C1 Meeting a Topgrade Man

The bar was alive with flashing lights and a crowd of people dancing wildly to the music. Tang Anan, a self-proclaimed connoisseur of attractive men, had her eyes on a guy sitting at the bar. Broad shoulders, narrow hips, slim waist, long legs, and a killer profile—yep, he was the real deal. Too bad, though...

Tang Anan clicked her tongue in disappointment as she watched the man from afar. She leaned over to her friend, Yifan, who was absentmindedly sipping her drink, and whispered, “Yifan, check out that guy. He's a total catch!” Her eyes couldn't tear away from him.

Yifan glanced at the man sitting alone, seemingly cut off from the world, and let out a small laugh. “Yeah, he's a catch,” she agreed, not just for his looks but also for... other skills.

But then Tang Anan sighed. “It's a shame, though. Every woman in the world would want him, but he'd only choose one.”

Yifan gave her a knowing look. “How do you know? Maybe he's secretly a player.”

Tang Anan rested her chin on her hand, admiring the man from a distance. “I've seen a lot of guys, and I can spot the good ones. If you don't believe me, we can bet on it!”

Yifan's phone buzzed, interrupting the moment. She answered it, hearing a deep, cold voice on the other end: “Come over.” She hung up, a smile playing on her lips as she looked at Tang Anan. “Alright, let's bet.”

Tang Anan looked up in surprise at her, not expecting her to be in such a good mood today.

“If I can get that guy to leave with me, you’re covering my lunch next week. How about it?” Gu Yifan raised an eyebrow, challenging Tang Anan.

Tang Anan thought it over, convinced she couldn’t lose. She slammed the table with determination. “Alright, you’re on. I refuse to believe I, Tang Anan, could be wrong about this.”

Gu Yifan smiled, gave her a sidelong glance, set down her wine glass, grabbed her purse, and sashayed over to the man.

Two minutes later, Gu Yifan, arm-in-arm with the stunning guy Tang Anan had been eyeing all night, walked out of the bar, leaving Tang Anan dumbfounded.

It took Tang Anan a moment to snap out of it. She slammed her beer bottle down, her voice echoing through the bar, “Gu Yifan, you tricked me!” Clearly, they knew each other all along.

Gu Yifan and the man got a hotel room, and as soon as they entered, he pinned her against the door. Gu Yifan tilted her head back, eyes closed, breathing slightly heavy.

Yes, she knew this man, but not really. She didn’t know his background, job, or age, just a name—Hsu Moyan. And even that might not be real.

However, she found herself in bed with this man, and not just once.

Hsu Moyan lifted her by the waist, and her legs instinctively wrapped around him like a snake. He kissed her neck and collarbone, leaving her feeling weak and pliant. His foreplay was always thorough, making her cling to him, wanting more and more.

Their relationship was undefined. Sometimes, when he was in a good mood, he'd give her gifts, but she wasn't being kept by him, so she couldn't be called a mistress. At best, they were friends with benefits. That term fit their situation perfectly.

Yifan squinted, enjoying the man's caresses, her fair, slender hands tightly wrapped around his neck.

No strings attached. It was better this way—at least her heart wouldn't get tired.

She thought about her previous boyfriends. Today marked the day her thirteenth boyfriend had cheated on her. The audacity of him to blame her for it! She slapped him and walked away, then called her friend Anan to hit the bar and celebrate her return to singlehood.

Unexpectedly, she found a pleasant surprise... Hsu Moyan was perhaps a physical compensation from the universe.

The man moved closer, his body warm, the faint scent of alcohol in the air. Yifan let go of any other thoughts, allowing herself to be swept away in the moment, savoring the night's pleasures...

Hsu Moyan was unusually rough tonight, and she couldn't tell what had upset him. He didn't look at her, just furrowed his brow and moved with a silent intensity. For the first time, she blacked out from the encounter.

When she came to, Hsu Moyan was sitting at the head of the bed, smoking a cigarette. His eyes were slightly narrowed, the deep brown irises devoid of desire or affection. Feeling a stirring in her heart, she leaned in, but her lips landed on his chin.

They had never kissed before. He never explained why, but somehow she felt that, like her, he saw kissing and sleeping together as different. One was about love, the other about desire. There was no love between them, so the tender, intimate gestures reserved for lovers didn't suit them.

Hsu Moyan turned his head, his gaze dark and inscrutable. "Yifan, you should know the rules."

He was reminding her of her overstep. Yifan felt a twinge of disappointment. This man was truly heartless. Maybe Tang Anan was right, but who knew which woman would be his only choice?

Suppressing the complicated emotions stirring within her, she looked up at him with a playful glint in her eyes, her hand brushing against his firm waist. "Of course, but a little fun now and then doesn't hurt."

"I'm not interested in playing with you," Hsu Moyan said, taking the last drag of his cigarette before moving her hand away and sitting up. "I'm getting married." His gaze was heavy.

Gu Yifan was taken aback, not expecting this man to be getting married. She sat up in bed, staring at him, unsure of what to say.

"So, from now on, don't call me. If I need anything, I'll reach out to you," he said, all business-like.

Yifan hadn't yet processed the news of his upcoming marriage when his next words made her laugh in disbelief. She looked at him, his eyes devoid of warmth. "What do you take me for, a call girl? Someone you can summon and dismiss at will?"

Without meeting her gaze, Moyan handed her a bank card from the table. "Consider this compensation. I'm not ready to end this yet, and you enjoy it too, don't you?"

Yifan let out a cold laugh, silently putting on her clothes. She picked up her bag from the floor, pulled out all the cash, and turned to face Moyan on the bed, holding the stack of bills high. "Mr. Moyan, since you're getting married, let's just call it quits. Consider this payment for your services. You did make me feel quite—comfortable!" With that, she tossed the money in his face like confetti.

The feeling was, well, exhilarating!

Moyan's eyes showed a moment of stunned surprise, but Yifan didn't bother with his expression. She turned and left the room. After all, it was the last time she'd see him, so why care about his reaction?

Gu Yifan felt most of her anger dissipate as she hummed a tune and walked out of the hotel. Suddenly, she realized she had given all her cash to Moyan. How was she going to get home now? Could she pay for a cab with a card? Her car was still parked outside the bar. With no other option, she called Tang Anan to pick her up.

Early in the morning, standing at the hotel entrance in her clubbing outfit, Yifan was chilled to the bone by the cold wind. Finally, Anan pulled up in her flashy red sports car, and Yifan eagerly jumped in.

"Gu Yifan! You’ve got some nerve dragging me out of bed at this hour! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Anan yelled, clearly annoyed.

Yifan rubbed her ears, still ringing from Anan’s outburst, and leaned back wearily. "Come on, give me a break. I didn’t have a choice," she replied, feeling the sting of her own misjudgment.

Anan, ever observant, noticed the love marks on Yifan’s neck. As a seasoned veteran in such matters, she quickly pieced together what had happened and teased, "Looks like you had quite the 'fulfilling' night, Yifan!"

Yifan raised an eyebrow. "Jealous much?"

"Of course! A guy like that, and you’re the one who snagged him!" Anan retorted, making Yifan laugh.

The two shared a laugh for a moment. After a while, Yifan leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes, saying softly, "But we won't have any more chances. He's getting married."

Hearing this, Tang Anan fell silent for a moment, hesitantly glancing at Yifan's expression. "You two..."

"Just friends with benefits, and now we're nothing," Yifan replied, turning her face toward the window and drifting off to sleep.

Tang Anan watched her, feeling that things weren't as simple as Yifan made them out to be, but in the end, she didn't ask anything.