expression and spoke gently. “Don’t worry. Auntie isn’t trying to separate you and Zi Yan. I’ve already accepted it.” Her words erased all of Mai Ding’s anxiety. He wanted nothing more than to lean back into the sofa and recover. He felt like an elastic band, forever being stretched tight and suddenly released, especially by An Zi Yan.