Lu Bofan had clearly also thought of what happened at the birthday banquet.
He extended an arm and pulled her into his embrace, a faint smile floating across his usually cold, sharp features: "So, this counts as a reward for me too?"
Lu Meng actually gave it serious thought. She rose on her tiptoes and pecked the man's lips: "You could say that."
"So, President Lu needs to keep up the good behavior from now on."
The woman's beautiful eyes were especially bright and clear, like dazzling treasures, stirring the heart: "If I'm happy, I'll keep rewarding you."
He didn't know how other families raised their children, but in the Lu family, what Lu Bofan had never received was encouragement or reward-based upbringing.
From childhood to adulthood, what he got most was criticism.
His grandfather was extremely strict with him, and gradually, Lu Bofan became increasingly harsh on himself as well.
His older cousin had poor health, and his grandfather was always very lenient with him—no criticism, no punishment, sometimes even praise.
It wasn't that Lu Bofan had never been envious. When he did well, his grandfather wouldn't pat his head and praise him.
But the moment he failed to meet his grandfather's standards, he'd be locked in confinement and met with severe reprimands.
As a child, he'd felt wronged, but over time, Lu Bofan stopped expecting anything.
Because he knew he was the Lu family's heir, and these were things he should achieve and must bear.
But Lu Meng was different from him.
Many people loved her—obviously—and she equally knew well how to treat others kindly.
This was the first time Lu Bofan had ever received a "reward."
His heart was racing now, his blood seemed hot, adrenaline surging. The last time he'd felt this way was when he'd screwed over a rival company.
So getting a "reward" felt this good.
Inside the elevator descending to the underground garage, Lu Meng was still asking him: "Has anyone else ever given you a car?"
Lu Bofan held her hand, casually watching the jumping numbers as he answered: "Yes."
Lu Meng pouted: "I knew you don't lack anything."
The moment her words landed, she added with a slightly unreasonable tone: "But you can't compare what I gave you with what others gave you."
Lu Bofan lowered his eyes to look at her, lifting the corner of his mouth: "Mm, understood."
Undeniably, she loved this obedient, considerate side of him.
The elevator went straight to the second floor of the villa. The woman's stiletto heels clicked against the floor. When she spoke again, there was a distinct air of being spoiled and proud: "How are you so calm? You don't thank me, you don't express that you like it, you—"
The tail end of her questioning was suddenly swallowed by a surging kiss.
Lu Meng was forced to lift her face, noses pressed together, their ragged breaths tangled chaotically. She was dazed for only a moment before, in the next second, the hand braced against his shoulder had already moved up to wrap around him.
A kiss that ignited at a single touch, as if setting all the blood in their bodies ablaze, wildly throbbing with desire.
Lu Meng's lips and teeth were filled with the man's breath. She stumbled backward, Lu Bofan holding her with one arm while his other hand loosened his bow tie, never once stopping his kiss.
Lu Meng's lashes trembled lightly. Her gaze caught his well-defined knuckled hand—a man who was always so composed, yet the motion of pulling at his tie carried a certain sexiness.
"Wait…"
Her lips had been kissed until they glistened. She leaned back slightly to dodge, breath unsteady as she interrupted: "I still have something to give you."
Lu Bofan, pushed away by her without mercy, had no choice but to suppress the restless impulse clamoring inside him and followed indifferently behind the woman.
Lu Meng took out that tie. She figured, since she had already given him the car, she might as well give him this too.
"I was in a good mood shopping that day, bought it on a whim."
Her tone was casual, but she kept watching for his reaction.
Lu Bofan held the gift box containing the tie, his gaze lowered, his expression faint, his dark eyes revealing no emotion that could be discerned.
His calmness made Lu Meng a little unhappy. "If you don't like it, just leave it. It's not like I bought it specially for you anyway."
With that, she stopped looking at him. As she brushed past him, Lu Bofan caught her wrist and stopped her.
He lowered his head slightly and looked at her. "Which day?"
Lu Meng already couldn't be bothered with him much anymore, her tone much cooler. "The day you came back from your business trip, when we ran into each other at dinner."
Lu Bofan naturally noticed the shift in her mood. His tone softened. "What about the other tie you brought back that day?"
Lu Meng furrowed her brow. "What tie?"
She didn't remember buying any other tie.
Lu Bofan prompted, "The other style. The one Tang Yushen is wearing today."
Lu Meng belatedly remembered. "That was one my senior bought for her cousin. I just accidentally grabbed the wrong one."
She paused, then suddenly thought of that night, how he had been so silent and rough, and she realized something.
"You thought I bought it for someone else?"
Something Lu Bofan had been brooding over for so long turned out to be a misunderstanding. "Sorry."
Lu Meng walked up to him and stared at him directly. After a long silence, she pronounced her verdict. "You were jealous?"
Lu Bofan released her wrist. "Yeah."
He admitted it too openly, and the displeasure in Lu Meng's heart suddenly vanished.
So in this marriage, he had fallen for her too.
"Then why didn't you just ask me?"
She didn't want to seem too easy to appease. "You misunderstood me for so long. I don't really want to talk to you right now."
Lu Bofan didn't let her leave, trapping her in his arms. "Lu Meng."
Her face was cold as she reluctantly raised her eyes.
"Teach me."
Her chin lifted slightly. "Teach you what?"
He lowered his head, the tips of their noses touching. "Teach me how to make it up to you."
Lu Meng's heart thundered. She leaned back and glared at the man. "No seduction."
A smile surfaced in Lu Bofan's eyes as he gently kissed her. "I shouldn't have misunderstood you."
Lu Meng wanted to dodge, but her body was against the wardrobe with nowhere to escape, almost caged in his arms. She turned her face away, but the man chased after her and kissed her.
"I really was jealous, but I didn't misunderstand that you were cheating. I also know you wouldn't do that."
With every sentence he spoke, he kissed her once.
Lu Meng's heart raced from his teasing, but she still didn't back down, her tone still carrying a hint of displeasure. "I thought you'd be really surprised when you saw it."
Lu Bofan cupped her face. He probably really had never comforted anyone before—he couldn't even manage a single sweet word, only answering in a low voice, "I really like it."
Lu Meng hadn't been that angry to begin with. Now, kissed until her head was spinning, her resisting hands gradually tightened around the man's shirt.
She applied a bit of force to make him lower his head. Her clear eyes quietly reflected the man's face. "Just this once."
Lu Bofan was accustomed to looking down on others, yet at this moment, commanded by her slightly domineering tone, he felt no displeasure whatsoever.
From childhood to now, he was never allowed to make mistakes—everything had to be perfect.
So his lovely, kind wife had already been quite lenient with him, even giving him a chance.
How could he not seize it?
The moment Lu Meng's words fell, she was lifted up by her hips.
Her legs instinctively hooked around the man's waist. Lu Bofan casually set his tie aside and carried her back to the bedroom.
The air seemed to simmer and ferment with intimacy.
In this matter, aside from the initial awkwardness, the subsequent times had all been led by him.
She thought it would be as straightforward as before, but in the midst of the haze, she suddenly cried out: "Lu Bofan!"
Lu Meng thought he had gone mad, instinctively trying to stop him, but was restrained by his fingers interlaced with hers.
Using the last of her rationality, she desperately suppressed her trembling: "You don't have to go this far…"
A man as proud as him, how could he… with his mouth.
She had never imagined he would do such a thing.
But her increasingly racing heartbeat proved that she wasn't truly resisting—in fact, she could even say she was looking forward to it.
"Didn't you say I should perform well?"
Lu Bofan gave her a deep look, his dark gaze as if pulling her down with him.
"Lu Meng, trust me."
The man's shirt and trousers remained untouched, save for his slightly disheveled collar—he still looked impeccably composed.
Even when she kicked him, he merely lifted his eyelids, no displeasure in his pitch-black eyes—on the contrary, he seemed to smile a little.
Lu Bofan rarely ever wore a cold expression in front of her.
Just like now, he leisurely wiped his glistening lips, his lashes lowered as he looked at her—not the slightest bit flustered, even somewhat alluring, and especially pleasing to the eye.
The two usually didn't speak during such moments.
But tonight, Lu Bofan brushed away the stray strands of hair stuck to her forehead and said softly: "I really like the car, and the tie too."
The etiquette he had been taught since childhood dictated that when receiving a gift, one should express appreciation generously.
Moreover, she had already been displeased with his coldness earlier.
Lu Bofan had learned his lesson and felt he should ask for her opinion more often.
"Are you satisfied with my performance?"
Lu Meng's eyes were rimmed with red, and she commanded him with unsteady breath: "You're not allowed to talk anymore."
Lu Bofan thought, she really is adorable.
In truth, the two were quite restrained—only once a day—which was why Lu Meng had always felt he wasn't particularly interested in this.
Today should have been the same.
So when he started a second time, she was bewildered: "Again…?"
Lu Bofan kissed her gently, then considerately asked: "Tired?"
She choked a little, and after a moment to recover, asked in confusion: "Isn't once enough?"
Lu Bofan, being as perceptive as he was, caught on to something: "You don't actually think I can only manage once, do you?"
Lu Meng opened her lips hesitantly, looking at him innocently and blankly.
"……"
Lu Bofan was indeed a bit amused and exasperated.
"At first, I was worried you couldn't handle it."
And later, she would head straight to the bathroom after they finished, so he assumed she didn't want to continue.
He never expected she would think he could only manage once.
"It seems we have quite a misunderstanding about each other."
Tonight, Lu Bofan's deepest realization was that misunderstandings between husband and wife must never be left to grow cold.
So, he decided to have a proper, in-depth conversation with his wife, to understand each other better—this would be more beneficial for their married life.
But Lu Meng felt his exploration was too deep, and the discussion lasted too long.
By the time the conversation ended, it was already past midnight.
"How about a drive?"
In the bathroom, he braced his hands on either side of the woman, as if enclosing her in his arms.
Lu Meng had already changed into a clean nightgown. Her soft long hair couldn't hide the marks on her neck at all. Hearing what he said, she didn't think he was crazy, but looked at the person in the mirror and asked, "Now?"
"Yeah." Lu Bofan lifted his eyelids, his dark gaze equally fixed on the mirror. "The car you gave me—I want to try it."
Lu Meng turned around. The water-blue slip dress made her skin look very fair.
The woman hooked her hands up around his neck, tilting her face slightly, her tone carrying a touch of joyful pride: "Lu Bofan, to have a wife like me who's willing to accompany you on a drive in the middle of the night and spoil you—you're really lucky."
Her eyes were bright and clear, without any complaint or reluctance.
Lu Bofan let out a soft laugh, obediently lowering his head to kiss her. "I think so too."
It was already December now. The late-night temperature was low, and almost no one would be crazy enough to go for a drive at this hour.
The black Koenigsegg wove through the cold, silent night. Music played inside the car, and the man steered with one hand.
Unlike his daytime appearance—meticulously buttoned to the collar, rigid and restrained—his posture was unusually languid. The lights outside the window cast an ambiguous glow on his sharp profile, and the red marks on his neck hinted at a flirtatious debauchery.
Lu Bofan had chosen a road with no nearby residents, relatively open and quiet.
"I rarely drive this kind of car."
He eased off the gas, and the speed dropped considerably. He spoke to her calmly and naturally.
"I represent the Lu family, so I must be rigorous and steady."
His every move could affect the Lu Corporation, so from a very young age, he had lost his own interests.
Over time, he had grown accustomed to this dull, dry life where no mistakes were permitted.
He too had once had a spirited youth, had yearned for those unrestrained, unregulated days—but they had all been crushed down by heavy responsibilities and burdens.
A friend said he seemed to have become a hollow man with only work and no soul.
Lu Bofan had merely said lightly, "Is that so."
There was nothing to regret, really. As the eldest son of the Lu family, he had gained much as well.
He thought he had long stopped caring, but when he saw this car, his blood was screaming with excitement.
So this was what it felt like to receive a gift you love.
And this was the first time someone had said they wanted to spoil him.
No one had spoiled him when he was young, but at thirty, someone finally did.
Lu Bofan pressed his hand to the corner of his lips, unable to suppress a low chuckle.
He turned his head to look at the person in the passenger seat, his dark eyes deep yet equally gentle: "So, Lu Meng, I really love the gift you gave me. Truly."
Lu Meng didn't know how long she had been watching him—she only felt her heart surging as if stirred by the wind.
When she was studying abroad, whenever she got tired of writing papers, she would go for a drive by herself.
She had thought it was a very ordinary thing.
Upon hearing his words, the first thought that popped into her mind was that if they had met earlier, she could have whisked Lu Bofan away for a drive together.
She had the man's heavy coat draped over her shoulders, propping her cheek on her hand, her bright eyes fixed intently on him: "Lu Bofan, do you know that right now, driving one-handed like that, unconstrained as you are…"
"You're absolutely stunning."
Lu Bofan hadn't expected to be met with a compliment.
Lu Meng didn't say anything to comfort him. She didn't say, oh, you poor thing.
Your grandfather and the others are so strict with you.
She shifted her gaze away, looking out at the pitch-black night, yet she seemed to be in a wonderful mood: "It's okay."
She could understand his responsibilities, and she knew that in front of outsiders, he had to be perfect.
And the Lu Bofan of tonight—stunning, willing to coax her with complete honesty, willing to go below the hem of her skirt, the most real, and the one who made her heart flutter like no other…
"Just let me be the only one who sees it."