11 – Give Her a Chance to Reform
The living room was empty, brightly lit.
Exquisite, high-end antiques were placed everywhere, leaving many blind spots.
Qin Zhiluo couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched from the shadows.
What if some careless servant suddenly popped out…
That would be a disaster!
Qin Zhiluo’s delicate brows furrowed tightly as she pressed her hands firmly against Zhuang Hezhi’s shoulders. “Wah wah wah… I was wrong, I swear I won’t sneak out anymore, and I won’t deliberately lie to you. Can you not do this, please?”
Really, she didn’t want to be here.
At least somewhere else, right?
She knew lying was wrong, and going out alone to drink was wrong too.
But ignorance is bliss—surely she deserved a chance to turn over a new leaf?
Zhuang Hezhi looked down at her from above.
His glistening, upturned eyes were full of affection, shimmering with a faint light. She did look sincere.
But that wasn’t enough to soften his heart.
“When you do something wrong, it’s important to recognize your mistake, but accepting the consequences of that mistake is equally important,” he said.
He spoiled her, doted on her, simply because he was willing to indulge her.
Now, using this to teach her a lesson was imperative.
And his methods were endless.
In extreme fear, time seemed to pass agonizingly slowly.
In truth, she had no idea how long it had been.
Before she drifted off to sleep, Qin Zhiluo only remembered being carried by someone.
Her eyelids were too heavy to keep open, and she didn’t know where she was being taken.
Vaguely, she heard rustling sounds, accompanied by a gentle, continuous flow of water.
In her dreams.
She felt as if something was pressing down on her.
Her breathing grew increasingly difficult, as if she couldn’t catch her breath.
Qin Zhiluo raised her hand to feel around.
Her fingertips brushed against something hard, and it pricked her.
Her fingers curled, instinctively grabbing hold, and she met a pair of eyes brimming with desire.
Zhuang Hezhi lifted his head and curved his lips into a smile. “Good morning, my sweet darling.”
He looked refreshed and full of energy.
Qin Zhiluo felt a surge of inexplicable anger.
So infuriating.
She wanted to hit him.
She raised her foot and kicked him directly.
“Good morning my foot! How can I have a good morning when you look like that?”
She didn’t control her strength, and Zhuang Hezhi was kicked straight to the floor.
Qin Zhiluo’s heart trembled at the sound of him landing.
Oh no, she kicked too hard!
Would the sugar daddy be angry?
She hurriedly went to help him up.
At the same time, a knock sounded at the door.
“Hezhi, is something wrong?”
Qin Zhiluo was startled. “Who is it?”
“My father.”
“Huh?” Qin Zhiluo nearly choked on her own saliva. “If your father finds out you brought a woman home, he’ll go crazy, won’t he?”
A scene flashed through her mind.
An aloof patriarch of a wealthy family, leaning on a dragon-headed cane, scolding his descendants: Don’t get involved with wild women from outside! Or I’ll break your legs!
To the Old Master, wasn’t her relationship with Zhuang Hezhi exactly that of a “wild woman from outside”?
Overthinking it, she grabbed the blanket in a panic.
“No, no, I need to find a crack in the ground to hide in.”
Zhuang Hezhi stood by the bed, his gaze fixed on her as she flustered about, looking like she might as well have “guilty conscience” written all over her face.
Was she shy about meeting the parents, or worried about his reputation being ruined?
Clumsy and silly, but rather adorable.
Qin Zhiluo’s attention was entirely on finding a hiding spot, so she didn’t notice the sly, deep glint in Zhuang Hezhi’s eyes.
“Don’t be afraid, the room has good soundproofing, and he won’t come in without my permission.”
Zhuang Hezhi elegantly adjusted his bathrobe, got onto the bed, and pulled the blanket up to cover the little darling on the bed.
Qin Zhiluo was still in a daze when someone patted her thigh.
She wisely lay flat, trying to make herself as small as possible.
“Come in.” As Zhuang Hezhi’s voice fell, the Old Master opened the door and entered.
He swept his gaze around the room—the layout was cold and minimalist, nothing particularly noteworthy in sight.
The unusual air in the room only sparked a moment of suspicion in the Old Master’s mind.
He quickly suppressed it.
His sharp eyes landed on Zhuang Hezhi, who was leaning against the headboard.
“Why aren’t you up and off to the company at this hour?”
Zhuang Hezhi: “I went to the hospital to see Big Brother yesterday and got back a bit late.”
Elder Zhuang gave a light snort: “That unfilial son—abandoning the Zhuang family for that woman. Why bother concerning yourself with whether he lives or dies?”
The Old Master had harbored resentment toward Zhuang Hui for a long time.
Back then, Zhuang Hui had abandoned his lawfully wedded wife and run off to Rongcheng with a foot-bath girl—not only slapping the Zhuang family’s face but also destroying the partnership between the Zhuang family and their in-laws, costing the family several hundred million in losses.
When Zhuang Hui left back then, the Old Master had declared that even if he died out there, he shouldn’t come back!
Now that Zhuang Hezhi was helping Zhuang Hui, he didn’t exactly approve.
However, the Old Master could no longer control Zhuang Hezhi these days, so he could only turn a blind eye.
Zhuang Hezhi: “Father, you came over first thing in the morning—is something the matter?”
The Old Master pulled out the photos he’d brought. “These families are all well-established in the capital, and their daughters are decent in both looks and character. Find some time to meet them—blind dates.”
With that, a stack of heavily edited glamour shots scattered onto the bed beside Zhuang Hezhi.
The photos featured carefully selected young ladies from prominent families, ranging in age from eighteen to thirty.
Zhuang Hezhi’s expression turned strange, as if he were desperately suppressing something.
When asked what was wrong, he said nothing was the matter, speaking through gritted teeth with some difficulty.
The Old Master: “If any catch your eye, settle the engagement as soon as possible—you’re not getting any younger.”
“If you don’t want to meet them one by one, I’ll arrange a few more banquets for you to choose from.”
“In any case, I want to see you married before my eightieth birthday!”
The more the Old Master spoke, the worse Zhuang Hezhi’s expression became.
He kept his head lowered, the hand resting at his side clenched into a fist.
Zhuang Hezhi’s head throbbed with pain as he perfunctorily saw the Old Master out.
Once he confirmed the man had left, he immediately threw off the covers.
The little pampered darling was now flushed pink, her small hand resting on his leg as she found a spot of soft flesh and pinched it hard!
Zhuang Hezhi rubbed her head and coaxed her in a gentle voice: “Good baby, keep pinching and you’ll hurt me to death.”
When the Old Master had mentioned blind dates just now, his leg had been pinched.
Qin Zhiluo rolled over, moving farther away from him.
“Must be nice to be rich—the Qing Dynasty’s been gone for over a hundred years and you can still pick your concubines.”