Moreover, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for the young lady to gain a clear understanding of her alcohol tolerance in advance.
See, the young lady across the table had already finished another glass without causing a scene.
Her tolerance seemed quite…
Lin Jinhuan’s lips had just curled into a faint, approving smile.
But the next moment, the girl’s long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and her body suddenly tilted like a puppet with its strings cut.
With a soft thud, she collapsed into Xue Xiaomin’s arms beside her.
Lin Jinhuan shot to her feet, rushing over in three quick strides.
Her slender fingers slipped into the girl’s fluffy hair, and with a gentle tug, she pulled her into her own embrace.
The girl’s warm breath immediately seeped through the fabric of her shirt, brushing against her collarbone with a sweet, intoxicating scent of alcohol.
“Go prepare a bowl of sobering soup,” Lin Jinhuan ordered without looking up, and the two attendants rose and headed for the door.
Suddenly, Lin Jinhuan’s voice sounded again from behind: “Wait.”
Lin Jinhuan tilted her head to glance at the person in her arms, frowned slightly, and softened her tone involuntarily: “Change it to honey water instead. Make it warm.”
The sobering soup had a strange taste; she might not drink it.
Xue Xiaomin had frozen like a statue the moment the young lady collapsed onto her.
The sweet scent of roses still seemed to linger at the tip of her nose, mixed with a unique, cloying sweetness—utterly delightful.
Inwardly, she berated herself countless times, wishing she weren’t a woman!
The young lady was truly soft! Fragrant! And so huggable!
Lost in these thoughts, she couldn’t help but look up at the girl who had been snatched away by Lin Jinhuan.
To her surprise, she saw her boss mischievously pinch the girl’s jade-like, soft cheek and give it a deliberate shake.
Xue Xiaomin’s eyes widened instantly, her hand reacting faster than her mind.
With a sharp “smack,” she slapped Lin Jinhuan’s misbehaving hand.
In an instant, the surrounding air seemed to freeze solid.
Lin Jinhuan slowly raised her head, her phoenix eyes slightly upturned, carrying a hint of coldness as she spoke word by word:
“Feeling bold, are we?”
Xue Xiaomin was already afraid of her boss, and now her legs felt like jelly.
But when she caught sight of the two conspicuous red marks on the girl’s porcelain-like face, an inexplicable surge of courage welled up within her. Stiffening her neck, she retorted:
“Boss, you… you’re too rough!”
Lin Jinhuan looked down, saw the two red marks, and coughed lightly in guilt. She then rubbed the marks with the back of her hand, trying to fade them.
As dusk fell, after feeding the bowl of honey water, Lin Jinhuan parked the car punctually in front of the ornate wrought-iron gate of the Jing family’s old mansion.
She had just half-supported, half-carried the girl out of the car when the motion-sensor lights in the courtyard suddenly blazed to life.
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, she could see a figure sitting upright in the living room—
The man wore a black shirt, its cuffs slightly rolled up to reveal a section of his cold, pale wrist.
Above his wrist bone, a medieval iris cufflink adorned his sleeve.
His legs were crossed, his posture casual, and the hand holding the tablet was slender and elegant, with skin as fine as jade.
An air of aloofness and nobility emanated from his very bones.
As if sensing the arrival, the man lifted his gaze and looked in their direction.
The shadows cast by his brow bones made his narrow eyes appear even more profound.
The next moment, the man set down the tablet in his hand, rose, and walked toward the outside.
Pushing open the villa door, his tall frame exuded an overwhelming presence.
He stopped just a foot away from her.
Lin Jinhuan felt her arm suddenly empty—the girl had already been taken from her.The man’s strong arms slipped beneath Jing Nian’an’s knees, and with a standard princess carry, he securely locked her in his embrace.
Jing Nian’an’s head naturally tilted into the crook of his neck, her hair brushing against his prominent Adam’s apple.
In that moment, Jing Lüyan’s nose was instantly enveloped by the sweet, cloying scent of the young woman, but upon closer inspection, it was also laced with a hint of alcohol.
His pupils contracted sharply, and a dangerous, icy gleam instantly ignited in his eyes.
“You took her drinking?”
In an instant, the temperature around them seemed to drop, and the air grew thick with a stifling atmosphere.
“Sorry, Mr. Jing.”
Lin Jinhuan truly hadn’t expected to be caught red-handed by the girl’s guardian, who also happened to be her employer, and couldn’t help but nervously touch her nose.
What a miscalculation!
Jing Lüyan pressed his thin lips together, offering no response, merely casting a cold glance her way.
Then, holding the person in his arms steadily, he turned and strode toward the villa.
“You’ve breached the contract. It’s terminated.”
His voice drifted from ahead, cold and distant. “Just abide by the rules after the breach.”
Lin Jinhuan looked up, her gaze snapping toward the front.
The man’s tall, indifferent back completely shielded the person in his arms.
A ripple stirred in Lin Jinhuan’s phoenix-like eyes. Knowing that nothing she said now would make a difference, she stiffly nodded and replied, “Alright.”
Indeed, her friendship with Miss Jing was merely the result of a transaction she had struck with Jing Lüyan.
Lin Jinhuan urgently needed the influence and support of the Jing family to secure her victory in the Lin family’s internal power struggle.
And the terms Jing Lüyan had laid out weren’t exactly exorbitant.
First, after successfully becoming the next heir, Lin Jinhuan was to cede ten percent of the Lin family’s crucial overseas arms trading market share.
Second, she was required to closely protect Jing Nian’an’s safety and report her daily activities.
Now, Lin Jinhuan had failed to report that the young miss wanted to go to a bar and had even personally handed her a drink, clearly violating the agreement.
The promised ten percent market share instantly ballooned to thirty percent.
Of course, Jing Lüyan was a thorough businessman.
To safeguard the Jing family’s interests, the contract had long included a series of compensation clauses in case Lin Jinhuan ultimately failed to emerge victorious in the Lin family’s power struggle.
In truth, before approaching Jing Lüyan, she had assumed that given the man’s status and position, his demands would be astronomical.
She never expected he would ask for only a ten percent share.
Then again, thinking about it now, just taking care of Miss Jing was torment enough.
The young woman was delicate, troublesome, and incredibly spoiled.
Over the past month, the young miss had either been quarreling with daughters from other families or insisting on visiting trendy restaurants for photo ops.
Just because a young lady from the Ming family had shown off in front of her, she had pestered Lin Jinhuan, demanding to eat the strawberry cake from the east side of the city,
forcing Lin Jinhuan to speed through three red lights.
Even someone as patient as Lin Jinhuan sometimes found herself infuriated to the point of dizziness by the young miss’s princess-like antics.
Lin Jinhuan turned and walked toward the car door.
This should have been a relief—no longer having to deal with that delicate, spoiled young miss.
As the engine roared to life, the mansion in the rearview mirror gradually blurred.
She should have felt relieved, yet her fingers gripping the steering wheel inexplicably tightened.
~
Jing Lüyan carried the person up the stairs and ran into Wen Zhuo, who had just come downstairs.
Wen Zhuo paused, his gaze falling on the sleeping girl in Jing Lüyan’s arms, his brow furrowing slightly. “What happened?”
Jing Lüyan’s expression remained indifferent, his voice low. “She drank.”Before the words had fully left his mouth, he had already sidestepped Wen Zhuo and walked straight toward Jing Nian’an’s room.
He gently placed her back on the bed, pulling the velvet quilt up to her shoulders, his movements so practiced it was as if he had done this a thousand times before.
Then, he walked to the walk-in closet, took out a set of silk pajamas, and with slender fingers, unzipped the side of her dress.
His fingertips occasionally brushed against the warm, soft skin of the young girl, yet he restrained himself with an almost cold solemnity.
After changing her into the pajamas, Jing Lüyan pulled over an armchair with one hand and sat down beside the bed.
His gaze fell heavily on the girl’s cheeks, flushed from intoxication.
The girl’s dress was still clutched in his palm, the soft fabric wrinkled slightly by his distinct, bony fingers.
The door was pushed open, and Wen Zhuo walked in carrying a glass of plain water and some hangover lozenges.
The moment the door opened, Jing Lüyan’s expression remained unchanged.
He only subtly covered the dress over his lap and looked up at the newcomer. “What is it?”
Wen Zhuo didn’t answer, walking straight past him to place the water glass on the bedside table.
His voice was gentle yet distant. “Give her a lozenge, or she’ll be crying and complaining of a headache tomorrow morning.”
“She won’t take it,” Jing Lüyan said calmly.
“It’s orange-flavored,” Wen Zhuo lowered his gaze, pressing the lozenge with his thumb and gently pushing it toward the girl’s lips. “She won’t resist it.”
From Jing Lüyan’s perspective, Wen Zhuo’s leaning posture seemed almost intimate, as if he were about to kiss her lips the next second.
A faint vein throbbed at his temple, his voice turning cold and heavy. “I’ll do it.”
With that, he made to stand up.
But Wen Zhuo straightened up first, his peach blossom eyes lifting slightly, a thin layer of ice floating in their depths as they met Jing Lüyan’s narrow, cold gaze.
—Hah, in just the time it took to pour a glass of water, his cousin had already changed her clothes for her.
Truly… impatient.
A faint, mocking smile curled at the corner of Wen Zhuo’s lips as he reached out to tuck the quilt around the girl.
His fingertips brushed almost imperceptibly against her scattered hair, his tone calm:
“Cousin, you just returned from a business trip. Why not go rest first? I’ll watch over her.”
“No need.”
Jing Lüyan’s voice was low, just two short words, yet the sense of oppression felt tangible, pressing through the air.
He had only been away for two days, and already some people thought they could claim a closer position.
Ridiculous.