“Shen Jinyu, what are you doing?”
They’d been married for over a year and had an active conjugal life, but they had never bathed together.
Ji Qingtang instinctively moved to cover her intimate areas, then looked down to see dense bubbles and rose petals floating on the water’s surface.
Even so, being stared at by such a scorching gaze made her uncomfortable, and she slid her body lower into the water.
Shen Jinyu walked in with an unhurried air, removing his wristwatch and placing it on the counter.
“Not a fan of looking? Tonight, I’ll let you look all you want.” He spoke while unbuttoning his shirt.
Ji Qingtang gritted her teeth. “Are you ever going to stop?”
Shen Jinyu shrugged off his shirt and glanced sideways at the black slip dress Ji Qingtang had tossed over the rack, letting out a light scoff. “I thought you’d gone out in your pajamas.”
Damn! This Shen Jinyu was really pushing his luck!
At this rate, he was about to start restricting her freedom to dress how she pleased!
Unacceptable! She couldn’t take it!
“Are you blind? You call this pajamas? Or is President Shen so old-fashioned and conservative that he needs to restrict my freedom of dress?”
Ji Qingtang’s words came faster and faster. “I’ll do the exact opposite of what you want. One of these days, I’ll invite a dozen or so male models over for a pool party. A dozen’s too few—at least as many as I called over at Jin Guo International today…”
Shen Jinyu strode over to the bathtub in two or three steps, looking down at her with a tone that was half serious, half threatening. “Say one more word, and I’m stepping into this tub.”
Her gaze, beneath her fine lashes, landed squarely on his lean, powerful waist and abdomen. Ji Qingtang unconsciously swallowed, then slowly turned her head away, biting her lip in silence.
Shen Jinyu curled the corner of his mouth and walked back to the shower area.
Unbuckling his belt, removing his trousers, turning on the shower—all in one fluid motion.
Ji Qingtang stole a glance at him from the corner of her eye, her breath catching slightly.
He was actually showering…
When had this bastard gotten such thick skin?
Did he really flatter himself into thinking his body was the best in the world?
The man she was cursing silently in her mind stood under the showerhead as if no one else was there, tilting his head back slightly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he let the water cascade down from the top of his head.
Hmm?
Wait.
Actually… it looked… not bad…
Even as she cursed him in her head, Ji Qingtang unconsciously turned her head to take in the view.
From the side and behind, his figure was tall and straight—broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs perfectly straight.
When he turned around to squeeze out shampoo, Ji Qingtang’s eyes went wide.
His arms were solid and powerful, his pectorals firm and full, and the V-line extended down from the sides of his chiseled, defined abs, and then…
Just as her gaze drifted lower, she saw Shen Jinyu brace one hand against the tiled wall and take matters into his own hands.
Ji Qingtang quickly averted her eyes.
Ahhhhhhh!
She wasn’t invisible! She was right there!
How could he…
Soft panting mixed with the sound of rushing water reached Ji Qingtang’s ears. She bit her lower lip and turned her head ever so slowly.
It was a completely indecent act, yet he still carried himself with that air of refined elegance.
He had that kind of explosive, hormone-fueled presence—unlike those male models whose overdeveloped muscles made them look bulky.
No wonder she found those male models’ hot dances boring. As Meng Xiao had said, her standards had already been raised several levels by Shen Jinyu.
This scene before her would probably become the most spectacular thing she’d ever witnessed.
Shen Jinyu was always quick in the shower. Not long after taking care of himself, he turned off the water.
He grabbed a bath towel and wrapped it around himself, then turned his head, meeting Ji Qingtang’s gaze.
Ji Qingtang’s brain short-circuited for three seconds. After snapping back to reality, she pretended to be calm and turned her head away.
Water droplets dripped from the tips of his short hair. He picked up a towel to dry his hair, then glanced sideways at her. “Had enough of looking?”
Ji Qingtang had been feeling a bit guilty, but his question made her puff up with confidence and hum in affirmation.
Shen Jinyu: “Finished feasting your eyes? Want to move on to feasting your hands?”
He was getting addicted to teasing her, wasn’t he?!
“Why don’t you just dance a hot number for me?”
Ji Qingtang turned to him with a beaming smile. “Shen Jinyu, it’s such a shame you didn’t become a male model. With your looks, you’d definitely be made lead dancer the moment you started. I’d absolutely come cheer you on.”
Shen Jinyu chuckled lightly, the lingering desire still evident in his eyes and brows. “So that’s your answer?”
Ji Qingtang: “Hm?”
Shen Jinyu said unhurriedly, “Seems like I satisfy you more than they do.”
Ji Qingtang: “…”
This damn man’s way of thinking was truly bizarre.
Like a goddamn maze—twisting and turning only to end up right back where it started.
…
Shen Jinyu walked out of the bathroom, pulled pajamas from the wardrobe, and tossed them carelessly onto the bed.
His phone rang again. It was Shen Yuan’an, chairman of the Shen Group.
Shen Jinyu pressed the answer button and called out a cold, indifferent “Dad.”
“Jinyu, I heard from Old Li that you’re already on your way back to the country this afternoon. Did the project negotiations go smoothly?”
Shen Jinyu hummed in acknowledgment, clearly having no intention of elaborating.
“That kid Xiaoyu has been moving too fast lately. He’s barely been in his position, and already he wants to acquire the GC Club. As his older brother, you need to keep him in check at all times—you can’t get fat from one bite. Though entertainment investment and management isn’t the Shen Group’s main business, it can’t withstand his reckless spending either.”
Shen Jinyu naturally caught the implication behind Shen Yuan’an’s words.
It was simply that Shen Yuan’an, growing older and no longer as ruthless as he was in his younger days when he’d turn his back on even his own kin, was constrained by face and couldn’t directly restrict Shen Yu himself.
Shen Jinyu pretended not to understand and said bluntly, “Shen Yu has good ideas and boldness. Acquiring the GC Club isn’t a whim on his part—the specific percentage of shares to acquire was also decided through discussion among the company’s senior management. Even in the worst-case scenario of losses, I have my own ways to remedy the situation.”
After a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line, Shen Yuan’an spoke again, earnest and patient: “Jinyu, you should understand the principle of closeness and distance. Xiaoyu is after all your second uncle’s child—you should be helping and supporting Mingxiu…”
Before Shen Yuan’an could finish, Shen Jinyu cut him off.
“A bastard who only entered the Shen family in his teens and whom you secretly had paternity tested—his head doesn’t work right, and his hands and feet aren’t clean either. You’re asking me to waste my effort helping someone like that?”
“Shen Jinyu! Don’t go too far with your words!” Shen Yuan’an was furious. “Mingxiu may not be your mother’s son, but he’s still your own younger brother.”
Shen Jinyu let out a cold laugh. “When you had the group firmly in your grasp back then, why didn’t you think that your second uncle was also your own younger brother? Compared to you, I’m still far behind.”
Shen Yuan’an was livid. “You’ve grown more and more arrogant in recent years!”
Unwilling to argue with him, Shen Jinyu said flatly, “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
Shen Yuan’an let out a sigh, his tone carrying a hint of compromise. “This Saturday is your grandmother’s seventy-seventh birthday. Arrange your schedule in advance and bring your wife back to the old residence to celebrate her birthday.”
Shen Jinyu grunted in acknowledgment and hung up the phone directly.
He reached out and placed his phone on the bedside table, where another phone resting there vibrated.
Shen Jinyu glanced at it casually, and the screen lit up with several messages as it buzzed.
Meng·Stinky Fairy·Xiao: 【Liu Chun said you were picked up by your husband?】
Meng·Stinky Fairy·Xiao: 【Clasping hands and kneeling, begging Miss Ji for mercy—it was this stinky fairy’s crow’s mouth talking, wuwuwu】
Meng·Stinky Fairy·Xiao: 【But your husband’s threatening tone means less to you than a fart, so worrying about you seems kind of redundant.】
Meng·Stinky Fairy·Xiao: 【Too bad you missed the show—I’m literally all fired up right now, body burning, head spinning.】
Shen Jinyu raised an eyebrow.
His words carried less weight than a fart?
So his wife, who only ever lifted her chin and never bowed her head, had described the effectiveness of his speech like that just to avoid being teased by friends in their circle for being a henpecked husband?
Shen Jinyu turned his head toward the bathroom.
Worried that Ji Qingtang had drunk too much and fallen asleep in the bathtub, he strode over to the bathroom.
He pushed open the door, and his hand on the handle paused. His breath seemed to catch for a moment, and his gaze darkened, growing obscure and unreadable at the sight before him.