Lu Wenyin, who'd been making dumplings, quickly got up to help Ye Peiqi, but Ye stopped her, rising on her own, brushing it off.
"It's fine. I drank some icy water and suddenly got a stomachache. I'll just go to the bathroom." She headed off toward the restroom.
Seeing she wasn't seriously hurt, Lu relaxed and went back to her spot, but from Zhao Xuan's angle, he could tell Ye's walk was still a little off.
"Probably menstrual cramps. I'll make her some ginger soup later," Lu said, noticing Zhao's gaze.
As a biology teacher, she didn't shy away from talking physiology with students, but high school girls still got embarrassed, so she signaled Zhao not to keep staring that way.
Zhao snapped out of it. Honestly, he hadn't even thought of that — he'd only started learning about women's bodies through practice in the last couple of days. He went back to working on the previous lump of dough.
About twenty minutes later, Zhao, Lu, and the others finished wrapping dumplings. They'd split into two groups and made close to 300 dumplings. Aside from Lu's picture-perfect ones, most looked pretty average.
Meanwhile, the cooking crew had plated the fish they'd simmered. Surprisingly, Wan Chujun, the pampered rich girl, impressed Zhao — she wasn't the "never lift a finger" type at all; she actually had solid cooking skills. Her braised fish filled the whole second floor with aroma.
Today she'd tied her hair in a high ponytail, looking sharp and lively. Her usual spoiled attitude seemed toned down — maybe the gaokao pressure was off, and even a princess like her felt lighter.
The dumpling team carried their bounty to the second-floor terrace. With so many people, they needed three tables. This is where wrapping dumplings paid off — the cooks had to make three servings of each dish, scrambling to keep up.
Once the food was ready, someone sliced and arranged Zhao Xuan's ready-made snacks, and everyone grabbed seats. They boiled dumplings while clinking glasses and congratulating each other.
Lu motioned for Zhao to join her table — it was mostly the top scorers. Xia Siheng and Wan Chujun were there too; Xia had scored only a little lower than Zhao and Wan.
Not everyone had aced the exam, but for this moment, past grudges were set aside.
Zhao noticed Ye Peiqi at another table sipping ginger soup, reminding him of Lu's comment. He didn't see when Lu made it, but Ye now looked completely normal, nothing like the half-collapsed state from half an hour earlier.
Lu chatted with the other tables, then returned and started asking about college plans.
Zhao and Wan both intended to apply to Jiangcheng University — no problems there.
Maybe because Lu was present, Wan didn't show her usual disdain for Zhao, but she never once looked him in the eye, focusing entirely on Lu.
Zhao never understood why Wan disliked him so much. Yeah, they'd argued in freshman year over personality clashes — nearly three years ago — but in the three years since, almost everything Wan said to him was sarcastic or mocking.
Xia Siheng planned to attend Jiren University, aiming for their top civil engineering program. Wan was set on economics — no surprise there, as a classic rich girl with a family business, she'd naturally go for management or economics.
Zhao had originally planned computer science — a quick route to earning money — but now he'd switched to law.
Their school had parallel classes, no honors track. Zhao's class averaged well but lacked standout students — one of Lu's regrets.
None of that dimmed her fondness for Wan and Zhao.
Lu also couldn't figure out Wan's hostility. To her, Wan was just a bit spoiled; Zhao was merely a dull, low-EQ student.
Even now, with Lu seating them together, Wan's contempt was written all over her face, like Zhao was a pile of garbage too foul to look at.
Lu had tested theories — even a "love-turned-hate" scenario — but none stuck.
After a while, Wan left the table to check on Ye Peiqi. That reminded Zhao: Wan had spent extra time in the kitchen earlier. She must've noticed Ye's issue — that ginger soup was probably hers.
With Wan gone, the table's atmosphere eased, and everyone was laughing and chatting again. Meanwhile, Wan helped Ye up to the third floor.
The villa's third floor had plenty of rooms — three to a room meant everyone could stay overnight. Aside from a few with strict parents, about seventeen or eighteen planned to hang out until noon tomorrow.
Another ten were set on a three-day beach resort trip after this.
The chat went on till the moon was high. Glancing at the clock — 9 PM — they tidied up and started post-dinner entertainment. Some guys went to the living room for PS4; most gathered for board games or Werewolf.
Zhao had never owned a console and knew nothing about big games. Feeling a bit full, he decided to take a walk to digest.
Moonlight spilled over the wooded path. Few streetlights, dense trees, but not pitch-black. He called home to check in — his parents were still getting used to their new spacious house.
Talking about the reunion, Zhao Guxu suggested that Zhao Xuan could join the beach trip to bond with classmates.
Zhao Mingdong and Zhao Guxu had always been open-minded, encouraging him to socialize even before the gaokao.
After a bit more chat, Zhao Guxu said her drama was starting and hung up.
Zhao shook his head. He knew his parents wanted him more outgoing and sociable — he agreed in theory — but three years of solitude couldn't flip in one night. Even with a more relaxed mindset, old habits didn't vanish instantly.
As he thought that, his phone buzzed — Lin Jingjing video-called.
Unsurprisingly, the content was smoking hot. With two women in the room, Lin had gone all out with her S&M dual nature.
The phone sat on a low table. When the call connected, both women wore only bras and panties — half-cup style, half their boobs exposed. Same design, Lin in black, Yan Qing in white.
They knelt side by side, and without waiting for Zhao to speak, placed their hands on the floor, bowed their foreheads to their hands in a salute.
Only when Zhao signaled them to rise did they straighten up, hands folded over their lower bellies.
Lin reported their activities since Zhao left: dinner, shopping for lingerie at the mall, ordering a bunch of training gear online, then hours of posture drills on Yan Qing until she perfected the moves they'd just shown.
As a customer service manager, Lin had professional training — standing, walking, and sitting were ingrained habits. That foundation made kneeling, crawling, and other lewd poses easy to master and maximize allure.
True to her "peerless slut slave" rep, Lin's ability to train herself surpassed Zhao's direct instruction.
Next came oral training with bananas. Tonight, a twist: Lin peeled one, held one end in her mouth, and offered the other to Yan Qing, who obeyed the girl nearly 20 years younger and obediently took the other end.
They raised their upper bodies, hugged, their four nipples rubbing, red lips drawing close.
Then they kissed, sharing the banana. Lin had deliberately picked the thickest, longest kind for training. Even without deep-throating, it wasn't comfortable, plus Lin demanded wet kissing throughout.
Their coordination was rough — the first banana snapped in minutes.
Since Zhao was watching live, the drill had to continue until he said stop.
Second banana lasted a little longer — about five minutes. The third one, seven minutes.
Every time a banana broke, Lin ate her piece, then fed some to Yan Qing mouth-to-mouth. "Feeding" was never simple — each wet kiss lasted at least a minute, the scene so charged that Zhao's blood boiled.
By the fourth banana, they held it for over ten minutes.
Zhao figured it was time to move on.
Next: tongue skill training — incredibly lewd. Lin did a handstand on the bed, Yan supporting her waist. Their mouths aligned with each other's pussies for a 69, licking furiously.
Zhao nearly came on the spot.
The position was intense for both, especially inverted Lin — in minutes she was drenched in sweat, her long black hair nearly soaked after ten minutes. Both moaned and licked with abandon.
When Lin fatigued, they swapped: Yan did the handstand, Lin stood.
Ten more minutes, and they climaxed almost together.
Collapsing, they caught their breath for seconds, then resumed the kneeling pose. Zhao's phone battery was down to a quarter; he prepared to end the call — it was past 10 PM. Lin reported they'd do posture and expression training until bedtime, then saluted and disconnected.
"Gotta do this less often, or I'll never release the pressure," Zhao muttered, his lower body aching from an hour of live erotica.
He headed back to the villa to grab a cold drink, tamp down his urges, then join the others for board games — and ask who was going to the beach resort later.
Humans are social creatures. Once you've tasted it, it's hard to go back.
Old Zhao Xuan had been forced into loneliness by pressure. Given the choice, how many would really choose to walk alone?
Change starts now.