Chapter Two: Memories
2324 Words
Liu Ruyan went into the bathroom, closed the door, and the sound of running water filled the room.
Li Mo remained seated on the bed, motionless.
His mind was a blur, but his body betrayed him.
He looked down at himself, took a deep breath, and tried to calm down.
It didn’t work.
The image of Liu Ruyan wearing a collar kept replaying in his mind.
He unconsciously reached out and felt around the nightstand, his fingers brushing against a cold metal object.
He picked it up to take a closer look.
Handcuffs.
Fuzzy pink velvet, metal clasps, and a key still in the lock.
Li Mo’s hand trembled, and he nearly flung them away.
He quickly put them back, pulling his hand away as if he’d been burned.
“…This woman.”
He swallowed hard.
His mind raced. What on earth was going on? The Sims? A script the system had assigned him?
Whatever it was, everything before him felt too real.
The feel of the sheets was real, the light gradually brightening outside the window was real, the sound of water in the bathroom was real.
And the warmth of Liu Ruyan’s body pressed against his shoulder just moments ago.
That was real, too.
The sound of running water stopped.
Li Mo sat up straight reflexively.
The bathroom door opened, and a wave of steam poured out.
Liu Ruyan emerged wrapped in a towel, her wet hair draped over her shoulders. She wore no makeup, and her natural face was even more beautiful than the one he’d seen earlier that day.
She glanced at Li Mo, who was frozen on the bed, and smiled.
“Why are you still standing there? Aren’t you going to take a shower?”
“Oh… oh, right away.”
Li Mo clumsily prepared to get out of bed.
Liu Ruyan walked to the wardrobe, opened the door, casually slipped off the bath towel, and began changing.
It was that natural.
She showed no intention of covering up at all.
Li Mo’s gaze was glued to her back; he couldn’t look away.
Her waist was tightly defined, leading down to two rounded curves, and her legs were long and straight.
He abruptly turned his head and stared at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling.
His heart was pounding in his ears.
Liu Ruyan seemed completely oblivious to his reaction. She put on her underwear, slipped into a white blouse, and said as she buttoned it, “The housekeeper has made breakfast. It’s in the dining room. If you don’t have anything to do today, just stay home.”
Li Mo gave a faint “Mm-hmm.”
Liu Ruyan fastened the last button and turned to face him.
“Why are you acting so strange today?”
“N-no… nothing.”
“Nothing?” Liu Ruyan tilted her head, the corners of her mouth curving upward. “Then should I go?”
“Yeah.”
Liu Ruyan didn’t move.
She stood in front of the wardrobe, watching him, a smile in her eyes.
Li Mo felt a chill running down his spine under her gaze: “What’s wrong?”
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“Say what?”
Liu Ruyan raised an eyebrow.
Li Mo thought for a long time, then tentatively said, “...Be careful on your way?”
Liu Ruyan’s expression fell for a second, then she smiled again, though this time with a hint of displeasure.
She walked over, bent down, placed both hands on either side of Li Mo’s mattress, and brought her face close to his.
They were less than ten centimeters apart.
Her shirt collar was slightly open, and Li Mo could smell the scent of her body wash.
“Li Mo.”
“Ah…”
“Do I have to call you ‘Master’ before you’ll say goodbye to your wife?”
The words hit Li Mo like a bomb.
His breath caught in his throat.
Liu Ruyan’s lips were almost pressed against his ear as she lowered her voice, her tone tinged with a seductive inflection.
“M—a—ster—”
Li Mo felt the blood in his entire body rush to one place at once.
The heat he’d barely managed to suppress surged instantly to his head.
Liu Ruyan sat up and noticed the change in him.
The bulge beneath the covers was impossible to hide.
She didn’t look away; instead, she smiled and bit her lower lip.
“I’m sorry, Master… we’re running out of time.”
Her hand slipped under the covers.
She gripped it.
Li Mo shuddered, his fingers clenching the sheets.
Liu Ruyan’s fingers were cool, forming a stark contrast to his scorching heat.
She felt it, her eyes widening in feigned surprise.
“Master… can the puppy use her hands?”
Li Mo’s mouth moved, but no coherent sound came out.
His throat felt dry, as if it were clogged with sandpaper.
Liu Ruyan’s hand stopped.
She tilted her head, her eyelashes drooping, revealing a pitiful expression.
“If Master doesn’t speak… this little puppy won’t dare to move.”
That face, so exquisite it seemed unreal, paired with that expression and those words.
Li Mo felt as if a string had snapped inside his head.
“O-okay.” His voice was hoarse, unrecognizable as his own.
Liu Ruyan’s hand moved slightly, then stopped again.
She tilted her face up to look at him, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
“Master is wrong.”
Li Mo stared at her, his chest heaving violently.
The air between them was sizzling.
He heard himself speak.
His voice was low and hoarse.
“Little b***h, get moving.”
Liu Ruyan’s eyes lit up.
Her hand began to move rhythmically.
At the same time, she leaned forward, pressing her lips against Li Mo’s chest.
Her tongue slipped out, tracing gentle circles.
Warm and moist, circle after circle.
Then the tip of her tongue flicked upward.
Li Mo’s body arched.
He had never felt anything like this before.
Never.
It wasn’t just physical stimulation.
It was this woman.
It was Liu Ruyan.
This woman who had stepped out of the Rolls-Royce—unattainable, with an aura powerful enough to crush everything—was now lying on top of him, using those alluring red lips to call him “master.”
Physical pleasure and psychological shock layered upon one another.
Wave after wave.
Growing ever more frequent.
Li Mo’s hands had clenched Liu Ruyan’s hair at some point, his knuckles turning white.
He was nearing his limit.
Liu Ruyan could feel Li Mo’s intense reaction in her hand.
She didn’t stop.
Her tongue shifted from circling to sucking.
Sucking hard.
A flash of white light exploded in Li Mo’s mind.
He came.
It lasted for several seconds.
Liu Ruyan lifted her head, her hand still wrapped around Little Li Mo.
She glanced down at the semen on her hand and raised an eyebrow.
“Master, it’s so thick.”
Li Mo lay on the bed, gasping for breath, his mind a blank.
Liu Ruyan pulled two tissues from the nightstand and slowly wiped her fingers clean.
Then she leaned down and kissed Li Mo on the lips.
It was very light.
“I’m off to work.”
Li Mo’s mouth moved before his brain could catch up: “Bye, honey.”
After saying it, he froze for a second.
Liu Ruyan stood by the bed, looking at him, her gaze softening.
“That’s more like it.”
She picked up her handbag from the nightstand, and the sound of her high heels tapping the floor grew fainter and fainter until it faded away.
The room fell silent.
Li Mo stared at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, his chest still heaving violently.
He rolled over and buried his face in the pillow.
The pillow was saturated with Liu Ruyan’s scent.
It was faint—he didn’t know what perfume it was—but the mere whiff made his heart race.
“Calm down… calm down.”
He forced himself to sit up.
The translucent blue box appeared again.
It hovered before him.
[Simulation in progress...]
Li Mo stared at those words for over ten seconds.
Simulation.
He reached out and touched the edge of the frame.
The frame vibrated slightly, then expanded.
It transformed into a larger panel.
Several more lines of text appeared on it.
[Current Status: Simulation in Progress]
[Identity: Husband of Liu Ruyan]
[View replay of this simulation?]
[Yes] [No]
“Replay of this life?”
Li Mo froze for a moment.
This thing can actually be replayed?
His biggest problem right now was—he had no idea how he’d ended up here.
One second he was lying in his rented apartment, and the next he was lying on a huge bed in a mansion, with a woman beside him calling him “husband.”
He had absolutely no idea what had happened in between.
“Watch it. I definitely have to watch it.”
He clicked [Yes].
The panel flashed.
Then the bedroom before his eyes vanished.
It didn’t actually vanish.
It was like watching a movie—the footage was projected directly into his field of vision.
The first scene.
A job recruitment website.
He saw his resume. The photo was an ID shot taken during his senior year of college: he was wearing a white shirt, his hair neatly combed.
The company he had applied to: Star Sea Group.
The scene shifted.
The reception area of a large office building—glass curtain walls, marble floors, and a pretty young woman at the front desk.
He walked in wearing a suit that didn’t look particularly expensive.
The interview.
Sitting across from him is a middle-aged woman from HR, wearing glasses and flipping through his resume.
On screen, he is answering questions, but the audio has been muted—only the visuals remain.
Then a line of text appears on the screen, like a voiceover.
[Due to his outstanding appearance, the HR manager selected Li Mo first among the thirty-seven candidates.]
Li Mo: “……”
He touched his face.
“Just because I'm good-looking?”
He knew his features weren’t bad, but he’d never thought being good-looking could be enough to land him an offer from a top-tier company.
The scene continues.
First day on the job.
He sits in a cubicle, surrounded by people in suits and ties.
Fingers flew over the keyboard, filling the screen with dense rows of spreadsheets.
A mere cog in the machine.
The scene skipped a few frames, as if fast-forwarding several months.
Then.
A massive office.
The door swung open.
He walked in, carrying a stack of documents.
The person sitting behind the desk looked up.
Liu Ruyan.
The Liu Ruyan on the screen was different from the one this morning.
Her hair was meticulously pinned up, she wore a dark gray suit, and when she didn’t smile, her gaze could freeze a person to death.
A nameplate sat on the desk.
[Xinghai Group, Chairman, Liu Ruyan]
Li Mo sucked in a sharp breath.
“Chairwoman??”
He knew this woman had connections; he’d heard everything she said on the phone earlier.
But Chairwoman?
Star Sea Group?
That was the number one corporate conglomerate in Jiangcheng.
“I can’t f*****g believe…”
He thought back to what had happened that morning.
Liu Ruyan was straddling him, calling him “Master.”
The Chairwoman of Star Sea Group—a woman who oversaw thousands of employees—was straddling him, calling him “Master.”
And calling herself a “puppy.”
“How the hell did I dare turn her into a dog!”
Li Mo covered his face with his hands.
It wasn’t fear.
It was that overwhelming mix of absurdity and excitement that left him completely numb.
The scene continued.
He forced himself to move his hand away and keep watching.
Liu Ruyan in the scene glanced at him.
That look was different from how she looked at her other subordinates.
It lingered for two extra seconds.
Then the voiceover returned.
[Liu Ruyan took note of Li Mo’s physical appearance. Over the next three months, under the pretext of “priority development,” she transferred Li Mo from the front lines to the chairman’s office, appointing him as the chairman’s assistant.]
The footage fast-forwarded.
He saw himself beginning to accompany Liu Ruyan to various events.
Cocktail parties.
Dinner gatherings.
Signing ceremonies.
At every event, he was the one standing by Liu Ruyan’s side.
His suits were now custom-made, and his watch was a brand he hadn’t even recognized before.
The people sitting across the table included those in military uniforms, those with gray hair, and those who were clearly from government agencies.
Every single one of them glanced at him as they clinked glasses with Liu Ruyan.
He understood the look in their eyes.
“The young man by the chairman’s side”—everyone knew what that meant.
The scene shifted again.
A private dining room.
Liu Ruyan sat across from him; there were only two sets of cutlery on the table.
She held a glass of red wine and smiled at him.
A voiceover appeared.
[Liu Ruyan promised Li Mo: If he performs well, she’d give him the vice president position.]
“Vice president…” Li Mo muttered to himself.
Good-looking, handpicked by HR, favored by Liu Ruyan, and promoted all the way up.
This path lay crystal clear before him.
In this simulated world, his face was his greatest asset.
“Looks… really are the primary driver of success.”
He gave a wry smile.
In reality, he’d been sending out resumes for three months with no one even glancing at them.
In the simulation, his face alone had taken him straight from a cubicle to the chairman’s bed.
The gap was absurdly vast.
- Writer
