LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 19
"No one's watching us, there's no one..." Li Zhen smiled and stood up, pulling Lu Yanming to the large balcony outside the living room.
She couldn't let Yu Sheng see how familiar she was with Lu Yanming.
If Yu Sheng became suspicious and investigated her fake marriage, with his volatile temperament, he might report her to the company on a bad day.
She also couldn't let Lu Yanming know that she had come with Yu Sheng today.
This man looked gentle and reasonable on the surface, but was actually vicious and cunning. He might stab her in the back one day. She couldn't give him leverage over her former secret marriage.
In the few seconds it took to get from the living room to the balcony, Li Zhen thought of so much that her brain's CPU nearly burned out.
"Mr. Lu, you're here at the Songs' too?" Li Zhen leaned against the balcony railing, fanning her head to help it cool down.
Lu Yanming glanced at her with his light-colored eyes behind gold wire-rimmed glasses. "If you can come, why can't I?"
You?
What did that "you" mean?
Did he see her arrive wearing matching outfits with Yu Sheng?
Li Zhen forced an awkward smile. "Haha, yes, I came with my dad."
"Oh..." Lu Yanming nodded.
Li Zhen let out a breath. Good, it seemed he didn't know.
Lu Yanming said, "But I didn't ask who you came with. Why are you so nervous?"
Li Zhen: ...
That was a mistake. Nothing to see here!
Lu Yanming took a step forward, closing the distance between them. His voice was mellow and forceful. "I came because I wanted to ask what time you're going home tonight?"
"Huh?" Li Zhen was caught off guard for a moment.
"You just asked why I came, so I'm answering you. That's why I'm here." Lu Yanming took another step forward.
There was only an inch between them now.
Lu Yanming's light, pleasant woody scent gently enveloped her.
Li Zhen leaned back against the railing with Lu Yanming's face right in front of hers. The proximity made her heart beat faster. "I...might go back around midnight tonight."
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt something was off.
It took over an hour to get from the south of the city to the west. He came all this way just to ask when she was going home?
Just as she was trying to reboot her brain's CPU to think about this, she suddenly saw Lu Yanming tug his pristine shirt out from his belt.
"Midnight? A bit late." He took Li Zhen's hand and slipped it inside the shirt, leaning in slightly. His breath tangled strongly with hers. "Do you like it?"
Li Zhen's brain, which had just started up again, shut down once more.
Her hand was pressed firmly down while her palm felt his scorching body heat. His muscular contours were powerful yet not overly exaggerated.
It was just the right feel to make any woman gasp in wonder.
She could even feel the rhythmic vibrations of his abs when Lu Yanming spoke.
"Do you like it?" Lu Yanming asked again, his low voice caressing Li Zhen's ear and carrying undeniable temptation. "Come back early tonight. It's all yours."
Fei Chao was peeking from a corner, clenching his thighs excitedly.
Young Master was finally opening up!
This was incredible, groundbreaking news!
But Young Master was letting a woman reach into his shirt!
Doing something so shameless in broad daylight!
He was very disappointed in Young Master's morals!
But he was even more disappointed that Young Master didn't let her reach into his pants!
Li Zhen tried to pull her hand back but couldn't budge it at all. Her face flushed deep red. "Mr. Lu, we're on the balcony. Someone might see."
She glanced nervously at the living room.
Yu Sheng was still with Li Yinnan and hadn't looked this way.
"You should be glad this is the balcony and not a sofa you could lie on..." Lu Yanming deliberately trailed off.
Li Zhen's face turned so red it seemed blood would drip from it. She couldn't free her hand and was flustered and anxious. "Mr. Lu, you were so reluctant the other night, so why are you suddenly..."
"You know I was reluctant the other night, yet you still took advantage of me?" Lu Yanming asked very sincerely, as if he truly wanted an answer.
Li Zhen: ...
What a perfect example of shooting oneself in the foot!
Her and her big mouth!
Lu Yanming gently rubbed her burning earlobe. "I've been single my whole life. Yet you forced me to break my vow. Don't you know a baby who has just started eating meat craves more?"
Li Zhen's ears roared as they burned.
No, stay calm. This man was using his charm.
Li Zhen said, "You're pretty hip, knowing the term 'single since birth'."
"Don't try to change the subject." Lu Yanming leaned in slightly, nearing her crimson ear. His voice lowered. "Come back before 10. Little Lu has washed himself clean and is waiting for you."
Lu Yanming's words were so straightforward that Li Zhen stammered, "But...it's already 8:40 now. It takes an hour to get home."
"So you have a very ample 20 minutes to say goodbye to everyone." Lu Yanming's expression was calm and his tone mellow and steady, yet carried absolute authority. "10 o'clock. Not a minute later, or else next time you have needs, you'll have to pay 50,000 a night to find it elsewhere."
"Don't worry, I'll be on time!" Li Zhen quickly agreed.
Lu Yanming couldn't leave things half done.
Forget 50,000, even 500,000 might not find his excellent genes elsewhere.
Plus, to have a child within a year, minus nine months of pregnancy, she only had three months.
Time was tight and the mission heavy.
She couldn't waste a single day!
Lu Yanming nodded in satisfaction and released her hand, turning and leaving without a backward glance.
As Li Zhen watched Lu Yanming's disappearing back, she suddenly realized something.
She had business to attend to right now and could have negotiated with him to wait a little longer for her.
Yet first he had pulled her hand to feel his abs, arousing and embarrassing her into a heated daze. Then he had guilt-tripped her for taking advantage of him, making her feel ashamed. Next he had set a time limit to fluster her. And finally, he had coerced her in one move...
No, one move to subdue her!
Ever since she could remember, no one had gotten the better of her before.
What a Lu Yanming!
He really was...genetically superior!
Her future child would also be this clever and self-possessed, effortlessly gaining the upper hand.
Although she knew she had been played, Li Zhen was actually excited to go home and nurture her extremely intelligent baby.
Li Zhen found Li Yinnan in high spirits.
"Dad..." Li Zhen had originally wanted to leave with Yu Sheng, but looking around, she didn't see him. "Where's Yu Sheng?"
"Mr. Song took him to the wine cellar to see the wine collection. They just went down." Li Yinnan's tone was unusually gentle today.
If they were wine tasting, they wouldn't come back up for a while.
Li Zhen calculated the time and decided not to wait for Yu Sheng. "Then can you and Yu Sheng tell Uncle Song that I have something to take care of and will leave first?"
"You're leaving as soon as you arrived?"
Li Yinnan reflexively wanted to scold her for her lack of propriety.
But with Yu Sheng here today, it didn't matter if she left early.
After thinking for two seconds, he nodded. "Be careful on the road."
"Then let Yu Sheng know I left when you see him later." After speaking, Li Zhen cautiously reminded him, "Dad, Yu Sheng was just promoted and is very busy. Don't contact him too often recently."
"Alright, I know."
Li Zhen didn't need to tell him. Li Yinnan also wouldn't bother Yu Sheng frequently.
A good knife should only be used at its edge.
Not far away, Li Yanran sat in a corner, watching Li Zhen leave the Songs' home.
She looked aggrievedly at the middle-aged woman beside her. "Mom, that cheap woman hooked Brother Yu just by being coquettish! Now that she knows Brother Yu's status, she's holding onto him even tighter!"
Lace cuffs peeked from the sleeves of Lin Zhiyin's elegant plain white formal dress, meticulously embroidered with phoenixes.
At the sleeve cuffs, a string of light brown Buddhist prayer beads flashed in and out of sight.
"Yanran, Yu Sheng might not just be attracted by her looks." Lin Zhiyin smiled serenely, her bearing gentle and refined. "And she might not just be after the Yu family's power."
"Oh." Li Yanran heard her but didn't believe it.
Li Zhen had followed Yu Sheng for so many years yet was still willing to secretly marry him. That was clearly to gain the limitless wealth and nobility the Yu family could provide her in the future.
But her mother had never been wrong about anything. Li Yanran didn't dare contradict her.
Her maternal grandparents were very poor, and her mother had a difficult childhood. Yet she had tested into the top university and married well into the Li family.
Her mother was wise and brilliant. Even her father would discuss important decisions with her.
Li Yanran had talked back to Old Mr. Li and argued with Li Yinnan before.
She only deeply respected and revered her mother.
Seeing her beloved daughter, Lin Zhiyin's expression softened. "Complaining is what the weak do. If you want someone, then pursue them. If you dislike someone, make them submit forever."
Li Yanran's hand shook in alarm.
Could it be that her mother knew she liked Yu Sheng?
But she was still engaged to the Yun family. If Mother found out about her feelings for Yu Sheng, wouldn't she scold her?
Oh, she almost forgot, Mother never scolded anyone, let alone her.
Mother was always wise, calm, and composed.
Li Yanran asked, "But how should I deal with people I dislike?"
"Borrow a knife first, don't be foolish and reveal yourself right away." Lin Zhiyin's tone was gentle as she patiently taught, then elegantly held her wine glass. "Your father will have a lot of dealings with the Song family recently. I'm going to chat with Madam Song. You stay here and drink less."
"Yes, Mother, go ahead." Li Yanran nodded obediently.
But in her heart, she kept pondering her mother's words.
Borrow a knife.
Don't reveal yourself.
Lin Zhiyin stood up gracefully, her posture elegant and refined. The light brown Buddhist prayer beads half-revealed at her sleeve emitted a benevolent glow.
"Yan'er, start with those around your enemy." Her voice was gentle, merciful as a saint, kind as Buddha. "That's how you'll catch your opponent...off guard."