These rare flowers were extremely difficult to buy in Huaguo, so Huo Tingyun had no choice but to ask his eldest brother for help. As expected, his big brother could do anything.
Huo Tingyun’s admiration for his amazing elder brother grew even stronger. He stepped forward, took the bouquet, and placed it in Jiang Zhinian’s arms.
“Nian Nian, do you like them?”
Jiang Zhinian’s face lit up with delight. She affectionately took Huo Tingyun’s hand.
“Tingyun, thank you. I really love them.”
After a pause, she looked up at Huo Lin.
“And thank you too, Big Brother. You have such wonderful taste.”
As she spoke, she blinked at him. Her smile was breathtakingly alluring, and her seductive fox-like eyes held a teasing look that was half genuine and half feigned.
She was wearing a crescent-white qipao. The design itself was not particularly form-fitting, yet her voluptuous figure stretched the fabric over every curve.
Her slender, graceful figure, her full breasts, her tiny waist that seemed as though it could be encircled with one hand, and the glimpse of snowy-white thigh revealed through the slit of her qipao—
All of it was enough to stir one’s imagination.
Huo Lin’s jaw tightened.
After a moment of silence, he curled his lips faintly. The depths of his dark eyes were impossible to read.
“You’re welcome, sister-in-law.”
He put particular emphasis on the words sister-in-law, almost as though he were gritting them out.
Just a few days ago, this woman had practically been draped over him, clamoring about wanting to marry him.
And now, she was intimately holding his younger brother’s hand and had become his “sister-in-law.”
Good.
Very good.
Huo Tingyun felt that the atmosphere was a little strange, but he didn’t think much of it.
“You don’t have to be polite with him. Don’t let Big Brother’s cold personality fool you—he’s actually very helpful.”
Jiang Zhinian smiled slightly.
Helpful?
She knew Huo Lin’s personality better than anyone.
His idea of being helpful was probably strangling her to death and then kindly finding a hole to bury her in.
“Grandpa is here.”
Someone said this, and everyone’s attention immediately turned toward the back entrance.
The heavy carved wooden doors were pushed open, and Old Marshal Huo entered with someone’s assistance.
His hair was completely white, but the sharpness in his eyes showed that his wisdom and keen judgment had not diminished with age.
Old Marshal Huo swept his gaze across the room before finally stopping on Jiang Zhinian.
It wasn’t just because she was unfamiliar to him.
Jiang Zhinian was simply far too striking. Even if she were thrown into the middle of a crowd, she would still stand out at a glance.
“Hello, Grandpa. I’m Huo Tingyun’s girlfriend,” Jiang Zhinian said obediently.
When the Huo family had previously gone to the Jiang family to bring her home, Jiang Zhinian hadn’t been there, so Old Marshal Huo had never seen her before.
“Mm, hello.” Old Master Huo nodded and gave her a kindly smile. “Everyone, go and take your seats in the dining room.”
Huo Tingyun secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed Grandpa accepted Jiang Zhinian. Otherwise, his usually stern grandfather would never have smiled.
At the dinner table, however, the atmosphere was rather tense.
Aside from Huo Tingyun and Old Master Huo, everyone knew exactly who Jiang Zhinian was.
But no one dared expose her.
When it came time for the birthday toasts, everyone took turns raising a glass to Huo Tingyun.
Then a young woman who had looked displeased from the very beginning took advantage of the opportunity to approach him.
“Brother Tingyun, happy birthday.”
She smiled as she raised her glass toward him.
But the next second, the glass slipped from her hand.
It was about to spill all over Jiang Zhinian.
Huo Lin’s expression darkened, and he abruptly rose from his seat at the other end of the table.
But Huo Tingyun, who was sitting beside her, moved even faster.
He suddenly turned and shielded Jiang Zhinian.
The entire glass of red wine splashed onto him.
“Ah! Brother Tingyun, I didn’t do it on purpose!” the young woman cried, covering her mouth.
From an angle no one else could see, she shot Jiang Zhinian—who had escaped completely unharmed—a vicious glare.
Then, looking flustered, she took out a handkerchief and tried to wipe Huo Tingyun’s clothes.
Huo Tingyun said nothing. He simply raised a hand to stop her.
“Nian Nian, I’m going upstairs to change. Can you come help me pick something out?”
Jiang Zhinian nodded, her gentle smile looking even more provocative in the woman’s eyes.
Upstairs, in Huo Tingyun’s room.
Huo Tingyun had already taken off his shirt, and the bloodstains on it were glaringly obvious.
When he shielded Jiang Zhinian earlier, he had inevitably pulled at his wound.
Not wanting his grandfather to discover that he was injured and worry about him, he had no choice but to ask Nian Nian to help change his bandages.
“Commander Huo, you don’t have to protect me like that next time. It was only a glass of wine. Even if it hit me, it wouldn’t have been a big deal.”
After dressing his wound, Jiang Zhinian draped a fresh shirt over his shoulders and sat in front of him to tie the bandages.
Seeing how understanding she was, the guilt in Huo Tingyun’s eyes deepened.
“Zhinian, it’s my fault. That girl is Gu Nuannuan, the younger sister from my neighbor’s family. She’s been spoiled rotten and doesn’t know how to control her temper. Don’t blame her.”
“Oh?”
Jiang Zhinian curled her lips with amusement.
So Huo Tingyun knew Gu Nuannuan had done it deliberately?
Yet he still wanted to let the matter go and avoid holding her responsible.
How interesting.
It seemed even the innocent and inexperienced Huo Tingyun couldn’t escape the cliché of a childhood girl-next-door calling him “big brother.”
Still, she and Huo Tingyun weren’t really a couple, and she hadn’t actually been hurt.
There was no need to make a big deal out of it.
“Ahem.”
A soft cough came from the doorway.
The two turned around.
Huo Lin stood there expressionlessly.
Afraid that his elder brother would see the bloodstained clothes, Huo Tingyun shifted slightly, trying to hide them.
But to Huo Lin, it looked completely different.
From where he stood at the door, the two of them had appeared to be kissing.
And Huo Tingyun’s awkward movement now only looked like embarrassment at having been caught.
Under his elder brother’s piercing gaze, Huo Tingyun could no longer sit still. He stuffed the shirt he had been wearing beneath the covers and hurriedly stood up.
“Big Brother, I’ll head downstairs first.”
Huo Lin didn’t even acknowledge him.
His hawk-like gaze remained fixed squarely on Jiang Zhinian.
Jiang Zhinian acted as though she hadn’t noticed at all. Unhurriedly, she walked over to him and casually leaned against his body.
To her surprise, Huo Lin didn’t dodge her like he usually did.
He stood completely still.
And so, her soft, delicate body rested against him.
Her peach-blossom eyes curved upward as she looked at him pitifully.
“Big Brother, why are you looking so serious? You’re scaring me.”
Jiang Zhinian decided to take the initiative and add even more fuel to Huo Lin’s anger.
[Host Niannian! You only have five minutes of life left! Kiss him! Hurry up and kiss him!]
Tuanzi spun around anxiously in her mind.
Jiang Zhinian remained unmoved.
Instead, she rose onto her tiptoes, leaned close to Huo Lin’s ear, and gently blew against it.
A soft, teasing breath carrying the pleasant scent of roses brushed over him, leaving a tingling sensation.
Huo Lin’s gaze darkened slightly and fell upon her pale-pink, cherry-like lips.
The thought that those lips had just kissed Huo Tingyun made an indescribable anger surge through his chest.
Why?
She had kissed him last time. So why had she turned around and gotten involved with Huo Tingyun afterward?
Did she think he was merely a toy in the palm of her hand—someone she could tease and play with whenever she pleased?
His large hand suddenly clamped around her slender, alluring waist.
He tilted up her chin and forcefully pressed his lips against hers.
Huo Lin was clearly inexperienced when it came to kissing.
There was no tenderness or technique—only a domineering, almost savage assault of biting and crushing kisses, as fierce as a violent storm.
“Mmph…”
The woman in his arms was clearly displeased and raised a hand to push against his chest in protest.
But Huo Lin gave her no chance to escape.
His burning kiss only deepened, swallowing every soft, ambiguous sound she made.