Chapter Eleven: Lady Le

What does it feel like to date an older girlfriend?

In Natsuki’s novel, “My Wife Is Not Quite Right,” he once described the heroine in this way:

My wife is gentle and considerate; she always speaks softly. In times of confusion, she becomes my life’s mentor.

On every anniversary and holiday, she prepares a different surprise for me, each one deeply moving.

Her patience for me is endless. Whenever there’s something I don’t understand, she explains it to me step by step.

She’s fiercely protective; she can’t stand to see anyone bully me. Whenever I’m wronged, she’s always the first to shield me.

She finds all my foolishness adorable, cleans up after me without complaint, and seeing me happy makes her happy, while my sadness draws her instantly to my side.

She seems incapable of anger. No matter how I misbehave, she merely looks at me with a smile, her indulgent gaze enough to make me blush.

Even when she’s jealous, she hides it well, maintaining her gentle demeanor in front of others, but quietly holding onto it inside. When we get home, she’ll sulk like a child denied candy.

She’s easily appeased; a little coaxing, a bit of playfulness, and she’s fine again.

If all else fails, I have my special methods.

Her eyes always follow me, brimming with such tenderness and affection that I finally understand how love can shine through one’s gaze.

She has many admirers, but because of me, she turns them all down without hesitation. She never flirts with others and always keeps me informed of her daily plans.

She’s very attached to me—we must call once every day, and after work, we video chat until she falls asleep, unable to resist her exhaustion.

She loves when I snuggle in her arms or lay my head in her lap; she also likes resting her head on my shoulder, but her favorite is running her fingers through my hair.

That’s my wife. She often lacks a sense of security. Though I can’t shoulder everything for her just yet, at least for now, I can be her safe harbor.

Meeting you truly feels like a blessing across lifetimes, my older girlfriend.

…

In creating this novel, the heroine was naturally inspired by Su Rouxue. Though their shared experiences are few, much of the story is what he imagines might happen between them.

It’s rather amusing—though he’s found that Su Rouxue enjoys drawing romantic comics, she doesn’t know that he, too, writes rather risqué scenes in his youth fiction, always flirting with the edge of being reported by censorious readers.

“If you want to see spicier content, just drop me a ‘b’ in the comments. I’ll find a safer place to post it for you all. I’ll keep things measured on this platform, so treasure what you read and please vote to support the author.”

Natsuki’s note to readers garnered over ninety-nine comments.

He published his work on a site dedicated to light novels, submitting it under the youth romance category, well aware of what the readers on such platforms prefer.

After all, he’s a veteran bookworm himself.

If you write pure romance, it must be both sweet and exhilarating.

If you write a harem, of course everyone must be both pure and completely won over, and then…

Art imitates life.

Natsuki didn’t consider himself especially talented, but readers loved his stories mainly because, while writing, he could genuinely empathize with the feelings involved.

After all, he was actually dating a woman just like his fictional wife, and their real-life experiences were far more intense than anything he’d written.

Still, he didn’t dare share this particular novel with Su Rouxue. What if she became his number one critic after reading it?

But…

He was also a bit lazy. With school starting and dates with Su Rouxue, he simply posted a leave-of-absence notice:

“Taking a short break! Freshman registration is coming up, and I’ll be meeting my older girlfriend. I doubt I’ll have time to write these next few days.

Once I’m settled at school, I’ll resume daily updates.

Join the readers’ group: XXXXXX! Feel free to join and urge me to update.

And to reiterate, this book isn’t being abandoned—unless the censors shut me down!

You’re welcome to send me some ‘knives’ (complaints), but any extra chapters or explosive updates will come once I’m back at school and things are stable.”

Hundreds of readers left comments on this post.

“Whoa? I thought the author was just fantasizing about having a wife—turns out this is a true story!”

“I’m shocked! Are all the stories in the book real? I can hardly believe it!”

“The main character’s first time—that means the author…? Wait, is he even…?”

“Well, I have to share my own first time. To be honest, I was really nervous.”

“Haha, maybe you’re not gifted, bro—maybe you just have some issues in that department!”

Natsuki hadn’t gotten around to reading the replies under his leave-of-absence post yet, but if he did, he’d probably be moved to tears.

All he did was post a simple notice; he hadn’t thought much of it at all!

Night fell. A crescent moon hung in the sky, scattered stars twinkling faintly.

A cool breeze slipped through the window into the room, and at nearly the same moment, Su Rouxue and Natsuki opened their eyes, lying in bed.

Who knew what happened while they slept? Natsuki had gone to sleep holding Su Rouxue from behind, but now they’d awakened face-to-face.

Moonlight spilled into the room, casting its glow on their faces.

Su Rouxue blinked her lively eyes, cupping Natsuki’s chin with her delicate hand and smiling. “We must have been truly exhausted—otherwise, how could we have slept so long?”

“Yeah, I told you to wake me up, didn’t I?”

Natsuki pinched Su Rouxue’s chin in return.

They gazed into each other’s eyes and shared a joyful smile, a silent signal passing between them. As if on cue, they closed their eyes again and, unable to resist, began to kiss.

This time, though, they were less feverish.

Natsuki only had a slight reaction.

But he knew they couldn’t keep doing that endlessly.

Their kiss was simple—slowly savoring, lingering…

Wait!

Why did the kiss feel… off?

“Mmm…”

“Mmm…”

Both of them couldn’t help but moan.

Now Natsuki, as if possessed by a wild beast, rolled her onto her back, and his hands began to wander.

“Wait a minute!” Su Rouxue, sensing things were getting out of hand, quickly opened her eyes and snapped Natsuki out of his daze.

She looked at him, shy and flustered, and softly murmured, “We really… need to show some restraint.”

“Ah? Right.” Natsuki suddenly blushed.

Su Rouxue’s words made him feel like an overexcited puppy.

“It’s evening—I’ll take you to a nice place nearby for dinner.”