When they were snugly seated in the backseat of the car, Shen Yichong checked her temperature by placing his palm on her forehead. She blushed. She looked at Chen Lin sitting in the front seat and felt embarrassed. She didn’t like discussing her monthly periods with other people around!

She pulled Shen Yichong, so he was leaning towards her. He was surprised. Then his eyes landed on her face. “Darling,” she whispered, “Don’t be so loud.” Menstruation was already treated like a taboo. She knew that bleeding every month was natural, but society had always treated period blood with disgust. No matter how hard Yu Yaoyao tried to accept it as a part of her human existence, she was still ensnared in the trap of embarrassment that she had learnt to feel regarding it.

Shen Yichong smirked. “What is so funny?” she asked, pouting. She wished she could pull him closer and bite his ear.

“You,” he said, chuckling, “You finally feel shy?”

He remembered her being all bold and attractive at noon, in the office. She had no care for anyone but him. And here, she felt shy when talking about her periods. Shen Yichong was amused.

Yu Yaoyao let him go and pouted. “Okay, okay,” he relented, “I won’t mention it in front of others, I promise. What else are you shy about? I will make sure I remember and not embarrass you in the future. I am sorry.”

He put a hand around her. “The baby,” she said softly in his ears, “Don’t mention anything about the baby until we are absolutely sure about it.”

Shen Yichong laughed. She was honestly too adorable. “Okay,” he whispered back.

“Sisi told me I shouldn’t talk about the baby before reaching three months of pregnancy,” she said, “It will bring bad luck.”

“Is that so?” asked Shen Yichong, smiling. But his smile strained a little. He was glad that Yu Yaoyao had grown so much in her thoughts, but he wasn’t so glad that somebody else was filling her ears about these things.

“Also, darling,” she gestured for him to lower his head so she could whisper in his ears.

After she was finished, Shen Yichong asked, “Really? So you aren’t sick? You just pretended to vomit because of Ling Shuang?”

“Yes, she made me feel disgusted, psychologically,” said Yu Yaoyao, brightly, “I am not pregnant yet, if that is what you were thinking. Sisi taught me to use the pregnancy test kit, and I test it every day. So, not yet.”

Why is somebody else teaching his wife how to test her pregnancy? Yu Yaoyao was too naïve. He hoped Ren Sitong wouldn’t teach her awful things.

“You can tell me anything, you know that right?” asked Shen Yichong.

“What if I can’t tell you some things aloud? Especially in front of other people,” she asked, looking up at him.

He pulled her close to him. “You can whisper it in my ears like this, if you want,” he said, whispering into her ears.

Yu Yaoyao giggled. “Okay,” she said, “So, let’s go to your office then?”

Shen Yichong smiled helplessly. “Chen,” he said to his driver, “Drive us to the company.’

Yu Yaoyao grinned. She resolved that her red wine would not go to waste today. When they arrived, the office was nearly empty. It was after office hours, so many employees had left already.

“Honey,” she said, “Let Chen Lin and the driver leave too. It’s late. Their office hours are over. We can make our own way home.”

“Sure,” he said, wondering if she was planning something that Ren Sitong had taught her, yet again. But it was her wish, so be it. He let them off work and headed to his office with Yu Yaoyao.

In the office, Yu Yaoyao took out a bottle of wine from her bag, two wine glasses, and placed them on the desk. Shen Yichong raised his eyebrows. She turned to him and unbuttoned his windbreaker and threw it to the floor. She then pushed him on his chair. She straddled him with the wine bottle in hand and took a sip.

“Don’t tell me,” he said, “That Ren Sitong has taught you this as well.”

“No, it’s written in the novel,” she said and caught herself.

Shen Yichong smirked. “Since when did you start reading these kinds of—” His remaining words were cut short as Yu Yaoyao kissed him full on the mouth.

She broke the kiss. “Shh, you talk too much.”

She wanted to push him down on the desk after. But things didn’t go according to her plan. She sipped the wine and kissed him again, but he held her to him and kissed her back aggressively so that she swallowed the wine that was meant for him. He was kissing her so passionately that her coat was already on the floor, the hem of her dress had been hitched up and he was pulling at her stockings.

Before she could tell him that this wasn’t going according to her plan, he already had her lying on her back on his desk. But her mind was so deliciously engaged by his caresses that she didn’t want to protest.

“Red wine isn’t drunk like this, sweetheart,” he said, as his lips trailed on her neck, “Let me show you how it is done.” His eyes momentarily darkened with desire as he traced kisses after kisses all over her body.