Lin Zhixu braced herself against the wall, trying to steady her legs. She asked in a daze,
“Didn’t we just eat?”
Gu Tingshang laughed and pulled her back into his arms.
“I’m still hungry.”
Lin Zhixu tried with all her might, but she couldn’t push him away.
“Then I’ll go to the kitchen and make you something else! I’m really good at cooking!”
Nan Zhou had been right after all. This woman really was a naïve little fool.
Gu Tingshang lifted her chin and gently kissed the corner of her mouth.
“The kitchen’s too hard. I’m afraid you’ll get hurt.”
His kisses left Lin Zhixu reeling. Before she knew it, he’d carried her to the bed.
Only when he tossed her down onto it did she get the chance to speak.
“Wait, if you’re hungry, shouldn’t you go to the kitchen and make something? Why are you biting me?”
“I’m going to eat you!”
With a sharp rip, Gu Tingshang tore open his own robe.
The man’s powerful body came down over her like a mountain.
Lin Zhixu panicked. At last, she realized what Gu Tingshang intended to do.
She let out a frightened yelp and wriggled around, trying to escape like a loach.
“Gu Tingshang, don’t do this. I don’t taste good. I’ll cook for you. I’m a great cook—my food tastes delicious.”
Gu Tingshang caught both her hands behind her back. Her delicate body instantly became unable to move.
“Silly, what are you talking about cooking for?”
“Making love.”
Waaah! Lin Zhixu was helpless, like a plump little lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
“Gu Tingshang, no. I don’t want to make love.”
“If you don’t want to make love, then we’ll make—” Gu Tingshang forcefully sealed her lips with his, passing the final word into her mouth.
Love!
Gu Tingshang yanked the sash from her waist. Her graceful figure unfolded before his eyes like a beautiful painting, vivid and exquisite.
Like a ravenous wolf, he could no longer restrain his hunger. He pursued his delicious prey with wild abandon.
In truth, Gu Tingshang had fallen for Lin Zhixu three years earlier.
That day, she’d stood on the bright red carpet in a pure white wedding dress, so beautiful she seemed untouched by the mortal world.
During the toasts, a child shoved her. She lost her footing and fell into his arms. The sight of her in that fleeting moment had been seared into his heart, and for three whole years he couldn’t banish it.
To forget her face, he’d gone to the military to train his will, trying to use the spirit of the armed forces to steady his restless heart.
But the harder he tried to suppress his feelings, the more his desire surged.
Military life was harsh. Whenever night grew deep and the loneliness became unbearable, he would imagine her face to relieve himself.
They said a friend’s wife was off-limits.
That shameful thought haunted him night after night, becoming a tormenting dream of desire.
So, for all three years, he hadn’t dared return to Jincheng even when he was on leave. He was afraid of seeing Nan Zhou—and afraid of seeing her.
When Nan Zhou announced at the banquet just now that he was getting divorced, Gu Tingshang had been beside himself with joy.
Afraid he’d make it too obvious, he’d used smoking to cover it up.
The smoke had left his eyes stinging and full of tears.
Now at last, his wish had come true. He could step into his dream for real and unleash the passion he’d suppressed for years without restraint. Like a starving wolf, he couldn’t wait another second.
When red blossoms of blood spread across the pristine cotton sheets, he froze.
So Nan Zhou really had been considerate of her and hadn’t touched her at all.
The possessive nature buried deep in a man’s bones surged through him. No longer able to contain his ecstasy, he sent her soaring.
This meal left the kitchen in a smoky, fiery mess.
The scorching blaze of his passion left Lin Zhixu utterly spent.
She cried, knelt, and begged him to stop.
But Gu Tingshang was like a tireless cook, turning her little cabbage over and over in the pan, again and again.
By the end, the tender little cabbage’s waist was nearly broken, but he still wouldn’t let the fire die down.
“Zhizhi, am I good?”
“No, no! You’re violent! I don’t want any more, waaah.”
After all that effort, she still said he wasn’t good. Then he’d just have to try harder.
Lin Zhixu’s eyes were brimming with tears. Her swollen little lips puckered, making her look especially pitiful.
It was their first time, so he’d been a little too impatient and hadn’t controlled himself. That was why he’d made her cry.
“All right, no more crying.”
Gu Tingshang wasn’t good at comforting people. He didn’t have the patience for it, either.
Instead, he simply pulled a check from his pocket and filled it out for her.
“Five million. Quiet.”
“Waaah—” The moment Lin Zhixu saw the check, her sobbing stopped.
She bit her lip, wiped away her tears, and tried to stifle the hitching sobs in her chest, switching instead to a stream of curses.
“Gu Tingshang, you bastard!”
“How can anyone be as awful as you? You’re despicable, shameless—you tricked me.”
Gu Tingshang found that hilarious.
“I’m awful? I’m shameless? What did I trick you about?”
“You tricked me into marrying you!”
You brainless silly woman. Gu Tingshang was so exasperated he laughed.
“That counts as a trick? You wanted money, I wanted your body. We were a perfect match. That’s called mutual consent.”
“I paid good money to marry you. You think I can’t sleep with my own wife?”
Lin Zhixu said, “I thought we wouldn’t have to sleep together. Brother Nan Zhou never bullied me. He only spoiled me and cherished me. He always gave me whatever I wanted.”
Gu Tingshang burst out laughing.
“Haha!”
“Nan Zhou didn’t touch you because he was an idiot. I paid such a high price to marry you—what did you think it was for?”
Lin Zhixu knew this man was dangerous, and she began to regret it.
“Then I don’t want to marry you anymore. Can we get divorced?”
“What do you think?”
The man’s weight and imposing presence pressed down on her.
“You took my money and now you want a divorce? Dream on.”
Lin Zhixu dug the two checks out of her pocket. They were still practically warm. Painfully, she handed them to him.
“Then I’ll give your money back. We can go to the Civil Affairs Bureau again and get divorced, okay?”
“You need to be punished!”
Gu Tingshang lowered his head and bit her neck hard.
A vivid red mark bloomed like a plum blossom against her snow-white skin, alluring and seductive.
“Ow, that hurts. Gu Tingshang, are you a dog?”
“Remember this. Don’t say ‘divorce’ again. Otherwise, I’ll punish you severely.”
Gu Tingshang placed the check against her chest and toyed with it, looking thoroughly pleased.
“Gu Tingshang, let go!”
“No!”
Gu Tingshang made it perfectly clear to her.
“I paid a hundred million in bride price and five million in pocket money. How could once possibly be enough?”
The man rallied for another round.
And continued savoring his soft, sweet delicacy.
Lin Zhixu started crying and cursing again.
“Gu Tingshang, you bastard! You beast! You shameless jerk!”
The more she cursed him, the more excited he became.
Then Lin Zhixu’s phone rang, and Gu Tingshang ordered her,
“Answer it!”
It was Nan Zhou. Lin Zhixu hadn’t replied to his messages for ages, and he was worried something might have happened to her.
“Zhizhi, are you home?”
“I’m—not!” Her words came in broken bursts, accompanied by strange, breathy gasps.
“Then where are you? I’ll come get you!”
Gu Tingshang paused for a second, then answered for her.
“At my place!”
Nan Zhou could hear that the voice belonged to a man. It sounded somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t be sure.
“You bastard, who are you?”
Gu Tingshang didn’t answer. Instead, he deliberately pinched a sensitive spot on Lin Zhixu’s waist.
“Ah!”
Lin Zhixu’s cry sounded like a cat’s—high and soft.
“Brother Nan Zhou, come save me!”
“I can’t take it anymore!”
Nan Zhou was frantic with worry. Hearing those disordered sounds, he could already guess what was happening on the other end.
“Zhizhi, where are you? I’m coming right now.”
Gu Tingshang picked up the phone and told him calmly,
“She’s at my place, cooking with me. What are you coming over for? To help out in the kitchen?”
Nan Zhou finally recognized the man’s voice. Like a leopard gone wild, he roared,
“Gu Tingshang, you bastard! She’s my wife.”