Shi Luyu sat on Xu Yuanjia's lap, her expression as serious as if she were taking an exam. Xu Yuanjia lay on his back, his hands behind his head, watching her leisurely, the smile on his lips impossible to suppress.

"Have you thought it through?" he asked.

Shi Luyu pursed her lips, clenched her paddle, and spoke after a moment of contemplation.

"We're playing a game," she said, her voice still a little hoarse from crying earlier. "The winner of each round can leave a mark on the loser. At the end, whoever has the most marks wins."

Xu Yuanjia raised an eyebrow. "What if we lose?"

"If you lose, just admit it." Shi Luyu said very seriously, "You can't get angry, and you can't retaliate."

Xu Yuanjia smiled, a hint of pleasure gleaming in the corners of his eyes, like a lazy leopard walking into a trap. "Okay. What do you want to play?"

"Rock, paper, scissors".

Xu Yuanjia looked at her serious face and didn't laugh at her.

He held out his hand, and Shi Luyu held out hers too. In the first round, she chose scissors, and he chose paper.

Her eyes lit up, and she leaned forward, getting closer to his face.

He initially raised the racket to strike, but after thinking about it, he felt it would hurt too much, so he ultimately didn't do it.

Kind-hearted, she then took a lipstick from the bedside table. Unscrewing the cap, she revealed a vibrant red lipstick that shimmered under the light.

She held the lipstick in her hand, aiming it at his brow.

She painted very carefully, slowly dragging the red paste onto his skin to form the shape of a small flower. Five petals and a round stamen.

After she finished painting, she stepped back a little, tilted her head to look at it, and then leaned in again to add a stroke to the edge of the petal. Xu Yuanjia lay still, letting her paint on his face.

His gaze remained fixed on her face, watching her lowered eyelashes and admiring her slightly pouting lips as she focused.

"All done." She nodded in satisfaction.

In the second round, she chose rock, and he chose scissors. She won again.

This time, she drew a little rabbit on his left cheekbone. It had two long ears, a round face, and a three-lobed mouth.

As she drew the rabbit's mouth, the tip of her pen gently poked his skin. He squinted slightly but didn't move.

"Brother, are you letting me have my way?" she asked as she drew.

Xu Yuanjia did not answer.

He lightly pinched her waist with his fingers, causing her body to bounce, and his lipstick left a long red line on his face.

"Ah—" She frantically tried to rub his face with her thumb, making it even more smudged.

Xu Yuanjia grasped her wrist and removed her hand from his face. He rubbed his thumb in her palm.

"A third round," he said, his voice carrying a hint of anticipation. "I'm not giving up."

In the third round, she chose paper, and he chose scissors. He won.

Before Shi Luyu could react, he had already sat up, one hand around her waist, and the other hand brushing her hair that had fallen over her shoulder to one side.

Her neck was exposed, and beneath her fair skin, faint blue veins were faintly visible.

He lowered his head.

A brief sting came from the side of his neck. His lips pressed against it, and the tips of his teeth dug into his skin, leaving a shallow mark.

The pain seeped deep into her skin, leaving a lingering, tingling sensation that made her legs weak. His hand was still around her waist, preventing her from escaping.

After a few seconds, he straightened up, looked down at the red mark, and gently rubbed his thumb on it.

Shi Luyu's eyes reddened again. She looked down at the little flowers and rabbits she had drawn on his face, then touched the marks on her neck, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"It's not fair," she said in a muffled voice. "My brother left it deeper than I did."

Xu Yuanjia smiled when he saw her aggrieved expression: "The rules didn't specify the degree of severity, only that a mark should be left. I followed the rules."

Shi Luyu glared at him, gripping her lipstick even tighter: "Again!"

In the second round of the game, she chose to slap the back of her hand.

The two sat facing each other on the ground, their knees almost touching. Shi Luyu extended her right hand, palm down, hovering above Xu Yuanjia's palm.

The rules are simple: he has to flip his hand and slap the back of her hand, and she has to pull her hand away the instant she's slapped. If he succeeds, he wins; if he misses, she wins.

She chose this game because she felt she had quick reflexes; she had ranked first among girls in a school reaction speed test.

Xu Yuanjia looked at her outstretched hand, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile. "Sweetie, are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Shi Luyu's tone was firm, her fingers slightly taut in the air, ready to pull away at any moment.

Xu Yuanjia's hand flipped up. His movements were slow, even deliberate. Shi Luyu saw his palm turn upwards and slap towards the back of her hand; she felt she could easily dodge it.

Shi Luyu stared at his palm, and just as he was about to strike, she suddenly pulled her hand upwards. His palm grazed her fingertips, missing her. She won.

"I won!" She cheered again, grabbed her lipstick, and brought it close to his face. She drew a small heart on his left cheek, drawing it very carefully, even aligning the tip of the heart precisely.

After finishing the drawing, I stepped back a little to take a look, then leaned back and thickened the bottom corner a bit.

Xu Yuanjia let her apply the lipstick to her face, tilting her head slightly to make it easier for her to do so. When she finished, she nodded in satisfaction, holding the lipstick in her hand like a trophy.

"The third round." She fought with increasing vigor.

Xu Yuanjia opened his palm again, facing upwards. Shi Luyu raised her hand above hers, this time being smarter, her fingers slightly curled, ready to pull away at any moment. His palm flipped up.

This time, it was so fast she didn't see anything. Her eyes only caught a blurry, fleshy afterimage, followed by a slight stinging sensation on the back of her hand.

"Brother, you cheated!" Shi Luyu covered the back of her hand and glared at him.

Xu Yuanjia turned her palm over and gently rubbed the red marks on it: "All's fair in war." His voice was lazy and chuckled.

Xu Yuanjia showed no mercy, rolling up her sleeve and leaving a second tooth mark on the inside of her forearm.

She felt his tongue brush against her skin, very briefly, so quickly it was almost an illusion.

Her fingers gripped the hem of his shirt so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

He straightened up and looked at her eyes, which were reddening again: "Want to play again?"

"Play." Shi Luyu held back her tears and sniffed.

Even in the third round, she chose the cat's cradle. She thought, surely he wouldn't know how to do this?

She took a red string from the drawer, tied the ends together, and wrapped it around her fingers to form a simple parachute shape. She handed the string to him: "Brother, you flip it. Just flip it like this."

Xu Yuanjia took the rope, glanced at the structure on her fingers, looked down, hooked his fingers on a section of the rope, pulled and twisted it, and the parachute turned into a five-pointed star. The movement was so fast that she didn't see it clearly.

"This...this isn't the one I asked you to translate—"

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Yuanjia's finger slipped through the five-pointed star again, and with a flip, the rope turned into a bow. With another flip, the bow turned into a spider web.

His fingers moved swiftly through the rope, as if performing magic, the red thread dancing between his fingers, unfolding one intricate pattern after another before her eyes.

Shi Luyu was stunned. She forgot to open the parachute in her hand; the rope had come loose and was hanging down from her fingers.

Xu Yuanjia stopped what he was doing, looked at the tangled ball of rope in her hand, and laughed: "Goodness, you lost."

He reached out, pulled her up from the ground, and made her sit on his lap.

His lips landed below her collarbone, and through the fabric, he bit down hard with his teeth.

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