The banquet was halfway over when Han Yuxin, arm in arm with Lin Feng, left the ground-floor banquet hall under the watchful gaze of the crowd. They made their way up to the presidential suite on the top floor.
The suite's balcony had been converted into a semi-open-air swimming pool. Left untended for a long time, it had become covered in dust, with algae and moss growing inside.
In preparation for this moment, Han Yuxin had arranged for a team of cleaners the day before to scrub the suite and pool until they were spotless.
She then pulled Lin Feng to the edge of the pool, slipped off her high heels, and walked barefoot on the smooth black stone tiles. Turning back, she asked:
"Want to wash up first?"
Lin Feng had been busy all day. Although his sweat had dried, the smell lingered, along with an accumulation of dead skin cells.
In the height of the August summer, going even one day without bathing was unbearable.
So he nodded and stripped off his clothes.
