7 – Stingy Tan Shen
Tan Shen arrived on the third floor and pushed open the bedroom door.
His gaze fell upon the large, snow-white, soft bed, where a small lump was curled up.
The little fox had half her face buried in the pillow, her long hair cascading loosely around her. Her slender, pale fingers rested against her cheek, curled slightly as she slept quietly and obediently.
Tan Shen had always thought that when she was quiet, she looked like an exquisite, beautiful porcelain doll.
“Get up.”
The man’s way of waking her was not gentle; even his tone was cold and detached.
Xie Yurao faintly heard him, frowned, and buried her face deeper into the pillow, ignoring him.
Tan Shen had little patience. He leaned down, intending to pry her little head out of the pillow.
His long fingers slipped through her messy, fluffy hair and brushed against her fair, tender cheek. The sensation was pleasant—soft and yielding, like smooth, silky jelly.
Tan Shen abandoned the idea of prying her out. “Get up.”
“…”
Seeing she still showed no reaction, Tan Shen simply grabbed her slender, pale arm and pulled her upright.
The little fox bristled instantly.
“Tan Shen!”
She opened her watery, dazed fox-like eyes and glared angrily at the man.
But when she saw him, she froze.
This was one of the rare times she had seen Tan Shen in casual clothes.
No shirt or trousers—just a simple, deep gray casual outfit, relaxed and carefree.
He had just finished exercising, and beads of sweat still clung to his long neck. He exuded a thick, intense aura of sensual hormones.
Xie Yurao’s mind went blank, forgetting what she had intended to say.
“What’s wrong?”
Tan Shen realized it might be because he was covered in sweat. She was always delicate and particular about cleanliness, and she disliked it.
So he released her wrist and pulled back, putting some distance between them.
But Xie Yurao immediately said, “Why are you moving away?”
She knelt on the bed, beckoning to the man with a voice still hazy from sleep. “Tan Shen, come here…”
Tan Shen frowned in confusion but still leaned a little closer to her.
“What for?”
Xie Yurao raised her hand toward him, her eyes innocent and guileless.
“I want to touch your Adam’s apple.”
“…”
Tan Shen froze.
Under the direct, lingering gaze of her mesmerizing, misty eyes, the man’s Adam’s apple rolled slowly and deliberately.
His voice deepened. “Do you know what you’re saying?”
The fine beads of sweat on the man’s prominent Adam’s apple rolled downward, leaving a winding trail of moisture.
To the sleepy little fox, this sight was utterly captivating.
She blinked slowly, unconsciously licking her red lips. “I know.”
Xie Yurao had always been unable to resist the allure of beauty, and every part of Tan Shen was exactly to her taste.
So she stared at him longingly.
But the next moment, she heard the man’s husky voice say, “No touching.”
He immediately retreated to his original position, his expression restrained and indifferent, speaking to her without much emotion. “Get up. It’s time for dance practice.”
Xie Yurao was disappointed.
She grumbled unhappily, “Stingy.”
“…” Tan Shen almost laughed in exasperation at her complaint.
His handsome, sharp features were icy cold, yet a faint, elusive smile tugged at his lips.
He retorted leisurely, “Not letting you touch me makes me stingy?”
What kind of twisted logic was that?
Was a man’s Adam’s apple something to be touched casually?
“Mhm, stingy.” Xie Yurao was still somewhat drowsy and responded sullenly.
Then, with her head drooping and her messy long hair hanging loosely, she refused to move. “Carry me to wash up.”
“No.”
Tan Shen rejected her almost instantly.
Xie Yurao: “??”
She puffed up her cheeks and glared at him, nearly driven mad by his stubbornness. “No touching, no hugging—are you trying to rebel today?”
“…”
Tan Shen took a deep breath, forced to remind her once again, “I am your bodyguard.”
A bodyguard.
Not her male concubine.
But the young lady, accustomed to her domineering ways, only heard what she wanted to hear.
For instance, the first four words: “You are mine.”
After a silent standoff, Tan Shen finally sighed helplessly. “I’m covered in sweat. I’ll dirty you.”
The little fox with skin like ice and snow tilted her head, pondered for a moment, and seemed to find his reasoning sound.
So she stopped insisting on being held.
Once she obediently walked into the bathroom on her own, Tan Shen rubbed his temples with a headache.
He had already forgotten what kind of mood he was in when he came to wake her up.
He had been in a rather foul mood.
Yet in the end, he still ended up coaxing her into washing her face on her own.
…
After Tan Shen finished showering and arrived in the front hall,
he saw Xie Yurao, already dressed and ready, sitting at the dining table in her dance practice dress. Her hair was tied into a neat little bun, revealing her slender, fair swan-like neck.
She was eating breakfast while chatting and laughing with Jiang Mingci across from her.
“So you’re from the Beijing Dance Academy next door? I actually played a basketball game at your school before.”
Xie Yurao casually asked, “Did you win?”
Jiang Mingci nodded, a bit shyly. “Yes, we won.”
After all, the sports university students trained regularly, so their overall strength was somewhat better.
Xie Yurao looked up with interest, a playful smile on her lips. “Then you must have attracted a lot of attention from the girls, right?”
A vibrant and handsome campus heartthrob, playing basketball with such free-spirited grace—undoubtedly stirring the hearts of countless young girls.
“…N-No, not really.”
Jiang Mingci lowered his head, speaking softly. “I don’t like them.”
Xie Yurao didn’t catch his words. She sighed regretfully.
“It’s a shame I don’t go to school much.”
Although she majored in dance, Qin Yun had been grooming her to take over the family assets in the future, so she spent most of her time furthering her studies.
Jiang Mingci nodded. “I know.”
His clear, bright eyes lingered on the beauty who was delicately sipping her porridge.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have met her so late.
“You know?” Xie Yurao glanced up, casually retorting. “Did you look into me?”
With that one sentence, the face of the handsome college heartthrob flushed red once again.
He wasn’t very good at lying and lowered his head. “…Mhm.”
Xie Yurao thought this little puppy was too easy to blush—quite fun to tease.
When she looked up again, she met Tan Shen’s cold, indifferent gaze.
Tan Shen had thought that after the morning incident where she, half-asleep, tried to touch his Adam’s apple, she might feel a bit embarrassed upon seeing him once she was fully awake.
Unexpectedly, there was none of that.
Instead, she propped her chin on her delicate, radiant hand and asked him with a smile, “Tan Shen, have you had breakfast yet?”
Tan Shen replied coolly, “No.”
Xie Yurao waved her little hand at him. “Then come eat with me.”
Jiang Mingci fell silent for a moment, saying nothing.
Tan Shen glanced at the dining table and noticed that the only thing requiring peeling was the lychees.
He walked over, picked one up, and peeled it effortlessly in a few motions, placing the plump, white lychee flesh onto her plate.
Only then did he speak. “No need. I’m heading out.”
Xie Yurao didn’t eat the lychee. Instead, she looked up at him unhappily. “Where to?”
“The boxing gym.”
Tan Shen wasn’t actually following her around every moment either. He also set aside time each week to train himself, to avoid letting his skills deteriorate.
Seeing her somewhat unhappy expression, Tan Shen lowered his gaze and chuckled softly.
“You don’t need to go out today, so there won’t be any danger.”
Then, he glanced casually at Jiang Mingci and continued in a calm tone.
“Besides, you’ll be practicing dance with this elementary school kid all day—no time to pay attention to me, right?”
Jiang Mingci: “…”
You’re the elementary school kid. Your whole family are elementary school kids.