Chapter 43: Chen Man's First Time
Jiang Chen glanced at the rearview mirror.
In the mirror, Chen Man’s face looked slightly flushed under the dim reading light. The half-glass of red wine in her hand was nearly empty, and her eyes were hazy.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Chen’s movements on the pedals didn't stop. The black knight steadily rolled over the accumulated snow, maintaining a speed of sixty miles per hour.
"I said stop the car." Chen Man unbuckled her seatbelt, stood up unsteadily, leaning against the backrest of the leather sofa, pressing a hand to her temple. "I... I feel sick. Car sick."
Su Qingge frowned and closed the file in her hand. "This car is so stable, how could you get car sick? Did you drink too much?"
"Maybe so." Chen Man didn't argue, just stubbornly stared at Jiang Chen's back. "Little brother, I need to get out for some air. If you don't stop, I really will throw up on your millions-dollar wool carpet."
Jiang Chen said nothing and turned on the right turn signal.
The massive vehicle slowly pulled toward the emergency stopping lane on the roadside.
This was a safe haven on the highway, surrounded by pitch-black wilderness, with only the relentlessly swirling snowflakes spinning madly in the beams of the headlights.
"Hiss—" The sound of the air brakes releasing echoed, and the black knight came to a stop.
"I'll be right back." Chen Man grabbed a down jacket and walked somewhat unsteadily toward the door.
"I'll come with you." Lin Wan put down the orange she was holding and tried to stand up to help her.
"No need." Chen Man waved her hand, refusing decisively. "Don't follow me, I just want a moment alone. Sister Wan, you tidy up the back, and CEO Su... you should rest too."
The door opened and closed. A brief rush of cold wind poured in, only to be immediately sealed outside.
Only the huge ventilation fan remained silently turning inside the cabin.
Jiang Chen sat in the driver's seat, his fingers lightly tapping the steering wheel.
Through the side mirror, he could see that Chen Man hadn't walked far; she was just leaning against the side of the car's front end, her back to the wind and snow, lighting a cigarette.
That faint crimson glow flickered uncertainly in the dark night.
After about five minutes, the heavy car door was pulled open again.
Chen Man climbed back in, bringing a chill with her, but she didn't return to the rear compartment. Instead, she directly locked the soundproof door separating the rear cabin from the driver's area.
A light 'click' sounded.
Su Qingge and Lin Wan in the rear compartment were isolated in another space before they could even react.
Jiang Chen turned his head and looked at Chen Man, covered in frost and snow: "Why lock the door?"
Chen Man didn't answer.
She casually tossed the down jacket onto the passenger seat; underneath, she was only wearing a thin, black slip dress.
Because she had just been freezing outside, her skin exhibited a layer of cold, jade-like white, and her chest rose and fell violently.
She walked up to Jiang Chen and straddled his lap directly.
Jiang Chen's hands still rested on the steering wheel, his body leaning back against the seat. He looked at the woman who had suddenly made her move: "Sister Man, we're on the road."
"We're stopped, aren't we?" Chen Man cupped Jiang Chen's face with both hands. Her palms were icy, but her gaze was frighteningly hot. "The other two are still back there, aren't you afraid they'll hear?"
"You should know the soundproofing in this car better than I do." Chen Man leaned closer, her nose almost touching his.
She carried the crisp coolness of the wind and snow, the mellow richness of red wine, and a strong perfume scent that belonged only to her.
Jiang Chen didn't move, just watched her quietly: "Why send them away?"
"Because I'm unhappy." Chen Man bit her lip, her eyes slightly red. "Jiang Chen, tell me honestly, in your heart, am I just someone filling a spot? Su Qingge is your woman, Lin Wan is your... good sister. And me? Am I just a random passerby hitching a ride home?"
Her voice carried a barely perceptible tremor.
The usual Chen Man, who was so charming and carefree in nightclubs, was now like a child exposing her own heart for someone to see.
"You are not a random passerby." Jiang Chen reached out and brushed away the melting snow water from the tips of her hair. "You are also my creditor."
"Creditor?" Chen Man paused.
"That day in the bathtub, you said you'd put a stamp on it." Jiang Chen's fingers slid down her cheek, stopping at her long neck. "Since the stamp is on, this contract is effective. Are you afraid I won't honor it?"
Chen Man looked into Jiang Chen's deep eyes, and the grievance in her heart suddenly dissipated, replaced by a much more intense emotion.
It was the desire that had been suppressed the entire journey, and the strong sense of possessiveness that arose after seeing Su Qingge rescued and Lin Wan cared for.
"It's good that you acknowledge it." Chen Man took a deep breath, as if making a momentous decision. "Then now, I want to collect the interest."
She lowered her head and kissed Jiang Chen's lips.
This time, it wasn't tentative like it was in the hotel bathroom; it was full of aggression.
Her tongue carried the sweet astringency of red wine, driving straight in.
Although the space in the driver's cabin was spacious, it still felt somewhat cramped for the two overlapping figures.
The snow outside was falling harder, pounding densely against the windshield, sealing the entire world outside.
The heating inside the car was turned up high, and the temperature was gradually climbing.
Chen Man's hands clumsily fumbled with the buttons of Jiang Chen's shirt.
"Jiang Chen..." she whispered next to his ear during a pause for breath, her voice seeming to be squeezed from the depths of her throat, "I've never been with anyone... like this before. With my previous boyfriends, I barely let them hold my hand. Do you believe me?"
Jiang Chen's palm supported her lower back. Through the thin fabric, he could feel her body's tension and trembling.
"I believe you," Jiang Chen replied in a low voice.
"Then be gentle," Chen Man closed her eyes. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye, mixing between their lips. "Don't make me hurt."
The backrest of the seat was slowly lowered.
On the side of the national highway amidst the swirling snow, inside this ten-million-dollar steel fortress, Chen Man blossomed without reservation, like a red rose blooming in the snow.
She reached out and turned off the light in the driver's cabin.
In the darkness, only the faint azure glow from the dashboard illuminated two intertwined shadows.
"Mmm..."
A muffled cry of extreme restraint was swallowed by Jiang Chen.
Chen Man's nails dug into Jiang Chen's shoulder, her body taut like a fully drawn bow.
"Relax," Jiang Chen patted her back, his movements unusually gentle.
The wind howled outside, like the roar of a beast, masking the music that had just begun inside the car.
But the door separating the rear cabin was, after all, not a completely sealed wall.
A faint, almost imperceptible sound snaked through the gap in the door, reaching the ears of the two women in the back.