109: Chapter 110 Thank you for letting me be a real woman.

When everything finally settled down, only the heavy, uneven breathing of two people remained in the bedroom, along with a thick, inseparable scent of lust permeating the air. The curtains weren't fully drawn, allowing the neon lights of the city outside to filter in, casting mottled and ambiguous shadows over the messy bed and their sweat-drenched bodies.

Shen Nian felt weak all over, as if she had been dismantled and reassembled, without a shred of strength left. She lay on Yu Bo's sweaty, muscular chest, her cheek pressed against his steady, beating heart. She could clearly feel the lingering, scorching heat on his skin and her own drum-like, un-stilled heartbeat. Her eyes were closed, and her long eyelashes seemed stained with undried moisture—whether it was sweat or something else, she didn't know.

Yu Bo lay on his back, one arm serving as her pillow and the other resting casually across his forehead, his chest rising and falling slightly. His breathing gradually steadied, but his eyes gazed at the blurred shadows on the ceiling, deep and dark, swirling with complex, indecipherable emotions—the lethargy after sated lust, a touch of cold sobriety, and... a very faint, almost imperceptible trace of revulsion, whether toward her or himself.

It took a long while before Shen Nian slowly came to. She propped herself up slightly and looked down at Yu Bo. Her messy long hair fell, brushing against his cheeks and chest. Her face still bore the lingering flush of passion, but her eyes were somewhat dazed, as if she had just experienced an overly intense dream and hadn't fully woken up yet.

Her fingertips lightly traced across Yu Bo's sweat-drenched chest; the touch was real and burning. Looking at his well-defined profile and his tightly closed, expressionless thin lips, a sudden surge of unspeakable, complex emotions welled up in her heart—a mixture of satisfaction, emptiness, bitterness, and... a trace of humble gratitude.

She leaned close to his ear, her breath warm, carrying a post-coital rasp and an imperceptible tremble. Her voice was as soft as a mumble in a dream, yet it pierced clearly into Yu Bo's ear:

"Yu Bo..." She paused, seemingly using all her strength to say those words, with a posture that was almost devout yet humble to the point of being in the dust. "Thank you... for letting me be... a real woman for once."

Yu Bo's arm resting on his forehead moved almost imperceptibly. He slowly turned his head to look at Shen Nian, who was lying on his chest with a dazed yet strangely radiant look in her eyes. Her words were like a small needle, piercing through the post-coital lethargy and cold barrier in his eyes, revealing a flash of genuine emotion, tinged with playfulness and inquiry.

"A real woman?" he repeated, his tone betraying no emotion, his gaze merely roaming over her face as if he were truly scrutinizing her for the first time. "Shen Nian, the way you said that... does it mean you weren't a 'real woman' before?"

Shen Nian rubbed her cheek against his chest, as if drawing from the little remaining warmth. Her voice grew softer, carrying a bashful and self-deprecating quality, like she was confiding a secret. "I had one... back in university. He... was my first man."

Yu Bo raised an eyebrow but said nothing, merely gesturing with his eyes for her to continue. His hand, which had been resting on his forehead, came down, and his fingertips unconsciously and rhythmically twined around the damp strands of hair scattered across his chest.

"Just... a few times." Shen Nian's voice lowered, as if she had fallen into an unpleasant memory. "He... wasn't as strong as you. Every time... it was only two or three minutes. I... I had just started feeling something when he... finished."

She paused, seemingly finding it difficult to speak, but eventually, she said it. Her tone carried a hint of grievance, a hint of resentment, and... a sense of relief from finally being able to confide a secret. "Back then... I thought that was probably... just how it was. It wasn't very interesting; it even... hurt a bit, it was uncomfortable."

She looked up at Yu Bo. In those eyes that had just experienced the tide of passion and were still glistening with moisture, his reflection was now clearly mirrored, carrying a strange light—a mix of admiration, dependence, and the sated glow of finally being 'awakened.' "But you... Yu Bo, you're different. You're... very strong, you last long. You... you make me feel like... like I'm flying. I've never... never experienced anything like this..."

Her fingertips once again lightly traced the firm muscle lines of his chest, filled with infatuation and reminiscence. Her voice trembled slightly as she recalled the intensity from moments ago. "So... thank you. For letting me know that... as a... woman... it could actually... be this wonderful."

This almost blunt and explicit confession, filled with comparison, spoken in this post-coital, intimate moment as a way of baring her heart, was undeniably impactful. It was no longer Shen Nian's usual, calculated charm and probing; it was more like a most instinctive feedback of physical sensation and... an attempt to please, after shedding all pretenses.

As Yu Bo listened, his fingers twining through her hair paused slightly. He looked at the undisguised, almost submissive light in her eyes, saw the flush rising on her face again as she reminisced, and felt the lingering, dependent touch of her fingertips on his skin.

His heart was filled with the secret pleasure and sense of achievement of a man's instincts being satisfied and gratified.

"Is that so?" He finally spoke again, his voice deeper than before, carrying a post-coital, lazy magnetism. His fingers shifted from playing with her hair to gently pinching her earlobe, a gesture of intimate, almost flirtatious casualness. "So... I guess I'm qualified?"

Shen Nian trembled slightly again at the pinch on her earlobe, and the base of her ears quickly turned crimson. She pressed her face tighter against his chest, as if out of shyness or a craving for closeness. Her voice was muffled but carried a strange sweetness. "More than qualified... You're... you're too amazing. My... my legs are still weak right now..."

Yu Bo gave a smug, soft laugh and didn't pursue the topic further. His hand gently stroked her back.

Silence returned to the bedroom, with only the sound of their gradually steadying breaths. However, the atmosphere was different from the pure intensity of before or the cold post-coital detachment; it now held a faint, sticky, and subtle aura born from sharing the most private experience. Shen Nian remained lying on him like a tired, sated cat that had finally found a warm nest, her fingertips occasionally tracing meaningless circles on his chest. Yu Bo allowed her closeness and touch, his eyes gazing into the void, thinking about who knows what.

After a while, Shen Nian seemed to remember something. She propped herself up again, hesitated for a moment, and asked softly, "Yu Bo... do you... do you and Yin Tianxue... also... do this?"