Chapter 26: Barely Recovered from a Cold, Only to Walk Straight into the Lion's Den

Su Ruanyuan agreed to sell the copyright of her dance to Liu Qing. Liu Qing was very straightforward and transferred fifty thousand yuan to her immediately.

After settling the matter, Su Ruanyuan put down her phone with a sense of ease. Feeling the man’s warm, slender fingers trailing over her body, she closed her eyes, pretending to drift off to sleep. True enough, Gu Jinzhou stopped touching her, kissed her forehead, and tucked the quilt in around her. Even if he were a beast, he wouldn’t do that sort of thing while Ruanyuan had a cold—unless he was provoked.

At dawn, Su Ruanyuan’s fever spiked again. Her black hair clung to her snow-white, damp face; her awakened eyes were misty, fragile, and dazed, as if she didn't know where she was. Gu Jinzhou pinched her chin gently and coaxed, "Open your mouth, baby. You have a fever again; take your medicine."

Su Ruanyuan kept her mouth tightly shut. Gu Jinzhou’s handsome, stern face darkened, but he dared not force her mouth open. Instead, he took the medicine into his own mouth and pried open her soft, feverish lips to feed it to her.

The bitterness brought tears to Su Ruanyuan’s eyes. She cried silently, which made the man’s heart ache. Yet, he repeated the process four times until all the medicine was inside her. The frail, feverish girl sobbed softly, calling him a jerk. Gu Jinzhou kissed her mouth, his lips pecking at hers with a mix of overbearing dominance and lingering tenderness. "You don't even have the strength to curse, you poor little thing."

The "poor little thing" closed her watery eyes. The bitterness in her mouth was so unpleasant that she shut her eyes, refusing to look at him. Gu Jinzhou was rendered speechless. He had grown accustomed to becoming a "jerk" every time Ruanyuan caught a cold.

"Ruanyuan is such a heartless little thing," the man whispered in a low, husky voice.

"I am not! I'm not!" Su Ruanyuan opened her beautiful, moist eyes, two bright flickers of fire igniting within them. Gu Jinzhou chatted with her for a while longer before gently patting her back to coax her to sleep.

After taking the medicine and fussing for a bit, the sickly girl fell into a deep slumber. Gu Jinzhou, however, found his expensive white shirt stained with damp patches where she had pressed against him, soaked in her sweat. A man with a clean-freak nature, he simply held the warm girl in his arms, not even bothering to change his trousers, and closed his eyes to rest.

Since his middle school years, when he invested and made tens of millions, Gu Jinzhou had been helping manage his family's business. By college, he had become a legendary trader renowned on Wall Street, eventually rising to become one of the world's top titans of wealth. Yet, no matter how powerful he was, he would always be a man whose weakness was held by his wife while he slept. With his arm draped over his forehead, Gu Jinzhou found it truly sweet, yet agonizing. If he had known, he never would have left her beloved teddy bear at the campsite.

***

After lying in a haze for three or four days, Su Ruanyuan felt refreshed and kicked off the covers, enjoying a comfortable bath. Gu Jinzhou was working in his study, unaware that she had woken up. She slowly dried her hair and walked to the dressing room to pick out an outfit, planning to meet Mu Xin'er and drop a hint about Rong Xiu’s affair with Su Lan'er.

"Huh?"

Su Ruanyuan checked four or five wardrobes, only to find that all of her camisoles—the ones that showed off her arms and legs—were gone! She hurried out to ask Auntie Liu.

Auntie Liu replied, "The young master should know where they are."

Su Ruanyuan felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Gu Jinzhou had been so gentle with her lately that she had forgotten his outrageous possessiveness. In his eyes, a camisole was indecent; for Su Ruanyuan to wear one was simply scandalous.

"Gu Jinzhou!"

Su Ruanyuan pushed open the door to the study, which was pitch black. Her white-jade toes, clad in sandals, tightened; she didn't dare enter.

"Hmm?"

The man’s low, husky voice resonated. It sounded strange—not the usual calm and cold tone, but a languid, slightly slurred cadence mixed with an indescribable sense of helplessness and confusion. Su Ruanyuan followed the sound inside, and the door clicked shut behind her.

"Gu Jinzhou, why are you acting so strangely? Turn on the light, please, I can't see you."

"During the six months when Ruanyuan returned to the Su family without looking back, I was always in this state."

Su Ruanyuan felt a lump in her throat and reached out to touch him in the darkness. Gu Jinzhou accurately grasped her hand, pulled her into his arms, and held her tightly. His hands began to rub her soft, fair body impatiently, and in an instant, her nightgown was pushed up to her chest.

It was as if the man who had been coldly judging her moments ago was not him at all. His husky, burning voice trembled, "You came just in time, baby. Help me."

Glistening tears of repentance hung on the girl's beautiful, stunned face. She had intended to have a heart-to-heart with him, but he had issued an erotic invitation instead.

Su Ruanyuan: "..."

Gu Jinzhou firmly held the initiative. His husky, magnetic voice whispered, "Ruanyuan, help me." His suppressed tone was laced with a painful ecstasy, making it seem as if he were dying of longing, when in reality, he succeeded within moments; he simply enjoyed using sweet words to coax her.

***

After spending over an hour in the study practicing her flexibility, Su Ruanyuan lay on the large black bed, a seductive charm radiating from her. Gu Jinzhou, wiping his damp, short hair, suddenly regretted not turning on the lights in the study. He tossed aside the towel and hugged the tender, alluring woman, like a wild dog craving a bone, wanting to go another round.

Su Ruanyuan gave him a kick. "Get lost!"

Gu Jinzhou was used to being pampered, but he understood the virtue of restraint. He laughed, kissed her a few times, and stopped bothering her.

"Where are my camisoles?"

Su Ruanyuan spoke in a delicate, coquettish tone; she felt uncomfortable hearing it herself, but she couldn't help but speak. Gu Jinzhou stared at her with heavy eyes, his breathing quickening. In just a few breaths, he regained his image as an elegant, refined young nobleman, with no trace of his previous wanton indulgence.

Su Ruanyuan rolled her eyes at him. *A cultured scoundrel.*

Gu Jinzhou replied, "I will buy a new batch of camisoles."

Su Ruanyuan was satisfied. She frowned slightly and suddenly asked, "There’s trouble with the land at Creek Bay. Is Rong Xiu very busy?"

Gu Jinzhou pinched her chin, his arrogant, cold eyes showing a hint of displeasure. "Baby, don't mention other men in my bed."

Su Ruanyuan brushed his hand away irritably, casting a side-glance with her seductive, watery eyes. "Suit yourself. If you don't want to talk about it, then don't."

If Su Ruanyuan were a favorite concubine, Gu Jinzhou, this decisive emperor, would likely only linger in her bed, hoping for an heir, and perhaps spoil her even more than he did now.

"My dear, I love you."

"..." Su Ruanyuan had no choice but to arch her soft, snake-like waist and give him a perfunctory kiss on the chin. Gu Jinzhou, however, seemed to relish it, his strong, slender arms refusing to let her go.

"You want to know about Rong Xiu? You should already understand his character. He only knows how to handle things when the wind is at his back. When he encounters difficulties, he dumps them on his more mediocre older brother to handle. Rong Xiu is currently busy with other projects; he won't take over Creek Bay again until his brother finishes dealing with the murder case."

Something flashed through Su Ruanyuan's mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it. She always felt that, whether in this life or the last, the serial murders at Creek Bay were no accident. The novel's plot didn't detail the events at Creek Bay, and Su Ruanyuan couldn't figure it out, so she decided not to think about it at all—as long as Gu Jinzhou wasn't involved.

"Gu Jinzhou, drop me off at HC Mall on your way to the office. I have a date with Xin'er."