Chapter 57

Chapter 57 Dirty or Not?

"Can I give you a little kiss?"

..

The recording lasted about twenty minutes, capturing the confrontation between Han Rao and Lin Siliang, the arrival of Zhao Jichuan, and then the departure of the two.

The man held Han Rao's phone, and after listening to the recording once, he could even roughly guess the situation at that time.

Obviously, Han Rao went to the rooftop to get some fresh air tonight, and Lin Siliang's appearance caught her completely off guard, so she didn't even record the entire confrontation between the two.

But she remained relatively calm, her mind quite clear, and immediately realized she needed to preserve evidence.

Zhao Jichuan dragged the progress bar back to the beginning and listened to it over and over again, almost masochistically.

He could even remember the tone of every word Han Rao spoke, recalling her trembling yet resolute voice.

He dared not imagine how much hardship Han Rao had endured, or rather, how deep the shadow this matter cast over her was, to the extent that even now, she remained so cautious, so sensitive, like someone bitten by a snake once, fearing a well rope for ten years.

Zhao Jichuan only felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

Suddenly, he recalled countless moments from the past, those memories buried deep in his heart bursting forth like a dam breaking, turning into sharp blades that tore him to pieces.

He felt a bit regretful, regretting his inhuman indifference and coldness, regretting his past disdain and torment towards her.

The man silently lit a cigarette, exhaling smoke under the dim yellow light.

The audio was quickly listened to once, and the study returned to silence. The man then pressed play again.

He kept smoking until he finished the last few cigarettes, crushing the butts in the ashtray. Only then did he exit the recording interface on his phone, turn off the screen, and pick up his phone to call Sun Hao.

"Mr. Zhao."

Zhao Jichuan expressionlessly instructed him to investigate the matter, adding, "Don't let anyone find out."

Sun Hao also realized the seriousness of the matter and immediately responded solemnly.

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Jichuan stood up and looked out the window, feeling as if the night were a giant beast, with endless malevolent thoughts lurking beneath its dark skin.

He calmly averted his gaze, raised his hand to turn off the light, then returned to the bedroom and tossed Han Rao's phone onto the bedside table, as if nothing had happened.

Putting down his phone, he sat on the edge of the bed, leaning forward to look at the woman sleeping soundly.

She got drunk and was really restless when she slept. He had just stepped out for a moment, and she had already kicked off the blanket again, lying on her side, hugging a pillow, with her feet resting on it.

Zhao Jichuan leaned in, catching the faint scent of fragrance mixed with alcohol on her, and couldn't help but brush aside her stray hair, kissing her forehead.

"Raorao."

She sensed it and reached out to push his neck, saying "hot."

The gesture was especially adorable, a bit coquettish, carrying the fresh aura of a young girl.

Zhao Jichuan had no choice but to move a bit farther away and adjusted the air conditioner's temperature again.

Tonight, it seemed like he suddenly understood a lot of things.

He finally understood why, from the very beginning

When I saw Han Rao, she carried a maturity, worldliness, and cunning that didn’t belong to someone her age. It turned out that being stuck in the mire for too long had tainted even the purest person with right and wrong, making her worldly, learning to guard herself, and becoming cautious.

But in the past six months, especially after they opened their hearts and confirmed their relationship, he genuinely felt that the delicate youthful charm in her had returned. She was much younger than him, truly just a little girl in front of him. She liked kitty cats, enjoyed acting spoiled and teasing him, and loved those utterly childish things.

These ordinary, trivial little things, in hindsight, surprisingly made him feel grateful.

He was very grateful that, in front of him, she could remain innocent and willing to express her most authentic self.

But he also felt regretful; she always held something back from him. Even when she was drunk, she remained guarded and wouldn't tell him the truth about Lin Siliang.

He didn't understand what other people's love was like.

But his love was pitiful; after being together for more than two years, he still couldn't earn her absolute trust.

Zhao Jichuan couldn't hold back and gently touched his hair again. He wanted to wake her up and ask: Raorao, if I personally catch your nightmare, will you give me your absolute trust?

Xian Ke was reluctant to truly wake her, not wanting to ruin her beautiful dream.

Han Rao was sleeping soundly at this moment, her breathing steady and motionless, with only her exposed toes curled slightly.

Zhao Jichuan stretched the quilt again and pulled it up a bit. Han Rao took this opportunity to change her sleeping position, turning to lie flat on her back.

Seeing that she showed no signs of waking, Zhao Jichuan took off his clothes to take a shower, then got into bed and held her tightly in his arms.

　　-

Han Rao woke up from the heat and, with her eyes closed, reached out to push against Zhao Jichuan's chest.

Her mind was clear, but her body was lazy, so she said nothing and simply kept pushing him away.

Zhao Jichuan noticed her movement, suddenly opened his eyes, took two seconds to adjust to the darkness of the bedroom, and then realized she was awake, her hands scratching at his chest like cat paws.

But he still didn't move; he just raised his hand to wrap around Han Rao's waist, found a comfortable position, and pondered into the dark night.

Strangely, he actually had a rare dream tonight—

He dreamed of when he was just over twenty, fond of playing and fooling around, and willing to gather with a group of people to drink away time out of boredom.

That day was his birthday, and Fan Qin and the others noisily celebrated for him, even taking the liberty to call over a few beautiful women to sing and liven things up.

But the originally lively atmosphere was suddenly interrupted by the neighbors next door.

The group impatiently pushed open the door to look inside, only to see Lin Siliang with blood streaming down his head, half his body leaning against the door, hysterically chasing after a woman, shouting that he was going to kill her.

Zhao Jichuan followed his gaze and saw a slender young girl at the corner of the corridor, wearing a green floral dress, her jet-black hair loose, her clothes stained with spilled wine, bright red drops falling onto the white floor tiles.

Lin Siliang, clutching his bleeding head, kept chasing, holding a wine bottle in his hand, swinging it wildly as he shouted hysterically, "You little bitch, don’t let me catch you, I swear I’ll kill you."

Zhao Jichuan looked in the same direction and saw the girl staggering, leaning against the wall as she ran forward. Hearing his words, her body visibly froze for a moment, then she continued running.

As she turned the corner in the hallway, she couldn't help but glance back at Lin Silang.

With just that one look, Zhao Jichuan finally recognized her face—it was nineteen-year-old Han Rao.

Her makeup was smudged, her face stained with tears and alcohol, filled with fear.

Zhao Jichuan's heart trembled; he reached out, wanting to speak, wanting to pull her back, but suddenly someone beside him called out, snapping him back to reality.

He only then realized that this was a dream.

But perhaps, this was not a dream after all.

Zhao Jichuan’s Adam’s apple rolled violently. After a brief pause of two seconds, separating dream from reality, he asked her, “What’s wrong?”

His voice was an indescribable mix of deepness and hoarseness.

Han Rao opened her eyes at this moment.

Suddenly, she no longer felt hot and snuggled closer into his arms, playfully complaining, "You were pressing on me so hard just now I couldn’t catch my breath."

He shifted to the side a bit, reached for his phone, and glanced at the time.

"It’s not even five yet. Let’s sleep a little longer."

He asked her, "Are you sober now? Feeling okay?"

Actually, the feeling of a hangover is really unpleasant. Besides a bit of a fuzzy head, the body feels uncomfortable, and there’s a strange taste lingering in the mouth.

Han Rao pouted slightly, "Not bad, pretty clear-headed. I didn't expect I drank that much."

Zhao Jichuan gave a soft "hmm,"

and told her, "Your assistant called you last night, asking what time would be best to pick you up."

She only took two days off; she had to return to the crew this afternoon and shoot again tomorrow.

Han Rao got up, reached for her phone, and opened WeChat.

"What did you tell her?"

"I said I would let you reply to her when you woke up."

Han Rao thought Vivi was definitely still asleep at this hour, so she left her a message on WeChat, then turned around, tossed her phone aside, and threw off the covers to get up.

"What are you going to do?"

Han Rao: "I'm going to brush my teeth and take a shower."

She looked down at the silk nightgown she was wearing, wrinkled her nose, and negotiated with him, "Next time I get drunk, can you wake me up and make me wash up?"

She pinched her own cheek, and the corners of her lips immediately drooped. She actually went to bed without removing her makeup last night; her skin would definitely look dull in the morning.

Zhao Jichuan gave a soft "hmm"

and watched her enter the bathroom.

He was actually quite curious—did she blackout when she got drunk? Did she really not remember what they did or talked about in the car, or was she just pretending not to remember because she didn’t want to bring it up?

The sound of dripping water reached his ears, and Zhao Jichuan became alert. He sat motionless on the bed, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Soon, Han Rao took off her makeup and came out after showering.

She wore a camisole nightgown, had her hair tied up, and a face mask applied on her face.

Zhao Jichuan waved to her, and Han Rao smoothed out the mask on her face as she asked him, "What's wrong?"

She sat on the edge of the bed and poked his arm with her hand; her fingertips were slightly damp.

Zhao Jichuan raised his hand to wrap around her waist, pulling her into his embrace. The slippers on her feet fell to the floor with a soft "pat."

The man held her hand firmly and asked bluntly, "Tonight you said Lin Siliang pursued you."

Han Rao's smile froze on her face, the mask making her complexion look particularly eerie. She gave a soft "hmm" and then complained,

"That bastard Lin Silang lives by the motto 'If I can't have it, I'll destroy it.' He couldn't get me, so he lost his temper and had the company blacklist and shelve me."

Zhao Jichuan pressed, "Is that all?"

"That's all."

She shrugged.

"He really is pretty petty."

“What did you talk about on the rooftop tonight?”

Han Rao blinked, the mask on her face starting to wrinkle a bit. She didn’t bother smoothing it out and said, “Shouldn’t you have heard everything? Su Wan is his girlfriend—the one who hit me last time. Maybe because we got her drunk that time and she went to complain, Lin Siliang, as her boyfriend, might be trying to stand up for her.”

Actually, Han Rao was also testing Zhao Jichuan.

She was uncertain in her heart; she didn’t want anyone else to know about that matter, but tonight she had no idea how much Zhao Jichuan had overheard.

Zhao Jichuan smiled.

He suddenly felt that their game tonight flashed back to when they first got together. Back then, they were just like this—each harboring secrets, each with their own intentions, locked in confrontation, with undercurrents surging, yet neither willing to back down.

Only today, their attitudes toward each other softened a bit, and their brief exchanges were free of barbs.

Especially him, gentle to the extreme, with a faint smile at the corner of his eyes, his hand tightly holding her waist.

Han Rao was restless, her exposed eyes glistening with curiosity.

Zhao Jichuan nodded in agreement with her point and said no more.

He looked at her, feeling nothing but heartache, and recalled the past—how he had played around in relationships. Although he engaged in some perverse acts, he enjoyed exploring different positions with her to gain varied experiences.

Every time they entered from the front, she was very proactive, enthusiastic, and cooperative. But whenever it was from behind, she showed a distinct lack of security, always tilting her neck to look back, clutching his wrist and looking back until she saw it was him, only then did she feel at ease.

He used to think that she only liked to look at the other person's face when making love.

Now she understood, she just didn’t like not knowing who was behind her because she lacked a sense of security.

And the one who took away her sense of security was that beast, Lin Siliang.

But he was also indirectly the main cause of her psychological trauma, because when she resisted before, he just took it as a mood and never asked her the reason.

He was such an incompetent boyfriend, never once paying attention to his girlfriend's inner world.

The more Zhao Jichuan thought about it, the more heartbroken and guilty he felt.

He suddenly wrapped his arms around Han Rao's waist, pinning her beneath him, pressing her hands above her head.

Han Rao thought he was going to kiss her, so she patted his arm and resisted, saying, "I'm wearing a face mask."

Zhao Jichuan said nothing, just moved his hand down to cover the tattoo on her thigh, peeling away her last layer of defense.

The man's breathing gradually became erratic. He glanced at her and said softly, "Raorao, may I kiss you?"

Han Rao met his deep eyes, as if suddenly understanding something, resisting by shaking her head repeatedly, raising her hand to push his head away, "Zhao Jichuan, don't,…"

Before he could even say the word "dirty,"

he parted his lips and kissed the shell of her ear and her lips.

A warm sensation.