The car soon arrived at Beijing University, stopping at an appropriate distance from her dormitory building.
It was lunchtime. If He Canglan didn’t have an appointment, he might have considered taking Lan Die to try authentic Beijing cuisine.
He looked at the young woman pressed against the car window and leaned directly toward her.
Lan Die only felt that familiar Pine Scent, carrying an intense desire, instantly envelop her entire being.
He Canglan trapped her in his embrace with one arm, gripped the back of her neck with his other hand, and without hesitation captured her lips.
The orchid fragrance enchanted him too deeply!
The soft, jade-like sweetness of her lips left him unable to stop!
Perhaps there were other emotions too—it had been another week without seeing her, and maybe he truly missed her!
Lan Die still struggled fiercely, but he was too strong, his iron-like arms holding her too tightly.
This time, he kissed her fiercely, leaving her no chance to bite him.
She could only dig her nails with force into wherever her fingers could reach his body.
He Canglan was completely immersed, endlessly savoring this supreme delight.
Only when she was breathless and exhausted did he release her, smoothing her disheveled hair, embracing her briefly, and saying hoarsely:
“Lan Die, go back now.”
“He Canglan!” she called his name softly.
“Hmm?”
“Let’s not meet again, okay?!”
Her words sounded like a plea, but more than that, they carried helplessness.
The man’s tone was icy and unyielding: “No.”
He took her phone, directly opened her contacts, saved his frequently used private number, and added her on WeChat along the way.
“Lan Die, the earrings require someone’s help to remove. This is the exclusive storage box. If you can’t figure it out, call me. Goodbye.”
The man handed her a very rustic yet luxurious, strangely designed box.
Soon, he regained his proud, arrogant, and distant demeanor, as if the person who had kissed her so passionately and selflessly moments ago wasn’t him!
Yi An timely opened the car door on Lan Die’s side.
Lan Die remained silent for a moment. “I’ll return both the card and the earrings to you!”
Without waiting for his response, she quickly stepped out of the car and walked toward the dormitory without looking back.
He Canglan watched her slender figure until it disappeared into the dormitory building.
In his heart, there were indescribable emotions.
The earrings weren’t bought specifically as a travel gift for her just because he was going to Hong Kong.
A friend abroad happened to inform him, who enjoyed collecting, during this period that these rare sapphire earrings had resurfaced.
He only saw the pictures but felt the earrings’ ethereal visual impact and velvet-like blue texture perfectly matched the snow-jade beauty named Lan Die!
He decisively purchased them!
When giving her gifts, he liked them to be as unique as she was.
“Let’s go.”
He Canglan leaned lazily against the seatback, frowning slightly, his hand unconsciously massaging the space between his eyebrows.
Yi An saw his expression in the rearview mirror and sighed inwardly.
He could be even more certain now that He Canglan was unusually attached to Lan Die!
Even when facing financial crises or handling many tricky matters, He Canglan had never looked so troubled.
The words “I’ll return both the card and the earrings to you” had likely truly wounded his heart.
He couldn’t promise her anything. Until everything was absolutely certain, he would never utter those empty words like “I want to be with you” or similar.
Or perhaps he had never considered treating that beautiful Lan Die as a companion bought with roses and money.
What difference would that make from those people Liao Zhongqing mentioned who openly priced her for keeping?
Yet now he had clearly given her such a misunderstanding, and for the moment, he couldn’t explain it to her. Nor could he make it clear.
He still had to give her money, to free her from the constraints of financial burdens, to let her live happily, improve herself more freely, and pursue the life she desired.
At the same time, he had to constantly consider whether every meeting between them might bring her unforeseen troubles—a tangled mess of contradictions!
“Mr. He, should we go back and change your clothes first?”
Though Yi An noticed his displeasure, he still dutifully reminded him.
Clothes? He Canglan looked down at the white shirt he was wearing.
The once perfectly ironed and crisp shirt now had some creases around the waist area—the exact spots where her small hands had been restrained.
At this moment, the sensation of her struggling, her small hands scratching at his waist, seemed to spread endlessly through his muscles.
Every time, she resisted and resented him so fiercely!
He wondered when those small hands would ever willingly wrap around his neck or, perhaps, slip between the buttons of his shirt to feel the well-toned physique he had built through long-term fitness and exercise.
He Canglan replied to Yi An with a simple “Okay!”
Then he took out his phone. While checking his messages, he remembered that he had just added her on WeChat.
Her profile picture was very simple—a beautiful Fender’s Blue Butterfly dancing freely against a backdrop of blooming flowers.
This endangered and stunning blue butterfly could only be found in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, USA.
Just like her, it carried an otherworldly, breathtaking beauty and charm!
Her content was set to “visible for the last three days,” clean and tidy, revealing nothing about her private life.
Only the background image on her profile page was an elegant and fresh ink painting, signed with her name.
So she was also a talented young woman skilled in traditional Chinese painting! The corners of He Canglan’s lips lifted slightly in a faint smile.
Thinking of how she had trembled and cried earlier, his heart simply couldn’t settle down.
He opened the chat window, typed and deleted, then typed again. In the end, all he sent were a few words: “Have a good lunch!”
Lan Die hurried back to the dormitory, where both Cong Yue and Tian Beibei happened to be.
The two immediately noticed the sapphire earrings she was wearing.
Each earring weighed over twenty carats, shimmering with a precious blue glow.
“Wow!” Tian Beibei squealed as she walked over. “Die’er, who gave these to you?”
Lan Die smiled faintly, not wanting to respond.
The fact that she was once the heiress of Lan Sheng Group couldn’t be hidden, and her current status as a fallen heiress was even more widely known, thanks to Lin Yi’s spreading of the news.
Now, burdened with a mountain of debt, she suddenly appeared wearing what amounted to two houses on her ears—who wouldn’t have suspicions? And what would they think?
At this thought, she quickly pursed her lips, which were still swollen from his kisses, and sat sullenly on the bed without saying a word.
Cong Yue shot Tian Beibei a glare, signaling her to step back and mind her own business.
She walked over and sat beside Lan Die, holding her hand. “Die’er, if you’re not happy, you don’t have to talk about it. How did the tutoring interview go this morning?”
Lan Die gave her a grateful look and nodded.
“That’s fantastic! We should definitely go out for a nice meal to celebrate!” Cong Yue winked at Tian Beibei.
“Right, right! How about we go to a restaurant near the school gate today? My treat, to celebrate for Die’er!” Tian Beibei also set aside her curiosity.
Lan Die was deeply touched by the warmth and care of her two friends, but her emotions were still unsettled, and she had little appetite.
Just as she was about to decline, her phone rang. She picked it up and saw a message from someone with a profile picture of the vast Canghai Sea but no name:
“Have a good lunch!”