Chapter 39: Unease

That rough kiss, like a sudden tropical storm, swept in with the distinct, crisp scent that belonged to Zhao Chen and a kind of desperate intensity, instantly scattering all of Yu Ling’s questions and swirling doubts.

His lips were searing hot. At first, it was a predatory, sealing kiss meant as punishment, an urgent attempt to stifle any questions she might try to voice. But quickly, the moment that forceful strength touched her soft lips, it melted away like ice under the sun, transforming into a tender, lingering, and obsessive intimacy.

His arms locked tightly around her waist, pinning her securely in his embrace, while his other hand buried itself in the hair at the back of her head, anchoring her neck so she could not retreat even an inch.

Yu Ling felt dizzy, her body stiff, her mind blank. All her suspicion, anger, and unease were turned upside down by this surging kiss, which carried both intense emotion and a trace of desperation.

She was forced to endure it, her breath filled with his clean, burning scent, her ears ringing with the sound of her own thumping heart and his suppressed gasps. The shock brought by that cold "Whisper of the Galaxy," the eerie nature of that international call, the sting of the name "Qianqian"... everything became blurry and distant within this kiss.

I do not know how much time passed before Zhao Chen finally pulled back slightly, breathless, his forehead resting against hers, their noses touching.

His breathing remained ragged, his amber eyes bottomless and churning with emotions too intense to dissolve—the lingering agitation, a deep sense of possession, and a hint of relief and lingering fear, as if he had just survived a catastrophe. He stared intently into her eyes, his voice rasping with undeniable firmness:

"Lingling, look at me." He cradled her face, his thumb gently caressing her cheek. "Don’t let your imagination run wild. Whatever happened in the past, whoever was on the other end of that phone, it has nothing to do with you, and nothing to do with the present."

He paused, his gaze so focused it felt as though he were trying to draw her in. "My present and my future contain only you. You only need to remember this; everything else is unimportant."

His words were like a burning brand, delivered with an irrefutable strength and a near-paranoid promise, attempting to forcibly pave over the seeds of doubt that had just sprouted in her heart.

Yu Ling was forced to look into his eyes. The emotions within them were too potent, too real, leaving her feeling flustered and confused. She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat was too dry to produce a sound. In the end, under his scorching gaze and forceful declaration, she could only close her eyes in a weary, self-abandoning gesture and give a slight nod.

Zhao Chen seemed to have been granted some form of absolution, his tense body finally relaxing. He pulled her tightly into his arms again, his chin resting on the top of her head, and let out a barely audible sigh of relief.

The living room fell silent, save for their intertwined breathing. The storm triggered by the phone call seemed to have been forcibly suppressed by this kiss for the time being. Yet, the water in the depths of Yu Ling’s heart, once muddied, could never return to its former clarity and calm. Once the seed of doubt is sown, it has already quietly taken root.

A few days later, the department retreat arrived as scheduled. The destination was the renowned "Cloud Peak Hot Spring Resort" in the neighboring city.

On Friday afternoon, the coach departed from the bustling city, winding its way up the mountain roads. Outside the windows, the view was a sea of lush green peaks, and the air was fresh, carrying the fragrance of grass and trees. Her colleagues chatted excitedly, the atmosphere light and lively.

Yu Ling sat by the window, watching the scenery fly by, her mood somewhat complicated. Before they left, Zhao Chen had acted like a parent sending a child off on a field trip, fussing over every detail.

He reminded her to bring a jacket because it would be cool in the mountains, not to stay in the hot springs for too long, to prioritize safety, and to keep her phone on at all times. He even "casually" tucked a small box of individually wrapped, high-end ginseng slices—said to relieve fatigue—and a small bottle of imported mosquito repellent into her backpack.

"Call me immediately if anything happens, no matter how late it is," he had emphasized again as he saw her onto the bus, the concern and reluctance to let go in his eyes too thick to hide.

This meticulous care warmed Yu Ling’s heart, diluting some of the unease she felt before departing. However, the shadow cast by that cold phone call and that kiss still echoed in the back of her mind like background noise.

It was evening by the time the bus arrived at the resort. The glow of the setting sun gilded the rolling green mountains with a warm gold trim. The resort was built into the mountainside, its design rich in Eastern Zen aesthetics; pavilions and terraces were tucked away amidst verdant trees, featuring white walls, dark tiles, and murmuring streams. The environment was secluded and elegant, truly deserving of its five-star reputation.

Yu Ling was assigned a room with Su Qing, a colleague from her department with whom she was on good terms. The room was styled with Japanese tatami mats, spacious and bright. Outside the sliding doors was a small private outdoor hot spring pool, wreathed in steam and facing the mist-covered mountains in the distance—the view was magnificent.

"Wow! Lingling, this room is amazing!" Su Qing dropped her luggage and ran excitedly to the terrace. "There’s a private hot spring pool! The company really spent a fortune this time!" She turned to wink at Yu Ling. "Want to soak together tonight?"

"Sure," Yu Ling replied with a smile, also caught up in the beauty of the scenery and temporarily setting aside the worries in her heart.

Dinner was a lavish buffet. The colleagues gathered together, the atmosphere even more lively. Yu Ling had a good appetite, laughing and chatting with several female colleagues. During the meal, she took out her phone, intending to take a picture of the resort’s night view to send to Zhao Chen so he would know she had arrived safely. However, she noticed her signal bars flickering weakly, and to her surprise, it displayed "No Service!"

"Huh? No signal?" She fiddled with her phone, confused.

"It’s normal!" Su Qing, sitting next to her, leaned over to look. "This resort is built in a mountain hollow, so the signal is weak by default. I noticed it as soon as I entered the room. It only gets a bar or two occasionally near the window or on the terrace; most places have no signal at all. You can’t even load a video, let alone make a call. Look, mine is the same." She showed her phone screen to Yu Ling, which also displayed no service.

"I see..." Yu Ling put her phone away, feeling a bit disappointed. The idea of sending a message to Zhao Chen had to be abandoned. She looked around and saw other colleagues complaining about the signal as well; it seemed to be a common issue with the resort. The small sense of loss she felt from being unable to connect was soon washed away by the festive atmosphere of the dinner.

After dinner was free time. Most of the colleagues chose to experience the resort’s large public hot spring area, which featured pools with various therapeutic benefits and a lively water park. Yu Ling and Su Qing chose to return to their room to enjoy the more private outdoor pool.

The air in the mountains at night was cool, carrying the crisp scent of vegetation. The small outdoor pool steamed, with a few fresh flower petals floating on the surface. Yu Ling and Su Qing soaked in the warm spring water, their exhaustion swept away, and they sighed in comfort. The two chatted idly, their conversation drifting from office gossip to their personal lives.

"Lingling, honestly, I’m so jealous of you," Su Qing said, leaning against the edge of the pool and looking at the blurred outlines of the mountains in the distance, her tone filled with sincere sentiment.

"Jealous of what?" Yu Ling asked, puzzled.

"Jealous that you have such a devoted, perfect husband!" Su Qing turned her head, her eyes shining as she looked at her. "Look at your husband—he’s handsome, considerate, and such a great cook! When he was waiting for you downstairs last time, we all saw him. That demeanor—wow! And the most important thing is how good he is to you! He treats you like you’re the most precious thing in the world! We all say in private that Zhao Chen is the ceiling of 'other people’s husbands'!"

Yu Ling felt embarrassed by the praise, her cheeks flushing slightly from the warmth of the hot spring. "It’s not that exaggerated..."

"Yes, it is!" Su Qing counted on her fingers. "He picks you up and drops you off every day, rain or shine! He took care of you all night when you were sick! Anything you mention in passing, he gets for you the next moment! That grand prize at the mall last time—my god! A dress worth over a million! Lingling, that kind of luck is heaven-defying! You must have saved the galaxy in your past life to have such good fortune, right?"

Su Qing’s careless words were like a thin needle, precisely piercing the corner of Yu Ling’s heart that she had been trying so hard to avoid. Heaven-defying luck... Zhao Chen...

The heat of the hot spring seemed to lose its warmth in an instant. The smile on Yu Ling’s face faded, and the doubt she had been forcibly suppressing in her heart surged up once more. She looked at the sincere, envious expression on Su Qing’s face, opened her mouth, but in the end, could only force a stiff smile and respond vaguely: "Yeah... he is quite good."

Su Qing did not notice her strange behavior and continued to sigh to herself: "Sigh, why can’t I meet someone like that? Lingling, you have to cherish him! By the way," she suddenly remembered something and lowered her voice, with a hint of gossipy excitement, "What exactly does your husband do? Seeing his aura, he doesn’t seem like an ordinary office worker. That car he drove last time—even though it looked ordinary, it felt..."

"He’s just an engineer at a regular tech company." Yu Ling interrupted her almost reflexively, her voice somewhat hurried, carrying a sense of panic and concealment she didn't even realize herself.

"He just pays more attention to his quality of life and knows how to manage a household," she tried to make her tone sound natural, but the phrase "knows how to manage a household" sounded so pale and weak when used to describe a man who could casually give away a "grand prize" worth a million.

Su Qing said "Oh," but her eyes clearly showed she did not believe it. However, seeing that Yu Ling did not seem to want to talk about it in depth, she tactfully changed the subject.

For the remainder of the soak, Yu Ling was somewhat absent-minded. Su Qing’s words were like a stone thrown into a lake, completely disrupting the calm she had tried so hard to maintain.

Zhao Chen’s kindness, Zhao Chen’s mystery, Zhao Chen’s "ordinariness"... these contradictions collided violently in her mind. That cold phone call, the name "Qianqian" that made her heart tighten, and this cursed lack of signal that cut her off from the outside world... everything was woven together, forming an invisible net that made her feel an inexplicable sense of suffocation and anxiety.