Such intimate and gentle little gestures—Jiang Shi had long lost count of how long it had been since they’d shared anything like that.
During two years of cold war, every physical touch had carried a clear purpose—mechanical and distant, devoid of any affection.
This long-absent contact left her somewhat dazed.
Jiang Shi looked up in a trance, meeting a pair of deep, dark eyes swirling with emotions she couldn’t decipher.
She wore a white silk slip dress with thin straps, her skin like snow, her expression bewildered, a pair of dark almond eyes misty with moisture—innocent and alluring.
Cheng Jili’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. As he rose, he swung one leg onto the bed, his palm sliding down to rest on her bare shoulder.
He could feel the stark boniness beneath his touch, her arm far too thin—as if it might shatter with a single grasp.
“How did you get so thin? Anyone who didn’t know better would think I’ve been starving you.” His low voice carried its usual teasing tone, yet tinged with a tenderness long absent.
Jiang Shi’s body stiffened, and she instinctively shrank back. “It’s not like I lost weight overnight.”
It was that Cheng Jili hadn’t taken a proper look at her in far too long.
The man leaned in slightly, inching toward her bit by bit.
His warm breath, wrapped in the crisp, clean scent unique to him, washed over her face.
“Then I’ll feed you diligently from now on, and make sure you become a proper little pig.”
With that, he pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Exceedingly gentle.
“Cheng Jili…” Jiang Shi pushed against the man’s chest. “I’m not ovulating today.”
The person above her paused briefly, then let out a laugh of exasperation. “Do you really take me for a stud horse?”
Having said that, he pressed down hard, burying his head in the curve of Jiang Shi’s neck, kissing his way up behind her ear, taking her earlobe between his lips and teasing it.
Her ears were Jiang Shi’s weakness. In mere moments, her breathing had grown ragged, all her emotions drowning in a haze of desire.
It wasn’t until Cheng Jili’s kisses gradually wandered to the corner of her lips, his mouth almost pressing against hers, that she came back to her senses and turned her head away.
Her heart pounded violently—much like that first night.
The difference was that back then, she had anticipated everything about Cheng Jili; now, she was filled with uncertainty.
Cheng Jili’s kindness could be reclaimed.
She wasn’t sure if everything tonight would again be fleeting—if she would once more fall from heaven into hell.
The atmosphere instantly froze.
“What are you dodging for? Won’t let me kiss you?”
Cheng Jili remained at the same distance as before. When he spoke, his cool lips grazed her cheek, ticklish.
Even her heart felt ticklish, sprouting a tiny thought.
She had already given up on Cheng Jili accompanying her for the eye surgery, but now… it felt possible again.
Perhaps Cheng Jili would be willing to go with her—better than facing it alone.
“Cheng Jili, I…”
Suddenly, a jarring phone ringtone shattered the ambiguous atmosphere.
Cheng Jili was still looking at her. “You what?”
“I… I need to take this call.” Jiang Shi slipped out from under Cheng Jili and picked up her phone.
It was her cousin Chen Yan. “Jiang Shi! My dad’s in bad shape—he’s in the hospital being resuscitated right now! The doctor says he doesn’t have much time left! He keeps murmuring your name, saying there’s something about Grandpa he never told you, that he wants to see you one last time!”
Hearing that it was about her grandfather, Jiang Shi didn’t hesitate. She asked for the hospital name and rushed into the walk-in closet to change.
When she came out again, Cheng Jili spoke up. “What happened? Do you want me to drive you?”
Her uncle and aunt were greedy and power-hungry, and she didn’t want Cheng Jili to see her own family like this. She shook her head in refusal and drove away alone.
She rushed to the hospital emergency building as fast as she could.
She hadn’t expected that her uncle merely had gauze stuck to his forehead—where was any sign of someone in critical condition being resuscitated?
Her aunt was still playing on her phone beside him, and when she saw Jiang Shi walk in, she didn’t even lift an eyelid.
Jiang Shi knew she had been tricked. Fury surged to the top of her head, and she went to settle the score with Chen Yan.
“What are you lying to me for? A grown man with nothing better to do at night, cursing your own father for fun?”
Chen Yan grinned cheekily and pulled her aside. “If I hadn’t said that, would you have come?”
Jiang Shi’s face was cold. “What do you want me here for? To collect your corpse?”
“…” Chen Yan put on an apologetic smile. “I’ll tell you the truth. Debt collectors came looking for my dad. He fell during a shoving match and that’s how he busted his head open. He owes a huge debt to outsiders, and now they come knocking every day. Our family is really in a bit of trouble.”
Jiang Shi said, “You’re not thinking of making me pay off your family’s debt, are you? Dreaming big without even getting into bed, huh?”
“Just hear me out,” Chen Yan continued. “The debt collectors want my dad to hand over Grandpa’s little courtyard house to settle the debt. I figured giving it to them would be a waste, wouldn’t it? Better to sell it to you—at least it stays with family.”
That courtyard house had originally been left to Jiang Shi by her grandfather. It was just that the old man had passed away very suddenly and hadn’t had time to put it in writing.
On top of that, she had just gotten married at the time and wasn’t living in the courtyard house, so her uncle’s family had taken the opportunity to move in and seize the house.
And now they wanted to turn around and sell it to her?
Some people are invincible in their shamelessness.
Jiang Shi let out a cold laugh. “The house is Grandpa’s estate. Even without a will, half of it belongs to my mother. I’m the subrogated heir. Without my consent, you have no right to use it to settle a debt.”
“Don’t be so naive, okay? These are loan sharks! They play both the legal and illegal games! Do you think they need your consent to take the house?” Chen Yan put on a shameless look. “I know that house is important to you. If it goes to them, who knows what kind of ruin it’ll come to. By then it’ll be too late for you to cry!”
That part was actually true. She was a nobody with no influence—how could she be a match for loan sharks?
But the house her grandfather left behind couldn’t fall into outsiders’ hands, or it would truly never come back.
Jiang Shi suppressed the anger in her heart. “How much do you want to sell it for?”
Chen Yan held up one finger. “Ten million.”
Jiang Shi laughed. “You might as well go buy a pair of black stockings.”
“? What do you mean?”
“You and your dad—put them over your heads and go rob a bank.”
“…”
Chen Yan said self-righteously, “I’m not asking for an outrageous price. This is Jingbei. Go ask around—what’s the price of a courtyard house in Jingbei? Grandpa’s place may be a bit out of the way and a bit small, but it’s still worth over twenty million. Split half and half between your mom and my dad, and asking you for ten million isn’t excessive, is it?”
Courtyard houses in Jingbei were indeed worth a fortune, but ten million was an astronomical figure to Jiang Shi.
“I don’t have that kind of money.”
With that, she turned and walked out.
Chen Yan hurried after her. “You don’t, but Cheng Jili does. In his eyes, is ten million even money? You’ve been with him—you can’t have let him sleep with you for nothing, right?”
Jiang Shi stopped in her tracks and turned to glare at him.
Chen Yan grinned. “Come on, stop pretending. We can all see it—you and Cheng Jili won’t last. You’ll get divorced sooner or later. While you’re still married, you should hurry up and squeeze some money out of him. Buy back Grandpa’s house. That way, after the divorce, you’ll at least have a place to fall back on, right?”
He clicked his tongue twice and sighed. “Jiang Shi, with that pretty little face and figure of yours, you’re worth ten million!”