His slender fingers easily clasped all of Xu Si’s knuckles. Their fingers interlocked tightly, and the familiar warmth of his body, mixed with the ring’s coolness, felt particularly reassuring.
Xu Si turned her head to look at him. She could only see his sowhat disheveled silver hair and the side of his face, his eyes tightly closed. Beneath that was his neck. Normally, a dark bone chain would be there. Now, only his clearly visible collarbone remained.
Leaning closer, she could catch the faintest hint of his light fragrance.
"Can I make a request?" Xu Si asked gently.
"Sure," he seed to be in an especially good mood.
After thinking it over, Xu Si spoke slowly, "Stop calling ’Little Aunt.’ It was necessary at first, but with our relationship now... if you keep calling ’Little Aunt,’ I’ll feel like a monster. It’s not right."
Pei Zhen’s fingertips seed to gently caress her palm, then suddenly his eyes sprang open. His ash-grey pupils hid many emotions, each one enough to make one’s heart soften and swell.
He effortlessly guided Xu Si’s hand upward to the side of his face. His deep eyes brimd with a smile, his voice indulgent.
"Okay."
After a while, he suddenly spoke again.
"Sister."
"..."
"Do you like hearing that? Do you still feel guilty?"
He articulated the world’s most coquettish term so naturally, transforming it into the most intimate form of address.
In an instant, her senses magnified, as if countless tiny stars had fallen from the sky, shattering into pieces, each fragnt as sweet as honey.
"..."
Xu Si raised an eyebrow slightly. Her cool cheeks showed no emotion as she slowly turned her head away, completely unaware that the tips of her ears had turned the color of lychees ripe in June.
Damn it, to think I’d feel flustered just by that...
He must know Mind Reading Technique or witchcraft. Otherwise, how could he know so much—even those thrilling points she herself hadn’t realized and found hard to articulate?
...
They couldn’t maintain this cuddling posture all night. After roughly fifteen minutes, Xu Si cald her emotions and pushed herself up from the sofa. She was still a bit unaccustod to having lost her single status and felt slightly at a loss.
Now that they were together, what should they do?
Xu Si recalled all the romantic movie scenes she had seen abroad, but none seed suited for her and Pei Zhen. For no other reason than she didn’t have that much ti to take Pei Zhen to those famous romantic destinations abroad.
After long contemplation, she looked back at him, her red lips slightly parting. "The day after tomorrow is the Qixi Festival. I don’t have work. Do you?"
Pei Zhen nodded slightly. "I can make myself available, or not. What do you want to do?"
Xu Si’s lips curled into a smile. "I’ll take you out on a date, alright?"
Pei Zhen tilted his head up slightly, the corners of his eyes lifting. "If you wish, then that’s fine."
Having agreed, he walked over to Xu Si and crouched down slightly. Once again, he gently parted her delicate fingers, removing all the gemstone rings from his own and, one by one, sliding them onto her fingers, which looked a little too small for them.
Xu Si watched his earnest movents with so confusion. "What are you doing?"
"I’ve said it before, I want to ensnare you," Pei Zhen’s voice was very low. "Didn’t you say you love money the most? From now on, every ti I see you, I’ll give you a few rings. When I’ve given you enough, perhaps you’ll love my money so much that, by extension, you’ll co to love ."
There was no smile on his lips, nor any sign of anger. Moonlight spilled over his half-tied silver hair, making him resemble a figure from a classical, mysterious scroll painting.
Xu Si listened quietly to his words. Looking at the heavy and priceless gemstone rings on her hand, she found it sowhat absurd.
There were so many tycoons in the world, and not one of them liked people being after their wealth. They were even afraid of others approaching them for their money. Yet Pei Zhen said he hoped she would love his money, so that, loving his money, she might grow to love him too.
Xu Si pursed her lips and removed the rings from her fingers. "Is the Underground City really that profitable? You’re willing to give these away?"
Pei Zhen looked up, his expression indifferent, his tone flat, as if the priceless jewelry ant nothing to him. "What’s there to be reluctant about? Aren’t you supposed to be supporting ? My money will be yours, and then you’ll support with it. There’s no difference."
"There’s a big difference."
At least, that’s what Xu Si believed, even though she knew these few gemstone rings ant little to Pei Zhen.
But to have enjoyed his youthful, handso looks and physique, taken advantage of his feelings and power, and *then* take his money... that seed too much. If word got out, she would be a laughingstock for the rest of her life.
"Wait for a mont."
She was silent for a few seconds, then walked out of Pei Zhen’s room and into her own. She took out a supplentary credit card and so Hong Kong dollars from her bag. Returning to Pei Zhen’s side, she placed these, along with the rings he had tried to give her, into his hand.
"This is money from my personal account. Use it as you please; don’t be afraid to spend it. I can earn more, and there are plenty of Hong Kong dollars here too. Treat it as pocket money. I know you’re not short of cash, but neither am I. This is a gesture. Now that we’re together, I have to treat you well."
She was generous when giving money, carrying herself with the distinct air of a wealthy Hong Kong Island woman spoiling a handso young man. And Pei Zhen was indeed handso—not just a little, but objectively, exceptionally so. No matter how she looked at it, Xu Si felt she was the one getting the better end of the deal.
Pei Zhen pinched the card between his fingers, his handso, Vampire-like face brimming with a smile.
"Hmm, I’ll keep it. Are you sure you don’t want the rings?"
He didn’t refuse.
Xu Si felt no regret in giving him the money and readily refused the gemstone rings.
The night grew deeper. The evening wind humd softly. She resisted the urge to lift his clothes and check his wounds again, then yawned gently. "It’s too late. I should go."
He seed unable to bear the word "go." His eyes turned grey and heavy. He suddenly leaned down, rested his head on Xu Si’s neck, and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"One more hug, then I’ll let you go."
His voice was utterly hollow, betraying no emotion. Yet, inexplicably, Xu Si could sense he was restraining himself, holding back fear and a reluctance to let her go.
She lifted her hand and patted his lower back.
"I’m not leaving you. I’ve never thought of leaving you. Even if sothing cos up in the future and I have to go, I’ll definitely tell you. If you’re still on Hong Kong Island, I’ll co back for you."
Pei Zhen chuckled lightly, then suddenly bit into the delicate skin of her slender neck, leaving a mark redder than a lychee’s thin skin.
"Is that so? Then prove it to ."
...
That night, Xu Si covered the suggestive mark on her neck as she went into her bathroom. Looking in the mirror at the red marks on her neck, dense and scattered like plum blossoms, she sighed, her mind buzzing.
Why is he always biting people? He never had this habit before.
Her thoughts turned to Anshi, who had gone to Mr. Chen’s ho to purchase the land. She walked to the landline and called Anshi to ask about the land.
Anshi sounded delighted over the phone. "Miss, the land has been successfully purchased!"
Then, as if rembering sothing, his voice beca hesitant.
"About that reception last night... people from the Sanlian Chamber of Comrce were there too. Miss, you weren’t taken away by them, were you?"
Xu Si trusted Anshi completely. "Yes, I was."
Anshi’s voice grew serious.
"Miss, you might need to keep this a secret."
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